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8000 mins of workout in 2024!

22 of us are doing a 8K mins of workout challenge in 2024. Wish us luck!

1) 1/6/24:

2) 1/13/24

3) 1/20/23

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52 hikes in 2023!

A bunch of friends/colleagues from the LinkedIn Data org got together and started hiking in 2021. The group has since expanded to include friends and family who join us when they can! 

Its become a weekly ritual now and we have signed-up to do 52 hikes in 2023! 

This blog post is to hold us accountable to our goal! 

Rules: 

1) Hike needs to be 4 miles or more

2) If any of us can’t make a specific week, we will catch-up on a hike at our own time during the week to makeup for it

Wish us luck!

1) 1/1/2023: Dish: 5.9 miles, 31 floors

2) 1/7/2023: Rancho: 7 miles, 32 floors

3) 1/15/2023: Vasona park Los Gatos creek trail (5.4 miles), PGE, Dish (4 miles)

4) 1/21/2023: Windy Hills (5.3 miles, 64 floors), Rancho San Antonio

5) 1/28/2023: Mission Peak (7.3 miles, 2145 ft), Los Gatos downtown trail

6) 2/4/2023: Rancho , Dish (5.9 miles), Mission Peak

7) 2/11/23: Rancho (6.3 miles, 659 ft Elevation)

8) 2/18/23: Heinz Open Preserve, Los Gatos (4 miles, 1000 ft elevation), Rancho (4 miles), Jonas trail (4 miles),Edgewood preserve (4 miles)

9) 2/225/23: Mission Peak, Jones Trail (4 miles, 30 floors)

10) 3/4/23: Coyote Creek (4 miles, 418 ft), Rancho (6.13 miles, 683 ft)

11) 3/11/23: Dish (4 miles), Los Gatos Reservoir Hike (5 miles)

12) 3/18/23: Dish (4 miles), Stevens Creek County Park (5 miles- 765 ft)

13) 3/25/23: Almaden QuickSilver (4.95 miles, 787 ft), Rancho

14) 4/1/23: Almaden quicksilver (4 miles/ 600ft), Heintz open space (5 miles), Rancho San Antonio (4.7 miles/28 floors), Rhus Ridge Trailhead (3 miles, 27 floors) , Arastradero (4.74miles/535 ft), Vivek 8+ mile hikes: Hamms Gulch, Los Trancos, PG&E

15 and 16) 4/8/23 and 4/15/23: Yosemite - Wapama falls hike - Hetch hetchy(5 miles- 1400 ft), Los Gatos (4.75 miles), Rancho (5 miles), Rhus Ridge (5 miles), Rancho (5 miles), Los Gatos blooms (4 miles), Vivek 8+ mile hikes: Stevens Creek Resovoir, Coyote Upper High Meadow

17) 4/22/23: Rancho (4.25 miles), Pichetti(5 miles), Los Gatos Homes Trail (5 miles), Dish (4.25miles), Coyote Creek, PGE (5.4 miles)

18) 4/29/23: Rancho (5.2 miles, 971 ft), Los Gatos Downtown Trail (5.7 miles, 970 ft)

19) 5/6/23: Los Gatos , pichetti, mission peak and ave of giants marathon

20) 5/12/23: Rancho, wine marathon, vasona 

21) Rancho (6 miles)

22) 5/27/23: Vasona (5 miles), Little Yosemite(4 miles), Los gatos (4 miles), Rancho (5 miles)23) 6/3/23:24) 6/10/23:

23) 6/3/23: PGE(8.4 miles), Los Gatos (4 miles), Quary Park, Coyote Creek (4 miles)

24) 6/10/23: Arastradero, Vasona Park, Pichetti, Dish

25) 6/17/23: Rancho (4.5 miles), Almaden quick silver (5 miles)

26) 6/24/23: Windy Hills (6.24 miles, 48 floors), Rhus Ridge (4 miles)

27) 7/2/23: Tirupathi, Los Gatos (790 ft), Rancho (4 miles)

28) 7/9/23: Dish (4.2 miles, 612 ft)

29) 7/15/23: Los Gatos Downtown (5.2 miles 929 ft), Fremont Older (4.5 mile , ~700ft hike)

30) 7/22/23: Dish, Rancho

31) 7/29/23: Pichetti

32) 8/5/23: Rancho, Vasona, Finland

33) 8/12/23: Pichetti, Rancho, Sanborn

34) 8/19/23: Windy Hills, Lassen, Vasona Park (6.5 miles)

35) 8/26/23: Fremont Older (4.5 miles, 914ft), Rancho (6.94 Miles, 1031 Ft ), Almaden lake trail (4.25 miles)

36) 9/2/2023: Stevens Creek, Almaden Quiksilver, Cayote Creek, Dish, Rhus Ridge (2), Rancho

37) 9/9/2023: Sevathon 10K, IronMan, Los Gatos Downtown

38) 9/16/2023: Rhus Ridge (2), bay trial, Rancho, Dish

39) 9/23/2023: Dish, Rancho (2), Windy Hills, 

40) 9/23/2023: Rancho, Vasona Park, PG&E, Rhus Ridge, Bay Trail

41) 10/7/2023: Rancho (2), Windy Hills, Windsor Castle

42) 10/14/2023: Steven’s Creek, Rancho

43) 10/21/23: Rancho (3), Dish

44) 10/28/23: Rancho (2), Rhus Ridge (2),  Lexington reservoir loop (4 miles 500ft)

45) 11/4/23: PGE (Tower 8), Mission Peak, Bay Trail, Fremont Older

46) 11/11/23: Castle Rock, Rancho, Rhus Ridge

47) 11/18/23: Vasona Park 

48) 11/25/23: Dish, Rancho 

49) 12/2/23: Rancho, Rhus Ridge (2)

50) 12/9/23: Rancho(2), Rhus Ridge 

51) Los Gatos heintz open space, Rhus Ridge, Deer Hollow, Run in Sarjapur

52) Rhus Ridge(2) , Sarjapur

53) Rhus Ridge, Rancho, PGE

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Rest in Peace Mom!

Mom, Momsie, Mummy, Nani, Dadi, Rashmi, Rasmi, Yashmi, Rashmi Didi, Roshmi , Rasudi: everyone fondly called you by whatever name they thought suited you best!

Cancer took your body away, but not your spirit- it was incredible to see you this strong though the last year fighting the disease so gracefully, not complaining about “why me” and dealing with the cards you were dealt. You would shout at us if we would break down. We lived with you all these years- how could we have not known you were this strong emotionally and physically?

I still recall earlier this year it was ~2 weeks post one of your ridiculously crazy chemos that would completely wear you down physically and you knew you were going to go into the next chemo cycle next day morning and deal with it all over again- you were on a FaceTime call with me, watching an old Hindi movie song on tv, cutting and eating your post dinner fruit and humming along with your favorite Joy Mukherjee, as if nothing had happened - You truly lived in the moment!

