Visited my dad down South last week with the boys! Needed to do an early trip since I won’t be seeing him for Father’s Day.

On our way back to the Bay, I made a stop in Pasadena. Thank goodness I found street parking! At first, I panicked because all I had were Philippine coins in my bag lol The peso coin did not work. Eventually I found enough spare change so that I would not have to download the Passport Parking app. (I need phone space for photos and videos of my kids!) The app would be so useful considering I don’t carry cash anymore, but how often am I going to be in Pasadena?

First unplanned stop was the Dog Bakery. I’m trying to cut down on unnecessary spending, so no Portos pasalubong for the family this time. BUT, I decided to treat our dog for once! All the choices were so yummy and cute; it was hard to choose! We ended up getting PB & Yummy Bar, Animal Style Burger, Woof Creme Pie, Cup o’ Bones, Carrot Cake, and Carob Chip Cookies. The total was $16: $12 for the half dozen box of treats + tax, and then rounded up to donate for charity, because why not.

Second unplanned stop was Starbucks. The shops in this area don’t have a public bathroom and the lady quickly told me where to go. I totally forgot to search for a bathroom asap for the kids, after parking. So it was hectic carrying my oldest (he said if he runs he won’t be able to hold it) and dragging my youngest looking for this bathroom. I went straight to the back of the Starbucks without acknowledging the employees lol and pleaded with a lady to let us go first. It works out, because afterwards, I finally tried that medicine ball I’ve been seeing online and needed. One of the ingredients was missing and substituted, so maybe that’s why I didn’t like the taste? I may need to come back though when I have more Starbuck stars, because these Artisanal Frappuccinos sound amazing! (and expensive.)

FINALLY, we went back towards the Dog Bakery to our intended destination, Cafe 86. That’s when I found out they have a key to the bathroom in the next building, literally sandwiched in between Cafe 86 and the Dog Bakery. I also discovered there isn’t much food at this location. I was hoping to eat our lunch here. Instead, I bought the kids a grilled cheese sandwich which they split, and a milk tea with boba for myself.

I was going to switch between the medicine ball (for my cough) and milk tea (to keep me awake). Not a great combo lol, but whatevs. I also got an ube leche flan cupcake (delicious!), an ube truffle, and a matcha brownie (yummy as well! but I couldn’t taste any matcha). I am just not a fan of truffles, and this ube truffle didn’t wow me. I guess I thought the ube would make me like it? I may have to come back and try their ube crack cheesecake.