Our SF Trip 08

Bri and I headed to SF during my first week of Spring Break... It was such a wonderful time spent with the Mocks, Victoria & Makena, Helery&John, Justin, Jen, Linz & Mike... Such great memories that we will cherish forever!! Thank you all for your generous hearts, joyful spirit and great times!

During our first day in SF - we headed toward the middle of town. This album is mostly of us at various times during our trip - goofing around and taking weird shots around downtown...


This album is of us with Bri's Cousin Aurora and her husband Campton - during the first night we were in town, they were so nice to take us out to dinner at House of Prime Rib! SO ono - the drinks were great and the food was outstanding!! On the last day we were in town, Bri and I rode the Caltrain down to their house in San Mateo - there we met up with Victoria & Makena, who arrived the night before. Chase made it back as well, with his record breaking 6 hr drive up from San Diego... Thanks Chase - it was great to see you! At the Mock's hale - Aurora made the most ono food - we had Chicken Katsu, this great crab noodle dish, spinach dip & fresh kalua pig & cabbage! Thank you Campton for picking us up at the Train station and driving us back to the city... bought any fish? I KNOW - WE ARE SO SPOILED and SO LOVED!! Thank you also, for the Easter Treats!! SO THOUGHTFUL! Thank you guys so much for the ono food - great conversation :) - family IS so important... we are so grateful to have had that time with you guys... Here's the pics!


The next day we got our rent-a-car and headed out to Carmel/Monterey & Pebble Beach. We started out on the beautiful scenic Hwy 1 that took us all the way to Monterey - from there we headed to Fisherman's Wharf, Carmel & the infamous Pebble Beach - 17 mile Hwy. Bri and I always found a way to get lost everywhere we went - we now call them "detours" or "the scenic way"! LOL Bri did do a great job driving in the city - it's harder than it looks...


That evening we met up with Linz at Ozumo - a really hip Japanese-Fusion restaurant on Embarcadero - VERY good food - and DRINKS! (especially Strawberry mint martini's!! ;) THANK YOU Linz - GREAT find!


On our 3rd day in SF - we went to eat at Cheung Hing (ONO roast duck) and then off to shopping... IKEA, Trader Joe's and other shops in Emeryville. That evening we met up with John & Helery - our friends that also live in the bay area. We went to this little quaint restaurant in Haight & Ashbury - called Cha Cha Cha - REALLY good Sangria's and Latin tapas. We liked it there so much , we took our friend Jen a couple days later :) THANK YOU, JOHN & HELERY!! Can't wait to see you both in HI!


On Thursday we met up with our neighbor Justin - who is a flight attendant for Aloha and had a layover in Oakland... so what a great time to meet up and head to NAPA!! To start off our day - we had highly recommended crab cake benedicts at the Hyatt Regency before we headed off on our adventure. We visited V. Sattui, Opus One, the Napa Outlets and then the fun REALLY begun on our "journey" to find Tomales Bay... needless to say, the hills are rollie - the cows are plenty - and Tomales Bay is FAR from Napa... We had a blast though trying to eat our new found treasures - in the IKEA parking lot! NO KIDDING! At least we have picture proof!!! THANK YOU so much Justin for putting up with us (more so, me & my whining) - the oysters definitely made up for it - and the yummy food at Elephant bar :) Here's those pics!


Golden Gate Park was next on the list - we met up with Jen - my friend from UH and now fellow colleague at KS - we photo dorked it around Golden Gate Park, ate at Cha Cha Cha and then hit it over to Fillmore street!! FUN STUFF!!! THANK YOU, JEN for spending the day with us!!


SHARKS v DUCKS!! What a game - it was the first time for Mike, Bri and I - Linz sat in nosebleed zone last time - so I think this was her official first time too! LOL just joking! You could feel the excitement of all the fans as they were cheering - SHARKS - SHARKS - SHARKS!! I wasn't even a Shark's fan - and honestly wanted to cheer for the Ducks - but when in the Shark Tank - DO AS THE SHARKS! The game was really exciting - not tooo high scoring, but at least we got to watch a UFC match during the game - gloves flying and everything... Oh, not the mention, also seeing this poor man get hit in the face with the puck - and NO he wasn't a player - he was as spectator! :( I don't think he wanted to THAT close to the action! At least he was able to walk out... THANK YOU Mike & Linz for sharing in another of our "firsts"!! NBA next?!


During our last day in town - we ventured on the Cal Train & visited Mock's Hale... those pics were in the previous slide show. THANK YOU AGAIN, Aurora, Campton, Victoria, Makena, and Chase... we missed you Ashley & Shawn... next time! :)

Our last night was spent with Mike & Linz... It was absolutely the PERFECT way to end our trip - with our two favorite SF amigos... Mike picked all of us at our hotel and took us back to his place in Sunset - we had a really nice bottle of wine before we headed out to dinner at Zuni's. Zuni's is a beautiful restaurant where the food is ABSOLUTELY amazing!! Every single bite was so delicious!! If you are ever in the Bay area - GO THERE! Sitting next to us were three wonderful people as well. We literally shared food with each other and chatted between courses. We hope our paths cross again with those people - so nice!! THANK YOU MIKE & LINZ for an amazing night - sorry for the water works at the end of the evening, but it is always so hard to say goodbye...


NONE of these moments would have been possible if it weren't for my amazing parents and sister... they helped us by taking care of Hiwa & Taylor. But we can't express how much we appreciate your love & support, as you had to make those hard decisions in our absence - take our baby to emergency late at night - clean up after her as she was "sick" all over the place, sacrifice your time off to stay home and take care of her, as she couldn't take care of herself... the list goes on and on... we just don't have the words to let you know how much we appreciate your love - it's always so unconditional and full of patience and self sacrifice. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We knew our babies were in good hands.

Special love goes out again to the Mock `Ohana - Aurora, Campton & Chase, Mike, Lindsay, Justin (and Wendi for letting him meet up with us!), Helery & John, Victoria & Makena, and Jen!! We can't wait to create more moments with you all :) Lots of love & light - until our paths cross again!! ALOHA!