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ohoutintheworld · 6 years

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A to the Z

Friday

So tired going to the airport. We watched Shape of Water on the plane.

Crazy line for the rental car shuttle. It moved quickly though. The self check in kiosk couldn’t read the bar code on my license and when we went to add me as a driver on the rental car at pick up, the woman kept telling me I was under 25. Except I am definitely 25.

Barrio Queen - tacos, guac with pomegranate seeds, and tamales because our waitress said it was national tamale day. It seemed like a lot of food, but we said “Sure, why not?” We ended eating it all though. and we met a grackle in a palo verde “green stick” tree - the state tree of Arizona

Musical Instrument Museum - we had 3 hours and spent 2 hours in Asia before realizing we should move faster. They have audio headsets that automatically play audio to videos in the exhibits which is neat. It’s amazing how all these different cultures come up with similar ways to make music. It was odd though that other countries instruments were organized by culture and in the America section it was organized by genre. We also witnessed their giant mechanical band whose drummer was ahead of the beat.

We had to leave for the wedding rehearsal but got lost in the Biltmore complex. Afterwards we all had dinner at The Gladly, where they had set up baby pictures of the bride and groom on the tables. Food was pretty good although B makes better flourless chocolate cake.

After dinner the “kids” hung out at the hotel’s pool. Us girls got there first and this group of kids with mostly this one obnoxious 12 year old kept asking us all how old we were. So annoying and offensive and I’m afraid for what he’ll be like when he’s in college. There was some swim racing and games of chicken but I was so tired. This day felt like two whole days.

Saturday - Wedding Day

Started the day at 8 so all the girls could get their hair and make up done. Breakfast and lunch were delivered to our hotel room. Photographers in the afternoon.

A little windy during the ceremony and I had to fluff K’s dress so it would look perfect for the pictures. I didn’t think I would cry and didn’t even bring a tissue but A was crying the whole time, I could see only his face, and their vows were so sweet.

We forgot to sign the guestbook! They took it away before we remembered to.

Quite a few people came up and complimented me on my toast. I am so relieved because I was nervous about writing something sufficiently sentimental and entertaining and not cheesy or generic. But people thought it was funny, concise, and well-paced/spoken.

The venue was so pretty and we had so much fun dancing! The live band makes a difference compared to just a DJ.

Sunday

We had breakfast at our airbnb. We never got to meet the host but we decided his life is just about traveling because that was all the paraphenalia in his house.

Sadly, it didn’t make sense to take my bouquet even though it’s the prettiest one I’ve ever seen so I left it for our host.

Drove about 1hr north to Arcosanti, arriving around 11:45am. They have tours every hour except at noon, so in the meantime we had complimentary coffee in the cafeteria and walked the 20min visitor’s trail which takes you up on a ridge opposite the town for a nice view.

Continued north to Montezuma Castle, a Native American dwelling built into an alcove in a cliff face. It’s relatively well-preserved because it’s sheltered. We saw some intense-looking black beetles.

A few miles into Rt179 off of I-17, we were suddenly and completely blown away by the sudden change in landscape. I drove around a bend and these magnificent red rock formations came into view, rising up against the blue sky. It was so stunning. We pulled off into a scenic lookout and did a small hike in front of Courthouse Butte and Bell Rock.

B tried opening a nopales/prickly pear cactus to taste and got little needles all in his fingers. Unsurprisingly.

Drove by Cathedral Rock but sadly didn’t have the time to go up it. Surely the view is incredible.

I beat B in foosball while we waited. Went on in search of food and ended up at a burger place whose staff seemed too frantic.

A very dark drive through Oak Creek. Towards the end the road has a string of semi-cricular hair-pin turns. I kept thinking I was nearly just driving in a circle.

Arrived at our Flagstaff airbnb and were greeted by a cat and dog. We immediately stepped onto the back porch to look at stars, but it’s chilly here. Much much more so than in Phoenix.

I was reading brochures and travel guides and Bjorn got very sleepy. He wonders why.

Monday

The next day we drove to the Grand Canyon. We conveniently got breakfast and hiking snacks at the nearby grocery store but hit the road a little late. We got the the Grand Canyon entrance around 11 and there was a bit of a wait to pay to get in. We were still able to find parking though after driving through a number of full lots.

You can walk along a paved path on the rim of the canyon but there are also some trails down. There are so many families with bothersome children we practically ran down to try and get away from all the other tourists. On the way down, we’d pass people coming up who seemed to be struggling. I suppose they hadn’t anticipated how hard it’d be to climb back up. We hiked 3 miles down to a little rest house and had lunch but it got super windy and cold and started snowing/raining a tiny bit. You get a different view from being in the canyon than when you’re above it though so hiking in is totally worth it. Going up was a bit challenging but I think for me it was mostly because of the elevation, which made me short of breath. We finished our round trip in 3 hrs and 5 min so there definitely would’ve been time to go a bit farther, especially if you get there early. But we walked along the rim to the far side, to the geology museum which is really just an exhibit with an overlook. From there we could see a tiny piece of the Colorado River. It really got quite chilly, but it was also amazing to see the light around sunset!

We had gotten postcard stamps from the Grand Canyon post office so I filled out the one I got from the airbnb and mailed it to my parents.

On our way out, we saw some elk on the side of the rode! At first I was confused about everyone driving slowly with their emergency lights on.

We drove back to Flagstaff and had dinner at this fusion Asian noodle shop that had this Asian hip hop aesthetic? It had a lot of people inside so it seemed like a better option than the various bars. Bjorn got this ramen will all the kinds of pork in it though. Yum. We sat at the counter and it was funny watching the kitchen guys.

Tuesday

We drove up to Snowbowl mountain to go snowboarding!! The scenery is so beautiful and it’s strange to look down the mountain and see all the grasslands and different landscapes down below. We could even see the edge of the Grand Canyon about 90 miles away perhaps and all these mesas in the distance. The snow itself was like really fine ice-sand. Grainy and shallow on the ground so there wasn’t anything to land on if you fell. As the day went on it got a little warmer and a little slushy which actually made it a bit nicer. They have a few terrain parks so we filmed each other going off the jumps! And kind of landing them. It was also great because the mountain was fairly empty. No waiting in lines or even sharing lifts.

After returning all our gear we drove back to Phoenix, again through Oak Creek and Sedona so we could see it in the daylight. Getting back to the rental car area was a bit of a navigational mess but we made it and had plenty of time at the airport so we sat down and had some din din. Lame-O American Airlines didn’t let us have carry-ons and we had to pay to check a bag and then we couldn’t even sit next to each other.

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ohoutintheworld · 6 years

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Colorado Aug/Sept 2017

Tuesday the 29th

- fly to Denver!

- A picked us up from the airport and we went to her Denver house to load up on camping gear before going to the stay at the Snowmass house. Also picked up groceries on the way.

Wednesday the 30th

- I learned aspen tree clumps are actually all the same organism. They all have the same roots so it’s really one sprawling creature!

- Visited a dispensary. A asked us what we wanted, but we obviously had no idea what this place was or how one operates in one. So she just picked out some gummies and joints.

- Hot springs at Crystal Creek! A roadside hot spring right by a melted-ice river. There was a shovel and you could dig your own pool or use some pre-made areas set up with rocks. Some of the pools closer to the source were SO hot.

