Browse Author: beakatude

Free Food Friday

Friday was filled with free food for me.  At work, we had some catered food that was left over from clinic so I got a free lunch!  Patty also had an extra order of Pad Thai from her dinner the night before and brought that in to share too.  Score!  For dinner, Jes and I went to Public House, which is the new sports bar that replaces Acme.

It’s in the same location in the ballpark and shares the space with Mijita, which is also owned by Chef Des Jardins (who was seated at the table right next to ours). She’s the one in the background with her hands clasped.  I had a better photo of her but SOMEONE deleted it from my phone.  *tsk tsk*

Anyway, back to the free food… Last week I got a call from Public House asking for my email address.  They were going to have a preview night a couple weeks prior to opening day and I was going to get an invite!  Woot!  So, we went for our 6:30 invitation and received menus, a survey, and $75-worth of fake money to spend.  We pigged out on deviled eggs, a BLT, sausage and peppers sammich, and German potato salad.  We also had quite a few drinks including my #24 that was made with bourbon, sugar, and some other tasty stuff.

For dessert, we had Secret Breakfast!!!  Yes, it’s the same stuff they sell at Humphrey Slocombe.  Tasty.  It was certainly a good day for my wallet and my tummy.

First Weekend of Spring

Daylight Saving Time is, as usual, messing with my sleep schedule and everyone is crowding me on the sidewalk with their sudden ambition to go outside and run.  It’s funny that as soon as I got back from Tahoe, the sun decided to come out and the rain stopped.  Hmph.

Anyhoo, I spent a good part of this first weekend of spring outside and in a sports bar. It’s the beginning of March Madness so I was at Pete’s on Friday night.  With the warm weather and the buzz of college basketball, the bar was PACKED.  Luckily Victor got a table upstairs and we could see three different games at the same time.  By the end of the night, Cal had won and a drunk guy standing next to us stole one of my cookies!  I SO wanted to punch his lights out but he was too sweaty and gross to deal with.

On Saturday, Jesse was rail meat again for a race that went out past the Golden Gate Bridge and into the Pacific Ocean. They came in 5th out of the 7 teams competing and he had an awesome time.  I guess racing in the ocean is different than in the bay since he had to go out and buy a knife, harness, tether, beacon, and whistle.  Crazy!

Meanwhile, I took at walk to the Ferry Plaza and got a taste of the Kimchi Fried Rice at one of the newer stands.  It was pretty good but way too much for one person.

In the evening, I met up with the girls to celebrate Patty’s birthday.  She’s the one standing next to me in the photo.  We had to jump from bar to bar until we found the right one but we had a great time wandering the streets in heels.  I even got to stop for a late-night bowl of ramen before catching a cab home.

On Sunday, Jes went out for a leisurely sail with a different captain so I walked to Downtown to use my Gap coupon but ended up just picking up a pair of earrings.  At the end of the day, I met up with the boys at Pete’s again to watch Cal lose.  Better luck next year, Bears.  By the way, with all the upsets this year, my tournament picks have gone down the tubes.

Our First Sailing Adventure

Jes was supposed to go racing again yesterday but the guy that owned the boat decided to drop out of the race on Friday.  So, for our Sunday, we rented at 22-footer and sailed around the bay by ourselves for the day.

I stopped at Whole Foods for our lunch, which included sushi rolls and lots of pickled ginger.  I snacked on the ginger all day and didn’t get seasick.  Seriously.  I didn’t take my usual dosage of Dramamine and felt just fine.  It was amazing.

There was light but steady wind today.  The tide wasn’t very strong but when the tide was going out of the bay in the afternoon, it made it a little more challenging to get back to the harbor.  The day went rather smoothly but not without a few  “uh oh” moments.

1) We had gone out as far as we were allowed to and had to turn around.  By the time we finished the U-turn, we saw a container ship out in the distance.  It looked like it was headed in our direction but we weren’t really sure.  Luckily we caught a good wind and made it past the path of the giant ship in time.  That could have been disastrous.

