106°F

On my way to one of my favorite places - Bay Kids Museum on a hot summer day!



Lucky me, special occasions brought me here 3 times this summer!

Much Ado About Nothing

It's time for our annual camping trip. My friend said we were 'glamping' - glamour camping. Why? Because we slept in cabins, took hot showers and all 3 meals were provided. To be fair, we did started this annual event camping by the river, only that we gradually upgraded ourselves to the cabin. 

As usual, there's absolutely nothing to do, in another words, we didn't do anything much but take naps in the shade, read, play games, swam in the river, hiked up to the hill top, and be fed with uberliscious food.

Food is always super good at Emandal, no matter how simple looking, it's the freshness of the ingredients that made it very satisfying, to the point that I couldn't stop myself from having second and third helpings.

Simple breakfast burrito (scrambled eggs, salsa, cheese, beans), fresh fruits, home made yogurt, and granola served in a beautiful dining hall.

A scrumptious but simple looking lunch. Rosemary bread, humus, olives, roasted vegetables, garden salad and fruits.

*cluck cluck cluck* Oven roasted chicken, brown rice and garden salad. Dessert was rhubarb crisp with home made ice-cream.

Oh no! A lover's dispute? Nah....this year, I thought we'd do something funny and my friends were sporting enough to entertain me! :) We always had lots of fun at Emandal, all of us can't wait to go back next year!

Emandal [2012] [2010]

Dawn to Dusk

 

The view of Golden Gate Bridge at 7am from Sausalito.

Literally chasing after the sunset at Sunset.

Memorial Day Weekend

Decided to take an easy trip down south with friends and the twins :)

And of course, to enjoy the yummylicious food.

San Diego II

It was only 6pm but we were cold and famished. We were out when the sun was still warm, and before we knew it, the cold had set in. We were by the beach and passed by this joint, thinking that it was just another pub at the street corner called The Joint but it said, "Sushi and Tapas" underneath. We contemplated a little but we were hungry and the place was packed so we went in. The menu was very extensive, they have all sorts of cuisine, a large menu doesn't always guarantee decent food but we thought, what the heck we could just snack a little and if it's too bad, we'd just leave. So we ordered only 2 things. After all, we still have a dinner appointment at 8pm.

Oh my god, when I saw this plate of fish tacos, I was very impressed. I'm rarely impressed by fish tacos but my oh my these little dainty tacos are so pleasantly yummy. They used Salmon in this dish. The combination of lime, salsa, radicchio is just so amazingly yummy. The flavors and the textures are just right,  it's so satisfying!

Then we ordered this sushi roll, the main attraction was the green apple used in the roll. Similar to the tacos, this roll awakens the palette. When I was savoring this sushi, I could clearly taste the freshness of the fish, rice, avocado and the rest of the condiments. It's been a while since I have had good sushi and most of the time, the rice overpowers the rest of the ingredients but this one is just pleasantly nice and delicious. 

Eventhough we had snacked on sushi, our friends still wanted sushi for dinner. After making the reservation, we still had to wait about half an hour. Shino had a really good review on Yelp, the place is small and unassuming that one might doubt the quality of the food (mainly because the place looked so new and so un-Japanese restaurant like). When we went in, it's mostly Japanese so we thought this place must be good. 

Oh boy, it was really REALLY good. I don't even know how to describe it. When I put the sushi in my mouth, the rice breaks apart and the sashimi just melted! Frankly, I haven't had such good sushi before! It really felt like there was fireworks in my mouth because everything was bursting with flavors. Every one that ordered the special sushi plate was crying with joy because they're so good and fresh. The uni was also highly rated but unfortunately it was sold out by the time we ordered it. So I can't review that.

Another pleasant surprise was the plum wine ice-cream. I've only had green tea ice-cream in Japanese restaurants but not this flavor. Yummmsss.....The other roll which was also highly rated - the Bomb, but it wasn't that great, it was soft shell crab wrapped with Kobe beef. I know, it's Kobe beef, it should be good but the thing is the flavor wasn't as 'authentic' as a sushi should be. The Bomb was too complicated with deep fried crab, meat and some very strong flavored sauce. So the sushi is really highly recommended.

And my last dinner in San Diego, Italian pasta. When we walked in the owner of the restaurant was so friendly and he gave us complimentary Prosecco. The perfect drink to start off the new year! We ordered a lot of food, most of us had ordered a 3 course meal - salad, main and dessert. But I just want to highlight this simple pasta dish-  Bavette al Granchio del Ristorante “Tre Pini”. It's hot and spicy linguine pasta with crab meat in a smooth rosé sauce. It's so simple (so I think), just pasta and cream sauce, but it's so yummy. The wonders of simple and fresh ingredients.

I had so much fun this trip. The food was amazing, the company incredible, it was priceless to spend precious time with loved ones.

San Diego I

Happy as a bird, I flew to San Diego to spend sometime with loved ones before heading back to work.

 

The weather was so beautiful, we walked to the pier and took some photos at the Embarcadero. At the Embarcadero they parked a variety of old and new ships, boats, and yachts. That's a submarine by the way. 

With the day pass we took the bus to places that time permits. We didn't have a lot of time but we chose to visit the Balboa park. This place is huge and very beautiful. The park is 1,200 acre and there are plenty of museums, galleries, events, exhibitions to look at but time limited us to just briefly walk around the park and took the free tram train to go around the park.