- Went to the town Marble, which, surprise! has marble quarries. Had amazing BBQ at Slow Groovin and then took a walk and stumbled upon Yule Creek Falls. Into whose freezing waters we skinny dipped. Collected pieces of marble, and also obsidian!

- Started a puzzle at the house. So it begins.

Thursday the 31st

- Ashcroft ghost town. From there we took a walk/easy hike through beautiful fields of wildflowers to Pine Creek Cookhouse for lunch. Patio seating with a gorgeous mountain backdrop.

- Stopped in Aspen, a fancy town. But I got a caramel apple.

- Drove to Maroon Bells - with its picturesque perspective. A storm was a’brewing and we got out just in time.

Friday the 1st

- Hiking to and camping trip at Capitol Lake, 12 miles round trip, 2000′ elevation change. I met cheeping marmots! The hike goes through an aspen forest full of cow poop, fields, coniferous forest, more field, wildflowers. The end of the hike was so hard. You’re so close but you have to climb a little hill to get to the camping site. It’s crazy how quickly out of breath I become up at altitude. I don’t feel tired or anything, just breathing is thin.

- The lake is nestled at the base of the mountain peak. So beautiful.

- We had an “Oh, shit” moment trying to make dinner because the gas canister had a leak. We all ran and... waited. We didn’t have a clue what we should do. But all was fine. We ate our pasta salad cold and it was still delicious.

Saturday the 2nd

- Diving into the even more freezing cold water of the lake. A is bonkers and can just stay and swim in it. I don’t need THAT much to feel alive...

- M&M pancakes over our dinky camp stove.

- Hiking back down is so much easier. And most of our packs are lighter because we ate our food.

Sunday the 3rd

- To the ranch! In Evergreen. On the 4 hr drive we went through Independence Pass/the Continental Divide and also stopped to get K’s milkshakes.

- A’s parents greeted us at the ranch. Soon after arrival we went on a “safari ride/cocktail loop” - sitting on the open back of a pick up truck outfitted with seats on the bed and drinking wine! Just before we set off a neighbor on the ranch radioed a PSA, please standby... for margaritas.

- The house has a grand double height hall in the middle. Feels very impressive.

- Dinner was dove hunted by A’s dad, wrapped in bacon with cream cheese and jalapeno. One of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten. We also had salad with grilled eggplant, pita, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, pistachios, and grilled halloumi cheese with white wine vinegar.

Monday the 4th

- Walked up Mt. Susan by the ranch house and collected cool rocks - pink quartz. Danni had to leave after this :(

- Visited the ranch hq animals with A’s mom. She also took us to see this Corale Creek house that was designed by the guy who lived in it and is so bizarre. Tons of guest rooms connected to each other, but also by a separate hallway. Grand rooms, sunny maids chambers in the attic, an enormous kitchen.

- Ziplined into the pond and watched J try to golf off Mt. Susan into the pond below.

- Visited the neighbor’s timber construction house and had his tequila.

- Dinner was elk and big horn sheep, and perfect peach pie! Accompanied by crazy family stories of flying and scuba diving and exotic places in the world. This was followed by a game of whist. I did not come in last.

Tuesday the 5th

- Half day at the ranch - A’s dad showed us how to shoot! We fired a 22 pistol, a 410 shotgun, a semi-automatic rifle, and a 44 Magnum. Jeez, that last one was scary. Shooting at clay pigeons is actually quite fun. And so satisfying if you hit it.

- Back to Denver, where A’s dad flew us in his plane to their hunting property in Lamar. Did another safari ride and saw a great horned owl. The house has a cute private courtyard in the middle and a view of the river right in the backyard. The house is full of stuffed turkeys.

- We had dinner with A’s parents at their country club. Ate some green chile soup and lamb t-bones, yum.

Wednesday the 6th

- A already left and J and I fly back to Boston.

- Got some life advice from their maid - she told me there is not try, just do.

- Walked through downtown Denver and sat at a cafe at the train station before heading to the airport. Denver feels small. The renovated train station is beautiful.

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ohoutintheworld · 7 years

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Japan Spring 2017

Going to Japan with my architecture studio!

We flew Japan Air; I would recommend. The food on plane was amazing, especially for airplane plane food. There were many small side dishes and even Ben and Jerry ice cream! The bathroom had toothbrushes and mini-toothpastes so you could freshen up during the flight.

When we arrived at the airport though, contrary to expectations, the immigration line was so unorganized and semi-chaotic. There was no clear line, or there were multiple lines for the same destination. Chinese people were absolutely cutting and stations for you to fill out your documents were located at the end of the line. Let it be known that if you fill out your documents with poor handwriting or colored ink that isn’t black or blue, they make you redo it.

After the airport, our group needed to get train tickets to Kyoto. It was a long wait to process everyone. Then we also had to get subway tickets to get to the train station before we could even start that 4 hour train ride. Then we still had to subway to our hostel. I think after two days of traveling we were finally reached our destination from Boston, and we could finally sleep!

I had imagined that, because Japan was a highly developed country, most places would take card. It turns out, though that Japan is still a primarily cash economy. Maybe it’s because the vending machine is also very popular and prevalent - machines for coffee (hot or cold!), drinks, cigarettes - are all over in the streets. At some restaurants you also order from a machine, you put money in and push the button with your menu item of choice. I hadn’t anticipated this cash-only issue and thus didn’t have enough in my Charles Schwab international checking account so I also had to draw from my Bank of America. And during this trip I also learned my BoA account charges a fee for each transaction I made at an ATM. Lessons learned.

All that to say, at the hostel we needed to pay the whole group’s bill upfront with cash, even though we had made a reservation online with a credit card. Of course, none of us, having just arrived, had enough cash to spot but our host kindly covered us in that moment. Our host was a former student of the architect co-teaching our studio. We felt bad for him because it seems the architect asked him as a un-negotiable favor to show us around. Indeed, he did. I don’t know how our group would’ve survived without him. He would pick us up from the hostel in the mornings and lead us, a group of almost 20 naive, distracted foreigners, around the city, on and off trains, getting to places on time. He basically dropped a whole week of his life for us. In the end, though I hope he grew to enjoy being with us and as repayment probably the architect helped get our host a teaching position at the university.

Japan is very strict about taking shoes off, so at the hostel the front door is lined with everyone’s shoes. The lower floor had a common space where you sit on cushions on the floor with low tables, and co-ed/male bunks and upstairs had female bunks. The bunks were wooden boxes with curtains on a long edge for privacy. Inside was a small bookshelf and lamp and a mattress. The toilets had all kinds of buttons with pictograms and the back of the tank had a sink. Water would run when you flushed the toilet! So efficient. But it seemed weird to wash your hands before exiting the stall. I did try the bidet function and it wasn’t as terrible as I was expecting. It does seem more clean than just wiping.

There were two breakfasts places nearby adjacent to each other and the meals were so cheap! Maybe $5 or $6 for fish, soup, seaweed, and unlimited rice to eat it with. And their rice is so good - round and sticky. It also comes with a raw egg which you typically mix with your rice but I put mine in the soup. The Japanese apparently have a thing for slimy food textures. One morning I tried natto, per recommendation of B as a traditional dish. It’s fermented soybeans mixed with some soy and mustard. It’s so sticky, also has a slimy texture, and tastes strong and a little bitter. Apparently a lot of Japanese also don’t like it.

