2011 New Year's Resolutions

A few years ago, I was in a transitory period in my life, and I decided to post all of my resolutions on facebook. I made a long but fairly reasonable list of things to accomplish by the end of the year and the act of posting them in a place where I could easily keep track of them, made me feel more accountable to them. I also made sure that nothing on my list was implausible. Last time it worked fairly well and I accomplished most of the tangible goals. While nothing was impossible to do on it's own, compiled with the rest of the list it was a bit much to do all in one year.

Well, here are my new New Year's resolutions and here's to hoping I can get them all done. I left off one or two that may be common knowledge to my closer friends but that I really just can't share on here. 

• Pass the CFA Level II - Maybe if I had set this as a goal last year, I would have done it. We're working out a new study plan and I'm trying to figure out how to balance that with this blog. 
• Pass the lead climbing test - I think I'm getting to the point where I have the strength to do it. Maybe it's time to get back on that horse and try again.
• Speaking of climbing... climb an 11.b or maybe even an 11.c - This may venture out of "things that are possible" but the real goal here is to keep pushing myself to climb harder routes and get better at it.Well, we got the 11.b out of the way early so guess it's time to shoot for the 11.c?
• Climb Outdoors - (yes, I added this in the middle of the year, never too late to tack on more goals, right??) I don't know why this didn't make the original list but it's really pathetic that I haven't made it outdoors yet. 
• Don't put a relationship before yourself - I may not fully be ready for something serious yet but I'm sure I will be but I know how these things go and I don't want to compromise my plans at the moment. I have a lot to figure out and I can't shelve any of that for anyone else right now.
• Think before you speak -not gonna happen My friends are very good at calling me out when I contradict myself or change my mind on something. I really don't want to be full of BS but a lot of times I'm not even sure what I want or what I'm thinking. Maybe I need to figure that out before I start mapping out my future.
• Pay off my car loan - done! Pretty self explanatory.
• Build a little bit of a nest egg - It would be great to save up a little extra as a back up or to travel or maybe for a house or grad school. 
• Dress better - This may sound superficial and flies directly in the face of the item before it but I really want to"dress for the life I want, not the life I have."  When I see myself down the road in my career I picture myself wearing suits and nicer clothes so why not start taking steps to dress the way I see myself in 5 or 10 years? Plus, who doesn't feel a little more confident or successful when they clean up and put on something more sleek?
• Travel somewhere new - Wouldn't that make a fun blog post? This actually would be fairly easy - even though I've been to several places around Europe and Brazil, I've never been to New York, Boston, DC, Chicago, Canada, or Mexico. I had the pleasure of going to Amsterdam and Brussels for the first time during my last trip. I don't want to stop there though. I think I'm going to finally venture to some of the cities I haven't seen stateside as well.
• Be nicer - I kind of have a sarcastic, mean sense of humor. While I mean well, sometimes in the wrong situation my jokes can be a little hurtful. I need to work on saving my mean jokes for the right time and place.
• Keep in touch with my relatives more - the older I get, the more I appreciate my family and how amazing they all are so I really want to work on staying connected with all of them. 
• Keep up with my blog - This blog has really helped me at a time when the best thing for me was to get out of the house and experience new things. I had been really unhappy with a lot of things when I started writing this blog and I look at my life right now and it is so far from that. I may still be looking for change and wondering what comes next but I'm also pretty happy with my life. It's fun to think of the list of things I want to do and make an actual plan to do them instead of watching the list grow. I've also been learning to be more open minded about trying new things. There are a lot of experiences that on the surface may not have sounded that appealing, but that's the thing - you never know how much you're going to enjoy something until you've tried it.

So there is my list. It's a lot of stuff but it's all pretty reasonable. I will try to update throughout the year as I get things done. I think the hardest thing will be balancing studying with updating the blog, but I've already started mapping out new places I can go to where I can study as well (Blue Bottle Cafe,  you are at the top of my list).

Happy New Years Everyone! Wish me luck :) Hopefully you can take care of your resolution(s) too!

Week of November 29th 2010: SF Weekly's Holiday Benefit at the Academy of Science

This was actually a week of deals since I found out about this event through a deal site as well. For $10, we got admission to this open bar benefit at the Academy of Science and how could I say no to that? So Eddy, Try and myself all bought tickets for it and on the first Wednesday in December, we were on our way to the event.

We got there and were instantly greeted by a table full of mini cupcakes and glowing drink mixers. We each grabbed a cupcake and mixing stick and headed to the bar. Eddy got an acai vodka flavored drink while Try and I got some apple cider with rum. We then found another mini cupcake table. I took a picture of the cupcake tower with my rum cider but I was trying to be discrete so the picture wasn't framed well.. oops!

From there we decided it was time to find some food. We walked around and found tables with pizza, mini quiches, chips and salsa, etc. While that may seem like a lot of food, the portions were tiny and we quickly realized the food to beverage ratio was quite small.

So why fight it? We gave up on many of the food booths and started checking out the alcohol sponsored tables. We found it almost impossible to not be holding two drinks at once. The acai vodka had a stand where they were making acai vodka lemonade drinks. They were dangerously sweet.

Eddy also found a booth with whiskey and tequila shot samples. I may have made some man friends at that table when I told them about my prior experiences with Bourbon Whiskey. We both tried one of each although he had to help me finish mine.

After wandering around a little bit more, I found the wine sponsor. They only had two kinds but of course they were Chardonnay and Cabernet which are my two favorites. I ended up just standing around that table for a while enjoying the wines.

At that point, we were definitely feeling the effects of an open bar, alcohol sponsored event so we switched over to beer. Luckily for us, the event was also sponsored by Blue Moon. We ran into my friend Jeremy at the event (who happens to ALWAYS be at the same things as me, but that's another story) and he pointed out that they let you grab two beers at once - so we did and headed down to the aquarium.

I had come straight from work so my feet had started to hurt from my heels so we found a place to sit in the aquarium where we could watch the fish swimming over head. It was nice to rest a little bit and chat with my friends. But too much rest isn't good for anyone so we grabbed our beers and walked around the aquarium until the event ended. Honestly, I would go back to the Academy just to walk around the aquarium. Both times that I went, I didn't go to the aquarium until just before closing so I don't think I've ever gotten to look through it in as much detail as I would have liked. Guess we have to go back?

Week of November 29th 2010: Pica Pica

One of the ways I find new places to go and things to do is to go on some of those "deal" websites (Groupon, Living Social, Town Hog, etc.). Doing something new each week can be expensive.... so, when Shannon recommended getting the Town Hog deal for Pica Pica, I figured why not?So, I bought the deal and a few weeks later decided to check it out with a coworker.

Pica Pica is a Venezuelan maize sandwich place. I suppose they're actually more like tortas. You get to choose from 3 different corn patties for your little sandwich, but we had the "Arepas" on all of them since it seemed to be the least bulky. We then realized that with their prices, the coupon I had was actually going to get us a ton of food. We ended up getting four of the sandwiches (two pork, tomato, and avocado; one skirt steak with plantains and black beans, one chicken and cheese) and a few empanadas (pork/chicken/beef, black beans, and tilapia).

