I used to travel a lot but now I'm a homebody with a lot of side hustles.
Author: Liau Yun Qing
Yun Qing is a writer, improviser and curious person. She loves finding little adventures in life. In 2013, she went on a 130-day round-the-world trip. She wrote a book "Your Big Break" to help those who also want to go on a career break.
It’s lunch time here at my office and I am hungry.
Today’s #FoodFri feature is the multi-flavored xiao long bao (literally “mini dragon buns”, or “mini steam basket buns”) from Paradise Dynasty in Singapore.
I usually avoid restaurants to save money but I got this set using a Groupon voucher so it was a lot cheaper. According to my voucher, the eight different flavors are: Original, Ginseng, Foie Gras, Black Truffle, Cheese, Crab Roe, Garlic, Sze Chuan.
My sister and I each had a steam basket and tried to guess the different flavors. Most of the time we probably got the flavors wrong because some taste quite alike. Those that are really unique, eg Szechuan, are easily guessable.
I don’t think the buns are worth the fuss even though I’m a a big xiao long bao fan. I guess it’s more of a fun dish to treat guests to.
On Tuesday, reports about the Singapore police arresting a 25-year-old “vandal” trended on Twitter and my Facebook wall. I’m not sure what the exact cause of arrest was, I think she was taken in for spray painting “MY GRANDFATHER BUILDING” on a pristine white wall and “MY GRANDFATHER ROAD” on a pristine gray asphalt.
Besides spray painting, she was believed to have pasted stickers at on top of the button of pedestrian crossing lights. I find the stickers whimsical, something Zooey Deschanel would do after she checks the directions with Siri:
in Singapore
According to the Singapore Vandalism Act, enacted in 1966, those who are found guilty of vandalism “shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years, and shall also, subject to sections 325(1) and 330(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010, be punished with caning with not less than 3 strokes and not more than 8 strokes”. (TL;DR version.)
It’s strange that we’re still using a law enacted in 1966 for the arrest. Back then, gloves were still a hit among the ladies.
Street art overseas
Discussing this with D, she said the point of argument should focus on “how art cannot be a crime?”
I remember being impressed by graffiti during my travels so I scoured my photo collection for some street art/acts of vandalism.
In Nantes, this caught my attention because of Darth Vader and Little Miss Vadar. in Nantes
Make love, not arrests. in Barcelona
The city of Yogyakarta is famous for its graffiti.
in Yogyakartain Yogyakarta
The Mission in San Francisco is famous for its murals. There’s even an app for that.
in San Franciscoin San Francisco
I suspect the graffiti in KL were city-sanctioned and even sponsored by a paint company.
in KL
I hope Sticker Lady would be given a lighter sentence instead of prison time.
I spent seven nights there and loved the location. It’s between Chinatown and the Financial District. Plus, Union Square and Market Street is within walking distance. For the facilities and location, the less-than-US$30 rate is darn cheap.
The area’s also safe for a solo woman traveller since I didn’t see many shady characters hanging around at night.
The rooms
I was given the Haigh Ashbury bed in one of the two rooms on the fourth floor. There are six beds in each room. I believe the third floor has extra rooms (and showers) as well.
The room is not tiny as there’s still space for everyone of us in the room to open our luggage. There’s also storage underneath the bed. Remember to bring your lock.
My bed was comfortable. The room is nice and toasty at night if we keep the windows shut. Sheets were clean. Two mirrors in the room, in case you are a mirror person.
There were two power outlets which were shared among six girls who probably each have 2 devices. Other power source is available in the hangout area.
Hostel folks
Kitchen
If you are a people person who LOVEa making new friends, this is the perfect place for you. You’ll make lots of friends with the guests and staff in the kitchen/hangout area.
Unfortunately for me, I’m not that much of a people person so I kept to myself most of the time. (The hostel actually inspired my ealier post on ISFPs and hostels.)
Hangout
The fourth floor is the hangout area. Unfortunately, the hangout area is the thing between me and the bathroom. So most of the time, I have to not-so-discreetly walk to the bathroom while everyone’s chatting about. (Psst, the shower next to the toilet has hotter water than the other one.)
