a weird vacation - continued...

It's been a long time and at this point I don't entirely remember the appropriate sequences of events so rather creating this in chronological order I will do it via categories.

Shows.

I saw the Swans which was insanely great. A lot of weed smoking and near the end he started yelling at someone to stop being so into it which I was really into but not the weed. It was more of an auditory experience than a musical showing. I have terrible pictures and videos however I would like to maintain the standard of quality of the media on this blog to slightly below average.

Jesus and Mary Chain this was so great. I had been on the fence about going to the show since I helped Brian move all day (it's my fault they are moving in the first place) and was so tired but there were still tickets so I went and we had a nice meal during the opening acts. Brian was going to come in because he was going to drop me off on his way to Santa Clara after so instead of waiting around for me to be done we asked if there were still tickets the security guy at the front gave him a free ticket! Then when we sat in his seat (it was better than the one I bought) the couple beside asked which seats we were and how much we paid... I kinda was sketchy about it until they were like these were our seats and we wanted to give them away to someone because we got fucked over last minute. They were just making sure the guy didn't charge us! So nice! Brian bought the guy a beer as the lady declined. Also I like sitting at shows now... I'm too short to see anything usually and I'm old. It was so great. Here is a great video..

The Jesus and Mary Chain at The Warfield by melanie-reimer

I finally saw Negative Approach after bailing on seeing them and Jesus and Mary Chain in 2007 when both groups had reunited. I kinda regretted it but now all is well. Here is a terrible picture...

CHECK IT OUT I'm too short to get a good picture

Baseball games.

I discovered there are a lot of stats in baseball so I really like it now. I think there should be more stats in sports. My favorite players are Angel Pagan because his at bat songs are sick. Next is Joe Panik because he looks like Buster Posey and always plays the same metal song at bat. Buster Posey for the following reasons, great at his job, his name, hit a home run that I saw with my own eyes, and lastly Southern. Also obviously all three players have very cute stats. I also like baseball because having sunflower seeds is acceptable. I realized this may also be the reason I also like fishing. Sunflower seed eating is really gross if you think about it but I love it.

Giants vs. Marlins

They lost and that's sad. I ate chicken fingers and garlic fries as well as sunflower seeds.

Posey doing stuff

Giants vs. Dodgers

They won which is very cool cause there is serious rivalry between the two teams. I even caught my self giving the dodger fans the side eye. There were also specific chants like "beat the dodgers". Buster Posey hit a home run and that was neat. Pagan caught a nice out and I'm sure Panik did something cool as well. I ate a bacon wrapped hotdog and had sunflower seeds again obv.

Touristy things.

There is a free day for some of the museums which included the Conservatory of Flowers, De Young and the Legion of Honor. I did them all in a day and walked about 10 miles then got a beef tongue burrito from La Taq and ate it alone in a bus shack while waiting an hour for the train, so actually I get a train shack? Trains seem more refined so let's say enclosed train waiting area. Here are my top views from each place.

Conservatory of Flowers

View from the De Young Tower

Afternoon on the Sea, Monhegan by Rockwell Kent at De Young

The Wild Swan by Alexander Pope at the Legion of Honor

Boar's head tureen made by the Chelsea Manufactory

eat here

My grandparents came to visit so we took a bus tour and the train and went to the park. Going over the bridge on the top level of a double decker bus with no roof was alright here's a view of downtown not the bridge.

We went to wine country on the weekend with my aunt and since I have the alcohol tolerance of a toddler got so drunk during a tasting. I would suggest going to V. Sattui if you are ever in the area. We also went to Maverick's again and here's the view in case you forgot.

Hikes.

San Carlos - Big Gorge/Eaton Park

Santa Clara - Saratoga

Foods.

Tony's Pizza - it's supposed to be award winning. Had to wait 1.5 hours to get a table and the taste was alright but not 1.5 hout wait good. We also had a philly cheese steak sandwich which was received immediately and came with free entertainment of a crazy drunk person that left his bag behind. It was good but again I would not wait 1.5 hours for it.
.
IHOP - I have a gross obsession with this place... I think its the price or the portion size I dont know but I will always say yet to going there. I'm sure you think less of me now and I don't care at all.

Korean Food - We tried to find some authentic tasting stuff twice both instances fell short. One place by a lot and the other the flavor profile was on point but the consistency was not. I'm pretty sure I just have to go for a vacation there if I ever was to satisfy this craving.

Homemade Japanese Kitchen Kura - This place was great and have specials with beer. I also crave real japanese often but said trip with have to include a hydrofoil ride to Japan. Regardless this place came a lot closer than the koreans did.

Milk Tea - Shengkee bakery on point! though I also got one from a food truck called Hunky Kong I think?

In-N-Out - I always find an excuse to stop in. Great taste and value. Something you should know prior to entering http://hackthemenu.com/in-n-out/secret-menu/

Town - Brunch is so good. Dinner kinda only okay unless you are getting steak but the warm napa salad is fucking insane. I know yeah its a salad but I'm not a liar.

