Category: San Francisco Life (2002-2005)

Today we headed back to Yosemite to see the Valley. The valley is the main attraction and is absolutely magnificent with its views–hills, mountains, a huge valley, and the best part–waterfalls. With the fog and drizzilng rain/snow, it was so mystical looking with all these falls coming of the edges of huge mountains pouring into the trees below. We hiked up to the bottom of one of the falls and enjoyed the scenery. It was really breathtaking. We spent the day wandering around and headed back to the lodge.

The next morning, we got up to head out for a hike to Yosemite to check out the Sequoyahs. These are huge trees that have been here for hundreds and hundreds of years–trunks so big you could drive a car through. We did a small hike and checked out some more nature. We were pretty worn out–the air was thin, we were tired from our trip the previous day, and the room next door had some pretty obnoxious kids at 6am. We got back to the lodge and relaxed by the fire and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

So Thursday and Friday, I left work to ‘telecommute’ and headed for the hills in Yosemite.

Joe and I started off the morning getting our stuff together ready for the trip–and everything was going as planned, except Joe locked the keys in the car! So we headed over to the Honda dealership and got another key made and came back to use it. We got in, but since that pushed our departure back, we figured we might as well have lunch at the good Italian Deli down in Little Italy. After lunch, we moseyed on our way toward Gilroy, where there are a lot of factory outlets. Here, we went to look for some cheap hiking boots for our trip to Yosemite. But, alas, as it’s factory outlet, we ended up finding some good bargains on clothing as well :)

We then spent more time than expected there, pushing our arrival into the Tenaya Lodge back til late evening. On our drive up through the winding roads, we saw some leftover snow, but mostly drizzly rain.

Today I had to go over to Rockridge to pick up my keys from Rebecca. While walking to her salon, I stopped in a shoppe that sold some trinket type things. A lot of the things were Japanese, so I assumed the owner, who was Asian, was Japanese as well. So we started speaking in Japanese, and she was so stunned about how well I spoke, that she asked if I was half Japanese. Which, is now the second time I’ve been asked if I’m half–of course I made the obvious joke of being half and having blue eyes and blondish/brown hair, but I guess they were just too impressed ;)

Today, I went up to the Napa Valley for a day at a spa, all with a mud bath, blanket wrap, massage, and swim in natural spring water. After the drive to Napa, we had lunch in Calistoga, where the spa was located. After a great lunch, we headed in for our treatments.. The mud was fascinating! You seap down into this bath full of peatmoss and mud and it’s really hot, but it was such a great feeling because you’re completely suspended, yet engulfed by this warm sensation. It was so nice. We then went to a tub of mineral water to soak before our blanket wrap. After resting there, we headed for our hour massage! It was a great massage that I actually fell asleep during it! After the massage, we headed for the pool filled with spring water along with the hot tub. It was such a relaxing great day!

Today, I headed down on the train to meet my buddy Chad for a drive down to Capitola, then on to Monterey. I figured it’s about time for me to take more opportunities to see the coastline, and Saturday was absolutely gorgeous. We drove down on 101 to Capitola, listening to the soundtrack of the OC. It was at the moment that the theme song, Califonrnia came on, that I felt like I was starring in the drama driving along the coast with the windows down looking out over the Pacific Ocean as we winded our way to the little beach town. This tiny little town was like something from a magazine–situated on the coast, colorful little shops, quaint restaurants, and an air of relaxation drifted in the air. We had lunch overlooking the ocean, then walked around the town. After that we headed on down the coast to Monterey.

In Monterey, we ventured around the shops and walkways leading to the aquarium. We, well, my nose and I, made our b-line straight for the Ghiradeli shoppe overlooking the beach for an ice cream cone. After hanging out in Monterey for a while, we headed back up the coast back to the city. That’s what I love about California. You have so many day trips that you can go to with such different terrain and scenery!
Continue reading “Day in Monterey”

Just the other day, I was speaking with someone and they started talking about Hawaii. It then snapped in my mind about a dream I had just had that night about meeting an old woman who lived in Hawaii. During that conversation with the woman, she alluded to an ‘exclusive’ area of Hawaii named River Crest or something. Now, having never been to Hawaii, I wondered, where did my mind come up with this ritzy area? Which then made me think about all the dreams I’ve had in Japanese where I’ll be speaking with someone, they say a word that I don’t understand, and I ‘learn’ a new word–only I can’t remember what I learned when I wake up. In the case that I did remember that new Japanese word, or the name of that ritzy area, would those places/words actually exist?

Going through some of my things in my closet, I randomly came across an old invitation to my University Graduation in 2002. I actually didn’t attend my graduation, mainly because my school was so large, and I only knew maybe 2 or 3 friends in the ceremony.. Plus, I hopped off to Europe for the following two months to backpack and figured, I’m ready to see more of what’s outside Tennessee :)

So after years of my return from Japan, I rediscovered my rice paper and calligraphy set–For those of you who didn’t know, I took a calligraphy class while studying in Tokyo.

I decided to write a nice sentence to a good friend of mine and it turned out well — Guess I still got it ;)

Last night I went to see a movie called the Wedding Date. It was really quite good. It jumps right into the movie just in the first 5 minutes! Anyhow, it’s one of those feel good movies that you can pretty much predict the ending, but the characters were fun to watch. There was one phrase in the movie that I thought was really nice —

Even if I hadn’t met you, I think I’d still miss you

It’s phrases like that, that really make you smile :)