Day 2: San Francisco (Part 1)

San Francisco was jammed with plenty of interesting activities from the Farmer’s Market to St Patty’s Day to Fisherman’s Wharf. So I’m going to split up Day 2 otherwise the post would never end and you would get bored reading it despite all the shiny photos. Plus this makes things easier for me too.

So the long day started with a BART ride. BART stands for Bay Area Rapid Transit. And rapid it is. My roommie M and I took it from Stattuc Road Berkeley to San Francisco. Like the dumbass I am with directions, my friend Y told me to take the right train. We got on when it arrived. And then I decided, hey it’s the wrong one. Got off. Then realised it was the right one just as the door shut. And had to wait another 30 mins for the next one to come. Meanwhile Y who was supposed to meet us at 10am to walk over to the parade laughed his head off.

I am WEAKsauce.

No post is complete without a photo of public toilets. Surprisingly good looking from the outside. Didn't want to go inside though, esp considering the rate of homelessness in SF. Not sure what I'd find.

But thankfully, we finally made it and when we got off the subway, well, the sight really hit me in the face. And while that imagery doesn’t sound very attractive, Embarcadero, the station where we got off was actually quite pretty. There were street vendors selling knick-knacks like hand-made jewellery and trinkets. A blend of hippies, hipsters and normal people were milling around on a slow Saturday morning heading towards the Ferry Building. We walked towards the Ferry Building in anticipation of the marketplace inside which is famous for many little shops and cafes that had good food. And trust me, I was looking forward to all that good food I’ve been promised by anybody who’s been to the Bay. For some reason everybody thinks SF offers the best cuisine. It’s partially true. Perhaps it’s the European influence and the fact that it’s filled with RICH people?

So we crossed the extremely wide street. And lo and behold, there was a man in the middle of the island playing music with his drum-kit made from rubber and plastic containers. It was quite entertaining to see him innovate with all sorts of different cans and containers to make music. Embodies SF pretty nicely actually.

We make it to the Ferry Building. And the farmers market has already set up. We take a look at the fresh (organic of course) produce and there are some nice fruits and nuts. Altogether I was not too impressed. Y sends me a message saying there is chocolate covered bacon inside. Hmmm interest is piqued. M decided she wants to see off and find said bacon and so we enter the building to find it’s lovely inside. It’s packed with people and vendors along all the corridors. The main one was filled with food vendors who handed out samples to everybody. I tried some things like a piece of cookie, burnt caramel, chocolate. It was all good. Apparently the chocolate shop that sells bacon-covered chocolate stopped making them. But the cheese stop was delicious. 

At this point we decided to step outside and check out the view. The bay looked amazing. The sky was clear and blue. The water was sparkling in the sun light.

I had deliberately picked to go to SF on Saturday morning too because it was farmers market morning. Which meant many vendors and I was hoping for pretty decent prices.

I was not disappointed. Not at all. This was the biggest farmers market I’ve ever seen in North America and contained…just about anything. There were the staples like cheese, fresh produce and meat. But also random things like hot sauce and vegetables I’ve never seen in my life.

Unfortunately, the lines for food were sooo sooo sooo long we decided it wasn’t worth it. So we skipped the food though we did try some delicious cheeses and I played with some of the veges. Fresh indeed, they receive my endorsement. However, also super pricey.

At this point, Y somehow manages to find us at the back of the market and joins us for the early morning stroll. We go back into the building, he buys some seriously delicious cheese, and we chow down on the way to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade that started from the Ferry Building and went all the way to the civic center.

Yum yum cheese

To be continued…

Spring Break in the Bay Area

So I went to the Bay for spring break. I know that was a few weeks ok. But I’ve had work ok?! Majority of people aren’t lucky enough to sit on their bums all day and write blog posts and upload photos. But wouldn’t that be a fabulous dream job?

Anyway back to the topic at hand. So I went to the Bay Area for spring break and here are my adventures. To be honest, I did a lot. And not all of it was interesting. So in the next few posts, I’m going to note the more eventful incidents and give you a very slimmed down version of the trip, after the jump.

Day 1. The Drive

From Los Angeles to Berkeley (our first stop). The drive took about 6.5 hours. It should really take 5-6 if you’re a blazin’ driver. But with my bladder it took us a few hours more. I went with my amazing roomie M. She’s was amazing at keeping me awake at the wheel. Fast forward past Bakersfield, the beautiful trees and agriculture in Central Valley, scary and tears-inducing CAFOs (those poor cows, the smell makes me want to puke too), and a whole lotta nothing and we get to Berkeley around 5pm.

So what to do now? M and I decide to explore around and get some delicious Indian food to eat. After all, with so many IT folks around, there’s naturally a large Indian immigrant population (seriously, not stereotyping; it’s true). And where Indians go, by default, means Indian food must be good. We stopped outside this beautiful looking building which supposedly housed an Indian restaurant.

It looked so beautiful though. How could it have a dingy Indian fast food joint? Well as soon as I walked inside, my question was immediately answered. The building may be gorgeous but it’s a right mess inside.

Tables are thrown everywhere. Students crammed pack here and there. M and I fought for a table and finally got one. We sat down and waited on wobbly table and chair legs. At least they gave us free hot tea though. Wonderful remedy for such a cold night. And trust me, coming from LA, the chilly climate was a bigger shock than I expected.

The food was ok. I guess for the price and speed it was good. But I seriously remember food was better. Everybody tells me food in the Bay is amazing. And it is. But this meal was disappointing.

Later we explored the area and walked around some of the shops. They have the strangest things. First off, there are zillions of shops selling an assortment of incense, bongs, pipes, rusta, Hindu and Buddhist mechandise. But even weirder beyond that were some of the stores we encountered.

There was a hat store.

Trust me this was a weird thing for me. Especially because I don’t think most people would ever wear these hat. So how do the owners make money to be open all year round?

And my favourite stores? Well there were a ton with the word HERB on every bloody thing. There was a Thai restaurant that introduced itself as “Thai Restaurant: delicious herbs and spices”. Or a Chinese restaurant with herb flavourings. It was crazy as if they were trying to make a point about something. Except this was the whole town doing it. And yes we all know about weed in Berkeley. So answering my question, my favourite store that night was probably walking past this one and having an awesome laugh knowing that yes they probably sell herbs and are great at providing herbs, teas and spices. But they probably also deal with harder to find herbs too. Right?

Let them eat bread