By Linda Nguyen, PhD MBA
I went with my partner to San Francisco where he had work and we split our time at a nice hotel and a close friend’s place. It was really nice to just be able to relax, explore, think and create content for my channels. But most of all, I really enjoyed reconnecting with old friends in San Francisco and savoring its delicious eats.
Here’s what I got up to while I was in San Francisco this winter. Comment below with your recommendations on what I should try next time I’m in the city!
San Francisco Sites and Activities
Market St.
The last time I was in San Francisco was last year for the JPM Healthcare conference in January and a few times before COVID for conferences or fun. I forgot how steep the hills in San Francisco are and was huffing and puffing as I walked around jet lagged on Market St. to grab a bite and run errands.
What stood out to me was how many stores were closed and how few people there were walking around in broad daylight. The Market St. I remember was very lively with people going about their business and trolleys passing through more frequently. San Francisco has seen better days… Are you living in San Francisco? Let me know in the comments below.
Chinatown
Alo Puffer Jacket XS, Lululemon Align Leggings Size 2 (similar), Alo Crop Hoodie XS (similar), and On Cloud Shoes Size 7.5
Asia welcomed in the Year of the Dragon with the Lunar New Year passing on February 10, 2024 and you can see LNY decorations all around Chinatown as it’s typically celebrated for a few weeks. The Chinatown of San Francisco is very vibrant and there are lots of mom and pop shops, yummy restaurants and bubble tea shops to try. There’s also a park (Portsmouth Square) where local elderly folks gathered in the sun with their walkers and mercilessly threw down cards. It was nice to see them enjoying life.
Hot 8 Yoga
Lululemon Align Leggings Size 2 (similar), Alo Crop Hoodie XS (similar), and On Cloud Shoes Size 7.5
We easily booked Hot 8 Yoga’s Yin yoga class through ClassPass and spent an hour going through asanas in an expansive room heated to 104°F with mirrors and electric candlelight. We also rented towels and a mat for $6/each which was a perfect option for us travelers because we didn’t bring our own mats and towels. The studio was quite nice and well maintained, with multiple dedicated rooms for different modalities of yoga.
Yin yoga specifically is more about stretching and holding poses for 2-3 minutes before changing. It was nice to be able to stretch my body after traveling on a long flight and hiking up the 45° incline hills of San Francisco. We walked out in good spirits.
I’ve been working on my flexibility for most of my life, especially through Tae Kwon Do where flexibility is needed for wider ranges of motion and kicking, so this class was one of the easier Yin yoga classes I’ve taken. If I was to take yin classes here again, I’d go to the advancements I know more quickly to get the most stretching benefit out of class.
Eating up San Francisco
Brunch
Parallel 37
I went downstairs for an avocado toast that came with a small salad at Parallel 37 and it was fresh and very tasty, but the food was overpriced.
Bodega SF
After I spent 2+ hours at Chase (actually it was the original location where I opened up my Chase Sapphire Reserve years back) I got really hungry again and Bodega SF was a only a 9 min walk away. Bodega SF is a Northern Vietnamese restaurant I had saved from previous trips to San Francisco, but didn’t have the time to try yet. The Bodega Beef Pho was clutch in the chilly weather that fluctuated between sprinkles of rain and sun. The pho came with filet, brisket and meatballs, but I don’t like bo vien meatballs in my pho so I asked them to omit those and add more filet instead which they were happy to do.
City View Restaurant
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City View Restaurant was another spot I’d saved from before so I was happy to see how close it was to the hotel we stayed at. I headed here for dim sum after doing a bit of editing. It was difficult for me to pick what I wanted to eat because of the limitations of my belly’s capacity, but I ultimately chose the Peking duck (2 pieces) that came with soft fluffy lotus bus, pork siu mai and har gow. I was very very close to also getting shrimp rice rolls and soup dumplings, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to comfortably fit everything.
It would be nice to come back here with friends so we can try multiple dishes on the menu, including getting the whole Peking duck because the two piece portion I had was so well done.
Snacks and Drinks
Arsicault Bakery
Two of my friends recommended this bakery to me for their regular croissants. By the time I arrived to the bakery however, they’d run out of the regular croissants. I did pick up their blueberry, almond and hazelnut croissant that was dusted with powdered sugar. It was super flaky and surprisingly flaky. The only thing is was that it was too sweet for me and a quarter of the croissant would’ve been more than enough. I’ll have to return in the future to try their regular croissants.
Onigilly Japanese Kitchen + Asha Tea House
These two spots were pleasant surprises I passed by while I was walking around the neighborhood. I got the milk tea with pearls (without sugar) from Asha Tea House and their matcha and other teas looked of high quality too. At first tasting, it was more healthy and bitter than I’m used to, but that’s because I pick up brown sugar milk from I’Milky or brown sugar milk teas from Xin Fu Tang in NYC and their soft boba are soaked in brown sugar. I also picked up the salmon onigiri from Onigilly next door to Asha Tea House, which was warm and made quickly. I could see myself picking up more onigiri for a hike to Lands End or a day trip.
Matcha Cafe Maiko
AllSaints Leather Jacket Size 0 (similar)
This was such a cute store in Chinatown that I had to stop in for Adzuki Sundae with Matcha soft serve ice cream, shiratama mochi, and a Kokuto jelly add on. It was really good, but if I get it next time I’ll ask them to hold the syrup because it tasted really sweet over time between the Adzuki red bean and syrup. I had the sundae and a black sesame latte (asked for no sugar) in Portsmouth Square where it was quite sunny and there were locals socializing, playing cards.
Sweet Honey Desserts
We found this traditional and modern Asian dessert place on UberEats so we didn’t get photos of this amazing coconut mango pomelo sago dessert from Sweet Honey Desserts as getting delivery isn’t the most aesthetic. However, this one stood out to us because the coconut mango pomelo sago was served inside a hollowed out coconut and the extra was placed in a cup on the side. It was so good, we contemplated ordering another one and we will definitely try other items on the menu. On our wish list are the sesame soup with rice balls, mango pancakes and their cheesecake.
Dinner
Udon Mugizo
A girl friend and I went to Udon Mugizo in Japantown to catch up and it was located within the Japan Center Kinokuniya Building that includes other delicious Japanese restaurants, gift shops and a plant shop specializing in beautiful bonsai trees. My friend got the mentai cream sauce and I got the sukiyaki udon (which was a bit sweeter and had beef), both of which had a good broth and the udon was soft and chewy.
Cocobang
Cocobang has been on my list of Korean restaurants to try in San Francisco and we had it delivered after a long day. I went for the beef short ribs and kimchi tofu soup, both of which came with rice. They were good, but I couldn’t help but compare the dishes to what I normally get from BCD Tofu House or other places in NYC’s Koreatown. Cocobang’s beef short ribs had more meat on the bone, but the quality of the meat is not as good as the one sourced by BCD Tofu House for their galbi. Cocobang’s kimchi tofu soup mild spicy level did not taste spicy at all and if I get it next time, I’d get the medium to hot levels. Compare that to BCD Tofu House’s tofu soup at the medium level of spiciness, which could be unbearable for most people so their mild spicy level has a tolerable amount of heat.
I’ll be here for a bit longer so definitely comment below with any recommendations you have on things to eat and things to do in San Francisco. It may just make it onto the blog. Thank you for being here and reading my living San Francisco Travel Diary! Please stay tuned for more.
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