Mexican Food

I'm always hunting for non-restaurants to eat in so I won't have to tip. It will usually cost me about 6-8 usd for one meal. Today I found a cheap mexican place in Powell. Powell is a tourist attraction, and it's a busy busy place so most cafes are quite expensive. The burrito at this mexican place only costs 5.60usd including tax! And it was huge. And the people are so niceeee. I was asking the lady about Mexican food cause I was confused about carnitas and bbq pork. carnitas (taken from Wikipedia) literally means "little meats", is a type of braised or roasted pork in Mexican food. The burrito was humongous and it was delicious. It had pork, rice, beans... oohlala. I love beans. Mexicans eat all sorts of beans.. I tried it with pinto beans.

I saw Chorizo on the menu... and then I recall Joel's grandma. She cooked for arroz con pollo for us... also added chorizo. The lady at the mexican food joint turned out to be from El Salvador and she was telling me that in her country, people eat papusa. (google...)

A pupusa (from Pipil pupusawa) is a traditional Salvadoran dish made of thick, hand-made corntortilla (made using masa de maíz, a maize flour dough used in Latin American cuisine) that is filled with a blend of the following: cheese (queso) (usually a soft cheese called Quesillo found in all Central America), cooked pork meat ground to a paste consistency (called chicharrón, not to be confused with fried pork rind which is also known as chicharrón in some other countries),squash (ayote), or (pataste), refried beans (frijoles refritos), or queso con loroco (loroco is a vine flower bud from Central America).

I think tortilla is yummy. so soft... and chewy. Someone once told me that Mexican food is super unhealthy and super heavy. I don't get why. So long as we stay away from Chimmychangas, we should be okay what. Chimmys are DEEP fried burritos.

It really is the portion size here. It's all so super sized that's why people get so fat. Why are their stomachs so huge?

Golden Gate Park

You will NEVER believe what I saw today.

scccrrrrrrrrrchhhhhhh PUI!

I saw an American spit.

Yes, a white guy tried to empty his throat of phlegm and he went on to turn his head to spit on the road. Mind you he was dressed in office attire.

And we thought only the Chinese people do it.

***

I went down to San Francisco today :)
Too many days of Berkeley town can be boring. I took the Muni train for the first time today... and it's pretty cool. You'd think it's like a regular train system (with a station and gantries) but it isn't. It goes above ground, onto the roads and instead of stations, you have a muni stand. And the bus driver will be the one issuing the ticket. The muni travels on tracks too... and it has a cable attached to electrical wires. It was fun on the muni...

It travels on tracks, and SF is hilly.

It felt like a Disney Land roller coaster. :) lol.

SF looks quite retro actually.. the houses and the shop signs...

Weather was good today... how I'd kill for good company and coffee in an alfresco setting.

I'll sit outdoors, wear my sunglasses (I can see you but you can't see me.heheh) and look at people :)

I went to Golden Gate Park. Got off at Civic Centre Bart Station and took a muni ($2 a trip) to 9th Ave and Judah, then I walked. Very easy. Very near.

There are many things in Golden Gate Park -

1. de Young Fine Arts Museum

2. California Academy of Sciences

3. AIDS memorial Grove

4. Conservatory of Flowers

5. (lame, will explain later) Shakespeare Garden

6. Dutch Windmills

7. Japanese Tea Garden

8. Beach Chalet

I wanted to go to all except for the last 2. I only managed to go to no. 1, 3 and 5 in the end.

De Young Museum was AWESOME. And I'm not even an Arts person.

There was an observatory deck on the 9th floor.

There was an exhibition going on - Birth of Impressionism. Masterpieces from the MUSEE D'ORSAY. It featured work from 36 artists including Monet, Renior, Manet and Degas. Are the names already renown to even non-art lovers or was it because I was listening to the audio tour and heard their names over and over again?

Anyway, their paintings were all oil on canvas. And they were amazing. amazing. amazing. The depth of the painting... the layers and details of it... the 3D effect. Just amazing. And I also noticed back in their time, they painted just beautiful females. Perfectly healthy, curvy and real figures.

