Exploring San Francisco

 



I am currently reading Season of the Witch by David Talbot and I have to say that my mind was blown away!  I am so lucky to live in a place like San Francisco with so much history, so for this reason I decided to do the Castro tour that the San Francisco City Guides offers. I really wanted to see the places that Talblot describes in his book regarding Harvey Milk. 

Castro Tour

The Castro tour was amazing. I walked over a mile or two in this neighborhood, but I have to say that it went by fast. We met under the movie marquee of the Castro Theatre at 11:00 am. The tour guy covered a several topics from the Gold Rush to current issues in the Castro neighborhood.

Highlights

• I get to visit Harvey Milk's camera shop which is now a Human Rights Campaign located on  575 Castro Street.

• The Pink Triangle Memorial Park, a memorial to the 15,000 killed in the Holocaust, was dedicated in a noontime ceremony in the Castro.

• Bring your camera to take some pictures of colorful murals of the Castro

• See the Rainbow Honor Walk Project

• Learn more about Castro's architecture

Prices

Even though the walking tours are free, I highly recommend giving some donations!

What to wear?

• Please wear comfortable shoes
• Bring some water and snacks
• Wear some layers
• Bring both a piece of paper and a pen to write down notes during the tour

Upcoming  Castro tours

November 13th, 17th, 18th, and 20th at 11:00 am

Remember!
Meet under the movie marquee of the Castro Theatre. Also, you can take Muni K, L, M and get off at Castro Station where you can easily see the Castro Theater.

If you would like more information about San Francisco walking tours, please click here



Feeling Lucky?

LUCKY STRIKE 

Looking for a night out in the town, but not exactly the club scene. Go to Lucky Strikes!! Lucky Strikes is not your normal bowling alley. Lucky Strikes is located right next to AT&T Park and attracts a lot of baseball fans. Lucky Strikes comes equipped with awesome food and a fully loaded bar! 

Menu includes:

chicken wings 

nachos 

calamari 

short ribs 

Drinks: 

Soft Drinks 

Beer

Spirits 

Margaritas 

Wine

Atmosphere

chill 

relaxing but at times can be crowded and loud 

roomy 

200 King St.

San Francisco Ca 94107

(415) 400-8260

Click here for a direct link to the website!!!

Green Festival Free Tickets!

Are you interested in building sustainable businesses and finding more about social justice? If so, this is a great opportunity for you to go to San Francisco Green Festival this Nov 10th to the 11th.

What is Green Festival?

Green Festival is a project of Green America and Global Exchange that is aim at finding solutions socially, economically and environmentally. In additon, community leaders and business discuss critical issues that can impact our lives at home and abroad. One of the goals of this evevent is to empower individuals to make possitive changes in the world.

Do you want free tickes?

Fair Trade, a market-based approach to alleviating poverty and proctect the environment, is offering free tickets for the Green Festival. Please email them at socialmedia@fairtradeusa.org if you would like a free ticket or two.

•  Don't forget to visit Fair Trade USA at booth #853 to try some delicious Fair Trade Certified products.

Fair Trade Presentation Sunday Nov. 11th

Time

11:30 am

Presenter

Kayleigh DeMello (Equal Exchange)

Toipc

Tastes of Fair Trade: Learn how to host a tasting in your home

Time
1:30 pm

Presenter

Growing with Care: How a local business expanded while staying on mission

Topic

Fair Trade 101

Green Festival Experience

• Bring your own water bottle
• Take public trasportation or ride your bike
• Try to carpool if you are thinking about driving
• spread the messge
• Thank volunteers!

Location

 635 8th St., San Francsico, CA 94103.

Public Transportation
Arriving from Bart: The Concourse is located at 8th & Brannan, just 5 blocks south of the Civic Center Bart station on Market Street. To reach the Concourse from the Civic Center Bart station, walk 5 blocks South on 8th Street, or catch the 19 Muni bus. Muni bus fare is less than $5. The 19 runs down 8th Street and returns back to Market Street on 7th. So you will have to walk over to 7th Street in order to catch the bus back to the Civic Center Bart Station. Bart can take you directly from SFO International Airport or the East Bay Caltrain www.caltrain.org.