If you are a light sleeper, the hostel has lights out at 12 midnight (hurray!) and most people leave the hangout area for some place else. Just in case, bring earplugs for snory roomies. I got mine from Daiso which has a branch right on Market Street.
Overall, the Pacific Tradewinds Hostel is a great place to stay. Do remember to make advanced bookings because they had to turn down a lot of people while I was there.
Pacific Tradewinds Hostel
Pro: Great location, cheap (<US$30), safe area, near good food
Cons: More power points please.
During my San Francisco trip, I had the chance to stay at two different hostel. Well, “chance” doesn’t really describe my situation. I had to book separate places because I misinterpreted my work schedule.
This is the Fort Mason branch of Hostelling International’s three hostels in the city. I didn’t pick the other two because they seem to be in shady locations. For a solo woman traveler, safety is always a priority.
I got off one bus stop too early and had to drag my luggage up an extra slope. (I should have stopped at Van Ness instead of Polk.)
After I reached the Fort Mason entrance, there was another slope to conquer. The slope’s not too bad and there’s a beautiful community garden along the way to distract me.
The hostel front desk is on top of the hill. There’s plenty of parking space around.
I lived in this building. The stairs leads to the breakfast room.
The front desk person is curt but I don’t expect hostel staff to fawn over me so it was the right amount of civility. She used a marker to write that day’s date on my receipt for use as an entrance pass and my breakfast slip.
Room
I was lucky enough to get one of the smaller dorm rooms. There was only six beds instead of some other’s 10 to 12. There’s a radiator in the room for those cold San Franciscan nights.
I had the lower bunk which is good because there’s no ladder to climb up the upper bunk. You’ll have to step on the rungs (which were quite high). Under the bed is a luggage space which I locked with my padlock. I couldn’t find a power point in the room.
Room access is with an electronic card. My Room 13 was right outside the bathroom so it was convenient for showers. The bathroom was bright with three showers with three toilets.
There’s a theater and a large kitchen. I did a bit of blogging in the kitchen since there was Internet connection there.
Hostel with a view
The view from the hostel itself is not too fantastic as it’s covered up by trees. But if you stand at the edge of the hill, you’ll get a great faraway look of the Golden Gate Bridge (if the weather is gracious with low fog).
In the mornings, cyclists will ride past the hostel since it’s along the way to the bridge.
Breakfast was great. I had a bagel with peanut butter, a fruit (which I forgot to take away), unlimited coffee and juice. The breakfast lasted me from 11am to 3pm.
One thing cool about Fort Mason on Friday is Off the Grid. At least there was one the Friday I was there.
The event brings the street cards and food trucks around the city in a central location. Head banging music and crowd expected. I had the chance to try out the Creme Brulee Cart there.
Fisherman’s Wharf Hostel
Pro: Good view, great breakfast, space, cheap (US$29.99), safe area
Cons: Far from most sights, a bit of a trek from nearest bus stop, slopes, no power point in room
When I was on student exchange in China, I was very fascinated with these milk-in-a-plastic-bag. Besides regular milk, other types of liquid also come in these bags, eg: watery yogurt or peanut milk.
From where I grew up, liquid milk either came in a bottle or a paper box.
I like milk in a bag. It’s more convenient to pack since it won’t have the pointy edges of paper-boxed milk or the awkward shape and weight of a plastic bottle.
But I don’t like how awkward it is to drink. I either have to cut a hole and drink it like I’m sucking on an udder or find a glass to pour it in. There’s also a risk of the bags leaking because of sharp and pointy things in my bag.
If you’re ever in China, give these milk-in-a-bag a try. They taste good.
During my week vacation in San Francisco, I relied a lot on Yelp and its local reviewers for advice on what to eat. The app was also very useful to narrow down eateries that were still open at the time I want to visit. A lot of the stores seem to operate at a very specific time range.
