秋が来ると木の葉が赤くなります

This weekend marks the beginning of Autumn. And this means warm colours in the trees, rainfall, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin pancakes, warm breakfasts and cool evenings. Just yesterday the mist in the air was so thick I was sure it was going to rain, as I made my way up 19th Avenue to a friend's house for the perfect brunch to usher in the new season.

Firstly, my friend's house is down the road from Campus, next to a busy street. The sound of cars and muni cable cars running by filled my senses with the sounds of the city, and the cool air on my face with droplets of rain felt like a fresh wash to my skin. I do believe, however, it's time for me to break out my peacoat. I was quite chilly. The house is tucked in between a row of many other homes, and the front door is up a curling flight of deep red steps with a thin, swirling white hand railing. The house is small and cozy, comfortable with marble countertops in the kitchen and black stove tops and a microwave. The smell of pumpkin spice waffles hung in the air as I walked in.

We wasted no time setting the table and chatting about the long gone summer. It was great to be able to see friends I hadn't seen since the day I left for Santa Barbara, and hear about the wonderful things they had had the opportunity to do. One friend in particular, was able to work with No More Deaths in Arizona for two weeks, and her stories literally moved me. She had had the beautiful opportunity of working closely with adults and youth, in an environment of tension and struggle, making a seemingly small, but turly meaningful impact during her summer. 

 The main course of brunch was Pumpkin waffles. I love pumpkin waffles now, and I kind of don't know why I hadn't eaten them in previous fall seasons. They are perfect with sweetness of the pumpkin, and spiciness of the cloves, nutmeg, and cinnoman.

 And there's no better pairing with waffles than a maple agave syrup blend, some freshly cut strawberries, and vegetarian sausage patties. Breakfast was delightful, and our conversation, even more.  Autumn has arrived, and even today, the fall season has graced campus with some rain and calming grey skies.
Hello San Francisco Autumn, Hello rain.

Last Sunshine

Last weekend, my best friend came up to San Francisco to visit me before his trek to Seattle to start up school again. We visited many of my favorite places, Dolores Park, Philz in the Castro, and Thorough Bread Bakery&Cafe. We started our adventure right after church service on what had turned out to be a chilly but gorgeous nontheless Sunday. There was a layer of fog creeping over the hills into the city, and the sun was shining warmly against the wind of the afternoon.

My Not-so-Classic Lemon Tart 

Now, I've mentioned Thorough Bread Bakery&Cafe before, they always have the most impeccable sandwiches and desserts!

As usual, I'm one for a classic dessert, while my friend is always more of the adventurous type. I indulged in a very smooth lemon bar, lined with two intertwining stripes of dark chocolate. What I love about Thorough Bread is that their desserts look so carefully crafted and are fun to eat. Under the lemon creme layer, I was delighted to discover a decadent sheet of white chocolate on the pastry crust. My classic choice had turned out to be full of delicious surprises.

His Adventurous Raspberry White Chocolate Cake

 My friend took the adventurous route, as I before mentioned, and delved into a raspberry and white chocolate sponge cake filled with a fresh, tart raspberry jelly and a creme layer. The taste of this dessert was unlike anything I have ever had before, with the perfect blend of light as air creme, and fruit that was tart without a painful bite to it. The texture was delicate, the flavor rich, balanced carefully with softness. I had not expected such an intricate dessert to have such a simple blend of flavors. It was quite sad taking it apart, as it looked like something you'd see in a museum.

What do you see in this cloud? 

Once we had left Thorough Bread, we headed down to Dolores Park, one of my favorite places in the city to spend time on a sunny afternoon. We fell on our backs on the green hillscape, stared curiously up into the sky. I haven't played that game where you find animals and people in the clouds since I was a kid, and I was happy to reunite with a piece of my childhood. We found lions, turtles, birds, just about everything, even a Chinese dragon.

The sun was warm, I must have fallen asleep for a bit. It was definitely a rare day, and I could have stayed on that hill scape forever, with faint music in the background, laughter and conversation drifting on the wind, the sights of the clouds and the warmth of the sun, and my best friend silent by me.

