Spirit of '45 is a 1940's themed celebration, commemorating the end of WW2, taking place at History…read morePark in SJ annually. I was able to go back in time this past weekend to partake in the festivities which included a car show, parade, live music, swing dancing, trolley rides, re-creations of military camps with combat vehicles on site, a nurse station offering a nurses' training activity, as well as entry into the historical buildings at the venue. Various film screenings and exhibits on WW2 heroes and happenings were set up in a couple different buildings. The staff in the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force Museum was kind enough to give a brief guided tour sharing the history of events like the alliance of US and Mexico in the war. I took my time exploring the interesting items on display including evolving military uniforms, weapons, newspapers, cigarettes, and chocolates! There were several food trucks available. El Bombero offering a variety of mexican dishes, Smash n Dash with smash burgers, gilroy garlic fries, and milkshakes on their menu, and Quick Dog selling sausages and funnel cake fries. I snacked on a hot dog from the latter, while enjoying the live entertainment center stage. The Nick Rossi Trio featuring guest vocalist Halsey Varady from SF's Verdi Club, entertained the crowd on the keyboard, guitar, bass, and vocals. Their set was followed by Miss Lolli La Pop and the Swingtime Sweethearts, dressed in period attire, like pin-up girls, singing covers of songs like It Had To Be You by Frank Sinatra and Vera Lynn's We'll Meet Again. They even performed Lollipop by the Chordettes, not quite 1940's but still a fun number. Plenty of soldiers and Rosy the Riveters roaming the grounds, attendees wearing outfits matching the scenery and setting. Less than half the park was utilized, and the place wasn't crowded like during other events held here. I also appreciated that they had ample tables and seating in the stage area, much of it shaded by trees, as well as no lines for porta potties or restrooms. I even came early enough to snag free street parking on Phelan Avenue. Altogether a lovely event.

This is the first annual car show at Oak Hill Cemetery, what beautiful views at this cemetery and…read moregreat cars. Car started arriving at 5:30 in the morning.. it was a great turn out being the 1st show. They gave out trophies for best to show, etc. etc. there was plenty of free water bottles in buckets throughout the whole show area for people to drink, car show T-shirts, coffee, breakfast sandwiches, tri-tips, sandwiches, tacos, and hotdogs. Great views, great people , beautiful cars, and good food. What more can you ask for?

This event is a small festival that benefits the Silicon Valley AIDS Leadership Center. Admission…read moreis free, but for tastings you have to buy tickets. Tickets came in individual tastes or wristbands for unlimited tastings. We got pre-sale wristbands for $35 that gave us unlimited restaurant, wine, and beer tastings. Everything was so good! At first glance, it looked kind of lame because it was in a pretty small area and it wasn't too crowded. Turns out that it worked in our favor because the selection of food/drinks to taste from were so good and we didn't have to deal with long lines and trying to squeeze through crowds! :) There was a large wine and beer tent that had wineries from around the San Jose/Gilroy area and a very good beer selection! We got pretty full from all the restaurant samplings (some gave very generous helpings). The restaurants there gave out lots of promotions/coupons too. Restaurant sponsors included Gordon Biersch, Emilie's, Calvin's, Tandoori, Love's Cupcakes, Morroco's, some sushi restaurant whose name I forgot, and a few others I can't remember. Crema coffee was there too!! I started going crazy from having 3 Vietnamese iced coffees, muahahaha. I'm not sure if this is an annual event - I sure hope it is! Knowing that it was for a good cause made everything so much tastier! Can't go wrong there :)

This is a cute little rose garden at Red Morton Park between the tennis garden and the Parks and…read moreRec building. In addition to roses, it has a magnolia tree and a plum blossom tree which would be very pretty in its short bloom season of Feb. There's a couple of benches to relax on and a fountain in the middle. While it's small it's picturesque and well maintained. This isn't a rose garden go out of your way for like the one in San Jose or even San Mateo but it's nice enough to take a walk and enjoy if you are in or close to Redwood City.

