Wine-tasting in Napa Valley & Sonoma

While in San Francisco, you could spend a day and join a wine-tasting tour in Napa Valley and Sonoma.

We were able to visit 3 wineries - Madonna Estate, Viansa and Cline - some of their wines are award-winning (but couldn't remember which ones! haha...). 

 

We sampled several varieties - Zinfandel, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon - but it's so funny, I couldn't distinguish one from another! I better stick to just drinking dessert wine. Haha...  Plus, I can't really remember the names anyway. Haha...

 

A tip I learned about wine storage from the tour is to never store wine upright. The wine has to come in contact with the cork to regulate the air flow. If it doesn't come in contact with the cork for long time, too much air will flow in and out, making your wine taste flat. Chardonnay, however, has to be stored upright.  See, I was listening during the tour.  Hehe....

 

During the wine tour, they also served cheese.  I enjoyed tasting all kinds of cheese. Yum!

  
We also stopped over the Sonoma county for lunch. It's a quaint village of houses with white picket fences and neatly-manicured lawns. 

Since we had a 2-hour lunch break, we had enough time to visit the county's historical sites.

 The photo below used to be a barrack but it looks more like Zorro's home to me. haha...).

As soon as we boarded the tour bus heading back to San Francisco, I dozed off! I was so drowsy from the wine-drinking.   Haha... I only woke up when I heard the announcement that we had to get off the bus. Wahaha...

LA and San Francisco Diaries

(Sorry, I don't have a lot of photos to share since my SD card malfunctioned and sadly, photos from the entire LA leg and my first 2 days in SFO got deleted. Huhu...)

LA Diaries


1. I attended a wedding of a friend at the Portofino Hotel & Yacht Club (a nice boutique hotel in the Redondo beach area). I was part of  the entourage (my 12th time to be a bridesmaid! And you thought the movie "27 dresses" was exaggerated. Haha...).  

2. Shopping. I thought I wouldn't be tempted to shop because you can practically buy everything in Manila now but when you see the marked-down prices, it's so tempting!

I was able to buy Old Navy shorts for only USD1.99/pair! Obviously, I go straight to clearance racks! haha...

My new shopping discoveries are Michael's for art supplies, Staples for office supplies, Nordstrom Rack for shoes and accessories, and Ross for toys.  I've yet to visit outlet stores.

3. Foodtrip. My first few days were a struggle because I had to control my appetite since I might not fit into my gown. Haha...

So far, we've eaten at Soup Plantation (soup, salad and pasta buffet for only about USD8!), In-N-Out, Denny's, Manila Sunrise (I actually ate bistek and mongo in LA! haha...), Farmer's Market, Pinkberry, Marmalade Cafe (my friend's sister who works there said that the LA Lakers usually have lunch there since they just live and practice nearby but too bad, we went there for dinner!), Cheesecake Factory (we had Beef Ribs, Cajun Chicken Pasta, Calamares and a sinful White Chocolate Caramel Macademia Cheesacake!).  I know it doesn't sound like I did any appetite control at all!  You guessed it - when I wore my bridesmaid gown, I could hardly breathe! Haha...

4. Watched Wicked the Musical at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood Ave. It's the best musical I ever watched! I was expecting it to be a bit sad (based on the novel) but it was actually the contrary. It was non-stop laughter with Elphaba and Galinda's witty punchlines. 

I was also happy to finally hear the songs on stage (as I've been listening to its soundtrack for more than a year now). Defying Gravity and Dancing through Life remain my favorites. (BTW, just outside the Pantages Theatre are the Hollywood Walk of Fame stars of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Bette Davis, Barry Manilow, etc.).

SFO Diaries

1. Stanford. From LA, we drove to San Francisco (approximately 6 hours) and I stayed overnight at a friend's place in Menlo Park.

We heard Sunday mass at the nearby Stanford Memorial Church mostly attended by Stanford students. Can I just say that even the homily at Stanford is highly intellectual? The priest made an analogy between a parable and parabola, as well as traced their etymology! Haha...





2.  Sightseeing. On top of my list was to see the Golden Gate (it would be such a shame if I go there without even seeing it! haha...).

BTW, the bridge isn't golden at all. The politically correct term is international orange.:)

Wonder how stable and sturdy is the Golden Gate? Here's how thick the cable wires holding the bridge are.

Other sights we visited are the Crooked St at Lombard, Twin Peaks (best view to see the skyline), Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf, Palace of Fine Arts, Crissy Fields, Postcard Row... my only regret is not being able to visit Alcatraz. Apparently, you've to purchase tix at least 1 week in advance. :(

Crooked St.

Palace of Fine Arts

Postcard Row

3.  Shopping. I never had time to go to the outlet stores in LA but Sanfo made up for it. We spent about 8 hours at the Gilroy's Premium Outlet Stores and that wasn't even enough to visit all 400 stores! Tsk...Tsk...

4.  Foodtrip. We ate at the original Bubba Gump at Pier 39.   We also had steak at Outback - my friend in San Francisco owes me a steak for some bet we did early this year so it was time to collect. Haha... Maybe I should make more bets to keep me stuffed. Haha...

I also had a chance to eat at the Jollibee at the Union Square area and ordered my favorite Chickenjoy and Pancit Palabok - instead of calamansi, they serve it with lemon juice extract in sachet. Sossie. Haha...

Coming soon - my New York diaries. :)