Neighborhoods of San Francisco Unexplored

San Francisco is small, but there are still plenty of pockets that I have not explored.  Jimmy and I spent an entire $4 on two Greyhound tickets that we booked 3 weeks in advanced from DTLA to SF’s Financial district.  The Greyhound station reviews are hilarious and true: no one knows what’s going on, everyone looks shady and you might die.  There is only person who was shouting orders, “take a seat, take a seat!”  She was rude, but she had to be to handle the chaos of the crowd.  The best part was when she said the same thing in Spanish with the same sass.  But we had a pleasant ride once we managed to get on the bus with Wifi and Outlets?  Best 4 dollars of our lives.

We arrived early in SF and found ourselves in Washington Square where we had a quaint breakfast with coffee and pastries.  This area is pretty cute!

Jimmy took me to Koit Tower which I’ve never seen before.  We were caught being tourists.

 The hike was steep, but it was a great view.

We were craving Vietnamese sandwiches.  Apparently  San Francisco has its own Little Saigon.  Lankershim… I recognized the street name.. this is where the Asian section of SF Gay pride is.  It made too much sense.  Though we had to walk to tenderloin to get there, it was worth it because we ran into my middle school friends!  They had some time so we had lunch together and they showed us Hayes Valley. 

Hayes Valley is right behind City Hall.  Who thought of going there!  There's a cute park and got ice cream.  My friends showed me this area that used to be a freeway entrance before the big earthquake.  The farm has been renamed Gezi Garden.

Jimmy couldn't help but look modelesque along the way.  Nom nom!

After our exploration Jimmy and I headed to Oakland to hang out with Chris and Eric and prepare for Bay to Breakers.

Blow Dry

Contacts, blow dry, Chapstick

I was initially going to write an entry in which I over analyze my self conceived personality after reading an article on Forbes about how to "Become Successful by Understanding People's Personalities."  But nothing I wrote made sense.

I'm a "playful" which means I find happiness in affection, attention and approval.  But who doesn't.  I guess for me, those are much more important than loyalty... etc. etc.

I guess this makes sense.  Please thank me for the round of drinks I just bought you, I'm so generous. Please look at me because I know the latest dance craze even though I look like shit doing it.  Please hold my hand to show people that I'm in a really great relationship.  Please give me a high five for figuring out the bill because NO ONE can do it right.  I am queen, send me flowers... edible flowers.

God I'm so obnoxious.  I went through my twitter and facebook to clean out every last pompous post that I ever did.  All of these thoughts should remain on this blog that none of my friends read.  Am I becoming too self aware?

This would explain why I take it personally when I pick a restaurant and the 'guest' hates it.  Fuck you. Anyway.

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I'm saddened by a crumbled friendship. You can't repair trust.  So there's nothing much to say but to fill the silence with uninteresting stories.

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I put out a bag of old rice and bread butts on the sidewalk and someone claimed it within an hour.

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I'm really thrilled that my vision has not changed in the past 4 years.

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I don't think I'm aging very well

April Recap

You aint that cute.

The selfies of April.  Ridiculous

We are such a conceded generation.  I wonder what percentage of people's camera phone pictures are selfies.  I'm going to say for me 70% is food, 15% is selfies, 5% is group pictures and the last 10% is misc.  I send my selfies to Jimmy when I miss him; I'm sure he's very annoyed.  God, we try so hard to look cute twisting and turning our face muscles until we are unrecognizable.  I guess that's how duck face emerged.

In other news, this is what I did in April.  I am slowly catching up!   It's a good thing that I'm behind because it makes me feel like I have more than just half the year left!

Picnic at Grand Park

Fashionable gaysians in fashion, architecture, academia, science and finance.  Can you match the field with the face?

High school friends

 Watching our friend embarrass himself during his graduating improv class show at UCB Theatre

Went to Runyon Canyon and basically explored ALL trails.  Went the wrong way and almost slipped on the steep part of the hill.  Can you spot me scooting on my butt? I always thought Runyon was a tourist/people watching hike, but there are some serious trails where folks break a serious sweat.

Wine flight at IOTA

Sam's Birthday at Palsaik.  A reasonably priced 8 types of pork KBBQ place that's on a ton of must eat lists.  Charles' Birthday at Sky Bar.  We knew the password that night and managed to squeeze in some free drinks while crashing a pre-cochella party.  #LALife

I got Sam and Charles birthday desserts.  It ain't a celebration without sweets!

Andrew and JLo at Parish Rooftop bar.  Overpriced drinks, but impecable view.  So NYC.

