it never ends

Ahoy,

I was originally scheduled to make it back to Chicago with S, but I got a call from SFMTA that they would interview me. So I shuffled everything around, and flew up from LAX to OAK the day after S left. This gave me the opportunity to drool over the SFMTA headquarters. This impromptu trip up the coast also gave me the opportunity to see some people I hadn't seen in a while.

N from Cal was nice enough to pick me up from the airport. We stopped at Shooting Star Cafe so I could feed him because he can afford to splurge so often on Asian desserts under the fiscal constraints of a start-up lifestyle. This was actually the second time I'd been here, both after I had left Cal. I so rarely ate out when I was a student here, I feel like I know so little about dining options in the Bay Area.

My friend S from Cal, graciously agreed to host me for the night, and even allowed me to stay while she wasn't there. She showed me her fancy new LEED Platinum building near City Hall. It was great, totally drool-worthy. We had lunch at the Burmese Kitchen nearby and I got so full, but the coconut rice is so good - you have to finish it all.

My friend R, from Semester at Sea (it's probably been more than 3 years since I've seen him), happened to have the day off so I got to show him some places in SF. We drove down Market, which was not my brightest decision by any means. The lanes there are so confusing now what with cyclists, cars, bus only, etc. Then there are the homeless to contend with. One of the was walking by, opened our back passenger door and continued walking. So that's something new to watch out for. I spotted some boats practicing for America's Cup in the water. We drove up to Coit Tower to look at things far away, and made our way back  down to Dolores Park. We stopped in the shop location for Curry Up Now, and ice cream at Bi-Rite. People watching in Dolores Park is always fun.

I next directed him to the Sutro Baths area, where we wandered, explored for a while. It was super windy here today, much more than last time I was here. As the sun was coming down, we made our way across the Bay Bridge to Berkeley. I showed him my old stomping grounds, and some food places. We got him coffee for the drive home, and we bid adieu. Hopefully, I'll see him again in less than 3 years this time. Funny thing is he was in upstate NY, while I was in NYC, but we never managed to meet. The nature of our relationship has always been last-minute, rarely planned, always a good time.

compulsively attached,
jt

full playhouse

Ahoy,

Because I am less and less likely to remember the things I do unless there was a photo attached, I will proceed to "brain dump" the adventures of our time together.

Day  1
Poor S showed up in LA having pulled an all nighter. I've only ever gotten close to pulling an all-nighter, and never thought it was a good idea to stay up all night for school or any other reason. Real smart cookie, S is (he isn't even in school anymore). We walked through downtown and picked up stuff at the farmer's market. N bought 8 pounds of oranges (she actually wanted 25, but couldn't muscle that). One day I will get a red radio flyer wagon and buy all the things I want at the farmer's market. We stopped for happy hour at PS 310, a place I mention too often. We tucked in early because S was fading fast and the next day was going to be serious.

Day 2

LA Metro took us downtown. We walked to the museum at FIDM, but it was closed and the park there was closed. So exciting this beginning is. N and I tortured S as we browsed some clothes and bought nothing. We sallied forth to the farmer's market at Pershing Square, Angel's Flight and Grand Central Market. I got  32 oz horchata all to myself.  We ate lunch in Pershing Square where they told us not to suffocate the grass with our picnic blanket. The Last Bookstore is half art gallery, half book museum, but all fun! I got a dog book for K, against my mom's wishes. Is anything worth doing if it's not against your mom's wishes? We continued through Little Tokyo and City Hall. They all had a great time splashing around Grand Park. I've only ever been up to the Metro stop portion, but that isn't even half of it, so it was cool to see the other parts of it. I broke down and cooked a whole chicken for dinner; Martin Yan is still beating me by a lot. E joined the party tonight.

Day 3
We went to get the rental car, a sleek, hot black. We started the day off at Venice Beach and looked at the water and skateboarders. We messed around on exercise equipment at Muscle Beach because we have so many muscles. Lunch was at Sunny Blue for omusubi. It was great. Rice is always great. S ate an unimpressive 2, N ate an impressive 4. Next up was the Pacific Palisades because everyone was not tired enough. I made them go uphill on a slope to a waterfall. Then because they still weren't tired enough, I made them keep going up for an unspecified distance. It was a great adventure. There were lots of good views of rich peoples' houses. We crawled through traffic to get back to Culver City for dinner at Wildcraft.

Day 4
UCLA was today's first stop. I wanted a doughnut from Stan's, and the boys got shaved ice at Diddy Riese. I showed them what I knew of the campus, which is the garden, rock wall, and engineering because that's all that the RRS goes. So we picked up food and drove out to Griffith Park. This time, we didn't take the sketchy non-path down, and drove to the parking lot at the Observatory. It was easy. We spent the next couple hours pretending to laugh at Jimmy Kimmel (not) Live. It was a unique experience. And then we were lazy waiting for O to arrive. Dinner was at BCD Tofu House. N ate an impressive entire dinner #2. So impressive.

