Post 90: Getting Back into the Groove of Things

As of today, I should be done with the main cleaning of downstairs. Now it is all about using things to see if I need to update anything to make it functional. A lot of things happened in the week. I got my last piece of furniture for a while which was a shoe cupboard that is currently in the bedroom. I will need to now actually put the shoes in there. I do need to get a hold of the parrot’s room and work on that….but that one can take some time. :)

So, let’s run down this list to see what I have been up to. ….so I can remember too…

Please notice how messy the house is still currently. But it’s ok, because Chiyo is watching some quality tv. Aki tells me that this is her favorite program….this dude goes around the world to cat villages and stuff.

Clearly she is intrigued.

Tucker on the other hand is intrigued when a cat is giving a dog a massage.

Most of the beginning of the week was about getting my stuff done and space put together. On Thursday, I went into the city for an interview. I met so many people and the job sounds pretty damn interesting. I liked them….they liked me…we made a contract!

I went to “school” in the tenderloin area and never really liked San Francisco. I worked in the Financial District or really the edge of SoMa next to the FiDi. It was definitely a nicer area than the Tenderloin. After coming back from Japan, I have felt pretty trapped because there really is not any where to explore where I live. It’s too hot to go out in the day time and now I am seeing crack heads on the running trails which makes me nervous to run in the early morning (even with the sun up). But it was nice exploring the city a tiny bit before heading into the interview.

The cats seem to be getting along a little better. There are still fights and they hunt each other out of pure hate while I am trying to sleep. I think they both found the benefit of having each other around when in comes to waking someone up for feeding.

Aki doesn’t have class on Friday’s so this first Friday, we went for ramen. We found out that Dohatsuten in Fremont closed permanently, but we did find a Jinya (the same place that is in Utah) closer in Livermore. We also found that there was a whole asian plaza in this area too!!!! So, if we move….it’s likely closer to here. They had a place called “Snowflake” and had some killer ice cream.

Saturday morning we went into the city. Drove to Orinda because there was construction on the Bart between Walnut Creek and Orinda. So we parked there and left. When we got to the city, there was this cute cafe right outside the bus stop. the #30 bus was supposed to come around every 20 min. When the bus came around, it was full and it did not stop. So we were like “fuck it”….went into the cafe, got a sugary drink, peed, and took off. Aki was not the happiest.

Just look at how cute this cafe is!!!!! I want to come here all the time! Unlike Japan….IT HAS EMPTY SEATING. And the Caramel Latte was AWESOME.

ALSO, this is what I learned….most cafe’s…if you order a Caramel Macchiato….it is like only a tiny amount. You have to ask for the Caramel Latte…..Or a Caramel Macchiato with milk. The weirdest thing. It happened to us twice this day.

Walked straight through China Town, which was cool to see before all the stores open and you are forced to walk in the middle of the street.

I am so sad that I am not going to be around for this show. Richard Cheese for the win!

As I was walking through to get to Chrissy Fields for the race (and trying to fight the voice that is trying to tell me not to show up to the race), I was getting REALLY excited about the possibility of coming back to the city over the following weekends to explore like I did in Tokyo. The only difference is, I have absolutely NO desire to live in SF. I miss the distraction of the city in Tokyo. You could go ANYWHERE in Japan from this hub. I am hoping that taking time and walking around SF will help me really fall in love with this city. I kind of resented it as I was in school in a shitty area. But here, there are some awesome views and some great buildings. I can’t wait to explore and go to some cafes. :) See what the buzz is all about.

Aki and I heard this odd little squeaking sound. Turned out it was one of the parrots of Telegraph Hill. Cherry-Headed Conure. At least, that is what I think it is called. If not….it is now.

It was such a fucking beautiful day. I still have a sunburn. Aki’s legs hurt because we walked there, I did the race, and we walked back. over 30,000 steps, yo! But the Skys were generally clean and people were out and about. I really fell in love with the idea of exploring. Even when it is shitty out. The houses were neat. I can only imagine, absurdly expensive.

I did my race. Aki took a bunch of pictures that I still have to sift through. As I was coming back from a final lap, I found that Aki had ran up a bit to meet up with me as I was running. He ran along side me carrying my purse and his back pack. It was really sweet of him to do. His back was killing him by the time we got back to the Bart station though.

After the race, though, we walked up Chrissy Field and then headed back. Still some amazing shots and things to see. I want to take time and really just take it in next time.

I enjoy the fact that this fancy house with the massive window has a Port-a-Potty just outside of it. Talk about trying to save space, yo!

It was pretty awesome looking down the street to see the piles and layers of buildings.

We stopped for a coffee and a bite to eat. Aki’s stomach was not treating him well, so he just had a half of an egg and a caramel macchiato (remember what I said before….yeah, the dinky coffee thing happened here too…..they are resentful of Starbucks, clearly). Anyway, this avocado toast not only tasted amazing, but it made me 3 shades whiter and I transitioned from being “basic” to “simple”.

It actually took longer than anticipated to get to the cafe, but once here, we realized it was less than 30 minutes before we get to the Montgomery station. On the way back, I got some awesome pictures of the TransAmerica building and some building that reminded me of the Flat Iron District in New York City.

Fuck, I miss NYC, too.

We passed by a cute little cafe that I am SO looking forward to going to when I start working in SF.

Anyway, we got home and Aki was in pain for most of the rest of the long weekend. I, was pretty fine except with the left hip which was sore. Not as sore as it had been. I have been doing some foam rolling and stretching with it.

So, I leave you with some pictures of my lovely kitties, because I don’t know how to end this one….