Today, James and I decided to stop by San Ramon to visit our third roommate Jay. We hit the road around noon and made it to SR in time for some lunch.
Jay suggested Saigon Noodle House. The place was in a really nice neighborhood, so it didn’t look sketchy at all. This was cause for suspicion, but we calmed down after hearing the owner speak Vietnamese and spotting the Vietnamese newspapers. The pho was decent, not as phenomenal as Pho1‘s, but still good.
After lunch, we drove to Dublin to check out a new Asian plaza. It turned out to be a pretty big fail because the place was filled with restaurants, and we’d already had our fill of food. But we did stop by a bakery and kept in mind some restaurants to visit.
At this point, Jay suggested we drive to San Jose to check out Santana Row. As we neared the exit from the freeway, I spotted a sign that pointed to the famous Winchester House. We decided to check the place out, as I’d heard some pretty crazy stuff about that house.
Winchester Mystery House was built by the widow of the second president of Winchester firearms. Basically, the little old lady was fearful of spirits killed by her husband’s guns, so she continued construction on that house for 38 years, building and rebuilding stairs that led to the ceiling, doors that opened to walls or even an eight-foot drop, and secret passageways.
She was also obsessed with the number 13. Rooms had 13 windows, the stained glass artwork had 13 beads, and the chandlers had 13 candles. Overall, a very interesting tour, and I’d encourage you guys to read more about this crazy place on Wikipedia and check the place out in the future.
After the tour, we drove to Santana Row in SJ. This is a upscale shopping center with stores such as Gucci, Burberry, and Diesel. As we strolled through, we spotted one luxury car after another. And these weren’t your typical luxury cars. I’m talking about cars from Lamborghini, Maserati, and Porsche.
In fact, we spotted an orange Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera. These cost upwards of $200,000, and there are only 46 made. We sat on some benches in front of the car and just stared, awestruck. At this time, we also continued to car watch – there were just so many nice cars pulling in and out.
It was nearing dinner time, so we headed across the street to Westfield Valley Fair, another shopping center. We ate at a Japanese fast-food restaurant that reminded me of a mini-Benihana. The cooks did cool tricks and we enjoyed the Teriyaki Chicken and Shrimp with rice.
Afterward, we went on a mini-shopping spree, where I bought a pair of nice Puma shoes at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. James got a jacket from Macy’s, and Jay bought some jeans. Loot in hand, we left SJ and returned home.
It was definitely a very fun, educational, and relaxing summer Saturday. I love summer weekends.
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