The sandwiches were all really good, but the maize bread was very thick. I would have preferred if it was thinner like a tortilla so it didn't over power the filling so much. The pork/chicken/beef empanada was also amazing. The tilapia one smelled a little fishy (no pun intended..) so we didn't finish that one. My friend was also a big fan of the signature hot sauce on both the sandwiches and the empanadas.

Overall the place was really good and worth checking out. I had never tried Venezuelan food before so it was nice to, but I think in the future I would just prefer some carnitas tacos from El Tonayense. Man, I love those things so much...

Merry Christmas 2010!

Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday and hopefully there is lots of wonderful food involved. I'm currently trying to figure out the best way to bring a truckload of leftovers with me back to San Francisco...

...which is looking beautiful by the way. I love the way they dress up the city for special occasions (they made the buildings orange when the Giants were in the playoffs).

I'm still annoyed I lost my old camera, but this new one isn't turning out so bad....

Week of November 22nd 2010: Ice Skating in Union Square

I don't know what it is about ice skating that I enjoy so much. Even though I grew up in the burbs of Los Angeles, it's just always been nostalgic for me. Maybe it's because I learned how to rollerblade before I could ride a bike without training wheels. Maybe it's because hockey was watched more avidly in my house than football. I don't know exactly but I've always loved being on the ice. So, when my friend Tim and I were thinking of things to do the Sunday after Thanksgiving and he suggested that - I knew we had a winner.

On of the things I really love about this city is that every Holiday season, they build a few ice rinks around the city - one in Union Square and one in the Financial District. I know this isn't unique to SF (heck, LA even had a pop up ice rink in Pershing Square and it hardly gets cold enough there to keep your ice cream from melting on Groundhog's Day), but they always felt so much accessible here.

So, Tim and I met up for our ice skating adventure. We bought our tickets, grabbed some coffee and waited in line to rent our skates. Eventually we got out onto the ice and as much as I love skating, I dislike crowds more. It was pretty tough to skate with the ice traffic jam that we encountered instantly. We still managed to have some fun, but I know we both would have loved it more if we weren't constantly worried about bumping into people.

Despite the fact that we hard trouble skating as much as we would have liked, it was still nice to see Tim and talk with him again. It was interesting to think that we had met up in the beginning of my new thing a week adventure and here we were touching base again. Yes, I know you should see good friends frequently but the ironic thing was that I'd also come full circle and was once again dealing with the same uncertainties that I had been a few months earlier. He may not know it, but his advice along with a few others really helped me figure things out a little bit.

I'm the kind of person that is fairly open with what I am dealing with - maybe too much and I've started to realize something about advice - when it comes to it, there are three kinds of people: there are people who may listen to you but won't really guide you. They won't give you advice - right or wrong. There are others who will try to tell you what to do or how you should be. And then there are the people who will just ask you questions. They won't tell you what to do directly but they'll ask you the questions that will help you get to your answer. That week I had a number of people who asked me the right questions at a time when the only answers that would help me were the ones I figured out myself. Tim was one of those people.

As for the ice skating - I was able to go again a couple of weeks later when it wasn't so crowded and I got to race across the slick, slippery surface and love ice skating as much as I usually do. I'd like to get out there again before the rinks go away so if anyone is interested let me know! I can give tips but I'm not sure how helpful they will be.

Week of November 15th 2010: Top Chef Just Desserts Viewing Party with Yigit Pura

One of my all time favorite shows ever is Top Chef. I remember the first time I saw it. It was about 4 or 5 years ago and I was channel surfing with my then boyfriend. There was absolutely nothing on TV so he picked a cooking competition show that happened to be having a marathon. I wasn't too happy about this since I had been forced to spend many an hour watching cooking shows with my mom and I found them incredibly boring. However, it didn't take very long for me to get really excited about the show I was watching. It was the first season and it was really exciting to see the contestants running around my future home (I was living across the Bay in Berkeley at the time) of San Francisco competing in various cooking challenges.

It wasn't long before I was hooked and set aside some time on a Wednesday night to cheer on my favorite contestant of the season, Harold, as he took home the very first Top Chef title. Ever since then, I have religiously tuned in to watch each season of chefs compete in challenges that got more and more difficult each season. Top Chef was my gateway drug to liking cooking shows. I pretty much keep it to challenge type shows like Chopped, Iron Chef, Challenge, etc. but Top Chef was always the first.

However, despite how impressive the chefs looked, every season there was one thing that never failed to be true - all of the chefs sucked at making a really impressive dessert. It quickly became clear that making pastry desserts required a different science and skill set than savory cooking and many of these incredible cooks just could not make a top dessert.

Well, Bravo decided to capitalize on this and made a Top Chef season soley for dessert chefs. I, of course, tuned in.

After a long and very interesting season, it was finally time for the finale. I had been planning on watching it at home as usual but then I found an exciting alternative. Macy's was hosting a viewing party for the show and they were having one of the finalists, Yigit Pura, there for a meet and greet. Yigit was a cute Turkish pastry chef who runs a catering company in San Francisco. I RSVP'd and eagerly looked forward to the event.

My roommate, Try, and I showed up early to make sure we got good seats and we got a decent spot in line. However, as we got closer to the front we noticed a lot of people weren't being let in. When we got to the front, I gave them our name and it turns out we weren't on the list. I was pretty frustrated since I had RSVP'd the week before and was disapointed in the event staff for not planning the function better. They should have closed the RSVPs if they were over booked. It was even more frustrating when it became clear that 80% of the guests were actually employees at Yigit's catering company. I understand him wanting his friends there to support him, but then they should have tried to find a bigger space to host the event since it wasn't really a public event after all.

Eventually, they let us in and said we could stand in the back. We could hardly see the TV so we decided to just go home and watch it on the DVR. However, we managed to snag a couple of $10 gift cards. We browsed the kitchen section and then realized there was a little Godiva stand. One of the challenges had been to make 4 Godiva chocolates. My favorite contestant, Morgan (he was a rock climber so it was an easy choice...), had won that challenge. We decided to use our gift cards on the chocolates so we could take them home and have an actual taste of Top Chef while watching the finale.

As a note - I did take pictures of the chocolates... on my camera.... so sorry that you can't see what they looked like. One of them had an acai filling though since he had been married to a Brazilian (another reason to like him!) and it was incredible. If you find yourself near a Godiva, I really suggest trying it!

And... I bought a new camera! I'm basically giving up on the last one and writing all of these posts without pictures has made me realize that I can't really go without one. Here's to not losing my new camera and using it to take lots of fun pictures for my lovely readers.

