San Francisco Workation Week 3

2021-07-31T18:49:00-07:00california, mountain biking, restaurant, sf bay, windsurfingNo comments

Saturday, July 31, 2021

In the morning, Inna and I woke up around 08:00. I installed the Via Velo Bike U Lock on Inna's Specialized hybrid bike, cleaned up my windsurfing gear, started the washing machine, and loaded the dishwasher.

Alex had severe allergies to ragweed pollen, so we walked to Arsicault Bakery (on Arguello) to bring him some of San Francisco's best croissants and pastries.

We walked on excellent hiking trails through the Presidio and down to the city. When we reached Arsicault Bakery, there was a long line to purchase croissants. Inna and I joined the line, and then eventually, Inna found a table at nearby Breck's (where we ordered coffee).

When it was my time to order, I selected the following pastries:

chocolate croissant
chocolate almond croissant
plain croissant
ham & cheese croissant
currant scone

Inna thought that these were the best croissants she'd ever tasted. Although I really liked the currant scone, the plain croissant was exceptional. The ham & cheese croissant was also marvelous. I really liked the Verve coffee served at Breck's, too.

Since Alex was not feeling well due to allergies, we decided to try miniature golfing indoors in Urban Putt.

It was quite a unique experience with fascinating contraptions. The golf course had the following holes:

Quake
Skeeball
Sutro Tower 1886
Videovision
Transamerica Windmill
Labyrinth
The Reef
Jules Verne's Nautilus (use your golfball as a torpedo to sink enemy ships)
Dia de Los Muertos (a really cool Rube Goldberg machine)
Archimedes Goldberg
Golfland at the Beach
Quack!
Gold Rush
Fibonacci's Finale

Here is a short video clip of Inna playing on one of the holes:

After we tallied the results, I won with 35, Alex scored 38, and Inna scored 51. As we didn't like the food options, we decided to eat dinner elsewhere. After consulting with Alla, we settled on Flour + Water Pizzeria on Valencia Street. There was a lot of garbage on the street, and this area of San Francisco gave off an unfavorable vibe.

We arrived at Flour + Water Pizzeria at 16:00 - when it was just opening. We sat down and ordered the following:

Alex: Margherita pizza
Boris & Inna: Burrata Salad, Mortadella Pizza

We loved our Mortadella Pizza and the Burrata Salad. The pizza dough and the toppings compared favorably to the ones we have eaten in Europe and Japan. Yummy!

After finishing our light dinner, we stopped by Bi-Rite Market (it was costly) and Bi-Rite Creamery (it had a very long line). We decided to try the Dandelion Chocolate also on Valencia Street. We were not sure which drinks to order, and eventually on the following:

Alex: European Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows
Boris: European Hot Chocolate (small)
Inna: European Hot Chocolate (small)

I liked the European Hot Chocolate and was glad for its small size, as it was very filling.

On the way back to our car, we encountered police, taking account of multiple broken windows in several cars. It looked like someone with a bat broke car windows down the streets. I wouldn't want to live here! With so much garbage on the street, it did not appear like a safe neighborhood.

We quickly located our minivan and returned to our Airbnb home.

Sunday, August 1, 2021

In the morning, Inna and I woke up around 08:00. I decided to bike to Crissy Field and join me. I installed my GoPro Hero 7 Black camera on the handlebars, and Inna and I went out for a short ride. It was nice to bike in the early morning. We noticed a few swimmers, kayakers, and even some electric foilers.

After we returned to our Airbnb home, I called into a 10:00 work meeting while Inna went down Chestnut Street to enjoy morning coffee and pastries at Le Marais Bakery. While there, she read her book and purchased a few croissants for Alex and me.

We enjoyed the delicious croissants with freshly brewed Jasmine Dragon Pearls tea when she returned. Since there was a Farmer's Market at Fort Mason on Sundays, I rode my bike there to purchase some fresh fruits & vegetables.