Weather
Tomorrow is going to be mostly sunny (59F), so be prepare to bring some layer since there is going to be lots of walking!

Red Bull Gives You Wings!

credits to http://www.zepeda.us/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Redbull-Logo.jpg

Red Bull is having their 10th anniversary Red Bull Flugtag in the United States and this year it is held in San Francisco where flugtag first began in the United States back in 2002. However, the Red Bull Flugtag actually started in 1992, in Vienna Austria, but San Francisco is the first location that the event took place in, within the U.S.

What is Flugtag?

Flugtag means "flying day" in German, but all the human crafted flying machines will end up falling off the 30-foot high deck and splash into the water.

What is this event?

• This year, 36 teams are competing in the Red Bull Flugtag by building their very own flying machines that is going to be pushed off a tall deck in hope of actually flying along the waters of McCovey Cove.
• Each team designs their own design for the flying machine, for example, some were ducks, pigs, hamburger, multicolored, and etc.
• One person is in the flying machine trying to fly it while the other teammates pushes the machine off the deck.
• Whichever 3 machine the judges think is best flight distance, creativity, and showmanship wins either 1st, 2nd or 3rd prize.

Still having trouble imagining how it's going to be like? Check out the Video below!

Price
If you guessed that it's FREE to attend and watch the teams fly off the deck then splash into the water, you're absolutely correct!

What Day and Time?
It's going to be on Saturday, November 10 and hangers open at 11 AM, but the first flight is at 1 PM.

Transportation

• At events where there's going to be a lot of people, I always recommended taking the bus because parking will be really hard to find, unless you want to pay to park in a parking garage.
• To get to McCovey Cove you can take the underground MUNI of either the N line or the K which turns into the T after the underground tunnel.

You can Click Here to get directions from wherever you are by bus, car or etc.

Weather
It is going to be partly cloudy with 10% chance of rain. The highest temperature is 58 degrees and low 44 degrees.
For more weather update check out the link Here.

Do I Need to Bring anything?
Nope, just make sure you wear comfortable shoes because you may be standing a lot. 

Where is it at?
It will be at McCovey Cove near AT&T park.

The address is:
 3rd St. and Terry A. Francois Blvd. 
San Francisco, CA

credit to http://cdn.funcheap.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Red-Bull-Flugtag-San-Francisco1.jpg

If you have time this Saturday, go enjoy this FREE event! You can also join their Facebook event to see what teams are going to be in the competition and who might be at the event. Just click right Here. Join and invite your friends to come too, it would make it way more fun to watch a silly or sophisticated looking flying machine splash into the water.

Want a quick overview of the event? Just Click Here!

If you want more information check out their website below.
Red Bull Flugtag

 

"Light Up the Night" Campaign

What is the "Light Up the Night" Campaign?
It is a partnership between San Francisco Municipal Trasportation Agency, also known as SFMTA, and San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC). What they are basically doing is giving away FREE white front lights and red back light for people who doesn't have any. Not only are they giving people with no bicycle lights, they will also help install them for you.

Price
This event is absolutely FREE! I think the only thing you might have to do is fill out some forms.

When
This event starts on November 8, 2012 from 5 PM to 7 PM.

They will also have this event on these following days:
November 15
November 27
December 13


What do you have bring?
You don't really need anything, except for you bike of course! If you don't have a bicycle with you, then you won't be able to receive any of the lights.

Weather
There is a 50% chance of rain, especially in the PM time, so bike safely especially if you don't have lights!
To check for updates click on the link Here.


Location
The location for November 8 is located in the Downtown area. 