Yelp, with its HQ in San Francisco, is also promoted a lot by the restaurant themselves. A lot of the shops proudly display Yelp stickers or have Yelp-related promotions, such as the half price-coffee I got at M Cafe. I am not sure how both parties benefit but it sure benefits me as a consumer.
I want to be married to Yelp, in a polygamous marriage with TripIt too.
Thanks to Yelp and one or two IRL (in real life) local recommendations, I had some very amazing meals while in SF.
Bon appetit!
Sammich, panini, torta, burger
Torta from La Grande Torta in Mission district
I made one friend at the hostel! (Good job YQ!) K brought me to thirft stores and to eat real Mexican food.
My torta was stuffed with all sorts of meat. I washed it down with hot chocolate spiced with cinnamon. Mmmm…
The Godfather Panini from M Cafe
Found the shop through Yelp. The sandwich was dripping sauce when I ate it. Good but not absolutely fantastic. I love the warm toasted bread. (Psst, Wi-Fi password there is godfather.)
Sandwich from Freddie’s Sandwich at Pine Street
Daily special at the highly rated Freddie’s Sandwich. It was so big I packed half of it in a container for dinner. Yummy!
Philly Cheese Steak from Buster’s
I was looking for real steak but ended up with a sandwich. (Stupid non-local me.) Surprisingly nice with melted cheese and bits of beef.
In-N-Out Burger Hamburger from In-N-Out Burger
Do burgers count as sandwiches? In my book, bread with meat in between equals a sandwich, so here it is. Jesse from Discovery Walks recommended the place as the best burger place.
Instead of cheeseburger, I went with hamburger because I am clueless about which burger to choose. It was alright. The fries felt a bit flat.
Hotdog from Zog’s Dog
Accidentally stumbled upon the stand while waiting for a walking tour to start. My first American hotdog! The meat was hot from the pan and my mustard flavored the plain bun very well.
Desserts
Plain vanilla creme brulee From the crème brûlée cart. Stalk them at @cremebruleecart
The cart and its goodies were something I’ve heard about even before the work trip was known. It’s quite fun to know that a food cart would announce its location on twitter for its fan to look for it.
I had the dessert when Off the Grid was happening at Fort Mason. Off the Grid gathers about 10 food carts/trucks in one location with head banging music and not much moving space.
I also picked up a nutella and strawberry creme brulee when I saw the card downtown. Sweet!
Not my best meal in SF .I just arrived in San Francisco from San Jose and I was really hungry for food so I picked the cheap set.
Supermarket strawberries
Straberries were humongous. I ate all, except four, in one sitting. It washed away the bad sushi taste.
Main meals
Pizza from The Golden Boy
Another Discovery Walks guide recommendatiom: a Sicilian pizza joint.
I picked the one with clam garlic topping. It tastes of salty seafood but the crunchy crust tempers the saltiness. I got one to go and sat on the grass at Washington Square while the locals lounge about soaking up the sun. (I was in the shade.) It was a very satisfying meal.
Clam chowder in sourdough bowl from Bordin at Pier 39
I had a coupon for a free drink at Pier 39’s Bordin so I got myself a clam chowder in sourdough bowl.
After a taste of the bread, I am now in love with sourdough. But the soup was already cold by the time I got it so it wasn’t fantastic.
Pho from Golden Star Vietnamese Restaurant
My very first Yelp-referenced meal, also my first sit-down meals in SF.
I was hungry for something soupy and checked for good and cheap food places around the hostel. Turns out the restaurant is around some corners so I grabbed my jacket and went in search of the place.
I was served a medium pot of tea. It wasn’t really good tea but I drank probably the three-quarters of the pot because I am that thirsty.
The dish itself wasn’t salted enough. But it was satisfying because of the hot soup and the large chunks of meat. Mmmm….
Breakfast at M’oz Cafe near Union Square
I was heading to the SF MOMA on Bay to Breakers day so I looked up breakfast places around the area.
The hash brown is flaky and tastes 10 times better than the piece of potato McDonald’s gives me when I order its breakfast set.
Sushi burrito Royal prince burrito at Sushi Taka on Kearny-Sacramento Street
A sushi place just around the corner of my hostel. I found it funny that its opening hours was from 8am to 2.30pm on weekdays. It feels like they don’t need to earn money.
