Saturday, July 24, 2021
I woke up at 06:30 but decided to sleep until 07:45. Inna, I went for a short
walk to Crissy Field.
Inna hoped to photograph some of the local Night Herons and other birds
who frequently inhabit the Palace of Fine Arts. She managed to take a few
excellent photos.
We stopped by
Dynamo Donut + Coffee on the way to
Crissy Field. I ordered a regular coffee while Inna tried the latte. We also
decided to try one of the specialty donuts.
Inna wanted to try the "Maple, Bacon Apple," but it seemed too odd
to me, so we settled on the "Berry Almond Crumb." I am not a donut
connoisseur, and this flavor did not impress me much.
After the short walk, we returned to our 3038 Baker Street apartment and
decided to eat breakfast somewhere on Chestnut Street. Eventually, we settled
on Le Marais Bakery. Inna ordered
green tea for herself and me, a mocha for Alex, and a few delicious pastries
to share.
The day before, Inna reserved tickets to the
Last Supper in Pompeii Exhibition at The Legion of Honour Museum for the 09:45 showing.
When we returned around 9:30, we drove the Sienna minivan, arriving in time
for the exhibition.
In 79 A.D., the Bay of Naples was rocked by the fiery eruption of Mount
Vesuvius. Pompeii and nearby villages and farms were completely buried under
pumice and hot ash, which killed thousands in the midst of their daily
activities. Plaster casts of these bodies are a dramatic reminder of this
disaster but, like a fly caught in amber, what was preserved gives us a
picture of what life was like in a thriving Roman city. The exhibition brings
us back into this world by focusing on everyday life and especially on food
and drink. Along with the pots, pans, and other paraphernalia in the
distribution, preparing, and serving food, this exhibition includes glorious
works of art, which reveal the splendor and luxury loved by the wealthy Romans
who called Pompeii their home.
I was surprised by the many dishes, glassware, and cookingA.D.nsils in Pompeii
in 70 A.D. (before the eruption of Vesuvius).
The glassware that was 2,000 years old would be difficult to tell apart from
today's offerings. I was also surprised by the volume of wine grown and drunk
by the citizens of Pompei (100 million liters per year!)
After the exhibition, I felt tired, so we returned home to Baker Street for
some additional rest before traveling to North Beach and Coit Tower.
After resting for an hour, we ate lunch at the nearby Cote Ouest Bistro on Baker Street. We ordered the following items:
-
Alex: Pan Bagna with Ahi
- Boris: Quiche du Jour with Salad
- Inna: Eggs Benedict
My quiche was fabulous, and the Pan Bagna (with Ahi) was
exceptional, too! We really enjoyed our French bistro!
With clear skies and warm weather, viewing the city from the top of the
Coit Tower would be great.
Thus, as we finished paying our lunch bill at Cote Ouest Bistro, we ordered UberX to take us to Coit Tower ($13.00 one way).
Once at Coit Tower, we paid $27 for 3 tickets (2 adults + 1 youth) to take the
elevator to the top of the tower (13th floor), where we could have an
unobstructed view of the Transamerica building. The views were spectacular,
and we could see the Golden Gate Bridge, the Marina, Alcatraz, Treasure
Island, Bay Bridge, and other San Francisco landmarks.
When we returned to the base of Coit Tower, we followed Google Maps, down
Filbert Steps to Levi's Plaza, and then continued south to the
Ferry Building.
At the Ferry Building,
Inna purchased fresh pastries and bread from
Acme Bread Company
and delicious ice cream from
Humphry Slocombe. She loved the Secret Breakfast flavor (Bourbon + Corn Flakes)
and the Strawberry flavor.
After hearing that Sasha and Irina were coming to meet us, we ordered UberX to
take us back to Baker Street.
