15.6.07

Kyla is in San Francisco

And it is fantastic!

I got in yesterday afternoon, although it seems like I've been here longer. I took the BART to the city center, and then a bus to the neighborhood where I'm staying. My dear friend Tina is letting me stay the weekend at her lovely apartment near Russian Hill. Yesterday, we strolled through Fisherman's Wharf, shopped at Union Square, and admired the city from the top of a hill. We went to the flagship H&M, which I was excited about since I hadn't been to one since living in Germany. Dinner was really good, cheap Indian food near Union Square. Tina is also letting me use her digital camera while I am here, since I forgot to bring mine. When we got home, I was exhasted from all the activity and the travel from Seattle, so I napped for half an hour and then we watched Stranger than Fiction, which was a wonderful movie.

Then today, Tina left for work earlier than normal so she could be out early as well. I took my time getting ready, making a few calls and taking a shower. I left the apartment at noon and made my way down to Chinatown. I snapped pictures of the sloping streets virtually covered in signs and slogans, all in Chinese, and was tempted by numerous trinket shops. I ended up buying a BBQ pork roll and a sesame bun, both of which were delicious, and then I walked to City Lights, an independent bookstore that is both historical and rad. I could have spent all day in there, but in the interest of seeing more of the city, I moved on after an hour or so. From there I walked down Columbus until I hit Lombard Street, and walked up the hill to the section that is supposedly the curviest piece of road in the US. Or something like that. It was pretty curvy - basically a set of switchbacks for cars. Then it was time to meet Tina, so I hopped a bus to the Mission. We killed time until 5:30, which is when the Country Station Sushi restaurant opened. This was by far the raddest part of the day for me (City Lights took a close second). This place looked like a run-down hole-in-the-wall type of place from the outside. Inside, decorations covered every wall and most of the ceiling and chair backs. There were only 8 or so tables, and the sushi chefs were young, cute and already working on making sushi behind the counter that overlooked the rest of the small restaurant. They yelled out a friendly greeting as Tina and I walked in, following the waitress who had just flipped the homemade sign to "open". Japanese punk music played from the speakers above. The place had an open-air, urban feel to it, and I found it wonderful. The food itself was equally amazing, featuring handmade gyoza stuffed with a fantastic non-meat filling, and a "dizzaster" roll wih salmon and mango. Sadly, this place will be closing at the end of June, which I can't imagine because it is really a fantastic restaurant. But I'm glad I got to experience it.

Now, Tina and I are taking a break and resting before it's time to go out tonight. We will be going to a thing called Blow Up, which looks insane. Hopefully we'll take some pictures and post them on the internets... probably Facebook. I'd better go and get my resting on so I'll be ready for tonight's craziness. More updates later, but until then, you can just assume that I'm having a super fun time down here in the City.

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harada57 said...
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