Ana's Island Grill (Euless, TX)

Tried Ana's Island Grill in Euless, Texas for the first time today. I think it popped up on some Google search I did when I knew I was going to be in the area today. I've also had some family members mention it in the past and I'm glad it was open during this pandemic so I could finally give it a try.

I remember it was empty the day I visited. Just a woman and a younger woman, maybe mother/auntie and daughter but I don't know as I didn't ask.

Anyway, I ordered the double-sided spam musubi, the kalua pork plate and the chicken katsu/coconut shrimp mix plate. All was so freaking good. Some of the best kalua pork and chicken katsu. The coconut shrimp was good too but I don't have anything to compare from other similar restaurants as it's not something I have ordered before. The double-sided spam musubi was a surprise as I've only had one-sided but it was good like everything else. I only get out to Euless these days on Sat or Sun mornings so I haven't had a chance to visit again. But would eat here in a heartbeat if the timing was right!

 

FINAL VERDICT: If you are in the area during their hours of business, I don't think you'll be disappointed if you are in the mood for some Hawaiian-inspired food!

Soulman's Barbecue (Mesquite, TX)

Visited Soulman's Barbecue today. I initially headed out to try Mesquite BBQ as a friend recommended it as one her favorite BBQ places. Turns out Mesquite BBQ is closed on Sundays. On my way there, I did see Soulman's so I decided to backtrack and give Soulman's a try since they didn't seem very busy.

I entered the restaurant around 12 p.m. There was one guy ordering, one woman waiting for her order (to-go maybe) and one woman in front of me. They were playing some pretty decent country music over the speaker system. While I was waiting in line, an older couple, maybe in their 60s, stepped in line behind me. Not paying attention to the social-distancing markings on the floor so were like two feet behind me but they did have their masks on and on properly.

Being my first time, I was glad I had the opportunity to browse their menu. It seemed vast but standard like two-meat plate, sandwich plates, etc. They had like eight meat choices: beef, turkey, chicken (fried), sausage, pulled pork, ham, hot links and ribs.

I stuck with my typical choices and ordered two fried apple pies, a rack of ribs, a pound of brisket, a pound of turkey, a side of cole slaw and a side of fried okra. I got turkey and fried okra because the family likes those so I thought it was worth a try.

So, here's the lowdown:

• Fried apple pies were pretty damn good! Some of the best I've had. I would go back and get more.
• Cole slaw is exactly the kind that I prefer. It's not that trying-to-be-fancy kind but almost exactly like KFC kind.
• Fried okra was very crispy and not too bad. I'm not a huge okra fan in general but the family liked it.
• Sliced brisket, ribs and turkey can be lumped in together for my commentary. They weren't bad but I cannot say, "Damn, you gotta try them." They were moist and tender but they just didn't have ANY flavor to them. I don't know how they cook their meats but it makes me think a typical household oven was involved. Again, moist and edible but not flavorful.

FINAL VERDICT: It's a hard pass for me. It's just not my preference. There are plenty of other places around town that are just as good or better for a similar price. Although, I would go back to get more fried apple pies!

Hawaiian Bros Island Grill (Garland, TX)

Visited Hawaiian Bros Island Grill in Garland, TX. It was their grand opening in that location today. There wasn't a huge line or line at all that I could see but we are in an pandemic and it was kind of raining when I went. I did order online for pickup as I thought it may have a bigger crowd but alas, as mentioned, they did not.

I ordered the following:

1. Huli Huli Chicken
2. Honolulu Chicken
3. Luau Pig
4. Molokai Chicken/Kilauea Chicken Mix Plate

1) 2)

3) 4)

The plate lunches have three sizes to choose from: small, classic and large. Each plate lunch comes with scoop of rice and a side of mac salad. I chose the classic size.

FINAL VERDICT: The dishes I had were pretty good so I would definitely go again as well as recommend to anyone who would like to try it.