Week of November 8th 2010: Rickhouse Bar

After one of many disappointing Cal football games that took place in November, my friend Steve decided we could all drink away our sorrows at one of his favorite bars, Rickhouse. Like many other popular bars in San Francisco, Rickhouse is a prohibition themed bar with a classy 20's feel, and when you get my friends in a themed bar - you get themed outfits. Since many of us came straight from the game, or with little time to change in between, we didn't get as dressed up as we have before. I did manage to have enough time to grab my fedora before heading out to the bar.

Upon arrival, we learned that Rickhouse is a little limited space wise and we had to wait outside until a few people cleared out. Luckily though, it was a beautiful and warm November evening and the bouncer was extremely friendly so the time passed quickly.

Soon we were inside where we were greeted by a table full of our friends and a big bowl of punch. My friend Brian got a round of drinks although when I asked him what it was, all he could say was, "I know it had champagne and some kind of juice" in it. Well, much more than I knew. We finished our champagney, fruity drinks and helped out with the punch before it was time for most of our friends to catch BART.

Try and I decided to go out a little longer and met up with another friend at 15 Romolo, another speakeasy themed bar (they really are everywhere in this town). It wasn't my first time there so I won't bore you with the details but I wanted to keep the post going a little longer since I had so much fun rocking my hat. I think I may need to start wearing it out more often. I could do with a few more accessories every now and then.

Week of November 1st 2010: Giant's World Series Parade

The Wednesday after the World Series victory, the city coordinated a parade through the city. Luckily for me, it the start for the parade was only a couple of blocks away from my office and my boss sent out an email saying that we could all take a long lunch to go see it.

Once I got to work, I was pleased to look out my office window and see that although the parade actually started a couple blocks away, the staging area was just outside my office window. Once we saw that the crowd starting to grow, my coworker Alex and I went downstairs to anxiously await the players arrival.

Cable cars were lined up all along Washington St. and as we got there, we saw workers taping up signs with players names. Alex and I decided to wait in front of the car for Brian Wilson since we both maybe sort of had a crush on him. Plus, we realized that when the parade started, the next cars to pass us would be for Buster Posey, Aubrey Huff, Pat Burrell, and of course, Tim Lincecum.

Soon, the players started arriving. Buster Posey got to his cable car first. We waiting anxiously while someone talked to him about the logistics of the parade and when he was done, the crowded cheered for him and asked him to smile and wave for pictures. He seemed a little uncomfortable with his obvious fame and popularity but eventually he gave a little pose(y) for the camera.

Eventually, Brian Wilson got to his cable car. He had the same little talking to but sadly he never really got into posing for pictures. We were really disappointed since we'd seen his internet videos and were  quite aware that he didn't have that same shyness that Buster clearly exhibited. It was kind of a let down. I know he's famous for his eccentricity and doing pretty much whatever he wants but it always grinds my gears when an athlete or celebrity blows off their fans. I was able to get an almost half decent picture but it would have been nice if he went with it a little more.

Contrarily, his cable car sharing teammate and fellow bearded pitcher, Sergio Romo, was as outgoing and friendly as you could imagine. He stopped to sign everything and posed for a ton of pictures. He definitely just had fun with it and really enjoyed to upbeat atmosphere of the parade. The guy even stopped to sign a baby (which Posey and other players eventually signed as well).

Soon after we got our pictures, the parade started and the cable cars sped past us. We got to see Aubrey Huff and Pat the Bat enjoying a couple of Bud Lights on their car and Lincecum try to wave to all of his fans. It was nice to see the rest of the players return some of the love to their many supporters.

I just want to apologize in advance for the lack of pictures in this post. I took a ton that day and was really excited to post them all (part of the reason it's taken me over a month to put this is up is because I knew it would take a little while to upload everything). Unfortunately, I lost my camera last week. I am desperately hoping that it turns up soon but the more I ask around about the night of its disappearance, the less confident I get. I give it until Friday before I give up completely and buy a new one, but that won't bring back the last month's worth of pictures. Luckily, I have used my cell phone for a lot of pictures for this blog (and luckily had used to send a couple picture messages from the parade, hence the two photos I was able to upload).

Week of November 1st 2010: Celebrating the Giant's World Series Victory

The life of a sports fan is one often filled with misery. I cannot count the number of times I've watched a Cal football game or a Giants baseball game that was going rather well, only to have it end with me nearly pulling out my hair in frustration. This was not one of those days. There is nothing like seeing your team qualify for the playoffs, be called the underdog the whole time, only to win the whole thing in five games. Your championships can be spread out by 50 years or more but the feeling of watching it happen, it's worth the wait. If it takes another 50 years (and man, I really hope it doesn't) then at least you can look back and say "Yea, I got to see it happen last time."

When people ask "Where were you when the Giants won the World Series?" I'll be able to say I was with friends at a crowded bar with everyone intently glued to the screen as Brian Wilson struck out the last batter. I was there when everyone started hugging each other and taking pictures while singing "We are the Champions." Those memories aren't going anywhere.

With a playoff run like that... you can't just call it quits and head home when the game is done. The whole city was alive with pride, excitement and a buzzing energy that you can't compare to anything. So we followed that buzz all the way to AT&T Park to really be part of the crowd. We stood in front of news fans and then went into the nearest bar to celebrate a little more.

The best part was going back out to the street an hour or so later and seeing the crowds still as full as possible. Everyone was excited. Everyone was happy. For one night, everyone in San Francisco agreed on something - everyone was proud of their San Francisco Giants.

So... if the Giants can do it - maybe Cal has a shot sometime in the next 50 years?

Happy Tur-Duckin-Rab-Pig-Cow-Cow-Horse-ish-GameHen Day!

Hello Readers - I want to branch out for about 5 minutes and wish you Happy Thanksgiving! I would have loved to grace you with my next post about my new and exciting adventures but I have to blackmail a friend for some pictures so it may be a couple of days.

Anyways, I hope you all are having a fabulous day and that you get to spend it with people you love. As for me? Well, I'm in Arizona like I said and I have been having a wonderful couple of days with my adorable niece. Have I mentioned that it's been a wonderful excuse to watch lots of Disney movies?

And if your family hates each other and you managed to duck into your room for five minutes to get away, this should cheer you up:
http://video.tvguide.com/Saturday+Night+Live/Update--3a+Guy+Fieri/6684884

Week of October 25th 2010: Pumpkin Punch & Koko Cocktails

As I sit in the airport ridiculously early for my flight (rumors about crazy body scanners, groping, tantrums, and protests prove to be decidedly untrue if you fly the day before the day before the holiday), I figure that it may be time for another post. Since Thanksgiving is almost upon us, it is only fitting that I write about the week of Halloween. I really need to catch up on these posts...

So this blog was always about doing new things and although many of my early posts centered around going to new places, a new thing can be as simple as something you can make at home. To get excited for Halloween, I had a crazy urge to watch the Nightmare Before Christmas. In order to coax some of my friends to join me, I promised them some sort of festive fall punch. I did a little bit of snooping around and ended up finding a great recipe for a pumpkin punch (I tried finding the link again and couldn't find the same exact site but if you search for "pumpkin punch" on Google, there are a several versions).

