Washington DC Weekend

East Building, National Gallery of Art

This past weekend, I spent in Alexandria hanging out with my Dad.  It was pretty mellow but the most beautiful Fall weekend- tons of sunshine and the most perfect temperature.

How I would feel in a museum without lunch first...

On Saturday, Dad wanted to check out the East Building of the National Gallery of Art.  We took the metro into the city, which takes a little longer but it's so nice not dealing with weekend traffic and parking.  When we got off the metro, the first order of business was lunch because I was hungry.   I hadn't eaten a lot of breakfast and I had gone for a run so I would be running on fumes if we went to the museum first.  We ate outside and had burgers and beer.  It was awesome.

This is art.  It has its own security guard so people don't step on it.  I guess
that's what happens when you have art that looks like a puke-colored melted bag.

Afterwards, we headed over to the East Building.  I could tell there were some updates but overall, it looked the same.  The most noticeable thing was the sun slats over the upper skylights.  The Calder mobile is still in the grand foyer and there is a lot of colorful art well-placed throughout the open main area.  We went to see the Photography Reinvented: The Collection of Robert E. Meyerhof and Rheda Becker.  It's a temporary exhibit through March 2017 with 33 excellent modern photographs from influential artists.  My sentimental favorite is Hiroshi Sugimoto since I have fond memories of an incredibly staged exhibit of his in the Hirshhorn Museum (2006).

From the Hirshhorn Display.  It was amazing. Photo Credit

Afterwards, we headed home and tried to watch The Lobster but we didn't have any luck in renting it online.

The next day, we went out to brunch in Old Town.  I scored a sweet parking spot, so I was already feeling pretty cheerful!  We went to Virtue Feed and Grain.  Brunch was tasty but Dad definitely won with his order.  Here's a tip to me: don't order Mexical breakfasts on the East Coast, it just isn't the same.  Also, do not order a Bloody Mary at Virtue- it's watery gazpacho with vodka.  The mimosas are much better (I had a sip of Dad's!).

The rest of the day was pretty mellow.  I did some online coursework and watched football.  It was a really relaxing weekend and I was glad for the quality father-daughter time.  Oh, and the quality time with the birds.  I can't forget the surrogate children.

Bath time!

Bird Love

Mozart Foundation Museum Tour

Oh my goodness!  SMS and I had the best luck on Saturday.  Due to serendipity and SMS' love of racing cars, we were able to take a tour of a private car museum owned by a local developer (who clearly has done very poorly for himself)!

Let me back up.  On Saturday, I got up early and went to the old apartment to straighten up before the movers came later in the day.  I headed back to the new place to pick SMS up for our Saturday morning run club.  We semi-regularly attend the Mountain View Runner's Club Saturday morning session, which is a 3.5 mile loop on Steven's Creek trail.  It's a really nice group of people and afterward, we hang out at the Starbucks for a little coffee-fueled socializing.

Not too different from some parking lots in Silicon Valley...

As SMS and I were getting ready to leave, he said he wanted to check out the Corvettes down the street.  I hadn't noticed but apparently, a lot of Corvettes had been driving by including two with racing modifications and vinyl appliques.  We said goodbye to everyone and walked down the street.  Inside an open gate, there was a mini-auto show in the parking lot that was filled with Corvettes!  I estimate there were about 30-40, which was very cool.  We wandered around and talked to a few people.  We didn't really know what was going on but then I started talking to a woman who had just pulled up in a more classic car with her husband.  I complimented her on her shirt, which was a gray t-shirt with a silver and light blue rhinestone Corvette.  She invited us to join them on their group tour of the Auto Museum.  I initially declined (what a moron!) because the movers were supposed to come between 11-1, but I fortunately came to my senses.  SMS and I each paid our $20 to the Corvette Club of Santa Clara President and with that, we were on the list!

Anteros also avenges unrequited love so maybe he'll help me get this car?!?!