Sadly they only give this general description of where they are going to be located at because they want to provide bicycle lights to the people who truly needs them. However, they are supposedly be stationed near busy bike routes so they can be spotted and last year, their tent color was orange.

Location for this event on the other days (Nov. 15, Nov. 27, and Dec. 13) are actually held in another area. Check the location by Clicking Here.

P.S. I read it might be at Howard and 2nd Street.

This is the flyer for the free event.

Definitely check out this FREE event if you have a bike and you don't want to spend money buying front and back lights, which are required to have if you want to bike at night.

For more information Click Here.

Get Your Crepes On

What was previously available only at five-star hotels and restaurants for its delicate and tedious operation, this thin French pancake made its way in the heart of Richmond district in SF! Genki Crepes & Mini Mart  managed to maintain the age-old tradition of crepe making in 30 different flavors. 

What's the stitch?
Whether you're in for a sweet treat of ice cream crepes or dessert crepes with fruit fillings of strawberry, nutella, banana, peanut butter, red bean paste or fancy having savory crepes for lunch or dinner, Genki has it all to your liking.

Check out their menu for the mouth-watering crepes they offer! They can make tuna salad, beef sukiyaki, chicken, smoked salmon and ham&cheese crepes. What's great about it too is they close late at 11:30pm for those late midnight snack cravings.

Price
For the price of $5, you'll be able to get your hands on the dessert crepes. Add a dollar or two to upgrade it to the savory or ice cream crepes.

It happens to be inside a mini-mart too so while waiting for your crepe to be prepared, you will be amazed at what you can find in their store. Asian goodies you can't find anywhere else!

Location
Crepe up @
Genki Crepes
330 Clement Street
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 379-6414

Friday Food Trip

Calling all foodies out there! If you're not the party goer type or tired of the club scene, mark one of your Fridays for Off the Grid!

Typical Friday @ Fort Mason Center 

swarming with food lovers

The Makings of OtG What began with the simple idea of creating an "asian night market," Off the Grid (OtG) has been successful at bringing street food vendors and small local businesses together to foster a shared food experience in urban communities. To date, Off the Grid has 15 weekly markets in operation around the greater Bay Area, wherein over 100 vendors participate weekly in their respective food trucks and tents. Off the Grid has been a household name with the popularity it gained among teens and adults alike.

Locations
People would usually flock to the weekly markets for their local gourmet favorites at Vallejo & Front, Hayward, Civic Center, UN Plaza, 5M at Fifth and Minna, Upper Haight, North Berkeley,  Southside Berkeley on Telegraph, Alameda and Larkspur at certain hours. Usually 11am-3pm or 5-9pm. But perhaps the biggest food bazaar they hold would have to be the one at Fort Mason Center, which is open to all every Fridays from 5pm-10pm. Perfect for dinner or food cravings you have in general.

 Food trucks, tents and long lines

Price

You don't need to bring a wad of cash but normally your $20 is enough to stuff you to your heart's or in this case, tummy's desire. There's lots and lots of food to last you for the night or probably until the next day! It has just about everything you're looking for. Take your pick from Vietnamese, Peruvian, Indian, Yucatecan, Filipino, Mexican,  Thai, Korean, Japanese or Asian fusion offerings. 

 Try Mochimisu and the Kamikazee fries @ Koja Kitchen; elotes seasoned with Sriracha, cheese and sour cream @ Alicia's; and the Si Por Favor from the 

Creme Brulee Cart

It would feel like you've gone to a buffet, only street food style, because you're basically in food haven. Empanadas, musubis, sliders, rice balls, sisig, tacos, tamales, banh mis, cupcakes, burgers, noodles, cream puffs, dumplings, kettle corn, bao buns, etc. No doubt you'll be having food coma after visiting OtG on a Friday night!

