Centennial Walk is an area in Downtown Palo Alto, across the street from the King Plaza…read more There are two huge plaques here, representing 100 years, from 1894 to 1994, with notable names on each plaque. I'm guessing everyone named contributed, in some way, to the city and surrounding area!!

This event turns the City of Good Living into the City of Inconvenienced Living for the residents…read morethat are prevented from either leaving their homes in their cars, or prevented from returning to their homes in their cars. There should be a pathway that is made clear how residents can leave and return to their homes. We are trapped like prisoners in our own neighborhood. My wife and I went shopping at 8:30am and came back to having to park 6 blocks away from where we live. We got lucky to find a parking spot. Maybe we should hold Hometown Days in the hills of San Carlos so the rich folk can finally understand how much it sucks to be trapped in or out of you own neighborhood.

I believe San Carlos is still the city of Good living and I would definitely stand up for that…read more It's smack dab right in the middle of San Jose and San Francisco. It's nice getaway from the city life. There's a library close by , I've got downtown close by with all kinds of restaurants, bars, and shops. There's even a market and bank downtown . They have a farmers market downtown every Sunday . I go to first Baptist church Sundays and the exit leads right to the farmers market. The diversity has become more evident here these days and it's the good kind tho,it's the kind that creates community. It's great to see people come together. You'll see great events here like hometown days and the art and wine festival which is one of the most awesome festivals ever. I work close by my house. I could even walk to work. I've even gotta girlfriend in San Carlos that's within walking distance. It's never good to be too comfortable but it's safer than most areas. Even my cat doesn't feel afraid and she walks down the street at times. We have a train station and a pretty good bus station. If you don't think so well we have the Samtrans building close by so you can even voice yourself. This is home to the family eucalyptus st Christmas lights every yr. They still have the downtown blocked off a bit for vehicles from the Covid times but I've recently realized that's it's actually kinda cool. It's great to be able to walk in the street freely but also it's not bad because I do door dash and I've never had any problems picking up any orders at any of the restaurants downtown. You'd probably love Burton park too. There's tons of basketball hoops , tennis courts , and the bathrooms are one of my faves. There's also live music at the park in the summer and there's two different play areas one for super small kids and one for the other kids which is cool because it makes it safer. Kids can get crazy wild yknow

This isn't just an art exhibit, it's a whole experience! The setting here is like a jungle, full of…read moreplantlife and fallen leaves, with different stone sculptures, wooden carvings, and totem pole artworks almost camouflaged among the tree trunks and branches, displayed underneath the shade, and benches situated randomly within the forest of art. In 1994, Anthropology grad student and researcher, Jim Mason, organized a project to have a group of artists, aged 27-74, coming from 6 different villages in the Sepik River region of Papua New Guinea, to create the beautiful sculptures at Stanford University. The landscaping and plants of the garden were organized by other entities. The artwork is based on Kwoma and Iatmul mythology and stories of creation, the center of the garden created in the likeness of "spirit homes". Two of the pieces, The Thinker and The Gates of Hell, were inspired by the Rodin sculptures on campus bearing the same names, but tell their own stories. The history and design of this sculpture garden are fascinating, and the natural environment and overall maintenance of this exhibit make it an appealing place to visit. It's even a desirable area of campus to hold school events (they had just finished such an event when I visited this past Sunday). Also, free parking is available at Stanford on the weekends.

Its a very cool outdoor installation located on the Stanford campus. T They sculptures are spread…read moreout and all have interesting descriptions of the culture and the art. This is a perfect COVID activity as its not crowded, everything is spread out and its outdoors. Mask up and keep your distance and its all good. There are at least 12 other art installations nearby as well as the Student Union and main bookstore.

I used to come here when I was a kid and our family would come before Halloween and pick out a…read morepumpkin. It was a family tradition long ago. The place has been know for great pumpkins and there food seen. We visited some of that with going to their Farmer's Market and walking along the coast line to view the ocean. We stayed at the iconic Ritz Carlton and it was amazing. Such a nice town to come to and visit. The people are so nice here and the town is just adorable.

Half Moon Bay- Cute little coastal city and we drove to there from Filoli for about 45 minutes with…read moresome traffic. We picked a good day to go because it was a bit hot that day but Half Moon Bay was so much cooler. It was about 60F-65F at Half Moon Bay. We walked the downtown MAIN St. and they have some unique boutiques and cute restaurants there. We also checked out a "jail" in Half Moon Bay and the volunteer who worked there was so friendly and informative and she talked about the history of Half Moon Bay to us. There's a small museum behind of the "jail". If you are in the area or close to Half Moon Bay, it was worth a visit.

