SAN DIEGO in Southern California, adjacent
to the Mexican border, is one of my favorite destinations in America. It is the eighth largest city in the USA and home to the naval base.
Its semi-arid and Mediterranean climate is
acclaimed to be one of the world’s Top 10 best climates. It is mild all year round.
My sisters Enchay and Ana with my mother whom we fondly call “Nanay” live in San Diego. Their lovely country style house is in Dorado Hills overlooking the rolling terrain of hills and canyons.
This is where I had my first encounter with raccoons that stray at night to drink from
the fountain in the backyard garden. Rabbits hopping in the open gardens are also a
common sight.
With our 92-year old Nanay advancing in age, Enchay’s home has become what she calls “a central station” where all of us seven siblings visit and spend time with our mother. In my last trip to America last June, I flew to San Diego instead of my usual Cebu-New York route. Recently retired, Enchay now enjoys a leisurely pace and we have more time to drive around, when we are not busy cooking and baking in her kitchen.
One bright sunny day, we drove to Coronado Island, which is connected to San Diego City
by a beautiful bay bridge. This 2.12 mile bridge was awarded the most beautiful bridge by the American Institute of Steel Construction in 1970. Prior to the construction of the bridge, cars and commuters boarded ferries
to cross the bay. A popular tourist area, the Coronado Ferry Landing has fabulous waterfront dining and several unique shops. While leisurely strolling and admiring the San Diego downtown skyline, Enchay pointed out the USS Carl Vinsons docked far out into the bay. This is the aircraft carried that assisted in the burial of terrorist Osama Bin Laden in the
Indian Ocean.
We ended up choosing a Hawaiian-inspired restaurant, Peohe’s, after admiring Coronado Ferry Landing sights. Peohe’s is easily the
centerpiece of the Coronado dining and shopping haven, and wholly owned by Landry’s restaurants Inc., which is America’s largest chain of casual dining restaurants serving the freshest seafood and the finest steaks. As soon as we entered the tranquil place dominated by watercolors of sea green and aqua, we felt
relieved from the intense heat of the summer sun. Although the restaurant is designed to give every table a view of the water, we chose to sit on the wooden patio at the edge of the bay to further enjoy the beautiful sight. The lunch menu is a wide
selection of fresh tropical seafood dishes influenced by the Pacific
Rim flavors. After a refreshing tall glass of iced house tea with lemon, we started with Maui Style Onion Rings, a generous portion of lightly battered onion rings served with house-made Chipotle catsup. Chipotle is smoked dried jalapeno. The delicately crisp onion rings were coated with in-house grated and toasted coconut giving them a distinct tropical crunch. Seafood Cobb Salad of shrimp, crab meat, bacon, avocado, diced
cucumber and tomatoes on a bed of chopped romaine lettuce with thousand island dressing was shared. The portion was so big. I was not even able to finish my shared portion. Our entrée was
Coconut Crunchy Shrimp, large shrimps breaded with tempura sauce, coconut and panko breadcrumbs served with wild rice,
buttered broccoli and sweet, tangy plum sauce. The signature dessert was Hot Chocolate Lava Cake, a
rich Godiva chocolate liqueur
cake with molten chocolate center served with Macademia Ice Cream, which we chose to pass up since
we had dessert waiting at home— Enchay’s smooth and velvety Leche Flan and Chocolate Angel Cake.