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off the usual tour path in SF

Biboy and Ate Maddie joined us after Manuel left for the airport. This time, it's Val's turn to visit San Francisco sites that are not in the first-timers' to-see list. The cold and the rain didn't stop us from going to the beach because Biboy brought his car with him. :)


Our first stop was Baker Beach where we could see dunes formed by sand blown by the wind (called foredunes). These sand dunes have plants that are hardy enough to stay alive in such fragile environments (rooted in shifting sand) but are prone to damage because of people and/or animals walking on them. Without having a really close look at the vegetation, to make proper identification, I think we saw Chamisso's Lupine and European beach grass. There were more wildflowers, I'm sure, but I just wasn't able to look at them closely.


We were determined to see the beach, despite the weather. Because it was raining and cold, I thought that when Gabriel sees our photos someday, he might ask why we didn't plan our trip to the beach better. But Biboy said that this rainy and cold beach day just might be the norm for Gabriel.


Unbelievably, there were some people surfing in the frigid water! On the beach, there were people wearing shorts despite the cold air. I couldn't believe it.


After the beach stop, we went to Lands End. Val and Ate Maddie had a bit of a chat while I went inside the visitor centre to get my National Park passport stamps (at last!). 

There are trails for hiking. But because of the drizzly weather, we didn't go for a walk. 


We just looked towards the Pacific Ocean and over Sutro Baths.


After our brief tour of the coast, we went to Burma Superstar along Clement St. It's the introduction to Burmese cuisine for me and Ate Maddie while the others have already tried it. The food proved to be clearly influenced by Chinese, Thai, and Indian cuisines. The dishes were delicious! Just after eating the tea leaf salad, I understood why the diners' queue outside the restaurant was long.


We topped off our early dinner with a stop at Happy Lemon in Berkeley. It's both Val's and my first time to venture into its salted cheese-flavoured drinks. The others like it a lot so we followed their recommendations.


It's a great day for us in San Francisco. Thanks to my siblings and to Ate Maddie for welcoming Val to our family!

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