One of the benefits to putting together the "Big List" is that I needed to go over my former posts, which was a great reminder of places I hadn't been to in years. I went about checking on Erlinda's Filipino Cuisine, which had replaced a favorite sisig (along with fried chicken skin) spot of mine Conching and found that it was replaced by something called "Kujo Eats"? Now granted, these days I can't put it away like I used to and have really cut down on the amount of rice I consume. And though I've been trying to change things up a bit, with gas and food prices soaring, well, I've cut down on heading to places I once used to check out every 2 weeks or so to see what was happening. What really surprised me is that my post on Erlinda's is from 2014! Sheesh. As for Kujo Eats? Well, I went to the website which mentioned that the owner was born in Hawaii and raised in San Diego! Plus they open at 8am in the morning? So, I could drive on down and (hopefully) avoid crowds.
Exiting the 805 on Plaza and driving east felt so strange. When was the last time I was in this area? I mean, the last time I actually visited Tita's was in 2013. I headed off to where Plaza turns into Paradise Valley and into the parking lot of Kujo's which looks basically the same as when it was Conching.
And other than the new signage, the two level interior looks the same as well.
The women working are super friendly and of course there were some items that immediately caught my attention.
I didn't come across anything that seemed to have touches of Hawaii until I got to the cashier. They had Spam Musubi for sale!
I got a two item combo with "fried rice" which was $13.79, a bargain these days, especially if your lunch (+ tomorrow's lunch) looks like this.
My goodness, the portion size.
I instantly dug into the sisig, which was just passable with hard and chewy or waxy chopped lechon. The skin had not held up well, even though it was a shade after 10 in the morning.
I can't fault the amount of pork in this; though I do enjoy a good amount of onions as well. This was just slightly sour, while I enjoy a bit more of a bracing flavor. It also lacked spice, one of my favorite things about sisig.
The best item in the plate was the "fried rice"; which was a pseudo garlic rice.
The rice had a nice texture, a good amount of garlic, and more soy than other versions. It was quite satisfying.
The Tortang Talong looked wonderful.
It was nicely coated with egg, though I thought it needed more seasoning, not enough salt and pepper for me. The eggplant was nice and creamy, with a hint of that "aubergine-y" smokiness. I usually like a hint of garlic in my Tortang Talong which I couldn't detect here.
So, this ended up being two meals and change (I still had rice leftover for another meal).
I was going to do a post right then, but decided that I should go back for another visit. I did wait a couple of weeks though.
This time I got the Lechon Kawale and Kaldereta. Again the portion size was more than generous; especially the rice!
Most of the time, folks working at these turo turo places see that I'm obviously not Filipino and they won't give me the free sinigang that often comes with meals. It's not a big deal as the amount of food provided is more than enough.
But on this visit, the nice woman included the soup.
I enjoyed this; it was bracingly sour, had just enough salt too.
The Lechon Kawale looked quite good.
The chunks of lechon were quite large; the skin crunchy, though I thought it needed more salt. The meat was on the drier side of the scale and very mild in flavor. It looked better than it actually was.
While not as garlicky as on my previous visit; the fried rice was still good.
I thought the Beef Kaldereta, while on the greasy side was good.
The beef, in this case short ribs was tender, which was a good thing as the bones made things rather unwieldy. I really liked the tart-tomatoey flavors that permeated the beef as well. This went quite well with the mild pungency of the rice.
I'm glad I checked out Kujo's, though my arteries are probably not as happy. I need to get down here more often and really need to revisit Tita's after all these years.
Kujo Eats
3400 E 8th St. Suite 115
National City, CA 91950
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 8am – 7pm
Sunday 8am – 6pm
Yes, this is "half-rice" at Nanay's. The rice, which is predictably not of the best quality was decently cooked.
From previous experience I knew what was available from what was on the white board.
Arriving home, I quickly unpacked things and immediately went for the item I 
The note on the door said "we are closed
And here again was the note posted on the door stating "we are closed". I checked Google which indicated that the place is "Temporarily Closed" as well as that "four-lettered" site which also noted that the place is scheduled to reopen on September 1st. I also did a check on the Zen Curry website, which said the reopening date is TBD.
Each location has a Jolly Bee greeter at the door. 
