California Academy of Sciences and San Tung

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http://www.calacademy.org/

I spent the morning at the California Academy of Sciences. I decided to purchase an individual membership so that I would be able to take my time to explore and not worry about having to keep on purchasing tickets plus I can bring a guest. I started out with the planetarium show, the penguin feeding, then the coral reef dive before heading out around 1pm. It was getting way too busy to be enjoyable and the passes for the rest of the shows were already gone. So I’m glad I can go back during members hours so hopefully it’ll be less busy.

Just some photos to share:

The turtles were having their breakfast when I arrived.

The penguins in anticipation of their feeding.

The harlequin shrimp (feeding on a blue starfish).

The coral reef dive show.

Jellyfish.

Wax frogs.

The rare white alligator.

The living roof.

One of Google’s Favorite Places.

Can’t wait for my next visit.

Ron came to pick me up and we went to lunch at San Tung for their yummy dried fried chicken.

Their kimchi seems to have gotten spicier, in a good way.

The sticky, gooey, crispy, yummy dried fried chicken. Finger licking good! We ordered 2 orders to go with the sauce on the side.

The spicy peanut noodles (the warm one, not the cold noodles) with shrimps, scallops, mushrooms, and cucumbers. It wasn’t very spicy but I liked the noodles, very fresh. Ron felt it didn’t have enough peanut flavor.

Lastly, tofu with vegetables. I wouldn’t order this again. It had no flavor and was just kind of sloppy to eat.

Another good day in San Francisco. My week is going by fast…

San Tung Chinese Restaurant
1031 Irving St

Berkeley… 9 years after graduation

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I had the sudden desire to visit Berkeley and have lunch at Intermezzo on Telegraph Ave, dreaming of their green salad and honey wheat bread sandwich.

On the way to campus, we got off the freeway at Ashby Avenue so stopped by Urban Ore. It’s a really cool place where they sell lots of reusable goods, including but not limited to: doors, blinds, sinks, tubs, toilets, wood, clothes, computers, chairs, desk, tables, cabinets, dishes, kitchenware, electronics, etc. It’s really useful if you need some stuff for home remodeling and don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for it but you also have to be patient and dig around for the gems. We got some simple stuff like plates and cups for me to keep at work but next time, I’d like to get a dresser, sand it down, and repaint and decorate it… I think it’ll be a fun project.

Afterwards, we headed to Telegraph Ave to find Intermezzo. We found the location but the restaurant has changed to Cafe Mattina but with the same menu as Intermezzo. Apparently ownership had changed and the name changed in December.

I ordered my favorite combo of half a green salad with poppy seed dressing and half a chicken salad sandwich. Plus a strawberry lemonade with free refills (the cashier was kind enough to let me know refills were free so that I didn’t have to order the large size). Lots of strawberry and lemon pulp in their strawberry lemonade, a good thirst quencher.

The salad seemed a bit smaller and the dressing a bit thinner but overall, still the same. It was missing the extra chunk of bread though that comes with the salad.

The chicken salad sandwich was thick with filling but the bread sliced thinner than usual. It’s still sufficiently too large to fit the entire sandwich into your mouth for a full bite but I remember it being at least 1cm thicker. Ron didn’t like this as much because it was too sweet, not enough dijon mustard is my guess.

After lunch, I went for a little walk on Telegraph and was sad to see how many of the stores that have changed. The Gap is now a Walgreens. Bath & Body Works is now American Apparel. The hair salon was closed. There’s a Subway Sandwich in one of the cafes. There was a Beard Papa’s on the corner. A lot has changed in the 9 years since graduation.

But some things remain the same, like Sather Gate (apparently newly restored). Beautiful weather at Sproul Plaza today.

After some additional shopping on Bancroft Ave, I met up with Ron at Caffe Strada. I ordered the drink that got me started drinking coffee: Strada Bianca Mocha topped with a dollop of whipped cream. I loved it back then but I think it’s too sweet for my taste now… but made me very nostalgic.

Good ol’ Berkeley. We bought Zachary’s Pizza for dinner to top off a great day. Yum yum. Order for pick-up, it’s the best choice if you don’t want to wait for a table.