While we were waiting to get in, we talked to a guy who had extensively modified two Corvettes about 10 years ago as a side project.  He had majored in auto design in college but spent his working years designing video games in Silicon Valley.  [Aside: We never exchanged names and I suspect that he is really well-known in certain circles but hey, we were there to talk about the cars.  Plus, SMS and I are just not super-in-the-know about that industry.  But he did mention that he was good friends with the guy who programmed Pong and the guy who hired Steve Jobs at Atari.]  Anyway, he had added a Super Charger to the engine to bring it up to 550 hP.  He had also taken off most of the panels and replaced them with carbon fiber elements so the car was about 100 pounds lighter than a normal Corvette.   He had the tooling done and panels made in a factory in San Diego.  He had 14 orders for the car but the factory went out of business so only two were made.  What was incredible to me was that the two cars were already committed so he had to deliver both of them; aka, he couldn't even keep the car he made!!  But, alls well that ends well.  He bought the car back from one of the purchasers about 7 years later so he now has Production #0001 in his possession now.  Incredible.  What a feat of design and a display of integrity to keep your word on delivering a product you promise! The car is called Anteros, after the Greek god of requited love I'm guessing.  It was absolutely beautiful.

Amazing supercharged engine!

At 1000, it was time for the tour!  We went inside the understated, but beautiful building.  The outside landscaping was very zen.  Inside, the docent gave a brief introduction.  They asked for no photography and everyone was very respectful of that request.  I did take one picture by accident as I silenced my phone, but it was of the floor so I think it's ok to display my masterpiece.

I am so funny and bad with my phone!  Photo taken accidentally while silencing my phone.

The cars on display were incredible.  There were many early cars, like three 1910-1913 Simplexes.  There were several Pullmans, Ferraris and Porsches.  Most of the cars were one of two/three known to be in existence.  My favorite car was a 1934 Bugatti with a deep mustard yellow alligator interior.  It was a breathtakingly beautiful car...the informational sign near it said that it drew such crowds, it was once hard for the then-owner to approach it and drive it away at the end of a car show!

Very few pictures can be found on the internet but here's one from the kitchen cabinet designers.  The gray Cadillac
in the middle/left center was in the museum and is a beautiful focal point with the interior design. Credit

Alas, all dreams must end and ours ended abruptly with a call from our neighbor that the movers there a few minutes before 11.  Argh!  When are movers ever early!?!?  Anyway, we rushed off and left, but felt incredibly lucky to have experience such an amazing museum.

Birthday weekend, Part 4: Palo Alto, SJC

After an amazing birthday weekend, I got a little extra bonus time to spend with my parents.  I had Monday morning off from work so after saying goodbye to SMS, I hung out in the morning until they woke up.  Then we ate breakfast and had coffee.

We had a small window of time before we had to leave to the airport, so we went to the Stanford museum, The Cantor Center for the Visual Arts.  We went to the Rodin Sculpture Garden and then we went inside for a few minutes.  Better a glimpse of beauty and art than none at all, right?

I thought Mom and Dad would like the 19th & 20th Century European Galleries.  The space is beautiful and really well laid-out.  I saw an older Picasso that I really liked (1909?).  The bottom left corner in particular had a beautiful palette so I snapped a picture for future inspiration.

Then, le boo, it was time for Mom and Dad to go to the airport.  I drove them to SJC and was pretty sad.  BUT, we had a great weekend and everyone is happy and doing well so really, I feel very lucky.

Scenes from the Museum: De Young, Pierre Bonnard and Highlights from the Collection

Tartine, a great start to our day!

On Sunday, we woke up, checked out and headed over to the Mission District for breakfast.  I hadn't been to Tartine yet since moving here and I was in the mood for some delicious carb-y carb carbs!  SMS and I stood in line for awhile and then bought several things- a Croque Monsieur, a frangipane-filled croissant, a savory scone, a hazelnut tart and a morning bun.  The purchases lasted until the next day (honest!).  My favorite was the morning bun.  It was amazing!  I think it is an under-the-radar Cronut, since it had the flaky layers of a croissant with some excellent fried/baked with-so-much-butter-it-may-as-well-be-fried goodness.  We also talked briefly to the girls next to us who were having a reunion after many years.  One of the girls was from Japan and had spent time as an exchange student at the other girl's house in Philadelphia several years ago.  

A safe in Room and Board.  Not for sale.

After desser- I mean, breakfast, we went to Room & Board, a furniture shop where I had seen a desk I thought SMS would like.  After some debate and browsing, it was deemed a winner and SMS ordered it in charcoal.  He's going to have the nicest furniture in the house soon!

