San Francisco City Guide

I don't recommend this city lol: the vegan food is not flavorful because it is not made by POC, and the Painted Ladies have lost their color. If you do happen to find yourself in San Francisco against your will, the three places I recommend are 1. Golden Gate Park 2. de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park, and 3. San Francisco MoMa.

Escape Room Reviews

Escape Room reviews do not give me enough details-they're always like "I had so much fun! Yadda yadda yadda" without any substance, so I'm starting my own.

1. I used to think lock-based escape rooms were the problem, but the locks aren't the problem-it's the linear story lines associated with the locks. The best escape rooms are ones where you can solve multiple puzzles at once not knowing where they lead.

Check back for more reviews once I think of them.

Men (6 Truths About Men)

1. Are pedophiles

I once had a man tell me he liked that I looked twelve.

2. “can’t” cook

The fast food industry thrives on single men.

3. Are secretly gay

They prefer the company of other men or young girls, as previously mentioned.

4. Have an addiction  

Gambling, sports, alcohol, video games, weed, meat, sex, etc.

5. Are incompetent

They can’t do anything on their own. 

6. Are constantly contradicting themselves

Nothing they say is true, which is why we have the saying, "Actions speak louder than words."

 

"Not all men but somehow always a man"

2022-2024 U.S. City Rankings (Southeastern United States & California)

With COVID restrictions lifted and a stable job finally at my helm, I started traveling again: first locally in Virginia, then to further destinations like California and Florida. Here’s how these different cities or areas rank.

1. Roanoke, Virginia

Home is where the heart is. Roanoke is the perfect combination of big time city and small town feel. Although my religious beliefs do not align with those who live here, I can’t say that I’m bored in this city.

2. NOVA/DC 

I don’t want to live in NOVA, but I always have a good time when I return. There’s always something new to try, and I’m never disappointed by the vegan food at Loving Hut. I also really enjoyed my biscuit sandwiches from Preservation Biscuit Company and the Oreo cupcake at the Bakeshop next door during my most recent trip to Falls Church. Each individual city in NOVA is a vacation on its own.

3. Blacksburg, Virginia

As a UVA grad, this is heresy to say, but Blacksburg is a much more enjoyable city to visit as an adult than Charlottesville is. The drive on 81 is scenic, and once you’re in the city, you don’t have to deal with the traffic that Charlottesville has. Located less than an hour from Roanoke, Blacksburg fills in what Roanoke is missing: a tried and true boba shop (Kung Fu Tea), a larger international market (Oasis), authentic Chinese food (Spicity), and an eyebrow threader that doesn’t have bad reviews (Best Eyebrows Threading).

4. Charlotte, North Carolina

I went to Charlotte for a Jesse McCartney concert at The Fillmore, and it was a very easy experience. I thought parking and the post-concert traffic would be a pain, but I easily found parking next to the venue at VBGB Beer Hall and Garden. The signs say you have to make a purchase to get your parking validated, but I walked around the restaurant and stumbled upon the QR code to validate my parking without buying anything. I was able to freely use their bathroom and read my book in my car while waiting for the concert to start. After the concert, I waited for traffic to die down before leaving, and it did not take long at all-10 minutes max-and when I left, it was a straight shot to my Airbnb: I dealt with absolutely no traffic. The highway to Charlotte is a different story, but getting around the city was very easy. I went to Ma Ma Wok for delicious vegan friend rice and BBQ drumsticks and Oh My Soul for an expensive but hydrating Guava Push. Ma Ma Wok had a parking lot, but Oh My Soul had very accessible and plenty of street parking in the quaint NoDa neighborhood, which I was able to walk around while waiting for Oh My Soul to open for dinner. 

Fun Fact: My first time in Charlotte was a field trip to Carowinds where I didn’t ride any rides and sat with my middle school teachers the entire day because I had no friends!

5. Bethesda, Maryland

You could technically put Bethesda in the NOVA/DC category, but I wanted to shout it out because unlike all the other DMV cities, I had never been here before. I love walking around the Bethesda Row area and parking has never been an issue for me despite the lack of lots.

6. Greensboro, North Carolina

Greensboro would be higher on this list if Boba House, a vegan restaurant, hadn’t shut down. The pho at BaoBao Kitchen, despite having the same chef, just doesn’t hit the same, and while the vegan ribs banh mi is really good, it’s not enough for me to drive two hours for, but in combination with the Cinnaholic, it could be. Greensboro also has the next closest Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods after Charlottesville. It also has plenty of bubble tea options like Moshi Moshi.

7. Harrisonburg, Virginia

Despite UVA being bigger than JMU, Harrisonburg is yet another college town that ranks higher than Charlottesville on this list simply because of its unexpected Asian vegan options. First, you have Vietopia, which I’ve been going to since my Duke Bowl days. They have a flavorful hu tieu chay broth, while Charlottesville still doesn’t have a Vietnamese restaurant. Next, you have Boboko, which is an Indonesian restaurant that is now unfortunately closed. You can’t even find an Indonesian restaurant in NOVA. Lastly, you have Mashita, a Korean restaurant with an entire separate vegan menu. The Korean restaurants in NOVA don’t even do that. Right next to Mashita is Aristocat Cafe, a cat cafe offering a wide selection of delicious teas. Charlottesville doesn’t have a cat cafe! Bonus: Even the Jonas Brothers have been to Harrisonburg, performing at JMU for College Gameday in 2024.