Can’t wait for the next visit to Berkeley…

Urban Ore
900 Murray St

Cafe Mattina
2442 Telegraph Ave

Caffe Strada
2300 College Ave

Zachary’s Pizza
5801 College Ave

Lazy Sunday

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Spent a relaxing Sunday at home after just going out for lunch. Thought I’d take a break from eating my way through San Francisco and let Ron catch up on work.

In the morning, we shared the croissant we got from Tartine yesterday. We toasted it in the toaster oven so it got a little burnt on top. It was super buttery but oh so good.

Also, I got the new camera Ron bought for me so hopefully my pictures will be a whole lot better from now on. My new camera is the Canon PowerShot SD960 IS in the lovely blue color. Check out BeachCamera.com!

So new picture of the kitties:

For lunch, we went to Hai Ky Mi Gia in the Tenderloin. I ordered the Beef Stew Ho Fun Soup.

It came with lots of tendons (which I love) and beef. A strong tomato-like flavor and a bit oily but overall not too bad. Not sure I like the neighborhood though.

Ron ordered the duck with dumplings and noodles.

Ron’s dish was served with pickled vegetables. Nice and tangy and Ron says there was a bit of spice.

Plus we shared some Chinese donuts. It was a bit too much…

Hai Ky Mi Gia
707 Ellis St

Dynamo Donut, Tartine Bakery, Bi-rite, Rosamunde Sausage Grill, and Three Twins Ice Cream

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Today was quite the busy eating day around San Francisco. We tried so many great places… let’s start at the beginning at 1pm.

We first started out at Dynamo Donuts in the Mission. Our friends said they sometimes have this maple bacon donut but sadly, not today. Instead, we tried their ginger orange (on the left) and lemon pistachio (on the right) with a Gibralter (a very strong but mini cappuccino). The donuts were okay but not something I’d try again, I’d want other more unique flavors. The coffee was delicious though and kept me going all day long.

Next stop, something salty for lunch at Tartine Bakery. The line was out the door but we were lucky enough to secure a table for 5 inside the bakery. The hardest part was for Ron to find parking in the area. I took about 15 minutes to place our order and another 15-20 minutes for our sandwiches to arrive. I ordered a lemon cream tart and a croissant to go and two pressed sandwiches for Ron and I to share. They serve sandwiches starting after 12pm.

I ordered their spicy turkey sandwich with provolone and broccoli rabe pesto. The sandwiches were huge and good enough for two meals (there are 3 pieces in these boxes). They are served with a spicy pickled carrot. I couldn’t really taste any spiciness but I loved the broccoli rabe pesto and the toasted bread itself was so delicious.

I ordered Ron the Jambon Royale and Gruyere which is Niman Ranch smoked and cured ham with dijon mustard on country bread. Gruyere so yummy.

It’s great there were five of us so we could mix and match pieces of sandwich. I also got to try the Proscuitto and Provolone, the pastrami, and the mozzarella and tampenade. All very good and unique. The tampenade was especially interesting. It’d be great to take this away to the park and have a picnic.

Afterwards, we went to Bi-rite Market just down the street from Tartine. I realize now that there is the Bi-Rite Creamery probably just a few doors away but in my eagerness, we missed it. But no matter, the market still sells their famous salted caramel ice cream. We also picked up a pint of the balsalmic strawberry ice cream. We went back to our friend’s place to try them out.

Even after putting them in the freezer for an additional 15-20 minutes, the ice cream was still creamy and not as solid, just as their warning mentions (on the door of the market freezer, they warn because of the sugar content, the ice cream probably won’t be as hard as you’re used to. The salted caramel was so creamy and yummy, almost like a very thick milkshake. At first it overpowered the strawberry but after finishing off the salted caramel, the strawberry flavor is quite light with the hint of balsamic at the finish.

Dinner for the evening as at Rosamunde Sausage Grill in Lower Haight. I ordered the beer sausage topped with sauerkraut and grilled onions. You order your sausage types first then when they’re done on the grill, they ask for your desired toppings and you pay. They also have hot pepper and chili. Plus a variety of mustards (including wasabi mustard) plus ketchup. Reminded me of Germany.