My picnic was at the square which I don’t remember while I wait for the Chinatown tour to start. I felt like I was intruding on the local old Chinese granpas’ place.
Lunch set at Scoma, Sausolito
My most expensive meal in San Francisco area. It was a posh seaside restaurant at Sausolitio which is opposite San Francisco.
I had cycled there and was hungry. I got the clam chowder lunch set as well as three raw oyster.
Yummy!
Drinks
Caramel macchiato
I like the stamped logo. The coffee is good too but I probably should have ordered something more plain.
I was planning to go with “I left my heart in San Francisco” as my blog title so it would mirror my San Jose entry’s song title as blog title. In the end, I decided to skip the cheesiness since it’s too predictable to use that.
Anyway, I’ve fallen in love with San Francisco. Although it’s blasphemous to say this, but, yes, I’ve fallen in love with the City more than I did Paris.
Before the trip, all I ever heard from people was how much they loved San Francisco. Not a bad word was said.
It was annoying and also scary. How is it possible for everyone to like a place so much?
So I decided I would buck the trend and not like SF. I came to the place expecting to dislike the weather, the buildings, the smell of the subway (Paris’s Metro smells like piss), the touristy Golden Gate Bridge. Basically, I was being a psycho.
But in the end, I didn’t. I fell in love instead.
Beautiful things
Church of Scientology
At first glance, the City feels like any other city. The buildings are not as nice as Europe where the old buildings are amazingly gorgeous.
But San Francisco grew on me.
At every other corner, there’s something beautiful. Mostly the sea, sometimes bushes of flowers (lavender grow aplenty here), murals, the sky, metrosexual men and cute babies.
The museums and exhibits are great too. I never thought I would like the Aquarium but the beautiful jellyfish made me stop and stare.
Beautiful jellyfish at Aquarium at the Bay
Yelp is heavily promoted by businesses and that’s what I used to help me find good food. I had lots of great food–not the stuff I see on American shows but good stuff.
The place is also walking friendly (if you don’t think about the hills). I got lost about once everyday but with each turn, I would get closer to my destination so it was alright.
Checking the To-Do list
I went back to my pre-US blog post and found the list of To-Do’s. Here’s a check to see how many I’ve conquered.
–eat burgers at McDonald’s
+I ate In N’ Out burgers, also had breakfast at McD’s. That counts, right?
–eat hotdogs from hot dog stands
+I had a Zog’s Dog.
–run for cover while super aliens destroy the city
+Hmm… Planet of Apes didn’t happen.
–drink soda (what flavor is it?)
+Had a watermelon-flavored soda.
–buy Old Spice
+As I tweeted: bought @OldSpice shower gel to bring back to Singapore. Need to find a man to make him smell like “the man your man could smell like”
–watch Mad Men on TV
+My hotel didn’t have AMC. :(
–watch Game of Thrones on TV
+I only caught bits of it at the hotel. The hostel is TV-less.
Who says my #FoodFri has to be about good food? Not everything I put in my mouth taste yummy–especially that mouthful of detergent I once accidentally sipped.
So today, I shall show you one of the most disgusting meals I had in the US. Hmm… I think it’s the *only* disgusting meal I had.
I knew I needed to eat sushi in San Francisco but I was too timid to enter posh looking shops. In the end, I picked up a sushi set from Safeway supermarket.
If I could travel back in time, I would devote all my energy to change the course of my life around 8-9pm May 23. I would stop myself from buying this set even if it means physically forcing Marty McFly out of the time machine.
The wasabi tasted suspiciously like chilli. I wonder if they put jalapenos in it.
The California roll was sad. It has the traditional avocado in it–leaving me feeling “UH?”. The not yummy taste could not be covered up by the wasabi. Sad!
The salmon. Is this San Francisco? How could your fish taste so bad? They must have been made in China.
But what can I expect? It’s supermarket sushi. (Although I still can’t believe Cold Storage sushi can be better.)