Does it look like someone in Heaven has an upset stomach?

After Room & Board, we headed to the de Young museum.  I wanted to see the Young Woman with a Unicorn by Raphael, which is on loan from the Galleria Borghese in Rome.  I heard about it from my Aunt Maria's friends so I was excited.  It was a beautiful painting.  Some of the permanent collection pieces on the way there were also pretty epic in their own way.  I took pictures of two of my favorites.

I imagine there are several expressions one could have while holding a severed head, but
I feel like this expression of bored detachment would not be one of them. 

Pierre Bonnard- I really liked this sequence of four.

After we acted like mature art aficionados, we headed downstairs to the Pierre Bonnard retrospective.  It was an excellent exhibit and I feel lucky to have seen it.  I actually preferred his Japonaise-inspired prints in addition to some of the colors and patterns seen in his interior paintings, including his nudes.  If you have a chance to go, I definitely recommend it.  I'm not the biggest fan of his late work of huge murals with more muddy green but that actually speaks to the strength of the show.  The viewer gets to see examples from his entire career in an exhibit that flows very smoothly.  

Snowy!  Plover!

After the museum, we headed to Andytown Coffee Roasters in Outer Sunset, which is my favorite neighborhood.  I ordered a snowy plover, a delicious concoction of soda water, espresso, brown sugar and a huge dollop of freshly-whipped cream.  Intensity!  It is so delicious.  SMS got a decaf espresso.  He also noted, while we were in line, that I "know all the places in San Francisco to stand in line."  I told him to channel it into a Japanese-type experience, where standing in line is part of the deal.  I'm not sure he bought it.  

Then we headed home.  It was nice to have a full weekend but still get home while the sun was still out.  We watched some more of Mozart in the Jungle, which we both really enjoy and recommend.  It's pretty unusual for us to find a show we both like but this one is a major win!

Quality Time Weekend!

The past weekend was awesome!  On Saturday, SMS and I headed to San Jose after a delicious ramen lunch at Orenchi ramen.  SMS had gotten recommendations from two separate people so Saturday was the day to check it out.  It was delicious!  We both got the house special, which is a tonkotsu-broth ramen with slightly thicker, curly noodles.  My favorite part was the depth of flavor in the broth and the perfectly soft-boiled egg.  I've had a few better bowls in Japan but this place really held up against our previous ramen experiences.  SMS was also a fan.

Robot-san, v. 2

 After feeling slightly swollen after so much salty broth goodness, we hopped into the car for downtown San Jose.  We went to The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Diego where our admission + IMAX movie was free with active duty id.  Yeah!  The museum was cute but definitely geared towards kids and exposing them to mini-projects and experiments in the STEM fields.  That didn't stop us from trying out the robot station though!  After SMS' adventures in robot building at home, we wanted to check out how the museum curated the experience.

Going to the museum was also nice because SMS thought we were going to the art museum, which is usually more my speed.  So I got to accumulate awesome wife karma for thinking of a fun destination.  After the museum, we went to the San Pedro Market Square.  We decided to walk since the day was gorgeous and I decided to get lost and over-extend our walk by quite a bit.  Oops.

Part of San Pedro Market Square

Once we finally arrived, I loved the place! It's two large buildings with multiple sections with many different restaurant/stationary food trucks/food court-type options.  We got coffees and dessert and it was really a treat.  There's a huge picnic table area between the two buildings and the whole place and vibe were just delightful.

We love brunch!

Beautiful friends!

On Sunday, SMS had a conference to go to while I went into the city to have brunch with Brady and Rosa.  We went to the Mission Beach Cafe at Rosa's friend's suggestion and it was wonderful.  Brady got the French Toast for us all to share, I got the egg sandwich and Rosa got the winner dish of classic Egg Benedict.  There are several Bennies on the menu and I will definitely go with one next time I go.  The egg sandwich was good but messy, plus it was on a biscuit which made it slightly too heavy for my tastes.  I still ate it though!  The French Toast was also good, but it's hard to beat my Mom's so that's that.

"A Sunday Afternoon in Dolores Park" by Daniel Doherty '09

The Women's Center

 Afterwards, we walked around the Mission District.  We went to Delores Mission Park and then went to look at a few murals.  First, we walked to the Women's Center on 18th St and then we walked through Clarion Alley.  The last time I had been was in 2010-ish and it's amazing how the murals have changed to reflect activism against rent increase and the "Evils of Tech."  It's awesome to see how dynamic art can be and reflect current issues and controversies.

