Dinner at Bombay Cafe

Bombay Cafe. Indian food. Pico/Bundy. Probably hadn't been here in about 3 years. Used to go here quite often. Last I heard, it had a new owner. Although everything seemed the same (ambience, menu items and taste/presentation of food). The menu prices seemed a lot higher now but that is expected. Dinner receipt:

1 samosa appetizer $8
1 tikka massala chicken $16
1 garlic naan $3.50
1 pullao rice $8
1 iced tea $3.00
tax $3.17
Total: $41.57 not including tip

Westwood area

Since i'm hardly in the area, I decided to go to dee dee reeses in westwood. After parking the car, i walked by a Red Mango yogurt shop which is supposedly what Pinkberry got their idea off of in korea. Red Mango had a similar, modern feel. Same type of menu, regular flavor or green tea. I ordered the small at $2.50. One topping was $1.00, 2nd topping was $0.25, 3rd topping was another $0.25. I had 2 toppings (mango and rasberries) , so my total was $3.75. No additional tax was added, unlike pinkberry. I'm not a conoisseur, but Red Mango tasted similar to Pinkberry b/c I certainly could not notice any distinguishable difference between the 2. The mangos were not ripe and didn't taste good, but that's probably attributed to mangos not in season anymore.

i walked by dee dee reese and there was a long line, so I decided to pass on it. The ice cream sandwiches (ice cream scoop between 2 cookies) are now $1.50.

DMV Renewal

Due Date 1/8/2008
Registration Fee $41
License Fee $63
County/District Fees $10
Total $114

ID 450176 dmv.ca.gov
1-800-921-1117

Need smog check this year unfortunately. I went to www. smogtips.com. Some places offer coupons. I was able to get one for The Smog Check Center (Sunset/Hobart) for $29.95 plus $10 certificate for a total of $40. Fast service, clean environment. The guy there told me that California is going to require that all smog check places update their equipment by December. The smog check test prices will increase to about $70 and will take 40 minutes rather than the average 15 minutes.

My car passed the smog check at both 15 and 25 mph.

Joel Grover NBC investigation on Taxi Cabs again in Los Angeles

Joel Grover NBC investigation on Taxi Cabs again in Los Angeles, West Hollywood again - updated from May 2007. Taxis still overcharging. 9/10 taxis overcharged in West Hollywood. Taxis tried to overcharge by charging over a flat fee to lax, charging $0.35 cents instead of the actual $0.20 per 1/11 mile/30 seconds waiting and overcharging by counting more miles than the actual miles.

Tips To Avoid Being Taken Advantage Of When Taking Taxis - NBC
1. Plan your trip. Know what distance you are traveling and what the taxi companies/legal rates are. Know roughly what your trip should cost before you take it.
2. If you feel like you're being overcharged, ask the cab driver for a receipt. The receipt should have the driver's name, cab number, as well as pick-up and drop-off locations.
3. Once you have a receipt and you think you are being overcharged, question the driver. If the don't concede, tell them you are going to complain to their company, the city and the police.

Various Local Taxicab Rates

Beverly Hills
$2.20 a mile
$35.00 flat rate to LAX

Los Angeles
$2.65 Flag drop (First 1/7th mile).
$0.35 for each additional 1/7th mile ($2.45 per mile).
$0.35 For each 47.5 seconds waiting time and/or traffic delay ($26.53 per hour).
$42.00 Flat fare for trips between LAX and downtown. Area bounded by Alameda St., Santa Monica Fwy., Harbor Fwy., Cesar E. Chavez, Union Station and Chinatown.
$2.50 Surcharge for all trips originating at LAX. $15.00 Minimum fare for trips originating at LAX (In addition to the $2.50 surcharge

West Hollywood
$2.20 flag drop, the first 1/11 mile; $0.20 each additional 1/11 mile or 30 seconds of waiting. Flat Rate to LAX is $35.00.
TAXICABS AUTHORIZED TO WORK IN BEVERLY HILLS: Beverly Hills Cab; United Independent Taxi and Independent Taxi.

Ralph Lauren Goose Down Pillow

Also shopped today online for goose down pillows. My sister had purchased me a Ralph Lauren goose down pillow from Robinsons-May for my birthday during my sophomore year in college. To this day, the pillow is still in good condition and very soft, even after daily use for 13 years, 8 hours a day. I decided to buy another Ralph Lauren pillow based on my experience. Went to RL website and the goose down pillow (standard or king size) were on sale for $55 (original price was $69). I found a RL 15% off total purchase coupon code plus free shipping for total purchases of $195. I collaborated with a friend to purchase more pillows to get free shipping and voila, more savings for me. Averaged at about $51 per pillow.

Update: Very happy with this pillow purchase. I guess I did need a new pillow. My shoulder soreness is a lot less now. Noticed both first and second day of use. I should have got this a long time ago. I may order more.

Laser Toner Cartridge-Samsung ML-1710

Shopping online all day today. I finally had to order new laser toner cartridge for my samsung ml-1710 (a discontined model). So many different websites sell the "compatible" cartridge, which is not oem, at prices so low ($30-40). All the oem samsung cartridges were $80. Took a while to decide because of the price difference. After reading many, many reviews, I decided to buy the oem from office depot. I found a $20 off coupon for purchases of $75, so my total only came out to $65 including tax. Many of the reviews were good and bad, but some had stated that the compatibles leaked toner or didn't print consistently or clearly which skewed my purchase decission.

Weekend

Friday night, Neil Young at Nokia again. Side seats at 315 degree angle from stage, so couldn't enjoy it as much as Tuesday night. Saw Daryly Hannah, Trent Reznor and Chris Kattan. Had late night breakfast at Pacific Dining Car (6th and Witmer, opened 24 hours a day). Serves breakfast all the time-good blueberry pancakes.($10-15), steak and eggs. Good steaks also, but pricey at $40-50 a la carte. Macaroni and cheese here is to die for. Valet parking is $4.50 until 2 am. I would rather find metered parking on the street next time. The valet parking guy told me he wasn't going to charge and also didnt give me a ticket, but then decided to change his mind when he brought the car to me. Sleazeball.

Had lunch with friends at Aunt Kizzy'z back porch. Soul food. Good. I didn't like the ambience-very dark for lunch. Didn't look to clean either, but it had an "A". Not full restaurant at that time. Ordered plate of food (cafeteria style) and paid. It was cheap ($8.95) for plate which included choice of meat (pork chop, fried chicken, smothered chicken) and rice or stuffing and choice of 2 sides (mashed potato, macaroni and cheese, red beans, collard greens, etc). It was in Marina Del Rey.

Saw Lars and the real girl movie. Very boring, not realistic. Longer than it should have been. I was bored of the movie early on after the first 15 minutes and unfortunately it never picked up. Don't watch it. You will waste your time and money.

Cast Iron Skillet from sur la table ($16.95) already seasoned. Cooked steak on it. Wonderful, crispy.
Asahi for dinner last night since Hide was too crowded. Always consistent at Asahi. Slighty raised prices by $0.25 to $0.50.