2) There was a strong gust and the main sail got a little loose.  As we were trying to make some adjustments, the boom came flying across the boat and nearly knocked Jes overboard.  Lucky for him, I was close enough to grab onto him.  He could have easily fallen into the water today.  Phew, that was close.

3) We had finally made it back under the Bay Bridge toward the harbor but then got caught in the wind shadow of the bridge itself.  We lost our speed and were quickly drifting back towards one of the bridge towers (the water was flowing against us).  That was when we powered up the motor and got the heck out of there.  We only needed to motor for about a minute before we were able to get some wind back in the sails and turn off the motor.

Here’s a little video clip of us out on the water:

Overall, it was a good first solo sail for the two of us. We learned a few unexpected lessons and I experienced sailing without the help of medicine. We also got some sun and had a great time out on the water.

Here are more photos from our adventure.

Playing Tourist in SF

On Tuesday, I had the day off so I got to play tourist with Brother, Joy, and my mom.  The morning started on the bus to Chinatown for some jook and fried dough.  We then walked around to find Joy’s dad a souvenir.

Next on the agenda was a quick walk down to the Ferry Plaza.  They have Farmer’s Market on Tuesdays so it was cool to taste the fruits and check out some of the street food vendors that aren’t usually there on Saturdays.

We then walked down Embarcadero back to my condo, packed up the car with Brother and Joy’s things, and headed over to Little Skillet for some fried chicken and waffles.

We took the big bag of chicken up to Twin Peaks for a little picnic up on the hill.

Luckily it was a clear sunny day in SF and we could see both bridges and the entire city from one spot.

The last stop was Eleen’s store in Alameda and then dropped Brother and Joy at the airport.  The day was finished by a home-coked dinner prepared by my Mommy.

Here are photos from an awesome day off with family.

Family Tahoe Trip: Day Three

On Monday morning, we got up early to pack up the car and had our free breakfast at the Best Western. It was a full-service breakfast complete with banana pancakes, eggs, or whatever else that was on the menu. This hotel was a pretty good deal considering it was close to the casinos, was super clean, and had free breakfast every morning.

We then drove to Sierra-at-Tahoe but also made a quick stop by the lake for a group photo. Unfortunately, it was a little icy and it took a couple takes for us to get the timing of the camera right. I managed to slip on one of the takes and this is what we got. It makes for a pretty funny photo. Love how Brother was totally laughing at me.

Once we got to Sierra, we were one of the first ones there and I don’t think I’ve ever parked so far up in the lot before.  The mountain was nice and empty and Brother and I got a few fast runs in on the blues in West Bowl before heading back to SF.

On the way home, we stopped at the Jelly Belly factory for a tour, tastings, and to pick up a big bag of “Belly Flops”, which are unlabeled, irregular Jelly Bellies that didn’t make it into the packages.

We did all this and still managed to get home by 5pm.  Amazing!  So for dinner, we picked Jes up from work and had the salt and pepper crab at R&G.  Soooo tasty.

Here are photos from Day Three.

Family Tahoe Trip: Day Two

On Sunday, we got up bright and early to drive down to Kirkwood.  The roads were kinda icy but we got there in one piece and didn’t need to bother with chains.  Yay!  The mountain was pretty empty and the sun was shining brightly on our heads.

For old time’s sake, we took Jes’ favorite run called “Whiskey Slide”.  It’s too bad he didn’t come along for a ride down memory lane.  We even rode the lift that goes over the run that he fell on that fateful December morning in 2001.

Joy got pretty good at carving by the end of the day and we got a good five hours of skiing/boarding in without a lunch break.  Now that’s hardcore!

Once we got back to the hotel, we all showered and rested and then headed out for Happy Hour and some gambling.  We had drinks and apps at Kalani’s, played penny slots and $1 roulette, and then finished the evening with some Fatburger.  It was a good day.

Here are photos from Day Two.