Quantrell is poppin'

Right now I am definitely sad, yet glad that I am heading back down to Irvine in a few hours, but I never realized that break would be pulled from underneath me in a blink of an eye.

San Francisco 2009.
Hmm.. another spring break that I will never forget.
Spontaneity \ˌspän-tə-ˈnē-ə-tē, -ˈnā-\: arising from a momentary impulse
If I had to choose one word that defined our trip, this would be it.

It all started with the little facebook status feature, who knew they would come in handy and create something I would cherish for a lifetime. I could never forget how within a matter of 16 hours we were planning our trip to norcal for a 3 day, 2 night trip. Unusual to me because I am a total programmer - there is no such word as spontaneity in my vocabulary. However, the RA team has definitely challenged me on that one this year, which I am very happy about. Our journey consisted of the two 6 hour drives that John, Andy, and I made up and down California, making it a whopping 12 hours on the road and 800 miles. From the loud, "cray cray" singing we did, to the talks, Andy's obsession with his second Twilight book, and even the tumbleweeds rolling around the highway 5. Indeed, this is something we can never forget.

Alas, our destination, Millbrae, CA - home to Eric Kim. It is indeed a quaint little town that according to Eric is only 3 miles long. To me, it reminded me of the SFV, but 10 years in the past; apparently, in norcal, Luckys markets still exist, brings back the good ol' days, the kids who live in this town do exactly what the upper west side of the Valley does - go to the malls, hang out at each others houses, and watch movies. The theme of this trip was "give us things only available in norcal, not socal". Our first night, dinner at Happy Chef, a fusion of Chinese and Korean foods. We ran into Eric's dad at this restaurant too, funny because this was the only time we got to see his dad. All in all satisfied dinner, we were also watching the Korea vs. Japan World Baseball Finals as well. After lounging around a little, we decided to go into the city a little with some suggestions from our friend, Ken Tran we went to a Chinese dessert place called Creations on 16th and Geary. [It was John's favorite place, hahaha just kidding.] We also saw the Castro District of SF, I'm sure this area is different in the day than at night around 11PM.

Then comes our adventures at Safeway. hahahaha! What we bought at Safeway, I cannot disclose, but just put two and two together - we are college students, some who are over 21, all bored in suburbia, you get the picture. Finding a place to hang out made us think back to our high school days, but it was still a fun night. Our late night talks were so random and fun as well, from just being in Eric's sister's room, goofing around.

Our first official day begins on Tuesday at 9AM. After getting ready, and trying to make 3 boys wake up, this questioned how I would do with sons. hahaha. We went to Millbrae Pancake House (MPH!) for breakfast. The minute you walk into the restaurant you see 70s styled wood paneling and a restaurant filled friendly old people. Pancakes were definitely satisfying and a VERY good break away from commons! I consider Commons breakfast to be the best meal that they offer, but MPH was definitely something better. Yum.

We get on the Bart by around 11AM after a 40 min. ride we arrive at the Powell stop in the heart of San Francisco!!! On the Bart, we were discussing how people from norcal don't include the article "the" when describing objects. In socal, we would say, get on THE Bart or go on THE 405, but people in norcal say, get on Bart or go on 405... interesting how cultures are so different in two sections of metropolitan California.

When we got to San Francisco, all our traveling was done either through walking or public transportation, something I have never done when I travel; my family usually gets a rental car, but that is probably because it is more convenient. I realize our trip was amazing because of the times we spent walking and taking crazy pictures. I mean, when would we ever have another trip like this to SF with amazing friends...?

The weather was definitely in our favor, it was as if we never left socal. In SF, our first adventure was a view of Union Square and trotting up and down the crazyy hills of SF arriving in Chinatown, the biggest in the U.S. We walked 3 miles into Chinatown with the many Chinese women trying to lure us into their restaurants, passed Lombard St., crooked street going downhill in SF, then finally at Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf filled with tourists and silver and gold men who acted like statues. I also got a little surprise when I ran into a few of the Puentenians from last year at the Wharf. :) We walked to Ghirardelli Square, sat down for two minutes and left to go to Alamo Square.

Alamo Square is the park that the beginning of Full House was filmed when they are having their picnic in front of the SF styled colorful houses. I remember the night before when I was talking to John, he was so passionate about going to Alamo Sq. to see the Painted Ladies. When we got there, it was so beautiful and peaceful might I add. Breezyyy and just perfect.

Next onward ho to Haight&Ashbury. We definitely got to see more of the SF culture here, but I think all of us were really tired by then. Haight has a lot to offer from their shops to the people walking on the street. I think throughout this trip, and even later we thanked Andy and his iphone for not getting us losted during the trip. hahaha We then went to Pluto's Food for a Hungry Universe - had some yummy sandwichs and salad. I think we all felt a little rejuvinized after lunch/dinner. One of our final attractions was THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE. I think all of us were thinking that we might skip the bridge because we did technically see it from Ghirardelli Square. Walking on the bridge was nice, however more scary than nice. For someone who is scared of heights it's no bueno, but how could someone resist such an amazing structure. :)

After the bridge, we went back to Union Square, bought some cheesecake for Eric's family and all their last minute sincerity, and went heading back on BART. We had some more late night cravings at Thai Sticks and McDonalds, then called it a night.

Next day, I woke up to a face that was as big as a balloon - never eating passed 7PM ever again. hahaha Oh wells. We bid Eric farewell from his amazing house, and were off to see Christa in CASTRO VALLEY. Castro Valley is definitely suburbia part dos filled with hills, it actually reminded me and Andy of Porter Ranch. Funny because John was mentioning how all our houses were located on hills everyone - me, Andy, Eric, and Christa. We went to Pyzano's Pizza place - the record holder for the most amount of spins of pizza dough. The pizza was good, try it if you're ever in Castro Valley. To put a cherry on top after pizza, we hit up dessert at Loard's Ice Cream place. We bid Christa good bye, and hit the road.

So, I realized while going through my pictures that the boys are so cooperative in taking them. I'm definitely one that likes to snap shots of everything, and they followed so nicely! Thank you John Kim, Andy Chung, and Eric Kim - you totally made my break worthwhile. :)

Fin.