The last 2 months have been extremely challenging for everyone especially papa and Arpi who took care of you everyday since this was detected last year. But our woes don’t compare to yours- even with the unbearable pain , being completely bed-ridden in the last few days (for someone who used to walk faster than you and I could jog, that was a huge huge setback), and being heavily sedated with morphine, you would still co-operate so well. I am extremely grateful that I came down , we got to spend a month together and talk heart-to-heart with you. That’s when I changed my prayer from “please cure her” to “please let her go peacefully” and I am so glad that you did just that!

Like you told us, you have lived a very happy and satisfactory life, you have 3 kids who are extremely lucky to have found really caring and understanding spouses, you have 5 “extremely naughty” grandkids and a very very caring and loving husband who did whatever he could possibly do to keep you comfortable through this period.

As I write this message with tears in my eyes on the day we say our final goodbyes, please know that the world will always remember you as an extremely kind, ever smiling, cheerful, super enthusiastic, always ready to skip an afternoon nap to go watch a movie or go shopping and ever ready to have fun person.

Rest In Peace mom- Rashmi Kamdar!

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Bay Area: Indian food

Here are some of my favorites...This just covers Indian places in South Bay/Fremont area. For other cuisines around SF, click here.

 South Indian:

Komala Vilas beats any place when it comes to idlis...HANDS DOWN! Softest idlis I've had since Calcutta's Jyoti Vihar days. They serve thalis after 11:30am. Go there on Wed/Thu if you are a Kolumbh fan. Oh and if you like spicy potato chips, you gotta try them here! It's not easy to impress me when it comes to chai and idlis...KV has it nailed with idlis. As for chai, I have to go with mine for now.   

Madras Cafe: Most things here are nice but the one thing you get here that you don't get anywhere else is Kuttu Paratha. I didn't know what that meant either...you have to try it though. I can have this once/week without creating a fuss. Dosas here are good too

Saravanaa Bhavan: Everything is good here- sambhar here reminds me of Bombay

Amma's Restaurant: We really liked the food. Although we had just hiked Mission peak so we would have liked most food at this point!

The Dosa Republic: Similar to Dosa in the city- fancy Dosa joint

Kamakshi's Kitchen: Have heard great things @ this place. Need to try it out

Tirupati Bhimas: Kara dosa and Spicy Andhra thali rocks (also their thali and gobi manchurian is nice)

Dosa Place in Santa Clara and Fremont: Good dosas

Dasaprakash: We used to swear by this place when we frequented the bay area. Spicy food but sometimes can be unreliable. Dosas, tomato chutney, Sambhar, masala chaas are the highlights

Madurai Idli Kadai: Decent tiffin style place - better taking a to-go from here than sit and eat.

AppaKadai: Chettinad meets Keralite food

Chennai Kings: Haven’t been here but heard they have good kolumbh

  Upscale North Indian restaurants:

Amber Dhara: Excellent drinks and appetizers!

Sakoon: If there's 1 place you have to visit while you are in town, it's this one (ok maybe Komala followed by this). Each dish and drink is unique and worth trying. 

Shivas: Located right opposite Sakoon. Baingan Bharta is awesome!

Amber, Santana Row and Mountain View: Nice interiors, good food

Mantra: Vinod Dham of Pentium fame recommended this place to us when we accidentally ran into him at a shopping mall once.

Saffron: Awesome veggie variety in their weekend buffet. They do charge 18% gratuity for parties of 6 or more even for a buffet.

  Other not-so-fancy North Indian options:

Park Balluchi: Decent buffet. Better a-la-carte imo

Passage to India: Bakery buffet is nicer than the restaurant

Rajjot: Excellent for take-outs and sweets

Turmeric: Good buffets. Awesome cholay

Chaat House/Lovely: Home made Punjabi thalis

Shan/Shalimar (Sunnyvale and Santa Clara): Tasty Paskistani food (Baingan Bhartha , Daal Makhani are my favs)

Madhuban: Friday buffets are good

Bombay Garden: Lots of variety in their buffet

  Chaats/Kati Rolls et all:

New India Bazaar in Fremont/ Chatpatta corner: If u can handle spice, their pani puris comes close to Bombay roadside wale ka teekhapan. Also their Mix Chaat and Tikki Choley is pretty good

Go Chaatzz: Chaat place in Fremont- presentation is very much like Creme Center or Bombay Blues. Taste wise its good- definitely better Pav Bhaji outside of my home in US. You could avoid the chaats though at this place. Heard their vada paav and Indo-Chinese is really good

Amber Cafe: Paneer Achari roll, samosa choley and jaljira are awesome!

Milan Sweets: Ever had Pasta with ketchup and samosas all on a sizzler plate? Try their samosa sizzler!

Chaats and Currys: Same menu as IChaat Cafe. Anything Paneer here is good

Curry-up-now: Great food, good decor- Sit down restaurant is in Palo Alto and San Mateo but their truck is all over the city. gets repetitive after a while though- same gravy in all dishes

Hot Breads: Best dabeli I have had in the US (After my bhabhi's of course)

India Chaat Cuisine: Good vada paav, indo-chinese and veggie/rotis

Tandoori Oven: Decent kati rolls and salad

IChaat Cafe: Their veggie roll/paneer rolls, aloo tikki and black daal are awesome. Not super fond of other stuff so order at your own risk

Chaat Bhuvan: Excellent in Fremont. Santa Clara one is meh..Menu is a replica of Chaat Paradise. 

Chaat Paradise: One of the first chaat places that opened in the bay area. Quality has gone down over years though. Their Hara Bhara bhel, papdi chaat, parathas and chaas are still good

Bengali Sweets: ok for a one-off visit

Indian Pizza:

Pizza and Curry: Mango habanero pizza rocks!

Pizza Pub: Good Kachori and Pav Bhaji pizzas

Tasty Subs: Love their filmy pizzas! 

Gujarati:

Deedees: Go for their Gujarati or Kathiawadi weekend buffets. Make sure to go on an empty stomach...best shrikhand in town! Their pani puris rock too...Don't tell me I didn't warn you!

Taste of Surti: Awesome chaas amongst other things. Very home made like

Bhavika's chatpat: Home made gujju thalis

Rajwadi Thali: DOnt get fooled by the name. Owner is a gujju and food is all gujju too. Spicy food- bit pricey.

Thali: Good food, bit pricey, super congested

  Indo-Chinese:

Inchin’s: We loved this since the Redmond days!

Red Hot Chilli Pepper: Great ambience, good food. Excellent starters

Appakadai (Sunnyvale): Surprisingly good IndoChinese food

India Chaat Cuisine: Surprisingly decent Gobi Manchurian and American Chopsuey

Tirupati Bhimas: Surprisingly decent Gobi Manchurian and Idli Manchurian

Go Chaatzz: Fremont place with good Indo-Chinese food

  Bakery/Eggless cakes:

Hot Breads

Passage to India

Rangoli

  Paan: If you like to end your meal with a Calcutta meetha, you're in luck!

