A digital travel diary. · WP v1.08 · Updated
At around 18:00, we started our walk to see Let's Glow San Francisco. . This all-ages, family-friendly event runs for 10 nights from December 5–14, 2025. Experience breathtaking animated projections illuminating eight iconic buildings across the city's core, transforming them into colossal, colorful canvases featuring work by 19 artists from around the globe.. Our first stop was at the Hobart Building, which had some of…
Read More: Let’s Glow San Francisco
We decided to drive over to San Francisco to see the Menorah lighting at Union Square to commemorate the first day of Hanukkah, then take a stroll to visit the various Let's Glow SF buildings, and finish with dinner at Little Shucker. . . . . . We are initially worried about the security and safety after the recent events in Australia:. . On December…
Read More: Menorah Lighting at Union Square
For the past 10 years, I have been using the Sony MDR-7506 headphones for all my audio listening. Having recently upgraded to a Topping DX5 II DAC/headphone amplifier, I decided it was time to upgrade to more audiophile-quality headphones as well.. . . . . After doing some research, I found the Sennheiser HD600 highly recommended by everyone (including ChatGPT, Gemini, and AVScience).. Its one…
Read More: Sennheiser HD600 headphones
For my newly built Windows 11 PC, I initially planned to install an Xonar Essence STX PCIe audio card, but it is no longer manufactured. As a replacement, I decided to purchase a standalone DAC and headphone amplifier for my Sony MDR-7506 headphones. . Initially, I tried the Topping DX3 Pro+ DAC/headphone amp and achieved excellent results. However, I realized that a newer, significantly improved…
Read More: Topping DX5 II Fully Balanced DAC & Headphone Amp
Inna and I planned a two-day weekend at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa from Friday, December 5, to Sunday, December 7, 2025. . . . . I precharged our Tesla Model Y's battery to 95% capacity, anticipating the long drive ahead. . Friday, December 5, 2025 . We started the long drive to Sonoma in the late afternoon. There were periods of heavy…
Read More: Two Nights in Sonoma
For my newly built Windows 11 PC, I initially planned to install an Xonar Essence STX PCIe audio card, but it is no longer manufactured. As a replacement, I decided to purchase a standalone DAC and headphone amplifier for my Sony MDR-7506 headphones. . I had read very positive reviews of the Topping DX3 Pro+ on the AudioScienceReview website, where laboratory measurements are conducted in…
Read More: Topping DX3Pro+ LDAC Headphone Amplifier
Our ancient Dyson V7 was still working okay (with its original battery replaced by a 3rd-party version), but there was a large Black Friday sale (50% off), and I thought it might be a good time to replace it. . . . . . . . Dyson V11 Cordless Vacuum, Wand, Docking Station, Charger, Mini Soft Dusting Brush, Crevice Tool, Hair Screw Tool, Motorbar Cleaner…
Read More: Dyson V11 Cordless Vacuum
To enable practicing guitar while traveling, I purchased the Sonicake Travel Guitar QGT-01. It was 30% off during the Amazon Black Friday sale ($209.99) and seemed like an excellent alternative to the Yamaha SLG200s series of silent travel guitars. It had received positive reviews on YouTube and was worth trying. I had tried two Donner Travel guitars previously: Hush I Pro and Hush C, but…
Read More: Sonicake Travel Guitar QGT-01
When I showed Inna the newly available Amazon Colorsoft (Color E-Ink) Kindle ebook reader, she was eager to try it and upgrade from her older Paperwhite. There was an Amazon Black Friday sale that made the new Kindle ($169) an attractive purchase. . . . Read in color – The new 7" Colorsoft display is high-contrast and easy on the eyes, with paper-like color that…
Read More: Kindle Colorsoft 16GB
On Wednesday, November 26, I found some reasonably priced tickets ($200/ticket for floor-4 seats in Masonic using StubHub) to Sarah McLachlan's Better Broken Tour at The Masonic in San Francisco (for Friday, November 28, 2025, at 8:00 p.m.) . . Though I have been a fan of Sarah's music for a long time, I was not sure what to expect at her concert. . .…
