Panda Express - Greenville & Lovers (Dallas)

Order curb-side today from Panda Express at Greenville and Lovers. I ordered four double entree with a side meals: one double orange chicken with super greens, one double orange chicken with chow mein, one double broccoli beef with chow mein, one honey walnut shrimp, teriyaki chicken with chow mein. I also ordered egg rolls. The cost of this was about $46, give or take a few dimes.

First let me say that Panda Express is not something I usually ever desire to eat. Never do I say, "Damn, I really want some Panda Express." My children on the other hand really like it. I don't hate it. I just think that if I'm going to eat what I call Americanized aka Caucasianed Chinese food, I'd much rather go to a Chinese buffet-style restaurant because I then can get my monies worth.

Panda Express is okay priced but their portions are hit or miss but more often than not, MISS.

Today was such an occasion.

This is my meal - honey walnut shrimp and teriyaki chicken.

Can you see the MISS of the portion size in the photo?

That is four shrimp you see. I had eaten one before I decided to take a photo and write a post about the lack of entree compared to purchased price which was approximately $10. Those aren't jumbo shrimp either. Those are about medium-small because the breading makes them look bigger than they really are. Oh yeah, do you see any walnuts in there? If I were to gather all the walnut pieces together, I would probably have two and a half walnuts total.

The chow mein was a mostly generous portion, which is usually typical. The teriyaki chicken was a nice surprise as I did not expect that much as a portion. Again, expectations are from previous visits with a variety of entrees. The five pieces of honey walnut shrimp, yeah, that pisses me off!!

I didn't take a photo of the double broccoli beef but it too was lacking. It was more of a slightly larger single entree versus anything close to a double entree. And the broccoli to beef ratio was severely uneven, like 3 to 1.

The only double entrees that looked doubled were the two orange chicken meals.

As for the taste of the food, it's typically not bad. The flavors are usually good but nothing to brag about.

• Chow mein noodles aren't as good as at the buffet but tolerable.
• The teriyaki chicken was pretty flavorful but I think they charge premium like the walnut shrimp. It's not worth premium cost, nor is the shrimp especially for just 4-5 pcs.
• The broccoli beef was okay. Broccoli was crunchy enough with the beef flavor. The beef was a little sad (if that makes sense) but tasted as it should.
• The orange chicken was good as it usually always tastes the same every time.
• The egg rolls were okay but again other places do it better.

Anyway, I think I'm done with Panda Express. There are too many other options in the area that I could waste my money on. Other's experiences might vary but I prefer consistency!

ABCD 4 Channel Electric Universal Key Fob

Back on February 11, 2020, I purchased the ABCD 4 Channel Electric Universal Remote Key Fob at Walmart. Product link while it lasts: https://www.walmart.com/ip/seort/820645596. It was delivered on February 18, 2020. I finally got time to tinker with it around February 28, 2020.

I should have taken the time to tinker pretty immediately after receiving it. I guess I thought positively that it would work without a hitch and delayed testing. I was stupid. Don't be stupid like me.

So, I don't know if you can tell from the above paragraph, but this did not work for me. I followed the instructions to program three different key fobs for gate entrances into the universal fob. It looked like everything 'loaded' as necessary based on the light flashing described in the instructions. However, it never worked. I thought maybe it wasn't really 100 meters of distance so I stood right next to the receiver box of the different gates and still nothing.

I really wanted this to work to combine three different key fobs into one. Again, it did not work as expected or even at all for me. Very frustrating.

Now it's just in a junk box as I missed the return window. It may have been more effort than the $8 it cost but I still should have returned it. Again, don't but stupid AND lazy like me.

That could be the profit plan for the company, Novashion — sell something for cheap and people won't care to return so it's mostly profit.

FINAL VERDICT: DO NOT BUY THIS! Really...don't!

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018). This is one of the worst if not the worst movies or episodic movies I've ever seen. The first story or two wasn't too bad but after that it was pure shit!

In full disclosure, it took me about four months to completely watch this Netflix original piece of crap! I just couldn't continue to waste my time in one sitting so I tried over multiple.

It was very, very difficult but I finished it this evening. I almost just moved on a few times but I had to complete the viewing. I've completed movies that were much, much worse so I had to do the same for this.

FINAL VERDICT: Don't even bother. As mentioned, the short stories after the first one or two are just pure crap.