I rode for about 15 minutes along Marine Drive and locked my Specialized hybrid bike along the fence of Equator Coffees (using the newly installed Via Velo Bike U Lock). At the Farmer's Market, I purchased the following:

Hummus Heaven: Plain Hummus
Rodriguez Brothers Ranch: Strawberries
Rainbow Orchards: Blueberries
Apples: Firecracker Organic Apples

After returning home, I rested for about 45 minutes, feeling fatigued. Eventually, we drove to the Salesforce Park to explore it further. At first, we considered using UberX, but the price to move there was over $23, so we decided to go there instead.

The drive to Salesforce Park took us about 23 minutes, but I had difficulty finding parking. Eventually, I parked for free on the street at the intersection of Pine and Battery Streets. As I had never been there, I was unsure what to expect. I was surprised that after taking the elevator to the 4th floor, the area opened up to a large urban park full of exotic trees (from all corners of the world).

We walked around the whole park, enjoying the beautiful trees and plants and marveling at the effort required to plant such a park above ground.

It was past lunchtime, and most nearby restaurants in the Financial District were closed on Sundays, so we decided to walk to the Ferry Building for lunch there.

Some restaurants were already closed when we arrived there, so we purchased a few empanadas for lunch from El Porteno Empanadas Argentinas.

After looking at the short menu, we selected the following items:

Alex: Carne Empanada
Boris: Carne Empanada
Inna: Champinones Empanada
Dolce: Cereza Empanada

For drinks, we decided to purchase coffee at Red Bay Coffee. There was a long line there, and we waited patiently to order the following:

Alex: Saigon Latte
Boris: Vietnamese Cold Brew
Inna: Saigon Latte (large, extra foam)

We sat outside the Ferry Building and munched on our delicious empanadas. They were delicious.

I also enjoyed my Vietnamese Cold Brew, and Inna raved about her exceptional Saigon Latte (with extra foam).

After lunch, we walked to the Transamerica Pyramid and continued toward North Beach. Inna wanted to visit the quaint Italian Coffee Shops and bookstores that North Beach is known for. We stopped by City Lights Books and spent about an hour browsing various books.

Alex was getting bored, as books did not interest him, so he returned home. We continued browsing and visited a few well-known coffee shops, including Caffe Trieste. I was not very impressed with it. After walking a few blocks on Columbus Ave, we turned to our minivan and drove home.

When we returned home, Alex was just returning from Crissy Field, where he had spent some time. We rested a bit and then decided to eat dinner on Chestnut Street. After looking at various restaurants, we settled on Blackwood.

We were seated outside on this evident and warm August day. After looking at the extensive menu, we selected the following:

Inna: Royal Pad Thai, Thai Iced Tea
Boris: Panang Curry with Chicken, Raspberry Lemonade
Alex: Panang Curry with Beef, Thai Iced Tea

We really enjoyed our delicious Thai entrees. The Panang Curry was a bit spicy but delicious!

After dinner, we were turned to Crissy Field, enjoying the beautiful sunset and the colorful clouds in the small boat harbor.

We also stopped by the Palace of Fine Art to enjoy the last remaining light and watch the birds flutter. The white swan was swimming around all by herself.

Monday, August 2, 2021

I woke up at 06:30 and took a short ride to Crissy Field in the morning. I enjoyed the morning ride, though my seat height was affected by the broken Rock Shox seat dropper post on my 2011 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Mountain Bike, which was too low.

I showered, ate blueberries with yogurt when I returned home and drove to Santa Clar for work.

After lunch at Nvidia, I returned home briefly to pick up a few items and check on the house. I noticed some water in the garage and realized the Bradford White 50-gallon water heater had a small leak. I tried to shut off the water heater by following the heater's instructions, but it worsened the leak.