Day 5

This is me at art museums. 

This day we slept in and moseyed to brunch at Wildcraft again, because I just can't get enough. RRS and I were both incredibly pleased with our brunch selections. We then moseyed to the Getty because I just love art museums the most. I tried my best to stay outside and delay the art viewing. The real adventure was leaving the Getty and crawling/walking/running through the woods/bushes/side of highway. Extreme measure to beat traffic, but the folks in the cars were the suckers. Dinner was at the Boiling Crab, where we waited an exorbitantly many number of minutes like suckers. The shrimp was good, like my mom makes it, but with different sauces. Seafood is just not something I crave, but the messy eating was fun. The night wasn't complete without boba, so we went far away to the San Gabriel Valley for that.

Day 6
Climbing day! Tramway is the per usual go-to because it's relatively close, scenic, and has quality problems. We stopped at Lee's Sandwiches for Vietnamese coffee (because you can never have too much coffee) and banh mi. We got back to the city around 8, and went for sushi. While waiting for our table we ventured to Grand Park, when we got the call they had a table for us. We booked it back to the Komasa just as the guy was about to give away our table. Fresh from climbing, and now running - we must have looked like such a ragtag group of animals.

Day 7
Today's plan was Cafe Surfas sandwiches and a hike up Baldwin Hills. We ate at the top as those more physically ambitious trudged by drooling and panting. It was scenic, delicious, sunny - everything you would expect of California. I also had to show them Coolhaus. After E left, S and I spent the rest of the day watching tv, until it was time to go climbing at Hangar 18. S thinks I'm trying to kill him at this point.

Day 8
So many days! S and I went to Santa Monica for a long day of shopping. We got to stop at Sunny Blue again, where S was more impressive this time. Also impressive was how long we were shopping. Dinner was at Mitsuwa, where S and the RRS gushed over noodles.

Day 9
This day was fairly uneventful aside from a last minute souvenir hunt and more television. And so the sun sets on this extremely long and crowded adventure. There were so many people sleeping everywhere. It was a symphony of sleeping sounds.

crowdedly sourced,
jt

carscarscars

Ahoy,

I don't even like cars, but I saw the video on this website and I thought it looked pretty cool. So then I went and it was totally cool! The RRS had to abstain for responsible educational purposes as a result of irresponsible over 21 antics previously. But I'm sure he would have oogled and gawked at all the pretty cars and car parts there. The only times I ever catch his eyes wandering is when there are other specimens of fine mechanical dimensions whizzing around.

I like the jet propeller on this one.

This one looks like a banana.

And of course I take pictures of things that are aesthetically interesting or appealing and not the engines - which was probably what the RRS actually would have liked to see documentation of.

 But I did take pictures of the famous ones that came too.

All the cars were really shiny, and they all had their hoods open. There are a million different ways that car hoods can open. The trunks were so big, I'm sure you could fit many crash pads and a whole campsite inside. The RRS's current car has no trunk space. You can imagine my envy.



culinarily agape,
jt

the mundanity!

Ahoy,

There is not much happening when the RRS has school. Weekends are often plagued by running to and from coffee shops because he has high maintenance study habits. I get plenty of reading done, which is not something I can complain about. I'm well on my way to my 35 books this year mark. I'm nearly at 20 now because books are my best friends. I hope you are doing as well on your list.

On Friday I finally got around to returning a sweater I got in NYC. I don't wear sweaters. I got store credit and immediately spent it on 2 more clothing items (plus change to spare) because I am so responsible and in control of my spending habits. Anybody that buys sweaters are suckers. We also stopped at Nordstrom Rack to get hair product for him because he has infinitely more high maintenance hair than I. I was strictly implored to stay right by his side lest we lose hours in that store.

This weekend, we did manage to make a day trip out to Tramway on Saturday. It was predicted to be warmer than it was the last time we were there so we dressed for warmer climes, but it was actually chillier. According to the RRS, perfect sending weather (but he'll moan and groan like the dickens when the weather was like this in NYC). Although, we spent forever at the cube while he was almost sending it. I'm so glad I convinced our friend to come with us so we could run around and climb baby things while he continued to not send his thing. I did bring bubbles.

We left for back to LA to make board game night at another friend's place, where the RRS attempted quite successfully to drink himself under the table. He would spend the following 2 days recovering from his escapades. My, how poor life decisions do come back to bite you. I'm sure everyone at his work thinks he had a really good time for cinco de Mayo.

On a more grown-up note, we finally got a microwave. We've been getting along fine without one, but we couldn't resist this Target deal because, again, we are just so fiscally wise. The trunk of the car is so small, had we gotten any other microwave that was the tiniest bit larger we wouldn't have been able to bring it home. It was quite a productive weekend, despite my saboteur.

readily nukable,
jt