The Farewell (2019)

The Farewell (2019). This is an interesting movie. I like how it shows you the culture of the Oriental people even though they live in America and probably have done so for some time. It's so funny to see the difference of opinions between the older and younger family members on the values and 'how things should be done.'

I totally loved the grandmother's mentality and attitude. She reminds me a lot of my mom. And the family members remind me a lot of my crazy, fucked up Asian (albeit only half) family. Awkwafina's character is kind of a morose throughout with glimpses of hope and brightness.

I think it has a good message and shows with a good deal of accuracy how the Asian community will come together to help in a family's time of crisis.

FINAL VERDICT: I think this is based on a true story but don't hold me to that as I'm not searching right now to confirm. It's a little bit of a tear-jerker but with moments that make one reflect on their own personal experiences with death and family. I would definitely take the time to watch this with full attention and enjoy it.

Hutchins BBQ (Frisco, TX)

Visited Hutchins BBQ Frisco, Texas location with my nephew today. I treated since he helped me move some stuff.

I have been here once before with a friend. It was our first time. We didn't know before going that they have all-you-can eat. We weren't that hungry at the time so we just did like a 2- or 3-meat plate meal. Turned out the AYCE cost was just a tad more than the plate meal we ordered. But again, we weren't going to be able to do the AYCE justice.

This time around with my nephew though, I had prepped him all day to not eat/snack too much because we were going to have AYCE barbecue later. And that's what we did. AYCE was something like $25 plus tax and so totally worth it.

What you see in the left pic is banana pudding, mac n cheese, pull pork, ribs and brisket and in the right pic corn is mac n cheese, corn, brisket, ribs and a popper. Everything was really, really good! Some of the best overall barbecue meets and sides that I've had.

FINAL VERDICT: I don't think anyone will be disappointed with this place. It has something for everyone and more. Depending on the hunger level, the AYCE is the best option as it's roughly $2-$3 more than the 3-meat plate meal. I will return many more times.

Cuates Kitchen (Dallas, TX)

Ate at the Cuates Kitchen Food Truck today. They were selling 3 tacos for $9.99 so I ordered the chicken, carnitas and barbacoa.

They weren't overwhelmingly tasty but they also weren't bad. I wouldn't seek them out to have them again but I also wouldn't turn them down if they were an option already in my vicinity.

FINAL VERDICT: I would recommend if you're already near this truck. Otherwise, there are other places just as good and probably better for a slightly lower price. I wasn't wowed but I also wasn't disappointed.

Fred's Downtown Philly (Bedford, TX)

Fred's Downtown Philly (Bedford, TX). Had lunch here today with a few buddies. They picked the placed as I said I'm game for anything.

Apparently this place has been around for some time (20 years according to the bio) and has seven locations. I can't say I've EVER heard of them before today but I'm not one to seek out cheesesteak, philly or otherwise, options.

The menu is vast, if not somewhat overwhelming. Without getting too bogged down in the many offerings, I decided on the 10in #8 which the menu describes as "tender steak, sauteed onions, mushrooms and cheese." All of us pretty much ordered the same thing but I got sweet potato fries while the others stuck with regular.

#8 with regular fries

#8 with sweet potato fries

The steak was tender but it didn't really have a notable flavor. I mean it was good but I wasn't left thinking, "Man, this has some great flavor!" I also didn't think that there was a lot of it. It's like it was spread over the bread to make it look like there was more than there actually was. For $10, I would expect better/more especially with it being such THIN steak.

The sweet potato fries were crispy. But again, they weren't anything different than what I could probably get in the frozen section of grocery store and heat up at home in the oven.

The mushrooms and onions kind of blended in with the meat so much so that I didn't really taste them or feel a difference in texture when biting into the sandwich eating them. I don't know if that's good that everything was tender or bad that everything just tasted the same.

The owner/cook was very nice, talkative and attentive to making sure everything came out okay and if we needed anything else. This place wasn't hugely busy but there were about 7-10 people who came and went while we were there.

FINAL VERDICT: It wasn't bad but it also wasn't very memorable. I'm not thinking to myself that I have to go back again because it was so good. I am curious about the wing and burger options but not enough to make a point to visit again. If I'm in the area and I don't crave anything else, I might stop in for a wing and/or burger tasting. Otherwise, there are already much closer, better options for me personally.