San Francisco

Road Trip! 

Amado and I had some things to attend to in San Francisco so we decided

to do a mini getaway. We haven't really gone up north just by ourselves in a while so

we wanted to make sure to make the most out of it.

Day 1

We left the valley really early. Spent the night at Amado's mom's house and dropped off

the girls. Thank goodness Grandma's house is on the way up. They really like staying there 

while we're away but not as much as Kuki likes having them over. 

The weather was a bit gloomy but definitely brightened up along the way.

Of course we prepared for the road, a bag full of snacks. And yes, there was a lot more piled in.

We made good time on the road and got in the city within 5 hours.

We checked in at a Victorian house in Japan Town for a bed and breakfast which was very convenient.

Had lunch at the plaza which was just two blocks away, walked back up to our room and rested.

Day 1's main agenda was to head to Berkeley and check out the Making Waves Exhibit.

Thanks again Will for taking us around and bringing us to Gregoire and many more.

By far the best place I've eaten at up north. It's a very tiny French restaurant that serves food to go.

They do have a few seats out in the front but only enough for about 6 people or so.

Will swore by these Potato Puffs and I agree, its heaven in your mouth.

We had two orders. So bad but so good.

Will's lamb.

Amado ordered the Sauteed Guanciale with arugula for me.

BACON!

And he had the Herbes de Provance.

What I love about the place is that you can see them prepare all the dishes.

We literally sat, waited and ate right in front of the grill.

After chowing down everything we ordered and Greg feasting on our leftovers,

we made our way to the campus for the exhibit.

Since I'm not good at speaking in public (I prefer to be behind the camera), I let Greg go up and do all the talking about the Malaya Project.

Gluttony was the theme for the day but it was so worth it.

As if what we ate earlier wasn't enough, the four of us headed to CREAM 

(Cookies Rules Everything Around Me) for some really good ice cream sandwiches.

Freshly baked cookies and ice cream. Kinda like Diddy Riese except the cookies 

always came right out of the oven. Fresh, warm and delicious. 

Sorry LA, but the bay won this round.

Day 2

Our previous trips up north were always concentrated around downtown for shopping

and late night drinking in Castro. We were excited to check out other areas that 

we've never been to before.

After my appointment in the city around noontime, we had dim sum in Chinatown then headed over to Ghirardelli Square for some desserts and sight seeing.

I think this area would be perfect if we were to move up north, obviously because of the chocolate.

Afterwards, we made our way back to Japan Town to meet up with our other friend Ray.

Amado and Cherry Blossoms... need I say more?

Browsing around while waiting for Ray, Amado spotted this huge wall mirror.

The only photo we have together (I have trust issues when it comes to my camera and strangers).

Ikebana ladies.

Nutella crepe and strawberry cheesecake smiley bear.
Thanks Belly Good Crepes. Another new favorite.
I didn't get a chance to take a photo of Ray's green tea frog, he had already bitten into it :)

Day 3

For our last day, we went to another place we've never been to.

The Palace of Fine Arts and its magnificent Rotunda. 

Just beautiful.

We laid out a blanket under this tree and ate some sandwiches and chocolate filled taiyaki 

we picked up from a bakery in Japan Town.

I always feed birds, then scare them away.

I'm really glad we made time for this trip even though it was a short one.

And after another 5 hours on the road, we were definitely happy to see our girls.