Bakersfield is one of the cities that I've heard my friends talk about, but I never really had a chance to visit. The closest I get to Bakersfield is seeing the sign when driving on I-5 from Los Angeles.
But I got lucky! My friend who was from Bakersfield mentioned to me that there would be a county fair in Bakersfield, and as I've never been to any country fairs, nor have I been to Bakersfield, I decided that it's a good time to visit.
Read MoreIt's the end of the year again, and it's time for my to fly back home to visit my family in Thailand. However, this time is different because on the way to Thailand from San Francisco, I decided to stop over in Japan for 7 days, so I'll be posting more about my trip in Japan and in Thailand here. My itinerary looks something like this:
- Dec 19th -- Leave San Francisco
- Dec 20th -- Arrive at Tokyo Narita Airport
- Dec 27th -- Leave Narita and arrive in Bangkok
- Jan 11th 2015 -- Leave Bangkok to San Francisco
We'll get started by talking about my flight to Tokyo Narita. I originally bought a round trip ticket from SFO-NRT-BKK in Business class from All Nippon Airways (ANA) since they are in Star Alliance and I can collect miles for my next trip. However, I also had some American Express credit card points (so called "Membership Rewards" points) that I can transfer to ANA to request an upgrade for my flight from Business class to First class. It takes 40,000 points for a segment from San Francisco to Narita. I decided to take a chance so I transferred the points from American Express to ANA, and request an upgrade. I requested the upgrade on September 24th and had been on the waitlist. My upgrade was cleared just on November 30th. This is my first time on any first class flight and I've been very excited about this flight!
Read MoreIt was Friday. My colleagues who live around the Mission area of the city asked if we wanted to go get some brunch before going to work. Our whole team (minus one) decided to go, and we ended up going to Mission Beach Café. Mission Beach Café is famous for its weekday brunch, and of course, it's caramelized pepper bacon.
Read MoreAt the corner of Central and Grove, there lies a local French restaurant that is very busy over the weekend. I've had a chance to eat there a couple of times, and every time I went there, the food was perfect!
After sitting down and ordering some food, we were served a piece of warm French bread with a knob of room temperature butter for the best spreadability. I despise restaurants that serve warm bread with cold butter. It's impossible to spread the butter on to the nice warm bread. Bistro Central Parc did it right! The crust was crispy and the inside was warm and chewy (but not too chewy).
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