Photos by Calvin

6 Flight Delays, Rain, Good Food, Great Company…San Francisco.

Despite a few setbacks, the San Francisco trip was a success. Much of that success is credited to our host and my roommate’s sister, Anny. If it weren’t for her, we’d have had to stay in Fairfield and rent a car. But she welcomed us into her home and let us borrow her car all weekend. Thanks, Anny!

We were scheduled to depart at 10:15am Friday morning, but just as we arrived at the airport I received a text message from Southwest notifying me that the flight was delayed to 12:00pm. Not long after it was delayed to 12:15pm. Ugh. A 2 hour delay? Really? But that’s not the end of it. Of course not. As 12:15pm approached and we haven’t been called to board the plane yet, I received yet another notification of a delay. This time to 1:30pm…and then 1:50pm. We took off around 2:05pm.

Took BART to Anny’s pad. Man I wish San Diego and LA had mass transportation like this. San Diego has the trolly, but it’s nothing like BART.

Anny was stuck at work when we arrived, but her landlady generously let us in.

I didn’t have plans, but Anny was hosting a little Christmas get together for her friends and I joined. It was a grand time.

And can I just say that Anny is an awesome cook? Everything she made was cooked in a toaster oven! From the brie, brown sugar smokies, a stuffed mushroom dish, and to the chicken casserole. It was all amazing.

Adot had a shoot scheduled with Jenny from Model Mayhem (whom he met through my casting call, by the way ). Jenny directed us to the Golden Gate Park for the shoot.

Grabbed some shabu shabu and sukiyaki after picking Anny up from work.

The weather was somewhat clearing up, so Anny took us to the Golden Gate Bridge after dinner…where I nearly froze to death.

Found some awesomely soft window light at Anny’s pad, so naturally, I had to see if it looked as good on camera as it did through my eyes and in my head.

And yep. It did. Anny before dropping her off at work on Sunday.

Did some driving and exploring around SF after dropping Anny off at work. Found this cool garage pattern and had Adot jump out of the car for a couple shots.

And what would exploring a new city be without getting a little lost? Heh. Nah, it was fairly easy to get around (thanks to my iPhone). I will so, though, that drivers in SF are crazy.

Found an awesome ramen house (Genki Ramen). Highly recommend it if you’re in the SF area. I had the curry chicken katsu ramen with a size of gyoza.

And of course we had to make a trip to the famous Fatlace in J-town. It turns out Anny knows one of the guys, Tim, that works there. Dropped Anny’s name and a few bucks later I left with an “ill” zip-up hoodie. Above is my first attempt using the video function on my 5D2. I know. I need practice. But I’m going to give a shot at editing it with Adobe Premier later today. I’ll update this post with the new video…if I’m successful. In the mean time, check out Bomb Squad.

I knew I had to do at least one shoot, especially after finding that sweet window light. I had the pleasure of shooting with Liana from Model Mayhem on Sunday. We were actually scheduled to shoot on Friday, but as mentioned earlier, that was canceled on account of rain. I texted her Sunday morning asking if she had time to shoot. Fortunately, she finished a morning shoot earlier than expected. The shoot was last minute and cut short, but we made the best of a poor situation.

And of course I had to break out the Instax 50s (among other film cameras, I’ll have them developed ASAP).

The debut of my first sample shirt. The final release should be available January, 2011.

Swooped Anny up from work.

And what would a Southwest flight be without another flight delay? Luckily this time I received the notification prior to being dropped off at the airport. Our flight was delayed from 9:00pm to 10:55pm, giving Anny a couple hours to give Adot and me a LAST minute tour of SF.

And finally, it was time to say goodbye.

Thanks to Anny and SF (despite the rain) for a good time!