Defiant 120-Degree Solar Motion Activated Outdoor Integrated LED Area Light with Double Lighting (Black)

Defiant 120-Degree Solar Motion Activated Outdoor Integrated LED Area Light with Double Lighting (Black)

Purchased this on 8/13/20. For the price ($16.97 at the time of my post) and functionality this was exactly what I was looking for. Mounted on the wall of my apartment patio. Gets a lot of sun in the 2nd half of the day to charge batteries for overnight use. Initially it worked pretty well. A little sensitive to motion as in it picked up cars passing on the street about 30 ft away. Don't know if it was the car itself or headlight reflections or what. No worries. It's solar powered, right? It did pick up people, as it should, walking on the sidewalk that my patio faces and the light was bright enough. Thought this would be a keeper. However on 8/23/20 the motion sensing stopped working. The light itself seemed to still work as I could press the button to turn on the light but it only stays on for like 10 seconds which is what it's supposed to do until the next motion is picked up. I cleaned the motion sensing "eye" cover with a damp cloth and still nothing. This no longer serves a purpose without the motion sensing because there is no other way for the light to come on unless you press the 'power' button every time it goes off to turn it back on. Should I now pay someone to stand there all night to do so? Ha!

Did a lot of research on these types of lights. It was between this one and another well-reviewed one. Both are at Home Depot but this one is $4 cheaper. I was very hopeful but this didn't even last two weeks. I could have gotten a faulty product but I can't deal with the hope the next one won't do the same. Also, this kind of keeps me from purchasing the other brand because this really has been my experience with motion-sensing lights over the years regardless of the brand. I would prefer a light I can turn off/on from a switch but on my current apartment patio this is not feasible.

This is just my experience with the Defiant 120-Degree Solar Motion Activated Outdoor Integrated LED Area Light with Double Lighting (Black). Yours may very.
 

Tanga.com

If you don't know already, Tanga.com is a website where you can shop for items that are cheaply priced and are a fairly good quality -- at least in my experience so far.

I've ordered five times since 2011 from Tanga. The items I've purchased range from apparel to audio/video to PPE. I usually have come across an email promoting a deal or landed on some website I frequent promoting a deal on Tanga. The first time ordering I was kind of hesitant because it didn't seem like a really legit website. I did some research and it was referenced quite a few times from other websites I 'follow' so I figured it had to be 'legit enough,' right?

For the most part, it's been pretty smooth sailing. That is up until my most recent order.

I purchased three items on the same day, May 27, 2020. I purchased insurance at a nominal cost, although a little hesitant, to cover my products because I had this nagging feeling I may or may not receive my items due to the nature of what they were: PPE. The expected delivery dates were given up front and two items would be delivered before the third. Not a big deal as I was not in any dire need of these products.

Two packages delivered pretty much when expected. However, there was some extended delay in packaging and then shipping of the third. Again, not a huge deal as I know they don't have Amazon or other retail stores' shipping times.

Tracking the shipment almost daily via the Tanga website, I finally saw that it was out for delivery on June 8, 2020 arriving by 8 PM. Cool.

The entire evening I'm watching TV in my living room which my couch faces directly to my front door with frosted glass. I make this point because I can tell when someone comes to my door at all times because they ALWAYS create a shadow on the window. Anyway, I get up to check the porch (they're really three steps) around 6:30 PM just in case someone came by while I was away from the couch. Nothing there. I check the porch again around 7:30 PM and still nothing there. I once again check the porch at 8:30 PM thinking that 8 PM was an approximation so I'd give it a half hour. Nothing there.

I decide to check the tracking on Tanga to see if the status had changed. It did. It said, "Delivered, Front Door/Porch" as of 6:31 PM. I'd have to say that this was incorrect. But to be doubly sure, I opened my front door, looked around carefully and I found no delivered item.

This wouldn't be the first time the USPS has fucked up a delivery or posted false information because they couldn't/didn't actually make the delivery. It usually is delivered the next day. However, my item was not delivered on the 9th nor was it delivered on the 10th. Being a generous and positive thinker, I figured it would come on the 11th, 12th or 13th but alas it did not.

On June 14, 2020 I emailed Tanga customer service via their website form stating there was a "Problem with an order" (one of their default subject line choices) as in I NEVER RECEIVED IT even though the status says delivered. The confirmation page after submitting says something about them being a small company of eight employees so give them 24 to 48 hours to respond. Cool, no worries, right.

