SF MOMA's 75th Anniversary

To celebrate SF MOMA's 75th Anniversary, it was free all weekend with popular street food trucks parked on Minna Alley directly behind the museum. Before heading in, we decided to stroll down the alley to take a peak at the food selection and stumbled on Seoul on Wheels. I've heard of it many times before, but haven't had the opportunity to check it out since it's one of those food trucks you have to follow on Twitter to find out where it's parked.


For $3, you can have the rib eye, chicken or carnitas taco. The taco was filled with meat, lettuce, crema, chili sauce, and daikon. Unfortunately, by the time I got there, they were out of the beef, so I opted for the pork and it was delicious. The seasonings/ marinade on the pork made it so flavorful and the taco stayed in one piece from beginning to end. It was the perfect snack before heading into the museum.


The MOMA was a bit crowded for my liking this past weekend, but I did enjoy the exhibits dedicated to San Francisco with pieces dated back many years ago to current works of art. They also had original pieces from Matisse, Picasso and Warhol. Gotta love free museum dates.

Day Trip to Sacramento

I can't believe this was my first time spending an entire day in our state capital, Sacramento! I'm such a bad Californian.

The day begin with the California Museum. The sole purpose of us visiting the museum was to check out it's newest gallery, "With Malice Toward None: Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibit." This exhibit includes original writings of our 16th president & other materials that were part of his life (ahem, letters to his wife, the 1st lady's Tiffany's jewelry, drawings of the Civil War and more). It will be here from June 24 - August 27 and move onto about 5 other cities before it heads back to its home in the Library of Congress in Washington DC. I definitely recommend checking it out if you're within a short distance.



After the museum, we indulged in Yogurt-A-Go-Go. I must say, I was really hesitant about trying the Apple-Tini Tart flavor and ended up enjoying it. After yogurt, we were ready for drinks and what better way for a group of basketball fans to enjoy happy hour than to visit Chris Webber's restaurant/bar Center Court. This place has your typical bar appetizers and American food in the middle of countless pieces of bball memorabilia. The happy hour is $3 well drinks, beer & half off appetizers (score!). Unfortunately, Chris Webber didn't make an appearance, but according to Sacramento residents he visits very often and is quite chummy with the guests (during dinner nights & club nights). Before I move on to the next place, I do have to point out that the outdoor area is equipped with fire pits AND flat screen tvs :).



The day ended with dinner on the river at Crawdads. This place wasn't what I expected it to be (order crawfish & other seafood by the pound). I was a little baffled by the fact that this place is called Crawdads and doesn't have many menu items that fall under that category. Anyhow, the food was still good and the location was awesome (minus the inebriated men/women over 40 yelling over everyone in the restaurant). If you have a boat, you can even park it on the side and walk in.

Great first full day in Sacramento - wouldn't have had it any other way.

SF Bay Museum Mission: de Young

[February 2009]

Who: Craig & I

Where: de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park

Why: Never been and wanted to check out the YSL & Warhol exhibits

Price: about $10 a person for regular admission, but $16 each (if you have your college id card) and want entrance into the special exhibits - your ticket is also good for same day admission into the Legion of Honor

When we first arrived, we weren't happy about the crowds. We also had to wait in line in the pouring rain just to get indoors and go through security check. We had to wait again once we got inside just to pay for admission. Then, once we paid for admission, they made us wait in line yet again because they don't allow people to walk around holding an umbrella so we had to check it in.

Once we got pass the waiting, we strolled through the Andy Warhol exhibit and loved it. I've always been so amazed with his life so it was very interesting to finally see his real works of art, video footage and pictures of the infamous factory. The YSL exhibit was sooooo crowded I couldn't find it in me to walk through the entire thing, but I did learn something new about how he revolutionized the fashion world. He helped liberate women by introducing more masculine articles of clothing and making it okay to go from dresses to pant suits/ tuxedo jackets.

If you want to check out either of these, Warhol just started on the 14th and YSL has been going on since sometime during Fall 08 and should be ending fairly soon. There was also another interesting display of artwork as seen below. This is just one of the few that showed the artist's views on religion. You're looking at a mausoleum made with guns and bullets. The artist believed that religion has hurt more people than it has helped people. Such powerful statements these made.

The de Young also has an observation tower that gives you a 360 view of the city/ Golden Gate Park. Unfortunately, there was an overcast when we went so the view didn't impress me much.

SF Museum Mission: Cal Academy of Sciences

Who: Me, Kristi, Matt, Ethan & Sofia
What: Cal Academy of Sciences
When: Sunday, September 21, 2008
Why: They became members and had the opportunity to preview the museum before it's grand opening date and they let me tag along :)
Where: Accross from the De Young at @ Golden Gate Park
Cost: Thanks to my sister it was FREE, but normal price is $24.95 and $19.95 for students (yes, the price went up!)

CAS is the only place in the world with a planetarium, aquarium and natural history museum all under one roof. In addition, this place also has a 3-story rainforest exhibit, penguins and a rooftop garden or "Living Roof." I appreciated the Philippine Coral Reef exhibit. I imagine this place to get packed for the next few months since it's grand opening is this weekend, but if you can go during a weekday I recommend it. I'll definitely be back to get the full experience of the planetarium.

Check it out:

SF Museum Mission: MOMA, Museum of Modern Art

[August 2008]

What: SF MOMA
Who: Me & Caroline E.
Where: 151 Third Street (between Mission and Howard Streets)Cost: $12.50 General Admission, $7 Student (good thing I still have my ID), $5 for Frida Kahlo exhibit

Yesterday I started off my SF museum mission with the MOMA. Why a museum mission? Well, I've been living/working in the SF Bay Area for years and realized that I've only been to a few museums here and MUST see them all. I'm also on this whole educating myself, becoming more worldy, taking in my surroundings, experiencing every bit of SF, not being lazy tip.

So, that brings me back to the MOMA. The featured exhibits were Frida Kahlo, Lee Miller and Contemporary Chinese Art from the Logan Collection. My favorite of the 3 was Frida Kahlo. I knew little about her (I've never experienced a book nor did I see the movie) prior to this visit, but I walked away with a wealth of information and the enthusiasm to learn more about her.

In Frida's lifetime (47 years) she became one of the most influential Mexican painters. The majority of the exhibit included her self portraits and in addition to the paintings were actual photographs of her life and marriage to Diego Rivera.My favorite piece in the exhibit is The Two Fridas. This was done during the time of her first divorce (yes, there was more than 1) to Diego Rivera.

The painting shows two different Fridas. To the right is the Frida that her husband loved and married. She holds a locket with him pictured inside as a young boy. Her heart is still whole. The Frida to the left has a damaged heart and she cuts the line connecting both hearts with a pair of scissors.

If you care to see this exhibit, it will be there til the end of September, I believe. I think I'll netflix Frida now.