Digging Deeper

California: Day 6 (October 6, 2011)

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 10:21:34 -0500

10:50AM: We are on the road again, this time heading out to Chinatown.

Chinatown is such an interesting place! I felt, at times, as if I was not even in the United States (not that I have ever been to China)! We started at the 500 block of Grant Ave., which seems to be about where Chinatown begins. We walked all the way to Broadway, which seems to be the end of chinatown, at least in that direction. At that point we were standing at the corner, eating our purchases from the Golden gate Bakery-2 savory items (1 BBQ pork, 1 curried beef) and 2 sweet items (a cream puff and a lotus seed paste moon cake). From that point we could see across the way a taqueria, an Italian restaurant, and a sign advertising Greek something or other.

We decided to go back up Grant Ave. and explore some of the side streets. I forget the name of the street we turned on, but there were a lot of produce markets on one side of the street and I took some pics of unknown-to-me fruits and vegetables, although I did find out later that one of the fruits is called dragon fruit.

We saw the New Asia Restaurant, which I had read about when searching online for places to eat in Chinatown. There was no information on the quality of the food there, which made us hesitate for a moment, it just mentioned that the restaurant could accommodate large parties of up to one thousand people. What made us decide to take a chance on it was what we saw when we peeked inside-it was packed full of Asian people! They did not seem to be there for some event, like a wedding, either. That was enough of a testimonial for us.

John and I were seated right away and carts began rolling by before our table was cleared away! One thing I had always wanted to try was dim sum. I thought how wonderful it is that carts, laden with food, come rolling by at regular intervals to offer you delectable bites without being asked! Now I got my wish. We were seated in an authentically Chinese restaurant (not what passes for one at home)-2 of approximately 6 non-Asian faces in the entire restaurant nearly full of Asians-getting ready to enjoy some delicious food. We selected pork buns, cold duck (the bird, not the cheap wine), steamed pork dumplings, and steamed shrimp dumplings. John stopped me there, or I would have chosen sesame seed balls and crispy shrimp balls, too. I think he was a little nervous about how much everything was going to cost because there was no way for us to know that when we were selecting our food. It was exciting choosing food without fully knowing what it was or how much it cost! It was not easy to understand the servers, but I found that if I said pork? or shrimp? I was on safe ground. We also had hot tea. When all was said and done, we had a delicious filling lunch, a unique dining experience, and a wish fulfilled, for less than $20.00, including the tip!

After leaving the New Asia Restaurant, we walked back to Grant Ave., heading toward Macy’s and the garage on O’Farrell, where we were parked. I picked up some Keemun Tea (a black tea, good for breakfast). We found a cute pink leather owl purse for Miss B. She loves her purses!

We enjoyed our stroll through Chinatown. As we left the parking garage, John decided to stop again at the Apple campus. The flags at 1 Infinite Loop were at half-mast, in memory of Steve Jobs. The visitor lots were full, and there were news trucks around. John parked the car and left to take some pictures for me. When he came back, he told me I should go out there to see what had been done in memory of Steve. People had left flowers, apples, messages, baskets, etc., on a bench, and had gathered to remember him. I walked from the parking lot by BJ’s Pub, where we had had dinner our first evening in Cupertino, to where people were gathered. I prayed for Steve’s family and took some pictures, then walked around to the front of the building and took some pictures of the flags and the 1 Infinite Loop sign.

I joined John at BJ’s. We had a beer while we planned what we would do for dinner. We decided to go back to the hotel and ask for dinner recommendations at the front desk. The receptionist told us about a Mexican restaurant, called La Paloma, on El Camino Real, and Bombay Gardens, an Indian restaurant also on El Camino Real, in Santa Clara. We decided on Bombay Gardens, because we were informed they had a nice buffet there. When we got there, we found out the buffet was only at lunch and weekends, but we stayed because we were already there. I chose samosas for my appetizer, which were the best I have ever had. I wish I could say the same about my entrée, lamb korma, which I love, but it paled in comparison to the lamb korma from the Indian restaurant at the Super 8 Motel (of all places!), in Dover, DE. John chose a biryani of lamb, shrimp, and chicken. He liked it, but the server neglected to tell him that it was enough to feed 3-4 people! There was no way John could finish it, nor could I since I had a substantial dish myself, and there was no way for us to save it for another day, either. It was unfortunate, but we had to leave it. I do not think the staff was pleased about it, but there was nothing else we could do.

Back at our hotel, I relaxed a bit before packing for the trip home on Friday, then watched some television and sent an early birthday message to my dad (his birthday is on the 7th, but we were going to be busy traveling), then I turned in for the night. Tomorrow will be a long day of travel.