I thought it qualified as a new thing since the drink was served in a pumpkin rather than a punch bowl (which is very convenient for people who may not own punch bowls). You start out by hollowing out the pumpkin like you would if you were to carve it. I made the top a bit bigger though so it would be easier to scoop the drink out of it. Once it was mostly cleaned out, I began scraping the inside of the pumpkin so that I could get some nice raw pumpkin chunks that would be used later in the drink.

The drink was pretty simple and consisted of 1 part spiced rum, 1 part apple cider, and 2 parts ginger ale. I then added back the pumpkin chunks, some cinnamon sticks and a couple dashes of cinnamon for flavor. It was really tasty but mostly it was just fun to drink out of a pumpkin. Things got interesting near the bottom when we had to take turns "tipping the pumpkin" to get the drink out. Needless to say, we had way too much fun with this.

A few days later it was the Saturday before Halloween and time to wander the streets in costumes and such. My friends and I figured it would be fun to just go bar hopping on Polk St. For those not in SF, Polk St. in well known for being littered with small, casual little bars and it's great if you want to go out to a fun place and not spend too much money. It's also almost guaranteed you'll fun into friends.

I'd been to many of the bars on Polk St. but I had never made it to Koko Cocktails. My friend Shannon recommended we start there and I have to admit I was a little skeptical when I heard the name. However, it was a really cool bar inside. They were showing The Shining in the background and had a drink special called Red Rum which was basically rum and cranberry. It was a really fun little place and they had a lot of nice "Shining" themed touches. Example: in the bathroom, RedRum was also written on the walls - across from the mirror. I had a lot of fun there and I'm excited to go back for New Years!

Well Readers, if you don't hear from me in the next couple of days then Happy Thanksgiving! I am going to try to get to next weeks posts soon though. I want to dedicate them to my Dodger fan of a brother. In fact, I care so much about my brother, I'm wearing my Giant's shirt. Hopefully, he's still up when I get to Phoenix. I also hope that it's warm there because he may not let me sleep in his house... I guess sleeping outside in the dessert would be a new thing for me, although I was hopefully that it would have been a new Phoenix bar or restaurant. Suggestions?

Week of October 18th 2010: Compete in a Bouldering Competition

Before you think I am some supremo climber - I want to preface that this competition was very casual. My gym likes to host series of rock climbing competitions (If you missed the post where I discussed different types of climbing, you should review that). I competed in a top roping series earlier in the year, but since I don't like to boulder (and personally don't find myself to be very good at it), I hadn't partaken in the last bouldering series.

I decided that I felt a little more comfortable with my climbing now and would like to at least check it out. The beauty of the set-up of the competition is that you are really competing against yourself (and maybe the friend you came with). You can climb as many routes as you want and you can take the top 5 scores from the night to make your final score. They divide you into 3 groups of difficulties by climbing levels. Beginner is v0-v1, intermediate is v2-v4, and expert is v5+. I had thought beginner was v0-v2 (which is the level for men) and since I had only done a couple v2's, it seemed like the obvious choice.

In terms of my climbing, I think I did a good job. I was able to complete a few v2's, a lot of v1's and even one v3. It's always fun to challenge yourself and see that you can complete something above your normal level. For me, this is even more true with bouldering. I won't lie, I'm terrified of falling and hurting since there is no rope safety net. Maybe a few more bouldering competitions and I can overcome that fear... safely.

The night wasn't just climbs and scores though. One of the highlights of the competition is the free pizza and beer, especially if it's from pyramid. Let's just say, I somehow managed to be a regular at the mini bar they set up in the gym (disclosure: no beer until climbing is done. I'm crazy, but not stupid). Then, when I heard the words "Shoe sale" over the intercom, I knew I was in heaven. I had been hunting around for a new pair of climbing shoes so when they were selling some for half off, I knew I had to act fast. Eddy, of course, had to get the same climbing shoes as me, again. I don't blame him though, they were great shoes.

All in all, it was a great night climbing.

Week of October 11th 2010: (Disneyland Edition) Flik's Fliers, ElecTRONica, World of Color

As part of my trip to L.A., I also made my annual trip to Disneyland. It definitely wasn't a new thing for me but I thought it would be fun to write about what's new there since last year. If there are any other Disneyland lovers out there, I'm sure they would love to hear about how the new attractions.

Flik's Fliers might not be a new ride but I had never been on it before so I'm going to count it!! The ride is in the middle of Bug's Life Land in California Adventure. Actually, come to think of it... everything new in this post was in California Adventure... but I digress. The ride isn't all that exciting but it's very cute. Since you're supposed to be bug-sized in Bug's Life Land, the cars are Chinese take-out and animal cracker cookie boxes. Curtis and Oleg wanted to be take-out so they jumped in that car while Shannon and I found cookies to be more fitting. Once the ride started, the middle rose up (so that the cars were in the air) and exposed that the engine was inside a giant whipped cream container. Overall - very cute and an easy way to kill 5 minutes with a lineless ride.

Most of the day was spent going on the classic rides and a lot of shopping was done. No, really, we stopped in almost every store. We had also managed to get an "It's my Birthday" pin for Shannon so all day she was wished happy birthday and she even got serenaded at lunch. Each time it made me giggle a little bit and we decided that it was more of a very merry unbirthday a la Alice in Wonderland.

As the day progressed, we saw a lot of signs for ElecTRONica, which I had never heard of before. This excited the nerd in Oleg and I and we both really wanted to see what we assumed to be some sort of show. Well, we showed up and there was a mini-Tron show comparing Tron from the 80's to Tron Legacy, but the show was all to advertise this ElecTRONica thing. ElecTRONica, it turns out, is a giant nightclub in the middle of Disney California Adventure. I was not expecting that at all. Although they tried to sell it as "fun for the whole family" they couldn't mask the fact that it was more or less a giant rave. The bar featured glowing drinks and I ordered a "Glow"hito which was fantastic. The music was also great - they had a couple of DJs but were mostly playing the Daft Punk music from the new movie.

In the back of ElecTRONica was Flynn's arcade. Flynn's, like in the movie, featured your favorite video games from the 80's. There was Pac-Man and Space Invaders and an air hockey table. Plus, just like in the 80's, everything was a quarter. Just outside Flynn's arcade, a few wii's were set up to let people play a new Tron racing game. Oleg and I played and unfortunately I lost, but I'm pretty sure he cheated so don't feel too bad.

Oleg had to leave at that point so the rest of us picked up another glowing drink and decided to stake out a place for the World of Color show. Basically, Disney completely gutted the whole lake in the middle of California Adventure and installed a ton of jet stream fountains like at the Bellagio. However, they then projected videos and images onto the fountains. It really was beautiful to look at. They also incorporated some pyrotechnics which is always fun. I think my favorite part though were the mini fountains and colored lamp posts spread throughout the audience. It was a nice little touch to have them unexpectedly incorporated into the show. I think that is my favorite thing about Disney all together - the details. Every little detail about everything Disney is so impeccable and perfect and the World of Color show was no different.

