What could be better than a weekend with old friends in a great city? Nothing. I haven't seen my best friend, Kira, since I went home to Honolulu for Thanksgiving. We were roommates at the University of Hawaii and now she lives in San Francisco. I took some time off to see her but also wanted to see some other friends that live in the area. Luckily for me, I got on the flight to SFO and they were available to hang out and meet in the city.
What are you drinking? Dunkin of course!
My sad terminal breakfast: Turkey and avocado on chibatta from Au Bon Pain
Big eyes while Dancing with Dragons (Song of Fire and Ice book 5)
Snow covered mountains
Fog-covered hills
Once I touched down, Kira and I met some old High school friends for some Filipino food at
House of Sisig. I haven't had much experience with Filipino food and I'm always up for trying new things. What made this even better is that they just poured the food onto some banana leaves and we got to eat with out hands.
The food was amazing and the company was great. We had a good time catching up and talking about some of the new things in our lives.
After lunch, Kira and I just hung out and talked at her apartment. She made me a delicious cocktail made of vodka, elder flower liqueur and tangerine peels. Yummy.
The "Elderwand"
We had to go out, it was Saturday night in San Francisco. We went out to a local tiki bar called
Trad'r Sam's. Apparently they specialize in blended drinks sold in bowls. Plus we all have our own Hawaii connections, which makes a tiki bar both hilarious and yummy.
Slurping down a Scorpion bowl
Volcano bowl
Racing to see who can finish first
Yeah, my team won!
Happy face, sad face
Kira and her Grasshopper
Getting into the Typhoon bowl
In the morning, Kira was nice enough to tame my hungry tummy with dim sum. We got a plate of stuff that I don't remember, but I know it was just what my hangover needed.
Later, we went shopping for some ingredients for a homemade dinner on Sunday. Then we met up with everyone else for some Mission District exploring.
Rocking my new Japanese tights and my new mani
Most of my trip to San Francisco have been with my family, so we mostly stuck to the tourist and shopping areas. It was a beautiful, sunny 50 degree day and the perfect reason to go to the Mission to get ice cream.
Showing off our ice cream from Bi-Rite Creamery: Brown butter pecan, salted caramel, and coffee toffee
YUM!
It was a good day to sit down, soak in the sun and eat some ice cream. Apparently everyone else had the same idea.
Exploring the Mission was a lot of fun. We got coffee at
Philz Coffee, bought some flowers from a neighborhood florist, bought a bottle of wine at
Swirl on Castro, and had sushi at
Wasabi Bistro.
Our delicious meal at Wasabi Bistro: Sushi and oysters
Cheers, with oysters
The next day, I woke up so sore from all the walking, but it was well worth it. Kira and I went to a Bernese restaurant called
Burma Superstar.
Tea leaf salad, Vegetarian Samusa soup, Salt and Pepper Calamari, Pumpkin Pork Stew and Mango mojito
When we got back to the apartment, Kira started making Ossobucco, a traditional Italian style braised lamb dish. It was so good, especially with the braised vegetables in the wine sauce.
Our pot of awesome with the wine we bought from the Castro
As the lamb was braising, I decided to take a little walk around the neighborhood. Everything about San Francisco is so different from Champaign so I had to just breathe it in; the architecture, the hills, the greenery, the weather.
When I got back to the house, we finished up dinner and dug into the beautiful meal Kira prepared.
The next day, Kira had to spend the day at work, so I went to Union Square (the shopping district) and the Pier area.
Shopping at Union Square
Beautiful sunny day
Alcatraz
Fisherman's Warf
Silly sea lions
The Ferry Building
AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants
After a long day of walking on the pier from Ghiradelli Square to AT&T park, I met up with Kira and we had dinner with her sister at
Genki Ramen.
Kimchi Ramen with tonkatsu sauce, Chicken karaage, Yam fries, and Gyoza
That was my last night in San Francisco. I had a great time and I wish I could do it more often. I took the redeye back to ORD and had a 4 hour layover. I got to take a short nap and stop by my favorite part of ORD: Argo Tea.
Shout out to my fantastic friends who gave me a fabulous time in the Bay area. Love you guys. Can't wait until next time.
-Akemi-chan
