Summer finally warmed up for us Bay Area folk. I’ve always wanted to go to a mid-week baseball day game, & now my wish has been fulfilled this season. We were lucky that on the most comfortable day this summer, our company bought a whole bunch of bleacher seats at the Giants game. After the success of our company’s outrageous anniversary party, our CEO thought it would be a blast to throw another company function. Baseball during work hours? Yes, please!

The game itself was good. You have to appreciate good baseball, even if it’s not played by your favorite team. The Giants stuck it out with the red-hot Cincinnati Reds, coming back to tie it up in the 11th inning after being killed earlier in the game.

Many of you know where my alliances lie, but visiting AT&T Park is always a treat. They have nicer things on this side of the Bay. The garlic fries, for example, can’t be beat.

Best part? Hanging out with good people from work. It’s nice to stretch out my legs outside the office, even though our office environment is far from being overly formal. I may have gone a bit overboard with my energy level, but I absolutely love baseball & it becomes hard to contain myself. Oh well, at least with that, I was able to get us on the big screen! (Not the first time this happened!)

It all started with the Creme Brulee Cart (@cremebruleecart). Though we still have yet to try it, it was the catalyst for our now growing food cart obsession. So when we heard about the SF Street Food Fest in the Mission last Saturday, we had to check it out.

The festival had a nice mix of established restaurants and food carts (a.k.a. taco trucks) selling a wide variety of foods representing a wide variety of cuisines spreading across the globe. The beautiful weather and the great vibe at the festival made it easy for us to spend several hours eating, people watching and soaking up the sun.

Some of our favorite street foods include: Roli Roti for their porchetta sandwich (we waited for 50 minutes at the festival and it was worth it), Curry Up Now for their deconstructed samosa (Ian recommends ordering online), Hapa SF for their sisig tacos, and Seoul on Wheels for their Korean tacos.

Next festival: this weekend at the Eat Real Fest in Oakland. Hopefully this time we can get to the Creme Brulee Cart before it sells out!

I love summer parties when they’re set up in our front yard. We’ve been in San Mateo for nearly two years, & we’ve noticed the downtown community tries to keep the spirit of the city alive through free events & street festivals throughout these warm months. A few weeks ago, the San Mateo Festa Foundation threw their annual Festa Italiana Community Street Fair just down the street from our apartment. A perfect way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon.

The event had its share of adult activities—specifically the wine kiosks—but it was geared mainly for families & the little ones. Ice cream booths, foods on a stick & cannoli vendors abound for a quick pick-up-&-go atmosphere. Shiny plastic toys & bubble machines kept the children lively & jumping around from booth to booth. To top off the carnival-type atmosphere, there were even some kiddie rides set up right in front of the San Mateo train station. My sister’s family came to visit—a perfect type of event for two young parents, an infant, & a toddler.

The best part? When we got tired, we just picked up our stuff & made the five-minute walk back to our apartment to put up our feet. The little baby needed to stretch out outside of the carriage anyway.

Do we plan to go again next year? Most likely. It’s definitely not a huge festival by any means, but it’s a good reason to have people sample what downtown San Mateo has to offer.

If there’s any reason to give up our early Sunday morning, it’s gotta be for a good cause, & it doesn’t get better than the annual AIDS Walk up in San Francisco. At this year’s AIDS walk, 25,000 volunteer walkers raised $3 million. We were proud to a part of that number.

Cindy joined the Google walk team & tagged along with her fellow Googler Amy, her friend Jason & her little pomeranian Marco. As a member of her team, she raised funds toward AIDS research. Thanks to all her friends & family who sponsored her as a walker!

We walked away (pun intended?) feeling good at the end of the day because:

• we helped an organization & research toward ending a long-standing epidemic
• our mere attendance is the best support we can provide for huge events like this
• we got some good exercise (Golden Gate Park’s punishing hills are a killer for your legs)
• it gave us a reason to visit San Francisco

The best part about visiting the City is sampling the diverse dining. On the way to our car, we unwounded with lunch on 9th avenue at Bistro 9.

Good news, everyone! We finally uploaded the photos. We’ve been out & about entertaining out of town guests since the conclusion of the party, so but now we’ve finally found the time to upload these lovely photos! We even hired a photographer this time around!

Check them out on our wedding page.

Everyone but my mom has seen our new place. Mother’s Day would be the perfect opportunity to show her our new digs, so we invited the family over to come celebrate with a patio barbecue.

It was the best day ever. Not only did we have good food, but A’s pitcher Dallas Braden throws a perfect game! Being a good son & a gracious host, of course, I TiVo-ed the game while I had company & watched it after they left.

Crazy thing after that: my sister has a her baby 10 days earlier than expected! Now she’ll get to celebrate Mother’s Day with her new baby.

