SF in the New Year

Happy New Year, everyone! 2008 was a hell of a year, and I am glad to put it behind me, although I remain grateful for what it taught me. Here's to a light-filled 2009.

Over vacation, my family took a couple days to hang out in San Francisco. We stayed at a nice little hotel in Japantown, the Hotel Kabuki. The first part of our trip was rather Asian-themed, the second more food-themed. Well, things are always food-themed in my family!

Asiatica

This is the Asian Art Museum, located across a green from SF City Hall.
The special exhibit was "Afghanistan", which was great, but I was not allowed to take any photos.

This is from the Korean Art section, with various sculptures - many of them fabric and paper.

Delicate paper slippers. The character for "woman" is on the soles.

Detail from an illumination in the Islamic Art room.

Katsu donburi. Fried pork cutlet on rice, with onions and egg. Mmmmmm.

When in Japantown . . . This is my mom, being silly.

Making Taiyaki - fish-shaped pancakes filled with red-bean paste.
We had these in the morning - a perfect breakfast food.

The Farmer's Market

The Ferry Building, on Embarcadero, houses a fantastic farmer's market on Saturday,
along with a kazillion gourmet food shops. It was heaven!

Haven't you always wanted to eat pink mushrooms?

Fresh oysters. I had one and it was absolutely delicious. Just $1.50 a pop!

People mingle and eat whatever goodies they've bought (and samples they've scrounged - they're very generous with the samples there) at the market in this gorgeous setting behind the Ferry Building.

Oh-so-California.

Mom & sis, eating lunch on the sidewalk.

And here are some treasures we brought home to enjoy:

Mochi! The two on the left are what I call "inside-out" mochi - they're a piece of mochi wrapped in red-bean paste. The one on the right is a chestnut flavored mochi. There's a great mochi shop in the Japantown mall, filled with countless kinds of mochi.

A tea set my mom brought home. She says she likes its serene colors.