Mid-minivacation Post

Man, it’s been a good break. I wish I could remember what I did on Friday night. Or even Saturday. I wish I could say it was because I was sloshed or something, but it’s just that age-old old-age memory failure kicking in. Uh… Actually, Friday is when Mobi and Maddie got into a scuffle and I had to take Mobi to the vet. Everyone is ok, but Mobi lost a chunk of skin on his face. 🙁 I was so wrecked on the way to and back from the vet. I held it together because I figured I had business to take care of, but once it was over and the vet reassured me that Mobi was ok (and he is), I sobbed in the car, just from the relief and release. Saturday is still a blur.

On Sunday, we met up with a couple of out-of-town friends in San Francisco and proceeded to shop the crap out of the Ferry Building (chocolates, oilive oil, bread, cheese) before eating at The Slanted Door and going on a whirlwind tour of SF. We drove by Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf and Ghirardelli Square, then headed over to The Palace of Fine Arts, my personal favorite of the SF sights. Unfortunately, the grounds were getting fixed up (all the lawn had been dug up) so we couldn’t walk by the water.

After that, we drove by Crissy Fields on the way to the Golden Gate Bridge. Man, I love that area. It’s just so pretty. I also realized & commented to Seppo that it was precisely 8 years ago that I first saw the GG Bridge, on my visit out to the Bay Arey for the first time the very same weekend during the summer after college graduation. Aww.

After taking numerous pics there and walking about a third way over the bridge, we attempted to head over to the de Young museum in Golden Gate Park, but accidentally ended up winding around the Presidio, exactly like we did last time. It was… sad. I mean, it’s not like we hadn’t been there before. We did eventually make it to the museum, looked around a bit, then headed over to the Japanese Tea Garden. I like the tea garden a lot, except it’s always full of people. It’s less serene than I imagine it should be, whereas the San Jose Japanese Friendship Garden is just a serene as I think it should be. 😀 Plus, they have crazed koi, ready to eat your face off, should you get too close to the water.

I think we then drove in some convoluted path to try to maximize the experience of driving up and down the hills of SF, but actually managed only to drive on the semi-hilly streets, rather than the insane streets that actually make me clutch the dashboard in fear. We dropped off the tourists then headed down to Los Gatos to our dinner at Manresa, which, by the way, was TOTALLY worth the close to 1.5 hour drive. Full disclosure: I didn’t drive. 😀

We ate for something like 3 hours and went home and slept soundly due to our food-induced comas.

On my actual birthday, we laid low and went out to Korean BBQ for dinner, where I ate like a madwoman. Oh, during the day, we received delivery of some yard furniture that I had been waiting for. Yay! I fell asleep embarrassingly early this day. I don’t even know why.

Yesterday, we went to see the Oakland Municipal Band play at the bandstand by Lake Merritt, roamed around the gardens and bird sanctuary, then randomly decided to rent a pedal boat. It was a strange day where it felt like we were playing tourists on vacation in our own metaphorical backyard, but it was awesome.