For Lunch - Ajisen Ramen Redux

So, I find myself back at Ajisen to give a try of one of their other ramen offerings. This time, I selected the miso ramen and had an iced milk tea to go along with it. If I didnt know I ordered miso ramen, I would have thought I ordered regular tonkotsu ramen. I could not taste any miso at all. I usually like the bold and sometimes spicy flavor of miso thats added to the broth. Overall, I thought the soup tasted sweet, sweeter than I would have thought. This seemed kind of od to me. I was very disappointed with this bowl of soup and noodles. The 3 slices of pork were good and tender but nothing spectacular. Once again, there was cabbage that added extra sweetness to the dish. Found some seaweed floating around in the broth. The ramen noodles were the same as before. Im guessing they are using the same noodles for all their ramen dishes. Unfortunately, I do prefer the slight thicker and chewier curly noodles. This item comes in at $8.50

I found the milk tea to be pleasent enough. It was not too sweet for my taste. The tea flavor was mild and mixed well with the flavor of the added milk.

On The Job-Golden Gate Bridge

This the other major span acroos the San Francisco Bay and the more famous of the two. The Golden Gate Bridge provides a causeway for drivers to access the northern areas of Marin, Novato, San Rafeal, Mill Valley, etc. It bridges the opening of the bay to the ocean. As before, the perspective will be heading into the city from points abroad. As you egress from the Rainbow tunnel, the dual towers rise up from the waters.

Opposite from the Bay Bridge, the city and bay lie to the left side. You can clearly see Yerba Buena/Treasure Island that grounds the eastern and western portions to the middle of the bay.

One last curve before embarking on the bridge, the city skyline splays out before you. Just to the west is the Marin headlands where some of the best views of the city and bridge are memorialized in postcards

After the southern tower, you have to pay your admission to enter San Francisco. This is the de facto practice for all bridges that span the bay and connect to the peninsula. You can leave freely but it will cost you to come back. Once you enter the city, you will be dumped off into The Presidio. This decommissioned army base is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, GGNRA. It was open to the public previously but the buildings have now been made accessible to companies and organizations. Lucas Films has set up shop in one of the large complexes.

Further info can be found at http://www.goldengatebridge.org/

On The Job-The Bay Bridge

There are 2 bridges that connect the northern part of the peninsula to its neighbors to the north and east. The Bay Bridge lets drivers trek over the bay toward Contra Costa county and point east. This is a two-part span bisected by Yerba Buena/Treasure Island. At this time, it is a double-decker construction on both sides of the island. the western direction is on the lower deck. The eastern, as seen below is on top and exposed to the sky. After paying the toll, there is a gentle incline up to the working altitude of the bride.

Once the elevation levels off, you enter the cantilever portion of the bridge. this took the heaviest damage during the Loma Prieta earthquake. Rather than further retrofit the bridge, it was decided to build a new eastern span. Its hard to make out but behind the beam is the single tower that will suspend the new bridge due to open next year. It will be a single anchored suspensions bridge with a side-byside roadway

After passing throught the tunnel that was bored through the island, the western span opens up to view of the city skyline. This portion of the bridge is also a suspension design and very similar to the Golden Gate Bridge. Four towers are used to hold up the span between San Francisco and Yerba Buena/Treasure Island.

The cables supporting the driving surface whiz by as the buildings of the downtown area appear to your right. To the left, not pictured, you can see AT&T Park, the home of the World champion San Francisco Giants


More info can be found at http://http://baybridgeinfo.org/

The Relative Weekday

Everyone knows the calender week: Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, and Sat. Im sure Im not the only one who follows this but there is also the relative work week. This is the mindset where the days of the week are thought of in relation to certain events like holidays.

Last week, we in the States had Memorial on Monday which is a holiday. The following day, Tuesday, we went back to work. The back to work day is always a Monday for me, no matter what day it falls on. The same goes for the day before the weekend, holiday, or even the beginning of a number of days off like vacations. This day would be Friday. Everyone loves Friday since it signals the close proximity of a few rest days to come. A few days of personal time. This part may be just me but the day before relative Monday is always relative Sunday. This is the last day off before heading back to work.

I guess everything mainly revolves around the weekend. I have no special relative designations for Wednesday and definitely nothing for Tuesday or Thursday.