For lunch, Papa and I walked over to South Park Cafe (108 S Park St, San Francisco, CA‎ - (415) 495-7275‎). Neither of us had tried their food before so we were eager to try a new experience. I ordered the "Pig Salad" (pork confit, shallots, apples, mixed greens, and mustard vinaigrette). It was really tasty and I loved the crispy texture of the pork with the spicy dressing.

One thing that I was surprised by was the orange juice at South Park Cafe. I ordered a large orange juice for $3. I expected a 12 ounce glass of fresh squeezed for that price. What I got was a 6-8 ounce glass with some ice in it filled with orange juice from a Welch's shelf stable (read "super-pasteurized") bottle. There are so many things wrong with this. It's $3. If that's a large glass, what's a small? Ice in orange juice? Diluting orange juice is a sure way to make it taste… well, bad. The orange juice should have been chilled. For that matter, it shouldn't have been from a shelf stable bottle. At least give me Tropicana or something that's not reconstituted from concentrate.

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What I Ate: January 12, 2009 (South Park Cafe)

While driving from Los Angeles to Santa Clara after Christmas 2004, I watched these storm clouds come over the fields. I pulled over and setup for this shot. Unfortunately, I had a dirty sensor and there are several spots that need cleaning up. Even at this low resolution there's a large spot apparent in the middle of the frame.

Tripod, 1/200 sec at f/11 on ISO 800, 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6 lens with 2-stop graduated ND filter

After church, I grilled up some chicken drumsticks that I had marinated previously in a salt water and lime juice solution.

While the chicken was grilling, I sauteed a medley of zucchini and white bush squash with some diced onion and minced garlic.

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What I Ate: January 11, 2009

I spotted this collection of kegs (about 25 in all) behind a tent selling beer at the Campbell Oktoberfest.

Handheld, 1/125 sec at f/5.6 on ISO 100, 70-200mm f/2.8 lens

We went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button [4.25/5.00] and grabbed some food from World Wrapps in the same plaza. I ordered a Spicy Southwest Shrimp that I didn't particularly like. Also had a Sprite from the movie theater.

We brought our Turkey Pot Pie leftovers over to Dave W. and Rachel's place to have dinner together. (That's the last of the Turkey Pot Pie…)

Here's another shot from Smitty's Market in Lockhart, Texas. Sausages (or as they call them: hot rings) are being repositioned in the giant smoker by an employee.

Handheld, 1/40 sec at f/1.8 on ISO 2000, 85mm f/1.8 lens

For lunch, I heated up some of the ruote that I cooked before along with an ample serving of my meat sauce.

I had made a reservation at Parcel 104 in Santa Clara for dinner. During the 6+ years that I worked at Intel, I would pass by this restaurant once in a while - once even stepping in accidentally when I was trying to find a conference room for a meeting in the Marriott Hotel that it's inside. Only recently (the last couple years) had I heard about how they were doing good fine dining with fresh (usually local) ingredients. I was eager to try the food and was pleasantly surprised by not only the quality of the cuisine, but the friendliness of the wait staff as well as the eagerness of the chefs to talk about their food (I spoke to Anthony Ippolito, Parcel 104's Chef de Cuisine, and Carlos Sanchez (one of two chef's who started Parcel 104 7 years ago), the Pastry Chef).

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What I Ate: January 9, 2009 (Parcel 104)

I snapped this photo of people playing with iPod touch devices in the Apple Store (where apparently, you're not allowed to take pictures).

Handheld, 1/60 sec at f/2.8 on ISO 320, 17-35mm f/2.8 lens

Papa and I walked over to Pasta Paradiso at 180 Spear Street for lunch. I had the Thursday special Grilled Shrimp Salad (with feta, olives, onion, and tomatoes over mixed greens). I hadn't eaten at Pasta Paradiso before, but I think I'll go back for lunch again in the near future. The shrimp was slightly overcooked, but flavorful. The entire salad was quite tasty.

Before driving home, I heated up some left over chili and eat it with the bread that came with my salad.

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What I Ate: January 8, 2009 (Pasta Paradiso)

I guess I never noticed them before, but apparently wasps have a lot of hair on their backs. This wasp landed on a turkey drumstick I was holding and naturally I had to take a picture. Since my right hand was dirty (from the turkey drumstick), I held the camera in my left hand - which was no easy feat. I had to wrap my wrist underneath the lens (for support) and hold the camera with my left hand on the right side of the camera body so I could press the shutter release.

Handheld, 1/750 sec at f/3.8 on ISO 100, 105mm f/2.8 macro lens