California: Day 5 (October 5, 2011)

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 16:43:35 -0500

8:30AM: I grabbed a pumpkin latte and a blueberry scone from the Bistro in the lobby of the Marriott in Cupertino-where we are staying for the next 3 nights. On the schedule for me is a visit to the Apple campus. While I am there, John will call Budget and ask them about our front tire on the passenger side, as it looks a bit suspicious. If all goes according to plan, we will catch up with each other later for lunch. If not, we may go to Chinatown or Fisherman’s Wharf and try Apple another day.

It is raining quite hard here, but the sun is out...crazy.

10:33AM: Apparently, there is a “police activity” near here-a shootout on or near Stephen Ave. (or Dr. or St.). We’ve heard sirens and helicopters all morning and they have that road blocked off. When we drove back to our hotel from the Apple campus we could see a lot of police down the road.
John and I had visited the Apple campus, where I had hoped to have a tour, but the receptionist said they do not give tours and there was not really all that much to see beyond Café Macs and the Company Store. I was given a guest badge and signed John in as a guest, then we walked to Café Macs. I had a smoked salmon omelet and fresh fruit (blueberries, pineapples, blackberries, and golden raspberries), which was delicious and very cheap (at least half what it would have cost me at the Bistro in the hotel lobby, and my coffee was free). We stopped at the Company Store where I bought 3 t-shirts: one for Miss B., one for S., and one for Julie. I bought a coffee mug for myself and John picked out a couple lanyards/badge holders. I was able to get an employee discount, which was nice.

10:44AM: We are heading out to San Francisco to see what we can see!

12:13PM: We had to take a little detour from our trip to pick up another rental car-since John was concerned about the tires and didn’t want to have a blowout and get stuck somewhere. We are now on our way to Fisherman’s Wharf. Shortly after our arrival, we decided to take the boat trip to Alcatraz Island. Very interesting. I took some photos on the boat trip to the island, but it was quite overcast so I do not know how they will look. There was a lot of uphill walking to get to the prison, the equivalent of a 13 story building, but I did it-without needing my inhaler-good thing, too, since it was locked up in the car, back in the parking lot! I took a lot of pictures of the prison and the landscape and gardens around and about the island. There is a pervasive odor of bird excrement everywhere-which makes sense, since the island has become something of a seabird sanctuary-mingled in various places with a distinctly herbaceous scent, possibly basil, but I am not quite sure. I took some pics of it, so we will see.

After we left Alcatraz, we continued our walking tour of Fisherman’s Wharf, making our way to Pier 39, and then Ghirardelli. We stopped at an In & Out Burger on the way to share a double double cheese, fries, and a milkshake-yum! At Ghirardelli I bought some chocolate-how could I not? We then walked back to our car. All told, we walked approximately 25 blocks, not counting the uphill and down trek through Alcatraz. It was fun!

As we made our way back to our hotel in Cupertino, we stopped at the Tied House for dinner, since it was on the way. During our walking tour, I had learned from my iPhone that Steve Jobs had died...what a loss. Some of my co-workers back home were going to get together to toast him the next day so John ordered a McCallum 12 year old Scotch for me so that I could toast Steve “properly”. Scotch is definitely not my thing and I needed to chase it with water, but it was a touching gesture from John.

After dinner we went back to our hotel and turned in for the night. Tomorrow we will visit Chinatown.

California: Day 4 (October 4, 2011)

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:10:14 -0500

9:22AM: After we ate a light breakfast and packed up, we headed out to San Francisco...that is, after one more trip to the Oxbow Public Market for a coffee from Ritual Coffee and a pastry from the Italian Bakery there (Ca’Momi). I am going to get some chocolates, too, and possibly a bottle of olive oil.

10:36AM: We have to watch the weight of our luggage, it seems we are getting a little too close to the limit for John’s comfort, so no olive oil. Also, we opted out of the pastry from Ca’Momi (an enoteca, pizzeria, and pasticceria at the Oxbow Market, where we had some lovely little pastries when we visited this market on Day 2) because there was a Farmers’ Market in the parking lot. How serendipitous! It is there every Tuesday and Saturday. We found a guy selling bread, pastry, and pretzels, which all looked very “old world”-it turns out he is originally from Munich. He was wearing lederhosen and had a accent...I picked up on these subtle clues and asked him where he was from. (Actually, he was probably wearing bundhosen, since they were longer.) I asked him about some of his breads and pastries. John got a plain pretzel and I got a blueberry custard danish. We took them inside the market and purchased lattes from Ritual Coffee. Both the pastry and the coffee were so delicious! We went back to Annette’s Chocolates and made a purchase there, too. On our way out we stopped again at Ritual Coffee, so I could get a coffee to go. I chose El Ciprés, from Costa Rica. The drip method they use brings out all the subtle flavors of the coffee and none of the bitterness. It was delicious, even black, but I did add some half and half and a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar (to bring out even more of the coffee’s flavor). We stopped back at the Visitor’s Center to see if Gary was available. We wanted to thank him for the wonderful winery suggestions he had given us. He was not there, but I asked those who were working to pass along our thanks and appreciation.