Our friends wanted to eat Japanese, so we tried the
Wago Sushi (2365 Chestnut Street) near
our temporary residence. We ordered the following items to share among us,
family-style:
- Tea
- Miso Soup
-
Lion King Roll (California roll with salmon wrapped and baked special sauce)
-
O.M.G Roll (Spicy tuna, jalapeno, crab inside topped albacore avocado tobiko green
onion)
-
Bay Scallop Roll (California roll with baked scallop tobiko and house special sauce)
-
Cherry Blossom Roll (Tuna, salmon, and avocado tobiko)
Overall, I found the quality of the sushi average and the service very slow.
Moreover, the green tea was tasteless, the miso soup was just
average, and the sushi rolls were uninspiring.
The only sushi roll I enjoyed was the Lion King roll. I
don't plan to eat here again. It was an absolute disappointment. It's hard to
believe such a restaurant has so many 5-star reviews on Yelp!
After dinner, we walked around Lyon Street, exploring local houses.
There were many fancy houses in this expensive neighborhood.
Sunday, July 25, 2021
We woke up at around 9:00 (we were exhausted from the day before) and decided
to walk to
Equator Coffees in Fort
Mason. Inna and I thought about trying the
Spin Scooters to ride along the
waterfront, but we could not get the
Spin app to work.
We walked along the waterfront and waited for some time at
Equator Coffees. Inna ordered
the following items for us:
-
Alex: Fogcicle, Breakfast Frittata
-
Boris: Mocha, Almond Croissant
-
Inna: The Habibi Latte, Ham & Cheese Croissant
After breakfast at Equator Coffees, we walked to the nearby Farmer's Market, purchasing a few groceries,
including the following:
- Firecracker Organic Apples
- Organic Strawberries
- Organic Tomatoes
- Artichoke Hummus
- Greek Labne with Fig
- Pita bread
I also stopped by Safeway to pick up a package I ordered from Amazon (stored
in the locker). Inna and Alex tried to unlock one of the Spin scooters but
could not succeed. We walked back home and rested a bit after the long morning
walk.
For lunch, we decided to try
Sessions Cafe in the Presidio. After
making reservations for 1:30pm, we walked the 5 minutes to Presidio.
After sitting down inside, we ordered the following items from the menu:
-
Alex: Salmon (Heirloom tomato salad, summer beans, fricassee, tarragon,
champagne vinaigrette)
-
Boris: Bolognese (Skywalker Ranch Wagyu, papardelle pasta, parmigiana
reggiano, herbs)
- Inna: Brioche French Toast
Both Inna and I enjoyed the
Bolognese pasta with wagyu beef. After
lunch, we ordered UberX to take us to the
Batteries to Bluffs Trail.
In about 4 minutes, we were picked up in a white Toyota Camry and driven to
the Batteries to Bluffs trailhead. We started our hike in windy, cold weather
on the coast of San Francisco. Our trail descended to the beach below and
ascended uphill to the Golden Gate Bridge.
After walking underneath the bridge, we continued toward the Crissy Field,
where we saw a few kiters and wing foilers skimming in the Bay.
We decided to eat Burmese for dinner at the local Karaweik Burmese Cuisine.
At around 19:30, we walked down Chestnut Street to Steiner Street. We sat down
outdoors and ordered the following drinks and entrees family style:
- Royal Tea Leaf Salad
- Street Noodles
- Beef Masala
- Coconut Rice
-
Drinks: Jade (Jasmine Green Tea), Royal Burmese Milk Tea, 805 Blonde
We enjoyed the Burmese entrees, especially the Beef Masala over Coconut
Rice and Street Noodles. It was fresh, inexpensive, and
delicious! We will surely return!
After dinner, we decided to try gelato at
GIO Gelati on Union Street. Inna and I shared a medium cup with the following
gelato flavors (Alex picked precisely the same flavors):
- Pistachio
- Salted Caramel
- Bacio
The freshly made Pistachio was my favorite flavor at GIO Gelati, but Inna was partial to Salted Caramel.
