San Francisco Treats

So, we went to San Fran ages ago. So it sucks cause I have a terrible memory. We went on a 41 hour trip. We left on a Sunday morning at 4:45 am. It was the weekend of the LA fires, and it was just so smokey driving through there - but no traffic. The least amount of traffic ever. Of course, with the time and all...

So we were trying to get to San Fran for a show. The FP is in a second band, and they were playing there that night. The bass player could not make the trip, so I was subbing for her. So we drove and drove. Actually the FP drove all the way there. We finally got tired and hungry and had to stop. We got through all the cow shit smell, and then we stopped at Harris Ranch - the almond place. God, you get sick of looking at all those almond trees after a while. So we got breakies.


Here's the FP's food. Corned beef hash and eggs, home fries. 3 eggs. Really, is that necessary? Nah. But that's how it comes. It was okay. Bit on the pricey side, but it was 3 eggs! The eggs were nicely cooked too.

I don't know why I don't have a picture of my food. I think I got biscuits and gravy. Why? Just because they were on the menu. I don't really recall enjoying them. Not that I'm a big fan of biscuits and gravy. I think it's just a novelty to try this kind of down home southern food on the west coast because they don't know how to make that stuff here - generally speaking. But I'm kind of demented I guess, trying shit that I figure I won't like.

So we drove.

And drove.

And drove.

Then we got to Oakland. And it was beautiful. And then as soon as we were driving across the bridge it got foggy. We got to our hotel - it was just completely overcast. But pretty, still.

So, our hotel was in Japantown - Hotel Tomo. It was a Best Western, but it had been recently remodelled to be a cool japanime theme. Here's the mural in our hotel room





Here's the view:


So we were pretty tired. We needed a nap. We got into the very comfy bed. I was about to fall into sleep. Then Prof J called. The rest of the band was in Japantown and just wondered if we wanted to hang out. I didn't. But what are you gonna do? So I took a shower. They were there about 2 minutes after I got out of the shower. So we didn't even know what we were going to do. So we drove to some park.

This park. The one that is filmed in the opening to Full House. So we sat there. Just kinda looked. It was nice. Then we walked to a nearby bar. This was one of the hoods that Prof J lived in when he lived there. Just a random bar. Dark painted walls, art on the walls - lots of little decorative mirrors. We got some beers. Blue Raven just drank water. There was food, but I didn't want pizza or sandwiches. The FP actually ended up getting like a mezze plate or something. I don't think I have a picture, but you know - hummus, eggplant dip, olives and feta with lots of warm pita. That was nice - the warm pita. Soft and yummy. Actually, I think we might have had to ask for more pita? I can't remember. But don't you hate when the dip is not proportionate to the dipping vehicle? I guess at my restaurant - god, no - not my restaurant - I would never claim that - at the restaurant where I work, our lobster dip comes with tortilla chips, but there's not enough space on the plate for enough tortilla chips, so they often come back to ask for more. Why don't we put it on a bigger plate? I don't know. Because we are dumb? Maybe we will start putting it on a square plate which might have more area for chips - but then there will be a whole discussion about why we are using a different plate and which plate it looks better on and which plate shape makes it easier for sharing. Really. I'm not exaggerating.

Getting back to hummus. We hung out at the bar for about an hour, then we headed back to the hotel. The FP and I got ready, then we went down to the hotel bar. Blue Raven got ready while we were gone - she's a makeup artist, so you know she takes a while. The other two crashed out on the floor. The drummer was out...snoring and all. Prof J didn't really sleep, he joined us later downstairs.

So the FP and I got two plates:

pike mackerel - oily, rich yummy fishy - in a good way


octopus and cucumber salad. Way too chewy. I have had in my life such tender octopus, that I can't deal with big pieces of tough octopus. I've tasted heaven, and now I yearn for more...

I had a diet coke. The FP had a beer. I believe Prof J had 2 jacks on the rocks. 2. Jacks. Then we went upstairs and collected the rest of the crew and got in our respective cars and drove to the venue.