Welcome Daisy Dawg!

Under furs

Daisy Dawg

Welcome Daisy Dawg! Daisy was a shelter dawg who was adopted by DJKung's godson's family in Fresno. She is now nine months old and is a super good dawg. She had a little bit of kennel cough upon arriving at her new home, but is getting better.

Daisy the dachshund.

See how well she does "beg"! Daisy loves all types of non-dog food.

Takin' it back to Takahachi

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Takahachi

It felt like we haven't been to Taka in a while. We were craving tempura one day, so off we went. DJKung ordered the Spanish medium-grade toro (fatty tuna), beef skewers (unpictured) and tempura soba. I got my fave bento box. The only gripe we had was that the tempura shrimp was not up to Taka's par; this evening, it was rather tiny and had extra breading.

Spanish medium toro. It tasted pretty fresh, a bit firm and a bit fatty. DJKung described it as "balanced."

Tempura soba. This was pretty hearty, and DJKung commented on how rich the broth tasted.

Bento box. Isn't it purty? From top left: tempura shrimp and veggies; sashimi (yellowtail tuna, tuna, salmon); braised pork and veggies; fried oyster; grilled salmon. I never get bored of the selection and can switch up my bites. This also comes with either soup nor salad, and either white or brown rice.

Somebody next to us ordered the toro sushi, so we were kinda jealous. We ended up getting it too (copycat!).

Left: unagi (eel) hand roll. Right: two pieces of toro sushi. The unagi was devoured after a few bites. The toro sushi was good too, melt-in-your-mouth buttery tuna. Yummmm.

Back yet again at Binh Duong

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Binh Duong

DJKung was in real bad shape with the flu after his California trip. After a few days of chicken soup, he wanted to have something else to eat. As soon as he started feeling better, we were off for pho.

Besides pho, we also ordered their vegetarian crepes.

Vegetarian crepes. The filling contained mostly bean sprouts. We tasted a hint of coconut, but were unsure where it was from. I thought it was a tad greasy, but DJKung liked it.

Lettuce leaves, cilantro and pickles. Nuoc cham dip (fish sauce and lime).

DJKung also felt very restored after the meal. Once again, Binh Duong hits the spot!

Max's Restaurant, San Francisco, California

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Max's Restaurant
San Francisco, California

Our Fresno friends had high hopes for Max's Restaurant, a highly regarded fried chicken joint in the Philippines. DJKung recalled dining at a Max's in Manila and remembered that they had excellent chicken. Unfortunately,everybody was let down by their recent experience at the Max's in SF.

First, the service. It was appallingly slooow. Mind you, the Ultimate Fun Club tries not to be superserious with the non-food/fur/fun aspects of things. Max's, however, merits special mention for their truly atrocious service. DJKung found that the wait staff, even after making eye contact with you, tries its best to evade actually providing any service.

Second, most of the dishes they got was pretty bland.

Max's Teasers. Includes fried lumpia (eggrolls), fried calamari and fried pinsec (wontons). Everything was very greasy.

Sizzling pork sisig. Good. It was garlicky, fried, very tasty.


Lechon kawali. Deep fried pork belly. It is simply impossible to mess up this dish.

Fried chicken. DJKung thought that this was pre-fried and sat under the warmer lights too long.
It was dry and tough. Terrible.

Nilagang bulalo (beef shank soup). Bland bland bland. DJKung had to ask for patis (fish sauce), which took thirty minutes to arrive.

Pho 75, Fresno, California

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Pho 75, Number 2
Fresno, California



DJKung was out in Fresno over Christmas to visit some family friends. Upon arriving in the airport, he and his pops were quite hungry. Pho 75, Number 2 seemed like a good pick. It was close to the airport.



Pho 75's menu was quite extensive. The clientele was half-Vietnamese, and was packed. A table by the front had premade banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches).



A little historical tidbit. Following the Vietnam War, the Hmong refugees were relocated to, among other places, Fresno. Our Fresno friends have noted that Fresno has a very vibrant Hmong community.

DJKung, already with full-blown influenza during the flight, wanted some nourishing soup. He got the beef pho.

Garnishes for pho: basil, bean sprouts, lemon wedges, hot green pepper slices. DJKung said that everything was very fresh.



Beef pho. The serving was much larger than what DJKung usually receives. The beef was rather gamy---DJKung opined that the beef was from the local farms that he glimpsed by the highways.

Goi cuon (fresh shrimp rolls) with peanut sauce. The sauce was exceptionally fresh and was made from scratch. Even from the picture, you can tell that it was thicker and richer than your peanut-sauce-from- a mix.

Fried squid. These were on the greasy side.

DJKung's godson ordered the grilled pork chop with fried egg and veggies. Rice on the side. This is his favorite.