Jessie and I planned a San Francisco trip so that we could check out the Takashi Murakami at the Asian Art Museum and Yayoi Kusama exhibit at SF MOMA. Grace also flew up to join for an art and foodie fun-filled weekend adventure.
The first two nights we stayed in Pleasant Hill to be near Chrystal, Benji, and Sebby. We had Lanzhou lamian (noodles) the first night. I couldn’t believe that Sebby is 14 already! The most hilarious moment was when all 3 of them were playing Pokemon in a coordinated manner. I’m glad I got to capture that moment. Talk about addictions.
Our weekend adventures began with Ariscault croissants. We indulged in buttery, nutty, blackberry hazelnut croissants. This was my first time seeing a dedicated exhibit to Murakami’s work and the theme was “Monsters.” The walls and sculptures were filled with extravagant, cartoonish, colorful details. He also had many Buddhist references embedded in his artwork. Afterwards, we headed over to Brandon Jew’s fast causal restaurant, Mamahuhu. Loved their mapo tofu and sweet & sour chicken dish, quintessential Chinese-American comfort food. With full bellies, we headed over to SF MOMA to check out the Yayoi exhibit. It basically was just 2 room installations and one deconstructed piece of a polkdot pumpkin that was a bit underwhelming. I found the other exhibit from Pacita Abad to be more intriguing. It consisted of multimedia on textiles canvases descending from the ceiling and adorning the walls with intricate beautiful pieces. Luckily we caught this exhibit on the last day.
In the evening, we hit up Thanh Long to take advantage of dungeness crab season. I got to see Tina, Kim and their two girls as well. We each consumed nearly buttery, garlicky crab with garlic noodles. The next morning we went on a dim sum adventure at Fusion Delight . It’s a favorite from my aunt and now both Chrystal, Benji, and Jeff go to spot. Their Peking Duck was on point and this time we ordered 2. (Last year they forgot to put in my order!) We filled the lazy susan upon layers and layers of dim sum stacked up high. Dim sum is the ultimate best lunch spot for big groups! Tina and Kim’s little one, Mia loved Benji. That evening we went for a fancy dinner with me, Grace, Tina, and Jeff at 7 Adams. It was a new, up and coming popular spot. It was $87/pp for a tasting menu. The dishes were beautiful. I ordered the black cod dish with sun chokes. But nothing really stood out and was that memorable to me. But I was surrounded by delightful company and that’s what all matters.
Travelogue 