Collectors Expo is part of the convention/expo trifecta that goes with the annual Asian American…read moreExpo in Pomona. Your ticket to any of these events allows you entry into all 4: Asian American Expo, Anime Impulse, K-Play Fest, and Collectors Expo. Collectors Expo has replaced what used to be Sneaker Con that was part of the bundle of conventions that go on at the same time at the Pomona Fairplex. It's at the point in life and society that the cost of parking is almost the same as the cost of entry so try to come early and don't isolate yourself to only one convention, make sure you get a chance to explore all of the others as well. I've been to Collectors Expo the first year it was implemented and I had a better time that year. Somehow felt a bit more spacious and I enjoyed the guests of honor that they had there. Met the voice actors for Yugi and Kaiba. This year, the guests, I think shared with AI too, were not as impressive to me. I think the convention hall was more packed with vendors this year too, but even though it's called Collectors Expo, it's like 90% Poke'mon and 10% everything else or shared with the Poke'mon TCG vendors. I saw 1 vendor selling vintage figurines, 1 selling Smiskis & Sonny Angels, and some artists in this hall. They had a Beyblade tournament but it didn't look like there was a dedicated Beyblade vendor. There wasn't any Magic, Weiss, YGO, Vanguard, etc. from what I could see. .So if you're coming there thinking it's like a giga Frank and Sons or something, just keep that in mind. LOTS OF VENDORS WITH AI SLOP LOGOS. DISGUSTING AND LAZY. Other than that, at least the first year they had some vendors with cute Poke'mon plushies and I got a Heracross. This year, it was much less. Some dude was scalping Chiikawa hippers for $30 when you can actually get them in person in so many places for $13-18. Insane. This might be better for people who truly collect Poke'mon cards and can haggle and know the normal value, but from a casual perspective, a quick walk through was enough. It is nice that they have part of the Sheraton open for the tournaments though.

Campbell Beerwalk 2017 was Star Wars themes as it was held May the Fourth (as in May the Fourth Be…read moreWith You). Just like their Wine Walks, the Campbell Beerwalk was well-organized, with a painless registration process and helpful handouts. The colorful, graphic-heavy pamphlet included a map to scale, with the business names and each beer vendor. I expected more people to dress up, but it was mostly Star Wars shirts and some apparel (Yoda backpack, R2D2 beanie, Chewbacca jammies, Jabba the Hutt colostomy bag, etc). There was an awesome Darth Talon (the star of the night) and a lot of girls with Princess Leia hair, so it was appropriate to walk by them and say, "Nice buns." My friends were supposed to dress up, and I gave them lots of DIY ideas (staple candy bars to a shirt to be Admiral Snackbar, or pin a dollar to a green shirt and be Queen Im-a-Dolla), but I was the only one. I safety-pinned six red Solo cups to my black vest and went as Cup Solo. With a late start, we probably hit 21 of the 29 vendors in 2 1/2 hours. Lines were rarely an issue, and the event was trash-free, in both senses of the word. The Art Beat poured Altamont*, Snake & Butterfly poured High Water (including a subtle sour Little Devil and refreshing Cucumber Kolich), Spread poured HBC, Frost poured Lagunitas, Campbell Brewing poured their own*, Rocket Fizz poured Lost Coast*, the Olive Bar poured Uncommon Brewers*, Tessora's (who questionably pushed their tables against the wall with a "For Customers Only" sign) poured Firestone, Redemption poured Calicraft*, the packed Sushi Confidential poured Ballast Point*, Steepers poured Goose Island, Therapy poured Heretic, Geoffrey's poured Saint Archer*, the Celtic Shoppe poured yummy Golden Road, Socialight poured Elysian, Khartoum poured Breckenridge*, Liquid Bread poured Sonoma Springs, Freshly Worn Furniture poured Discretion, an awesome Luke w/ inflatable Tauntaun at Brown Chicken Brown Cow poured Anchor, Bestie's Boutqiue poured Full Tilt, Blue Line poured a yummy orange Sierra Nevada, Abraham begat Isaac; Isaac begat Jacob; Jacob begat Judah, and so on. The best location for any beer or wine walk is Campbell Plaza, because it feels like an outdoor bar. There, Cali Muscle poured Strike, and Bombshell, Embelish, and Cruiser Shop poured Santa Clara, Golden State and Geartooth. Being Cup Solo I took a picture of the Hoth-planet Leia in white who was keeping people with drinks from exiting. She told me she loved my costume. I told her, "I know."

Attended the Campbell Beer Walk for the first time last week in honor of Silicon Valley's Beer…read moreWeek! I understand this is their second year putting on the event and found myself having a pretty good time. However, the cons outweighed the pros for me and I probably won't be attending again next year for the price of $30. It is $30 in advance and $35 at the door - we checked in outside of Khartoums where they hand you a map (that you cannot lose), a glass, and a wristband. I had thought it would be a farmers market like set up with the street closed off so we couldn't be walking around drinking in an open area.. however the breweries were actually located in the individual boutique shops/restaurants/bars around Downtown Campbell. Pros: +Pretty decent selection of beer +The crowd that comes out to Downtown Campbell is fun, not in a ghetto Downtown SJ way +Lots of restaurants around to eat after +Free glass, easy check-in Cons: -The shops were small so the lines got very long to wait for your beer -You had to reuse the same glass for each sample without even a rinse.. which is not the proper way to sample - you definitely should not be mixing any flavors of different beers -If you got there around 7:00pm like we did, you did not have time to taste everything -The map did not label which breweries were in which shops, so you couldn't prioritize and just had to wing it from shop to shop -Although they have a number of local breweries come out, there weren't many that you couldn't get locally already (Almanac Brewing was the most unique one I tried)