With the limited time, I really wanted to go to Sea World, and I had only 5 hours! 

First show of the day - dolphins and pilot whale.

The animals were beautiful, their performances were amazing but it wasn't as exciting as I remembered when I visited eon years ago. I wonder if it had anything to do with the accident that they had years before that resulted in the death of a trainer? No more stunts that involve trainers swimming with the animal.

Shamu is a must see, but no trainer -whale partners in the same tank in the show!

There were many things and animals to see in Sea World, but I only wanted to see a few of them and one of them is the manta ray, which you can feed it if you dare. Of course I didn't, but I love watching them gliding in the water.

My main reason to revisit Sea World is to see the arctic animals. Isn't the beluga whale magnificent?

My favorite!  The pola bear, which was busy taking a nap on a Xmas tree! Isn't he adorable or isn't she? I'm not sure :)

No trip is complete without a post on good food, but that'll have to be in the next post. :)

Morning Goodness

What's the most important meal of the day? Breakfast of course! One must not skim in order to have a good start of the day. Yelp took us to Harbor Cafe , this quaint little place that not only is dog friendly but serves alcoholic beverages early in the morning. Perfect for dog owners who loves food and alcohol! Plus, they have a doggy menu too!

I ordered something adventurous - Mexican Tofu Scram with vege patty. What? Tofu cooked in Mexican spices? It's really good, I finished the whole plate all by myself. If you're looking for a more cheesy and satisfying dish, do try the Captain's Frittata.  I can't believe I was able to finish the big plate of food and a large glass of pomegranate lime juice! Phew, what a breakfast. :)

Surfing: A New Religion

I think surfing is such a cool idea. To be riding with the waves. However I have no desire in learning how to surf. :)  I think it can be quite a zen thing for some people, to be sitting on the board in the middle of the sea patiently waiting for the waves. It needs passion, dedication and faith. It was such a beautiful day, by 8:30am, a lot of people had come and gone. Done surfing for the day. 

Instead, I chose to walk by the beach, snap a few photos and enjoy the beautiful weather. 

Jelly Legs

I can barely stand, my legs are sore because I have not ridden a bike for the past 15 years and I actually biked from Fisherman's Wharf to Sausalito Pier all in 3 hour's time. It's too much for one day but seriously, it's so worth it! It took us so long because I had to stop every other mile to snap photos! 

 

We rented bikes at Fisherman's Wharf, then we proceeded to Fort Mason. From Fort Mason we biked towards the bridge.

The wind was quite strong on the bridge, I had to stop suddenly a couple of times when the wind picked up because I couldn't keep my balance.

 

Then it was all the way down slope towards Sausalito. Wheee...luckily my brake works! Haha...

Since it was all the way down towards Sausalito, do you think I could ride all the way back up to the city? No way! So we took the ferry :)

The view of the city from the ferry. It was such a beautiful day, what's missing are my lovely white clouds, but I'm not complaining. With good company and good weather, it was a lovely day out! I'm so happy today! ♥

Beach. Blue. Beautiful.

The weather is getting warmer, what's better than spending a beautiful afternoon by the beach? Spent a beautiful day by the beach with the honorary Koh twins and their mom J.Luo. :)

Pacifica

 

 

 

Yahoo! What a beautiful day to go to the beach! BK wanted to go surfing so we went to Pacifica at 8am in the morning for a surfing class. Brrrr....the wind was ICY cold but it got warmer after the sun came out. 

After rolling and tumbling in the water for 2 hours and chilling in the icy wind, it's time to warm up to some wonderful brunch! Off we go to Salada Beach Cafe for some wonderful food. What a treat! I ordered hot cafe au lait with French Roast beans and Bacado breakfast plate (2 scramble eggs, bacon, home fries, cheese, salsa, avocado and rye bread!). BK ordered hot chocolate and Santa Fe omelette (eggs, apple sausages, cheese, mushroom, home fries and wheat bread). Yummmmmmsss..... the food was really good, it's not oily at all, hah! No guilty pleasure there, and the cafe is so cute! I'll be back for sure! Yiipppeeeeeeee :)

Snowy Tahoe

Summer was late, so did fall and suddenly from summer hot days, it became winter overnight. It was forecasted to be raining over the weekend, which means it might snow in Tahoe. So we packed up our winter gear and drove to Tahoe for a day trip. The day started kinda gloomily but when we stopped for lunch, the day became so beautiful, it was so breathtaking.

 

If only I could write as well as I take photos. I'm so lucky to be able to take photos of my favorite subject matters: blue skies, puffy white clouds, horizon, sea and the pier.

Is this the road to Paradise, it sure looks like we're in Paradise.

One of these days, I'm going to stay at these waterfront cabins and enjoy the scenery all day long...

We were lucky that the sun came out once again when we arrived at Emerald Bay, we were just lamenting at how dull the water looked like on the way towards Emerald Bay.

Emerald Bay

Then the day turned gloomy again, and it snowed briefly. I always think that colored gloomy snowy days are gloomy but they look beautiful in black and white, don't you think so?

Then I met this little fler who was just absolutely elated to be able to run on fresh snow of the season!



What does this remind you off? A thriller movie? Some of the cabins were covered in amazing looking icicles but I didn't stop to take photos of them and only got these.

 Tahoe, I'm definitely coming back for more!