A short stay in the Bay area

On Friday Lieselotte had to work, so I borrowed her spare bike and rode the BART (like the metro) to Oakland's Merritt Lake. There is a path that goes all around the lake and I biked the whole thing, stopping to get a sandwich from the grocery store at one point. Then I biked down to Jack London Square - which is a really cute area on the marina with shops, restaurants and many boats. It was fairly dead in the middle of the day, but very pretty. I then biked back to the BART station and rode back to Berkeley and rested for a bit before heading out again to watch the sunset from the Berkeley marina/pier. I misjudged exactly when sunset was however. In Bali it is 6:30, but here, it was more like 6:15, so as I was biking in that direction, I realized the sun was sinking too fast, so I was really pushing it to make it in time. I made it just as the sun was going behind the mountains next to the Golden Gate Bridge, panting and coughing from exertion. But it was worth it - what a sight to behold.

Sunset over the bay

Riding around

No matter how many times I watch the sun set over the Bay, it never gets old. I would have liked to stay longer to watch the oranges and yellows change to pinks and purples, but I knew I'd barely make it home before dark even if I left right then. So I said a final farewell to the beautiful sight and turned around. The ride was slightly easier going back because the wind was at my back, but when I got back to Lies' house, I was both sweating and freezing. I'd had on two jackets and a scarf, but my fingers and face were very cold. I spent the next 20 minutes recovering on the couch. lol

When Lies finally got home from work, we went to a little restaurant/cafe called Trieste. They had live music by a duo who were very impressive. They played a lot of Simon & Garfunkel, which we loved. We split a big bowl of spaghetti and an amazing piece of turtle cheesecake.

Lieselotte and Drew

The next day, Lies and I planned to bike the "wiggle" (a bike-friendly route through San Francisco that avoids the big hills). However, it was very gray outside and rain was predicted on and off all day long. We decided to skip the bike ride (which my butt was thankful for after the day before) and took the BART into the city where we met up with my cousin Erin and her wife Kerri. We had lunch at a delicious place called Thee Grove. It was so nice catching up with Erin - I saw her at my wedding, but we didn't get to spend much time together. Before that, it'd been quite a while. They just returned from Cambodia and Thailand (where they spent 32 days!), so we had many stories to swap about southeast Asia. Erin also told us she is graduating in May with her occupational therapy degree and she's very excited about where this new chapter of her life will take them.


Lies and I left them about 2 p.m. and started walking down Market Street where we ended up in the shopping district. We went to Nordstrom Rack where we got a couple things, and then we walked around the gorgeous indoor mall that was nearby.  Finally, we headed home and bought a bunch of food to make a delicious dinner: kale salad with pomegranate, quinoa, blueberries, blood orange, candied pecans, avocado and caramelized onions. We also had baked chicken that Lieselotte seasoned and cooked to perfection. We finished the evening eating ice cream and watching Jane the Virgin. It was a pretty great night. :)

The next morning we had a big breakfast before Lies took me to the airport. It was sad to say goodbye after such a short stay, but I'm so glad I got to see her since I was unable to get to California in October like I usually do.