Last month I took a trip to San Francisco to attend the JPOP Summit event with Mazda and also learn more about the Japanese culture. We stayed at Hotel Kabuki which is located in Japantown and happens to be right next to some fun shops and restaurants.
Hotel Kabuki San Francisco
On our first night in San Francisco we ate dinner at Benihana which is a fun Hibachi style restaurant that serves Japanese dishes made right at your table. I have ate at Benihana before but it was a first for my children. It was great to see them try new foods that they have never tried. The Pan Fried Beef Gyoza Dumplings were definitely a hit with the kids.
Benihana Pan Fried Beef Gyoza Dumplings
Our second day started with a drive through San Francisco in a new Mazda CX-9 to visit the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. This beautiful SUV seats 7 people and takes those hills in San Francisco like a champ! It was fun being in the passenger seat and even more fun when I got to drive it around time myself!
The 2016 Mazda CX-9
When we arrived at the Japanese Tea Garden I was a little anxious to see what was inside. I have been to San Francisco more times than I can count but never knew what was beyond the front gate of the oldest public Japanese garden in the United States.
Japanese Tea Garden
When we went inside the views were amazing. We started our day learning some of the history of the garden, how the Matcha tea is grown and even participated in a Japanese Tea Ceremony where we got to try the tea ourselves.
Japanese Tea Ceremony at Japanese Tea Garden
Learning about the Matcha tea was really interesting from learning how it is grown, how it is prepared and even how it is served.
When I learned about the benefits of drinking the this tea I couldn’t wait to try it myself and have been ordering the Green Tea Frappuccino at Starbucks now instead of my normal Mocha Frapp!
After the tea ceremony we ate lunch on the deck where we were served some Japanese style snacks, sandwiches and sweets. After lunch we had a guided tour through the garden we were got to learn more about the history of the garden and opportunity to take lots of pictures.
Next on our agenda was Japanese Calligraphy Lessons! Our instructor was Aoi Yamaguchi, a calligraphy master who has been doing Japanese calligraphy since she was 6 years old. Aoi taught us how to use a brush and ink to paint some of the Japanese Kanji characters like Happiness, Love, Power and more.
Japanese Kanji Characters
Calligraphy Lesson With Aoi Yamaguchi
During our lesson we practiced the character we wanted to master! Once we were confident we brushed our Kanji character on thick paper and then placed it in a frame. This is one of my favorite souvenirs that we all were able to bring home.
Our trip wouldn’t be complete without a sushi lesson! Our group headed to the Miele Gallery where we learned how to make sushi rolls. While my son only wanted to watch, my daughter couldn’t wait to get started. My daughter and I made learned how to make California Rolls and Rainbow Rolls which I couldn’t wait to try.
After we learned how to make the rolls we got into groups of four for a sushi making competition. What made this competition special for us was that one of our partners was Kelvin Hiraishi who is the Director of R&D Engineering for Mazda North America. With his expertise we came out with quite the sushi dish!
Sushi Dish Inspired By Kelvin Hiraishi
I started the next morning with taking a new Mazda3 for a drive around San Francisco. This is a cute and sporty hatchback was definitely fun to drive and gave me a more liking for the small hatchback type of vehicle.What I first noticed about this car was that it has four doors plus the hatchback door. When traveling with your kids the extra doors really can come in handy.
2016 Mazda3 Hatchback
The Mazda3 is fun to drive and also gets great gas mileage which is an important factor when looking for a new car for me. This vehicle gets an estimated 40 highway miles to the gallon.
Once I got my taste of the Mazda3 it was time to take the Mazda CX-9 out for a spin. This is Mazda’s new SUV that is something I can picture myself driving. I love that this SUV has a third row seat making it seat 7 people. I have six in my family so that means my entire family can fit in it as well as a friend.
2016 Mazda CX-9
When looking at the Mazda CX-9 I really like the front end. I think that this is one classy SUV and the leather interior makes it even sweeter!
After taking the Mazda CX-9 for a drive it was time to head over to Fort Mason for the J-POP Summit, a Japanese cultural festival that is held every summer in San Francisco that features the latest in Japanese music, fashion, film, art, games, food and more!
This was my first time at J-POP Summit and the kids and I had a lot of fun. I loved going to the different booths and I one of my favorite parts was taking pictures with some of the characters we found.
Zombear at J-POP Summit 2016
When we arrived back to Hotel Kabuki I couldn’t wait to take the Mazda6 out on the streets of San Francisco to take the kids out to dinner. While they were enjoying all the delicious Japanese food, they were craving nachos and burritos. Once I started driving the Mazda6 I fell in LOVE. I felt like a queen driving this car!
2016 Mazda6 Sedan
I have owned many vehicles over the years but had yet to ever own or even drive a Mazda. In just one weekend I drove three different 2016 Mazda vehicles that I would now love to own.
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