Might as well try the spam musubi @ Gohan's Rice Creations too; empanada from 

El Porteno, fish tacos from Taco Guys and the kimchi rice @ Bombzies

I'd say screw your diet for a day and spend your Friday night with friends, co-workers or family

@ Off the Grid: Fort Mason Center

Fort Mason Center (Parking Lot)

San Francisco, CA 94123

Dont' forget to subscribe to their newsletter to get the latest scoop and complete dish on the weekly markets, trucks and menus! 

CHA CHA CHA!

If you have never been to Cha Cha Cha in Haight or in the Mission District then you are truly missing out. Not only is Cha Cha Cha a full bar but it is also a restaurant. Cha Cha Cha is a great place to go and have dinner before a night out in the town. With the tasty tapas (spanish apetizers) and the popular sangria this place is sure to make you wanting more.

Atmosphere:
The Ambiance of Cha Cha Cha adds to why this restaurant/bar is among one of the most visited destinations for food and drinks in San Francisco. Cha Cha Cha gets really crowded therefore making it  very loud and vibrant. Be prepared for a 20-30 minute wait on a Friday or Saturday night. The wait is definitely worth it!

My personal favorites/suggestions:
Of course the SANGRIA!
The FRIED POTATOES! These are not just your average fried potatoes there is something that makes these little things delicious and addicting.

Range of Prices:
The food at Cha Cha Cha is reasonably priced.

• Fried New Potatoes $6.75 (Lunch price = $5.25!)
• Jamaican Jerk Chicken $8.25 (Lunch price = $6.50!)
• Bread Pudding Cubano $6.50

$21.50! A great dinner for under $25

*Going between the times of 11:30am to 4:00pm can save you a couple of bucks! 

Locations:
1801 Haight St
(between Shrader St & Stanyan St) 
San Francisco, CA 94117
Neighborhood: Haight-Ashbury

2327 Mission St
(between 19th St & 20th St) 
San Francisco, CA 94110
Neighborhood: Mission

CHA CHA CHA

Time to Get Crackin'

Craving for cajun shrimp, creoles or seafood in general? San Francisco may not have a Boiling Crab but fret not because the city has its very own cajun hotspot.

If you haven't had your fill of Boiling Crab in San Jose or perhaps, you're just too lazy to drive down South Bay, the closest you can go to to satisfy your cravings is Craw Station.

                                           

Quick Tips

They pretty much have the same menu offerings as that of other creole places. Take your pick from the main entrees of crawfish, dungeness crab, shrimp or clams. Then decide the seasoning to go with it. You know the drill. Lemon Pepper, Garlic Butter or House Cajun. Their spice levels range from mild, medium and dynamite. If you still want to enjoy your food without that feeling of numbness in your tastebuds, then go with mild. But if you're feeling a bit more adventurous, take it up a notch with medium or dynamite.

Add some sides to your meal, from the choices of house noodles, gumbo with or without rice, sausages,  corn, cajun or sweet potato fries or simply pair it with steam rice and you're basically down for a good meal.

If you're not much of a fingerfood person, they also have starters of all things fried like fried catfish, shrimp, oysters and calamari. Plus the cajun spicy wings!

Price

While it may not come close to SJ's Boiling Crab or Fremont's Ray's Crabshack, this is nonetheless a good sit-down place for dinner. Honestly, I've had Craw Station first before I got to try BC and it's pretty much the same. The difference I guess boils down to the sauces and your combination of sides, choice and spice levels and what not. But I love seafood and anything spicy so I would give this place a thumbs up! With your $20 or less, it's just as filling as any creole shack can get. 

Location

Get your bibs on now @

Craw Station

1336 9th Ave. (between Irving & Judah St.)

San Francisco, CA 94122

Free Admission to the Most Amazing Museum

To be honest, I used to think museums were boring, but after attending some free museum days, I learned that it's pretty fun and best of all, it's FREE. Most free admission day for museums are within the first week of the month. That includes the Legion of Honor, which has there free admission day every first Tuesday of the month. If you go on a regular, non-free day to the Legion of Honor it would cost adults $10, seniors $7, youth (between the ages 13 to 17) and college students with ID $6. I highly recommend everyone to at least go to the Legion of Honor once in their life time and Tuesday November 6, 2012 is the day to go!