I called the first highly-rated plumbing service I could find - Water Heaters Only - and the agent promised to send someone from 14:00 - 17:00. Luckily, he arrived around 14:00 and shut down the leak immediately. The replacement cost for a new water heater was $2325 - much higher than 9 years ago when I paid $1325 from Better Water Heaters.

After the report, I returned to our Airbnb in San Francisco. I was tired from all the work and driving back and forth, so it was too late to go windsurfing.

Inna and I decided to walk to Crissy Field and enjoyed the remains of a clear, crisp August day. At Crissy, a few windsurfers and wing foilerssailedg back and forth.

On the way home, we stopped at the Palace of Fine Arts and saw countless birds. Inna was excited about seeing a couple of Blue Herons and took photos with her iPhone, but she really needed the long reach of the Nikon P900 ultrazoom. When we returned home, she returned to the Palace of Fine Arts with her Nikon, but the Blue Herons were gone.

For dinner, Inna sauteed freshly made gnocchi from Lucca Deli. They were delicious! (though I prefer the 4-cheese ravioli)

Tuesday, August 3, 2021

I had difficulty waking up and finally getting out of bed at 08:00. I made a delicious breakfast of strawberries, blueberries, and you while Inna went for a short walk to Crissy Field.

Alex, Inna, and I walked along Marina Boulevard to Equator Coffees in Fort Maso at lunchtime. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery, cloudy skies, and brisk, northerly wind along the walk. At Equator Coffees, Inna ordered the following item while Alex and I sat at a table outside. We were asked to put on masks indoors for the first time. Not Covid-19 again!

Alex: large mocha
Boris:: large mocha, scone
Inna: Habibi latte, chocolate croissant

Although I really enjoyed the mocha, the thesconeseweres were below average and not in the same league as the scones from Le Marais Bakery.

After returning home, I made a sandwich of pastrami and mayonnaise on fresh bread, with a touch of chicken salad from Lucca. It was delicious.

When work ended, I decided to go windsurfing, though the forecast did not look favorable. When I arrived, a few windsurfers and wing foilers were out, and I rigged an Ezzy Elite 5.0m sail with an Exocet RF81 board and a Slingshot Infinity 76 foil.

I could get on the water immediately, and flying the foil was sensational. However, the wind seemed to back off in the middle of the bay, and I turned around. The wind was strongest near shore.

Inna baked boneless chicken thighs for dinner, and I made Basmati rice.

Wednesday, August 4, 2021

I woke up at 07:30 and went for a stroll to Crissy Fiel in the morning. It was cloudy, and many people were out jogging and exercising. When I returned home, I made a breakfast of strawberries, blueberries, and Strauss yogurt. Later, I made some Jasmine Dragon Pearls tea with a slice of Acme bread.

Before lunch, Inna and I took a short stroll to Le Marais Bakery. While there, we ordered 2 mochas, but the bakery ran out of chocolate, so we wanted 2 lattes! Inna and I also selected a couple of pastries, including:

Inna: latte, ham & cheese croissant
Boris: latte, peach scone
Alex: kouign-Amann

While Inna liked her ham & cheese croissant, I was not as excited about my peach scone. It was not as fresh or delicious as last time. I was also a bit annoyed about the latte - I was supposed to order a month, and this was the 2nd time in the past two weeks that Le Marais had run out of chocolate!

12:30, we attended a Northeastern University meeting to review the check-in procedures for all students traveling to London, England, and in September. We learned more about the location of the residences and the College of Humanities, plus some planned upcoming trips to Scotland (Edinburgh) and Stonehenge. I expect more planned day trips to other parts of England (like Wales, York, Portsmouth, etc.) There were also multiple recommendations on packing lights and explanations on what to bring and what will be provided.

Here is the video recording of the Northeastern Pre-Arrival Presentation.

