Ferry Building Marketplace

I've lived in the Bay Area for 15 years, been to San Francisco & Pier 39 numerous times, but this weekend was my first time visiting Pier 1. On Saturday, mi* sisters & Joe spent a day in San Francisco. We went to the Ferry Building Marketplace located at Pier 1, after Christmas shopping in downtown SF, and dinner at Japantown. There are a lot of shops inside the Marketplace - restaurants, cafes, and small eateries.

We went to eat clam chowder and baked oysters at Hog Island Oyster Company. Although this restaurant is famous for their oysters, we went there for their clam chowders :P We also included an order of baked oysters since oysters are their signature. Their clam chowders are special. The clam chowders I'm used to are thick and creamy, but their clam chowders are soupy & consist of real shelled clams!

There are also small chunks of potatoes in the soup :)


"Rockefeller" Baked Oysters

There are some seats outside on the patio. Even in this cold weather, it was nice to sit outside with a view overlooking the Bay. This was the view of the Bay Bridge from our table...

After eating some delicious clams & oysters, we went to a pastry shop inside the Marketplace for some cute & yummy cupcakes :D Next to Miette Patisserie was a gelato ice cream shop, Ciao Bella Gelato. If only it was summertime.. We wanted to try some, but felt that it was too cold for ice cream. However, there were many people in line for gelato so it must be good! I will go back next time :]

{ Photo Credits: BeBe }

I recommend SF visitors put Ferry Building Marketplace on their itinerary. Especially seafood lovers =) Just remember, parking around the pier is expensive. The Marketplace was crowded (maybe because it was the weekend and the day after Christmas), but the lines went pretty quickly. Good things are worth the wait, right?

meow mi (貓咪)

This adorable kitty is homeless! My sister saw her (or him?) outside auntie's house on Christmas Eve. The kitty had no where to go and no food to eat. It was so sad to see kitty sit outside in the cold during Christmas. We wanted to bring her home, but we already have Cleo. The next day, we went over to feed kitty some of Cleo's extra canned cat food and asked our uncle to take the kitty to an animal shelter. We hope someone kind will adopt her soon and give her a good home.

Christmas 2009

Christmas was filled with family, friends, food and fun :) On the day of Christmas Eve, mi* BeBe & Joe took Piggy out for a walk in the early afternoon to a park nearby our home. After a stroll at the park, we went to Bay St. Emeryville with Mommy & KaKa for a small Christmas Eve shopping spree.

After a short & sweet shopping trip, we quickly rushed home to get ready for our annual Christmas Eve dinner at Aunt Peggy's house. Mi* ChingChing and our sisters would leave after dinner and go back to ChingChing's place to watch TV, play games, and eat dessert. They live up the street from my aunt's and we always go over after holiday family dinners. This year we read tarot cards, played spongebob monopoly, and ate apple pie *YUMMY FUN~

Christmas morning, went to eat brunch at Bistro 1491 with sisters & Joe. Then in the afternoon we went to watch Avatar in 3D with ChingChing. For dinner Christmas evening we had hotpot at home with mommy & daddy.. mmm~ feels nice & warm for this cold holiday season :]

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!

Santa Piggy

O'hana

"O'hana means family." - from Lilo & Stitch, the movie

This is one of my favorite family portraits. It was taken during xmas break 2007 in Irvine, CA on a sticker machine! Isn't my family adorable? Yes, we took pictures in sticker machine booths :P This photo was actually an extra print.. it was like a surprise christmas present from the machine! It wasn't one of the four poses we selected that's why it's not colorfully decorated, but it turns out to be my favorite =)

Packing and cleaning the apartment today... See you at home!!

Happy Holidays!

{ photo credit: bebe }

Christmas is almost here! Although you can't see it in this picture, but only in sunny SoCal you can still bare your legs and wear a short dress with sandals in late November... This picture was taken on Black Friday at Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. I'm going home soon for the holidays :) My sister will be driving up to the Bay Area with me either Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. It will be a fun drive because she is bringing her dog Piggy along for the ride :P And once we get home, there's going to be a dog vs. cat fight! Hahaha.. my other sister back home has a kitty named Cleo. This is going an interesting xmas!

Dear Santa

Here are some items on my holiday wish list...

. a . l o v e l y . r e d . c o a t .

1. Nicole Richie wore a Sonia by Sonia Rykiel peacoat

2. TOPSHOP Petite Bound Seam Duffle Coat $160

3.1 Phillip Lim Edie Bow Studded Bag

{ Rachel Bilson }

Tiffany & Co. Tiffany Keys Collection

{ Angela Zhang 張韶涵 }

the meaning behind the numbers

I always wanted to be a regular blogger. In high school I created a Xanga account. In college I created a Wretch account. But I rarely log on to update them. Now that I graduated, hopefully it will be different this time around :)

I thought about what to name my new blogspot. I didn't want the usual title "Michelle's Blog." People know that the numbers 831 implies "I Love You." to mi* 831 has another very special meaning.. it is my birth date =)

{ p h o t o t a k e n o n m y 2 1 s t b i r t h d a y }