Are you ready for this, Uniqlo-philes in San Francisco? Our wait is over because the mothership has landed! I don't mean the Uniqlo pop-up store on Post St. I am talking about the first West Coast Uniqlo. This new addition to their global store network opened on Powell St. on Friday at 10 a.m. Lots of people showed up. It was like Friday after Thanksgiving all over again.
There was a long line on Powell St. that snaked around the corner on Ellis St. Mijo got there earlier than I did. He was already in queue when I got there a little after 4 p.m. I didn't think there were this many Uniqlo fans in the city!
I truly love this city at the same time I feel fortunate to live here. I just got over a busy week of carrying our escalation pager at work so it felt like I deserved to relax and enjoy the week after.
Since I was on my own to venture out (Mijo has the pager this week), I decided to take advantage of the great fall weather in the city.It was also the time of the year when the California Academy of Sciences lets locals go in for free. Let me take you on a photo tour of the Academy.
As a continuation of our search for good and refreshing cocktails in the city, Mijo, Jim, Jose and I paid the Nob Hill neighborhood of the city a visit and went to the Top of the Mark at the Mark Hopkins Hotel.
Mijo and I have been to the Top of the Mark but only for Sunday brunch and never for cocktail hour. That is why we didn't have second thoughts when Jim and Jose suggested we go there for our Thursday night cocktail.
Top of the Mark is an elegant and cozy place for a pre-dinner drinks with good friends.
I received another pair of Giants tickets from a raffle draw in the office. This has been the best baseball tickets I have received for free so far.
Not only it was the Giants hosting the Dodgers, not only it was Field Club seating (our first time in that section, by the way), the Giants won the game that night 4-0. And here's one more, the seats were just two rows behind the Giants dugout! Go Giants!
We needed a late lunch break after three consecutive wineries. So after the delicious and lively meal break at the Calistoga Kitchen we hit the road again in search of our fourth and last winery of the day.
This time we went to Ehlers Estate and we were joined by wine enthusiasts Francis and Scott. This certified organic winery has very well rounded Cabernet Sauvignons.
Our third stop to our Napa Valley wine tasting trip with our friends Bob and Bren was at Envy Wines. At this time, the morning fog in the valley burned off and the sky was blue and the temperature got warmer. Also at this time, I was getting a little buzzed which was not surprising because we only had a light breakfast plus we started wine tasting early. Envy Wines has good selections of red and white wines.
The second stop to our Napa Valley wine tasting trip with our friends Bob and Bren was at Chateau Montelena. We came to Chateau Montelena because of the movie Bottle Shock which is based on a true story where a Chardonnay from this winery (and another California winery) won a Paris blind tasting in 1976.
Guess what? I've tasted here one of the best Cabernet Sauvignons.