San Francisco 2016
What a ride.
It all started in Seattle-Tacoma airport, where our flight was spectacularly delayed for 5 hours. Weather in SF they said. Our plane couldn’t land properly they said. Well, no matter. We had unlimited data and smartphones and a bunch of snacks.
You can meet some interesting people at the airport. I met a guy who worked at the Seattle Google offices and we struck up a chat. He was going to SF to interview with LinkedIn and funnily enough, he went to school and knew one of the people on my team at Zillow. He talked about how he worked on kind of a “legacy” feature and felt like he was just a cog in a giant, giant machine that is Google. I’m ultimately glad I didn’t go to one of those big companies (even though that was initially my goal in school) as I love working in a small company and have a huge impact! I’m on a team of about 8 developers and we work on the Zillow app (check it out), which has millions and millions of users!
Eventually, we got out to SF and landed and got back to our hotel around midnight. We got an uberPool, which is the cool new Uber feature that matches you with people going in the same general direction as you to give you a cheaper ride. We had a total of 4 strangers who were all generally going from SF airport to downtown and we only paid about ~$18 or so. Got to meet some interesting people too!
We got to our hotel and we’re not tired at all, so we decide to go to twin peaks, which is a big “hill” overlooking San Fran. It’s supposed to be beautiful. Except when it’s foggy and you all you see is an eerily lit up SF. We also had an uber driver that supposedly said he worked against racism but kept on talking about how Indian people are the worst people to work with. Was interesting.
The next day, we woke up bright early to this.
Friggin beautiful day in SF. We did the obvious touristy stuff around Golden Gate bridge (THAT GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE TOLL IS KILLER). We then checked out Golden Gate Park right after we hit up some sick korean bbq and bonchon.
Riding bikes through Golden Gate Park is a fun activity, especially when you hit the beach on the very west side. Except when it’s your girlfriend’s second time riding a bike. She was very, very good about it and actually kept up really well. Genuinely surprised. You go Liz!
That night, there was also a Kygo concert, who if you don’t know, is the new hot sh!t. We passed by the venue on our way to hipster french/new orleans food.
Apparently Kygo is a super big deal here and when we checked tickets, they were $150+ on stubhub. All that goddamn tech money.
The New Orleans style restaurant we went to for dinner was actually very good and had some interesting foods. This was probably one of my favorites.
It’s a beignet with cheesy/savory crawfish filling. I personally think crawfish is just an “ok” seafood as it’s cheap and there isn’t a lot of meat. The taste is pretty good if cooked well. The beignet however, added a uniqueness. The breading itself was…different and added a sweetness to the overall flavor. Pretty good and definitely would recommend trying although watch it, it’s insanely filling for only being $2.50
Liz then got a shrimp poboy that was literally the length of her head and I got some chicken + rice combo that was SUPER filling and very hearty. I probably easily ate 2000 calories in that one sitting. Oh well.
The next morning we took the trolley and got a nice view…of hilly, rainy San Francisco. We got off at Fisherman’s Wharf area and got to see a bunch of sea lions!
Next up was lombard street and the part that amazes the most was how the people who live there and somehow manage to park their car though. That takes some skill.
While walking around, I made the mistake of pointing out Ghirardelli square to my girlfriend. The next thing that happened was our pockets were lighter by a few dollars and this delicious monstrosity came out in front of us.
I’m not the biggest fan of sweets but I must say, this was very good. The fudge wasn’t insanely sweet and had a milky texture and flavor. I would highly recommend you share it with someone though.
Now for my favorite.
Presenting, the “Sushirrito”.
A giant sushi roll that hasn’t been cut. If you like sushi, you gotta try this place. I got one with yellowfin tuna, tamago (what is this?), peppers, lotus chips, cucumber, lettuce, and ginger guac (very good). It’s a unique take on sushi that is actually really filling and tasty. It’s definitely not your run of the mill sushi.
Afterwards, Chinatown was calling our name. The SF Chinatown is one of the biggest (and arguably the best) Chinatown’s because there is just a bunch of asian people in SF in general.
Lots of shops with a TON of cheap stuff, lots of good restaurants, and lots of old asian who straight up can’t even speak English.
The coolest part is with Chinese new years fast approaching, the area was slowly setting up for the celebration (which includes lots of fireworks).
That night, we partied with an old friend of mine in the Polk street area, which is a strip of SF that has a bunch of fun (but expensive) bars and clubs. We started off at Jackalope, which had this cool plinko game. Wager $10 and you play plinko, which could get you bottles of champagne, lots of shots, or pretty much a the worst drink you’ve ever tasted. We eventually, ended up at Playland Bar which is your run of the mill crowded, sweaty, college filled dance party. And it was awesome and fun.
The next day, we decided to repent our sins of the night before by going to mass at Grace Cathedral. My girlfriend is Catholic, so she was really excited. I’m not particularly religious, but damn that is one beautiful church.
Overall, SF is a beautiful, hipster-filled city that can beautiful one minute and then foggy the next. Highly recommend visiting during the off season, as you can score some cheap flights and some cheap hotel deals.
Come for tourism, stay for the food and culture.
