The last time we were out at Land’s End was to watch Ondine. It was because of that, we ran into this place called “Beyond Canvas”. Where a lady held a painting class of the golden gate bridge. I was really excited to go out there, because it was going to be an awesome double date with Kelvin and Susanna.
I didn’t really plan too much with Kelvin, I told him, I’ve dated a girl or two out here, so I have a pretty good idea what we can eat. So we ended up driving out to the sunset area to eat at Outerlands. We arrived in the city around 10 am, and put our name on the wait list. As we were there, we were talking about how everyone in SF loves brunch, and it is usually the place with the longest line.
Sherri made me laugh because she asked Suzanna what she loved to eat for lunch, and suzanna came back with an answer of dim sum. I guess she never realized that dim sum is chinese version of brunch. Sherri’s favorite was crepes, and eggs benedict. My favorite was eggs (egg over medium, or add an egg to bread ala french toast, or fried egg sandwich), and I think Kelvin’s favorite was pancakes.
I really love how SF has those portable sidewalks, so they put it in a parking spot, and there is now a spot to sit. So we waited around 45 minutes before we realized that the waiting list was barely moving down …
So we ended up walking down a couple blocks to another breakfast place. I ended up getting a fried egg sandwich. 
I don’t really remember what everyone else got.
And for a dessert, I got this strawberry shortcake. It was so sweet, and must have added another inch to my waist.
Now to the main part of the day, we were going to paint the Golden Gate Bridge, and it was a gorgeous day. The person in charge said it was the best day she has had out here. I think she was from Gorgia and made this venture herself. As you can see from the picture, it was super clear, so my picture would turn out wonderful.
The lady was really good at teaching the class, and would slowly give us the paint colors. So we started off with a blue wash for the background, then added the brown land, then the trees, and bushes, start adding another layer to the water, then more detail to land and trees. Finally, we ended up painting the bridge.
Pregame picture #1
Also, I was the only one who really had painting experience during the painting time. And I brought an adult beverage with me to enjoy the painting even more. 
This was the picture I ended up choosing and using as my painting image.
Here were some of the fun thoughts I remember from the painting experience.
1. The lady (painting teacher) running the program did not have a license to sell any paintings. However, an Chinese lady was walking by and thought she was selling her paintings. So the painting teacher pretended that it was the painting of this one guy in our group. The Chinese lady is talking to her friend saying that she really liked the painting, so she starts haggling with the guy about buying the painting. The guy wants 100, and the lady comes up to $20, then tries to put the $20 into his pocket and walk away. They had to eventually tell her that it was not for sale.
2. Kelvin was having a terrible time painting, and he was saying my painting sucks. Sherri said the same thing too, those poor souls just struggling to understand that painting is a process and might look ugly at some spots, but if you work through it, it turns out pretty.
This is my painting in the first pass. It is pretty light, and has all the parts so you can see it.
Here is my drawing almost done, I just needed to put the cables on the bridge.
Tada, here is the end of my picture. The weather has turned pretty gray, and I also got sunburned. 
That seems to be an oxymoron, sunburned in SF.
Then to finish off the rest of the day, we went to my favorite beach. China Beach, walked around and hung out there for half an hour. After that, we ended up eating dumplings at the Shanghai Dumpling King in SF. It was one of my favorite places to eat, and we had a really early dinner at around 4:45.
I guess Kelvin didn’t realize how well I knew the place, because after dinner I asked if he wanted to go to purple kow. Then I told him that it was only 2 blocks away, he didn’t believe me until he put it into the phone. Got him!
Overall, this was an amazing day to hang out and paint. It gave me some time to get away from helping my dad all day long and enjoy a time with Sherri! Now I have a fun painting to hang in my parents house.