Well, that's it for my summary on what's new at Disneyland. Like I said, I'm a pro on the park so let me know if you want any suggestions. If you've been before - what's your favorite attraction? I will always love Big Thunder Mountain the best. I also love the Off the Page store and animation studio in California Advenure, although ElecTRONica might be gaining.

Week of October 11th 2010: (LA Edition) Barney's Beanery

This was a busy week for me and a couple days after going to Foreign Cinema, I was in a car on my way down to Los Angeles for the Cal vs. USC football game. While the game didn't go too well, the weekend was still a blast.

For those of you who don't know, LA is the place I call home in the bottom of my heart. I spent the first 18 years of my life there and going back is always a little comforting. My parents still live in the same house that I grew up in and it's nice to have one constant in my ever changing life. Because I tend to only go to LA a couple of weekends a year, I tend to always go to a couple of my favorite places. Whether it's getting some Pinkberry or going out to Howl at the Moon, my Southern California trips are pretty predictable. So, in sticking with the challenge, not only did I try to go to some new places, but I also avoided the ones I usually go to.

It was a short trip and there wasn't a lot of time to explore too much, but after the Cal game (which we don't need to discuss here...) we were looking for a fun place to watch the Giants' first game against the Phillies. My friend, Lauren suggested that we go to a place near UCLA called Barney's Beanery. I didn't have any objections and so off we went.

The first thing you notice when you enter Barney's is the sheer number of TVs. Yes, it is a sports bar and TVs are a must but they went above and beyond in that area. There was a wall of TVs above the bar, some more behind the bar and one at each table as well as a few other scattered around. Someone commented that there might not even be any light fixtures in the place, everything was illuminated by the flat screens covering every surface.

The selection of food was even more impressive than the number of TV sets. The menu was literally a small newspaper and had just about anything you could possibly want to order. Don't believe me? Click here. Luckily, I had a general idea of what I was in the mood for (which NEVER happens) and just had to dig through the menu and hope they had it. Many in my group had to spend quite a bit of time trying to figure out what they wanted. Luckily for them, our server was fairly inattentive so they had plenty of time to figure out exactly what they wanted from the exhausting menu.

The beer selection was also fairly decent. The drink menu was organized by origin of the beer, be it state or country. They also showed different specialty draft mixes that could be ordered. For example, it explained the different beers that could be mixed with Guinness (black & tan, black velvet, etc.).

All in all the bar was a GREAT place to watch the Giants take home their first win against Philly. I also couldn't help thinking how incredible a bar/restaurant like that would have been near my college. Maybe an upcoming new thing will be seeing if I can open a franchise in Berkeley.

Week of October 11th 2010: Foreign Cinema

So - a couple of weeks ago I was invited out by a new acquaintance, and we ended up going to Foreign Cinema. Foreign Cinema is one of those places that you hear about often living in San Francisco. The kind of place that everyone talks about, and you always mean to go to but never get around to it. Needless to say, I was very excited to find out that's where we were headed for dinner.

The concept of the restaurant is very cute and original. They have very nice food and wine and then they project a movie onto the back wall of their patio, hence the name. The website says what movie will be playing that week and we had "Where the Wild Things Are" going in the background. If you care at all about watching the movie, I would recommend going for one you've seen as the sound is very low and it's pretty tough to pay attention. Since I hadn't seen the movie before I just decided to ignore it's presence all together.

The food was amazing though. I wish I had taken pictures. My appetizer was duck with endive and a pea puree. I love duck but I have to admit... I've been wanting to try a pea puree ever since pea-gate on Top Chef. It tasted like... peas. I mean, better than just plain peas but after all the hype on the show, I had imagined pea puree to be God's gift to foodies. The duck was incredible though. Duck is such a hit or miss for me... I've had very greasy, overcooked duck before. This was not that duck. It was rare and tasty and amazing. The endive was very good as well. I'd only had it on one other occasion and had found it to be quite bitter but this one was not.

My friend got the calamari which was also tasty. However, it was grilled instead of fried which some people don't like. The grilled side was a good texture and the taste was spot on but the other side was not grilled and a little slimy.

My entree was also incredible. I got what was essentially called the "Meat Trio" or something like that. It was pork belly, quail and lamb. I was in heaven. I don't think I've ever had just a big chunk of pork belly like that and it was as tasty as I had dreamed. There isn't too much to say about my other meats except that they were good too. I was very proud that I had eaten 4 animals for dinner.

For dessert I had the spiced apple cake with sticky toffee and rum whipped cream. I'm not going to lie... I was pretty much sold on ordering it when I saw "rum whipped cream." It was also really good although I'm not a huge dessert person and it didn't have quite as much rum flavor as I would have liked.

This post reminds me of the episode of the Simpsons where Homer is a food critic but likes everything too much! I love food too much to be too critical...

I also want to apologize for being awful about posting. Between watching some amazing Giants playoffs games and doing more than one new thing a week, I've been pretty busy! I promise that I've been doing some fun stuff (with some pictures) and I can't wait to share them with you!

And GO GIANTS!!!

Week of October 4th 2010: Attend a Major Leauge Baseball Playoff Game

I love sports. There is nothing like being in a stadium cheering on your favorite team. Whether it's at home or away, having a couple of beers and proceeding into a sporting tent to support my favorite teams is one of my favorite things to do. As a Cal fan and SF Giants fan, it's been a rough couple of years for any sort of post season excitement so you can only imagine how exciting it was to land a ticket to the Giant's first home playoff game.

A lot of people have been asking how I got the ticket in the first place. My company actually has a pair of season tickets and they were able to purchase post season tickets as well that they planned to raffle off to the employees. The catch though was that you had to answer a series of Giants questions. I'm not going to lie.. I knew some of the answers but I definitely needed a little help. Luckily, the biggest Giants fan I know was online and Kevin was nice enough to provide me with an answer or two... My name got drawn in the raffle and off I was!

I stopped home and got my Lincecum (coincidentally, he was pitching too!) t-shirt and off I was to the game! I stopped by to meet a couple of coworkers and Zeke's tavern before. Technically, this was also a first, but if you've been to Zeke's, you'll understand why I don't need to grace it with it's own post. It's not the worst bar in the world but it's nothing special either and I wasn't there very logn either way.

Next thing I know, the first inning was starting so I jogged over to the stadium. From the get go, the stadium was packed. I don't think I'd even seen so many seats filled in AT&T Park before. Just the atmosphere in the stadium was electric... Giants fans are always very excited and energetic but this was definitely different... everyone was just paying more attention to the game.

The game itself was just awesome. I love watching Timmy pitch and having him stay in for the whole game with 14strikeouts - was just incredible. Even though the Giants only scored one run, it was an amazing game to watch.

Go Giants!

