Browse Category: holidays

Dayantha’s Birthday Weekend

It was Dayantha’s 34th birthday a few days ago and he came down to SF to do some celebrating.  On Friday night, we all met up for happy hour and dinner.  It’s so nice to have the 4 boys back together again.

We also made a phone call to Yoon since it was her actual birthday that evening.  Sounded like she was enjoying her birthday at a water park.  Aw…I just saw her in June and miss her already.

On Saturday, a few of us went to the 2nd Annual SF Street Food Festival in the Mission.  I went last year and it was a crowded disaster.  This year had a lot of improvements but it was still packed with people wondering if they’re waiting in the correct line. I made it to Hapa Ramen and got a taste of their cold soba salad and a bowl of ramen with shredded pork.

Afterward, we walked down to Dynamo Donuts to try their Maple Bacon donut but they were sold out.  Dayantha was hoping to taste it since it was on an episode of Food Network’s “Best Thing I Ever Ate”.  Oh well, we instead got to try the vanilla bean donut and the blueberry cornmeal donut.  They were both pretty yummy.

Before heading home, we also stopped for ice cream at Humphry Slocombe.  We had to stand in a pretty long line but I thought it was worth the wait.  You know me and my ice cream…

On Saturday night we met up again in Japan Town for a late-night Korean BBQ dinner and karaoke just like old times.  The food was tasty but our singing was not what it used to be.

I left the place saying “I’m too old for this stuff.”  Here are the rest of the photos.  Happy Birthday Dayantha!

Birthday Fries

Tonight we went out for Stephanie’s birthday and she chose to go to Palomino for her favorite gorgonzola cheese fries.

It’s basically a big plate of criss-cut fries with cheesy seasoning and a big dollop of gorgonzola cheese sauce on top.  It’s pretty good and for Happy Hour it’s only 5 bucks!

We had a fun time celebrating, eating, drinking, and trying not to talk about work.  Happy Birthday, Steph!

Holiday Weekend

It’s weird to have a national holiday fall on a weekend.  July 4th was on a Sunday this year so it meant it would be a regular 2-day weekend for me.  Since I didn’t request Monday (today) off, we hung out in the city and had a regular weekend with a sprinkling of illegal fireworks.

On Saturday, we slept in and had brunch down the street.  We scored a table outside and tied up the dog to my chair.  He was pretty well-behaved with the occasional growling at dogs walking by.

The rest of the day was spent running errands and Jes made mushroom, swiss, and bacon burgers.  They were tasty.  I almost forgot what beef tasted like.

On Sunday, I woke up a bit earlier to go for a little run and had some oatmeal to offset the fatty burger from the night before.  In the afternoon, Jes and I took the bus to the Fillmore Jazz Festival for a little jazz, street food, and sunshine.  We went two years ago and had a good time.  That was also when and where we discovered Kim Nalley, a jazz singer that has lost of charisma and a great voice.  She performed there again this year and we got off the bus just in time for her performance.

We also picked up some pork buns, duck buns, boba for me, beer for Jes, a Puerto Rican pernil made with pulled pork, tomato, avocado in a soft flat bread.

We walked around some more and stopped for cheaper beer for Jes (at the local liquor store) and I got a cup of frozen yogurt from Fraiche.  Yum.

Later that evening, we made another set of burgers and headed out for some fireworks around Fisherman’s Wharf.  Unfortunately we didn’t give ourselves enough time to get out there for the 9:30 show and ended up walking a long way to see a bunch of illegal fireworks along the way.  Oh well. We’ll have to try again next year.

I went back to work today and managed to cram all 8 treatment sessions together by starting early and working through lunch.  I was done with the kids by 2:30 and out of the hospital by 3:15.  Awesome.

Happy Longest Day of the Year!

Today is the first day of summer and we are having a great time here in Hawaii.  To celebrate the longest day of the year, Jes went out for his first surfing lesson this morning. He took a one-hour lesson and caught 3 waves!  He had a good time but was pooped out by the end.

We just got back from a day at the pool and we’re heading out for a cheesy luau at Germaine’s.  Jes is looking forward to seeing some dancing coconuts and eating kalua pork.

Stay-cation Accomplished

I had a fantastic 3-day weekend.  As part of our stay-cation, we visited de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park on Sunday.  They have a special exhibition called “Birth of Impressionism” featuring paintings by Monet, Renoir, and Degas.  They were paintings borrowed from the famous Musee d’Orsay in Paris so it was as if Paris had visited me this weekend. In September they’ll be continuing it with works by Cezanne and Van Gogh so we got an individual membership, which will cover both visits at a discount.  Anyone wanna go to the Legion of Honor/Palace of Fine Arts with me?  I can get into that museum and bring a guest with me for free!

We also went up to the top of the tower of the museum (9 floors above the park) for a spectacular 360-degree view of the park and the city.

We were blessed with some really nice weather and got to take a nice stroll in the park to see the turtles in the pond people swing dancing out by the bridge.

Afterward, we stopped at San Tung for lunch and got some tasty tasty spicy crispy chicken wings and dumplings.  Yum.

On Monday, I got in a 3-mile run and came home to a spam and eggs breakfast.  We spent the rest of the day lounging around at home watching all the episodes of a short-lived sci-fi show called “Firefly”, made some lasagna for us to eat this week, and managed to get in spurts of cleaning.

For dinner, we grilled some chicken wings and corn out in the pool area.  The Masayas even joined us.  With the house clean, the laundry done and folded, and lunch packed for tomorrow, I feel ready to go to work for my 4-day work week.  Having a vacation at home is not bad.

I’m in the mood for jello…

On Saturday morning, we took Koa to Fort Funston. Koa had a great time and as Jes said on our way back to the car, it was “nice and very restorative” for the both of us. I’m so relieved to actually have Memorial Day off this year.  I was in need a good “stay-cation” and it’s starting off well.

Later in the evening, we met up with the Masayas for an evening of Lakers Basketball at the usual place and in the usual seats.  We sat in the corner that we took over last season when the Lakers won the Championship.  Must have been good luck for us because the Lakers had to squeak out a win after going into the 4th quarter leading by 17 points.  By the last minute and a half of game play “the game [was] in the fridge: the door [was] closed, the lights [were] out, the eggs [were] cooling, the butter [was] getting hard, and the Jell-O [was] jigglin'”.  Ah…I miss the days of Chick Hearn.