💰The Real Treasure... 3/2/25

Hi Everyone!

Despite how uninspired and unoriginal the title of this newsletter is, I have truly been blessed this week by being able to spend time with so many close friends.

Growing up is tough, and I believe one of the reasons is that everyone tied to us has to eventually embark on their journey for life, with all of its twists and turns that it entails. These twists may take us apart, but as is the case for this week, and hopefully many more, maybe the turns will every so often bring us back together for just a little bit more. 

So without further ado, here’s what’s up with Will for this Week…

Ken and I have been trying to find time to hang out for weeks now, but it finally happened! We stopped at a Nepalese restaurant in SF called Trisara.

I was ecstatic to try Nepalese food for the first time, but upon arriving, it seemed to have striking similarities to Indian food, due to its shared geography and regional history. Don’t get me wrong, Indian food is my favorite cuisine, only being rivaled maybe by Italian, but in my head I was expecting something completely different. 

Anyway, Ken is doing great! It sounds like he is killing it at his job, and in his words, is now the equivalent of a frat social director. He also has started making cinnamon rolls on the side!

Brent, Lexie, and Sterling, some close friends from college, finally made it out to visit us! We spent the weekend running around doing activities, and oh boy do I have some stories to share. 

Brent and Sterling arrived late Thursday Night. So Friday morning, we rallied the troops (which wasn’t hard since everyone was on East Coast Time and up at 6AM), and went to some touristy spots before going to Alcatraz. 

Now Alcatraz is funny. It is one of the most recognizable touristy locations of SF, and yet many Bay Area residents have never visited it. And I mean, we’ve lived here for over a year and a half at this point (which I don’t know if that is long enough to qualify us as locals), but this is the first time we are visiting Alcatraz as well.

The entire Alcatraz experience was wonderful, and we picked the best possible day to do it. We took in the sun while we got unobstructed views of SF, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Alcatraz itself. 

Upon arriving, we got to tour the grounds while also learning about the island’s history. Interesting fact: Alcatraz is named after the Spanish phrase “Alcatraces” which means “Islands of the Pelicans” due to the sheer number of birds on the island.

In addition to the prison tour, they had an exhibit on mass incarceration in the US, and another on the Native American occupation of the island back in 1969. It was a very cool yet sobering experience, and I am glad I could finally get there.

When we planned this trip, Brent’s only demand was to eat Chinese food in Chinatown, so we went to a place Ken recommended called House of Nanking. Let me tell y’all that this was some of the best Chinese food I’ve ever had. Period. There was no talking as we were too busy devouring buns, fried onion cakes and Nanking’s famous sesame noodles. 

Afterwards, we walked around Chinatown to prevent a food coma, and stumbled into a Tea Shop that advertised a free tea tasting. Upon entering, an older Chinese man told us to sit down. He introduced himself as a 94 year old man named Uncle, but clarified that to his friends, he was “Godfather.” “Not in a mafia way,” he emphasized, as if this was a common misunderstanding.

And before we could even process this, he jumped into the tea tasting.

Over the course of our two-hour visit, we drank five different teas while Uncle unraveled his life story. He had served in the U.S. Special Forces (though an unfortunate parachute incident led to an abrupt career shift), attended both Berkeley and Georgia Tech, and spent his career building airports. Now, in his later years, he pours tea and spreads laughter, believing humor is the best medicine for a long and healthy life (alongside tea, of course).

As he poured each cup, he described the unique health benefits of the teas, all the while launching into his philosophy of life, dispensing wisdom like the sacred rules for men interacting with women:

1. Bite your tongue.

2. Put on a clueless face.

3. Lie.

4. And if all else fails—don’t say a thing.

More importantly though, Uncle shared with us his Five Tenets of Life:

1. Family

2. Respect

3. Education

4. “I can do” attitude

5. Performance

And with that, we bought some of the teas we drank, took a picture with the legend himself, gave him a big hug before leaving.

With Lexie arriving that Friday night after a series of delays (on Delta of all airlines too), we woke up Saturday and started our commute to one of our favorite areas in Northern California, Napa Valley. 

Our wine tasting journey took us to three wineries: Sterling Vineyards, Charles Krug Winery, and Whitehall Lane. We taught our friends about the joys and intricacies of wine from the growing of the grape, actual production of the wines, and even coaching them on notes from smell and taste.

While wine can sometimes feel highbrow, at the end of the day, the destination is the same whether you're drinking a $150 bottle or a Bud Light. What makes wine tasting special, is the way you perceive and appreciate each sip. I always tell friends to think about the memories a wine evokes as they taste it. This personal connection can turn each glass into a unique experience just for you.

On Sunday, our friends told us that they wanted to see the redwoods, so we hopped in the car and drove to Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park. We started our hike, but quickly realized that we entered the wrong entrance for the Redwoods. We entered the Skyline Gate entrance, which was the furthest possible entrance from the Redwoods.

After 3/4 of a mile of hiking we were about to turn around. Thankfully, a woman saw our confusion and told us that the first redwood was right around the corner. I can’t believe we almost completely missed the Redwoods…

Anyway, Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) just so happened to have a free community day, so we stopped there afterwards. Oakland Museum might not be on par with say the SF MOMA, but it has wonderful rotating galleries focusing on local artists and the geographic and social history of California. 

Unfortunately, we have reached the worst part of the trip: the end of it. Everyone packed up and then we drove to the airport to send them on their merry way. I am so happy I got to see them and can’t wait for the next time.

❤️ We finally finished season 7 of Love Is Blind!!!! And Brent and Lexie got us all the matching gold chalices that you see on the show!

🃏 My MTG sealed league is off to a rough start. I lost both matches I played this week, which is rough because I was using the same deck I dominated with at the Prerelease with. Oh well…

🎥 Saw a movie called Incoming on Netflix, and my overall thought was meh. It was essentially a Superbad, Project X type knock-off with the occasional funny joke and without the cultural staying power of its predecessors. 3/10.

I’m going to be honest, this is not a video that I watched recently. I first watched this video when we moved to Oakland. All anyone would say about Oakland when we were moving was how unsafe it was, but this video showed me a completely different side of the city than the one that you hear about in the news. Sure, Oakland has its problems, just like any other big city, but it is also pretty amazing. Fast forward a year and a half, and I now get to show the city off to all of my friends. That’s pretty cool.