Day 6 - San Francisco July 2010

Day 6 Google - NASA - Standford

Day 6:

Quite an interesting day. We spent few hours visiting Google, cuz Ivy works at Google. This place is the dream work place with a very unique Google culture. The food is so good! We had Foie Gras Paella when we were there that day. Apparently, early that week, they had Kobe beef. There are cafeterias almost everywhere, canteens, snack corners, etc... Ivy said that most employees gain 15 lbs the moment they start in Google... well, not surprised with all this food!!!

We went there when they had a "beach party". It looks more like a university party than a workplace!

We visited NASA research center near Google. Nothing much to see there, but it's a land that Google bought and allowed NASA to build the research center on it in exchange to use their satellites for Google Earth.

We then went to Apple. We don't know anybody there, so we could only visit the apple shop. Looks more like a serious place to work... not a party Google campus. LOL

We then drove to Standford. No wonder they charge a fortune for the tuition. The place looks like an art museum more than an university. The area is rich, surrounded by some high end stores and shops... it's a very different place in comparison to any other universities.

We had supper at the Tofu Korean BBQ and had green tea slush ice :)

Day 5 San Francisco July 2010

Day 5 San Francisco - Fishweman Walf - Golden Bridge - Japan Town - Twitter

Day 5:

It was a long day, packed with famous locations. It's a good 45 mins drive from where we stayed.

We wanted to take the Electric train, since it's so typically San Francisco, but the line up was 2 hours! So we simply took a picture...

The lunch at R & G Lounge was so good. Crab for lunch, LOL. The beef was so tender so good... will def go back there to try more dishes!

Chinatown. It's huge! We only drove and toured the Chinatown; it's too big! and we have so many other things we wanted to see. Lots of stores, but more targeting tourists and caucasians.

We then headed to the pier. At the pier 1, we saw the farmers market and many small specialty stores. Very cute and special. From specialty mushroom store to Japanese fusion tapas to oyster, etc... if you like food, you would want to come in here and load up.

At pier 39, we could see the famous Alcatraz, the prison where the movie "The Rock" was filmed. It's now a museum. We saw more sea lions! The street beside the pier is full of seafood stands. Lots of crabs, oysters, lobsters, shrimps, clam chowder, you name them! looks so good! and we saw the Joe's Crab Shack here too! It was a nice area to take a walk.

We then drove on the Lombard Street. "Lombard Street is best known for the one-way section on Russian Hill between Hyde and Leavenworth Streets, in which the roadway has eight sharp turns that have earned the street the distinction of being the crookedest [most winding] street in the world". Every houses in that area has a victorian touch to them, very nice.

Then the highlight of San Francisco: the Golden Bridge. Of course we had to take a picture of it. Too bad it was a windy and foggy day. Apparently they spend a lot of money to paint the bridge every year to keep its bright red color.

Near the Golden Bridge is the Palace of Fine Art next to the Exploratorium. Too bad the whole place was under construction and we couldn't go in. But this is a famous place where wedding pictures are taken. Of course! It's so pretty! And the area is a nice rich area with lots of Victorian houses too.

Japan town. Lots of cute stuffs. Bought a kimono for Emmy... not sure what to do with it yet... maybe I'll dress her up just for fun. LOL. Too bad we didn't stay at the Japan town long enough... we had to cut it short because of a special place I really had to go and visit: Twitter HQ!

Yup, we were so lucky that Taky's cousin knows a friend who works there and agreed to give us a tour of the Twitter HQ. Nothing fancy. But it's a cute little office with lots of cute customized Twitter touch... they even customized the Xbox! LOL so cute!

We bought a drink a Hui Lau Shan, so good. And we went to Daiso, the largest Daiso. Bought more stuffs again... just can't resist all these cute Japanese products with their cute packaging. Good thing we don't have Japanese / Korean stores or Daiso in Montreal, cuz I would go bankrupt LOL.

Supper at Banana Island. Yes, I specifically asked if Cali has Malaysian food. I had tried Malaysian food years ago in Vancouver and I loved it. Been looking for opportunity to try again. I really loved it.

Last stop of the day: Sofitel in San Francisco Bay where Kingsley and Ivy got married. (well, the real story is that Taky needed to go to the washroom... on the highway... and we were so close to Sofitel...) Nice place. Too bad we were not able to come to the wedding...

Day 4 San Francisco July 2010

Day 4 Berkeley

Day 4:

We started the day with dim sum, and we visited Taky's grandparents at the cemetery. Nice peaceful cemetery.

We then went to Berkeley, famous University in California. Very hippie kind of feeling :)

We passed by Pixar Animation Studio, attempting to go in and visit, but unfortunately, it's not open to public :(

The Oakland Chinatown was a bit quiet and empty after hours. But it's probably 4 times the size of the Montreal Chinatown.