Week of September 27th 2010: (Part II) Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival

San Francisco is known for festivals. Ok, maybe not known for them, but if you live here you know that in the summer and fall there are festivals and concerts almost every weekend. It's really fun to check some of them out and I admit, I've been horrible about going to them. The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival is probably one of the ones I've been the worst about.. it is a 3 day festival in Golden Gate Park, it's completely free and I'd only heard good things about it.

The Festival is mostly bluegrass but as the title suggests, it's not strictly limited to it. In fact, MC Hammer is known to make an appearance some years...  The fair if Friday-Sunday one weekend a year and I decided that I would go for a couple of hours on both Saturday and Sunday. Arriving at the festival, I was immediately surprised at how big of a production it was. The event was also very popular. It almost felt like a time warp... I could see exactly was San Francisco must have looked like in the sixties.

I'm not very familiar with bluegrass festival but I found a couple of more mainstream acts to go see. On Saturday, I wanted to see Fountains of Wayne so once we got there we wandered around looking for their stage (which happened to be just about on the opposite side of the park). The band was fun to watch and they did a couple of covers, a little bit of Bluegrass and of course, "Stacey's Mom." We also were standing next to a guy that had the fluffiest dog I'd ever seen in my life. I have no idea why I didn't get a picture of it but the thing looked like a bear and was super sweet.

After Fountains of Wayne, we decided to wander a bit. Shannon wanted to get some kettle corn and I was little hungry as well so we hunted around for some food. As much as Shannon like kettle corn (a whole lot), I love seafood so when I saw a crab and shrimped stuffed artichoke stand, I knew I was in heaven. The stand carved out the center of the artichoke and stuffed it and then covered the whole thing in a crab louie sauce. Every part of it was amazing and again I am wondering why I didn't get a picture of something...

On Sunday, I was excited to see Elvis Costello. The festival was much more crowded on this day and especially near Elvis's stage. Try and I eventually managed to get near the stage and find a place to sit down. It was a fun set to watch and by the time he was done, the Giants had qualified for the playoffs! There is nothing like listening to good music and then having your baseball team win an important game!

Try and I had fun watching the band but when they were done we decided to just head home since we didn't want to fight through the crowds.

The concert was very fun and it was nice wandering around and listening to music that is outside my typical interest. The food stands were good and not too pricey (relative to some events). I wish it had been just a little less crowded though!

Week of September 27th 2010: (Part I) Rosanero NY Pizza

One of the easiest ways for me to rock this challenge is in the food world. I need to eat, I love to eat, and often enough I find myself deciding to eat out. I love to cook, but I don't always have the time to make myself dinner and prepare a lunch for the next day. So.. although I have a lot of lunch places that I love to frequent, I know I need to start branching out and trying new places.

So - when I found myself needing to go out and buy a lunch one day, I decided to wander and window shop for my lunch instead of going to the same places. I ended up walking down to the end of Sacramento St. at Embarcadero Center 4. There is a little alley filled with tiny little lunch spots. I had been to a few of them already and I wanted something quick so when I saw Rosanero NY Pizza, I decided it fit the bill.

I got a slice of cheese and then a slice of Greek style Feta and spinach pizza. I'm not a vegetarian by any means but I find that I prefer vegetarian pizzas. The Greek pizza was pretty good but had huge chunks of Feta cheese which ended up being overwhelming. It it had smaller pieces or less of it, it would have been a much better slice. The cheese was relatively much better. Although cheese pizza is the plain vanilla of the pizza world, finding a good balance of cheese and sauce is actually a delicate one which Rosanero was able to find.

Week of September 20th 2010: 343 Sansome Roof Garden

I work full time, 8-5 and sometimes longer. I love what I do, but sometimes I miss being outside. Unfortunately, there isn't much flexibility in what hours I work, so I make a point to try to get outside every day for lunch. Even if I bring something, I'll heat it up in the office and then go to my favorite sunny spot around the office. It gives me time to enjoy the sun, and sometimes get a little reading done.

So.. when I heard about the 343 Sansome roof garden, I was very excited to find a new place to get away too. Variety is the spice of life and all...

The roof garden itself is very easy to get to. You go into the 343 Sansome office building and head up to the 15th floor. There are two entrances, the second being on Sacramento St. which puts you closer to the elevators. There is minimal security and the building is open to everyone. Sometimes the guard will question new faces but you can just tell her that you're going to the roof garden.

The space itself is very nice. There is a smoking section and non-smoking as well. Typically, it isn't too crowded and you can just sit where you would like to. However, last week (I've been back a few times since the first time I went) it was very sunny and crowded and a lady with a cigarette sat down right next to me. That was the same time I decided lunch was over.

In general though, it's a very nice space. One side has little tables and chairs in the sun (non-smoking) and the other end has benches that wrap around planters (smoking). The smoking side is also where you can get a nice view of the Transamerica building. There is also a random Obelisk.

I've really liked having my lunch here a couple days a week. I also like to hit up the EC's and Justin Herman Plaza. Does anyone know of any other good outdoor spaces in the SF Financial District? Likewise - I'm still trying to figure out what I can do when it's rainy.

Also, I'm not sure what activity to do this week. I really only have Wednesday night free so it needs to be something I can do at night. Suggestions?

Week of September 13th 2010 (Part II): Mayes Oyster House

This post should really be about my first trip to Reno... However, some things don't work out.

So, as many of you know, I am a huge Cal fan. If I'm not at the game, I am definitely watching it on TV. Usually, one of my friends will host a viewing party but as this game was on a Friday, we decided it would be easiest to just swing by a bar with a happy hour special. Shannon found out that Mayes had a great happy hour deal for anyone watching their favorite sports team.

Tryphena (who I will from here forward refer to as Try) and I headed out there to meet up with Shannon. We decided to go a little early since we weren't sure what kind of crowds there would be. We were able to fight through the masses and secure ourselves a table. Just kidding... there was really no one there.

The two of us were hungry so we made got a couple of the food happy hour specials which were very reasonably priced. Try got french fries and I got some garlic bread. Both were cheap and yummy. We also got a bucket of Coors Light for $12 which was definitely affordable.

Shannon showed up with her friend Casey just in time to partake in the bucket and some $1 oysters. The four of us enjoyed the cheap prices until half time but then we decided to switch sports bars.

Summary: although Mayes was good for the prices, we were the only ones there watching the Cal game so it wasn't a great atmosphere for that. I think it would be fun to return for dinner. I actually have been back since and at night they turn it into a really fun dance club. Just don't come here for a game.

Week of September 13th 2010 (Part I): Take the Lead Climbing Test

So for those of you who know me, you know that a little over a year ago I found a hobby I'm really passionate about. I absolutely love rock climbing and try to go as often as possible. Especially after Kevin left, climbing became therapeutic. Having something to really pour my energy into helped me get my mind off of anything else going on.