Refuge - Famous for their enormous pastrami sandwiches. Meat is cured in restaurant and is nice. Surprisingly other great taste - barbacoa nachoes.

Bi-rite Ice Cream - Yeah pretty good. no complaints?

Other.

Dog Fest! this was as good as it sounded and was hosted by the author of the Lemony Snicket series Daniel Handler. He is very sarcastic and I liked it.

My favorite dog was this corndog. She moved sooooo slow it was unbelievable. I love how weird this middle dog looks! Check out this baby corgi as well. puke.

Slow dog

Weird faced dog

Baby corgi dog

This next section I am devoting to various things I have seen and the emotion they evoked from me.

Excited

Annoyed

Angry

Nervous

Disappointed 

Tranquil

Cultured

Intrigued

Jealous

Scared

Satiated

I leave you with a series of selfies I have taken in an effort to get "better" at it because most people are. It seems like a skill I should have at this point, but as you can see still have not mastered any part of it. I hate the one with the hat the most.

  

a weird vacation - bay area edition

Here are some things I have done while attempting to make the best of a strange situation.

The first day I arrived I went to the Fillmore with my aunt and her friend and ate tacos and burritos mostly but then also saw Ben Harper. If you know me you know I do not like this but it was nostalgic I guess? Muchmusic played the shit out of that one video which I just tried to find and it took too long/my ears hated it. The Fillmore is a very nice place and many great artists have played there, Here are some photos.

That weekend we went to the ocean Half Moon Bay to be specific. Maverick's is there it looks very dangerous for surfing. I drank beers and looked at this...

I went to see this band in Oakland. I am not as big a fan as some but the sound was nice. Most people there all knew each other so that was awkward. This picture is not the best cause I am short.

The next day I went for breakfast, a hike, to Target then ate a burrito. The activities were nice however the overall mood was incredibly heartbreaking. This also marks the last time I will probably ever see Brian Lau.

I watched a lot of TV at some point and the drought is very serious apparently then I saw this. It's only rained once since I have been here. I feel like this is one of those things everyone will ignore until it's too late.

Then I got heavy into research. Rediscovered all of my actual interests and some of my sense of humour. I have like 2 years to catch up on so that's a heavy task. Also sorting out school etc. looking for the best deal on cars blah blah blah. During this time I found out there would be a robot festival! It was actually pretty disappointing like check out this bionic man suit...mhennnn. There were also these tiny robot things that make me think that the movie transcendence is not that far off.

Then I found fucking R2-D2...

Then I realized this guy is fucking paralyzed from the waist down. He was just standing around and walking in a straight line. He can't turn yet BUT STILL! The future!

Then I took a REALLY long bus ride to the city for an art exhibition but this was the most exciting thing I saw. I also finished a book.

I went vintage shopping a fair amount of times and got some great shit for a great price. I think I wanna get more into shoulder pads.

I have also been taking daily walks or runs.

This week I went to the botanical gardens because it was free. I also drove myself to the city for the first time via the freeway. I don't drive often so this is exciting. I got really into it. I actually caught myself smiling and was like whoa oh yeah this is how it is to feel nice.

These look so weird!

These smell so nice! 

Cool look!

So majestic!

These are everywhere here! 

So weird! 

I like the lighting here!

Clearly I also learned how to use my camera during this outing. Later I had a drink with my aunt and met Heather who is the best and is the bartender she introduced me to this very interesting section of the paper where they just report 911 calls? 

I wanted to make a cool joke where I pretended 3:41 was me but it says himself so... I can't. 

I also specifically walked 1.5 hours to this Mexican food store to try to find these candies I really like, I didn't bring money to buy them though? They have them but more importantly their stock boy is killing it. Give him a  raise. 

I have a huge blister and sunburn as a result of this outing. Saw several small lizards today and I liked it. I'm going to try to volunteer to see more animals or plants cause apparently I really like it. JK I knew I just forgot for a bit.

I appreciate I'm pretty jovial about all of this but the internet is primarily for LOLs. However if you hate those you can read below...

It's been three weeks now. If you are wondering why I am here (lots of people have asked) I had no job or home and my aunt will house me for free. I even have an actual bed here! A room too! So why not? Also I lost my fucking mind and it only would have spun more out of control had I stayed.

I spent the first week having some sort of mental break down. Still so stressed, vulnerable and emotionally convoluted. The lack of food and having to break someone's heart repeatedly had me severely depressed for a couple days.

The second week crying and mourning the loss of a future I had convinced myself I wanted. Turns out mhennnnnnnnnnnnnnn! If I really wanted to move here ever I can cause of my aunt so really whatever but even still.

The third putting myself back together and being a little horrified with how out of touch with myself I am/was. I haven't been happy or confident since I left Seoul and that's fucked.

Some things I would like to celebrate: not making a terrible mistake that would ruin 2+ lives, reconnecting with long lost pals, and looking at the close future and being genuinely optimistic.

Mostly I feel fine now hence the blog post. k bye.