It is amazing how jet lag affects people differently. On my first night here I took a sleeping pill, slept fairly well through the night, and have largely been able to function on a normal schedule ever since. Sure, I’ve woken up a few times in the night and have had to wait twenty or thirty minutes to fall back asleep, but other than that I’ve had no ill effects.
Tawn, on the other hand, has had a hard time adjusting – both to the new time zone as well as the hectic schedule-a-go-go that we’ve been running. By Sunday afternoon he was starting to hit some rough patches and my Monday morning, he was dragging. We called off several appointments on Monday and he used the time to rest. The symptoms, which seemed almost like a cold, abated enough by late afternoon that we were able to get over to my aunt and uncle’s for dinner.
Hopefully, he’ll be fully back to speed soon because we travel to Kansas City on Tuesday.
A few more bits and pieces of our schedule:
Saturday morning we went to the Ferry Building for brunch at Boulette’s Larder, one of my favorite places to eat. Truth be told, the food (which was very high quality) didn’t wow me as much as previously, although the Christmas Spice beignets were spectacular. Good ambience and company, though, as we were joined by Stuart, who was in from Bangkok, and his local friend Rupert.
Not sure why I managed to crop the beignets differently from the rest of the food pictures… But from upper left clockwise: Christmas Spice beignets, poaches eggs on polenta with braised beef, seafood platter with smoked salmon, grilled tuna and crab cakes, and sweet Maine shrimp scramble with arugula.
Afterwards we explored the Ferry Building for a bit, finding some interesting items:
Grow your own oyster mushrooms. A sawdust block impregnated with the fungus that produces oyster mushrooms. Will grow several pounds of mushrooms over a few weeks if properly maintained. The gift that you can’t live without!
A bakery – the first I’ve seen – that makes French macarons without food coloring! Yes, the lemon ones (not pictured) look like most of the other flavors and chocolate is the only flavor you can identify by sight, but I really like that they aren’t so artificially colored. Plus, they use a coarser almond flour that really gives the confections a chewier texture.
Heading back to the Embarcadero, we received a message from Anita that most of the high school gang was gathering for dim sum at Rincon Center. This was only two blocks away so we stopped by but didn’t eat anything. Since our plates were empty, our “nephews” – Devin, Maximo and Joaquin – decided we would be fun to play with.
Below, Maximo smiles sweetly while his brother manages to almost tip over two tea cups.
Above, Uncle Tawn with Joaquin, Devin and “Ultra Man” Maximo at Rincon Center.
After a few hours of visiting, we returned home and Tawn was ready for a much-needed nap. Lalima had thoughtfully arranged tickets for the San Francisco Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker. The definitive North American production (SF Ballet introduced it to the continent in 1944), it was magical and a perfect holiday treat.
christao408 
Jet lag is not easy with long flight espcially flying east. I am still waking up the wrong time of the night sometimes, and feel sleepy in the afternoon. Glad you guys decided to take it easy for a short time to catch up some sleep. I am slow here, how did Tawn turn the other cheek?
Hope Tawn gets over the jet lag soon. I am really uncomfortable with the idea of taking sleeping pills- I have never and I will never take them. Try scheduling your sleep on the flight according to the destination time zone, helps with the jet lag.Beautiful pics yet again.
Aww, I hope Tawn is feeling better soon. Jet lag has to be rough with the heavy schedule you guys are keeping!
Even a change of 3 hrs can wipe me out – I can’t imagine the monster lag that Tawn is contending with. Hope he is feeling better soon.
Hope Tawn will get over the jet lag soon. Lucky me, I managed to sleep continuously through the nights here in HK! I missed the Ferry Building, thanks for all those tempting foodie porn! Oh, I remember where that mushroom shop at, they carry a wide varieties of mushrooms!
:)have fun in KC!!!
Seriously your post make me hungry everytime! ryc: Thank you so much for your comment on my Bleh post. Your words really help me to get over the way i was feeling! so i just wanted to say thanks 🙂
oh…and this was supposed to be with the above comment! hehe
wow, the oyster mushroom thingee looks fabulous! Me wants to add to my santa list; the kids and chocolate I can do without however! Kids are awful, icky creatures.Hope Twan is recovered
I can live off of macaroons. They are by far my favorite sweet to eat. Oh, and my first time watching the Nutcracker was in SF in December 2005! The San Francisco Ballet at the War Memorial Opera House…absolutely delightful. I think it was a new production too, so I can’t compare with the previous ones but I left feeling so childishly happy. Good times!
with my frequent flying between Vancouver and HKG…I hv totally given up on adjusting…just sleep whenever I need to……..and the Macaroons,hm…such a Sweet!
I hope Tawn has recovered from jetlag – it can be brutal sometimes. The mushroom looks very interesting. Hope the two of you will also get some quiet time together. Have a great Xmas!
Wit has has been avoiding jet lag by just keeping me awake at night and then sleeping during the day!
Hope Tawn is over his jet lag. I feel sorry for him. Love, love the macaroons. William Sonoma has three different kinds of macaroons in its catalogue. I get them for gifts and it never fails to make people happy. Hope you are having good weather in SF. Its miserable here. But they say that next week is going to be in the forties.
@stevew918 – Tawn’s turning the other cheek is a reference to him not really fighting back against it, but just accepting it for what it is.
@Dezinerdreams – I agree with you, sleeping pills are really risky. I use them in only very limited circumstances, usually the first few days after flying long distances. Outside of that, I embrace my insomnia.
@TheCheshireGrins – @murisopsis – Thanks for your concern. Tawn is getting back to normal now.
@curry69curry – For some people, including me, traveling to Asia seems to give less jet lag than traveling back to the US.
@yang1815 – Thanks. When do you return to the Bay Area?
@CiaoBella810 – You’re very welcome. Glad my comments were helpful. Thanks for the mini.
@AppsScraps – I’m kind of surprised you don’t like children.
@kenpcho – Yeah, The Nutcracker really does put you in the holiday spirit. Merry Christmas to you!
@agmhkg – There’s no way you could adjust. How do your lines work? Do you start from YVR or do you have to fly by pass to HKG then start the line?
@ElusiveWords – Thanks for your concern, Matt. Tawn is getting over his jet lag. Hopefully, we’ll have some time together on this trip. It is always a battle over all the things we “have” to do versus just enjoying our holiday together. There’s a special anniversary present waiting for him back in SF that will include some time just the two of us. We with you and your boyfriend a great holiday season, too.
@marc11864 – Any chance you guys will make it up to SF?
@ZSA_MD – We’re over in Kansas City now and think we’re “enjoying” some of the same type of weather you’re getting in Quincy. Brrr… Tawn’s feeling better; thanks for your concern.
@christao408 – O I live here in NE. I go to the bay to visit that’s all 🙂
@christao408 – We actually head that way today! Going to Vegas first and then up to SF from Sunday through Friday.
@marc11864 – My US mobile number is available to friends on my Facebook. Give a call when you get back in to SF.
@christao408 – Okay, strike my last entry to myself. :PMy US mobile number is available to friends on my Facebook. Give a call when you get back in to SF.
@marc11864 – Sounds good. We’ll be meeting with Brian and his bf on Friday morning for brunch. Hope you can join?