Eventually, we had to leave the hillscape of Dolores Park, and as the wind picked up and the fog rolled in, we decided to stop for a delicious cup of coffee at Philz. Philz is fantastic in my opinion, because of the way they make thier coffee, in an old fashioned but unique drip style. Thier selection of coffees and spot-on descriptions of flavors leave you wanting to order just about everything on the menu, and their choice of cream and sugar is wonderful and delicious. 

I ordered something I hadn't before: Ambrosia. And I definitely recommend it to everyone. It is a medium brew, if I remember correctly, but just has a delicious natural sweetness, and again, with thier delicious choices of cream and sugar, makes for a soothing cup of coffee that warmed every bone in my body.

We made our way back to the train station, through the sweet streets of the Castro district, admiring the bay windows and vibrant colors of each house. I would like to live here someday, I thought. And I feel that I'd be happy with probably any house in the city, as long as it came with a bay window. Maybe I'm simple-minded or easy to please, and maybe that's not the best thing, but I don't mind. It was a wonderful Sunday, that day. Lately the sun has been following us, and the days are getting warmer, September Summer is truly present, making me want to strike out for perfect days like this one was.

Here at State, the work is starting to pile on thick, and I've noticed I don't really feel as ambitious towards my studies as I did last semester, I'm wondering what this means, if it means anything for me at all. I'm working to at least go through the motions of applying myself. I'm not bored here, I'm just preoccupied with other things. That's my excuse. I'm sure that things will be alright though. Once I start working  on where I've fallen behind, it will seem easier than when I'm faced with a mountain of unfinished assignments, not just in school, but in life.

Happy Friday

September is upon us in San Francisco. This is my first September up here, and I have to admit, it is kind of like summer. I was rather skeptical when people said that the rest of California's autumn is San Francisco's summer. But the sun is indeed out, and the weather gets progressively warmer up until about 2pm, then a fog sweeps in and chills the city a bit. I've concluded that the weather here is perfect right now, not too hot, and not too cold, a half and half blend of sun and clouds (like dark chocolate and white chocolate or something like that...), I am thoroughly enjoying the weather up here in San Francisco.

Classes have been moving at a much quicker pace than I remember them moving at last semester. Perhaps many a professor does indeed get re-energized from a summer vacation. I'm already feeling as though I can't keep up with them, mostly in their lectures, but doing assignments is a special skill I've honed over the past few years, so I'm not too worried.

Things with City Cru will be picking up quite soon, and I have to say I'm extremely excited to do some campus ministry. We'll be starting up small groups and weekly meetings, I'm particularly looking forward to a prayer and worship night we have coming up this weekend, it'll be great. Amidst all the business our group is going through right now, I have to confess it's been a little lonely this semester. Almost all the great and wonderful friends I made last semester have moved off campus, and getting together with them is even more difficult now than it was in the Spring with our conflicting schedules. I really miss being able to walk five minutes and be at my friends place, hang out with them all weekend, and just have a great time. This change in dynamic is something I can't say I was prepared for at all. But nevertheless, there are many new friends I'm starting to make, as City Cru is growing, and as my church is growing as well. I'm not going to worry about it at all.

This weekend I have so many plans, one of those plans was to talk about last weekend. But sadly my photo-taking cellular device has been giving me a difficult time. Last Friday my friends and I went on a very fun ice cream tasting tour that I  had taken photos silly of! Hopefully that will work out soon. You can look forward to it with me!

And with Labor Day weekend here, I took the time to discover the hidden gem of FREE THINGS TO DO IN SAN FRANCISCO. Oh my! Here are some things that I find quite interesting:

- Asian Art Museum has FREE admission this Sunday from 4pm-10pm / Special Exhibits are only $5
- Food Truck Festival is back in Fort Mason! The Event is free, bring money for food of course
- Japantown is hosting an Alternative Music Fest Sunday from 12pm-5pm featuring all kinds of electro artists.
- Doin it in the Park at Golden Gate Park is also this weekend, with free BBQ, free music, and it's a family friendly event!

As a  poor college student, I have to say that getting in the know about things to do in the city for free just makes me so excited!

Happiest of Fridays to Everyone.