***4.5 stars***…read more today was the 2nd inaugural stanford health care racing hearts 5k/10k run and i had the pleasure of volunteering for pre-race activities and participating in the 10k (6.2 miles) on race day. the day before the race, i met with a team of volunteers and together, we marked the 5k and 10k courses with arrows using flour. i'd actually never done this before but it was a lot of fun and i met some great people and also learned more about the reason for this event. this event was created last year to raise awareness for cardiovascular diseases and ensure that schools in palo alto would all have aed (automated external defibrillator) units readily accessible in the event of an emergency. on race day, it was unfortunately sprinkling a bit and the skies were quite gray, but just before the gun went off, the rain stopped and it appeared that the sun was going to come out. it never fully revealed itself, but we had a mostly dry race, except for the last few minutes of running toward the finish line when it started drizzling again. what i liked about the race: +the staff, organizers, and volunteers were some of the nicest folks i've ever met and i'd work with them again in a heartbeat! +tons of FREE parking in the varsity lot, right next to the start/finish area, and in the lot by the track house +porta-potties at the start/finish area as well as several campus restrooms nearby +official cotton, race t-shirt with racing hearts logo and all of their sponsors +no sun = no sun in my eyes while running! +scenic course around stanford university's campus with some gentle rolling hills and inclines +staggered start times for the 10k and 5k, as well as separate starting locations to avoid congestion +signs to mark each mile for each race distance +clear signage with arrows to distinguish the 10k and 5k routes (which had minimal overlap) +separate finishers' chute for 10k and 5k runners which was much appreciated since the finish line area was quite narrow +extremely accurate measurements, at least for the 10k, as my garmin read 6.21 once i crossed the finish line...you cannot get more accurate than this! +friendly volunteers directing runners (with pom poms!) and manning aid stations along the course, handing out medals at the finish line +handmade medal in the shape of a heart, befitting for this event! +several local vendors at the finisher's village, including an organic granola/muesli company +photo booth, with option to keep a hard copy of the photo and an electronic copy sent to email or facebook accounts +combined participation for both races was capped at 600 so i never felt that the course was overcrowded nor did i get "stuck" behind some slower runners/walkers +age group awards for the top 3 finishers in each age group. i finished 2nd in my age group and took home a bag of surf city organic granola! i'll have a healthy breakfast everyday for 2 weeks! my friend finished 1st in our age group and got a $15 gift certificate to zombie runner in palo alto. appreciate the support from our sponsors who are all local bay area businesses! the cons: -no pre-race bib and packet pickup, so everyone had to arrive a bit earlier to pick up their bibs and tshirts -no chip timing available, only gun timing, so if you didn't line up at the very front of the pack, then you would lose valuable seconds -i didn't feel that 8 porta-potties was enough for the volunteers, staff, and 600 runners plus their friends/family who came to spectate -post-race food was just ok, as they had some apples, oranges, bananas, chips, protein bars, bagels (no cream cheese/peanut butter), coffee, tea, and water. when i went to the refreshments area a second time, they had already run out of bananas, much to my dismay. bananas are one of the top foods that a runner reaches for after an endurance event since they are a great source of potassium and carbohydrates, so i guess i'm not surprised that they ran out, but for next year, i think the organizers should order more bananas. there were still plenty of apples and oranges available. overall, i think the organizers did a terrific job and i would definitely sign up for this event next year.

Attended the Exotic Bird & Pet Expo at the Scottish Rite Center in SJ this past Sunday. This event…read moreis all about birds, but they offer stuff related to other animals too, though not a lot. Tickets could not be purchased online in advance and cost $15 for adults, $10 for kids. During my recent visit, they took so long collecting payment at the entrance that people were just walking in without paying. That could be a good or bad thing depending on your ethical standards. So many birds filling two rooms of the venue! Roosters with their cock-a-doodle-doos, toucans poking their long beaks through the cage holes, songbirds, beautiful canaries (like the spanish timbrado), and well-behaved parrots posing on perch sticks. The baby parrots at one of the vendor tables were so colorful and cute. There were also snakes on site, one guy holding a ball python, and another lady with quite a few corn snakes on display (she even let people hold one of them). There were adorable puppies and bunnies too, though one bunny looked miserable sitting in a cage among all the chirping and squawking birds, and another cage had seven bunnies inside which looked like torture (rabbits needs more space than that). It felt very chaotic at the event due to the noise level, which is understandable since birds are loud. I just felt bad for the bunnies. If you love birds, are looking to adopt, need bird products, or are interested in bird art, this expo is worth checking out. For other pets, not so much. They're coming back to SJ later this year, on 9/20/26.