San Francisco: Mission, Castro, Fillmore, & Chinatown

[edit] I forgot to include this picture that Jazy helped take of me and Mr. Hotdog!

The fifth and last day was spent walking around SF with Jazy, who didn’t once complain despite his aching back. It was such a whole day of walking, that I have to admit that even I was pooped at the end of the day. In order of the districts we walked through:

Mission

The Mission district was where we started out, since that was the neighbourhood that Jazy lived in. All those colourful murals! I was so enamoured by the density of painted walls when I first arrived. It was the first thing I noted to Ela when she asked how I found SF on day one.

Jazy pointed out the Women’s Building on our route.

A colourful endeavor by the Precita Eyes Muralists.

Capp Street in Mission was a haven for murals when I walked down it two days prior:

The first time I strolled through Mission, I was so inundated with feels over the similar atmosphere that I experienced staying in Parque Patrocios in Buenos Aires two years ago- people speaking Spanish, home-run mercados peppering the streets, that slight sense of danger amid the grit and chaos of the neighbourhood.

Interior of a mercado along Mission Street.

Pork Store Cafe

Jazy took us to the Pork Store Cafe for brunch. It was a popular place, according to how many people were willing to wait for their table. Apparently it’s a popular place for vegetarians, of which Jazy is one. And to think that I thought the Pork Store Cafe had only bacon.

I had myself a Hashed Benny, which is a plate of eggs benedict with a side of hash browns. So. Good.

I thought the packaging for butter was cute until I turned it on its side and realised in horror just how. Simply two pieces of paper sticking onto both ends of a slab of butter. No. Just no.

Here’s Jazy singing another song in his head, I presume.

Castro

Jazy asked where I wanted to go after brunch. Having exhausted my to-see list of sights over the past four days, it took a while for me to come up with one of the most obvious to-go districts in SF.

There was a public concert when we got there, so we stopped to listen to it. It was so powerful and everyone performing looked like they had a great time. I think at least one of them was in flamboyant drag. This shot was taken right when the traffic officer had to clear some of the spectators to make way for the trolley bus coming from the left hand side.

Fillmore

Fillmore is a historical district in SF, but it mostly creeped me out because of the handful of life-like statues strategically-placed around the neighbourhood. No thank you. At least I finally got to try out the bubble tea from Quickly! The verdict was that it was so-so; I’ve had better from CoCo in LA. But I remember one of the kids I worked with for a project at downtown LA mentioned how good it was, so at least I’ve had that checked off my list.

Downtown

This is where it gets fuzzy because we’ve walked a lot by then, and I wasn’t exactly checking my map, but I think we were walking along California Street. Also, we passed by the Masonic Temple.

I found it fascinating that the building in the middle looked like it was simply a facade by how thin it was. Seriously, where does that rooftop ladder lead to?!

We stopped at a park and I found this adorable bulldog at the fountain! There were lots of dogs playing and hanging out at the park too. It was a good atmosphere.

“Put your hand down,” Jazy said right as the shutter went.

The Cable Car Museum is free and a cosy little space with an actual view of the cable lines in action.

Chinatown

Back to Chinatown I went again, the third time in five days.

Durians for sale. This was when I missed the wide variety of durians for sale in Singapore during harvest season.

I got three durian breads from Napoleon Bakery a few days ago (recommended by Ela). This was taken when I went to Sutro Baths. The first bread was shared with Jatti (who was repulsed), the second with Jazy (who was meh), and the third was breakfast here.

Jazy quietly ushered me into Vital Tea Leaf, where we had a free sampling of all sorts of tea. It was so cool.

Jazy got himself a bag of Lychee Black tea leaves.

He even got himself a free packet of Ginseng Oolong tea!

Back to Mission

It was time to head back, so we commenced our turn back to Mission. Don’t ask me for directions; I simply tagged along with Jazy. XD

Jazy pointed out that someone went into this abandoned building and stuck real furniture on the exterior. Crazy.

I couldn’t see that this was the number of the building until Jazy pointed it out. Phwoah!

nopa

I met up with J, Tiff, and DT at nopa for dinner. The last time I met them was at HARD. This time, I was more subdued. I was even too pooped to remember to get a picture of human beings. :(

The food was GREAT. J and Tiff were big fans- apparently they make it a point to visit this restaurant when they drive down to SF. Every. Dish. Was. Delicious. J basically went all ‘let’s order everything’. XD

Turns out that it was J’s treat. Thank you J! I wish I had more time to spend with these cool people.

The next day, I hugged Jazy goodbye, left his wonderful couch and hospitality, and waited for my bus back to LA next to two guys of questionable origin. One of them struck a conversation with me when it was just the two of us at one point, and while he maintained that he wasn’t homeless, he did offer me substance (though I didn’t know what exactly the nut thing he had in his hand was supposed to be). He even commented on how I was cool because most people are scared to talk to him.

So this is where the two guys caught the attention of two police officers and one of them was doing the questioning. And it struck me when the officer said this during the questioning:

“When did you get your bail- I’m sorry, when is your date of birth?”

Oh man.