I did the Silicon Valley Sprint Triathlon in july and it was well organized but there was one…read moreissue, they should have kept non-competitors out of the transition area. I have a crappy bike, but I'm sure other people may have been worried about random people hanging around their things. This past weekend I did the California Sprint Triathlon in Pleasanton. The swim was too short unless I miraculously transformed into Michael Phelps and the run was wayyy too long. It was around 5 miles rather than a 5k(due to a paucity of course officials toward the end.) It's not a pleasant surprise after swimming and biking. It was good training i suppose, but its a lot of money to spend on a race that you can't even compare to your past races because the distances are inaccurate. I enjoy doing the events, but I would like to get what i sign up for. I hope they learn from their mistakes.

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me…read more A little about me: I'm no pro triathlete. I run with my age group and usually finish somewhere at the bottom of my age group, but I'm just there to have fun and finish. I've participated with a few other racing companies around California and Nevada, and USA Productions really stands out with their incompetence. The first time I've dealt with USA Productions was when my friend wanted to try a triathlon a little further away, so we met in San Jose and did the Silicon Valley Sprint Triathlon in 2012 at the UVAS Reservoir. At the last second, they moved the triathlon from Lake Almaden to the UVAS Reservoir because of health issues with the water. To be brief here, the experience wasn't 100% pleasant with a lot of the problems repeated in 2014. Now fast forward to 2014 I've moved to Sunnyvale, and I see they have a Super Sprint at Half Moon Bay. Ironically, they moved it from the UVAS reservoir to HMB because of the drought. The distances were super short, and I didn't put much training time in, and I wanted to see HMB, so I decided that they probably patched their issues in 2 years and signed up. My biggest issue in 2012 was waiting forever to get my T1 bags back, but T1 and T2 were only 6 miles apart, so what's the worst that could happen? Since this was a short race, I finished around 9:30am. I left the expo to get my bag since it was supposed to be coming "soon" (I didn't get my bag until 11:45am). It's not like I missed anything at the expo, since there was no food setup and barely any vendors there. After the first batch of bags came in at 10:30am, the lawn area outside T2 became a miserable camp site of people waiting another hour to get their bags. Next time, just make a post race bike race from T2 to T1 to get our own bags... it would've been much faster. Other problems I had *T1 had the same entrance and exit, so those in the back had a really long transition *Long run barefoot from swim end back to T1 (some of it was covered by carpet, some if it wasn't) *Not enough room on the racks in T2 *Crossing the highway three times *The Sprint race was delayed by 30 minutes (not totally their fault, but still annoying to deal with after you wake up extra early to get there on time) *Nobody was checking numbers at the run turn around. I know triathletes are generally more awesome than the average person, but someone could easily cheat and turn around early. So after reading other reviews and going through my experience with USA Productions, they haven't gotten their act together, so I'm not going to waste any more of my training and weekends with them anymore.

I was disappointed that many of the booths ran out of food by 3:30pm when the the event was…read moresupposed to run till 5pm. There were plenty of vinyards w/ tasty wines to sample. The food that I did try was tasty and made me want to try their full menus. The cooking demonstrations were also good.

I have to say that I just loved the location of this event! The Craneway Pavillion is…read morebreath-taking! There is so much light, so much space...And, the boardwalk was just what everyone needed after tasting a few craft brews. With the sun beating down and the crisp air, it was so relaxing. Although I do enjoy the Craneway Pavillion, it seemed to be such a grand space for the Chocolate & Beer Festival. I spoke with a few guests who actually pointed this out as something that pleased them, so it might just be my taste of small, intimate gatherings. There was so much space in between the beer and chocolate!!! And, there seemed to be quite a bit more chocolate booths than beer selections. The Chocolate Nut brew was my top pick, for sure. Everyone was super friendly and social! I LOVED tasting the various brews and chocolates! From the chocolate side of things, I enjoyed quite a few chocolates. First, I am always a fan of Galaxy! I tried their chocolate cups of fluffy mousse at La Soiree--just delightful! Landru had some fruit jellies AND chocolate! Clarine's Florentines brought some snazziness with their sliced almond brittle on bittersweet chocolate, for sure. There were many others as well! The chocolate was such a nice sweetly loved snack, but it did leave me craving something more... Since it was a beer and chocolate festival, I understand that there would only be beer and chocolate (plus, food and wine for sale). However, I felt people dropping off the taster map as they had a drink or two. Beer pong was fun! That was definitely the fun crowd. I felt a bit of confusion surrounding the tokens and the tickets in my party and in the crowd. Some guests were under the impression that tastings were included in the price of the ticket, not that they would need to purchase extra tokens to taste. This could have been more clearly stated. Overall, it was a very enjoyable day. The band was entertaining and fun, Chloe and Rob were easy to find and super informative! The sound was a bit difficult to hear in the back, but if you were hanging out near the stage, all the speakers were knowledgeable and interesting as well.

