SF: Day One

I arrived in SF after a smooth trip that was filled with reading (rather than sleeping). I'm most of the way through "Dry," and enjoying it thoroughly. After claiming my luggage and making some calls, I boarded BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to head into the city.

I met my old friend Justin in the Mission District, which I suppose is somewhat vaguely equivalent to the Lower East Side. We went to a coffee (I know, I know, I said the "C-word") shop, where I had some lovely Wuji Oolong (steeped with the Teastick) and tasty vegan zucchini bread. We caught up for a while, then walked back to his apartment, where I took a much-needed nap and he played some kind of online football draft game that is completely alien to me.

After my nap and his game, we headed over to the Apple store to meet my friend Tajee and her boss. I've known Tajee since college, when she was studying abroad from Tokyo. We are close friends, but we rarely see each other, so when she asked me to visit her in SF to help out with a lecture she was giving for Apple, I jumped at the chance.

The four of us met up and took a cab to Japantown to buy sake for her Apple event's after party. While Tajee and her boss perused the sake at a few grocery stores, I was running around looking at all the tea. After they found what they wanted, we headed back to Tajee's place (a beautiful, spacious apartment near the heart of the city) so she and her boss could work and Justin and I could chat.

Later, after her boss left, we went out to dinner at a restaurant called NoPa (named for the neighborhood, North of the Panhandle). We shared some pomme frites and I had a delicious baked great white bean dish and succulent sauteed Swiss chard with pine nuts. Yum!

Afterward, we took a walk through the neighborhood (I love the architecture, the hills, and the greenery!), then chilled out at Tajee's place. Tajee prepared her Apple presentation while Justin and I talked about philosophy.

Despite the short nap, I'm still pretty tired. (Ah, jetlag.) I'm off to bed now. Check back tomorrow for more on my trip!