We only had two days in Kyoto. The first day the whole group together visited temples all over. There is an unbelievable amount of temples in Kyoto. I learned that palatial temples had wood cedar shingles while monk temple roofs had tile. I think when a royal emperor sort of defected and became a monk, the buildings roofing was changed to reflect that. We went to the Silver Pavilion first, and we did not visit the Golden Pavilion at all because it’s apparently overrated and you don’t get to see as much and it was redone. Silver Pavilion grounds were so beautiful. The plants and moss are so deeply green and everything is composed perfectly - literally. Workers actually apparently arrange patches of moss and pick out leaves so that it is all perfect. You realize this when you realize there’s no debris of any kind anywhere. For all the trees there are no dropped leaves or twigs. Nothing in nature is natural! For some reason, I noted that all the fancy luxury cars are in white. Walking on the street is a different experience because there’s no raised sidewalk, and sometimes no sidewalk at all. Buildings and houses will open right onto the street with no grade change. We went to this neighborhood that is meant to be traditional, with old-style buildings and little shops but it’s also incredibly touristy. A lot of temples are free if you wear traditional attire, an effort by the city I suppose to encourage locals to maintain their culture, but instead tons of tourists rent outfits. So you have all these Chinese people walking around in the streets with Japanese fancy attire. The temple in this area was also packed. It was under renovation so the outside was covered in scaffolding unfortunately, but workers were way up there with out harnesses. Crazy! We had a group dinner at Asahi brewery but the food was lame - a poor effort at already bad American bar food. So afterwards, a group of us went and found a tsukemen shop and walked through the shopping district. Japan is noodle heaven because oftentimes you can get any size bowl of noodles at no extra cost. So larges for me all the way! The next day, I tried natto at breakfast, a very traditional dish but quite unappealing. It’s fermented soy beans with mustardy soy sauce and it’s SO slimy. The Japanese love slimy food so much.

For lunch, after much deliberation and walking back and forth trying to find a place that could accommodate our group, we got seats at a soba shop. I picked out a bowl that had tofu, which Kyoto is known for. It was very smooth tofu. We also had a Kyoto dessert, but I don’t remember its name. We took the train from Kyoto to Tokyo and walked from the station to our capsule hotel. Each guest had their own box, with a curtain at the foot of the bed. Inside your capsule, you had your own TV, some nooks for your belongings, and different lighting settings. It was incredibly cozy. Certainly small, but it’s nice to have everything within reach, all while you’re chilling in bed. Unfortunately, we only stayed at this hotel for one night. The architect had, for the rest of the night, booked us in a youth hostel with a curfew, upsetting much of our group. There we all bunked in two room - guys in one, girls in another

For dinner, we went to a Tsurutontan, which serves giant bowls of giant udon with giant spoons. Their menu was also big - like a whole book - with all kinds of toppings and flavors. Tokyo so different from Kyoto, like New York on steroids with stories of lights on up and everyone is bustling, but it’s really clean and no one’s pushing past you. Also, everyone walks in single file lines through subway station. There are all different, independent train companies operating in Japan, which means that you can have a train pass but it only works for certain lines though they all share a station. It’s incredibly confusing. Our class had a JL pass for our whole time, which I think included inter-city trains and subways, but I needed different passes to use different lines when getting around the city with my friends. And you can also fill a metro card but I’m not sure which lines that covers. The architect took us to have sushi for lunch at a place near his studio. Real sushi! We had two parts of tuna (red melt soft and white), shrimp (tender) and egg (sweet and smooth), eel (soft and taste the sea) and roe (stiff texture and crunchy). Roe and urchin (buttery), roll with salty bitter roe, red fish and scallion (great). The chef also made cherry blossom bread with cream cheese nuts, which was salty, sweet, and sharp, and a fig and cashews bread. For dessert we had strawberries in matcha sugar. I really wanted to just eat a whole bunch of that sugar by itself.

For the majority of our time in Tokyo, we were on trains to and from the university and the architects’ projects. It was nice visiting his projects. They are all fairly simple but very well-detailed and create unique spaces despite the simplicity. So Japanese. But being at the university was torture as we had days of presentations and desk crits and were expected to work all night.

They did cave and give us one free afternoon to be in Tokyo. We split up in small groups led by Japanese students and most people went shopping. I went with our trip host who offered to do an architecture tour down Omotesando St, which is like Fifth Avenue with all the luxury brand shops. But it’s also full of starchitecture. First he took us to his favorite ramen place that made yuzu ramen. I think it’s the best ramen I’ve ever had, definitely in terms of flavor. It’s ctirusy but also cozy, warming, umami brother, and mine was also a bit spicy. Near a train station and one of the architect’s kindergartens, I saw bike racks with alternating heights so adjacent bikes’ handlebars and pedals don’t get in the way of each other and you can pack the bikes in more tightly. Smart!

For our last night with the architect, he invited us to his home for dinner. A very kind gesture, but also a little bit to show off his home I think. It was all homemade food -soup, veggies, rice- which was nice. There was a sticky, crunchy kind of rice pancake that you put sauce on which I really enjoyed.

Luckiest of all for me, my friend N and her bf were also in Tokyo then! So after our classes’ last scheduled evening I planned to meet up with them, stay with them (and avoid the hostel’s curfew) and hang out our free day before our flight back. We had agreed to meet at Shinjuku station by a specific shop. Easy enough, right? While on the train our trip host asked “Which exit?” and I said “What do you mean?” “Shinjuku has hundreds of exits... good luck!” I also didn’t have any data or wi-fi access, just a pre-downloaded map and, while walking up and down and in and out, realized I might not find my friends. I was so close! But not quite there and didn’t have a way to reach them! Amazingly, they spotted me!

We walked through one of the tight, narrow old-style streets and then went to this izakaya place that had a drinks special, eating and drinking and catching up. We reached the time of the last train going back to their place and there was a massive crowd trying to get up the steps to the platform. We thought we’d never get to the train but somehow the people started flowing and we squished on. Like really really squished on. Finally the crazy Tokyo subway squishing experience. There were so many moments when I thought, “Okay, that’s the maximum we can pack it in. No one else can get on,” but people continued to get on. Never before have I been so aware of how human bodies are just bags of fluid that can be squished in. I started getting light headed during the trip, partially from drinks perhaps but mostly I think because of all the people consuming the oxygen I wanted so I knelt down. It felt like there was more room among people’s ankles.

My friends were living a bit farther out, and the next day we walked along the river in the neighborhood to get to the train station. They forgot their portable wi-fi at the house, so M ran back and N and I walked along the banks watching people set up for the cherry blossom celebration and some people trying to kayak upstream. In the city, we had limited time but visited shops - like the famously giant stationery store Tokyu Hands and took silly photobooth pictures. They edit it so much I don’t look like myself at all! We ate noodles by this big park and then walked through to see all the cherry blossoms. So many people were picnicking under the trees with huge spreads and lines of bottles of alcohol. They aren’t allowed to bring furniture but people create all sorts of makeshift tables out of foamcore or cardboard. Even some more solid things that are questionably not furniture.