But back to the lead test - In rock climbing, there are 3 main ways to climb. The most familiar method is called top roping. This is were a rope is hanging from the top of the wall, and you have a person at the other end of the rope keeping it taught in case you fall. Another popular method is called bouldering. Typically, the wall is no higher than 10-12 feet and you climb above a padded mat. If you fall, you fall onto the mat below. The third method, which is commonly used outdoors (I climb in a gym), is called lead climbing. With lead climbing, you carry a rope up with you and clip to anchors (called a quickdraw) along the wall. If you fall, you will fall at least as far as the last clip you made, and typically several feet farther than that.


Because of the safety issues and complications with how far you can fall, gyms typically test you rigorously on your climbing technique. They want to see that you climb and clip safely as it is easy to get your legs tangled in the rope, clip incorrectly, etc. Any of these things can have pretty bad results, from having you flip upside down when you fall, to having some of your clips come undone.

However, the biggest test is the fall... like I said, if you fall lead climbing, you fall at least as far as your last clip. However, you probably have some extra rope and there is some reaction time from your belayer which means your fall is likely to be around 5-15 ft. Also, the belayer tends to be pulled up into the air a few feet. This tends to freak some people out.

So... now that you have a short history of rock climbing (sorry if you knew all of this already, I'm trying to cater to all sorts of audiences), let me tell you my story.

Shortly after I started climbing, I got my friend Eddy into it. Ever since then, the two of us have constantly pushed each other to improve our climbing. From signing onto competitions to comparing routes that we've done, we've definitely helped eachother push our limits. So, when Eddy told me we were learning how to lead climb, I knew I had to do it.

We'd been learn lead climbing tips and practicing "mock leading" (taking a rope up with you as if you are lead climbing, but being tied into the top rope the whole time) for a couple of weeks when Eddy told me we were going to take the lead climbing test that week because they set up an easy route for it and he knew someone who passed it on the first try.

So, we got to the gym, and did a little not-so-great mock leading, but decided to take the test anyways. Somehow it was decided that I would go first. I think it was possibly because I really wasn't afraid of the fall, but more skeptical about my ability to do the climb without falling as it was one that required more upper body strength. I did the climb, but my nerves got the best of me and I was shaking a lot of the way up. I got to the last overhang, made my clip and then called down to Eddy that I was going to fall. I let go and it wasn't so bad. However, in terms of the test - automatic FAIL.

Eddy climbed next and I had to belay him. The process was fairly smooth, however I had some room for improvement. Eddy made it past the overhang but then missed a clip resulting in an automatic fail as well. Now came the part I was more afraid of... rising into the air when Eddy fell. The rising itself wasn't too bad but it is hard to hold the rope and lower as you're more sensitive to the weight difference on a lead rope.

The lead test has continued to be my Achilles heel over the past few weeks. Tries 2-3 had similar results (i.e. not being able to finish the route) and try 4 was even more devastating. I finished the climb, but the tester didn't like my belaying. Ironically, he dinged me for following the advice I'd received on another test. The worst part was, I hurt my ankle and foot on both the fall and when I rose as Eddy fell. It sucks being hurt and not being able to climb for a few days, but it would have been worth it if I'd passed.

Oh well... 5th times a charm?

Week of September 6th 2010: Blue Barn Gourmet, Universal, 330 Ritch, Beta Lounge

This week was full of new restaurants and bars! I'm just going to go through and give a quick review of each since there are a number of places.

Blue Barn Gourmet:
The Monday of Labor Day weekend I had a lunch date with a former boss, Tim. He likes to check in on me every now and then and as I was hours away from sending Kevin packing, he thought it would be a good idea to check in on me for a quick lunch and a talk about life. Tim has a funny way of giving advice... he manages to simultaneously tell you what you want to hear and ask you really difficult questions. It's a great way to get you thinking about life and I always know to bring my A-game to conversation with Tim.
But back to the restaurant... it's mostly just sandwiches and salads. I got an heirloom tomato BLT with goat cheese and it was incredible. I don't normally get BLT's and I would order this sandwich again in a heartbeat. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I want to run back and get one right now...Tim got a Chinese chicken salad. I didn't taste it but the portion was huge and he seemed pretty happy with it.

Universal
Universal is a little place a couple of blocks away from the climbing gym so it just seemed natural that I would end up there after climbing one day. The food was really good here. It's pretty simple, well-cooked American food. I got a halibut with some vegetables. One friend got a good pasta, and the other got some really nice gourmet chicken. We all washed it down with a couple of glasses of wine. If you're looking for some well-cooked delicious food then definitely check it out. The atmosphere is also really cozy - the place isn't huge but we didn't need to wait for a table at all.

330 Ritch
We went to 330 Ritch for a 70's Cal Party to welcome Colorado to the Pac-10. We were only there an hour or so and most of that time was spent trying to organize a singing of the Cal Drinking Song. The bar itself is nice. It's not a huge location and the size was fine for the number of people there but I could see it getting crowded easily. It's also about 300 degrees in there so make sure to layer!

Beta Lounge
The last place of the week is Beta Lounge in Berkeley. We come here after the game to avoid the crowds and pay a little less than the usual gameday spots. The prices were definitely unbeatable and it was nice being able to easily fit our whole group into a spot. The food was also inexpensive and delicious but it would have been nice to have some more bar-type foods than just salads and hummus plates. The vibe in the place is very cool - very simple with vibrant paintings on the wall. The art definitely was a talking point as many of the painting were rather colorful depictions of the female form (that's all I'll say about that). We ended the night playing a game of quarters which technically was also a first for me until it was time to head home.

Week of August 30th 2010: Walk Across the Golden Gate Bridge

So this was actually the activity that gave me the idea to try something new each week. I had heard about walking across the Golden Gate Bridge my freshman year of college and had wanted to do it since then. However, I always had an excuse - too tired, not enough time, too cold, no one to go with. Suddenly, I found myself alone on a Sunday of a long weekend with perfect weather, nothing to do, and plenty of energy. It was time.

I figured if I was going to walk it, I could run it (if you know anything about my workout habits, you know I would rather do anything than run...) and as I was mere days away from saying goodbye to Kevin, I had a lot of aggression to pump out.

After dealing with a bit of traffic, I finally was able to park my car up by the bridge. I didn't think about dealing with metered parking so I was only able to get an hour's worth of parking - had to be quick!

I realized if I was going to actually run this thing, my music choice was going to be critical. I decided to go with Pink's Funhouse cd. It may sound cheesy but as I was on the verge of losing someone that I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to - most of the songs about her divorce really hit home. Although I didn't run the whole thing (did I mention I hate running?), I did burst into a full blown sprint when "Please Don't Leave Me" came on. It's amazing what a difference some music can make when you're working out, and I'm also sure listening to that song again would bring all of those emotions of that day rushing back.

I made it to the end, snapped some pictures and headed back. If this is something you haven't done - I would highly recommend it. It was nice to get outside, and get some fresh air. It's rare to get a warm, sunny day is SF (especially around the bridge) so really capitalize on the next one that comes by and get out there.