Read More: Sarah McLachlan – Better Broken Tour
After seeing the beautiful Manet & Morisot exhibit at the Legion of Honor Museum, we decided to hike the nearby Lands' End trail. . See the Google Maps link for directions. . We started our hike around 15:30 from the grounds of the Legion of Honor Museum, following the coastal trail. There were lots of people on the trail (probably families trying to burn off…
Read More: Hike to Lands’ End, San Francisco
For our day out in San Francisco (Friday, November 28), we decided to stop at the Legion of Honor Museum to see the new Manet & Morisot exhibition. . . . . This is the first major exhibition dedicated to the artistic exchange between French Impressionists Édouard Manet (1832–1883) and Berthe Morisot (1841–1895). Manet was the era’s great pioneer of modern painting, and Morisot, the…
Read More: Legion of Honor: Manet & Morisot Exhibit
For Thanksgiving, Inna decided against cooking and instead selected the nearby Lele Kitchen restaurant for the main dinner. She made reservations for Thursday, November 27, at 16:00. . . . . We ordered the Thanksgiving "Trust the Chef 7-Course Menu" as follows:. . Bread (freshly baked from a 38-year-old starter). Pie Tees x2 (Boris, Inna). Oysters x1 (Alex). Chestnut Soup x3. Trout Draniki x2 (Boris,…
Read More: Thanksgiving Dinner at Lele
For silent practice and travel, I decided to purchase the Donner Hush C Nylon Electro-acoustic guitar from Amazon. This guitar can be easily disassembled, fit into a minimal, thin travel case, and be brought with me on flights. It has a built-in headphone amp, powered by a removable 9V battery. . . . . . According to Donner: . 【Comfort & Versatility for All Players】With…
Read More: Donner Hush C Travel Guitar
Today, Inna and I attended a concert by Mashina Vremeni (Машина времени) at the Fox Theater in Redwood City. The concert was scheduled for 20:00, and we were looking forward to seeing the group again. . I had never been inside Fox Theater, and it's not a bad venue. Parking was relatively easy to find. Inna purchased excellent seats in row G, and we had…
Read More: Машина времени Мы рядом
After a short stroll around Vasona Lake, on a beautiful fall day in San Jose, we decided to eat an early dinner at our favorite Orchard City Kitchen in nearby Campbell. I booked the 17:15 time slot on OpenTable, but it was unnecessary since that time was not busy. . . . . After sitting outdoors, we looked at the updated menu and ordered the…
Read More: Dinner at Orchard City KitchenMy wife purchased tickets to the Some Like It Hot! musical playing at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday, October 25, 2025. . Before attending the performance, we decided to stop by Scott's Seafood in downtown San Jose for dinner. While traffic was light, we had difficulty finding inexpensive parking. The outdoor parking lot near the San Jose Center for the…
Read More: Some Like It Hot! in San Jose
As I started playing more classical guitar music on my Yamaha FG830 acoustic (metal-string) guitar, I ran into difficulties with the narrow string spacing common to most metal-string acoustics. Unlike modern acoustics, classical guitars are strung with nylon strings, spaced farther apart to allow more space for plucking. . . I decided that to perfect my classical guitar technique, I really needed to learn on…
Read More: Suzuki No. 34 Classical Guitar
Sunday, September 28, 2025. Inna had one more Birthday surprise for me - a visit to the Refuge Spa at the Carmel Valley Athletic Club. . After an early wake-up at 07:00, we showered and dressed. We walked downstairs to another delicious breakfast at the Stilwell Hotel. There was a wide variety of small prepared items, and I enjoyed some eggs, yogurt, and pastries. .…
Read More: Refuge Spa in Carmel
Friday, September 26, 2025. For my birthday, Inna arranged a weekend getaway to Carmel-by-the-Sea with tickets to the Monterey Jazz Festival on Saturday (a big, unexpected surprise for me). . We finished work early, packed our suitcases, and started the drive to Carmel-by-the-Sea. Usually, it takes about 75 minutes to reach Carmel, but there was heavy traffic with multiple slowdowns. We eventually reached Carmel at…
Read More: Monterey Jazz Festival