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Ceramic Sushi and Saturday Lunch

I’ll start off with the Ceramic Sushi. Saturday Lunch wasn’t very exciting so it is at the end. Be sure to visit the Flickr set for more photos. You can also click on the photos below for larger versions on Flickr.

I bought this cute little ceramic koi for my wife in Japantown, San Francisco during our last trip there. She was busy at a conference while I explored the city.

Bamboo with Ceramic Koi
Ceramic Koi

I picked our bamboo cutting board as the base. We also have some bamboo chopsticks. Hmm, fish, bamboo, chopsticks. Anyone for some Ceramic Sushi?

Ceramic Koi in Chopsticks
Ceramic Sushi can’t swim away, but it isn’t very tasty either

There is wonderful detail on this hand painted piece. Here’s a close up.

Ceramic Koi Close Up
Koi Klose-up

In these last couple of Koi photos, I used Gimp to try to simulate a grainy photo texture which you could get on film cameras by “pushing” the film exposure. I think they turned out pretty good. You will need to click through to Flickr to appreciate the effect.

Grainy Ceramic Koi on Bamboo
Don’t push me too much

Ceramic Sushi Now With Grain
Pushing with color

And now, What’s For Lunch? Chicken nuggets and barbecue sauce, of course!

What is for lunch today
Mmmm, chicken nuggets

Don’t forget desert. Home made Chocolate Cake!

After Lunch Cake
Lori made this. Once she makes her blog public, maybe I can link to it.

Like I said, lunch wasn’t terribly exciting. Hopefully by now you’ve gotten bored and have clicked on to better things than my little blog.

Vacation in San Francisco, October 2010: SOMA, Embarcadero, Castro, The Haight, and Sushi

I wandered around quite a bit this day. I started out at South Park at The Butler & Chef Bistro. There I ordered a latte and “La Parisienne,” a hearty buckwheat crepe with ham and cheese. This delicious breakfast filled me up so well, I was not hungry until much later that afternoon.

Day Four Butler and Chef BreakfastMy excellent breakfast at The Butler & Chef

After breakfast, I walked down to AT&T Park, took some photos, then started heading up the Embarcadero from the South Beach area towards the Ferry Building Market. On the way, I stopped at Pier 14 just north of the Bay Bridge to take some more photos. When I got to the Ferry Building, I hung around the area for a bit. At that time of day (around 10:30) they were just setting up the outdoor stands.

Day Four Boats near AT&T Park
Day Four Pier 14 PanoBoats near AT&T Park and a stitched panorama of photos from Pier 14

Next, I hopped on the F line streetcar to Fisherman’s Warf. I took that car to the end of the line before hopping off. I walked around the Warf area for a bit, then hopped back on the streetcar heading back to Market and 5th street. I hung around that area for a little while, then hopped back on the streetcar line and took it all the way to the other end of the line, stopping in Castro.

In Castro, I walked back up Market, turning at Noe St. toward Haight St. At Haight St. I started walking uphill, but decided to grab a bus the rest of the way. I took the bus past Haight-Ashbury toward the Golden Gate Park end and got off there. I took a brief stroll through that end of Golden Gate Park before turning around and heading up Haight St.

Day Four Gargoyles between Castro and HaightGargoyles guarding the entrance to a home on Haight Street

Once through Upper Haight and part way through Lower Haight, I turned at Steiner St. heading back toward Market St. I caught the streetcar again at Market and Church, taking that all the way back to 5th St and Market.

By this time it was late afternoon, my legs were completely exhausted from the past several days of walking, and I had skipped lunch. I decided to stop again at the Thirsty Bear to take notes on my photos, eat and have a few beers. I ordered the bocadillos (house made mini-burgers of lamb, pork and beef; hard-boiled egg, caper aioli. with summer squash escabeche) and the empanadas (braised pork & queso fresco, roasted squash romesco & spiced pepitas). For beer, I tried their Full Belly seasonal followed by the Meyer IPA and finishing with a Koslov Stout. While there, I researched street photography techniques hoping to improve my skills for the next day.

Lori had just finished up her conference for the day, so we met back at the room and made plans for dinner. Since I wasn’t super hungry we decided to go out for sushi. A few days earlier I had noticed a sushi place just north of Union Square while walking down Powell street. I researched it online and found it was very highly rated. We took the cable car from the Powell St. Station up the hill to Sutter St.