Rangoli

Deedees

Chaat House

Shaan

Shalimar

Kwality

  Indian Ice cream:

Real ice cream: Try their Gulkhand ice cream..slurp!

Nirvanaah: Yummy Butterscotch ice cream...both in Fremont and Santa Clara

  Places to avoid: Interesting all of these have sine closed :)

Balaji Bhavan

Temptations

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Costa Rica: Nov 2010

Costa Rica is a beautiful place- rainforests, wildlife, adventures- you name it! We had our Greencards so didnt need to get a visa. Our friend though who went to CR recently was denied entry into the country with an expired GC + letter of extension.

Day1: Landed in San Jose, Costa Rica and rented a miniSUV- they call it that though by US standards its a 2-seater Jeep. Great decision to drive around the country! It was pouring when we landed. We drove through curvy mountain roads with fog , rain, lightning and thunder - it was beautiful!  Getting a GPS was a must- it told us every time we would hit a speed bump, a bridge and served well through the weather and conditions we drove through.Reached Arenal town. It was nice to see people after the 3 hour drive! Checked into Hotel El Silencio Del Campo- nice small resort- great hotel room!

Day 2:

Had breakfast at the restaurant in our hotel- it was super tasty. Also got some great shots of colorful local birds from our breakfast table. Walked up to the front desk and finalized our itinerary for the Arenal stay. We went to the suspended bridges. It was 22$ for it- an overkill though the walk in the rainforest in between the bridges was beautiful! Got back to Arenal, withdrew some local currency from Banco De Costa Rica. Had some pastries and coffee at a local place, brought some souvenirs, got a peak at the volcanic mountain (though didn't see the lava flow out as we had hoped), chilled in the hot springs in our resort and called it a day.

Day 3:

The sun came out finally- it was perfect because we were setting out for the most exciting adventure of our lifetime! (well maybe 2nd most exciting after diving). Its called canyoning- think of it as zip lining and rappelling down waterfalls all at the same time! Jumping in a pool of water was fun! Highly recommend this for anyone who has a streak of adventure in them.  That evening we had an awesome massage at our hotel- I got a chocolate one and Vivi got a peach one! Super relaxing after the tiring day.

Day 4: 

We set out for Monte Verde this day. It was just 30km away though our GPS said it would take us 1.5 hours. Didn't make any sense until we were 5km into it! The road to Monte Verde would put roads in India at shame. Extremely bumpy, lots of potholes all through curvy slopes! Fun ride though if i wasn't driving, am sure I'd be annoyed. There's no way we could've made it there without a 4-wheel drive. We hadn't booked a hotel but had recommendations from trip advisor so hopped around till we found a place to crash. It was called Monte Verde Villa Lodge- small place run by a couple and their 2 year old son. There wasn't a lot to do in Monte Verde- it was raining that day and the rainforest views were all blocked by clouds. Hung out in MV's downtown area- 1 lane with a few restaurants, souvenir shops and cafes. We went to this coffee shop called Treehouse where I ordered a coffee w/baileys + chocolate. Yumm!

Day 5:

Woke up early to go on a guided tour of the rainforest. It was extremely beautiful but the guide stopped at every corner. In retrospect we should've done the walk through the rainforest on our own given our patience with guided tours! We were planning on staying in MV 1 more night but decided to head out to Manuel Antonio a day before we had planned. The sun peaked out on our drive out of Monte Verde and we finally got a really good view of the green mountains!

The drive to Manuel Antonio was beautiful- ocean on 1 side , hills on the other and great music in the car! Driving a stick shift was so much fun. Our resort reservation in Manuel Antonio was supposed to start next day and they didn't have extra rooms for that night. So we camped at a crappy but cheap hotel called Coco Hotel. We shared the room with ants that night! Manuel Antonio is pretty quiet after dark- most people relax in their resorts and given that we had to either spend the evening with ants, we drove to a neighboring town Quepos for dinner. 

Day 6:

Quickly checked-out from Coco and drove to Dominica that morning. Drive was awesome though the beach at Dominica was not any more impressive than the one at Manuel Antonio. Vivi drove into a guy's surfboard at the beach here- we got out of there as soon as we could! Checked into Hotel Verde Mar in Manuel Antonio and hung out by the poolside and ocean front all afternoon and evening. I borrowed a book from the front desk and read on the beach pretty much all day!

Day 7:

We did the guided tour to Manuel Antonio park. The beach was really nice and the best part of the guide was you didn't need to stick around the guide at all times! We hiked up to the Cathedral and got some excellent views of the ocean from up there! Vivi wore crocs for this hike thinking it would be a walk- bad idea! Saw iguanas, monkeys, sloths, raccoons on the beach. We had coconut water on the beach. Had lunch at Balu's - it was a nice shack by the beach with really tasty vegetarian food. Rented beach chairs and chilled by the ocean all afternoon- read my book, drank some cocktails, read some more, drank some more- you get the drift. We had dinner that evening in this super upscale restaurant called La Luna- someone came in a golf cart to receive us from the place we parked our car! 

Day 8:

I was close to finishing the book I had borrowed though not finished reading it and it was time to check-out. I requested the guy at the front desk to let me keep the book and in exchange I gave him a book I had for his library. He happily said yes :) 

We had breakfast that morning at Cafe Milango- good food with music from the 80s. The trip was coming to an end with no issues until we got pulled over by the local police for speeding. They didn't talk in English and we couldn't communicate in Spanish. Through actions he told us our options were to either give our passports to him and go to the local police station or pay him 100$. Reminded me of India although there I would yell at the guy and not bribe him! We were pretty concerned @ him driving off to the local police station with our passports, us following him and not knowing how long it would take us to get our passports back. Doing this in a country where we couldn't speak the local language was scary and clearly he used that to his advantage- we paid him the 100$, he gave us our passports back and drove off. I felt really bad about it for the rest of the day as we approached our hotel in San Jose. We couldn't have done anything different but bribing corrupted policemen was not something I had imagined I'd do in my life.

We checked into Hotel Luisiana in San Jose- one of the best rooms we've stayed in till date! Went to a local mall (Santa Ana mall) and had lunch at Taco Bell :)

Day 9: We flew back from San Jose, Costa Rica to San Jose, CA that day :)  Overall a great trip though if you are driving around, avoid speeding- especially as you get closer to San Jose.