Finally I had to catch the train for the airport. There was a moment of panic where I didn’t know which way to go and didn’t know how to get the right answers in the rush. Luckily, M realized I went the wrong way and he ran to get me while I ran having gotten a general direction from a stranger. I just jumped onto the train with a minute to spare.

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ohoutintheworld · 8 years

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Chicago! - Day 7 Final Day

We went to the aquarium today, which we hadn’t had time for the other day. A decent aquarium with galleries organized around a rotunda. We saw their oldest fish, which was almost 100 years old. (I think he passed away a few months after we visited him). The aquarium wasn’t too big and afterwards we uber-ed to Illinois Institute of Technology so I could check out some architecture - Mies’ Crown Hall and OMA’s McCormick Tribune Student Center. It almost feels weird how open Crown Hall is, especially for an architecture school space. You can hear the chatterings of desk crits and presentations though you can see them because they put up partitions.

We headed back to Hyde Park and I took my hosts out to dinner at A10, where they had a “Tour the Garden” menu that focuses on one ingredient (our week was grapes) and makes a four course meal. We sat outside and had summery cocktails with our swanky yummy final dinner.

Then I was off to the airport. Goodbye, Chicago, hope to be back soon! I don’t know how it’s like in the winter but it’s certainly nice in the summer.

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ohoutintheworld · 8 years

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Chicago! - Day 5 Artifacts and Laughs

We spent the entirety of the afternoon at the Field Museum today. Like the rest of the museums in Chicago, it’s enormous. It’s quite good and interactive for a Natural History Museum; they set up all the rooms so you really feel like you’re in the part of the world of the exhibit, putting you in the middle of a island market, a Native American village, or an ancient Egyptian tomb and town, and they even have whole houses reconstructed that you can enter. Some parts are still an overwhelming display trying to show everything and I felt sometimes I didn’t know where or how to look at all the objects and there was a lot of text to read, which we didn’t really of course. The Tibetan artifacts were particularly beautiful. One section is a walk through the entire evolution of Earth through every era and all the mass extinctions.

It was the late afternoon by the time we finished and though we had planned to visit the Shedd Aquarium which was right next door we decided to leisurely head to dinner. We walked along the shore to Buckingham Fountain and decided upon Dove’s Luncheonette for dinner in Wicker Park, a cute Tex-Mex diner. There we shared cornmeal-encrusted fried oysters on tomato gumbo and rice and had brisket tacos with radishes and peach. So delicious. From there, we walked east to the Second City theater for our comedy show! As we walked the neighborhood transformed from small, cute shops and restaurants to big box furniture stores.

We had tickets for the Second City Best Of show. K and I had seats only a few rows from the front. The show definitely had a political and social agenda, treating Obama well and making fun of Trump and always addressing the issue of race in the face. This particular show was one of the performer’s last and a third act featured little speeches from her co-performers and some extra improv.

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ohoutintheworld · 8 years

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Chicago! - Day 4 Walk in the Park

Our day started with an elaborate, overly-complicated UberPool with a new driver who was flustered and distracted by everything. We pooled with a man in a wheelchair who was already frustrated because he waited for so long. Our driver became concerned that she couldn’t accommodate him though it was fine. He could get in and out himself and his wheelchair broke down to fit in the trunk. She then kept not following the GPS thinking it didn’t make any sense. After it all though, we finally arrived at our destination at the end of the 606/the Bloomingdale Trail, Chicago’s version of the High Line. The elevated park has some prairie plantings, bike paths, and squishy ground from running paths with a few overlook spots you can sit at. We walked off at the neighborhood of Wicker Park, full of hip shops and food joints and feels very SF. Everyone is young, looks good and is nicely dressed and probably has a solid paying job. We walked up and down a street (because I directed us the wrong way) eyeing all the restaurants and I got a super cheap ($3.75!) falafel sandwich at Sultan’s Market. We went around the corner and got peanut butter banana donut pockets with chocolate icing from Stan’s Donuts. So rich. From there we Ubered to Lincoln Park Zoo, which, amazingly, is free. It’s like a normal public park that anyone can walk into, but it’s got animals! I liked the bird house where, in one section, the birds are free to fly around you. They also had a lot of big cats and monkeys, including some huge gorillas. Also entertaining were the African painted dogs, who just kept happily running back and forth in their area. We tried to the Conservatory as well but it had closed by 5pm already. From there we Ubered to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for dessert, decided in the car to be peach cobbler and ice cream and had dinner at home. We had intended to picnic at Promontory Point on the lakeshore but it was too dark. K kicked our butts in Scrabble after dinner.

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ohoutintheworld · 8 years

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Day 3 In the River

Today we went downtown to the Riverwalk. There was a lot of traffic getting because the Bears were in town and the driver kept looping around and around. Chicago has a whole underbelly of streets under all the elevated trains that run between building backsides and dumpster areas.

At the river, we started at Michigan Ave and Wacker and first walked towards the lake. Our side had the highway behind it and some slightly tacky cafes and bars at the water edge, irreverently themed with Monet or Tropical Island. At the lake, tons of yachts and sailboats are moored. People were jogging and biking by, especially biking because a triathlon was happening the next day and everyone seemed to be prepping.

We walked back the other way where the riverbank is more built out and embedded in the city. Nice stone steps go down to the water edge and restaurants are tucked into the walls of the riverside. Everyone looks extra chic sipping their wine. The city and its buildings are really right up against the river, it’s aptly named skyscraper canyon. It was beautiful though with the summer sun shining off the glass and water onto the cream stone.

We had tickets reserved for a river architecture tour for 5pm. A was supposed to join but couldn’t make it in time. It was a supposedly 90 minute tour and we went up and down 3 branches of the river. The guide was a volunteer, which is impressive and knew the history of the buildings lining the river well. We learned the name Chicago comes from the Native word Chica-goo which means smelly onion river. So lovely. At the fork of the river, you can smell chocolate really strongly because there’s a factory nearby.

After the river tour we walked to the Chicago Tribune building based on the tip of our tour guide. The building has pieces of other buildings from around the country and the world embedded in its walls, 1 from every state and some from places reporters have traveled to. NJ’s was from Princeton U. We continued down Magnificent Mile, stopping at a Garrett’s Popcorn shop. I bought some disappointing special edition kettle corn but the Garrett's mix is good; mix of caramel and cheddar. Both really strongly flavored but at least they offset each other’s salty and sweet. At the end we approached the Hancock Tower and waited in some lengthy lines to get to the bar at the top, the Signature Room. They were $20 drinks but definitely worth it, especially seeing the city from above at night with all the lights sparkling beneath and going off into the distance. The women’s bathroom has an even better view because you can go right up to the glass, but the men’s bathroom apparently has no windows at all.

From there, we walked down to the Navy Pier to see the summer fireworks. Inside the pier building are a bunch of gift shops and food places, like Fanueil Hall/Quincy Market. Then we Ubered to Lou Malnati’s for deep dish! It was much better than expected and their tomato sauce was fresh and tangy but it did take 35 min for them to make. A great meal at the end of a long day.

