Down the Rabbit Hole

Walking in San Francisco in the rain (in winter) made me think of Elsa defiantly singing, "The cold never bothered me anyway." With the big grins on their faces, Anna and Vernon also appeared to be impervious to the cold and to the rain.  While we were at the de Young Museum 's view deck, I was mulling whether we should do the Golden Gate Bridge trip; after all, we were just a bus ride away. I decided that we should go for it when the top of the bridge broke through the fog... at least we could have a look if we won't be able to walk on it. So we braved the cold rain and disembarked the bus at the Visitors' Centre, where Anna and I were able to get our National Parks Passport stamped again. From here, we started our long and winding walk back to Embarcadero, where we were to catch the BART  going home. One of the highlights of our walk was getting this view of Crissy Fields. It's difficult to imagine now but this used to be a military airfie...

I was poring through the choices of videos to watch while I was stuck at home with bronchitis  when I came across Cracking the Shakespeare Code . I thought that this documentary would follow the footsteps of Dan Brown 's Da Vinci Code and somehow link Shakespeare's works with the Knights Templar. Over-reaching but intriguing, nonetheless. When I started watching, however, I was surprised with the premise: Shakespearean expert Dr. Robert Crumpton was very upset that some obscure organist, Petter Amundsen, was able to get a book about Shakespeare published. After all, academicians are hungry for publications; while this guy, which he viewed as a mere enthusiast, actually could lay claim to the title "author". These two guys started their "fencing match" by visiting Shakespeare's First Folio, a 1623 compilation of The Bard's plays, grouped into Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. I have had the enjoyable time of reading his works in high schoo...

"Isang araw na lang, Jollibee nanaman. Ang araw lulubog; bukas mabubusog sa ChickenJoy manok at YumBurger bilog. I love you, Sabado, pati na rin Linggo! Antay ka lang Jollibee, andyan na ako! Panlasang Pilipino, at home sa Jollibee!" Biboy was craving for some langhap sarap goodness because he's already missing it. We met him at Seafood City's Jollibee branch  for dinner. Anna didn't join us because she's reviewing for her certification exam at the time. When we entered Jollibee, the company's jingle when I was a kid suddenly started playing in my head. It reminded me of the time when Saturday and Sunday were exciting because that's when the whole family went to Manila to eat out... yes, back in the day, fastfood chains hadn't penetrated my hometown yet so eating at Jollibee was a whole-day affair in Manila.  A post shared by Rochie Cuevas (@rochiecuevas) on Jan 19, 2018 at 1:09am PST I guess that's the staying ...

There's a building near the car park in Concord which has a very colourful mural depicting a scene from the city's earlier days. This building is the Foskett and Elworthy Building, the city's first modern stone stucco structure, according to the Concord Historical Society . It has always been a commercial building, with the Foskett and Elworthy First National Bank as its first occupant. Daddy says a pizza place currently occupies a prime spot in the building.  I don't think we'll see anything old with this building because establishments come and go. So, I just contented myself with taking a picture of the mural and then continued walking past.  

Anna graduated from her training course with the American Red Cross recently. To celebrate her achievement, Daddy and I had lunch with her at Homeroom , touted to be Oakland 's best place for mac and cheese .  It's a popular place, judging by the fully occupied tables and the waiting time for the customers who arrived later than we did. We picked two dishes because Anna warned us that the serving portion is huge: a white cheddar mac with broccoli and a smoky bacon mac. Both dishes were yummy! I didn't feel umay  while eating the mac and cheese because the chef has found the balance between the creaminess and the other flavours found in the dishes. No wonder people line up to eat here! Alas, we weren't able to finish our food... again, the servings were huge. It's a good thing because we were able to share the delicious macs with Mommy later in the day.  Oakland proves to have a treasure trove of dining opportunities . I look forward to being int...

One way of knowing a city is by visiting its historic sites and museums . In one occasion, Anna, Daddy, and I walked around the city of Concord to see some of its interesting places. While searching for the Concord Historical Museum, we landed at the Galindo House and Gardens. It used to be owned by Don Francisco Galindo, one of the founders of the city (then called Todos Santos). Now, it is maintained by the Concord Historical Society. Unfortunately, the house was closed when we visited so we weren't able to explore inside. Instead, we just contented ourselves with looking at it from the outside. Although it's not as grand as the John Muir house in Martinez, it also had an old world charm. IT reminded me of those houses always featured in period movies and series. It was quite interesting to see it just beside a modern apartment complex. The garden appeared to offer some calmness and quiet from the fast pace in the city... a relative notion when compared with th...

After our San Francisco exploration , we went back to the East Bay and sought refuge at T4. We wanted to have some boba tea before going home. We went to the T4 branch near the Todos Santos Park.  The interiors of T4 was cute; it reminded me of my first visit to a boba tea shop in San Jose... it was quirky and attractive to children and to kids-at-heart. Unfortunately, the boba pearls themselves were not available. We had to content ourselves with the small pearls instead. But I wanted something chewier, so I had coconut jelly added into my drink. I got the chocolate with sea salt cream. It was delicious! Joyce and Anna got the potted milk tea, which they found to be good too.  Next time I visit, I'll try one of those pudding teas. They sound promising.