I went here last night with 5 other people from Social Wave for dinner. It was my first time at the restaurant, and I was wowed by their food and friendly service.

My dinner, Sheereen Polo, was out-of-this-world delicious. But many of us shared bites of our various dishes with each other, and it was all incredibly tasty. The portions are enormous, so be prepared to take home enough leftovers for dinner the next night. And the price was very reasonable for the amount of food and the quality. (My dish cost $14, and I will get 2 dinners out of that.)

I'll definitely be going back, and encouraging my friends to try it, too!

Many of us know about the great things cooking at Twist Café, so I’m really happy to report that chefs/owners Dominique and Eileen Faury are now serving dinner at Twist Bistro next door!

I’ve been to Twist Bistro twice now, and I can’t say enough great things about it. The atmosphere is wonderful– quiet, a little romantic, yet relaxed - and the service is excellent. But, most of all, the food is outstanding – some of the best I’ve had in this area. The flavors of the dishes are subtle, the ingredients are of the finest quality, and since the menu changes every month, there’s always something new to sample. For those of you who are wine buffs, the manager is a professional sommelier, so you know the wine there is fantastic as well.

You pay a little more for dinner at Twist Bistro than we who frequent the low-priced Twist Café are used to, but I can honestly say it’s worth every penny. This is a very fine restaurant we’re lucky to have in Downtown Campbell.

This past weekend, a friend and I attended a free 3-hour workshop on gardening with native Californian plants. Sponsored by the Santa Clara Valley Water District and held at their headquarters in San Jose, I expected this to be a rather hum-drum affair (you get what you pay for, right?). Well, was I ever wrong! The workshop, led by landscape architect Stephanie Morris, was engaging, entertaining, and very informative. My friend and I are both interested in gardening with native plants, but this workshop got us so excited we decided to plant a native garden within the year! Already, I'm searching the web for more information, and getting ready to buy a couple of books to increase my knowledge.

Stephanie Morris was intelligent, fun, and a great speaker. What's more, she got us excited about what she does. Her accompanying Power Point presentation was helpful and nicely done.

And Santa Clara Valley Water District puts its money where its mouth is. They had lots of great free brochures available with more information on water-wise gardening, they offered everyone at the morning workshop coffee, juice, bagels, and doughnuts, and each of us walked away with a new watering hose spray device as well as a handy SCV Water District canvas sack. The conference room was also comfortable, if a little chilly.

I would recommend checking out future gardening workshops run by this organizination!

I loved this film. Ang Lee did a brilliant job, Heath Ledger was amazing, and Michelle Williams was phenomenal. I told myself I wasn't going to cry, and I still did. It's a lovely, touching movie with beautiful cinematography, and the story will stick with you for quite a while - I'm still thinking about it. I'd recommend it to everyone.

M&N Watch Repair & Jewelers is a gem of a place. Nestled in a small strip mall on the corner of Bollinger and Miller in San Jose, this owner-operated shop offers low-priced, high-quality watch and clock repair. They also have a wide selection of watch bands, for those of you looking for a new one for an unusually-sized wristwatch. The collection of jewelry for sale is small compared to many places, but there were a number of interesting clocks for sale hanging on the walls.

I was very impressed with the patience and good nature of the owner, who clearly enjoys his work and dealing with his customers. I found a very good-quality watchband, and was so impressed with the place and the owner's quiet competence that if I ever need my watch repaired, I'll definitely be heading back there again.

I recently discovered Tiny Tots Togs, located right across from the VTA Rail station in Downtown Campbell. I had a baby shower to attend this weekend, and I found that this place is a gift giver's dream!! I have never been this excited by a children's store. They have a small but very nice collection of educational toys for babies and toddlers, nice-looking baby clothing and sun hats, and some really nifty items for new moms. The prices are a little above normal, but I think the quality of the stuff you're getting is worth a little extra.

The one drawback to this amazing shop was that the store clerk was exceedingly rude, and the customer service is terrible. At first, I thought maybe the clerk was having a bad day, but after browsing on a Friday, I returned on a Saturday to find her demeanor hadn't changed a bit. Don't expect much help at Tiny Tots Togs, and certainly don't expect polite behavior or a warm welcome from the staff. But if you're looking for some unusual and high-quality items for small children or babies, this is a good place to go and support the local economy.

