I brought my Dear Friend to the Bike Shed Motorcycle Club in LA this past weekend. He had never been to BSMC, but has been a motorcycle enthusiast since he bought my Vespa P200E in our college days. If only BSMC were around during those days, what fun we would have had...
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| Bike Shed Motorcycle Club, LA, 3/2025 |
Oakland Restaurant Week is almost here. The staff at Sobo Ramen are busy preparing one of their signature dishes for the event: squid ink ramen. Yummy, we can't wait to try it.
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| Sobo Ramen, getting ready for Oakland Restaurant Week, 3/2025 |
Not a cafe, but you can almost hear Hemingway and Gertrude Stein chatting in the background...
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| Novela, San Francisco 3/2025 |
CoWaBunGA
Peruvian cuisine, ceviche, and a giant squid guarding the bar. You can't ask for more...
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| La Mar, San Francisco, 3/2025 |
CoWaBunGA!
When I used to work in downtown Oakland, I frequented Chef Dominica's former establishment Cosecha in Swan's Market. The green mole and tacos there were fantastic. Unfortunately, the pandemic put an end to Cosecha and I feared we would not be able to enjoy her great food anymore. Luckily, I found out that she opened a new restaurant, Bombera in Oakland, and it is just as good as Cosecha, if not better.
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| Bombera, Oakland 3/2025 |
CoWaBunGA
In celebration of small businesses today, kudos to FOB Kitchen for bringing a taste of Filipino flavors to Oakland CA.
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| FOB Kitchen, Oakland, CA 2/2025 |
I'm working on a new series of works inspired by my last visit to Tahiti, French Polynesia. The first of this series is a painting of my cousin-in-law's house in Teahupoo, where the 2024 Olympics surfing competition was held. It was very kind of cousin Kim and Madeleine to let us stay.
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| Yao Residence, Teahupoo, Tahiti, 2/2025 |
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| Yao Residence painting in progress |
CoWaBunGA
Great Arts and Craft architecture at the Grand Californian Lobby in the Disneyland Resort. This is about as close to the Yosemite Lodge as you can get this far south in California.
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| Lobby at the Grand Californian, 2/2025 |
I keep going back to the Amy Sherald show at SFMOMA to delve deeper into each portrait. There is so much depth in each work, images that remind me of something or someone in my life, an emotion by the subject that brings me somewhere else.
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| The Rabbit in the Hat, Sherald, SFMOMA, 2/2025 |
CoWaBunGA
Some of the hardest working people I've seen at the Disneyland Resort are the candy makers. Not only do they work hard, but they are giving the public a performance too!
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| Candy Makers, Disneyland Resort, 2/2025 |
CoWaBunGA
When you have music at one of your favorite dining destinations, and it's beautifully performed by handsome musicians, you can just settle into your seat and enjoy...
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| Hawaiian musicians at Trader Sam's, Disneyland resort |
CowABunGA
Maybe the Reader is Francoise, grown up, and reading on a sofa. Painting by Mary Cassatt at the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, San Francisco.
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| Cassatt, "The Reader" at the Legion of Honor, SF |
HaPpY NeW YeAr Everyone,
I'm starting out the new year with museum sketches of Mary Cassatt's show at the Legion of Honor. The subject of this painting is adorable, sitting in the high-backed chair, reading her book.
CoWaBunGA