Price

100% free for general admission, but if you want to go to the special exhibits, it would cost you some money.

What Time you Say?

They are open from 9:30 AM to 5:15 PM. You can definitely come visit the Legion of Honor in the morning for like 3 hours and still have time to vote later on in the day!

Transportation/Parking

• They have their own parking lot and it's free of charge.
• The best way to get to the Legion of Honor by bus is to take the 18 bus, which stops directly in front of the museum. You can also take the 1 bus line to 33rd Avenue and Clement Street or the 38 bus line to 33rd Avenue and Geary Street and transfer to the 18 bus. You can also walk there after getting off the 1 bus line or 38 bus line but it is approximately half a mile walk.

One cool thing about taking the bus to Legion of Honor is, if you go on a non-free day, you can get $2 off adult admission ticket by showing your bus transfer. 

Weather

It's going to be another nice and sunny day with temperature in the high 80's to low 50's. This place is definitely worth seeing on a sunny day!

Click Here for the weather report and to check the hourly weather update.

Where is it Located at?

There address is:

100 34th Avenue

San Francisco, CA 94121

They are actually located inside Lincoln Park so you would actually drive through the park to reach there. Don't be intimated that you think you're going the wrong way. If you enter from 34th Avenue, on either Geary or Clement, it should be okay.

I'm telling you guys/girls, this is by far the most amazing, eye-popping museum ever!When you enter into Lincoln Park, you have to go through a bunch of wooded area and when you reach the Legion of Honor, it would look like you just entered into your mansion. One side of the museum, you have the view of the ocean and the Golden Gate Bridge. There's even benches there overlooking this area and a trial that leads you down to near the ocean. It's absolutely gorgeous and the way you enter the museum is like walking into a Greek palace. There is also a big fountain, and a partial view of the city. You have to go for yourself and see with your own eyes!

P.S. Having the general admission ticket from Legion of Honor also admits you into the de Young museum for free too!! Definitely check it out. Browse around the Legion of Honor and de Young website to find more information!

Legion of Honor
de Young

MINI UMBRELLAS IN WINTER WEATHER

TRAD'R SAM

With the winter approaching and fall at our backs it is not surprising to see the many different types of hot refreshments in many local coffee shops around the city. For someone like me, who is always looking for something tropical like a smoothie, I like to hit up Trad'r Sam's Bar in the Richmond District. Tad'r Sam is not your average bar that you will find in San Francisco. This bar has a unique "islandy" feel to it. With their infamous drinks and their wooden furniture this bar has an atmosphere as if you were in a Caribbean island or even Hawaii.

The drinks that they serve at Trad'r Sam is unique to its name. This bar serves alcoholic smoothies that are not in glasses, but in Bowls! Yes, these drinks are huge. Do not plan on drinking one whole bowl by yourself unless you want to experience the worst headache in your life the next morning. In my last visit I shared one bowl with my friends of four. That one bowl was more than enough. Included in the drinks are miniature umbrellas that add to the tiki atmosphere.

This is the infamous drink called the Scorpion that my friends and I shared. The Scorpion speaks for itself. It may look harmless but this drink is a creeper. The Scorpion tastes sooo good but the alcohol will definitely catch up to you. The Scorpion bowls go for $14. With sharing with 4 people,  individually we each just paid $3.50!

I found to love the the tiki/islandy atmosphere of Trad'r Sam. The bartenders are more than friendly and accommodating. With a juke box in the bar, it allows for customers to choose their own music. Although the bar does not come equipped with a dance floor do not let it stop you from hitting those dance moves! Trad'r Sam is a great bar to go to, to get away from the monotonous bars with no style! It is the perfect place to grab a few of your friends and have a great time with tasty drinks.

