All the way in Alameda is the Pacific Pinball Museum. For $15 for adults and $7.50 for kids under 16 you can play all day, yes even get yourself lunch and/or dinner and return to play some more.
This is great for an all ages fun. You can learn something about the history while you wait for your turn or if you are feeling like taking a break stroll back to room one (of 4) to see the oldest pinball machines ever made.
They also rent out one room for birthday parties. In fact we saw some kids coming out with a pinball related goodie bag.
I so glad that I did wander around and explore, because I found a tiny pinball art exhibit and also the Addams family pinball: the best game ever!
It is a simple equation, but needs a bit of prep work. Go to your favorite sport store and get yourself a starter kit for disc golf. They run at about $20. It will usually contain a driver, a midrange and a putter frisbee.
Then go to a disc golf course, there are a few courses in the Bay Area, and throw your frisbees around. To find one course near you go to http://www.dgcoursereview.com/browse.php.
We recently went to Hellyer Park again, a well maintained 9-hole course.
You can play for free the first times, but should consider dashing out the $25 yearly fee to the Silicon Valley Disc Golf Club: http://svdgc.org, which pays for a yearly membership that is tax deductible. Other courses might charge you a Green Fee, so this is a pretty good deal!
In this basket you shall throw.
You are still wondering what it is? Well, disc golf is similar to golf as an advancement through a course with different baskets to reach. It is much easier than golf and a lot of fun.
If you are looking for a casual sport that is not too strenuous but gets you out to have some fun with friends you might want to consider disc golf.
Recently I went to see the teamLab exhibitionLiving Digital Space and Future Parks at the Pace Art + Technology pop-up gallery in Menlo Park.
20 installations by teamLab, a Japanese new media arts collective, let you truly interact with art. Some objects react to your touch; in one you can download a web site app to control multiple plant inspired lights and another one creates a room magically filled with flowers and butterflies that surround you. But my personal highlight was the kids’ section. There are five truly interactive installations. For example your fish drawings, once scanned in, swim away. Try to touch the screen aquarium, it’s interplay!
The exhibit will run thru July 1st 2016 and is open Tuesdays – Sundays 11-7.
A great new approach to art and very fitting for Silicon Valley.
As a kid I once did a Wattwanderung (mud-flats walking)when we stayed on Sylt, a Northern Sea island. When I signed up for our tide pool walk with the Marine Science InstituteI had the old images in my head of the creatures who appeared just as you pulled back the sand.
So, I was quite surprised to see the interesting rock formations that we walked on and explored. Not too rough a terrain, but you needed closed toe shoes, something that could get wet, and you needed to dress in layers.
Rules for tide pooling are: Always watch your kids, and NEVER turn your back on the waves! And of course: Take only memories, leave only footprints.
We saw sea stars (below), a little black crab, a shrimp, and of course hermit crabs.
Overall this was an exciting excursion. Our very knowledgeable tour guides from the Marine Science Institute brought buckets and nets and knew the names of the creatures and where to look. This made it a perfect day.
What was the coolest thing you’ve seen on the beach?
The date for the Titans of Mavericks competition has been set for February 12th. This means 24 of the best high wave surfers are invited to compete off Pillar Point Harbor near Half Moon Bay. Due to restrictions you might not be able to watch them close up, but there will be viewing parties all around Half Moon Bay, since redbull TV is covering the event.
Thanks to El Nino waves up to 38 feet (11,5m) are expected. Best to watch early in the morning. But I heard the Half Moon Bay Brewing Companyis ready to serve you at 8 am and will show the event on TV.
There are two options I am aware of to see elephant seals up close. First is Año Nuevo State Park and also Piedras Bianca near San Simion. In order to see the seals in Ano Nuevo you have to book a tour online that, if you want to pick times that suit you, you probably have to book about two weeks in advance. I think the $7 per person plus $10 for parking was well spent. On a 2 ½ hour hike we learned a lot about the seals and came up close to watch the little babies get nursed.