After the Zoomm meeting, we decided to try eating lunch at a new cafe - Muesi Cafe - to try out some different items. When we arrived there twenty minutes later, we ordered a couple of interesting items:

Boris: Matcha Green Bowl (Greek Yogurt), Tea Forte (Jasmine Green)
Inna: Lox Toast on Danish Rye, Matcha Latte
Alex: Spicy Kimchi Toast on Danish Rye, Matcha Latte

Inna liked her Lox Toast, and Alex liked his Spicy Kimchi Toast. I wanted my Matcha Green Bowl, but it was not very filling (and felt like breakfast).

After working a bit, I decided to try wind foiling at Crissy. When I arrived, I noticed the wind did not seem very strong, so I rigged an Ezzy Elite 5.0m for my Exocet RF81 with Slingshot 76 foil. For the first hour, I wind foiled on my Exocet. I was able to fly the foil much better now.

About an hour later, I noticed the wind increased significantly, so I switched to my Fanatic 105 FSW windsurfing board. Initially, I forgot to remove the fin protector, so I could not understand why my board was not planning. Once I figured it out, I got it right away. I had an exciting windsurfing session and was getting pounded on my 5.0m sail - a 4.5m sail would have been better!

We used UberX to take us to the Foreign Cinema Restaurant in the Mission District in the evening. Inna had made a dinner reservation for 20:00. When we arrived, we could not find it initially but eventually found it.

Foreign Cinema is located in a very sketchy part of San Francisco, and it's best to take UberX there and back (and avoid parking there).

When we sat down, we noticed a large screen on which a famous Akira Kurosawa movie started playing at 20:00. We were seated on the covered/uncovered boundary, so some drizzle drops were coming through. Looking at the day's menu, we ordered the following entrees:

Alex: Lavender Lemonade, Sesame Fried Chicken
Boris: Rose Lemonade, Sesame Fried Chicken
Inna: Cinema Paradiso, Roasted Tomato Soup, Lavender Scented Goat Cheese
Dessert: Chocolate Pot de Creme, Poached Nectarine

The Sesame Fried Chicken was fabulous and the best-tasting chicken I've ever eaten.

We also shared and enjoyed the desserts, the Poached Nectarine and the Chocolate Pot de Creme.

Thursday, August 5, 2021

I woke up at 8:00 and planned to walk to Crissy Fiel in the morning. However, when I stepped outside, I noticed a heavy drizzle. I was not expecting rain! I decided to postpone my walk to a later time. Instead, Ishoweredr ate a breakfast of strawberries, blueberries, and yogurt.

For lunch, I ate a small sandwich of pastrami or Acme bread. Inna suggested we also try the lamb salad at Souvla (on Chestnut Street). We walked about 10 minutes to Souvla, where Inna ordered the Thomas Farms Lamb Leg (Harissa Spiked Yogurt, Cucumber, Radish, Pickled Onion, Feta Cheese). We split the salad and enjoyed it.

In addition, we stopped by Le Marais Bakery for a coffee and pastry. Since Le Marais was still out of chocolate (Poppycock!), we ordered the following items:

Boris: Coffee, Croissant with Chocolate
Inna: Latte, Pain Au Raisin

I really enjoyed the chocolate croissant and pain au raisin. There were a couple of cute dogs at Le Marais, including a white retriever and a few small doodle-ish dogs.

On the way back home, we stopped by Lucca Deli, ordering the following items:

Pastrami
Cookies
Mushroom Ravioli
Chicken Salad
Potato Salad

For dinner, Inna and I would prepare the Mushroom Ravioli with Chicken Salad and tomatoes.

I checked the wind forecast in the evening and decided to drive to Crissy. I was not expecting a mighty wind, but I saw a lot of white caps. I decided to rig my Ezzy Elite 4.5m sail and remove my Fanatic 105 FSW board.

For the first 30 minutes, I had a fantastic time windsurfing in the bay. The wind was mighty and very gusty. After half an hour, the wind died, so I prepared the Exocet RF81 foil with the Slingshot 76cm foil.

I could fly the board reasonably quickly on the Exocet and had another 90 minutes of fun. It was a great day for both windsurfing and foiling.