10:59AM: Squeeze-In Hamburgers was recommended to us by Austin, at the Artesa Winery. It was not far out of our way so we decided to stop in to check it out.

11:28AM: So far today, we are eating like hobbits! We have had 1st breakfast, 2nd breakfast, and elevensies! First breakfast was at the hotel, just a little something...I needed some protein. Second breakfast was at the Oxbow Public Market, and elevensies was a squeezeburger with cheese from the Squeeze-In. They put a mound of shredded cheddar cheese on your burger, just before it is finished cooking, sprinkle some ice on the flattop around it, and put a cover over it. The ice melts and the resulting steam causes the cheese to melt down, forming a “skirt” around the burger. This overhanging cheese gets crispy at the edges and is quite tasty! I tried to take some pictures of our burger as it was being cooked, but the guy was too fast. I remember seeing this once on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives...not necessarily this particular place, but one like it. We had to try it but we certainly didn’t need a whole cheeseburger; I asked the guy to cut it in half so John and I could share it. Yum!

11:42AM: Back on the road, we are on our way to Muir Woods National Monument. We saw an interesting little diner on the way (The Fremont Diner, 2698 Fremont Drive-between S. Central Avenue and Burndale Road-Sonoma, CA 95476). It was picturesque, very retro, and John decided to stop. We took some pictures (we are such tourists, but I don’t care...you can’t be a native of everywhere!) and picked up a couple bottles of soda for the trip. John chose Cheerwine (a cherry soda) and I chose Dr. Brown’s Original Cream Soda. We will have to stop here the next time we visit northern California, the menu looked delicious but we could not eat another bite, we aren’t really hobbits, after all! They had an amazing-looking apple pie, and a salted caramel cake, which one of the servers said was so good!
We are seeing a lot of wineries along CA121 that we will have to investigate on a return trip to California.

12:18PM: Driving through Marin County toward San Rafael.

2:32PM: We just finished our hike in Muir Woods National Monument Park. It was wonderful! What lush, green beauty! I am not quite sure, but it is either the last, or one of the last, old growth coastal redwood forests. I took so many pictures. I hope most of them come out well. During our hike, we saw a deer in the distance-no easy thing, it was very well camouflaged among all the trees and brush. I could only see his head and neck and was not successful in photographing him, but I did see him!

Time?: After we arrived at the Marriott in Cupertino, our hotel for the remainder of our trip, we decided to have dinner at B.J.’s, which is completely surrounded by the Apple campus. John had the fish and chips and a nice hefeweissen. I had the pot roast. Whenever I go to a brewpub, or some similar type of place, I order a small sampler of their beer. That way I can try several beers without actually drinking more than one. I liked their hefeweissen, but their porter was somewhat lackluster, their brown ale was okay. Looking around, as we ate our dinner, I could see that this was likely a popular place for Apple employees, which makes sense, considering their location. After dinner we went back to the hotel and turned in for the night.

Happy New Year

Mon, 2 Jan 2012 11:23:14 -0500

I was asked earlier today to name one thing I was proud of accomplishing this past year. I chose not to answer at the time. I suppose I could have mentioned my job & what I have accomplished there thus far (no small feat for someone who was nearly technologically illiterate), but the thing that is most important to me I cannot really be proud about, because it was a work of grace done in & through me & it is a thing I could not do if left to myself. God has worked such peace, grace, mercy, & love in me & has enabled me to stand strong through some difficult things. He has kept my heart tender, joyful, loyal, & true. He has helped me to walk on without cowering or falling beneath the weight of the unknown. I am excited for what the new year will bring because I know I do not face it alone. I know, without seeing what is ahead, that it will be a good year. I know that I will continue to grow & love & rejoice. I know these things because God is good. He is faithful, kind, & true, & he keeps his word. I cannot take pride in this, it's his work, as I said, but I am rather awestruck by him & full of praise for who he is & what he has done. Happy New Year to all of you. May the blessings of the Lord rest upon you, may you know & experience the love of God in a new way, & may his peace guard your hearts.