8. San Diego, California

San Diego is kind of an outlier on this list in that I don’t really have strong opinions about this city other than that its Downtown is the whitest place I’ve ever visited-that is until I realized Roanoke is pretty white too. I’ve enjoyed my time here but don’t really long for it. I would definitely revisit family but wouldn’t go here on my own volition unless it was to Donna Jean for vegan pizza.

9. Pinellas County, Florida

I can see why people retire in Florida: winter does not exist here. I enjoyed shopping at Countryside Mall and eating at Lotus Vegan restaurant, but I hated the roads getting there. In Florida, if you make one wrong turn, whether it be a late or early turn, the only way back is a u-turn. Because there are beaches in Florida, I can’t say these areas are just roads like in Houston, but I did spend a lot of time driving around trying to get to places I wanted to go.

10a. San Francisco, California

San Francisco is a nice walkable city with many pretty sights, but the vegan food here was sooooooo mid to me. It is also a very white and white-adjacent (Asian) city devoid of any culture.

10b. Richmond, Virginia

All of the same problems I had with Richmond when I lived there still exist: it’s a big sprawling city with lack of public transportation from and to the suburbs, and there’s nothing to do in the suburbs. The food options are good, but is it really worth it to drive 20 minutes for a meal for one? If we could combine the walkability of San Francisco and the vegan food of Richmond, then we’d have the perfect city.

11. Charlottesville, Virginia

What is there to do here besides attend the University of Virginia? I hate Emmett 29-it’s so wide and congested, and the vegan options are so lacking for a big college town. I loved the vegan charcuterie at Botanical Fare, but it is no longer on the menu. Harrisonburg is the better stopping point for NOVA road trips and Greensboro the better Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods option.

12. Raleigh, North Carolina

Raleigh has four lane roads that lead to nowhere and a good vegan restaurant, The Fiction Kitchen, located in a very empty downtown.

13. Chesapeake, Virginia

Last and very least, the #1 reason why I wanted to make this list, is Chesapeake, Virginia. There’s nothing in Chesapeake except the promise of Virginia Beach, and I’ve had better frozen foods than the one restaurant I tried in Chesapeake.

Can anyone make a good bowl anymore? The decline of the American fast casual restaurant

First, it was Chipotle, then it was a local bowl place. Next, a smaller, more local chain. Will my beloved Cava face the same fate? Can sweetgreen save them all or will fast casual salad and grain bowl restaurants die like the frozen yogurt fad before them? I won't be able to live if fast casual pizza restaurants like &pizza follow suit.

Never again:

• Chipotle
• Rainbowl
• Roots

 On the bubble:

• Cava

Still up for debate:

• sweetgreen 

 

The Minimalist's Guide to Bubble Tea Update

I don't buy milk tea anymore. 1. Because I can make it at home and 2. Because I can't trust these boba shops to make it vegan. So many of them come premade with non-dairy creamer, a misnomer, as it still contains casein, a protein derived from cow's milk.

My go-to order is now Passionfruit Green Tea, which I never understood the hype for because I had literally never eaten a passionfruit before, and my favorite or top bubble tea shop is Kung Fu Tea despite what my San Diego-born bubble tea snob cousins say. Kung Fu Tea is consistent, reliable, and widely available, in addition the other plusses I mentioned in my previous story. 

Passionfruit Green Tea is passionfruit when you can't get passionfruit. It's refreshing with the perfect amount of caffeine, not too much to keep me awake, tartness, and sweetness, especially when combined with coconut nata jelly.

Update: I went to San Francisco and tried Boba Guys again. Because they are very vegan friendly, I couldn't cancel them per my last post, and I went against my first paragraph rule and bought a banana milk tea because I had a canned banana milk tea once and it was good. This one was bad. It was so bad, I asked the barista to add hojicha, thinking I made the mistake and ordered the less flavorful banana milk tea drink on the menu. She made another drink for me free of charge so I ended up having not one but two ice cold drinks to carry with me on a windy San Francisco winter day. Reader, she did not make it to her final destination with her drinks: I had no desire to drink them, and my hands were so cold, I had to throw them away, and I NEVER waste food like that. This blood orange tea from Asha was fire though.

Tea house with actual good hojicha: Matcha Cafe Maiko 

Fridays

A reminder of how much work it takes to survive
When your meal prep runs out and you have nothing to eat

Your weekend job starts
Racking your brain for recipes and
Treading to the grocery store for groceries that cost way too much

Fridays

A reminder of how lonely you are

How you live thousands of miles away from friends who don’t have time to hang out with you anyways

A reminder that sitcoms lie

Fridays

A break from routine that shatters you

Fridays

An expectation of a reward for working 40 hours that never comes