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Ireland: Apr 2010

Mar 2010: I was waiting for Vivi to make an Ireland trip in a non-winter month. He heard from his manager that he might have to go to Dublin in April 2010...we decided both of us can take a week off and see the country before that. So we got our visas and booked our flight tickets. This was in March 2010. As we got closer to the D-day I started panicking in my usual style: "Vivi we haven't booked any hotels. We don't know where we are gonna stay..we don't know what we are gonna do once we get there!". Vivi replied in his usual chilled out mode..."arre we'll play it by ear. I'll book a car and we can drive around and figure out the itinerary as we go." With some more encouragement from friends (Niru and Swami), I decided to go with the flow and not make any hotel reservations or decide on a fixed itinerary...am glad we did that. It was one of the best decisions for this trip. Trip Logistics: Cost for 5 days/person: ~1470

SFO-Dublin-SFO: 718$

Rental car w/gas: 250$

Lodging: Bed & Breakfast all over Ireland: 250$

Food: 250$ Expensive!

Apr 7th: We get to SFO airport just to find out that there are thunderstorms in Chicago and our flight is delayed! Great so I am already anxious about flying and now wait 1 more hour. Vivi started plotting our itinerary and we decided on the towns we would like to visit. Both the flights had a mechanical fault each(Imagine how freaked out I am by this time..thunderstorms in Chicago, pressure light doesn't work on flight 1 and fuel pipe was showing we didn't have enough gas to make it across the ocean on flight 2! And they find this out just before we take off...seriously??) Apr 8th: Half a day later we finally get to Dublin. We rent a stick shift car and realized that there's too many things to adjust to...a manual car and driving on the opposite side of the road. We shelled out 50 euros and some of our ego and switched to an automatic car. We had 1 road map with us but that was not very detailed. For our entire drive around the country, we relied on Google Maps on the phone for our directions. Vivi yelped up for food and before we knew it, we were having an awesome veggie meal at Govindas in Dublin downtown. We decided to drive along the coast and get to Galway on the west coast of Ireland in the next 2-3 days. It took us some time getting out of Dublin. Google maps tried its best to re-route us but all those roundabouts and random change in direction on the roads confused the heck out of us. At one point Vivi drove up to a road where only pedestrians were allowed :) One of the local guy asked him to roll down his window and told him: "Wrong road...police see you arrest you!". Another local guy figured we were terribly lost so he asked us where we wanted to go and he tried his best to explain to us how to get out of the city. Somehow we managed to get out of the mess and our 1st stop was at Killiney Hill . It has a beautiful vista point to see all of Dublin from a hilltop. We started chatting with a local couple and the lady suggested we stay in a B&B in Bray (she was from Bray and liked the town a lot). We also encountered our first Irish hospitality here. We needed to use the restroom so we asked an old lady if she knew of any around. She said there weren't any so we decided to head out and find one along the way. As we started to leave, she came running towards our car and knocked on my window..."there is a toilet in the Killiney castle down the road. You can use that if you want." We thanked her and felt a little embarrassed to use a toilet in a castle so decided to drive to Bray and find something there. We drove past the town of Dalkey and got to the Bray promenade to find a row full of B&Bs along the Irish seafront. We picked one at random and parked our bags in the tiny room and went dining. I tried the green and sweet Grasshopper drink here for the first time. Vivi couldn't sleep very well that night coz the Irish people were parting like crazy till 3am right below our room :) Apr 9th: Our day started early. We drove to Wicklow and luckily lost our way inside the town and happened to chance upon a nice little cafe that was open at 8am (The day starts pretty late for Irish people...the roads are quiet & deserted till 10am on most days...so finding some place open that could quench my caffeine urge at 8am was a relief) The lady serving us at the breakfast place was super sweet. She went out of her way to tell us about this lovely vista point where she would take her dog on a walk every evening.We tipped her 5 Euros for her service and hospitality but she refused to take it from us. She said that's how much we should be tipping for dinner and not breakfast :) We followed her directions and got to that place and it had spectacular view of the Irish sea. In the olden days the Irish army would watch out for the English fleet trying to attack Ireland from this point.

Also we took her advice and drove upto Glendalough next. Its a small cemetery maintained from a few centuries ago. I picked up my first set of post cards from here.

Later that afternoon we drove to Lismore Castle. Its a nice castle although you are not allowed to go inside. Here's a little something about driving around in Ireland...people there don't like to brake much. Most of the national highways (all except the big freeways) are pretty narrow and have 1 lane on each side. The big trucks are driving towards you in full speed but they are confident they wont hit you. The first 2 days, I prayed every time we crossed a truck! Also the whole concept of roundabouts takes some getting used to. A few times I just drove around the roundabouts because I didn't know which exit I needed to take and which lane I needed to be in :) Overall driving there was great fun and pretty challenging...kept me awake all the time! We got to Kinsale around 6ish. Its a tiny little town, very colorful and has 5X5 lanes of restaurants, pubs and small shops.

Also the B&B (Pier House) in Kinsale was the best in our 5 days in Ireland. We slept off at 9 thinking the town comes alive at 11:30-12 so we will be fresh for the party scene..knowing vivi and me, we woke up directly next morning :) Apr 10th: We decided to skip Blarney castle (famous for its stone) and Dingle Peninsula (famous for fish) and drove to Killarney. The drive is really pretty along this part of the Ring Of Kerry. We didn't do the whole drive around the ring but the little that we did, we liked it a lot. Don't miss out on the Torc falls along the way. We had lunch at this really nice Mediterranean place called Treyvauds. The owner there was super impressed with Vivi's Ipad and told us that he is waiting for it to be launched in Europe so he could get one for himself. We followed Google maps all along and suddenly at one point the road ended and Google maps said : Now board the ferry and cross the bay :) Funny and tragic as it was, that's the only option we had so we boarded the ferry. After disembarking the ferry, we drove up further North and eventually reached the famous Cliffs of Moher. If there's one thing you absolutely have to see in Ireland, its this place. The cliffs reminded us a lot of the Napali coast in Kauai except these cliffs were green and we were on the cliffs as opposed to on a helicopter or a catamaran. From here we got to Galway and the plan was to find a B&B close to the city center so we could walk to pubs and party till late. We asked in several different hotels and B&Bs around there but everythng was completely booked out. Good for us, we found a room in a B&B around 1km from the city center which had started filling up as well but we managed to get one of their last empty rooms. Dinner was at a Bangladeshi restaurant called Tulsi. The food was nice but super expensive. Post-dinner we decided to try out a Guinness (had to coz we were in Ireland) in a local bar...I hated it, vivi tolerated it but we finished it somehow. The party scene in Galway lived up to our expectation. Traffic is completely blocked out on a cross-section of 4-5 streets and the place is filled with young college crowd! One random young guy walking ahead of us was pretty much flirting with every girl on the street. I had heard that the culture in Europe was very different and here we were experiencing it. Pretty much everyone smoked around us and the fact that people could carry open alcohol bottles in this area made a big difference. Unlike US, the club scene in Ireland has guys hanging out in groups of 4-5 and girls hanging out separately in a similar group. I hardly saw any couples walking around. While waiting in the queue to enter one of the clubs we started chatting with the girls and guys in front of us (one of them was the same guy who was flirting earlier)...they were super drunk and super frank. They told us that club was mainly a hangout place for teenagers and we 21 year olds should go hang out at a different club :) Either they were being nice or we really looked young...either way I was happy we didn't go in there :) We hopped around a couple of bars and clubs and finally decided to call it a night . Apr 11th: We drove to Kylemore Abbey next morning...the drive was beautiful and the Abbey even more! It was a house built by a father for his son and now over years after being passed through several different owners, its now converted to an Abbey. We saw a few nuns...am sure it would be very peaceful to live in this magnificent castle.