Eating Out April

A collage of food that I consumed in April

Grilled Salmon - True Foods
Cupcakes - Lark Cake Shop for Alysia's Birthday
Mediterranean Catering - From Work.  I like to bring leftover home and have a party
Chinese Tamale - Half & Half. I was intrigued by the name.. but it was just gluttonous rice.  Meh
Rabbit Food - True Food
Fried Rice -  Hae Jang Chon. It's dessert for KBBQ
Bun Mam - Ha Tien Quan.  Like pho, but more vinegar and sour.  Comfort South East Asian food
Banh Khot - Ha Tien Quan.
Mango - Thai Town, Thai New Years Festival
Tuna Crispy Rice - Paiche . Wrote a long review on what dishes to get!  With more pictures
Carbonara Udon - Marugame Monzo - Life Changing
Curry Udon - Marugame Monzo - Don't get this one
Nachos - Rosa Mexicana - Overpriced, but innovative
Egg Rolls with Compressed Noodles - Ha Tien Quan. Thanks to Gastronomy blog I finally found it!  I LOVE THIS DISH
Jerk Chicken - Back a Yard

A Weekend in the East Bay

When ever I take a trip to the bay it's always to San Francisco or San Jose.  In February, we dedicated a weekend to East Bay!  I have to thank Jimmy for pushing me to visit my friends.  After all, they are celebrating a momentous occasion:  buying property in Oakland.

Chris and Eric fell asleep in the same position playing with their cats

I never understood cat people.  But congratulations on your new home!  I immediately helped them break into the new space by running to the toilet and using it... you're welcome.  Glad you had febreeze.  I also enjoyed watching them frantically prepare for their party and yelling at each other when a bottle of fish sauce broke in the kitchen.  Nothing smells like new home like fish.

Lots of smells here.

We spent the day in Berkeley exploring the Piedmont shops, Indian Rock and the Marina.   That pier stretches all the way to San Francisco.  Yes, you can walk from Berkeley to SF in one hour ... ... ... ...

And I finally ate at La Note.  I was in Berkeley for school and never ate there.

La Note is a cute French restaurant.  T'was a lovely date.
I enjoyed checking out new restaurants and business pop up near UC Berkeley.

Particularly the remnants of the old building the burnt down on Telegraph.  My favorite noodle house was spared... but it looks like it's a different restaurant now.

The housewarming party was great!  Tons of food!  I was a game hog and played Dance Central for hours.  God, I'm in love with that game.  Check me and Mony out!

While chatting with Joe, we noticed two homeless people getting it on in the alley towards the evening.  Our friend started to yell at them to go away.  "You guys have to shoo them away, soon they'll bring their horny homeless friends and you have a drug and sex orgy alley problem."  #Oakland

XCIX

The boys are back, enjoying the sun on Eric's $2000 high grade astro turf.  And for some reason, Joe really isn't Asian... we can't blame the sun for those slanted eyes.

Letopho.... a parent?

A couple of my friends are starting to have kids and the idea of this terrifies me.  I spent about one hour surfing the web reading horrific articles about questionable parenting.

My coworker insisted that I meet his daughter.  I'm glad I did, she is adorable.  But I refused to hold her.  I'm scared of breaking her.  He loves her so much his life has changed because of her and it's clear that he's a great dad.

Maybe one day.  I'll make one and hand it off to my parents... since they want grandchildren so badly.  Here yah go!

Mislabeled - Culinary Faux Pas

#fail

OH HELL NO.
You would think that Las Vegas chefs know the difference between Banh Mi and Pork Buns.  But even the Chow Mein... cutely served in an Asian American take-out box was mislabeled as Udon.  This must be a joke.  This must be an amateur mistake by a staff member throwing out signs without consulting anyone.  Regardless.  Come on people.

Banh Mi is NOT a newly discovered dish.  Banh Mi is consumed by college kids because of how good it is, how cheap it is and how popular it is because of famous food trucks and chains like Lee's Sandwiches.  Banh Mi is known by all Vietnamese cuisine lovers scattered around the world due to the Vietnamese diaspora. How can you make this mistake Wicked Spoon?!?

Why is this so offensive?  Because... Banh Mi is amazing and those who never had Banh Mi before will be very confused and be misinformed... and it shows a culinary ignorance that should not happen in a world renowned Las Vegas buffet at The Cosmopolitan.

Is this an "interpretation" of Banh Mi?  No.  The vessel is a steamed bun...  you cannot lay two pieces of pizza together and label it a sandwich... maybe you can call it a Pizzwich or I dont know... a Calzone.  You cannot mix around Asian ingredients and hope no one notices.

Did I sit around in silence?  Of course not... I stood up... found a waiter and asked him where the bathroom was so that I can tweet the hotel.  And this is what happened:

My work here is done... and if you don't know what a Banh Mi is... here it is below:

by unlimited_awd

Doesn't that make you angry?  Or at least hungry?!  Hungry for justice.  That's what it makes me.