Monday, July 26, 2021
In the morning, I woke up at around 07:30 and decided to walk to Safeway,
near Fort Mason, to pick up an
Amazon package. The 3-mile walk took me
about one hour, and I returned at 08:30. For breakfast, I filled a bowl with
fresh
blueberries and
strawberries, topped up with Greek
yogurt.
While I was out, Inna managed to walk to the Palace of Fine Arts and
photograph more Night Herons.
At around 10:50, I needed to drive Inna to
Integrative Dentistry (her
annual teeth cleaning) near Golden Gate Park for her tooth cleaning. While
there, I parked my minivan and waited for her at the nearby
Tartine Bakery
(Inner Sunset). I selected a "
pain au chocolat" croissant with a
mocha. The
chocolate croissant was delicious, and the
mocha was not bad either.
In the late afternoon, I walked to Crissy Field, but the wind was not very
strong, so I decided not to windsurf.
Inna reheated the baked chicken and cooked Jasmine rice in the rice cooker
for dinner.
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
At around 06:45, I woke up, showered, dressed, and ate my usual breakfast of
blueberries, strawberries, and yogurt. I unloaded my 2008 Toyota Sienna
minivan and dropped Inna off at Alla's house, where the 2008 Lexus RX350 was
parked. Inna was going to drive to her work at Genapsys.
I drove straight home to attend the 09:00 meeting scheduled on my calendar.
After the meeting, I loaded the two bicycles in my van before going to
Nvidia to pick up my employee badge.
Inna explored San Francisco and stopped by Mademoiselle Colette for a coffee
and a pastry.
After finishing my workday, I returned to our temporary
Airbnb home in San Francisco. As the
wind was favorable (at least on iwindsurf.com), I set up my Exocet RF81 and
rigged my Ezzy Elite 4.5m sail. The wind was relatively light before Anita
Rock but increased drastically. I sailed past the rock. I had an enjoyable
windsurf foiling session, getting to fly the board much longer.
After finishing wind foiling, I drove home and met Alex, who had a fun day
exploring San Francisco. He visited Chinatown, the Transamerica building,
and ate lunch in the
Ferry Building. In
Chinatown, everyone was wearing masks.
We reheated the empanadas for dinner and topped them off with
potato salad. It was. a very long day, and. I was exhausted.
When Inna returned home, she told us about her fun day. She mentioned that
there was one bakery we needed to try -
Arsicault Bakery.
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
In the morning, at around 07:15, I woke up, showered, dressed, and ate my
usual breakfast of blueberries, strawberries, and yogurt. I had an early
08:00 meeting to attend.
After the meeting, Inna and I took a short stroll to Crissy Field. On the
way there, we saw many night herons in the trees at the Palace of Fine Arts.
After we returned, I continued to work. At around noon, I called the local
Sports Basement in Presidio
about arranging a bike repair on Inna's Specialized bike. Her bike's wheels
were not true, and the brake pads were rubbing on the wheels. The
Sports Basement tune-up was
$125, but it was done quickly - the same day! (Long term, the fix was
useless - when I detached and re-attached the front wheel - the brakes are
running again!)
I also needed work on my Specialized S-Works mountain bike - the Rock Shox
on my dropper post was not coming down. The bike mechanic at Sports Basement
did not have the proper tools to fix the hydraulic dropper post. I called
Roaring Mouse Cycles, but
the mechanic there also said that he could not repair it - he could send it
to Rock Shox.
After picking up Inna's Specialized bike, I rode it back to our Airbnb
apartment. It definitely paddled and shifted much smoother.
At lunchtime, Inna and I decided to sample pastries at our favorite
Le Marais Bakery. We ordered
the following items:
- Boris: Coffee (Americano), Peach Scone
-
Inna: Latte, Ham'n'Cheese Croissant, Kouign-Amann
I really enjoyed the
Peach Scone and the
Kouign-Amann. Inna
liked the
Ham'n'Cheese Croissant, too.
