My friend LT and I decided to have a walkabout the city for the day, we had nothing better to do around town. It was a fun day of shopping and exploring parts of Chinatown I haven't been to before (and of course my usual hangouts at Canton & the Bakery). There was this quaint little shop just past St. Mary's, towards the right, it's really peaceful and there's so much little trinkets to browse. From figurines, to charms, to jewelry, there's just a load for you to ponder over spending on. I don't recall the name of the shop, but when I'm at the city again next week, I'll make sure to find out. First stop of the mini-trip is to the Bakery. It's always jam-packed with people, the place itself isn't big to say the least, but the line is mad. There's usually bout 15 people in line, when it's slow, and pushing 30 when it's busy. Like I said, jam-packed. They have the best dan ta's in the city, shoot, within a 25 mile radius! Impressive moon cakes and pastries, too. But it's always the dan ta's that make a load of people come back to this joint. By the bye, dan ta's are egg tarts. If you've never tried these little gems, I suggest you find a good place to buy some. Or if you're in the San Francisco area, head on over to Chinatown. It's a 10-15 minute walk from the main entrance. It's well worth the hike for them! As for the other places we explored, not much going on, a load of tourists though. I only bought a flashlight/lighter from the Canton Bazaar.
So after a total of 2 hours, we left Chinatown and headed for Castro for lunch. We were rushing so we can make it before 2pm to Mission and the row of thrift stores, a pre-summer retail therapy for us; refer to previous post. I picked lunch, and chose my favorite sandwich place: Ike's! Their subs are seriously out of this world. I'm not even exaggerating here. They are delicious and I savor every bite. The best part is, they have a menu that works for everyone; carnivores, vegetarians, pescatarians (me!), and vegans. Also, their dirty sauce, which is not dirty contrary to the name, is just plain good. They also have a location in Redwood Shores, so if you're around, drop in! If in the city, it doesn't matter if you're in North Beach, Visitacion, Richmond, Sunset, etc. You must go. You don't know what you're missing, and that's a shame.
On to the thrifting! We spend bout 5 hours total thrifting, half in the Mission and Castro, the other in Haight. We are thankful to announce that we only spent half of out budget for the day. Which is around $75 each, including food. We both got a pair of shoes each, some shirts, leggings, skirts, pants. There's nothing else to say, other than we're very happy with the day's success. We were home by 9pm and now we're having our mystery marathon for the rest of the night, well into the early hours of the morning. Great day! Repeats of it in the summer. Only instead of mostly thrifting, we're hitting up the beach and not going home. Beach bums, take 2.
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