The last take away I got from this was that I don't always need to be with someone to do something. I had asked around if anyone wanted to walk the bridge with me but everyone was busy. At first that was a deterrent but then I realized that I could go at my own pace and do my own thing if I went on my own anyway. I've been slowly get more used to doing things on my own (I had dinner by myself last night) and I think I really like it. Don't get me wrong - I love having people around, but I'm starting to appreciate the beauty of being able to really do something with or without anyone else.

Week of August 23rd 2010: Night Life at the Academy of Sciences & La Trappe

Here's my first two in one post! I haven't decided if in general, I want to go chronologically or by order of magnitude (more exciting activity first) but it doesn't make a difference this week.

Thursday nights at the Academy of Sciences, they have this little event called Night Life where they open up the museum to over 21-ers only, serve alcohol and let you drink in the whole museum. And by the whole museum, I mean everywhere except the exhibits. Of course, we found that out after we had already gotten our first round. This was pretty frustrating because most of the exhibits didn't have a line at that time but by the time that we finished our drinks, they did. Since we had to wait in line, we only got to see a couple of things. So.. check where you can bring your drinks before you buy if you actually care about seeing museum exhibits and things.

Anyways... since we needed to occupy a bit of time until we finished our drinks, we went up to the living roof. I had really wanted to check this out since I could see it from my Arguello apartment and it took me a while to realize what it was. The roof was cool - it's definitely an awesome concept but there really isn't too much to see once you're up there and it was pretty chilly.

We finally finished our drinks and went to check out the Extreme Mammals exhibit. Don't let the name fool you, it was a little boring. I love animals and was hoping to, you know, see some. However it was just a lot of facts about different features different animals have. Anyway I describe it, it sounds more interesting than it was... the museum managed to take a great concept and arrange it as boring as possible...

I wanted to check out the rain-forest next but it had closed already (stupid drink rule) so we went to the aquarium. Nightlife and the Academy of Sciences is worth the visit even if this is the only thing you see. Like I said, I love animals and it was great seeing all the fish and snakes. They have some really amazing species there and it was amazing. Also, you can take drinks into the aquarium. Of course by this point we had decided to cut our losses and the chances of not being able to see an exhibit.

Overall it was really fun, just figure out where you can drink and where you can't. Roof and aquarium are ok, Rainforest and Extreme Mammals (now closed) are not... and everyone knows science is way cooler with a drink.


Next up is La Trappe. This one will be short - mostly because I was only there for a drink. Basicallly, if you love Trappist monk beers, this is a great place to get them in the city (I'm looking at you Eddy!). They have a wide variety of selections both from bottles and on tap, including the all famous Chimay.
Told you it would be short...

Until next time!

Week of August 16th 2010: Exploratorium

Like I said, the first few posts will be a backlog of what I've already done. This also means they might be shorter because it's hard to remember exactly everything that went on over a month ago...

My first foray into exploring San Francisco was one of those things Kevin and I had talked about doing, but never got around to. I remember the first time we drove past the Palace of Fine Arts and Exploratorium and he told me how much fun he had when he went there as a kid. Since I will never have the experience of being a kid in San Francisco (and that's never really stopped me from doing kid things anyways) I told him that he would have to take me someday. Jump two years into the future and we finally found the time to make it out.

Mostly the Exploratorium is exactly what you would imagine - a fun filled science center with a lot of "Did you know.." type of activities for kids. I had a fun time playing with all of the gadgets and things upstairs but if you're short on time, I think the downstairs has more interesting exhibits. However, make sure to see how sneaky of a hunter you would be in the sound section. You basically have to walk on gravel and see how much sounds registers from your footsteps. It's pretty tough, especially if you're heavy. The kids all did really well, I did ok (the hardest part was not talking for 10 seconds...), and Kevin did pretty bad. Sorry Kevin, you're just too heavy.

Like I said, downstairs was really cool. We first entered the food court area which has all of these geometric play structures for kids. As someone who likes to climb and used to seriously own jungle gyms as a kid, I was really wish I was half my height and age so I could play as well.

The next room was filled with mind games - my favorite! No, seriously, that stuff is my favorite. The first was a game where you had to put a stack of cards in two piles one was female names & family oriented words, the other was male names & work related words (one person had that set up, the other had female/work and male/family) and you had to see who could separate the stack quickest. I won both times. I'd like to think it's because I'm an a modern American woman who believes in career and family... or I'm just quicker.

There was also a table where you each held a board with eye slits in front of your face and had to "speak with your eyes" to the other person. This was pretty hilarious and I definitely got a few of the "Oh, I've seen that face before!" remarks. I'd also recommend the bluffing table... one person sees a set of cards and has to say the same statement 4 times, but one of the times it's actually true and the other has to guess which. We both failed.

We continued on our way and I saw this board that had pairs of adjectives (e.g. brave/timid, outgoing/introvert etc.) and you could slide panels to say how much of each quality your friend had. We had fun with it but I still stand by the fact that I can see the big picture and am not just detail oriented KEVIN!!! Just kidding, but seriously... have a sense of humor with it...

We kind of blew through the rest of the Exploratorium because we forgot to eat breakfast and were starving. A lot of it was optical illusions and stuff (cool stuff but nothing else that really popped out). There were a bunch of fun water fountains and things too that I started having fun playing with. At that point though Kevin's stomach was practically dragging me out of the place...

So much for a short post!

(oh and in case you're wondering, the actual Palace of Fine Arts structure was under construction so technically I haven't been there either)

Challenge: Try One New Thing a Week

Hello Readers and welcome to my brand new blog!

A few weeks ago I decided, for a multitude of reasons, that I needed to get out more. I had a long list of things I wanted to do or see but I rarely made the effort. I soon realized that I'd spent 6 years living in the Bay Area and hadn't seen many landmarks or been to amazing restaurants. I don't live in a cave or anything but I found that I'd grown into a habit of going to the same convenient places. With my boyfriend on the verge of leaving the country (and our pending breakup), we realized that for two years we had constantly talked of doing things around the city but had never found time them. We spent weeks making up that time, and I realized soon I would be on my own and the few days a week we spent together would soon be time that I would have to occupy some other way.

So I realized... why not get myself out of the house, keep myself busy, and see new things at the same time? Why not encourage myself to do one new thing a week.

It didn't have to be crazy - a new bar or restaurant would suffice (preferably it would be a new experience), and "new" would be taken very broadly - I've been to the beach, but a new beach? Well, that would count.

A week would be Monday-Sunday. I could do more than one new thing.

Although I have a list of things that I've thought of, please feel free to comment with your own suggestions. My first few posts will be a bit of a backlog and then I'll proceed forward as time moves on. I'll try to add pictues (which would encourage me to take them). If there is more than one thing a week, I reserve the right to mostly write about one and keep shorter descriptions of the others.

Last but not least, this isn't just about me - if there is something you'd love to do, see, eat or explore, please take me with you (or ask if you can join me on one of my adventures). I'd love the company.