The holiday season brings seasonal events and festive energy in the Bay Area. I feel very grateful I could share the hope and positivity with family and friends.
When I worked late hours on Friday evening and my significant other flew from Seattle and waited for me to come home from work. Although I felt exhausted from being at work the whole day, all the stress melted away when I saw him sitting at my home office with his cup of huckleberry tea, his laptop out and his books open.
As soon as I set my workbag down, we decided to go out to dinner. Before we head out, I gathered local recommendations and browsed Yelp reviews. We decided to have an elegant dinner at Mynt Indian Restaurant.
Mynt Indian Restaurant San José
The restaurant was filled to capacity when we arrived around 7PM. We slipped inside and sat at a table in a quiet corner. Our meal traditions included a sampling some classic entrées, specialty items, then we mix and match the proteins. We ordered the chicken tikka masala, saag paneer with basmati rice. Each of the elements were prepared to perfection and dinner tasted absolutely scrumptious.
After we went shopping the following morning, my significant other wanted to take me to the Stanford Knoll. Since his specialty includes audio development and processing, he wanted to introduce me to the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA).
Although the building was closed, we read the newsletter taped on the inside of the glass door and read about rising stars in the department as well as ongoing projects.
After we explored campus, we drove down the road to the Stanford Shopping center for lunch. This outdoor shopping center included multiple department stores and many luxury brands. The bustling guests lined up for seats at the restaurant and standing in cues to enter popular storefronts for holiday shopping.
California Pizza Kitchen had the shortest line with 45 minute wait for a table. Due to the long waits, we opted for take-out from CPK.
When we decided to order our lunches as take-out, we sat in the foyer and picked up our picnic within 15 minutes. We ordered lunch combination plates since we love sampling different menu items and sharing. My partner ordered a cup of tomato bisque with a chicken sandwich and I ordered the turkey and brie sandwich with a half salad. First we sat together by the planter box until we found an empty table within the courtyard.
Whenever we travel to a new city, we also check out local music stores and browse synths. Whenever we come across synth shops in town, we also encounter a community of musicians, artists, innovators. This time, we drove up to San Francisco to explore modules at ROBOTSPEAk.
ROBOTSPEAk in San Francisco
As we stepped into the store, we encountered a time warp. This institution served as a mecca for electronic music production with Don Buchla at the helm of the west coast electronic music scene. I could sense my partner’s excitement as he was guiding me though the store while explaining all the different brands, models, and configurations.
After we finished browsing, we searched for happy hour options in the area. After strolling down the road for about 10 minutes, we came across Danny Coyles.
This sports bar had several large HD screens and many local brews on tap. We ordered two local IPAs and people watched while sitting at the outdoor patio. Outdoor and patio seating allowed us to admire the signature San Francisco architecture and admire savor the fresh ocean breeze.
Driving across the Golden Gate Bridge
One of the most magical moments of the weekend was driving down the hill towards the bay and preparing for the trek across the Golden Gate Bridge. Although I had visited the bridge with family growing up, it had been many years since I had driven or ridden across. Witnessing significant other’s amazement while driving across the bridge reminded me of all the adventures we have yet to take together.
Once we commutes back to San José, we ordered take-out for dinner. We decided to sample the beef and chicken pho noodle soup from Khanh’s down the road. I rarely had pho noodle soup as take-out, but the preparation of all the ingredients and the packaging impressed us. When we got home, we assembled our dinner with the piping hot broth, sweet onions, fresh mung bean sprouts, aromatic basil, and thin delicate rice noodles. This comfort food brought us a sense of nostalgia and set the tone for the holiday season.
Lilly C. Lew Ph.D. 