This was one of the first few paintings shown. You'll see how amazing this piece is when you get to see it yourself. There are SO many layers. And it's so perfect I couldn't believe it was painted.

This is pretty famous too. By Edgar Degas. Look at all the details. So many emotions and actions by the different subjects in the painting.

Just this exhibition was worth my 21usd. That is the admission fee for college students. I paid an additional 7usd for audio guide. I love this audio guide thing... makes such tours so much more informative and effortless.

But the museum offered more than this exhibition. I spent 3-4 hours in there. They had native American, African, Contemporary art (photography, pop art, abstract art, print art), Art in America up until the 20th century and some other types.

And there was a Textile collection too - Amish quilts (this was quite funny to me... it was just soooo many quilts being mounted and displayed. I never knew this design is called Roman Stripes though. I overheard someone asking why didn't they bring the designs into their clothing as well.

There was just a lot to see.. and I think this activity was good to do alone. I mean although I would have liked company... no company is better than bad company. I'm always open to talking and meeting with people... but I didn't meet someone I eventually went about the place with. I only chatted with a couple from Texas briefly.. at least I'm getting comfortable chatting with strangers!! Joel would remember how awkward I used to be a year ago when people started chatting with me!

Ouside De Young Museum, there was this monument... upon closer look... it was for the author of America's national anthem! I love the Star Spangled Banner. The lyrics is just so meaningful, and the song is so powerful. I attached one of my favourite versions below for your reference. They always sing it before the start of Superbowl... and I guess it's even more powerful when you see how the song evokes the emotions of the footballers.

***

Let me just say that there are so many parks and grass patches here. It was only 5pm but everyone seemed to be out and walking their dogs. I know Americans love their dogs and pets. I'm getting more used to it now. I used to freak out whenever I see big dogs around.

I know Joel doesn't read this... but he'll remember how I almost fell off the bench when we were in Philly. We were just sitting by the fountain then this dog decides to bark like mad all of a sudden and threatened to run off (thank god it was chained to it's owner's bench). I completely, I mean COMPLETELY freaked out.

The AIDS Memorial Grove was just another park, with stones engraved with the names of the people who died of the virus.

And Shakespeare Garden is a joke. Let's have one in Singapore too. It has a nice gate, and on the other side of the garden, few poems engraved into metal. period.

***

So I spoke to Frank. I'll have you know, that he and another guy has the company of 5 girls!!! LOL. He's going to cab somewhere tonight. I am not following cause I want to be able to WALK home. Charlene told me to hit the bar near school, even if I'm alone. I don't know if that's wise. But I don't want to stay in on a Friday night! I was still jet lagged last friday so I didn't go anywhere (omg, I came here only 10 days ago?? seemed so much longer) but there's no reason for me to be home tonight! I only have 6 weeks somemore... now 5. What should I do?

Second day of class

I. Just. Saw. The. Hottest. Guy. Ever.

in Berkeley that is. lol

Saw him on Telegraph Ave, right after I came out of Subway carrying my footlong sub.

And as usual, I don't make eye contact. He was walking in front of me, with his friend. He turned back twice. Once, I was looking at him. Then at the traffic light, I stepped in front of him and off I went.

Slap me. Just slap me. I just leave the moment I see someone cute. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME. IDIOT.

Anyway the weather is AMAZING today. I laid on the grass again :) Guys were playing Frisbee in front of me... the lifestyle is so chill and relaxed. I love the days when there's strong strong sun and the occasional cool breeze. Against the blue blue sky. It's just perfect for having a picnic.

And human sexuality class was fun today. We were split into our groups today and everyone is very nice :) All except 2 are from California. Me and another guy from Mexico city. I chatted quite a bit with this girl who is a psych major and she seems really nice and I told her about skydiving and invited her to come along. hahah. I'm getting excited!

ok, I just finished half of my foot long sub... I think I'm going to go out and read my book at a cafe. :)

My mum's reaction

So I just got off the phone with my mum.

