Nice to be back in the SF bay area again. Ariela and I met up with Jie and went running around San Francisco. We had lunch at the Fisherman’s Grotto by pier 39, got some stocking stuffers, and went to Haight Street for some more browsing and shopping. Amoeba Music delivered with six new SciFi soundtracks for my collection. One was the soundtrack to Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. Rare find! I also picked up two of the Matrices, the new Dr. Who, and the last two complete Star Wars soundtracks I need - episodes I and II.

Down Haight street, we ate at a Thai restaurant called Phuket. Hungry and laughing, we couldn’t resist. It’s actually pronounced ”Pu-ket”, but after we left it was all about the David Sedaris references. A bucket of candy for when the world messes up your day - the Phuket Bucket. (I’ll let the reader imagine how they actually spelled the name of this mystical bucket)

I had #37 - chicken and spinach with peanut sauce. Delicious with sticky rice. A little sweeter and less thick than I’ve had before, which was just fine. The spinach was cooked to perfection - neither crunchy nor mushy. They had a papaya appetizer, but it turned out to be young papaya eaten as a vegetable - good, but not what I expected. Their food was delicious and could definitely use a few more people eating there. If you’re hungry on Haight street stop on by.

It’s warm outside and my cat Simba is rolling around in the dust. I may never get used to winter weather without snow again. And I’m afraid I need to go - fuzzy bellies need attending to.