Mission San Jose de Gauadalupe is an unexpected pleasure in gleaming white adobe in the Mission district (Fremont). Originally built in 1797, it was restored in 1986. It has a quiet chapel with high wooden beams, old-looking chandaliers, interesting paintings, knick knacks and a great alter. There is a small graveyard in the backyard with old, old obelisks that smell of history. You can see the greens of Fremont hills on the background. Quiet, small and pretty in a kinda sad way. I loved the museum too. They narrate the spanish history of Alta (Upper) California rather well with the very few artifacts. For a change it was a sunny afternoon in East Bay and we decided to take advantage of it. The chapel was worth it.

I like the Mission Blvd. There are unexpected treasures like the Chapel lurking just around the corner. Last evening we went to the Bistro - a small coffeeshop tucked inside Hayward off Mission (near a bunch of antique shops. Can't remember the cross street) where they were playing some great blues.There was a kid playing the mouth organ. He was simply awesome. There was no cover charge either.

Sometimes I think the tech meltdown - the corollary of which has been the downsized lifestyle for people like me - has been a blessing in disguise. It is very tough for me right now. But it has forced to introspect, to become financially responsible and to seek pleasure in the small things in life. I know it sounds like a bloody cliche`. But think about it. If I continued to make as much money as I were making at the same time last year, we would have been spending my weekends in San Francisco. I would not have discovered all these interesting little tidbits of places in East Bay!

...But who am I kidding? I wanna move to San Francisco.