Russian Hills

One of my good friends from college came to visit this past weekend. Mimi is a couple years older than me and has always been like the older sister I never had — when I kept getting sick freshman year, she always brought over soup or jello to help me feel better, and she would frequently invite me over for yummy home-cooked Korean meals. After she graduated, I hadn’t had many chances to see her, and it’s even harder to meet up now that we’re on opposite coasts. The last time I’d seen her was over a year ago, at my wedding. This time, Mimi and her friend Cindy decided to take a trip out here for a little over a week to go hiking and camping around Yosemite and Tahoe, making stops at Santa Cruz and Monterey along the way. They arrived on Friday night and spent Saturday with us before embarking on the rest of their Northern California adventure Sunday morning.

I’m always uncertain about where to take friends when they visit the area, since for having lived out here for two years, I still don’t know the area too well, especially San Francisco. But Mimi made things super easy for me because she did a whole bunch of research and talking to Bay Area natives back in Richmond, Virginia before she flew out. When she got here, she had a whole list of places to go and things to eat before I even had to come up with suggestions. She’s been to the city before, so she knew the streets of San Francisco much better than I did!

We spent a good amount of time in both Berkeley and San Francisco on Saturday, making it a full day. It was fun being a tourist in our own city! Here are some photos…

Breakfast at Bette's Oceanview Diner in Berkeley

corn beef hash with cream scone — corned beef hash and cream scone... a satisfying start to the day.

pie in the sky: a giant pie hanging from the ceiling

Steps assisting you in climbing the rock. — Indian Rock in Berkeley... never heard of it until Mimi told me about it.

Indian Rock in Berkeley — Enjoying breathtaking views of the bay from Indian Rock.

the ladies at Indian Rock — The ladies on Indian Rock! (It was rough scaling that rock in a dress.)

Indian Rock Park — Big thanks to Mimi for telling us about this place!

the girls meet Diesel — Cindy and Mimi meet Diesel for the first time.

ice cream stop at Ici — Ice cream stop at Ici.

Enjoying refreshing treats from Ici... my current favorite is the raspberry lemon ice cream sandwich, flanked by gingersnaps.

Driving in the Russian Hills in San Francisco.

The zigzagging roads of Lombard Street. This was actually my first time there! I've always wanted to see it.

Mimi @ Bittersweet — Bittersweet Chocolate CafÃ© on Fillmore Street

at the Japanese Tea Garden — Visiting friends always want to stop by the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park.

on the Japanese bridge — obligatory Japanese bridge photo.

San Tung's famous chicken wings! — Dry-fried chicken wings from San Tung on Irving Street.

chowing down on chicken wings — They were seriously the best chicken wings I've had in my entire life.

shrimp and leek dumplings — Shrimp and leek dumplings... delicious.

spicy seafood noodles — Spicy seafood noodle soup (Cham Pong) - pretty hot but soooo good.

Tapioca Express, back in Berkeley — Back in Berkeley, finishing offÂ the day with bubble tea from Tapioca Express in downtown.

(See more photos of our Berkeley/San Francisco excursions on Flickr.)

Dan and I had a great time with the girls (although Dan only accompanied us for the Berkeley portion of our adventures), and we wish them a safe and memorable trip around NorCal before they return to the East Coast.

Mimi’s Visit