A few weeks ago, our office video expert & former teammate Brendan left the company for bigger opportunities. Since we love him so much, the company threw him a nice party in the middle of the day. I photographed most of these shots using his Canon 7D. A truly bittersweet moment: sad to see him leave, but he has a sweet camera (did I use that word properly?).

We’ll miss you around the office, Brendo!

Even when I’m not in Oakland catching an A’s game, I’m always trying to find a way to get my baseball fix. When my uncle told me my young cousin started little league, we didn’t hesitate to catch his early morning games across the bridge in Hayward. My little niece Ava shared our enthusiasm as well,  so we took her along to go see him play for the Hayward Athletics (can’t go wrong with a name like that!).

At the game we watched, he was the only player to hit a home run, & he caught a good game to boot.

Ava didn’t understand the rules of the game, so she made friends with a five-year-old girl she met at the ballgame. She didn’t absorb as much baseball as we did, but had just as much fun!

I’m a Team CoCo fan for life. Believe that. That’s us in the photo above, on our feet for most of the show.

Not too long after his tour tickets were up for sale, I immediately rounded up a few people to come cheer, chant, & laugh with me. Clay & Marvin were those winners. As expected, the show itself was hilarious. I won’t go into the details so I won’t spoil it for friends who have tickets for the San Jose show.

The San Francisco crowd was a bit lackluster for our tastes, so we were probably the loudest people on the second deck of the theatre. It was a perfect opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation with Conan. In between a joke, when there was a hush in the crowd, I hollered:

me: Conan, we love your beard!

Conan: What’s that, sir?

me: (louder) We love your beard!

Conan: I’m glad you do. A lot of people don’t really like it…I look like the Brawny paper towel guy after a bone marrow transplant.

We had our fun. Again, without spoiling too much of the show, a stage personality was holding a handheld camera to showcase ‘groupies’ to be shown on the big screen behind Conan. I jumped out of my seat, screaming, & pointing to myself. Yep, I got us on big screen at the show. Too bad I didn’t get to do anything cool except scream like a little girl.

We tried to maximize our time after the show, hoping that Conan would make a surprise visit in the lobby (wishful thinking). We stuck around long enough to a point where we were forced to leave, so we finally started the slow journey down a few blocks to the garage. Toward the end of the block, however, was a small group of people waiting behind an imaginary line. “Conan’s coming out? We’re not in a rush to get home. Let’s stay for a bit.” These people were, in fact, waiting for Conan to leave his dressing room to the unmarked white vans waiting for him & his entourage.

Some of you may know that I collect signatures on my iPhone. I’d use this opportunity to do the same, especially since I wasn’t equipped with a pen anyway. After about 15 minutes of waiting on the sidewalk, he comes out:

I shove my iPhone in his face, hoping he will leave his mark on my screen with a drawing app I had open. After giving signatures the traditional way with the pen & paper, he looks at my phone.

Conan: So…what am I supposed to do with this?

me: You can use your finger to sign my phone.

He looks at the phone, confused. He’s still holding a silver ink Sharpie from a previous signature. He flips over my phone.

Conan: What if I just sign the back of this phone? That actually makes a bit more sense.

me: (reluctantly) Umm…okay. That will work, too.

Behold, the ultimate souvenir of the night. I may need to clearcoat or laminate this:

As he boards his white van, I used Clay’s phone to take a picture. When you hold down the shutter button, a big bright light illuminates the subject. Conan used that as a cue to turn to me & pose with a big open smile & a thumbs-up. I took two exposures, but this blurry mess was the better of the two, sadly:

As he was driving away, I thanked him for a good show & a lovely evening in a way only a true Conebone fan could—I looked him in the eyes & started chanting: Circle! Circle! Circle!, but then was quickly silenced by security because we were disturbing the Nob Hill residents who go to bed at 8:30pm.

I’m a Team CoCo fan for life.

Just when I thought I was going to wrap up my weekend, Randy texts me, saying that the guys were in town for dessert. Mae & Dave were in the group, & I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to congratulate the newlyweds (they just got married on Saturday—congrats!). The only place open at 11:00pm on a Sunday night was the ABC Bakery Cafe in Downtown San Mateo. It was a pretty quiet night in the shop. The food was good, but lacked a bit on the bakery side.

The private upstairs party was another story. Andrew asked the waitstaff what was going on, & he said that an actress from Hong Kong was named Fiona Sit was in the store, but we—as well as most of the staff—weren’t allowed to go upstairs to take a peek. Feeling giddy, we wait for a moment to see what she’s all about. About an hour after sitting & eating, a young lady walks down the stairs to the restrooms wearing some gold boots. Couldn’t miss her.

Good thing I had my Canon 5D on hand. Thanks to Andrew for asking if we can take a picture with her. She was a nice gal, even congratulating Mae & Dave for the big plunge.

Now we’re all part of the Fiona Sit fan club.