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ohoutintheworld · 8 years

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Chicago! - Day 6 Beach and Baseball

Today for brunch we went to a wonderful place called Bang Bang Biscuits, because biscuits are amazing. It was topped with poached egg, gravy, meat, cheese - all the delicious savory breakfast essentials. I also got pie, because pie is also amazing.

We spent the afternoon on the beach listening to some podcasts and swimming a bit. It being a random weekday, the beach was practically empty. The lake is incredible. It appears as huge as the ocean from your meager human perspective, but it’s not salty! There was a designated swimming area and you weren’t allowed to go too far out unfortunately but you could swim along the coastline - so nice.

Eventually the sky became ominous and stormy, threatening us with a downpour so we packed up. Indeed we were dumped on as we tried sheltering ourselves under a single umbrella but the storm was over fairly quickly. We walked towards the area of Wrigley Field, stopping at a donuts place we spied. We also found a cute gifts and knick knacks shop where K bought a lovely thick line-work print of the Chicago skyline. She did some fast searching on her phone to see that should could get a frame for it before buying. Smart. I so would’ve gotten one too if there were no inconvenience of traveling with it.

The Wrigley Field area seems much more fun and chill than, say, Fenway. It is, of course, full of sports bars and pubs but each of them seems to have more individual character and are at a cozy scale. You could hang out in the neighborhood even if there wasn’t a game. K and I had great seats for the price. Normally we’d be sitting way in the outfield but at Wrigley most of the seats are along the first and third base line/behind the catcher. P was in town for the evening and joined us somehow and A, who happened to be at the same game with his office, joined us eventually as well. We had the essential hot dogs and soft pretzels. Post-game we went back to the apartment, with P and A bringing back some deep dish Pizza and we played rounds of Scrabble.

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ohoutintheworld · 8 years

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Chicago! - Day 2 In The Loop

Today we slept in! Totally necessary after our early day yesterday. Leftovers for breakfast and then we were off to the Art Institute.

The Institute was comparably huge as the Science Museum; we spent 4-5 hours there. It was a lot of stuff, a comprehensive inventory across time and culture, with a great collection of Impressionism and Modern. We saw some serious works of Degas, Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso, Sargent, etc. We saw Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks which was on show for a special exhibition. Their 3rd floor related to the Armory Show of Modernist Art that originally showed at the Institute in 1913. Their Japanese section had a gallery room designed by Tadao Ando that bore his quiet, heavy characteristic grace. There was a room in the lower level of just miniature rooms, built out in detail and complete with doors to other built-out rooms and windows looking out to painted views and letting in the light. The majority were from the 18th century Europe and America with a few modern rooms. The new building extension was beautiful, so white and light and open. Unfortunately the architecture and design win was closed.

After we crossed the street to Millennium Park where we took obligatory selfies at the Bean and saw Gahry’s Pavilion. It was less park-y than I expected - more concrete paths with planted areas than grass. We had the combo ticket for the Art Institute and the Willis Tower Skydeck so we headed in that direction. On the way we stopped at the Macy’s where Google Maps said a glass Tiffany Dome was. Instead we found a still beautiful mosaic ceiling, and then found the glass dome in the Chicago Cultural Center. There was another dome but we couldn’t see it because filming was going on.

We continued on to visit the Design Museum and the alleged Foodseum. The latter didn’t exist yet but the former was also closed for a private event. We looked through the glass though at the folded paper exhibit inside though while eating our peanut butter banana pudding from Magnolia Bakery. Yes, it’s a NYC place but their banana pudding is just so good. We also tried to look at FLW’s Rookery but it was also closed to the public.

It was convenient having our pre-paid tickets for the Sky Deck from the Institute so we didn’t have to wait in line at the Tower. They showed a short movie at the start with a brief history of Chicago and the tower’s construction and had a one-room exhibit on Chicago sites. We learned that the Shedd Aquarium imported 1 million gallons of saltwater from Florida. We also learned there’s 25,000 miles of plumbing in the building.The elevator goes up to the 103rd floor at 16 mph. At the top you can look out from each of the cardinal directions, and on the west side are the glass boxes that jut out 4ft. The East and North sides are the nicest because you can look down the coastline and you see all of downtown. It’s amazing how flat the landscape is and how far you can see.

We went back down and wandered a bit before catching an Uber to meet A for dinner at a place called Joy Lee’s in Chinatown. Conveniently this week Uberpool is $3.12 b the 312 area code. We had the jumbo bowl of pho and bubble tea. We destroyed the jumbo bowl easily and went back and watched Jerry Maguire.

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ohoutintheworld · 8 years

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Chicago! Day 1

Aug 25-31, 2016.

I am so excited to be in Chicago with my best friend! One week of touristing and eating, and I get to stay in her lovely apartment with my own suite and my roundtrip flight cost only $98 thanks to Southwest Airlines. I did have to wake up at 3:30am for my 5:35am flight though. But that did no harm and we had the full day to explore upon my arrival.

K picked me up from Midway to her new home where I got the grand tour and we then cracked down on our game plan for the week. Leading up to the trip we collected places to visit on a Google map and we itineraried it out across our days. On top of our Second City show tix we also ordered some for a Cubs v Pirates game and the architectural boat tour. All by 9am.

Today was a cloudy and spitty day so we stayed local around Hyde Park. We walked to the U Chicago area, stopping at a cafe called Medicci’s for sandwiches. A homeless man outside asked us if we’d get him a cinnamon roll and since he had helped K out the day before with moving, she did. He would later go on to completely forget who we were and asked again for change and food when we passed a few hours later.

We went to Frank Llyod Wright’s Robie House, on U Chicago’s campus where we got a ~40min tour through the interior. The detailing in every aspect of the house from the plan to the doorknob was astounding. FLW was such a smart designer. The house had a service stair that wasn’t at all noticeable from the exterior but the milk or ice man could walk up and deliver his goods right into the ice box. And the ice box would melt down into the laundry room below, saving someone the work of having to empty it.

K pointed out her future school building and we walked across Chicago’s campus, which was quite beautiful. All the landscaping here is lush and diverse. Even the meridians in the street have 4 different kinds of trees and an explosion of ferns and flowers.

From there we went to the Science and Industry Museum, which is the best science museum I’ve ever been to. It’s huge, absolutely enormous. It has a whole submarine, Boeing 727, and train inside. One gallery of storm science is 40’ high. At first it was overwhelmingly intense, but I ended up appreciated the bigness of everything because it makes even the adults feel small and in awe. The museum also covers a lot more topics than I expected, and a range of time periods, and the exhibits were interactive and high-tech; lots of motion sensors, projections, huge touchscreen monitors, and even some electrodes. K and I competed to move a ball with your brain; we put on headbands with electrodes against our foreheads and it would move the more relaxed you were. We also so liquid magnets, felt 80mph winds, saw freshly hatched chicks (we saw one starting to hatch, and then returned to see it had hatched, but missed the hatching event itself), learned of the capture of the German sub U-505 and saw it in its entirety (you can pay an extra $12 to get a tour inside but we didn’t), saw our veins, and had our heights and arm spans measured, saw slices of humans, and got disoriented in a mirror maze that looks like it goes for infinity and you see other lost visitors coming from directions that they aren’t. They showed slices of a normal, obese, and super obese leg. The normal had a bone in the center and muscle around it, the obese was surrounded by fat, and the super obese was a big, white blobby mess with the muscle melted into it and the bone just floating in it. Some of the more random things included a section of an old Main St with fake cobblestone streets and store fronts, an old circus section with miniatures and some wacky put-your-face-here characters, and a giant fairy castle doll house filled with artistic miniatures. There were also some terrible exhibits that were sponsored by companies and obviously so. DARPA had one that was basically an enormous trade show. We also had ice cream! Of course.