Don't believe me check out this link where SF weekly names Trad'r Sam the best Tiki Dive Bar in 2011!
click here!

6150 Geary Boulevard  San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 221-0773

The Holidays are around the corner, do you have your outfit yet?

I can’t believe October is gone! My family and I have already started planning what to cook for Thanksgiving. Since all my family is going to get together on that day, I realized that I do not have anything to wear on Thanksgiving Day! I know you might say that girls say that all the time, but let me tell you that it’s been a while since I went shopping :(

Shopping Experience

It is not easy to find the perfect outfit for the holiday season because everything seems to be so expensive, for this reason  I decided to go to Ambiance, which is located in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, because they always have good deals.

·         Customer service: Ambiance has the best customer service ever! I mean I knew that I wanted to buy a pencil skirt, but I didn’t know what kind of shoes I needed to wear to match the outfit. Luckily, one of the Ambiance's employees took the time to show me several pair of shoes that could go with the event I am planning to go.

Outfit Under $50

I ended up spending $50 since my pencil skirt was only $20 and I couldn’t resist buying a pair Jessica Simpson high heels for $30!

Be prepare!

• You do not have to spend a lot of money to find the perfect outfit. Ambiace always have clothes on sale. Yes! you heard right. Also, if you are part of the insider's club, you can get an additional 10% off.

Looking for presents?

• Ambiance offers different types of clothes from casual alternative to formal. I think this can be a good opportunity for you to start buying some Christmas presents for your mom and sisters. Don't wait until the last minute to go to Ambiance because remember that the early bird gets the worm.

Locations

1) 1458 Haight Street
San Francisco
(415) 552-5095

2) 3985 24th Street
San Francisco
(415) 647-7144

3) 1864 Union Street
San Francisco(415) 923-9797

Mama's: Best Breakfast in Town

Running low in energy after a day of perhaps frolicking and showing tourist friends or relatives of yours in the city? If you took them to Lombard, Fisherman's Wharf or say Coit Tower, and everyone is famished, take them out to Mama's for a hearty breakfast or brunch!

Store Hours

Located at the formerly Bohemian part of the city, this quaint breakfast spot at North Beach offers just about your traditional American breakfast favorites. This family restaurant is open everyday from 8-3pm except Mondays. Expect long lines and wait time of 30 mins to an hour since this place is rather small, but is an equally popular go-to place for tourists alike. It was even featured at the top of TIME magazine's list of 10 Things to Do in San Francisco - to get breakfast at Mama's. However, if you do go an hour before they close, there's absolutely no wait time at all. 

Customers' Picks

Mama's on Washington Square boasts of its Monte Cristo and their Sampler French Toast.  The M'omlettes and egg benedicts are popular as well. On weekends, they have specials like the Dungeness Crab Benedict and Dungeness Crab Omelette.  

But if it's your first time, you can't go wrong with customers' favorite, Mama's Monte Cristo. 

Roasted turkey breast, honey baked ham, cheddar and gruyere cheese battered in egg, grilled and served with homemade jam.

I don't even have words to express how good it is. It's to die for. Maybe not, but you get the picture. It's the bomb. Especially if you graciously dip or spread their homemade raspberry-ish jam (which they actually call the Ollalieberry jam) on the grilled turkey honey baked cheese sandwich!! It'll leave you speechless like I am! 

They also sell some of their baked goodies and their homemade jam in their Bake Shop. Call ahead if you want to pre-order something for gifts or cakes on special occasions.

Price

So plan your trip to Mama's now if your craving for a good breakfast or brunch. Just don't go on Mondays! They don't accept credit cards. The entrees are range from $8-15 plus tips for the server so don't forget to bring some cash or your debit card, just in case. You wouldn't want to leave without trying the food at Mama's! It really is worth the wait.

Head over for a good old brunch @

Mama's on Washington Square

1701 Stockton St (at Filbert)

San Francisco, CA 94133

(415) 362-6421