I’m finally wrapping up on posting on our trip to California from earlier this month! Besides getting to spend a lot of time exploring San Jose, Monterey, and the San Francisco Zoo with Dan’s parents and visiting our dear friends in El Cerrito, we got to also spend some time seeing some of our favorite familiar faces in the area and eating at our favorite spots! There were some delicious eats that I had seriously been missing and craving, so I’m so glad we could get a fix while catching up with some of our dearest friends!
Catching up with Uncle Ted in Alameda over lunch.
The samosa salad at Burma Superstar. Never disappoints!
Another favorite from Burma Superstar: garlic noodles with BBQ pork.
Checking out the toys at Tot Tank in Alameda.
Bay Area newcomer Junko trying pho for the first time!
I’m so glad we could see Junko in Sunnyvale! We hadn’t seen each other in almost five years, since our wedding back in 2008!
A trip to the Bay is not complete without a visit to our favorite taco truck in Oakland!
It was great visiting the Kims so we could catch up with Sung Kook and Kayo…
…and see their adorable sons JinWoo and SunWoo again!
Sung Kook loves Mio, and she can tell… she was stuck to him the whole time we were there!
I really missed their pomegranate chicken, among their other delectable bites…
And since we were on College Avenue in Berkeley, we had to stop by Ici for their amazing frozen desserts!
So happy to be reunited with Tarrin in one of our favorite spots in Berkeley… 🙂
Lovely foil stamped labels for my baked goodies, cherry blossom pen, and macaron-shaped trinket case, all wrapped in matryoshka doll wrapping paper to boot! Thank you Tarrin for somehow gathering all of my favorite things. â¤
We also got to try the awesome yÅshoku restaurant Usagi in San Mateo and see some of our favorite faces from Nakayoshi! Special thanks to Sam for organizing the dinner and making the reservation.
ボンゴレ（ã‚ã•ã‚Šã®ãƒ‘スタ）~ Some of the best vongole pasta I’ve ever had!
We missed this beautiful couple!
Mio with Uncle Graig. Probably one of her most favorite people in the entire world… 🙂 She’s always giggling and smiling ear to ear when she’s with him!
Loved seeing everyone again!
It always feels like our time with friends is too short (especially taking into consideration toddler bedtime), and we wish we could have stayed longer with each of our friends, but we were so happy that we could see them again even for a short time! We are truly sorry for all of those who we were unable to see because of our limited schedule, but rest assured that we will be back soon enough to visit again! :) Thank you also to all of our friends who showered Mio with such thoughtful and generous early birthday gifts… it was totally unexpected and so sweet of everyone. ♥ Our family is so blessed just to have the pleasure of knowing all of you!
On Saturday, our little family took a trip to the Oakland Zoo! I’d never been, and had been telling Dan that we should take Mio once the weather got warmer — since Saturday was surprisingly warm, we seized the opportunity to finally go! Our friends Kayo and Sung-kook and their 16-month old son Jinwoo also happened to be free that day, so we invited them to come with us.
I grew up going to the National Zoo in Washington, DC, which is pretty impressive and much larger, but I really enjoyed visiting the Oakland Zoo for the first time. It was very clean, well-maintained, and very child-friendly — there were lots of open areas where children could run around and climb onto animal sculptures, and a petting zoo where they could actually touch some of the sheep and goats. I think the more intimate size of the zoo actually works in favor for parents with young children, because you can get through the whole zoo (or a lot of it, at least), without getting too exhausted but still be able to see all the animals that kids love to see (monkeys, giraffes, lions, tigers, elephants. etc.).
It was of course Mio’s first time at the zoo, and although she’s a little too young to truly appreciate it, she definitely seemed intrigued (and at times, perplexed) by some of the animals at the zoo. Here are some of my favorites from the photos we took at the zoo!
Showing Mio the tortoises
16 month old Jinwoo
Jinwoo saying hi to Mio. "Long time, no see!"
Mio and Jinwoo playing with the "snake eggs"
Mio and Daddy at the petting farm section of the zoo.
Mio looking at the sheep.
A very cautious Mio petting the sheep.
Daddy took Mio right up to the goats.
She looks quite apprehensive...
Brows furrowed to the max!
The giraffes at the Oakland Zoo
A family picture.
Kayo, Sung-kook, and Jinwoo... soon to be a family of four!
A tiger with magnificent stripes!
We ended our trip with the lions - the king of the jungle!
You can see the full set of photos we took on our outing to the Oakland Zoo in the slideshow below:
My friend Miyoung and her husband Mike were visiting San Francisco this weekend — they came all the way from New Jersey! I’ve known Miyoung since she moved to Virginia when we were in middle school, and we have been friends for over fifteen years! It feels like yesterday that we were both still in junior high, chatting for hours over the phone and having sleepovers watching The Joy Luck Club. We have both have grown up so much since, and are now both married! (I couldn’t make it to her wedding this May because I had just had Mio, but from the photos, she was the most gorgeous bride ever!) I always have fun when I’m with Miyoung, and it was nice to see her again and catch up — I’ve missed her so! Here are some photos from when a bunch of us friends went to lunch together on Sunday.
Mio and Jinwoo decided they wanted some playtime on the table after we were done eating.
Jinwoo is almost 11 months old. What a cutie!
My little chubster wondering what's going on.
Mio meets Miyoung for the first time!
Missed you, Miyoung!
John getting some Daddy practice with baby Jinwoo before his own baby arrives in December!
Miyoung's husband Mike with Jinwoo.
Jinwoo was quite the hit with the guys.
Jinwoo looks so tiny!
Jinwoo with his Mommy Kayo! Oh the cuteness...
Jinwoo reaching out to Mio. He is the first fellow baby friend she ever met!
After lunch, Miyoung and Mike came over to our place, and Miyoung and I caught up for a few hours while our hubbies bonded playing video games together, and concluded the day with dinner. We so appreciated Miyoung and Mike spending the day with us, especially since we live on opposite sides of the country now. I miss you already, Miyoung! ♥