Day Four Cable Car at Powell Station

Day Four Maru SushiCable car at Powell Station and Maru Sushi

At Maru Sushi I ordered a large hot sake and the Chirashi bowl (sashimi over rice). Lori had the Yummy Yummy roll and we shared an appetizer of crab jalapeno poppers. We then walked back down Powell St. to our hotel where we again crashed for the night.

Vacation in San Francisco, October 2010: Travel Prep and Travel Day

Travel Preparation

Lori and I both took off the day before our flight so we could pack, prepare the house and pets, and get some rest before getting up early. Our flight was scheduled to leave Des Moines around 6:30 AM, and Lori’s father was going to pick us up around 4:30 AM so we could get t the airport early.

I packed a small suitcase with about 4-5 days worth of clothing and my Lowepro camera/laptop backpack. We were to have laundry by mid-week when we got to our rental home in Point Reyes Station, so I was able to pack lighter than usual.

I drove Ruffy to the kennel around 16:00, dropping him off around 16:30-16:45. As usual before a bit travel day, neither of us could get to sleep. I did not get to bed until around 23:45, and Lori was up much, much later trying to decide what to pack.

Travel Woes

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare before our flight, only to be met by a long line. Overhearing a few of the other passengers’ frustrated discussions, I surmised that our flight had been canceled. The line was full of other passengers waiting to get re-booked on another flight, and it only got longer as we waited for our turn at the counter.

Once we got to the ticketing counter, I could tell the poor lady working there was quite flustered after dealing with a few difficult people in the line before us. I tried to be extra patient and friendly with her to make her day a little brighter. She got us booked on a 10:30 AM flight to Denver, and re-booked our connecting flight as well. In all, we would only arrive about one hour later than our original itinerary. This worked out OK because we would still arrive prior to the hotel’s check-in time.

Luckily we brought our laptops and the MiFi. We hung out in the cafe drinking coffee and eating breakfast croissants until our flight to Denver boarded. We had a one hour layover in Denver before boarding then next flight in to SFO — just enough time for a quick restroom break and some leg stretching. Fortunately, our flights were uneventful, and we even got a little bit of light napping done in transit.

Arrival and Photos

We arrived in SFO around 13:00, picked up our bags and took the shuttle in to downtown San Francisco. Our room at the Intercontinental San Francisco was not ready so we checked in, left our luggage with the bellhop, and went for a walk to get some exercise and search for some afternoon snacks.

We walked around the Yerba Buena Gardens for a bit, taking some photos. Lori tried to capture the Blue Angels (they were flying over the city because it was Fleet Week) in this one, but they were just too fast.

Day One Me on the Yerba Buena Bridge

I also caught Lori under the archway of the bridge over Howard street by Moscone Center.

Day One Lori on the Yerba Buena BridgeWe ended up at The Thirsty Bear for some tapas and a couple of beers. Lori had her usual, the Polar Bear Pilsner. I tried their seasonal Oktoberfest followed by a Meyer ESB. We ordered the tortilla española of the day (sun-dried tomato), gambas al ajillo (prawns, garlic, pinot gris) and empanadas (braised pork & queso fresco, roasted squash romesco & spiced pepitas). All of the dishes were excellent. Lori liked the gambas al ajillo the best, while I preferred the empanadas.

As is now our travel tradition, we snapped a photo of each other enjoying our first beverages.

Day One Me at The Thirsty BearDay One Lori at The Thirsty Bear

Our appetites satisfied and enough time passed to have a room ready, we headed back to the hotel to rest and plan our next activity. This was the view from our room.

Day One The View from Our Room

After considering several different dinner spots, we decided to try out Sanraku Japanese Restaurant at Metreon for some sushi. Lori had Teriyaki Salmon with a glass of white wine. I had a combo meal with 5 pieces of sashimi and the Teriyaki Beef with a cup (180 ml) of Ozeki sake. Although their Website isn’t much to brag about, the food and service were excellent. Here are a couple of photos Lori took at Sanraku. She got a kick out of the “One Cup” sake.

Day One Sushi at Sanraku

Day One Sake at Sanraku

After dinner, we returned to the room and crashed for the evening. Since we were still on Iowa time, it was technically after midnight for us even though it was only after 10 in San Francisco.