Marla and I started day 3 off with the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit. But we didn’t just sit and view the exhibit. Nope — here in San Francisco, they have a special Gogh with Lifeway Kefir Immersive Yoga class. This was a unique wellness experience featuring yoga and mindfulness sessions in the immersive art installation space. This relaxing 35-minute yoga class was choreographed in harmony with the music, sounds, light, and moving images from Van Gogh’s vast catalog of masterpieces. Plus, we got a kefir drink compliments of Lifeway Kefir. After the class, we got to stay in the room and enjoy the digital images in relative peace and quiet and with only a few people before the crowds came in. As we were leaving, we saw the long line of people waiting to get in.

After yoga, we caught the F streetcar to the Castro where we met Deaner for dim sum at Mama Ji’s in Mission! We ordered so much food! And it was all delicious. The dumplings, vegetables, and noodles were so yummy and fueled us for our afternoon hike to Twin Peaks. The reviews I saw about the hike said that the hike was a pretty easy one but that didn’t take into account the walk from the restaurant! We trudged up the neighborhood hills with some that had 17 percent inclines while enjoying the fabulous architectures and landscaping of the neighborhoods. The views of the city were just amazing. I recommend this amazing hike in the center of the city. You will be rewarded with spectacular views of the city all along the way. After reaching the summit, we walked back down to the Castro which was much easier than going uphill and found ourselves in a corner bar called Twin Peaks where we hydrated with some cocktails and watched people go by. I hear that the Irish coffee is delicious there but I didn’t find out until later. I’ll just have to go back another time to find out.

After the hike, we freshened up and then met Deaner at Blondie’s for martinis. Totally fun vibes in that area. The bars were hopping and the streets closed off to automobile traffic. What a fun scene. After a huge 16 ounce martini, we walked to Liholiho. FYI — Reservations open up on Wednesday for the following week. I set my alarm and thanks to powerful smartphone technology, I was able to secure the reservation despite not being at home at that moment. I had been to Liholiho once before when it was in the Tenderloin, but at the time of this visit, they were in a temporary location on 18th Street in the Mission. Our table was located on the rooftop with space heaters to keep us warm and cozy as we ate awesome dishes made with local ingredients from small family farms. We ordered Tuna Poke, LYC Spam Steak, Grilled Pork Belly, Whole Fried Local Fish, Five Dot Korean Style Short Ribs, Street Corn on the Cob, Crispy Rice Onigiri, and Hurricane Rice. For dessert, we loved the Mom’s Mochi and the Pandan Ice Cream Sandwich, and the Baby Baked Hawaii. I loved the crispy onigiri with misoyaki avocado, tamari, and pickled ginger.

The highlight was being able to chat with Chef Ravi Kapur who has Hawaii roots. I loved that he keeps up with the Hawaii culinary scene and he even asked about Chef Brian Hirata’s Na’au project. Super cool! We were the last ones to leave the restaurant again. 😆 After dinner we stopped for a nightcap at some bar where I can’t remember the name but the music was so loud so we finished our drink and moved to second place called Elixir where they had a nice selection of whiskeys and had yet another nightcap or two and made it back to the hotel in the wee hours. Living Hilo Style in San Francisco.