After we walked around to check out the Japanese Garden in Hyde Park but it was unfortunately closed off for construction so we made our way back to the apt.

For dinner, we walked to a Middle Eastern place called the Nile about a mile away. We ordered versions of Maklouba, a Palestinian dish of stuff and rice. And a housewarming champagne.

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ohoutintheworld · 8 years

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BERKELEY, SONOMA

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ohoutintheworld · 8 years

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ALCATRAZ

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ohoutintheworld · 8 years

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SAN FRANCISCO

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ohoutintheworld · 8 years

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Don’t Call it Frisco

2 weeks in the Bay Area, ft me & bae.

Saturday 6/6

NWK -> DFW

For a brief layover, we arrived at Dallas in time to witness everyone in the airport stand up and cheer for the Belmont Stakes and Triple Crown winner. And for some Texan (airport) BBQ brisket.

DFW -> SFO

We took the BART to Millbrae and then Caltrain (a totally different system, like NJTransit and Amtrak) to Menlo Park. We were hungry and arrived late ~10:30pm with few eatery options still open. But The Oasis saved us, a somewhat dingy bar and grill but the perfect late night place, serving pizza and sandwiches, which come simply with chips and a pickle, and many crafts beers in its dim interior. A real local watering hole.

Stopped at Safeway on the way home for the essentials: fruit and beer. We picked out the locals to try: Great White, Trumer Pils, and a pear cider Ace. A bit like a lighter Blue Moon flavor, too light, and juice, tart. None of them especially intrigued us.

Sunday 6/7

We joined my bf’s bro and his (girl)friend for brunch at Chloe’s Cafe in SF. She kindly waited in line for a table while he picked us up from the Bayshore Caltrain station. It’s apparently a thing in SF to wait in lines. I have yet to get into brunch culture, but I like breakfast and I’m no good at getting up early. Maybe that’s all there is to it. And drinking champagne. I didn’t, but I did have wonderfully thick banana walnut pancakes and their plain scrambled eggs actually wowed me. I didn’t know scrambled eggs could have a wow factor.

B’s bro told us how overrated Delores Park is, so, with our expectations sufficiently lowered, we went. Indeed, its over-trodden grass is crowded with people of all sorts and half of it was fenced off for construction but the view overlooking the city is undeniably nice. We didn’t see the Truffleman.

In the spirit of the city, we waited in line for Bi-Rite ice cream at the lowest corner of Delores Park. 1 order of peach, made with local peaches, and 1 of creme brulee, with actual bruleed bits. The first ice cream of many.

We walked through the Mission district, eventually arriving at the Balmy Alley murals, a small quiet street whose paintings have a very local sense and feel. Underwhelming when you’ve seen the mural streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil, though, which is an unfair comparison, I know. We also stopped at Taqueria Cancun for their monster burrito. I’m glad we shared one because I certainly wouldn’t have been able to eat a whole one alone.

Headed towards Twin Peaks, we continued west, pausing at 24th St Cheese shop where we purchased some small, leftover nubs of cheese and La Boulange nearby to get out of the sun. We had a little cafe picnic with our cheese, bread, coffee, and lemonade. I really enjoyed walking around the Delores Heights/Noe Valley area with its adorable, older-looking houses, and the commercial streets have just the local businesses you’d need. Very residential with just urban enough.

Twin Peaks at first seemed rather far but we did reach it, trudging up steep streets (29% grade!) and zig-zagging up around different staircases, and finally up a narrow path. Totally worth it. You can see all of downtown and all the way to the bay. We were lucky and the sky was sunny and clear. It was incredibly windy, though; I thought I might blow away, and we watched the fog (apparently named Karl) roll in to cover the city below.

Walking to the 22nd street Caltrain station, we crossed many streets that are just named after states and we could hear people in their homes cheering for the Golden Gate Warriors in the NBA finals.

Monday 6/8

Stanford day! We walked from our place in Menlo and through the west side of campus. It was particular warm and sunny, and school was still in finals so plenty of students were around. The campus is pretty big, with lots of space and seemingly excessively large lawns between the buildings. I imagine all the landscaping is supposed to be green but it was all mostly yellowish from the drought. The main campus is composed of lovely Spanish-mission style buildings and we went into the chapel which is very much more a grand cathedral. I like the covered arcades surrounding courtyards a lot. We Jamba Juice’d at the student center, using a combined effort of 4 gift cards to pay.

Afterwards, we went to walk the Dish, a reservation foothills area topped with a giant satellite dish. At the entrance we were warned about coyotes and mountain lions. It was like entering a safari, and we were instructed, if attacked, to fight back. We didn’t see any but we saw a lot of squirrel-type creatures that I don’t think are actually squirrels because they don’t have bushy tails and they pop into holes in the ground instead of going up trees. There wasn’t any shade over the walking paths and the afternoon sun was really beating down. There were some real crazy people running up and down the hills. You can’t actually go right up to the dish, but you get some great views overlooking Stanford and the other hills nearby.

Hot and tired, we sat in their cafe for a while, watching the dog show play on the TVs. We explored the Engineering Quad side of the campus next. People were splashing in the fountains joyously I think because they hadn’t been turned on in a while. The D school was particularly interesting as they had displays of some projects in the halls. We met up with our friend in the Computer Science department as she finished up a rendering final. We met her lab friends, one of whom is a part-time DJ and whose catch phrase is “no doubt” and motto is “no puking on the bus.”

Our friend took us to a Korean bbq place which was probably the best I’ve had (I’ve not had many) and a bubble tea place called Teaspoon that actually just makes its drinks with tea. What a noveltea. We walked back to walk off our food babies and joined our apt-mates in watching GoT.

Tuesday 6/9

Today we walked around the piers, starting with the Ferry Building. It was crowded; perhaps because it was around lunch time. Inside, there are a bunch of shops and food stands, much like Chelsea Markets in NYC. We bought some cheeses from Cowgirl Creamery; their extremely buttery Brie and a local Monterey Jack cheese dusted with cocoa.

We then explored the Exploratorium, filled with interactive science-inspired activities. I especially liked this set of pendulums whose periods were off by a certain amount so that they’d elegantly swing together, gradually out of sync, and back together. Physics is cool. You could definitely spend all day in there if you wanted to try out each and every activity. We also watched a cow dissection which might be one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever seen. The demonstrator cut all the blobby fat off around it and sliced it open, spilling out all this black goop (melanin) and mucusy lens. The rest of the eye was a slimy deflated sac with the nerve dangling off it.

From there, we walked inland to visit the Fortune Cookie Factory, a small shop in an alley that we almost missed. The cookie factory was fairly dark inside except for its open front door. There was just enough space for a visitor to step in the doorway and see the operation of machines dispensing and cooking small pancakes which workers on stools then folded in half, bent over a rod, and set to cool to make the classic fortune cookie shape. Such an iconic product from such a hole in the wall. Around the corner was the Golden Gate Bakery known for their egg tarts and perhaps irregular schedule, since there’s a site dedicated to telling you whether or not they’re open. As expected in SF, there was a line but the women behind the counter worked fast.