There are some specials near the ordering area as well as online if you pre-order. 
A salty brown gravy is included with each chicken order. That's a pineapple juice drink ($3.49) on the tray, which was filled from behind the counter.
A three piece meal with one side -adobo rice- and beverage from the machine ($11.99). Adobo rice is fried rice with pork.
The two piece combination with palabok ($11.99). Palabok is rice noodles topped with a garlic-pork-shrimp sauce topped with sliced hard boiled egg; a really nice side dish.
We also ordered the 'Limited Edition' fried pie ($2.99) which is coconut pineapple-large shreds of sweet coconut and chunky pieces of tangy pineapple in a flaky, buttery crust. The 'regular' pie (peach mango) is always satisfying. 
On another visit, I picked up two Deluxe Chicken Sandwiches ($5.99) with a side of 'crispy fries', which remained crispy on the drive home. "Deluxe" means the sandwich has mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato. It is served on a brioche bun. As you can see, there was also a peach mango pie. 
The chicken can be regular or spicy and regular is great-meaty, juicy, crispy and very large. Packets of 
The bread was fluffy, slightly moist, a bit on the sweet side but that's to be expected. The filling wasn't too sweet, nice savory tones. Overall, a bit heavy in the bread versus the filling, but this wasn't bad at all.
 
The sisig had decent spice, balanced with some good sour tones. This might be the best I’ve had here in terms of seasoning and flavor. The lechon kawale was on the chewy and hard side; but still, I liked the flavors.
I like the fact that they have QR code menus; otherwise you'd have to ask at the window since there's no menu posted. I'd gotten so used to doing QR codes when visiting Mexico that I got kinda thrown off when we returned home!
I must say that the bowl looked quite good. The seasoning for the sisig was on the milder side in terms of sour tones and I didn't get much spice until I had a bite with three hidden slices of what looked like Thai Bird Chilies. Whoa…. I came across "groups" of chilies in the bowl. I guess they don't like being alone?
Most problematic for me was the rice, after all this place is named "White Rice", right? It was terribly hard, dry, and there was hardly any garlic flavor at all. I mean, in addition to being called "White Rice", this was a silog, right? The "si" in the "silog" stands for 
This was a lovely looking bowl! And that fried sunny side egg was even better this time around with wonderful crisp edges! I loved the atchara and the almost VN style pickles as well.
The float barn is filling up. 
It looks like 
The 
Unsure which float this is, but you can see the 'spotter' in front and a bit of the 'driver' all the way to the left and back in this photo. This float is small enough to drive the parade route without having to 'collapse' under street lights and the freeway bridge along the way. 
The float which will carry the Royal Court was being tested. It's the same float used the previous three years and is not judged for any awards. It is 'redecorated' each year. 
The 
"Hope for Peace", sponsored by 
First, the obligatory stop at 
So we waited in line and ordered, did see we could sit down for a moment and photographed some of our purchases.
We shared this 'new' item-a chicken and rice ball; excellent!
Then we started driving- cc always has a Plan A as well as a Plan B for our adventures. Turning South out of Portos and driving to Amar Road was new to me!
Yes we did! 
The choices and prices and wow! Everything was so fresh. (These three donuts were $6.25) The Donut Hole 15300 Amar Road La Puenta 91744
This mall, located between Amar Road and Manila Way, anchored by a 
We purchased pieces of lechon (slow roasted suckling pig)-perfectly cooked with a flavorful moist meat and crackly skin. We also purchased fried chicken skins; the chicharron were large pieces and perfectly lite and crisp. Toto's Lechon Manok 1545 Amar Road West Covina 91792
On the other end of this mall is a quite large building, part of a local chain, DJ Bibingkahan. 
A Turo-Turo (Point-Point) business, where you order, pay and find your own seat.
Corned beef silog and longsilog, served with hard cooked eggs and garlic rice, made a great breakfast. The corned beef was in chunks and in a flavorful broth with tomato, onion and potatoes. The longanisa was boiled, not pan fried, but the 'skin' still had a good 'snap' and the flavor was more sweet-I think it was made with pineapple juice. 
We asked the friendly man behind the counter if he had regular 
It is the 50th year in Glendora and also peach donut time for 