Now that I’m in the west coast, I want to explore more cities out here. I’ve been to San Francisco once before with family but missed some attractions and was limited in time. I was determined to go back to explore the food scene and immerse into the city more. Dreamstate, a trance music 2-day event was happening in the city so it was a great excuse to visit San Francisco.

Day 1 – Saturday, January 16, 2016

After my early arrival and checking into the hotel, I met up with Cassie at her favorite bakery ‘Mr. Holmes’. She told me about a must-try “Cruffin” that is better than the New York “Cronut”. I agreed, the Cruffin was delicious and more memorable than the Cronut.

We walked around the Mission area to shop at little boutique shops and also explored the Clarion “Graffiti” Alley. We had a delicious brunch at Foreign Cinema with some great one-and-one time and heartfelt conversations.

I tried Boba Guys after but it was not that special and I prefer other bubble tea shops. Chi arrived at this time and we got ready for our first night at Dreamstate. We met up with Chauncey, Lewis and Kristyn for a great night of Trance. Ram’s and Paul van Dyk’s set did not disappoint!

Day 2 – Sunday January 17, 2016

Chi and I went to Union Square to do some shopping and sight seeing. I bought four pairs of shoes while Chi got one at DSW. We also got a selfie stick here! I told Chi we should have bought a cheap selfie stick online prior to the trip. Then Chi saw them for sale at DSW’s cash register but I brushed him off since I expected it to be over $10. He trumped me by saying “This one is $4.99!” Then I challenged him by saying “It probably doesn’t have a button/remote to take the pic…” He rebutted with a “Yes it does!”. Then I agreed to get it. Another short anecdote, Chi and I used the selfie stick at Union Square while other tourists asked us to take a photo for them. Chi tried to sell them on the selfie stick “Only $5 at DSW around the corner!’ but they were not interested. We met up with Cassie for lunch at Super Duper Burger. It was greasy and Umami Burger or Shake Shack is still better in my burger books.

We ventured to Ghirardelli square and explored Musée Mécanique, a retro arcade. This was Chi’s favorite place and I agree the retro machines were fun! It was free admission but you need quarters to play.

We wander towards Fisherman Wharf  before heading back to hotel to get ready for the second night of Dreamstate. Solarstone and Bryan Kearney’s set was fantastic but my overall impression of Dreamstate was it’s small and no Electric Daisy Carnival.

Day 3 – Monday January 18, 2016

I had a creole breakfast at Brenda’s French Soul Food with Chi, Chauncey and Kristyn. The meal was unique and tasty but also very heavy.

After saying good bye to Chauncey and Kristyn, Chi and I went to explore the Golden Gate Bridge. Cassie told us two of the best spots to see the bridge; Battery Spencer and Baker Beach. Battery Spencer was gun battery post for a gorgeous aerial view and access to walk across the bridge. The bridge was expansive but not as enjoyable as walking across Brooklyn Bridge because it was loud and windy.

Baker beach was a view to the bridge paired against a beach front. Chi and I weren’t careful and the unexpected big waves resulted in wet socks. It was a beautiful spot.

Chi wanted to go to Exploratorium, San Francisco’s science museum. There were some interesting interactive exhibits but I enjoyed it more than Chi. He wanted to go back to the retro arcade!

We walked to Fisherman Wharf to finish seeing it before meeting Cassie at Tacolicious for dinner. We went to Japan Town to see her place and also stopped into a arcade and played some fun Japanese games such as these random mini games and table flipping.

Day 4 – Tuesday January 19, 2016

We walked in the pouring rain to a restaurant that just stopped serving weekday breakfast a week ago! Chi and I were both wet, hungry and annoyed but made it to another diner, Mymy Coffee Shop for some ricotta pancakes. It was not bad but we were happy to be out of the rain.

We got to the Alcatraz Prison Island ferry just seconds before the boarding gates closed for our prepaid tickets. I was so glad we made it because I wasn’t sure if we could exchange our tickets for a later time. The audio tour was educational and interesting to hear prison life and stories.

We went to OTD for some modern Vietnamese and it was delicious. The pork with rice was very flavorful and my noodles were unlike any rice noodle dish I’ve had.

Chi and I love Korean spas so we wanted to go to Kabuki Springs before our evening flight. Unfortunately, the entrance wait times were too long so we went to another one nearby called Imperial Spa. It was very small and it wasn’t very good compared to others we’ve been to.

I packed a lot into this trip but there is still more to explore in San Francisco. It’s my new “New York” when I lived in Toronto –a city that requires a couple short trips to see and eat it all. Prior to my move to Seattle, I considered San Francisco as an option for relocation but after being in the city, I think Seattle is a better fit for me. San Fran. is fairly hard to get around (we had to take uber/lyft everywhere) whereas Seattle is more walkable. The infrastructure is also old compared to Seattle. Surprisingly, we had really rainy weather in this otherwise sunny city. I’ll be back and maybe my opinion on living here will change.