Halfway through our Japan trip, we had such a lovely time in Kyoto. It’s quite the darling of Japanese cities, as we enjoyed plenty of its historical attractions, food, shopping, and even some nature. Anchoring it all was our stay at the Ace Hotel Kyoto. Something about this West Coast American (from Portland) property in…
From the quiet, meditative spaces of the art islands, we traveled straight into the center of the chaos when we took a shinkansen into Osaka. The trains were all nearly full, as it seems like everyone else was also going back to the big city after their New Year’s breaks. We spent only two nights…
I first heard of Japan’s art islands when my friends visited a couple years ago and declared it their favorite place in the entire world. The islands of Naoshima and Teshima are set in the Inland Sea, west of Osaka. They require at minimum a train and a ferry– half a day’s travel– to reach,…
We flew out on Christmas night, skipping over the 26th and arriving the morning of the 27th in Taipei. I hadn’t been to Taiwan since before the pandemic, and Alex hadn’t been in a decade. This would be our first Asia trip together! After dropping off our luggage at the hotel in Gongguan, we then…
2024 was a very full year, packed with adventures near and far and projects large and small. We traveled to Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Taos, New Mexico for a ski trip in February. We visited Tampa Bay and Miami for baseball stadiums number 25 and 26 in April and Kansas City for the 27th in September….
December recap! We actually began the month in Los Angeles and ended it in Taipei. But here are some of our adventures around the Bay in between. Our new-old Barbour jackets we got from Goodfight! Mine a re-loved and Alex’s is new. Time to go pick up our very first fake Christmas tree. The Garrisons…
I read 40 books in 2024. It was a great year for thoughtful memoirs and eye-opening nonfiction, as well as some imaginative novels. Book covers in the graphic above are arranged from favorite (top left) to least favorite (bottom right). Below are some recaps for a couple of my favorites, which all happen to be…
Second Thanksgiving has been an annual tradition with the Yaus since 2011. It happens the Saturday after Thanksgiving, with a full new Thanksgiving feast (not leftovers– that’s for Sunday) and an ever-expanding group of friends and their little ones in attendance. For me it has become a signpost, marking the years with a trek down…
November recap! We begin with pizza at Rose’s in the Mission. Cassie came over for a first-time knitting tutorial. Just in time for her to work at polls on election day. A special meal at Rintaro for their 10-year anniversary, featuring house-made soba Cassie and I visited Nancy at her coworking space inside the Ferry…
We did it! Almost a year after we started, we finally completed the Crosstown Trail. Our friend Cindy joined Alex and me for this fifth and final leg of the hike, walking from Park Presidio in The Richmond, passing by Baker Beach, and ending at Sutro Baths. First, we met at Breadbelly in the Richmond…
Alex and I embarked on section four of five of the Crosstown Trail back in November, squeezing it in before we left on our travels for the rest of the year. Section four took us from the Sunset up through the Richmond via a cross section of Golden Gate Park. Not the most spectacular part…
One week after we completed section two of the Crosstown Trail, we resumed the hike with section three: “the stair section!” I wouldn’t have guessed it would be my favorite section (since walking up and down a ton of stairs doesn’t sound all that fun), but it turned out to be absolutely beautiful and charming!…