This was a pricey event. Luckily, we got our tickets for super cheap from living social ($9 for…read moreVIP!) so the price wasn't too bad, but I feel sorry for the people who had to pay full price. The admission was $15-25 and didn't include any beer or chocolate tasting. They had a VIP package for $60 that included admission, a beer glass, 2 chocolate samples, 2 beer samples, parking and a poster. Additional beer samples were $6 and chocalate samples were $2-4. I think the beer glass was $10 if you didn't get the package. They filled the glasses (16oz) up if you had them or else you'd get beer in a plastic cup (12oz). There was an area set up for beer pong, a staging area for music and a bunch of benches in the middle. There was double the amount of chocolate vendors to beer vendors. The stand outs were tea infused chocolate, chocolate covered brittle, and quinoa bonbons. My favorite beer was a locally brewed Indian beer that's only served in Thai and Indian restaurants. I wish i could have bought a 6 pack of that! Sadly the only chocolate stout there was just meh. I liked that there was a lot of space and no ridiculously long lines. Apparently the event was a clusterf**k last year. Overall It was fun and a great way to try out some local breweries and chocolatiers. I would go again next year, but definitely not at full price.

This place is right next to the Musee Mecanique and the only reason I noticed it was I stopped to…read moretake pictures of their green, two liter plastic bottle drapes. I thought it was part of the Musee but my husband stuck his head in the door and shouted back, "Hey, Diane Arbus! It's something about a boat made out of used plastic crap!" How could I resist? I wish we had spent more time in here, it is large and informative and a really great idea. Partnered with Hewlett Packard, a group of people are building a catamaran made of recycled plastic and that is just the bare bones of what is going on. It's really interesting the way they are building this thing and what will be on it. I am not doing it justice. If you go to the Musee Mecanique (which you should, it's fun and they have a Pole Position game) don't miss this. It's door is to the right of where you go in for the Musee. They're there Wed-Sun 11am-4pm. I only took a postcard embedded with wildflower seeds but they had a lot more information about what they are doing and I hope someone will come along and write a review that does this place justice.

The Sugar Castle is an annual holiday event at the Westin St. Francis. It's an oversized cake in…read morethe shape of a fairytale-like French chateau with colorful lights shining on it as it rotates slowly behind barriers in the hotel lobby. It wasn't crowded around the exhibit this past Sunday when I visited, though there's a lot of foot traffic, especially with easy access in Union Square. The design is remarkable and so detailed, with miniature scenes of a storybook village at the base levels of the castle and a train circling the sugary masterpiece. There's even a QR code to explore the inside of the castle via AR. The Westin's executive pastry chef, Jean-Francois Houdré, along with his team, is the creator of this beautiful and sweet art piece, keeping the tradition alive for almost two decades. An amazing sight to see during the holidays, and free to visit, available through Jan 2nd.