From here we started our drive back to Dublin across the country. It turned out to be a short 3 hour drive (compared to all other days, this felt really short). I thoroughly enjoyed this drive. All through the 4 days of driving so far, I had not seen a single Garda (cop) hiding behind a bush or holding a radar gun to check your speed limit. I guess they don't care: if you want to drive fast, go for it. But drivers there are very disciplined and people wanting to stick to the speed limit usually drive only on the left lane which is the slower of the 2 lanes. When you overtake someone you move to the right lane but move right back to the left lane once you are done overtaking. That way people who want to go at a consistent fast speed in the right lane can do so without being slowed down. We checked into our hotel in Dublin (a hotel after all these ays of B&B felt kinda weird). After chilling in the hotel for sometime, we headed to the famous Temple Bar area.

Its a nice little area with lots of restaurants and pubs....kinda similar to Galway's city center but somehow we liked Galway more. Apr 12th: We woke up at an insanely late hour...relaxed and had a late lunch at this nice but super expensive veggie place called Cornucopia. No I am not stingy (although vivi disagrees) but in general spending in Euros felt pretty expensive. We tipped the cab guy and as I was about to leave, this other cab guy extended his hand out asking: "Can I also get a few coins? :)" Vivi decided to go chill in a bookstore and I went on my own little expedition around Dublin. I found a local post office, bought a few stamps and mailed the post cards I had bought. Spent the next couple of hours doing some window shopping and also picking up trinkets along the way. Met Vivi for coffee at this nice cafe called Lemon.

Went inside Trinity college, Book of Kells and the Long Hall as well. Again pretty expensive for a 5-minute walk through the place (unless you are interested in that kind of stuff). We had dinner at this Malaysian restaurant called Swai. Roti Kanai tastes the same in any part of the world :)    I left for US next morning and Vivi came back in a couple of days after his conference. We both made it back before the Iceland volcano ash cloud hit the Europe air traffic.But I wouldn't complain if I were stuck in this beautiful country for another week. The Irish are known for their craic and we experienced it across several different occasions during our trip. Their laid back attitude and the ability to turn any event into a funny one makes this country truly very unique.

[kikiblogs]

[kikiblogs]

Peru: May 2009

It was exactly this day a year ago (5/21/09) that i set foot in the southern hemisphere for the first time: Peru! The preparation for the trip started around 6 months before the trip. S (call her our dear friend/group leader/project manager/co-ordinator) sends out an email to a bunch of us asking who all are interested in going to Machu Picchu in May? Vivi and I tentatively agreed and forgot all about it. A month or so later we were on the Caltrain when S called to check if we were seriously interested or not. Both of us looked at each other and said sure..why not? Let me tell you what I knew about Machu Pichu at this point: (I think vivi's knowledge was also around the same):

I always found the name Machu Picchu very bubbly. People who could come up with such a cool name deserved a visit.

One of my friends used to have a huge poster of Machu Picchu in his office which looked very cool.

I remember reading Tintin in America as a kid and the picture of tiny Red Indians (that's what I thought they were when I read it as a kid) came flashing back.

It was a 4-day hike and I had heard that the end goal was apparently worth the hard work. We had done the 2-day hike to the bottom of Grand Canyon a couple of years back...how much more difficult could it be? Sometimes I am glad we make these random run-time decisions without having much data... they turn out to be the most amazing experiences of our life :)

So 6 of us went ahead and bought our flight tickets. (Actually 5 of us did...M kept insisting he's coming but he didn't buy his ticket until 3 weeks before we left). We charted out an itinerary that involved sight seeing around the country followed by the 4-day hike to Machu Picchu. We figured S would ping us when it was time to start prepping up! We did a few short hikes and I used to sometimes walk up and down the San Francisco hills for building my stamina. Vivi wouldn't come on these walks...his reasoning was if Kiki can do the hike, he certainly can...male ego I tell you! I was just going with the flow and not particularly excited about the trip until I read a friend's blog who had been to Machu Picchu recently. This is when it struck me that we were up for something bigger and more challenging than anything we had ever attempted so far. Lets do it!

Trip logistics:

Hike reservations/Hotel Stay in Cusco:

Email: Victoria@aventuraquechua.com

Website

Cost of the trip: ~ $2070/person

SFO-Lima-SFO: Continental Airlines: 454$

Travel within Peru (The Andean Explorer is 220$/person: You can skip this if you are on a tight budget): 718$

Eating Out: 171$

Lodging in Cusco: 78$: Contact: Victoria

Peru Visa: 30$: 

Hike Permit: 590$: Contact: Victoria

Souvenirs: 30$

Other trip logistics related to the hike (Packing list etc): We followed my friend's suggestions from her blog.

[kikiblogs]

Peru: Puno (Day 1)

May 21/May 22: 

We flew from SFO->Houston->Lima on Continental Airlines (got a great deal actually). As if the long flight was not torturous enough, we had another flight from Lima to Juliaca next daymorning. The plan was to crash at the airport and try and get some sleep...sure like that's gonna happen! Next day morning we boarded our flight to Juliaca which took 2 pit stops along the way (Arequipa was one of them. I slept through the other one). Juliaca airport is super tiny. The runway ends abruptly, the pilot brakes hard and the plane takes a u-turn on the same runway and drops us in front of a building which could very well be someone's house. A local band welcomed us with Peruvian music.

Jose (our guide for the day) loaded our bags in a van. It was a tad cold so we decided to buy caps made out of Alpaca wool to cover our heads and ears. This is where we first experienced M's excellent skills of haggling in Spanish :) Jose drove us to Sillustani. In olden days, the elite and rich Incans were buried here ins tructures called chullpas. Also when the head of the family died his close family members were sedated, poisoned and buried along with him (must have been tough to be a near and dear one of the rich in those days!) 

I had heard about how the altitude would hit you in Peru. This place was ~12000 ft above sea level. My head started hurting a little now and before I knew it, I had a splitting headache. Jose took us to a local shop and recommended we have the famous coca tea. I wasn't sure how this would help when the 2 advils had not. But sure enough, 1 sip down your throat and you can feel the headache disappear!

He said the head ache would be back shortly but we should continue to have coca tea until our body adjusted to the altitude. It took my body 2 whole days to adjust to it (not that I gave up drinking coca tea after that :)) Over lunch we saw an army of cute kids performing and parading in the town of Puno. I don't recall the significance of this event but they looked super cute. In the evening we went to the famous Uros islands on Lake Titicaca. These guys are the most amazing craftsmen I have seen.

