starting with week six...

Saturday, July 13, after the meeting of mountainboarders, I went for a bike ride with a couple of the same people.  I joined Kody, Dan, and one of Dan's friends to ride out to the SF Marina where we watched the first head to head race of the Louis Vuitton Cup - the precursor to the America's Cup.  It turns out this was the first time the new AC72 boats in use this year had raced head to head.  It's a bit of a long story, if you want to know more, just Google "AC72" and "Louis Vuitton Cup controversy."  This turned out to be far cooler than I expected - watching those boats fly across the water was just short of unbelievable.  After the race was over, we rode to Real Food Company to get sandwiches for lunch.

emirates team new zealand hydrofoiling around 48 mph (wind speeds under 20 mph)

emirates team new zealand and the italian boat luna rossa

me, kody, dan, and yenke enjoying lunch in allyne park

I walked home most days that week, then headed to the south bay for the weekend.  I hung out with Steph at Quickly for boba and snacks on Friday night, then Saturday morning got together with Polly and Alice.  I hadn't seen Polly since her Cal Optometry School graduation, and Alice hadn't seen her for an even longer time. That night my father and I cooked a big pot of duck green curry.  YUM!

polly, alice, and me

Tuesday, July 23, I got together with my second cousins Shannon and Elena and Shannon's boyfriend Paul.  We walked to Belden Place, not far from where I was working, and ate at Belden Taverna.  We took advantage of their happy hour specials and had $1 oysters, sliders, truffle fries, mac and cheese, and some croquettes.  We finished off the evening with gelato in Westfield San Francisco Centre.

me, shannon, paul, and elena

The next night I met my friend Esther after work.  Esther went to Cal for Architecture but I know her from church in Oakland.  We saw each other briefly in my most recent LA weekend, but this time we got to hang out longer.  We headed out to Crissy Field and walked her dogs down to the Wave Organ.  Once we got back to the car, we headed to Joe DiMaggio Playground to experience Off the Grid - a food truck fiesta.  The Wednesday night setup included seven trucks.  We sampled some korean tacos and some sweet potato tater tots from a Vietnamese truck.  Dessert was later - we went to Mitchell's Ice Cream where you take a number and wait in the crowd till they call you.  You can sample lots of flavors, the employees are really patient.  I ended up getting Ube flavored ice cream.  Ube is Phillipine yam, also known as taro.  It was delicious.

esther and me at off the grid: view from the wave organ
mushu veggie and tai chi tofu tacos: mitchell's ube ice cream

On Friday July 26th, my father took Caltrain up to the city and we watched the Giants play the Cubs.  I had never been to AT&T park before, so it was interesting to look around and check it out.  We ate and actually enjoyed ballpark food for dinner, sharing a hot crab sandwich and some fish and chips.   We had a lot of fun even though it was sad to watch the Giants give up the game on an error in the top of the 9th.

before we entered the stadium: nice view of matt cain pitching

even the nosebleed seats have a good view!

After the game I took Caltrain back to Cupertino with my father.  Saturday, I attended my younger Goddaughter's first birthday party.  I then drove my car up to Walnut Creek and parked at Libby's house.  She gave me a ride to BART so I could get back to the city.  That Sunday was "Sunday Streets" in San Francisco, where a long section of Valencia and 24th Streets were closed off to cars, in addition to a bunch of side streets.  Trudy and I cycled down to the street closures and along it to the far end.  We stopped for milkshakes at St. Francis Fountain and Diner.

looking down 24th

big display of low riders on a side street

trudy behind my left ear riding back home

Monday, July 29, I got to observe surgery with Dr. Paul Roache, an orthopedist who is regionally known as a shoulder specialist.  He performed arthroscopic surgeries on two knees in the morning, one an involved meniscus trim and cyst removal and the other an ACL reconstruction.  The afternoon schedule consisted of two shoulders, a sub-acromial decompression and an AC joint resection.  Nice continuity - I got to treat the first patient of the morning (meniscus and cyst removal) for Physical Therapy from that Friday until the day I left.

hanging out in the OR waiting for the next surgery to begin

The next evening after work, I rode BART out to Glen Park Station and got together with Carol, a friend from high school who was a year ahead of me - I hadn't seen her since she graduated!  We went out to Baker Beach and enjoyed the view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the ocean side of it before heading into Japantown for dinner.

"sand ladder" from the road to the beach

beauty despite the overcast

after dinner in japantown

My schedule was so busy during my last couple of weeks that I'm sure it will more than fill the next post so I'll stop now.