We also stopped by Souvla to sample the highly recommended frozen Greek
yogurt. I tried the Greek Sour Cherry Syrup, and Inna tried the
Baklava Crumbles & Honey. We liked both flavors.
In the evening, I decided to go windsurfing at Crissy Field. When I arrived, I
saw many windsurfers on the water, so I prepared my 2018 Fanatic 105 FSW and an Ezzy Elite 4.5m sail. The weather forecast called for
15-25 knot winds with gusts to 35 knots.
When I sailed my Fanatic, the wind was very up and down, and I could not get
planing most of the time (not enough sustained wind power).
I returned to the beach and swapped the Fanatic for the
Exocet RF81
with the Slingshot Infinity 76 foil. Now, I was definitely powered up
nicely. Even the 4.5m sail seemed too much at times. I had a few sustained
flights and now need to work on longer foil flights, using footstraps and foil
jibes.
While I was windsurfing, Inna was exploring downtown San Francisco, near
Chinatown. I picked her up from California & Sutter Street.
We reheated the leftover Enchilada for dinner and supplemented it with fresh
potato salad, chicken salad, and hummus (from the Farmer's Market).
Thursday, July 29, 2021
At around 7:15, I woke up and went for a short stroll to Crissy Field. It
was still relatively foggy, but I enjoyed the walk. When I returned home, I
showered, dressed, and ate my usual breakfast of blueberries, strawberries,
and yogurt.
After multiple company meetings, Inna and I went for a coffee and pastry at
our favorite watering hole -
Le Marais Bakery. On the way to Le Marais, we stopped at
Lucca Deli to purchase
potato salad,
chicken salad, deli-sliced
ham,
cookies, and freshly prepared
ravioli (for dinner).
At
Le Marais Bakery,
Inna ordered a coffee for me and a mocha for herself. We also enjoyed
the freshly baked
Kouign-Amann and the
Pain Au Raisin as we played with the golden doodle next to us.
We enjoyed sitting outdoors, basking in the morning sunshine as we sipped
our delicious drinks and munched our pastries.
Since Alex was returning to San Francisco from his short trip to San Jose, I
picked him up around noon and drove him back to our Airbnb apartment. He was
hungry, and Inna prepared him a delicious lunch.
In the late afternoon, I dropped Inna off at Height-Ashbury for her
Devichnik (Girl's Night Out) while Alex and I drove back to Crissy Field for
windsurfing or foiling.
At Crissy, a few wing foilers and windsurfers were already in the water. I
wanted Alex to try to windsurf foiling, so I rigged an
Ezzy Elite 4.5m sail with an Exocet RF81 board using the
Slingshot Infinity 76 foil.
Alex slipped into his 4/3mm Ripcurl wetsuit and gave it a go. He tried to
uphaul the sail but kept falling off. After many more attempts, he was tired
and a bit frustrated.
I wore my
Promotion 4/3mm wetsuit
and had my turn wind foiling. I was able to get moving right away and
started flying the foil. It was a lot of fun! The wind increased when I
passed Anita Rock, and I was quickly overpowered and flew my foil out of
control.
When we returned home, I made dinner by boiling freshly prepared
ravioli from
Lucca. They were
incredibly delicious! I am not usually a fan of
ravioli, but these
were exquisite. I also toasted some pita bread, which Alex and I shared with
hummus.
Friday, July 30, 2021
Alex's 19th Birthday!
In the morning, at around 7:00, I woke up and went for a short stroll to
Crissy Field. It was still relatively foggy, but I enjoyed the walk. I saw
many people jogging and a few cute dogs (a king poodle and a labradoodle).