The boats, the houses, the watch towers and the entire island is all made of reed here. Its a little shaky when you first step on one of these islands. Jose gave us some fundas about the history of these people and before we knew it, we were taken into a tent and made to wear their local dresses.

It was a lot of fun. We also bought our first souvenirs from these people and sat in one of their reed boats (which the kids take every day to commute to their school :)) After a warm and musical farewell, we bid adieu to the Uros. We had our first Pisco Sour of the trip that night.

[kikiblogs]

Peru: Cusco (Day 2, 3, 4)

May 23: 

We took the famous Andean Explorer train that goes from Puno to Cusco. 

Its a nice train ride but super expensive. The view of the Altiplano from the train's open deck was stunning. As it chugs along the mountains, the scenery changes from flat land to beautiful Andean ranges. At La Raya we were at an altitude of 14200 ft. The air was so thin that I had to make an effort to breathe here. Coca teacame to the rescue all through the day.

S and R were our official photographers for this trip. For the 8 hour journey, the train crew had plenty to keep us entertained: peruvian musicians, traditional dancers, shopping at a local market along the way and even a fashion show! Overall a fun experience, but definitely can be skipped if you are on a tight budget.

After reaching Cusco we explored the local dive bars. I am not a huge beer fan but this one was good. Cusco can be a very tourist oriented place at day time but at night and on weekends it is truly a party city.

May 24: 

Day 4 started with Cusco darshan. After having spent a few more soles in a local farmer's market, we got our first glimpse of the Urubamba valley. Our first Inca site was a short hike down the Pisaq ruins. 

The Pisaq local market had some interesting things for sale including a chess board with the Incans fighting the Spainiards

A steep uphill hike followed post-lunch at Ollantaytambo.The last stop for the evening was at Chinchero. This town is famous for hand-woven cloth. We got a live demo of how the dyes are prepared from local herbs and insects.

We started chatting with an interesting old lady who was visiting Peru with her grand kids after a few decades. She was a volunteer with Red Cross when she was young and was posted in Peru during the Shining Path movement.

May 25: 

This was the 1 day to relax before we prep for our big hike. Plaza De Armas is the City Center of Cusco. Tons of shops, restaurants and bars covered this place. Humans, cars and dogs all shared the same narrow streets in Cusco. We discovered Govindas ( pure vegetarian food without onions and garlic) and had a long healthy satisfying lunch. 

Let me introduce you to the 6th person who came with us at this point. A is probably the only other guy in this world who is lazier than Vivi.This is what he was carrying with him from US: hiking shoes, a backpack and around 3 days worth of clothes for this entire 9-day trip. We took him shopping that afternoon to make sure he has enough to survive on the mountains for the next 4 days. That evening we handed off all the things we were going to need on the hike to Victoria (she's a Canadian who spends 6 months in Canada (makes a living out of snowboarding and skiing tourism) and the other 6 months in Peru (makes a living by booking tours for people like us who are visiting Machu Pichu). All we kept on us was a small backpack which could carry a days's worth of power bars, trail mix, water, sun screen and advil.

[kikiblogs]

Peru: Inca-Trail (Day 5, 6, 7)

May 26: 

This was our big day..we were starting our 4-day hike to Machu Pichu today. Our guide Martin picked us up at 5am sharp. He had just finished his 12-day hike to some other glacier 2 days back. Clearly he was in great shape! After applying layers and layers of sun screen, we finally commenced one of the most memorable experiences of our lifetime! Oh wait..we had to get our "been there" snap at the trail head first!

Martin told us about the breathing problems we could encounter at high altitudes and how it was super important for each of us to walk at our own pace. He kept reminding us that this was not a race: walk slowly, consistently, take short breaks and drink a lot of water to avoid altitude sickness.The road to KM 82 is narrow and winding but carries what I would consider in hindsight, to be some of the best views in the valley. The small rustic houses scattered next to deep green fields, and the occasional passing of the blue train, on its way to Aguas Calientes. Before we knew it, we were at our first ruins of the hike: Huillica Raccay. Our first lesson of Quechua culture was taught to us here.

Lunch followed a couple of hours later. The whole lunch experience blew us away. For 7 of us (including Martin) we had more than 10+ porters. Being the fuss spot that I am when it comes to food, I was prepared to get very limited vegetarian options up in the mountains. These guys proved me wrong. Every single meal they prepared for us in these 4 days was freshly cooked, high on carbs to keep us going and extremely tasty. The different lentil soups were so simple and yet so tasty. These tiny guys were super humans. They would clean up the place after we ate, disassemble the tents, pack them up, carry these along with all other equipment on their backs,run through the hike, get to the next meet-up point, setup tents, prepare a fresh meal for you and then welcome us by clapping for us when we made it there :)

We made it to our camp site for Day 1 at Wayllabamba  around 5ish. All of us were doing pretty well so far...the first day didn't seem as difficult. As dinner was being prepared, we played cards. We got a group pic with our porter friends as well.

May 27: 

Sun rays over the Black Andes is the view I would love to wake up to every morning! 

Martin had warned us that there was a lot of uphill walk on this day all the way to Dead Woman's Pass after which it would be downhill. After a heavy breakfast and a small prayer we started off for the day! Running out of steam and feeling breathless at this altitude makes you want to kick yourself for bringing this upon yourself. I kept thinking I am not fit enough to do this and that I should give up. I don't know if Martin sensed it then but he mentioned that his little 4 year old daughter has done this hike to Machu Picchu. Was he kidding?? Sure she's born in the mountains and altitude isn't as big a problem for her as it is for us, but she's 4! Clearly it wasn't just the stamina that got her through it. A lot of it is to do with your own attitude. I made a promise to myself to keep a positive attitude and follow Martin's advice to go at a constant rhythm, drink a lot of water (in fact every time I drank water, I reminded everyone around me to drink as well...you tend to forget to do that when you keep walking and before you realize it you will be dehydrated). We kept going uphill each person walking at his/her own pace. When you stop to take a break, you could see the intrepid hikers on the trail hugging the mountains.

As we got closer to the pass, every step was a struggle in the thin air at that high altitude. R led the way to Dead Woman's pass followed by the rest of us. Finally we made it to the top! We were at 13285 ft above sea level at this point! This place apparently takes its name from the arrangement of the terrain which is said to represent a woman lying on her back. The trail takes you over her belly and you can see the 'twin peaks' that are the woman's breasts. 

It felt great exercising a different set of muscles from here on for the rest of the day going down hill. We hiked to Paca Mayo and as always our friends welcomed us to the tents by clapping for us as each of us made it there. No spa can beat the experience of soaking your feet in hot water as we felt that day when we got to our tents. Oh I forgot to mention a small detail: The locals believe there is a woman's ghost hanging around this campsite. A couple visited this place a few years back and as the wife got on top of that pass, her husband pushed her off the cliff to claim the insurance money. Ever since her ghost hangs around this place. I made it a point to take S with me every time I visited the restroom that night. Encountering a ghost was the last thing I needed after that day's hike! 