Friday, August 6, 2021

In the morning, Inna and I woke up at 08:30 and walked to Crissy Field. There was a little fog, but the bay appeared pretty calm. We returned at 09:25 - in time for Inna's work meeting. Once home, I showered and ate a breakfast of strawberries, blueberries, and yogurt.

Inna, Alex, and I ate the lamb salad for lunch at Souvla (on Chestnut Street). We walked about 10 minutes to Souvla, where Inna ordered the Thomas Farms Lamb Leg (Harissa Spiked Yogurt, Cucumber, Radish, Pickled Onion, Feta Cheese). We split the salad and enjoyed it while Alex ate the pita version of the same salad and yogurt.

In addition, we stopped by Le Marais Bakery for a coffee and pastry. Since Le Marais was still out of chocolate (for the 3rd day in a row!), we ordered the following items:

Boris: Coffee, Kouign-Amann
Inna: Latte, Pain Au Raisin
Alex: Latte, Yogurt (from Souvla)

I enjoyed the Kouign-Amann and Pain au Raisin with my coffee and just sat outdoors, basking in the sun and watching people and dogs walk by.

I checked the wind forecast for the evening and decided to drive to Crissy. I rigged an Ezzy Elite 5.0m sail and selected the Exocet RF81 foil board. The wind was up and down, but I managed to have a couple of nice flights on my Slingshot Infinity 76cm foil.

We decided to try Roam Burgers on Union Ave, about 1.5 miles away, for dinner. Once there, we ordered the following items:

Alex: French'n'Fries Burger (Truffle Parmesan Fries, Gruyere, Avocado, Caramelized Onions, Watercress, Piquant Sauce, Whole Grain Mustard), Black Current Kimchi
Boris: Sunnyside Burger (Organic Egg, Fontina, Caramelized Onions, Greens, Tomato, Chili Sauce)
Inna: French'n'Fries Burger (Truffle Parmesan Fries, Gruyere, Avocado, Caramelized Onions, Watercress, Piquant Sauce, Whole Grain Mustard), Prickly Pear Soda
Share: Fry Fecta (Russet Fries, Sweet Potato Fries, Zucchini)

We loved our burgers; they were some of the best we've ever had. The Sunnyside Burger was just fabulous!

For dessert, on the way back home, we stopped by GIO Gelati on Union). After looking at available flavors, we selected the following:

Boris & Inna: a small cup of 2 flavors: Sour Cherry Chip and Bacio (Chocolate Hazelnut)
Alex: a medium cup of 3 flavors: Cappuccino, Pistachio, Bacio

Inna loved the Cappuccino flavor, and I liked the Pistachio, although the Sour Cherry Chip was also delicious.

San Francisco Workation Report Card

Highlights

Windsurfing and wind foiling at Crissy Field
Biking to Crissy Field and along Marine Boulevard
Eating pastries at Arsicault Bakery, Le Marais Bakery, and B.Patisserie
Eating hamburgers at Roam Burgers
Eating pizza at Flour + Water Pizzeria
Eating lunch at Cote Ouest Bistro (favorite local French restaurant)
Eating dinner at Foreign Cinema (Sesame Fried Chicken), Karaweik Burmese Cuisine (Chestnut St), Palette Tea House
Tasting ice cream and gelato at GIO Gelati and Humphry Slocombe (Ferry Building)
Sipping coffee drinks at Equator Coffees (Fort Mason)
Eating deli meats from Lucca Deli (and freshly made ravioli, gnocchi, chicken salad, and potato salad too)
Delicious loaves of bread from Acme Bread Company (Ferry Building)
Attending the Last Supper in Pompeii Exhibition at The Legion of Honour Museum
Hiking Batteries to Bluffs Trail with beautiful views of Golden Gate Bridge
Views of Golden Gate Bridge
Every street has various restaurants, bakeries, and coffee shops.