Its been a while since I've been to a Renaissance Fair, but I'm glad I made it. At first, I felt…read morereally out of place, and after spending fifteen dollars to get in, thought I made a mistake. The crew is completely in character, and then you have just regular attendees who are also dressed up and in character, and I felt like I was transported to a time that I know nothing about. The attitude of the people is incestuous and you get the feeling that at close, it turns into a massive orgy. Heaving bosoms are everywhere, and at times can be overwhelming. Some you wish weren't heaved in the first place, and others you can't stop staring at. The food was ok. I had chicken on a stick, and that was great, along with a veggie roll, but the fried plate combination was absolutely horrendous. My girl's niece got a waffle cone, cookies and cream, and that was excellent. On tap in the beer garden, which was a little too small in size served up wine, and beer (Guinness and Prohibition Ale) and some other honey booze called Mead which i didn't try. The entertainment was fun. We caught the last act of a strange man with a team of trained parrots doing some random crowd interactive fun, There was a group of foul mouthed kids in the front row that really added to the entertainment level. The best part of the entertainment was the joust though. These knights pulled off a real looking action packed duel that had the crowd wanting more. Wood would shatter at impact and the winner declared after each pass. The host of the event was very entertaining and the dedication of those involved really makes you believe that these people (weirdos!) do this all the time. There is nothing out of character. On site there was all sorts of random fun, most of all the bow and arrow range. I could have stayed there all day. It was a cheap thrill. Looking back, i realize that these people who do this are not only nuts, but obviously dedicated to a point where that if you can let your initial guard down, then you can have a lot of fun too. A few ales don't hurt either. Oh, and nothing beats holding a mace and thinking back to that scene in Braveheart when on a horse, Mel Gibson (freak) smashes that dudes face in when he's laying in bed. Mad gramercy yo.

I used to go to the Renaissance Faire in Marin county as a child who was in a madrigal singing…read moregroup. We went in full costume and had a singing guild. This renaissance faire had a few problems, though it was fun. 1.) The directions were awful. Getting off a 34th street was stupid and a waste of time and we backtracked 30 minutes. The directions should have specified to get off at 19th and walk east. 2.) Much of the food was too modern and anachronistic. This was disappointing because I remember whole wheat bread, whole cheese and yummy sausages from ren faires past. 3.) There were too many vendors and not nearly enough entertainment. I DID like the jousting, but it seemed more selling wares than anything else. The site in Marin with the trees was bigger, dustier yes, but it just seemed more authentic and less contrived. 4.) It was too small and there was not enough going on at all. I paid 15 dollars and had seen everything in about 30 minutes. Boo. More characters would definitely have been appreciated. 5.) The bier-garden seemed to have all the action. They should have had more gardens dispersed. I hope next year they expand and figure out a way to make things more entertaining.

Various local street cart food vendors would converge on Precita Park to sell their edibles. This…read moreSunday, Brian Boitano & the Food network showed up to interview & sample from the vendors in attendance. Smitten Ice Cream, the Chai Cart, Lumpia Cart, Gumbo Cart, Pizza Hacker, Adobo Hobo, Evil Jerk Cart, Creme Brulee Cart, Wholesome Bakery were among those who were present. Brian's crew seem self-obsorbed in thier interviewing the vendors & pretty much ignored the public aside from having a lackey ask some of us to sign waivers if we accidentally appeared in the background of any shot footage. Santa's Yelper sez, "Robin Sue sealed her place in my Awesome List because of her obvious appreciation of customers! Thanks again, Robyn!" Are you sure it is just the delicious made-to-order ice cream, CY?..

VIVIR SIN FRONTERAS/Living Without Borders is a mural on the side of Mi Terra Foods. Space & design…read moregifted by owner. Mural is a snapshot of generations of people who who entered & left Berkeley seamlessly: The Berkeley bridge, the hiker's trail, an antique-styled mariners' map, the Marina, the Aquatic park trail shows the pathway to Berkeley from afar. Three indigenous women harvesting beans, corns & squash. The windmills in background symbolize regeneration of power & sustainable energy. 2 people embracing shows love & support. The Aztec dancers are celebrating nature & life as well as bringing spirit into the mural. The shawl represents the various people in the community: Asians, Europeans, African Americans, Chicano, Middle Easterners.. At the edge, an indigenous woman is breaking down a fence, enabling everyone to enter & leave at their discretion, without borders/boundaries. Directed by Juana Alicia. Assisted by many student muralists & other artists....