We finished our day with yummy Japanese grill at Sumiya. Little portions of everything. Very tasty. Very good. Do we have a Japanese Grill House in Montreal? need to investigate!

Day 3 San Francisco July 2010

Day 3 Napa Valley

Day 3:

It was a good 2 hours drive to the Napa Valley.

We started our day with wine tasting at the Artesa Winery. A very modern and beautiful winery with nice mountain top view of the Napa Valley. How romantic!

We ate brunch at Ad Hoc Restaurant owned by the same owner as the famouns The French Laundry. The brunch menu was simple: chef's special. We like that when we don't need to spend hours deciding what we want to try and eat :) It was really good :) Highly suggested!

We bought macarons and bouchon at Bouchon bakery. Yum yum! And as we open the door to leave Bouchon, we saw Thomas Keller walking in the bakery! I guess he also owns this bakery :)
So next time you guys are in the area, make sure you try at least one of his restaurants: http://www.tkrg.org/index.php

We then visited few wineries: Chandoney, Opus One, St-Supery, V. Sattui Winery, Merryvale, Castello di Amorosa... there are actually soooooo many of them. It's relaxing, it's romantic, and you get to try all these wine. We were never wine expert and will probably never be. But, tasting wine one after another, we really got to try different tastes and we started to notice the different textures and aromas... we'll learn and we'll get there one day! I think next time we come, we'll stay a few days here :)

We liked the V. Sattui for the price, cuz the wine tasting menu starts at $5 to try 5 wines, that's a $1 each!!! But we loved the Castello di Amorosa for the medieval ambiance. You all know me and my love for medieval things :) One thing I regretted was not to buy their pasta! It was a bit expensive, but they make the prettiest pasta I've ever seen! Hope we'll get to see some in Florence in August!

We also visited the CIA - Culinary Institute of America :) where chefs are trained and cooking classes are offered to public.

We bought few stuffs at Dean & Deluca. Cute little shop with all the fancy food produce.

Finally, we had supper at Zuzu, a Spanish fusion Tapas restaurant. Portions are small, but perfect for Napa Valley with all the cheese and wine tasting :)

Day 2 San Francisco July 2010

Day 2 Mystery Spot and Santa Cruz

Day 2:

We started the day by going to the farmers market to buy some fresh fruits. You see all the organic produce, fresh and colorful.

Then we had a "short" drive to the Mystery Spot (short cuz everything is so far away!)

It's a place where full of illusion and confusion.
"The Mystery Spot is a gravitational anomaly located in the redwood forests just outside of Santa Cruz, California. It is a circular area of effect around 150 feet or 46 meters in diameter. Within the Mystery Spot you will be stunned as your perceptions of the laws of physics and gravity are questioned."

Just take a look at the few videos we took and you'll understand why it's call Mystery Spot.

We then headed to Santa Cruz Beach. We had Thai Lunch at Thai Orchid near the beach.

Santa Cruz beach is quite unique, cuz it's a combination of beach and amusement park. The beach is packed with kids! Lots of rides, lots of screamings, lots of people, and lots of sea lions!

It was a hot day... oh yeah, forgot to mention about the weather. So basically the temperature varies between 10 degrees to like 35 degrees. So you need to have layers of clothes at all times.

We finished off the day with the most extravagant sea food meal at Hong Kong Saigon seafood restaurant. It's soooooooooooooo yummyyyyyyyyyy!!!!

Day 1 San Francisco July 2010

Day 1 Taiwanese food - Daiso

Day 1:

At our arrival, our cousin Kingsley brought us to this nice Taiwanese restaurant called "Liang's Kitchen". What a treat! The food was so good :) Can't wait to see and taste what's coming up!!!

We went to Daiso, a Japanese store, known as 100 yen store in Asia. It was the first time Taky and I saw Daiso. Their concept is similar to our dollar store, except that everything was made in Japan. Lots of cute stuffs! Love it!

We went to "99 Ranch" a local chinese supermarket. It's similar to our T & T, but they have lots of imported products, lots of Taiwanese food. And they're almost in every chinese malls.

We tried some real Taiwanese bubble tea from "Fantasia". I said real, cuz the bubbles are really the soft chewy well cooked ones. Unlike the ones we have here in Montreal... I actually stopped ordering bubble teas with bubbles in Montreal cuz I can't stand the way they taste... so yup, real bubble tea! so yummy...

Then, we went to a Korean Mall. Yup, you don't see that in Montreal! We bought some yummy Korean toasts, some souvenirs, some makeup accessories :) LOL :)

We met up with Ivy and went to Santana Row for some more shopping :)

We had supper at California Pizza Kitchen. Yummy fusion asian-western Pizza.