Clarion Alley

Then we dropped Rosa off and went to the de Young Museum.  We really wanted to see the Turner exhibit and it was really awesome.  I was worried it would be crowded and while it was, I was still able to feel like I saw the paintings in an intentional, measured way rather than feel jostled and rushed.

Brady in front of one of my faves

My favorites were the two Roman paintings of ancient Rome and modern Rome that are paired paintings but currently held by two different institutions so often not displayed together; the "Blue Rigi, Sunrise" which is a watercolor with razor-sharp lines, an amazing technical feat; the "Snow Storm- Steam-Boat Off a Harbor's Mouth" a action-filled swirl of stormy sea; and "Peace- Burial at Sea" which has amazing reflections off the water's surface.

After the museum, we headed home where Brady packed up and the three of us went out to dinner. We went back to San Pedro Market Square (yeah!) where we had Mexican food to mark Brady's last dinner in California, at least for a little while.  We dropped her off at the airport and while it was sad, it was such an awesome visit and she's off to do such great things that I felt really lucky to have had this time with my favorite sister!

[Edited to add: The weekend was a three day fest thanks to Labor Day!  SMS and I headed out to Castle Rock Park and did a lot of climbing.  Well, SMS climbed a lot and I belayed quite a bit- the routes were hard!  Afterwards, we went for a hike which was really beautiful.  Then we went to a local deli for lunch.  It was a great day!]

Loving Mountain View!

Commissary!!!

SMS and I continue to have an awesome time in Mountain View. Work is going well and I was glad to get the first week under my belt.  Also, we found Moffett Field and its still functioning commissary last weekend.  Yeah!  How lucky is it to find a tax-free place for grocery shopping in NorCal?!

Hanger 1 with its outer covering removed, a former Naval Airship hanger

Friday night, I worked out at a nearby Pilates studio. I'm so happy to be doing Pilates again! Afterwards, we went to the Computer Science History Museum for a Friday night food truck and music event. We were there for the last hour so the music was done, but the food trucks were in full-force. There weren't a ton of healthy options (excuses!) and I picked the simultaneously amazing/terrible waffle chicken sandwich with a fried egg and bacon, accented by maple syrup. It was SO DELICIOUS!!!  

Shoreline Park

 Saturday morning, SMS and I headed to Shoreline Park where we walked along the trails circling the lake and bay.  We want to rent a tandem bike some weekend and picnic, but it requires slightly more planning than we had done that weekend.  It was really beautiful and I can't wait to go back.  We also walked along the outside of the historic Rengstorff home.  It's a house formerly owned by a big shipping magnate in the region, although it was moved to its current location several decades ago and fell into disrepair before being restored.  Now, it's a popular wedding site.

A study for the Burghers of Calais, a group of six leaders of Calais who volunteered to surrender
to King Edward III after a long siege.  Although they were to be executed, the were saved by
the intervention of Queen Phillipa.

Aesculapius

After Shoreline, we went over to Stanford. We headed to the Cantor Arts Center and wandered in the Rodin Sculpture garden. It was really awesome.  My favorite Rodin museum is the one in Philadelphia but this one was also impressive.  It has one of the five casts of the Gates of Hell in existence, which is a masterpiece which recapitulates a lot of Rodin's themes and earlier sculptures within it.

We also went up the Stanford clock tower for the view. There was a moderate wait and a nominal $3 charge.  It was a great day- very clear and we could see all  the way to San Francisco.  Although we felt a bit rushed, it was a great sight and maybe we'll go back on a weekday.

Finally, we went to Philz Coffee where we tried a delicious iced coffee mojito.  I know, it sounds so weird but picture a mint mocha (delicious, right?), minus the mocha.  Despite taking away the chocolate, it somehow works and is so tasty and refreshing.  We walked to Trader Joe's and along the way, found a road sign to Opportunity Center.  Here's to that search!