May 28: 

According to Martin this was the most difficult day of the hike for him. It was a lot of walking and mainly downhill. He asked us to go slowly else we could injure our knees. The terrain started off by making us climb up till we got through the pass of Abra de Runkuracay. We got to our first set of ruins for the day. This site was used as a military checkpost to guard the valley. We could now see the vegetation changing to sub-tropical rainforest as we looked down in the valley.

After a few more uphill stretches, we finally made it to the Ruins of Sayacmarca meaning 'Inaccessible Town'. 

The fog had started rolling in around this time. A had been limping along all the way on this day. His toes had started giving him problems. Martin was able to soothe his pain with the fix-it first aid kit he was carrying. We made it to the lunch site, relaxed a little and started our downhill path through the rainforest. 

The Amazon was apparently just 40 miles away from where we were hiking. We passed an Inca cave along the hike. The real Inca trail began around this point. We were following the same road that the Incans took several hundred years back to build the marvel that is Machu Picchu.

We reached the 3rd pass around 4pm. Some of the other fellow campers had put up their tents for the night here. They would take 2 days to get to Machu Picchu from here. Martin drew the Incan philosophy on sand with a stick here and explained how the Incans saw the condor, the snake and the puma in the grand scheme of things. The reference to Pachamama (Mother Earth) kept coming up as well.

We passed through the Ruins of Phuyupatamarca (Town in the Clouds).

And just when we thought our visibility would be hindered, the cloud Gods decided to go hide away for sometime and voila we could see the mountain of Machu Picchu from here for the first time!

It had started getting dark. R, A, Vivi and I started walking a little faster to get to our campsite before it gets dark. My knees had started buckling at this point. They are kinda weak to start with but so far the had served me well. This steep downhill stretch was making it very hard on the knees. We saw a couple of guys walking in the opposite direction and sighed a sigh of relief. They were our porter friends once again making sure we made it on time to the campsite. They were actually walking back to make sure we were all ok. I am telling you...these guys rocked! M and S were just a few minutes behind us with Martin. In this last stretch they were apparently singing Hindi movie songs to keep their minds off the pain and the fear of hiking if it got really dark. All of us deserved a round of applause that evening! There were actual showers and a restaurant that served the much deserved alcohol at this camp site (fancy!). We gave a hefty tip to our porter friends this night. This is where we parted ways...they were to catch the train back to Cusco next morning. These last 3 days had been the most challenging, tiring, exhausting and yet exhilarating, invigorating and refreshing. These guys deserved a standing ovation! There is no way on earth we would have made it through this far without their help, encouragement and support. After hanging out with Martin and Chipi (a friendly fellow guide and a big flirt) at the restaurant, we slept off early...next day was going to start at 3am!

[kikiblogs]

Peru: Machu Picchu (Day 8)

May 29:

We started our hike in the dark. The whole idea is to get to the checkpoint and wait in the line till the gate opened. Only 400 people are given permits to walk through this gate every morning. That explains what followed...as soon as they let us through, there was a mad rush to make it to the top to get a glimpse of Machu Picchu. We trudged along the vertical flight of stairs to get to Sun Gate (Intipunku). And lo and behold...a few hundred feet below us was the lost city of Machu Picchu in all its glory!

I guess it still did not sink in that we had made it. We took a few initial "done that" snaps and started our walk downhill to step on the Machu Picchu soil for the first time! The peak of Huayna Picchu can be seen in the backdrop.

As we got closer, it just kept getting prettier. We could now spot the stone houses, the terraces and the llamas walking around the city.

After a few more "DONE THAT" snaps, we started our Machu Picchu tour with Martin

"Happy Mountain" as the locals call it, is a small peak rounded from the top close to the Huayna Picchu peak.

The Incas had built this city amidst the mountains before the concept of the wheel was known in South America. The architecture of this place speaks highly of these people. For example each level on the terrace had its own micro-climate and the Incas planted crops accordingly. 

The houses had thatched roofs and stone walls. The aqueduct systems built under the town were well designed and they function even today. The architecture is fascinating and there is great attention to detail. This is evident in the symmetry of structures, the perfect trapezoids, the well laid out terraces watch towers and store houses.

We walked through the Sun Temple, the Temple of 3 windows, the Water Temple, the Moon Temple, the Temple of Condor and several other rooms

The beauty surrounding us was spell bounding and in this case pictures speak a 1000 words

Incas would break stones by passing hot and cold water through cracks.They would then shape them into what mattered to them: a condor shaped rock, stone replica of the mountain ranges surrounding Machu Picchu they worshipped, a healing stone and the list goes on and on.

It was time to bid adieu to Martin. He had to catch an earlier train to head back to Cusco. We thanked him for the 4 wonderful days. His gentle prodding was what we needed to make it through. Besides he had made us appreciate the Quechuan culture even more now.

We hung around on the Machu Picchu terraces for some more time and absorbed the beauty of this place. One of the most memorable journeys of our life was drawing to an end as we took the bus to Aguas Calientes.

Sure you can now get to Machu Picchu by taking a train from Cusco. But this trip would not have been the same without the "super human" porters, Martin our "know-it-all" guide, the 4-day hike, and the 5 other companions who shared this experience with me. Like they say, its the journey and not the destination. I hope to make it back on the Inca trail again some day and relive this experience!

[kikiblogs]

Peru: Lima (Day 9)

After a long night's rest in Cusco we took off for Lima. We had half a day to explore the city. The Spanish architecture in Lima's Plaza De Armas is beautiful.

We hung out in the old Colonial town, had the yummy street food, saw a few churches, walked around Plaza de San Martin

We headed to the Pizza alley in Miaflores. There was live music playing in a park close by and a bunch of locals were dancing here. We loved the spontaneity and joined in.

At Houston airport next morning I ordered my usual coffee at Starbucks and breakfast at Burger King. We were back to the mundane life and missed the yummy quinoa cooked by the porters! I closed my eyes and visualized sitting on one of the Machu Picchu terraces. Viva El Peru!

[kikiblogs]

San Francisco: The city I love!

San Francisco has a bunch of great places to go check out and 1 weekend doesn't do justice when you are visiting. Here's a list I have compiled in our short stay of 1 year in the city. Hope this helps those who are visiting/trying to decide if they should move to the city or not (You should!). Tips to remember when you are in SF:

Always carry a fleece (be it winter or summer): The weather in the city is notoriously famous for changing any minute. The fog can roll in anytime (especially if you are in the Marina/Sunset area).

