こんにちは konnichiwa
Holy petunias where has time gone?? It is just about one month since I officially landed in the good ‘ol USA. Here is a bit of a recap of what I have been up to.
San Francisco, California
My travels to meet my cousin, Sherry weren’t all too bad. I was sent off by a fellow teacher, Wakaba and I took the early bus with another teacher, Hannah. I was very grateful for the company! I left Japan and had a quick layover in Shanghai, China. There was such a drastic difference from the people in Japan compared to China. They were SO loud and pushy I couldn’t believe it. They were screaming to each other while standing right next to each other. I survived my layover though and hopped right back on the plane to hit my next destination… Cali baby!!
You will probably notice a huge pattern in the following pictures… LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF DEEEEEEEELISH FOOD. There were so many first’s of things I hadn’t had in practically a year and I swear every time was just as exciting I thought I could cry.
Sherry and I hit the ground running just like we did when she visited me in Japan :). We walked many many miles. My biggest surprise? San Francisco is COLD. Sherry did warn me but considering my body temperature is normally 30 degrees hotter than the average human I chose to be ignorant and think I would be okay. I pretty much only packed shorts and tanks to wear so thank goodness I had my other suitcases accessible with me.
Every where we turned there were hills. I felt like I was in the movie Princess Diaries (which apparently they filmed in San Fran) when she is learning to drive stick and slides back down the hill. These were serious inclines, man. But it’s okay cause we got to see a lot, chat along the way, and who doesn’t like a little booty burn?
Our next stop though… Japan town! Yes I know this seems silly cause I was just coming from Japan BUT both of us were on a hunt for matcha powder. If you don’t know what it is, google it cause chances are you’ll love it. There are tons of health benefits and bottom line: it’s deelish. I’ve put it in protein shakes or my personal favorite is making matcha tea or matcha tea latte. We were very pleased with Japan town it was like Japan minus Japanese aka WE COULD READ IT ALL!! There were so many yummy restaurants I wish we had more time to go try them. Especially the ramen and the yummy sushi!
We found a Daiso!! I couldn’t believe it. This is one of the things I’ll miss most about Japan especially in the city when I could use a cheap store to find random things. Their selection was so similar too I couldn’t believe it.
That same night we met up with my cousin Jay who just so happened to be playing a show in San Francisco. We went with him to check out the venue, “Boom Boom Pow” (LOL) and he told the owner I just got back from Japan and he gave us all tequila shots at 4 PM… cause why not?
We went out to dinner with a few of Jay’s friends at a Burmese place called B-Star. There are a few of them around San Francisco and it was soooo delicious. I can’t even remember what we ate but I will definitely revisit this place next time I’m in San Fran.
Jay played a 75 minute solo show and killed it. This venue had a bit of a weird crowd, mainly this one chick who dominated the dance floor. She must’ve been on drugs or something because throughout the entire show she was dancing like a stripper and I saw her boobs multiple times. Stay classy San Fran.
Napa, California
What you don’t know is that I was visiting the best possible person to go wine tasting in Napa with. Sherry used to live in Napa and worked in the wine industry for quite a bit. I don’t think I know anyone else who knows as much about wine as she does! It also worked out very nicely that got to meet up with my friend Rachel from college 🙂
We went to 3 different wineries and there were absolutely no disappointments. We also got HOOKED UP multiple times thanks to Sher. The first place gave us a free tasting, the 2nd place was completely free and then the last place was the Cliff Bar Food truck/winery and they gave us an extra appetizer AND dessert. She works at Cliff Bar so that’s why we stopped here. Sher, thank you for knowing peeps so we got treated like queens :).
I have concluded that one of the best parts about traveling/exploring on my own is being able to power walk the heck out of my journey. I have a tendency to walk extremely fast (sorry I don’t usually have patience for slow walkers) so when it’s just me SAYONARA I’m off on a race.
One thing I really couldn’t believe in San Francisco was how cold it was and how much fog there was!! I stupidly didn’t believe Sherry when she told me to bring layers. What did I pack? Shorts and tanks. I thought my sweaty nature could brave the cold but it definitely got pretty chilly at times.
The fog was soo bad I was nervous I wouldn’t even be able to see the bridge. But luckily this day I went and walked my 15 miles it got a bit warmer and I saw the bridge 🙂 At night we went to meet Rachel again for an Italian restaurant near her. I got the eggplant parmesan (I’ve missed a real one) and I was so pleasantly happy. The waiters were from all different places in Italy and their accents were so strong I actually couldn’t even tell what some of them were saying. Nonetheless, DELISH.
The next day I got another nommy breakfast and walked more! I was taking my time to stroll and relax.
My friend Chelc told me about Delores Park and said when she went it was PACKED. There were people outside hanging and just enjoying the sun. That must be on the weekends because when I went it was kids from camps or moms with their babies. Oh and then there was me and this guy below only wearing his boxers…
Sher and I ended on yet another epic meal (seriously Cali wins the prize for best food options ever) with an Indian restaurant. It was very different than Pariwar but yet again I was pleasantly surprised! Such good flavors and not as heavy which didn’t leave us feeling bloated. 🙂
Sher brought me to the airport and I was actually really excited for my flight to hear the Virgin America Safety Video. I didn’t know about this and in case you haven’t please watch it now…
I landed before 6 AM and we hit the ground running. We had a very epic running hug I swear I almost knocked them both over!
We went food shopping to make a yummy first meal home! It was definitely not boring when you have your mom wheeling around in the motorized cart…
Once we finished we headed home so I could see the new and improved lake house! My mouth pretty much was dropped to the floor. I can’t believe they pulled this off so quickly! They decided on moving here last summer before I was leaving for Japan. Then they moved in 2 weeks after visiting me in Thailand! They renovated so much and did it all in just about 4 months. WOWZA I better find me a guy like my dad for when I have to buy a house…
So beautiful, right!? If only it was easier to commute to NYC I would stay here longer! Here was our deelish dinner #lotsofveggies
Next post will have more travels of what I’ve been up to since I’ve been home!
Sayonara for now 🙂
The Traveling Teacher 