Next stop was Boudin Bakery for some famous San Francisco Sourdough, perfect to pair with our cheeses. Across the street was a Madame Tussaud’s, Ripley’s, Rainforest Cafe; all the big gaudy attractions that are, for some in reason, in the tourist downtown of every city even though they aren’t actually local tourist attractions.

Around the pier was a WWII submarine and also an old machines gallery filled with quarter-run games and fair machines from back in the day offering palm readings and relationship advice, early forms of animation and animatronics. They were creepy but also fascinating; that used to be popular entertainment. We continued to the notable Pier 39 and watched the sea lions. If they’re not napping, they’re being rude. They sneeze and cough and jump all over each other with seemingly utter disregard for their peers. It’s funny to witness. The rest of Pier 39 has the feel of a compact boardwalk with seafood food shops and odd gift shops. We had clam chowder in a sourdough bowl at Chowders and it was excellent chowder. I was also never particularly a sourdough fan but San Francisco is persuading me otherwise.

Refueled, we adventured on to climb the Filbert Steps up to Coit Tower. Before you’re even close to the top, the steps are already telling you how out of shape you are. But the path is beautiful, with lush flower gardens all around and it feels like a sanctuary. It kind of is, given the effort it takes to access the homes there. A blessing and a curse, probably. We were too late to go into Coit Tower but we walked all around it to take in the views at the top of the hill. So many hills, so many vantage points from which to admire the city.

Wednesday 6/10

Alcatraz day! Typically tickets sell out ahead of time and when we first looked online to buy, there were only packages including Angel Island, and thus twice the price, at 9am. I refreshed and a 12:30 Alcatraz only tour appeared so we snagged it. The night before, we packed a few clothes in a backpack as we would go directly to Berkeley afterwards.

On our way to the pier, we stopped at a banh mi place DragonEats for lunch. It was delicious, filling, and cheap with everything at $6!

We then walked to Pier 33 where the ferry departs. It definitely got colder and windier as we went out but it was exciting to watch Alcatraz looming closer. They still have old signs up warning people to stay away from the island. It was hatching season so the birds that live on the island; some gulls, some cormorants, and herons, were all sitting in their nests or taking care of cute cute cute little baby birds! They don’t know how to fly but they still flap their furry arms while running around until they fall over or crash into something. Just walking around the island was enjoyable and beautiful with lush gardens and views of the sea and SF. The guides emphasized how it was not only prisoners but also prison workers’ families that lived on the island; how Alcatraz had a pleasant community independent and almost ignorant of the prison. They also had some features on how the island used to be a military post and later became a key site for Native American protests and reclaiming land. The audio tour within the actual prison was really good, recounting actual inmates stories and guiding you through the different areas. I was bothered by how close the toilet and the bed have to be in the small cells. Despite everyone listening and walking around the same areas, sometimes in intersecting loops, the prison blocks were wide enough to accommodate. I really enjoyed the back garden area of the prison which plants and flowers going down the hill to the water and the birds among the foliage. We spent about 5 or 6 hours there. B wanted to get an inmate uniform shirt but they weren’t selling them. I thought the “Alcatraz Swim Team” shirts were funny, though.

After returning from the island we took the BART to Berkeley to stay with B’s grandma. We walked up the main downtown road, stopping at a Mexican place called Sol y Luna for a burrito dinner, and up and down and around hills to her house. On the way there was a “park” which was really a big boulder rock out cropping that people would climb to sit on. The view was actually quite amazing. Bay area definitely does not have a shortage of good views, with every other block atop a hill overlooking something.

Thursday 6/11

We started our day meeting a friend for lunch. She suggested the Great China restaurant and it was a good suggestion indeed. We had Peking duck, walnut prawns, and noodles in a horseradishy sauce. The waitress was really dedicated in taking our photo for us despite struggling with the backlighting from the window. Afterwards we went on our way to explore campus, a main influencer in the design for Monsters University campus! It’s also open and spacious like Stanford but more classically inspired rather than Spanish mission. The squirrels are absurdly bold and will walk straight up to you if it looks like you have some food to offer. I kind of shook hands with a squirrel! We made our way up to Berkeley’s botanical gardens, after walking in the East Asian library with its beautiful materials and diffuse light and passing a “Nobel Laureate Only” parking spot. It was a bit of a hike up to the gardens and once you’re there you really feel like you’re somewhere else. The garden is mostly organized by regions; California, Asia, South America, etc. so we really walked through plants of the world. I don’t understand how the can grow plants from locations and climates all over the world in that one spot in California but it was super cool to see all new kinds of plants. The desert region was particularly interesting, perhaps because that landscape is unfamiliar to me and the plants are so distinctive. I also liked the tropical house because the plants and flowers are so lush. There was a plant that is just a single giant leaf although it looks like many and once in a while it grows a single giant flower. There were also cocoa and rubber trees. The garden was closing in an hour or two so we walked through everything quickly and didn’t take all the small side paths. You could definitely spend a whole day there, especially if you really want to inspect all the plants. Afterwards we walked back down the hill along the road to town. We went to Asha Tea by recommendation of our friend, described as both pretentious but delicious, for a refresher. I had an ice, very matcha latte. B had a sort of coffee cream drink. Both were really tasty. They also had a cute teapot dude logo. After a nice sit we went to the “Gourmet Ghetto” to Cheese Board Pizza, another recommendation. The other day we had seen this place with a long line outside. Apparently the line is there for a reason but the place serves only 1 kind of pizza a day, which makes the line move quite quickly. We had a sort of garlicky broccoli rabe and fennel with various cheeses. They were packed so we walk a bit towards home and ate our dinner on a nice street bench in the residential area.

Friday 6/12

We were able to borrow B’s grandma’s car so today we drove out to Sonoma for, of course, wine tasting, choosing two wineries that seemed to have good, free tours and tastings. We’re not wine-y so any place is good enough for us. We started off in the morning first visiting Armstrong National Forest as it was near to our first tour location and it seemed necessary to see big California trees when in California. The trees really are so incomprehensibly massive, just growing straight up. It’s difficult to capture what it’s like to be among them on camera because you can’t fit them in any frame. It’s so calming though to walk through them because the forest is dense enough to be a forest but open and spacious since the trees grow so high up. And it’s very cool with all that shading.

We next went to the selectively chosen, nearby Korbel cellars. It’s a quaint vineyard that mostly does champagnes and still has a charming, family-owned feel. I enjoyed the tour which began with a little video on their history and a small exhibition in their cellar of historical paraphernalia. I enjoyed their story of how the Korbel family sent a bottle of their champagne to the President when Prohibition began and a note asking them to let them know when it was over. I think since then Korbel has been the White House champagne at inaugurations and such. Going into the actual cellar, we saw some old humongous barrels that used to hold their brandy but are no longer used. You could live in one of those things. One of the company’s reasons for success is their invention of the automatic bottle turning rack. You have to turn champagne bottles every so often as their developing and someone would have to do each bottle by hand. This automatic rack though would mechanically shift the bottles so they could produce much more with a lot less labor. We also learned that when the champagne is ready, you get all the yeast out by consolidating it all in the neck of the bottle, freezing it, and then popping the frozen chunk of yeast out. Also, the cork fitted into the bottle doesn’t start mushroom-shaped as it looks. It’s a straight cylinder and they actually squish it in. Somehow. We enjoyed some tastings, which they presented to us at increasing sugar levels. Brut is really not sweet, then extra dry and dry. B got a bottle as a gift for his bro’s boss as thanks for helping with a project. I got a mini bottle of their brandy which, 3 months later I still have yet to try. That cute tiny plastic bottle would just look so sad if it was empty.

