BPS 2025 - LA + SF (Feb 15-22, 2025)

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I took a trip to LA for the BPS conference and made a short visit to SF / Berkeley as well. I enjoyed the warmth, sunshine, greenery, lemon trees – plus all the good food!

DAY 1 (2/15) – Little Tokyo, West Hollywood, Waymos, food delivery carts (Sloane)

House-made udon noodles in uni cream sauce at Marugame Monzo

First time having Japanese style mochi from a confectionary! So much better than supermarket stuff

We had dinner in West Hollywood with other members of the Bphys program. It was a very California experience - riding in a Tesla for the first time, spotting Waymos and food delivery robots, and walking into a super overpriced grocery store with meh products and Wolfgang Puck's name on the sign.

DAY 2 (2/16) – Tacos, fruit carts, Fashion District, presenting our poster, Ktown

After visiting San Diego last year, I was super excited to come back to SoCal for the tacos. The ideal taco has sauces that are well-balanced with the meat, a variety of textures, and fresh tortillas. These were not as good as Tacos El Gordo in San Diego but definitely much better than Chicago / East Coast tacos.

 We walked around the Fashion District and admired the tapestries in the stores. Also stopped by a fruit cart to try nance (fruit) dressed with Tajin - interesting mix between an olive and a date, with a hint of cheese?

We presented our poster! Funny how people just stopped at our poster because we were such a large group surrounding it. Fun to chat with people about our work!

We went to Ktown for dinner - there was such a huge spread of food at Borit Gogae (appetizers and desserts not pictured here). It was hard to finish all the food here, even with two self-proclaimed "garbage disposals." Loved the snails I tried here!

DAY 3 (2/17) – Angels point, Elysian Park, Echo Park, Glendale, Griffiths Observatory, Persian ice cream

Did a little urban nature trek! Definitely get tan, if not slightly sunburnt. The significant elevation changes were good for my otherwise deprived legs. This is me and Sudhanva at Angels Point.

Discovering some dessert plants in Elysian Park. Alfonso says this is a type of agave.

Those huge lemons were so tempting! Unfortunately it was on private property.

Echo Park! Unfortunately I couldn't find the huitlacoche quesadilla cart that was supposed to be there. Also where I spotted Cynthia and Sarah playing tennis!

In this area, I noticed that bougie smoothie/juice bars stand alongside down-to-earth barber shops. Though it's not as disparate as India, it seems like the full economic spectrum live right next to each other here in LA.

Spent the afternoon at the conference center. Then got Armenian food with Jessica in Glendale! Loved the cinnamon walnut tea in the pretty tea pot with candle underneath to keep it warm.

Jessica and I drove up to Griffiths observatory and peered through some urban viewers (telescopes for looking at the city). Felt like I was in La La Land! Also pretty skyline views - we decided the pollution makes things look extra pretty. Would wanna come back when the inside of the observatory is open too. Persian ice cream post Griffiths not pictured. 

40,000 steps / 17 mi total today.

DAY 4 (2/18) – Santa Monica, beach, volleyball, rope climbing

Spent the day in Santa Monica for Michael's birthday! Some people on the beach were very kind to lend us a volleyball and what was originally supposed to be 20 min of volleyball became 90 min.



There was a jungle gym area where I climbed a rope! Can't remember the last time I've done it by muscle memory kicked in pretty quickly.

Cooled off afterwards with some delicious McConnell's ice cream. Very creamy - worth the hype!

DAY 5 (2/19) – Relax, Broad museum, fly, reunite

Ran to Little Tokyo to get more mochi and went for a swim in the morning. Also visited The Broad (contemporary art museum). 


My favorite was a giant dining room table that you could walk under and rediscover your inner child / dog / cat.

Then I flew to Berkeley and reunited with LMF peeps!

DAY 6 (2/20) – Uphill, redwoods, downhill, pastries, waterfall, Persian food

Among the amenities at the Berkeley House is Tosca. 
She jumped on my lap while I was trying to eat breakfast.

I ran to Melissa's house and then we biked to Reinhardt Redwood. It was literally all up hill - all 8 mi. My first time with this long of an uphill - was super fun. Would do again, now that I'm writing this 2 weeks removed. Here we're pausing for a beautiful view of the Bay!

And then a short hike! So much pretty nature!

Downhill was so much easier, though still required non-trivial effort. 
Pastries and Berkeley Bowl greeted us at the bottom of the "hill."

Another gem of the Berkeley House is the woods / waterfall in their backyard!


Then, I met up with Kiera for some delicious Persian food.

Food in California here is so good! Also crazy that there's Cantonese announcements on the bus.

DAY 7 (2/21) – Mission, pastries, murals, burritos, Pier 39, sea lions, Japanese sweet potato ice cream

Clara and I spent the day in Mission - tried out pastry shops, cafes, and of course the famed Mission burrito! The vibe in Mission is more similar to LA than the rest of the Bay to me, with Valencia St dominated by bougie shops and Mission St dominated by hole-in-the-walls. The murals and character there also remind me of Pilsen.

Croissant from Tartine Bakery

Financier from Craftsman and Wolves.
Enjoyed in Dolores Park!

Mission burrito from El Taqueria Farolito - flavorful stuff!

Then, we took the iconic light rail to Pier 39 where sea lions were sunbathing on the dock.



Once we were back at Berkeley House, I enjoyed some pork chops and bean sprout salad a la Jane Austen (courtesy of Clara) and churned up some Japanese sweet potato ice cream with sesame brittle. Such good LMF vibes!

DAY 8 (2/22) – Golden Gate Bridge, Palace of Fine Arts, croissants, Burmese food, pineapple buns, matcha, bison, pistachio ice cream 

Fiona and I walked around Presidio Park for beautiful views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Bay. It was unusually sunny for the Bay.

Everyone needs their Golden Gate photo!

We also went to the Palace of Fine Arts, which is more of a pretty garden than a palace.

Heading south to Clement St, we noshed on more quality food. There were lots of Chinese hole-in-the-walls and a kitchen / home goods store with so much variety! We had croissants, matcha ice cream, and pineapple buns on top of lunch!

Arsicault definitely has one of the best croissants ever!

Burmese food! Haven't had that in a while.

Then we walked around Golden Gate Park where we spotted some bison and model motor boats.

And then more ice cream making!

Pistachio mmm delish!

The sunny fresh air, good company, and delicious food was a welcome reprieve from the gray Chicago winter.

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