Take public transport to get your way around. The MUNI can be painstakingly slow when it comes above the ground but its still a lot less painful than driving

Walk around the city: Explore the city on foot. Its just 7X7 miles anyway :) If you are ambitious. try walking up the steep slopes around Divisadero and Broadway

Use Yelp to find places to eat around the city. Its very heavily used there + very reliable

Talk to the locals: They are really nice and super helpful (in most cases)

Try to visit when the city goes crazy (Gay Pride Parade/Bay to Breakers/Chinese Parade/Halloween)

[kikiblogs]

San Francisco: Places to Eat

Places to eat: Here are a few places I wouldn't mind going back to eat in SF over and over again: (Note: I am a vegetarian and don't eat eggs (not vegan though). So my recommendations are narrowed down to these choices. Always always always use Yelp for finding places to eat around the city)

Mexican: Mission district is a paradise for small Mexican Taqueria joints

El Toreador: West Portal: Colorful place in the West Portal area. Nice tangy salsa

El Toro: Small Mexican joint in the Mission

Panaderia La Mexican

El Castalitto

Puerto Allegre

Los Jarritos

La Taqueria

Don Pisto's : Marina area

Maya: Soma

Tapas:

Picaro: Mission again

Alegrias: Marina

Cha Cha Cha (Tourist alert)

Destino/Pisco Lounge

Indian: 

Dosa: (Filmore and Valencia) Expensive South Indian place but worth checking out once for the ambience. If you can handle spice, try their Habanero Mango Dosa

Kasa: Awesome Kathi rolls in the Castro and Pac Heights

Naan n Curry: Small Pakistani joint around Civic Center. Their lunch buffet is pretty good compared to the A LA Carte menu options. One of the few places open till 4am

Sultan: Same as above (good lunch buffet)

Weekend Brunch:

Chruch St Cafe: Church and 15th St: Absolutely love their Veggie bagel w/sun-dried tomato creme cheese

Squat & Gobble: Market and 16th st

Crepevine: All over the city: Crepes have eggs but have been to a few of these and they have a lot of options besides crepes

Crepes at Cole: Same as above: Try their mimosas

Park Chow

Dolores Cafe: Fresh Orange juice rocks here

Ike's place: Their sandwiches are awesome.I heard they got an eviction notice recently...hope that's not true!

Boogaloos: Usually has a long wait on weekends

African:

Bisaab Baobab: Mission: Senegalese cuisine

Cafe Ehiopia: Mission: Good Ethiopian food

Mediterranean:

La Mediterranee

Truly Mediterranean: Small med. joint. Very awesome falafels

Kan Zaman: (Tourist alert) Mediterranean place with live Belly dancing in the nights (after 9pm). This place is in the hippy neighborhood of SF (Haight Ashbury)

Gyro King: Opposite the SF Library

Vegan/Vegetarian:

Gracias Madre: Vegan Mexican place in the Mission

Ananda Fuara: Civic Center and Market (Indian) : Healthy vegan options

Herbivore: Tasty healthy burritos/fresh OJ

Cafe Gratitude: Cultish place ...gotta try it!

Cha-Ya: Veggie Sushi (yeah that exists!)

Italian:

Stinking Rose: (Tourist alert) Awesome italian place if u like Garlic in yr food. Hv dessert at Steps of Rome after u eat here

Beretta: Nice bar in the Mission + Italian food

Tommaso: Shady location but good food

Del Fina: Best pizza joint in the city

Desserts:

  Ghiradelli Square: One of the best ice cream places :)

BiRite ice cream and Mitchells Ice Cream : Both r small ice cream joints ...very awesome

Creme Brulee cart: I dont eat eggs so I didn't try this out but I have heard its to die for (the whole expereience of following this guy on Twitter and rushing to him before he runs out of stock is pretty amazing) 

 Others:

Small coffee shops around the city: A lot of them have free internet. Grab a book or your computer or even better just do people watching

Limon for Peruvian food

 Noe valley (the family friendly place in SF) and Mission district (parts of this are kinda shady...anywhere close to 16th and Valencia is safe) has a bunch of nice restaurants to eat

Lots of nice bars around the city (too many to list)

[kikiblogs]

San Francisco: Tourist Attractions

The Usual Suspects: (these are just my favs.There are tons more):

The 49 mile scenic drive thru the city: Takes half a day but pretty scenic and nice in parts. Plus gets you to appreciate the different neighborhoods of the city

Castro district: Gay capital of the city. Definitely hang out here on weekend nights.

Crooked St/Union Square/China town (check out the Golden Gate cookie store...they make fortune cookies in front of u and u can put your own fortune in it :))

Fisherman's wharf/Alcatraz cruise : This place could get windy so make sure to carry yr jackets

Cable Car Ride from Powell to Fisherman's Wharf

Museums (if u r interested): Moma, Legion of Honor, Palace of Fine Arts etc

Twin Peaks: A must-see on a non-foggy / non-windy night. Do this after you have explored the city....you will be able to spot sights you have been to from up there

Golden Gate Park: A huuuge park. If you are the science types, check out CAL academy

Bike ride from Fisherman's Wharf ->GG bridge->Sausalito: The road after the bridge to Sausalito is all downhill so its a lot of fun biking. If you are lazy like us, you can take the ferry back so u don't hv to bike back up :) Sausalito is where the rich and the elite live. It has small quaint shops/ ice cream shops/places to eat and good views of the city.

If u go across the Golden Gate bridge towards Marin County, make sure u go up the small peak on the left . The view of the city fm up there is pretty nice.

Painted Ladies: The row of Victorian houses they usually show in Hollywood movies

Fort Mason: Brilliant view of the Golden Gate bridge from here

[kikiblogs]

San Francisco: Non-tourist attractions

Non-touristy recommendations:

Walk up from Market St to Buena Vista Park: Its a steep walk uphill but the views from the top make up for it. Sunset time is ideal to visit

Corona Heights: Awesome view of the city from this peak...its a short walk up the hill but totally worth it!

Ocean Beach: They have these fire pits where u can go light a bonfire and its first come first serve. So just show up at 5pm and grab a firepit and watch the sunset.

Land's End Trail: Small hike along the ocean on one side and the cliffs on the other (We took this pic while we were here)

Farmers Market at the Embarcadero on Sunday mornings: You can have your lunch here.

Walk along the Embarcadero on a nice sunny day

AT&T Ball Park: I am not a huge Baseball fan but I hear this place goes crazy with Giants fans

Drive from Oakland to SF over the Bay Bridge: Take the Treasure Island exit and explore the island. It has some fantastic views of the city skyline

Appreciate the Victorians around the city: Upper Market has some grand houses that can take your breath away

Mission Dolores Park: Heaven in the middle of the city. It might be super foggy in the Marina but it can be nice and sunny here over the park. The whole city seems to be out here on a nice sunny day. Check out the city skyline from the top right corner of the park (20th and Church)

San Francisco Public Library: Huge...reminds me of the library we had in Virginia Tech