Inna and I purchased fresh pastries at Le Marais Bakery for Alex's
birthday breakfast. After waiting in a long line for 15 minutes, we
selected the following pastries:
- Chocolate Croissant
- Peach Scone
- Kouign-Amann
- Pain Au Raisin
We prepared the following presents for Alex's 19th Birthday:
-
2021 Apple 11-inch iPad Pro (Wi-Fi, 128GB)
-
Logitech Folio Touch iPad Keyboard Case with Trackpad for iPad Pro
11-inch
-
Boat Surfing Session with Rob Case (surfpaddling.com) for Saturday,
August 7 (11:15 - 4:45)
Before lunch, we decided to stroll to Crissy Field and
Equator Coffees.
At Crissy, it was quiet and foggy. We continued along Marine Boulevard. We
thought about riding the
Spin scooters,
but they were not working.
At
Equator Coffees, Inna
ordered a mocha for me and a matcha latte for herself. We returned home and
continued working.
We ate late for lunch at
Cote Ouest Bistro, our
favorite local French restaurant near our Airbnb home. After sitting down
outside, we ordered the following items:
-
Alex: Burger (organic beef served on a brioche bun with sauteed
onions, aioli, and raclette cheese)
- Boris: Salmon Quiche du Jour (with green salad)
-
Inna: Burger (organic beef served on a brioche bun with sauteed onions, aioli, and
raclette cheese)
- Dessert: Creme Brulee
My quiche was exquisite, as usual, and both Inna and Alex loved their
burgers.
After I finished my work, I drove Alex to Crissy Field to teach him some
wind-foiling techniques. I rigged an Exocet RF81 with an
Ezzy Elite 4.0m sail so Alex could practice uphauling and controlling
the sail on land.
After about 30-45 minutes of practice, I thought Alex might want to try
foiling on water, but he was unsure. Since he would not sail, I decided to
try foiling myself. I de-rigged the Ezzy Elite 4.0m and rigged an
Ezzy Elite 5.0m sail - as I thought the wind backed off a bit.
I also attached the Slingshot Infinity 76 foil to the
Exocet RF81 and carried it to the beach. I managed to sail for about
30 minutes, as I had to return home by 18:30 so that we could attend Alex's
birthday dinner. I enjoyed sailing in the Bay, though the wind was very
gusty. On multiple occasions, I got the board flying and felt more confident
about controlling the foil in flight.
At 18:30, we returned home and rushed to Ghirardelli Square for dinner at
Palette Tea House. Alex and Inna managed to unlock the Spin scooter and got
there much earlier. I ended up walking all the way there, arriving at about
19:20.
After looking at the extensive menu, we ordered the following dishes:
- Palette Soup Dumpling "XLB" Sampler (5)
- Lobster Ha Gow with Butter Sauce (3)
- Jumbo Scallop Siu Mai (3)
- Wonton Dumpling Noodle Soup
- Lotus Wrap Abalone Sticky Rice
- Jade Jasmine H.K.arl Tea (3)
- Drunken Boba
- H.K. Milk Tea
We really liked the Palette Soup Dumplings - they were
exquisite! Although the Wonton Soup was delicious, the noodles seemed
overly bland and lacked flavor.
After dinner, we stopped by
Ghirardelli Chocolate Marketplace to sample some delicious ice cream sundaes. Alex selected the
World Famous Hot Fudge Sundae, while Inna and I shared the
Muir Woods Sundae. The chocolate part of the sundaes was overly
delicious, but the ice cream was not outstanding. Since it was very crowded
inside, we decided to eat our sundaes outdoors, where it was less crowded
but also a bit chilly and windy.
On the way back to our Airbnb home, we stopped by Safeway/Amazon Locker so
that I could pick up my bicycle lock. We noticed a lot of skaters with
lights and loud music flying by. This must be the
Friday Night Skate.
San Francisco Workation Report Card
Highlights
Lowlights
- Frequently foggy weather
- Loud street noises during the day and night
- Dinner at Wago Sushi
-
Inability to use Spin Scooters
(cannot unlock at Crissy)
- Nightly Fog Horn from ships they wake us during sleep)
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