Beautiful City to raise your young family. It has one of the best school system in California…read more The City is clean and safe. It has several Festivals events for the family throughout the year.

Glad to see Millbrae is catching up with technology. EV parking is located on El Camino off…read moreMillbrae Ave. For us PHEV/EV drivers, we now have 4 charging stations (Chargepoint) in the lot where Bambu and Ben Tre are located. Great location as parking here with all the Chinese Dim Sum joints are packed, especially during the weekend. Half a day on Saturday though parking is off limits with the Farmer's Market. I like the divider on Broadway with trees. Keeps all the Asian drivers for making a U in the middle of the block. Haha More stores are also popping up. Good way to get the residence and visitors amused and entertained. I haven't seen mammoth, limousine twin size baby strollers yet, but I may have been visiting during non family days. So here's the gist, if you're looking for a huge dim sum house, wait in line, this could be the city for you. Hong Kong lounge sure has its competition. Last time I was there, it was for a wedding. Incidentally, I've been with my Sweetheart for 10 years this year, celebrating our anniversary. I might just consider proposing. Guess I need to buy a Cracker Jack, and if the prize is a ring, it's a sign. Stay tuned! Cheers!

BURLINGAME COAT FACTORY…read more Okay, now that I got that out of the way, this is definitely a higher income, bougie neighborhood. Good luck finding parking that you don't have to pay for if you're in the main business/downtown area. Lots of people walking around, especially with their dogs and going about on their bikes. Some restaurants have signs saying no laptops on certain days or at certain times so you know there's an epidemic of people camping there for hours or work from home-cels or even worse, Linkedin-cels, but I digress. I did exit the car and see a $9 fancy almond croissant on the road and really, really debated grabbing it, ripping off the bottom part and eating the top part, but we already ate and were going to eat more, so I stayed away from that. Pretty cold and windy even on a bright May afternoon, so I guess that's why people wear a lot of North Face and puffer jackets here. Nice mix of affordable businesses (Ume Tea) and more higher end eateries. Good diversity of, at least food from what I've seen, and everything was largely walkable. Parking can get tight though, even with paid parking. We went at an odd time that was a bit before brunch, so I can't imagine the weekends. Aside from maybe 5 places (all food, lol), nothing really matched my interests and tastes, so it's not a must stop for me to peruse around.

Burlingame feels like the creature out of The Thing: It's trying hard to look like the thing it's…read moreimitating but doesn't quite succeed. It has a main drag but the street is so narrow that a car parallel parking sends the street into paroxysms of a nasty traffic jam. There are parking lots but they're small and tightly packed making people hot tempered and cranky with an over-reliance on car horns. It's high end but overly eclectic, the niche players here (Madewell, L'Occitaine, Trina Turk, Departures) but not the more affluent mainstream stores. It's The Truman Show of suburban towns. It feels artificial like astroturf.

San Mateo Bridge is one of the longest bridges in the Bay Area, and one of the favorite bridges to…read morepast through. I often come here to come to and from the peninsula especially commuting to San Francisco. Going through this bridge gives you this type of oceanic and mountainous sceneries where everything is pretty much chill. My favorite is coming back to the East Bay since that's like coming from a long journey and going back home.

Insomnia mixed with receiving my latest fastrak flex pass has me somehow reviewing my local Bay…read moreArea bridges lol... this is another one I find myself on once a month or so if my day takes me this route. Maybe towards the South Bay or Santa Cruz I'll need it to or from-depending on if I'm going back home to the city afterward or if I'm headed so where else. There's no potholes and the bridge gets me across water so I guess I'll give it 5 stars. One time though, like- in college maybe 30 yrs ago, I recall crossing this bridge after a company Xmas party and it was so foggy I thought we'd never make it home. So now, whenever I'm on this bridge, all my passengers must hear me recount that fateful night... and they all get really mad. Bc they're really just over that story. So the lesson here is- use this bridge if you're in the area and need to cross o er the water in a car. I'm driving when I'm on it, but please enjoy these fastrak flex pictures. They are very much bridge related.

Located in Inspiration Plaza at the Embark Apartments complex, Amie Jacobsen's fiery sculpture is…read morequite amazing up close. A magnificent art piece with a concrete bench at the center of the artwork for sitting inside the sculpture... that's really cool! The surface of the bench is speckled with the same color pattern as the stainless steel structure, the colored panes comparable to stained glass, with shades or orange, yellow, and red. The art piece is intended to represent the inspiration that drives technological advancement, with its location here in Fremont and the SF bay area. But the flame signifying the spark of new beginnings can bring unique inspirations to different viewers. An ideal space for meditation, or simply an opportunity to admire the artwork. Free street parking right in front makes it easy to pay a visit and experience it for yourself.