They have a few seats inside but you can also take to go or to the bar next door to eat. The sausages range from $5-6.50 each I think. I’d like to try the wild boar with apple and spice or the duck with fig sausages if we ever get the chance to go back.

Our last stop for the night (at least for Ron & I) was Three Twins Organic Ice Cream which is just down the street. Yes, more ice cream, can you believe it? Ron and I ordered the kids’ cone of the toasted almond and peanut butter crunch. You can tell their ice cream is really fresh and clean. The story of the company is pretty amazing, read it on their website.

This was the end of the eating for us but our friends went to get ribs…. I’ll have to ask them how they were.

Dynamo Donuts
2760 24th Street

Tartine Bakery
600 Guerrero Street

Bi-Rite Market
3639 18th Street

Rosamunde Sausage Grill
545 Haight Street

Three Twins Organic Ice Cream
254 Fillmore Street

5-year anniversary at L’ardoise Bistro

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http://www.ardoisesf.com/

Today we celebrate 5 years of wedding bliss!

Ron surprised me today at work with a dozen long stem roses and a bouquet of tulips for our infusion center. It’s nice that we live in the city so that he can just drop by like this but a few years ago, he did send me a bouquet to my office so found a way around it. My co-workers were all jealous but also very happy for me and wished me well. I’m taking vacation all of next week but will be vacationing in San Francisco, starting with a busy day planned for tomorrow.

The roses were very fragrant and came in three beautiful colors: red, pink, and peach.

After I got off work, Ron came to pick me up and we went to see an apartment. Our lease at our current apartment ends after August and we’d like to move in a bigger place and closer to downtown. This apartment was in a beautiful building and very well maintained, it smelled so clean and was nice and quiet. The manager offered us a great deal and would hold the apartment for us until we were ready to move so we told him we’d take it. I’ll update everyone on the address once we physically move. It’s 2 bedrooms + office and 1 bath, there is 1 walk in closet and 2 smaller ones and the kitchen has a gas range! (I’m really looking forward to cooking more on it.) There are so many other lovely things about the apartment that we couldn’t believe we were lucky enough to get it… let’s just hope everything else falls into place.

After the apartment viewing, we headed to dinner at L’ardoise (pronounced LARD-WAZ) on Noe Street in the Castro. It’s a little French bistro with what I found to be delicious food and excellent service. Again, as I mentioned previously, my digital camera had gone kaput so I only had my phone camera with no flash so these pictures don’t do the food justice on how mouthwateringly beautiful it looked… nor tasted.

We had the escargot appetizer. The escargot were removed from their shells and served in a hollowed out roasted potato with a garlic parsley sauce. The sauce was so good, I soaked it all up with the baguette they provided. The baguette was really delicious as well, I could hardly control myself from finishing off the two baskets of bread they brought to the table, it reminded of the fresh baguettes from our time in France.

We also tried their tiger prawn ravioli. Ron really liked these, especially the texture of the filling, the tiger prawns had a bit of a bite mixed with the creamy sauce inside.

I ordered their hanger steak served with pomme frites (the picture is horrible… but oh so delicious). A garlic aioli accompanied the pomme frites which was so good but I can still taste the garlic now. The hanger steak was perfectly medium rare as I requested and whatever the sauce was on it was so good, it didn’t overpower the meat flavor but rather complimented it.

Ron had the almond crusted sole with a lobter bisque reduction and mushrooms. On the first bite, you could hardly taste the fish and there were so many almonds, not that we minded since we love nuts, but as you dug deeper, the fish was there. The mushrooms and lobster bisque reduction were delicious though, I’d love to have a bowl of that as soup.

As you can imagine, we were quite full after this meal, but pleasantly. The service was extremely attentive and pleasant with the staff whisking away plates as we finished and refilling our water quickly. The atmosphere is romantic as the lights are dimmed and each table has a single tealight. It was a lovely place to spend our anniversary.

L’ardoise Bistro
151 Noe Street