Piedras Bianca has a short, more accessible, walk up to a viewing point where a park ranger answers questions. Here no reservation is necessary but a donation is appreciated.
January/February are probably the most visited months for the state park to see the elephant seals. Breeding season is from late December till early February. In March the adults leave their pubs behind. Yes! Imagine that. The pubs tech themselves to swim and will depart in April to swim up north.
Mature females will be somewhat pregnant after about 24 days after giving birth, they do a delayed implantation which means the fertilized egg will not be implanted in the wall of the uterus for another four month.
Another unbelievable fact is that the females don’t eat anything while they give birth, nurse and breed,and the males go without food for up to three months while they are on land mating.
Do you know of any other places to watch elephant seals in the Bay Area?
Wintertime is soup time – even here in Silicon Valley where the average temperature is rarely below 50F (10C), soup is on everyone’s mind.
While you can find a lot of great restaurants on Castro St. in Mountain View there are some that are particularly great for your soup fix.
Kirin Chinese Restaurant has a wonton soup to die for and everyone can share.
Sharing is also a big hit at the Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot (see photo). You order the broth, which can be spicy or original and whatever meat, vegetables and noodles, or tofu you would like in your soup. It cooks right in front of you. We went with the original, but asked our server for some chilies. There is also the option to have half and half broth, in what looks like a yin and yang pot.
Further options are two Ramen places, which is a Japanese noodle soup dish, and a Japanese Shabu Shabu restaurant, which offers a kind of meat fondue (which is high on our list to try out next).
What are your favorite winter dishes? Do you have a recommendation for a soup restaurant in the Bay Area?
Living along the San Andreas Fault sometimes feels like living on the edge. (Excuse my pun)
Recently we learned a lot about earthquakes. While the exhibit in the Tech Museum in San José was the most descriptive, the two earthquake trails we walked were especially good for exercise, and made it feel more real.
In the Tech Museum, I liked the platform that reenacts different quakes the best. The three earthquakes I experienced so far all had slightly different motions. On the platform in the Tech Museum it confirmed that it wasn’t just me feeling it, they are different!
Point Reyes National Park has an earthquake trail which is about a 30 minute loop. It’s near the visitor center for Bear Valley, which I also highly recommend for exploring.
It was great for the kids to read out their descriptions
On the trail are two different signposts, one for adults and one for kids. They also had markers to follow along the fault. The most impressive one is a fence that did a 16 feet jump during the 1906 quake.
This shows the two parts of the fence 16 feet apart.
The other earthquake trail is a 1.5 mile hike in Los Trancos Open Space Preserve. http://www.openspace.org/preserves/los-trancos We picked up a brochure (you can also see the PDF here: https://earth.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/San_Andreas_Fault_Trail.pdf) at the main parking lot. The 9 station long walk in with more than 2000 feet elevation was more scientific than Point Reyes but with some spectacular views.
Sign for the Fault Trail
We had problems finding the things in the description. There was also a fence that had been put there as an example, but it was only 3 feet apart.
Do you know of any examples for Earthquakes in the area? Have you ever felt an earthquake?
We did it! We finally saw Star Wars. I can’t believe Mountain View got a movie theater with these fancy recliner chairs.
We planned to have dinner near the movies and went to a place pretty much behind the movie theater that has about 5 restaurants. While we were looking around trying to find one that would please all of us, two guys came out of the indian place telling me the place is good, real good. Both nodding their heads. Well, you can’t argue with a recommendation like that. And boy were they right!
Wall decoration at my new favorite place for Indian food!
We have a new favorite restaurant now, serving Indian /Pakistani food on metal trays with an arrangement of dal, rice and a salad. Yum!
Plus they give you free chai tea and we also got one free dessert because they figured we were their new favorite customers.
They also rent out one room for birthday parties. In fact we saw some kids coming out with a pinball related goodie bag. 