If you live in the heart of Willow Glen, then you know it's hard to find someplace nearby to make photocopies or send a fax. I stumbled across Excel Printing Service a year or two ago, and boy am I glad I did! It's a wonderful little shop on the corner of Willow and Bird, packed with low-cost office supplies (meeting and often beating the prices of the big office supply chains) including photocopy and printing paper, a range of pens, and a good selection of computer printer cartridges. The shop is owned and operated by a very friendly husband and wife team, and I'm always happy with the service I receive. Best of all, I rarely have to wait to get good-quality photocopies done or to send a fax. Excel Printing Service may not look fancy, but it beats Kinko's hands down.

I found Meet the Fockers to not be as funny as I had expected. A lot of the humor was based on really puerile sex jokes, and the plot wasn't all that clever. I went with a small GROUP of people and most of us were left sitting there wondering what was supposed to be so funny (as did most of the theatre, since there wasn't much laughing). I agree that Hoffman and Streisand were brilliant - most of the good laughs came FROM them - they really made the film worth sitting through.

I have taken my car to Honda Hospital in Milpitas for 5 years, and in all that time I have always received the very best car care combined with excellent customer service. If you own a Honda or Acura, I highly recommend these mechanics.

I own a 1991 Honda Civic, I'm female, and I know nothing about cars. These things combined can often cause a lot of trouble. But I am happy to report that I completely trust the folks at Honda Hospital, and, thanks to them, my car runs like a dream (even with over 100,000 miles on it).

First of all, Lisa Hodges, the manager / customer service person at the Milpitas shop, is a fantastically nice person and she knows a ton about car repair. She's friendly and she's is a genius at explaining obscure details of car repair to customers in a way even I can understand (we sometimes have "show and tell" and she'll bring out parts they've had to repair in my car and tell me how they work). I always feel like I'm treated with respect at Honda Hospital and they take me and my concerns and questions seriously. Lisa's also, most importantly, 100 percent honest. If it's not broken, they don't fix it. You will never suffer from unecessary car repairs at Honda Hospital. They want the car to be safe and run well, and if they recommend something get fixed, you know it better get done. If Lisa or the mechanics see that something's wearing out and will need to be replaced within a couple of months, they give me warning so I can save up money for the repair, and they will often tell me the signs to watch/listen for so I know when it's time to take it in to the shop.

Most importantly, when Honda Hospital repairs something, they do it right. They use Honda/Acura parts and the craftsmanship is beautiful. They really care that your car runs well and that it lasts a long time.

Honda Hospital consistently receives excellent ratings from their customers surveyed by AAA, and wins awards from the local Milpitas papers. If you own a Honda or Acura, you should definitely get to know them.

Let me say this as clearly as possible: San Jose Collision Center and its related auto body shop, Alongi Body Shop, suck. They do rotten work and they do it slowly. I wish my car had never been there. But, alas, it has.

In the winter of 2001, my Honda Civic was hit by a Mack truck. Needless to say, my car needed a lot of work after that - there was no damage to the frame, but a lot of damage on the driver's side. My car insurance company (AAA) had my car towed to San Jose Collision Center / Alongi Body Shop. They worked outrageously slowly, taking over a month to finish the work on my car. When I went to pick up my car, I found out that they still hadn't fixed the seatbelt, which wasn't functioning at all. The car immediately went back into the shop, and they took days to finish the work.

When I finally got my car back and inspected the outside of it, I realized that Alongi had scratched up the paint on the hood of the car sometime while they were "repairing" it and "repainting" the drivers' side. (The hood was completely undamaged in the accident.) I asked them to touch up the paint job on the hood, but after many weeks of chasing them around on the phone I finally gave up.

Here it is, late 2004, and I went out to my car and found that the seatbelt that was damaged in the accident didn't work again. I took it into my favorite auto shop, and they took apart the door to find that Alongi had completely gerry-rigged the inside of the car door and the seatbelt mechanism. My mechanics were horrified by the work. Alongi used the wrong parts to repair the door latches and they didn't do any of the work they should have done to repair the seatbelt. Now I'm left with at least $300 in repairs (for the door latch alone), and it would cost over $1000 to repair the seatbelt properly (which, had it been done properly in the first place, would have been completely covered by my insurance company, and Alongi would have profited from the extra work hours).

My mechanics assumed that, since the work was so badly done, Alongi Body Shop and San Jose Collision Center could not possibly still be in business. However, they certainly appear to be. Do yourself a favor - don't take your car there.