I get busy in my work week and figured they were too so gave them A LOT of latitude for responding. Finally on June 22, 2020 around 11:30 PM, I submitted an email again on their website with the subject line choice of "Where's my order?" explaining my issue, noting I had previously submitted an email with no response and what were they going to do to correct the issue.

In fact you can see my email conversation below:

ME TO THEM

Jun 22, 2020, 9:54 PM MST

Part of my order has never been delivered. Order number is ########. I received 2 out of the 3 items I ordered. Item under tracking number ########## have NOT been delivered to my front porch as is stated in the tracking information.

This is the second question/email I've sent. Your auto response stated to give you up to 48 hours to respond. It's been 8 days since I submitted my first inquiry on 6/14/20. I also read something about not submitting more than one help ticket but since it's been EIGHT DAYS, I feel like my first one may have gotten lost in cyberspace.

Please let me know what you are going to do to correct the issue--non receipt of item ordered.

THEM TO ME

Kim Bell (Tanga Customer Support)

Jun 23, 2020, 9:14 AM MST

Confirmed with USPS they they were. You will need to file a claim with the insurance you purchased

Good new, you're covered with Route Insurance. You can file a claim for your package here:
https://help.route.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=360001458373

YOU HAVE 15 DAYS AFTER THE DELIVERY DATE TO FILE A CLAIM WITH ROUTE INSURANCE

Let us know if you have any issues, thanks for shipping with us.

ME TO THEM

Jun 23, 2020, 11:57 AM CST

I appreciate that you take USPS word over your customer's because they have such a great track record these days! USPS has no way to positively and completely prove my product was ever delivered. As I too have no way to prove that it wasn't other than I DO NOT HAVE THE PRODUCT!

Weirdly, I did purchase Route Insurance because I had a feeling and did not trust that any of my products would be delivered as have read articles regarding USPS employees snagging PPE products while in transit. Had I not purchased insurance, would your response have been, "Oops, sorry!"? Well, I guess that's what your response essentially already is.

While my past purchases with Tanga are few and far between, they have been positive because I've always received my product. However, it only takes one bad customer service interaction to greatly diminish the positive. Yes, I am a small, wayward purchasing customer but I'd expect some respect and loyalty as a returning customer. Pushing me off to an insurance claim is truly poor customer service and extreme laziness. I'm sure I'm just a drop in the bucket of customers but I don't think I'll be returning.

Regards...

So, yeah. Is that quality customer service or what? {{sarcasm in case you missed it}}

After the email exchange around noon on June 23, 2020, I followed the link to submit a claim with Route Insurance. I got an immediate auto-response stating my claim had been received and to be patient while they gather information to resolve my problem.

At 4:02 PM on June 23, 2020, I got an email notification from PayPal (which is how I paid for my purchase) stating Route has sent you $##.##. NOW THAT'S CUSTOMER SERVICE! I spent $0.98 for insurance and the way they responded is way better than Tanga where I spent $81.00!

So, now Tanga.com has become suspect to me. I would have purchase more if the need arose and they had a good deal. But I'm not sure I will anymore. I try not to get 'burned' by people, places and things more than once.

Unfriended: Dark Web (2018)

Unfriended: Dark Web (2018). Took the opportunity to watch this movie tonight. I watched the first one but can't remember much of it other than I thought it was just okay. I'd have to say the same about this one. It's essentially the same freaking movie as the first. Kind of like all the "Saw" and "Hostel" movies — same old shit different year.

First of all it started out kind of slow and 'silent'. There was about 10-15 minutes of no dialogue. It was all just screen graphics for like someone being on a computer. I mean that's what it was but it was just long and drawn out. A sure hint that a movie is about to be not so good because they draw out or repeat some mundane scenes for far too long.

It finally gets a little interesting but still predictable. Some parts were just total bullshit. I know, I know. It's a movie. Yes, it is but they don't have to try and make everything just for shock value. You can shock with a decent story.

FINAL VERDICT: If you are a glutton for shit, then you should watch this movie. If you prefer something better than 'just plain stupid,' then I would look elsewhere. This is definitely not worth wasting 93 minutes of your time!

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!