Lost in Central Coast & Northern California

Thanks to my dear friend in Monterey for hosting a jewelry party at her house, we could spend another precious moment in Central & Northern California. We had a lot of rains during the stay but were lucky enough once again to experience a fun walk in downtown San Francisco & gorgeous beach view in Carmel. Despite the previous not so good experience, walking around union square was quite fun this time. Uniqlo, one of my favorite shops I go to whenever I'm in Japan, opened in SF now. Selection is still small but I liked to see the familiar shop open in the new location.

A fun part about walking the city is to stumble into cute shops and street performances or to pass by unique looking people. All the street musicians like a violinist and drummers were playing so good. 4-5 miles of walk, my throat and feet were more than ready for a coffee shop. We decided to take a break at this wine & coffee bar called Rouge et Blanc. It was very cozy with nice sofa and lounge music.

It was so dark already around five o'clock.
The huge christmas tree on union square wasn't ready for illumination yet at the time.

Second time dining at Straits in Santana Row. I had shrimp pat thai & tiger beer.
It's a cool restaurant, my only wish would be switching pop music to other kinds...

Last day of the trip. Here I am at Monterey Peninsula College (aka MPC).
They added some buildings but nothing seemed to have ever changed.
Everything is so calm and peaceful.

And this lovely library. Makes me want to go back to be a student.... a little bit.

Maybe I'm taking the same pictures over and over again whenever I come to this beach but...
I can never get over how beautiful it is. Who wouldn't dream about having a house here?
The air was awfully freezing but the weather was perfect.

Shops are getting decorated for a holiday season.
Hard to believe 2012 is almost over.

Vacation Moment

Cocola Bakery @ Santana Row, San Jose

One Summer Day in Sausalito

 

I used to feel more comfortable with planning things in advance but lately spontaneous traveling is becoming my style. When I spend too much time researching and planning, which I found I'm not that good at, my expectation level goes up and it becomes a pressure rather than truly enjoying the trip. So, here we are in San Francisco, not knowing where to go, driving around the city. The car navigation allows the people like us, who are awful at directions, to enjoy such exciting adventure without any troubles like getting lost or ruining the rest of the day arguing over who's fault it was to take that turn, etc.

以前は前もっていろんなことを計画しておく安心感に慣れていたのですが、最近は突発的というか自然のなりゆきに任せた旅のスタイルになってきています。どうやらあまり得意ではないらしいリサーチやプランに時間を費やしすぎると、それだけ期待感が高まり、旅をシンプルに楽しむというよりは、プレッシャーとなってしまうようなのです。というわけで、サンフランシスコにて、目的地も定めず、町を車でぶらぶら。カーナビというもののおかげで、私たちのような方向音痴人間でも、迷子になったりそこの角を曲がれと言ったのはどっちだったかで言い合いになり残りの一日を台無しにするなどというトラブルもなく、わくわく冒険気分が楽しめちゃうのです。

It was such a beautiful day. We couldn't help heading towards the ocean.....

素晴らしい晴天の日でした。やはり海の方に向かわずにはいられず・・・・

....to end up passing Golden Gate Bridge.

ゴールデンゲートブリッジを渡ることに。

The town on the other side of the bridge is called Sausalito. This was our second visit to this cute small town. We parked our car in the quiet alley way and took a walk to the downtown. I took a lot of pictures while walking.

橋の向こう側の町はソーサリトという町です。 このかわいらしい小さな町に訪れるのは二度目。車を静かな路地に駐めて、ダウンタウンの方へてくてく歩いていきました。たくさん写真を撮りながら。

Time flew. We realized that we have to start heading back before traffic gets bad. We walked back the way we came from. 

時間はあっという間に過ぎていき、渋滞に巻き込まれる前に帰らなければ、ということに。来た道をてくてく戻ることにしました。

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Right off the bridge, we missed the entrance to the freeway and had to take a huge detour again in the city, going up and down on the steepest hill on earth....! Stopping in the middle of this crazy uphill to press on the accelerator is pretty scary..... That's how we did one last sightseeing before we get back on the freeway.

橋 を渡ってすぐに、フリーウェイのエントランスを見逃してしまい、またまたサンフランシスコの町にて、ありえないほどの急な坂道を上ったり下りたりしながら 回り道を喰らう羽目になってしまいました。この坂の途中で停車して発車するのがかなり怖いのです。こうして、フリーウェイに乗る前にもう一度だけ最後の観光をしたのでした。

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Thanksgiving Holiday

We had a cozy dinner at home, indulging wine and homemade roasted turkey with persian rice at Thanksgiving night. Then we decided to take an impulsive one day trip to Northern California next morning.

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サンクスギビングの夜は、ワインと自家製ローストターキー（とペルシャ風ライス）をのんびり家で楽しみ、次の日の朝、北の方へ繰り出すという一泊旅行を突然決定。

After hotel check-in and a bit of night-out, we took a good night rest to prepare for breakfast buffet next morning....which was so awesome!!! Yum yum yum :)

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チェックインを済ませてちょっぴり夜の町に繰り出した後、次の日の朝のビュッフェに備えてしっかり休養することに。ビュッフェはというと、美味しかった〜!! ^^)

Next morning after buffet, we headed out to Downtown SF. We got really tired from the chaos in the big city and decided to stop by Monterey to chill. Good old Monterey. Although it was a night time and we only had a few hours to spend, it turned out to be an awesome visit as usual. We shall be back soon!!

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朝。ビュッフェ堪能後、ダウンタウンサンフランシスコへ。大都会の喧騒に疲れ果て、モントレーに寄ってのんびりすることに。懐かしのモントレー。夜だったし、ほんの数時間しか過ごせなかったものの、いつも通り、ステキなひとときとなりました。また来るからね〜！！

................................... Lessons learned from this trip ...........................

1:  I have to remember to bring my tiny camera next time so I can take more casual shots without scaring people....

2:  No more Union Square especially during holiday weekend!!! Nothing is more exhausting than walking around with no purpose in such huge crowds.

3:  No more midnight long distance driving...... I've never experienced such dense fog and strong wind (with mini tornado!) on freeway......

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::　今回の旅行から得た教訓　::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

1、気軽なスナップ用に次回は小さいデジカメも持参しなければ。

2、ユニオンスクエアはしばらく行かない。連休中はもってのほか！！あんなとんでもない人混みの中を目的もなく歩くことほど疲れることってない、と。

3、夜中の長距離運転はしないこと。フリーウェイでのあんな深い霧と強風（ミニ竜巻）は初めて、、、。