It’s The Weekend! Find Me Around The Bay

7:15pm

It’s time for dinner at the airport! It took such a long time to go through TSA today – around 30 minutes! There was only one line and everyone was moving so slowly, in addition to people cutting at the front of the line. As soon as I passed through, I jumped in line for Panda Express: one medium plate with chow mein, orange chicken, and mushroom chicken please (and a side of Chick-fil-A)!

9:30pm

Made it to San Jose! It’s time to get ready for the big day tomorrow – Napa!

9:30am

Mmm…starting off the day with a cappuccino! It’s been over half a year since I’ve had this special cappuccino – I definitely missed this a lot.

12:30pm

It was not a short drive to Napa. We stopped for a restroom break in Danville, where we found the nicest restroom at Chevron, before continuing the drive to Boon Fly Cafe for brunch. We each ordered our own dish, but got the Ohlone Smoked Salmon Flatbread to share.

2:00pm

We’ve arrived at Nicholson Ranch! Arthur introduced us to the different wines and how they are made. Our group did the Nicholson Ranch Club Service Tasting with 5 estate wines:

• 2017 Chardonnay – Sonoma Valley | Honeysuckle, pear, apricot
• 2017 Chardonnay – Sonoma Coast | Orange blossom, honey, melon
• 2016 Pinot Noir – Sonoma Valley | Cherry, dried cranberry, cedar
• 2017 Pinot Noir – Sonoma Coast | Cherry, lavender, juniper
• 2018 Pinot Noir – Cactus Hill | Raspberry, plum, cola

My favorite was the 2017 Chardonnay – Sonoma Coast, followed by the 2018 Pinot Noir – Cactus Hill. Arthur was very friendly and even gave us a splash of the Super-Tuscan in addition to more of our favorite wine from the tasting! Everything was great – except for the mosquito that bit me a few times.

5:00pm

It was almost 5pm by the time we left Nicholson Ranch (Who knew wine tasting would take almost three hours???). We headed to Oxbow Public Market for a late afternoon tea break at Ritual Coffee and oysters at Hog Island Oyster Co – the oysters were delicious!

6:15pm

Time to head back to San Jose! We were able to catch a glimpse of the Napa Valley Wine Train on the way to our car – definitely an adventure for next time!

7:30pm

For dinner, we stopped at Sliver Pizzeria in Fremont to pick up some pizza! We ordered online so it was a pretty quick stop – we just had to carefully pack all the delicious green sauce! We got the Mushroom Pizza and the Pizza of the Day. The Mushroom Pizza is my favorite!

10:30pm

We wrapped up the evening with Super Mario Party! We played on Megafruit Paradise, and I chose Koopa as my character – it was so much fun until my star got stolen (look at that dip on the graph…hmph!). Luckily, I still won with 6 stars.

9:15am

After another cup of cappuccino while watching my best friend waddle around for the first time, it’s time to head to St. Dominic’s Catholic Church in San Francisco! Today is the Ordination to the Order of the Priesthood of one of our friends, so of course we had to be there! The parking lot was packed, so we found street parking instead. There were three Brothers getting ordained and a lot of people had come to celebrate. After the Ordination, everyone got in line to get a blessing from the newly ordained priests!

1:30pm

After everyone got their blessings, a group of us went to grab lunch at B Star – I was starving! We ordered a few different things to share. My favorite was the World Famous Tea Leaf Salad and the Firecracker Cauliflower.

3:00pm

For dessert, we headed to Pineapple King Bakery. I was so excited. I’ve had Pineapple King a few times, but never fresh from the bakery, always a day or two later. We ordered ahead online, so when we got to the bakery, we were able to skip the long line. I got the Guava Butter Pineapple Bun and the Deluxe Box. I tried the Guava Butter Pineapple Bun immediately. It was so good. I was originally afraid the Guava Butter would taste very sweet or overpower the taste of the pineapple bun, but nope. It was perfect. I wish I could eat this everyday!

3:30pm

Next stop, Andytown. I really like the Short Strand coffee beans from here and tried The Original Bird Snowy Plover the last time I visited. This time, I tried the Matcha Plover. I like the Matcha Plover a lot!

4:30pm

We stopped at Macu Tea next. I wanted to try this boba shop during my trip to Taiwan, but since I ran out of time, I definitely had to make a stop in NorCal! I ordered the Boba Black Tea Latte at 10% sugar and added green tea jelly. I loved it. The green tea jelly was a very nice addition and I am so glad my friend recommended I try it! I have to come back again for more next time.

6:30pm

It’s dinner time! What’s on the menu tonight?

8:30am

Today’s day started off with coffee and pineapple buns. The pineapple buns definitely tasted better yesterday when they were fresh!

11:30am

We met up with some friends for brunch at Sweet Maple. I got the Super K Belly Pork – all for myself!

1:00pm

It is time for Mass – our friend’s first Mass! It was held at Corpus Christi Monastery. It was a very special and touching Mass that left everyone with tears in their eyes. We did not get to stay long after Mass, but we did get to catch up with some friends we haven’t seen in a long time!

5:00pm

We made it to San Ramon. After a short catch up, we headed to Kinja Sushi and then to Concord to visit another friend of ours! I ordered the Yuzu Karaage and Triple Kinja Roll. The Triple Kinja Roll was good, except I do wish we had soy sauce!

10:45am

There is a very exciting day ahead of us, but like all the other days, it always starts with a special cappuccino! My best friend started playing pickleball today too! It was so exciting watching him hold a paddle and trying to hit the ball.

12:45pm

I was lucky enough to be able to try some homemade chicken soup! Even though the chicken was in the soup, it was not overcooked, and the corn added sweetness to the flavor. I loved it!

1:15pm

Lunch is tacos at Tustacos Taqueria. I got the carne asada, al pastor, and chicharron taco. I liked the chicharron taco the most!

2:00pm

It’s time for pickleball!!! I’ve been waiting the whole weekend. We went to The Hub, where there are a lot of nice indoor courts! We played so many games and it was so much fun. Apparently there was this crazy shot that I hit, but I thought I had just hit it like normal – I am just happy my team got the point!

6:00pm

After a tiring but fun few hours, we went to 7 Leaves to grab something refreshing to drink followed by dinner from Dan Izakaya! I got the Strawberry Sunset from 7 Leaves and a Seafood Okonomiyaki and Salmon Beef Teriyaki Don for dinner.

8:00pm

I played Sequence for the first time! I had no idea this would be such a fun and intense game. Should I get a set for myself?

12:30pm

I woke up just in time to say bye to my best friend before he headed out for the day – then went back to sleep. Our last day in NorCal did not start off with a cappuccino, but with hot pot! We had lunch at Tabu Shabu and I got the Prime Reserve Short Rib with Kale Fresh Ramen Noodle. I was afraid the portion would be too small, but after all the veggies, rice, and noodles, it was just enough.

2:15pm

I got to pour my own art on my cappuccino, and I think I did pretty well – it’s a light bulb!

6:30pm

Unfortunately, our flight got delayed for almost 3 hours, so we grabbed a quick dinner from Yummee Sandwiches before going to the airport. I got the Ham, Pork Roll, Pate Banh Mi! I really liked how much filling it had.