Despite my blog title being “YQ, travelling ISFP”, I haven’t talked much about being an ISFP while travelling.
Nobody wants to be lonely?
Part of the reason was that I’ve been travelling with my friends so the shy-ISFP part of me is dormant.
But for this trip, I needed to stay in hostels to save money. Since day 1 of hostelling, I realized how serious the introvert part of me could be.
It’s a bit of a generalization to say all ISFPs are like me, but here’s a few things I found out about myself during this trip:
I am comfortable being alone.
I can talk to strangers but only in a small groups (of two).
I try to avoid crowds (difficult when the hang out area is on the way to the bathroom).
I smile at people but avoid actively greeting them in case I’m brought into a conversation (or maybe that’s the Asian part of me).
I take an extra 15 minutes pretending to pack my stuff for the shower, all this while, I’m bracing myself for the walk past the crowd.
When I walk past the crowd at the hangout area, I look at the floor or my destination and AVOID EYE CONTACT.
After showering/washing my hands, I stare at the mirror. Again, bracing myself for the crowd.
I cringe when I am brought to attention among a crowd.
I dislike being in crowds, just thinking about it makes my stomach churn in a bad way.
I think it’s very nice that other people can be carefree when they are in a crowd. I want to do that but just thinking about it stresses me out.
I cannot flirt even if I think if someone in the hostel is cute. (Usually my flirting skills involve AVOID EYE CONTACT or a faint smile that looks like I have muscle cramps.)
Even if there is only one wall socket in the room, I’d rather not go out into the hangout area to charge my laptop.
I would say I am comfortable being socially awkward so I’m not very sure if I want to be hyperactive and friendly while on the road.
What’s your personality type and how are you like when you travel?
I picked up a pamphlet for Discovery Walks SF when I was at the airport. Since I had no plans for the day I checked in, I decided to join the Fisherman’s Wharf tour since my hostel was just nearby.
I don’t think I’ve ever joined a walking tour before. Hmmm… I did try to join one in Paris but I was too stingy to pay the tips so I didn’t.
I’m glad I did for this tour. I didn’t have breakfast so I grabbed a small bite (croissant and coffee at Ghirardelli, a combo offer) before heading to the meeting point.
Chocolate croissant
I looked around to find someone wearing orange. I saw a girl in an orange T-shirt and a dark jacket taking pictures. She then walked away so I had to look some more.
Then I saw a guy with a lump of orange next to him. The lump of bright orange turned out to be a vest and he zipped it on.
Putting on my not-shy, cheerful face, I went to ask if he was from the tour and he was. Jesse, the bearded tour guide.
No one else went up to him so we started the tour with only one participant (me!). It was great because I didn’t have to share tour guides with other people.
The tour was great. The sun bright and warm while the wind chilly.
Jesse was a very engaging guide too, always accommodating even when I ask questions like: “What do they call Irish coffee in Ireland?” “What is the size of San Francisco when compared to London?”
The greatest tip I got from him was that Bay to Breakers was happening this Sunday. (I had the impression that it was a weekly event but turns out it’s only an annual thing.)
He said the event is one of the two in SFO where “everybody” would have the same amount of fun. Other events, take Gay Pride parade for example, makes people happy but the most happy would be the GLBT folks. The other everybody happy event is Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.
While I’ve read a lot of guidebooks about San Francisco. Jesse shared other tips that I haven’t come across. These include
Don’t stir your Irish coffee.
The company which made glasses for Irish coffee went bankrupt and one of the coffeeshops bought ALL the leftover stock and is not letting them go.
Don’t drink the Irish coffee if it’s in a mug. Tastes not as good.
In N Out serves the best burger in the US and its special menu doesn’t sound too appealing to me.
Berkely will make a really nice day trip (though I’m still more into Sonoma.)
Tram is better than cable car as it passes cooler neighborhood.
Locals don’t visit Fisherman’s Wharf’s Pier 39 as much as tourists do.
Interestingly, I’m liking the US more than I thought I would. Blame it on the TV and the dark side of the Internet for making me think that the country’s weird.
YQtravelling 