Next we stopped in the town of Santa Rosa for lunch. I also thought we’d visit the Russian River Brewing Co known for it’s Pliny the Younger, a double IPA currently 3rd best beer on Beer Advocate but we weren’t feeling it when we entered. Will have to get my hands on that beer eventually. We went to the Downtown Deli for lunch though and they had excellent sandwiches. B said perhaps even the best sandwich he’s ever had. San Francisco, along with sourdough also has a Dutch crunch loaf, a loaf brushed with sesame oil and I think a rice layer on top that gets crispy

After, we visited Cline vineyards. We had a small casual tour group, just us and one other group of three Australians. Their grounds were very scenic, with a pond and lots of landscaping. The guide said their vines are cultivated to have deep roots and their property is on an aquifer so they actually are not as affected by the drought as strongly as other wineries. They also use sheep as weeders, letting them walk in between the rows to eat them up! We also saw the large working yard and industrial equipment where the harvest comes in and is crushed and fermented. It was very empty but the guide said during the harvest season there’s so much activity happening there, it’s her favorite time of the year. The property also had lots of animals; two sister donkeys and lots of different kinds of birds and game that I had never seen before. They had amazing plumage and I have new respect for pheasants and such.

Saturday 6/13

[I need to finish writing these posts much sooner after the trip. I barely remember the details anymore, months later! ><]

We returned to Menlo Park today and helped our friend move from her Stanford housing to a new place her family got in Redwood City, one train stop away. We had a lengthy stroll across Stanford’s dried up campus to meet her and took a few trips with her and her moving team. Afterwards we went into Stanford’s downtown area to dine together. We tried going to a few restaurants but it was difficult without reservations on a Saturday night. We eventually went to a sushi place called Shoji Sushi followed by ice cream, of course, at Scoop Microcreamery next door. We also considered an ice cream sandwich place or frozen yogurt or bubble tea. Or all of it. There was a cute little fountain and plaza across the street where we sat and enjoyed our dessert.

Sunday

Our same friend picked us up this morning for dim sum in the city with some of my dance group alum. We went to Lai Hong, with the other consideration being tasty but overpriced Yank Sing. The wait was long but worth it! The pork buns were excellent.

After, we ubered to the Haights-Asbury area where a street fair was happening. Everyone and their mother was there that day and our group grew. There was so much food and interesting vendors and unusual combinations of street performers, like a cowboy yo-yo/juggling type and a goth-lolita hula hooper. People dressed up in all types of garb with the only common factor perhaps being their colorfulness. The area itself is fun with quirky shops, cafes, and record stores. We walked up and down the street multiple times, stopping in a coffee shop Stanza for a breather from the crowd.

B and I then continued our exploration of SF, walking from there to Golden Gate park. The park is huge but full of different kinds of landscaping and follies. We saw a lake with calm ducks and grooming geese that we watched for an extended period of time, different types of gardens, multiple museums, including the fine arts museum by Herzog and de Meuron. We saw the Sutro Baths which are fun to walk around in and there’s a cave you can walk through. Past that, we walked all the way through to the beach, which was wide and empty and where I touched the Pacific Ocean. It was, of course, cloudy and windy so I wasn’t keen on having much more than my finger wet. We walked up and through Land’s End, where the terrain is more rugged and the landscape seems wilder and you can always look over the cliff to the crashing waves. I think it’s my favorite place in the city. We reached a memorial and then got a ride back to the city. We were a bit cold and tired from our long but worthwhile trek.

Tuesday 6/16

Today we visited our friend at Facebook. The campus feels like Disney World, and it apparently was designed by the same people who did Disney’s Main Street USA. It’s an open “street” lined with an ice cream shop, a coffee shop, a bbq stand, an Indian restaurant, a grill, and every other food place you might need. They all look like normal businesses but the strangest part is you just walk in, take what you like, and leave. Without paying! Definitely felt like stealing. We searched around for an anti gravity chamber or something but couldn’t find it and we also visited the newly constructed Gehry portion of their campus, accessed by a little shuttle that plays dramatic soundtrack music. Without the “main street” element, the other campus definitely felt less vibrant but the roof of the building, which is enormous, is planned to be garden with lots of common spaces and eateries. It wasn’t complete yet so it was still a bit sparse and empty. It’s also cute that employees get balloons with a number to celebrate the anniversaries of their working at Facebook.

Wednesday 6/17

We went into the city today to visit another friend who works at Uber. Their aesthetic is more sleek and their office spans multiple floors of a high rise. Their cafeterias have an industrial home ktichen feel and the food was very healthy; salads and quinoas. They have freezers of ice cream sandwiches though.

Afterwards we visited the other quintessential SF locations; Lombard St, with the slowly driving cars, blossoming flowers, and a very blue house with magenta flowers that really caught my eye. From there we headed to Ghiradelli Square. On the way we found a hot sauce store with an overwhleming number of hot sauces. They had a crazy spicy one that you had to sign a waiver form if you wanted to try, which I did not because I like being able to taste. But I did try the hottest one available. It was a slow-burner so you taste it and it’s pretty spicy but not so bad, but as time goes on it builds up. As we were walking down the block I just kept downing water. The Ghiradelli shop was packed, unsurprisingly, but there were other cute little shops in the Square. From there we walked down a really really long pier from which you had a great view of downtown SF and Alcatraz.

Thursday 6/18

Visited yet another friend at their work today, one interning at Adobe. Their building is a really nice industrial brick loft type with skylit stairwells. It’s also nice because they have lots of nice artwork around.

We then went down to the Palace of Fine Arts, which seemed like a tacky landmark to me from afar but the area is actually gorgeous. There’s a little lake full of birds and the space feels awesome, like actual awe. We went through Fort Point Park which used to be a Civil War fortress, and went into the Walt Disney Museum. It’s insane how many awards and acknowledgements he received, from Oscars to war medals. The Oscar for Snow White and the Seven Dwarves included 7 mini Oscars. It was also lovely to see his original sketches. From there we walked across the Golden Gate Bridge! It’s so iconic, it’s all you can think about. I liked the color of the water teal-grey-green water with the red and the bridge makes amazing shadows on the water.

Friday 6/19

Our last full day! We kept it relaxed and had brunch at the cafe by the train station. We then took the train to Redwood City to see the new Pixar movie Inside Out, which turned out to be perfect because it was set in SF! We then walked around the town a bit, sipping bubble tea, looking toy shops, and of course more Philz mint coffee. We decided to walk back which took a long while and was mostly on unsidewalked roads and featured what mostly seemd to be car mechanic shops.

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