san francisco love.

"east is east, and west is san francisco" | o. henry

last weekend was one i was very much excited for..i was flying to california to visit ryan in his new place in folsom, california. we had planned out what we were gonna do for the weekend - a day trip to san francisco and a day of shopping at ikea to furnish his new apartment. both of which seems so fun for me but he decided that saturday was a good day for our san francisco trip since he wanted to have fun first. (shopping is not his thing)

famous for its landmark - the golden gate bridge, chinatown, steep roads and cable cars, san francisco is definitely one of my favorite cities in the united states. this was probably my fourth or fifth time into the city and our plan was mainly to go to pier 39 for fresh seafood and some good fun at the one of the city's tourism spots.

forecast for the day was said to be sunny in mid-60s which is supposed to be really good warm weather for this area but as we were driving towards our destination, dark and heavy clouds loomed over the horizons making me somewhat cranky since it looked like it might rain. my last visit to sf was dampened by rain too. this is what ryan told me:

"this is the first time in the month i'm here that i see clouds in the skies. so far it's been clear blue skies.."

oh bugger... it seems like i bring the clouds and rain with me whenever i go to california. grrr..

anywho, we got there and i guess it was a good sign that it hasn't rained a drop yet so there might be a chance that the weather forecast was right. we parked at a garage just passed pier 39 and as we got out of the car i was surprised at how chilly it was. the streets were bustling with people and the general atmosphere reminded me of bourbon street in new orleans but with slight difference - with the palm trees, the cable car, the streets with bars and petite shops and the rows of restaurants. the weather started looking up a lil bit as we approached the pier with the sky clearing up and the sun shining with all its glory :)

our first stop was chowders... we were both hungry by the time we got there since it was nearing lunch time for us. true to its namesake, this place is popular for its white and red chowder served in boudin sourdough bread bowls.

boudin is a famous local sourdough bakery which started in 1894 and has been supplying sourdough french bread and bread bowls around san francisco. so if you see a bread bowl with clam chowder, you can safely bet that the bread is freshly made from boudin. boudin's bakery is just minutes away from pier 39 and there is also a small store on the pier itself so you could walk in and fresh from the oven sandwiches.

we ordered the classic white clam chowder for a snack since we were heading elsewhere for lunch.

typically, the creamy chowder pairs well with the sourdough bread bowl but we skipped the bread bowl since we both weren't too fond of the sourdough bread since it was too sour. i think we have recently found out why. we suspect that they might get their sourdough bread from boudin "extra sour"... (perhaps... do not qoute us on this)and if they do....now why would they get the sourdough bread "extra sour" that might overpower natural sweetness of the clam and the creaminess of the chowder?

  

the place itself reminds me of an old school diner with the vintage posters hung on the plank walls. it is brightly lit enhanced by the sunlight streaming in through the window that looks out to the pier.

the chowder was seasoned just right but i thought it was lacking clam meat that i crave for. it was creamy and smooth and didn't have a lot of diced potatoes which was great..typically i am irked by the chowders at a lot of other places since they add too much potatoes which makes it more like a potato chowder than clam chowder. my verdict: it's good chowder with promising flavors but i've had better chowders elsewhere.

next stop: pier market for lunch. coming soon in my next post. :)

after lunch, there wasn't much to do but sightseeing around the pier and enjoying the chilly yet warm san francisco weather.

then we stumbled upon this candy store, candy baron. i yelped (just a lil bit) with joy when i saw taffies. oh how i miss thee! barrels and barrels of sticky, sweet and yummy taffy. every kid's dream and every parent's nightmare! lol. it was like a rainbow of candy and you can just scoop a handful of each flavor into a basket as much as your heart's desires which is exactly what i did (but with some self control, of course...hehe)

there are so many food places on pier 39 and i just wanted to try most of them out.. one in particular that caught my attention was this one....

yup, crepes. especially those nutella with strawberries/banana crepes. thinking about it makes me drool...

i was very tempted to get myself one of these sinful creations but then stopped myself since i had other plans for dessert. you'll know just in a lil bit. :)

before we left to go to our dessert destination, we decided to drop by boudin bakery at pier 39 to get ourselves a loaf of the famous sourdough bread.  what i didn't know was that they were also serving sandwiches and chowders.

it was nearly 3 pm when it was time for us to head out to where i've been planning to go for weeks. our next destination was the ghirardelli's square. but this time it isn't for chocolate.

it's for kara's cupcakes! :)  they have one located within the square and i was very, very excited to get there...but kara's cupcakes will be covered in another blog post...so watch out for it :)

"san francisco has only one drawback. 'tis hard to leave" | rudyard kipling

san francisco will remain to be one of my favorite cities and this trip has reminded me once again what i've always loved about it.  

"leaving san francisco is like saying goodbye to an old sweetheart. you want to linger as long as possible." | walter cronkite

"but oh, san francisco! it is and has everything~
you wouldn't think that such a place as san francisco could exist.
the lobsters, clams,crabs. Oh, cat, what food for you. and all the people are open and friendly."
| dylan thomas, poet

disclaimer this is written based on my personal experience and opinion. experiences and taste buds may vary for others