That night, we had a nice BBQ with several friends from our apartment complex.  There was a great assortment of food and I got compliments on my cooking, which I'm always a sucker for!  I also ended up grilling the fish since the guy who brought it was not sure how to grill it and had put it on the grill as a whole fish but not wrapped in foil. I quickly filleted it while it was on the grill and it turned out beautifully and was so tasty. I hope Summer BBQs become a thing because there are really a great group of people here and so different from the medical types I'm so often (happily) surrounded by!

Mitsubishi Ichigokan and Tokyo Tower

My leave started yesterday...hooray! It doesn't feel like as much of a needed break since I've had a few days off already because of the holiday but it is really nice to spend quality time with SMS. I've taken a week off and we're hoping to catch an AMC flight out of here at some point, but for now, we're staying local due to lack of flights.

 Our day got off to a slow start. We had breakfast and headed to base for some errands. Most pressingly, I had to print out my leave chit and gram my orders/DEA in case we went on an AMC flight. We also decided to return some Christmas presents by mail and that's what really slowed us down. Re-packaging, filling out the return labels and filling out customs forms took way longer than it seems it should have. But, we persevered and headed out from base.

First, we stopped in More City, located in the basement of the department store adjacent to Yokosuka-chuo. Not only did mailing things take too long, it also made us hungry! We each got a bento box filled with 3 different types of rice, 2 pickled veggies, 2 small meatballs and a piece of chicken. We finished off the meal with a split order of tako-yaki. Yum!

We hopped on the train and off we went. We took the train to Shinagawa, then hopped on the Yamanote line to Tokyo station. That place is enormous! We exited via the Marunouchi South Exit and walked two drizzly blocks to the museum. On the way, we passed two businessmen who ran into each other on the street. One was middle-aged and the other quite a bit older and the middle-aged man bowed so deeply and held it for so long. The other man must have been very important!

Source

The Mitsubishi Ichigokan museum opened in 2010 and puts on approximately 3 exhibitions a year, mainly from their collection focussing on Western Art of the late 19th century. This corresponds to an era of modernization in Japan, the Meiji period. It's housed in a restoration of the first Western-style office building in the Marunouchi district. It housed the banking department of the Mitsubishi company, although others rented out office space as well. It was torn down in 1968 and rebuilt based on the original plans in the late 2000s.

Screenshot from source

The collection was fantastic!  There were 149 works from Pissaro, Monet, Cezanne, Redon, Toulouse-Lautrec and Vallotton.  Interestingly, in the 1890s, there was a influential show of Japanese woodblocks (ukiyo-e).  Vallotton, in particular, turned to a wood block technique for a lot of his work after the exhibit.

Source

Highlights for me included two beautiful Pissaro paintings of grassy open areas and farm buildings, Claude Monet's "The Evening in the Field/Le soir dans la prairie," and two beautiful color pastels by Odilon Redon.  SMS really liked the Redon's black and white lithographs from the "Dans Reve" collection.  

Source

We had a wonderful time and spent just under two hours there.  Afterwards, we decided to make the most of our travel to Tokyo so we decided to go the Tokyo SkyTree.  We walked back to Tokyo station and took the Yaesu South Exit.  We actually walked through the station, which always causes problems at the ticket exit since we used our PASMO.  But the conductor took it, asked a few questions that we couldn't answer and then coded our cards to let us through.  We walked to the bus loading area where there are numbered pillars.  The bus to Tokyo SkyTree is #4 and costs Y500.  I recommend swiping your PASMO!

At 634m, Tokyo SkyTree is the tallest tower in the world and second-tallest structure after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.  It costs Y2,000 to go to the first platform and an additional Y1,000 to go to the higher, smaller observation deck.  There are children's rates, too.  We decided not to go up since it was drizzly and both the visibility and cloud ceiling were low.  We will be back though!

We walked through "The Japan Experience" displays and walked around the mall called SkyTree town.  We had BiBimBap bowls for dinner, followed by a crepe.  Yum!

Getting home was super-easy.  We headed to the Oshiage station, which is the A1 station on the Toei Asakusa line.  The line turns into the Keikyu limited express to Yokosuka so we didn't have to switch trains and we had a seat the whole way home, which was important since it was the end of rush hour.  This is an awesome piece of information to know since Hyperdia didn't give us that as a route option.  In addition, we can take the Keikyu to Asakusa for our next field trip, since that's an awesome area known for it's "Old Edo" feel!