took a trip to san francisco

 As summer began and school finally came to a close, my roommate and our close friend decided to travel from college to San Francisco. Only about a few hours away from where we lived, we made the journey by car. 

There are times when San Francisco feels lie the best place on Earth: there's so much culture (very different from where I go to college), everyone dresses nice and chances are there is always something beautifully created around you whether its the art or architecture. 

One of our other good friends goes to school in the city, so we're able to stay with her--no expensive hotels for three broke college students! 

I've been there a few times, but this year I've been twice. This time I felt much more familiar with my surroundings, and actually started to feel like I belonged in the city--a wonderful feeling. Here is the list of things we HAVE to see when were in the city:

• 
  Palace of Fine Arts
• The Marina
• Golden Gate Park
• Haight and Ashbury 
• Amoeba Records
• Roommates Vintage
• Dumpling Baby Restaurant
• The Game Parlour
• Anywhere that has a photobooth
• Thrift stores here and there
• Good matcha/coffee --> usually in Japantown

Besides that, whatever catches our eye is where we'll go. The last time we visited, I ended up winning a pair of free concert tickets to see George Clanton, but was unable to make it to the scheduled time. It honestly felt like a call to the world that I was supposed to be there in that moment. 

San Francisco is also home to the wonderful Outside Lands festival, something that I would love to attend this year if it pans out. A lot of artists performing are musicians I like, which is kind of rare for me these days. 

At Amoeba Records, I purchased my favorite Aphex Twin album, "Selected Ambient Works 85-92." I also found a Sigur Ros CD for only a few dollars, so I snagged that. The last time I went I was also able to get another Aphex Twin CD, as well as one of my favorite albums of all time, Massive Attack's "Mezzanine", which features songs with Cocteau Twins' singer Elizabeth Fraser. Every time I step in that store I expect to find greatness, and I haven't been let down yet!

The two restaurants I listed, Dumpling Baby and The Game Parlour both offer gluten free fried chicken--both of my friends who visited with me are gluten intolerant, so this is always a must! The Game Parlour has fabulous mochiko chicken, which is what makes it crispy, while Dumpling Baby has a sweet-tasting honey-based sauce, which is unique to other common chicken sauces like orange or teriyaki. 

Anyway, I hope that I go back to the city as many times as I can before I inevitably don't live as close to it as I do right now. Knowing me, I probably will because once I get a taste of something like San Francisco, I just can't stay away. 

That about wraps it up for me, until next time, cheers!