She asked me what courses I'm doing here in Berkeley.

me: development psychology and human sexuality

mum: human what??

me: human sexuality.

mum: huh?? why would you take such a thing? what are you learning?

me: biology and behaviour and culture and sexuality lor.

mum: is there practical?

me: WHAT??!?

rofl. What on earth was she thinking?!??!

Now I wonder if I should have replied "yeah, people go to the front of the class to have sex every week". lol. I need to give her credit. She calmed down after a minute and we changed the subject.

Human Sexuality and Development Psychology

Hello....

I had my first class for both my subjects today. I can see how the style of learning in US have moulded the Americans to speak up and be more interactive and inquisitive. Lectures were more like conversations... with students constantly raising their hands to ask questions... however small or insignificant the detail is... they don't hesitate to share it with the class, and the lecturer always answers. It encourages discussion.

Just in case you were wondering, I'm taking Developmental Psychology and Human sexuality this summer. Dev Psych focuses on the development of Children, and Human Sexuality focuses on, well, sex. Human beings' sexual behaviour. Why am I taking it? Well, it could be interesting, and they will never ever offer it in Singapore. It'll be challenging... It's not going to be easy. But I'll just deal with it as it comes.

Today my Human Sexuality lecturer came to class looking somewhat like an odd-job worker. He was wearing berms and a loosely-fitted shirt. He has hair beyond his ears but above his shoulders. He was wearing a choker. And he wore flip-flops to class. Maybe it's only for summer sessions. But that was what he wore to give us the lecture. Interesting.

He said he wasn't gonna ask the guys in the class who read porn... cause he already knew the answer.

ALL.

He made us fill in a written assignment on the spot with which he will use to split us into 4 discussion groups (probably based on our thoughts and views on the sexual issues). The questions were on pornography, prostitution, abortion, gay marriage, gay adoption, gay participation in the military and sexual education. Controversial issues. Issues that I had little information on. I felt quite ignorant then. I guess this course will change things.

Apparently, USA is only in the middle when it comes to openness to human sexuality. Scandinavian countries are more open.. and of course the east is more conservative.

Anyway, I went to buy textbooks just now... 100usd for a used textbook. ONE HUNDRED!
INSANE.

I went onto Amazon and the used textbooks are much cheaper so I'm going to refund it tomorrow. And I asked my housemate if people use the books in the library instead... she said it's more common to buy them cause there are open book exams and all... (yeah, my course is open book too). So yeah, textbooks are freaking expensive here! How do they buy 5 books every semester?? And in Singapore, we don't even want to spend 40 bucks!

The day classes was supposed to begin

I'm supposed to be in class now...

In fact, class was supposed to start 1.5hrs ago but I'm home instead eating pasta sauce and egg.

The professor didn't show.

Very disappointing. He better turn up tomorrow morning...

Anyway, the professor didn't turn up, but the students did. I beleive there are many UCB students in this class. Who talks first... who fiddles with the light switch, who puts their leg up on the chair etc. But there are also some international students I guess... many Chinese and Koreans... and I saw old people too.. like balding old kinda.

By the way, my pasta sauce is pretty awesome. mmm.

I think I'm gonna leave home soon and hit the bookstore. By the way, it's freaking cold here. It's not summer! Summer is a lie! I should have brought my winter coat.

Cost of food

I went to Andronico's just now... food here is really expensive. Looks like cooking my own food would only be slightly cheaper than eating out. And even that, I need to carefully select my food. The people here love their chicken breast. It's SO much more expensive than the drumstick. It's the reverse in Singapore (probably Asia in general).

Americans need to get their priorities right! Their alcohol is so cheap here...so is ice cream... but the food here is wayyyyy too expensive! I had to spend 2.99usd on 12 eggs! And 1.39 for a pack of beansprouts that would cost less than 1sgd back home. and that's without tax... oh yah, the tax here is almost 10%! Yesterday we had lunch at Fisherman's Wharf and since we were more than six people, they added a mandatory 18% service charge (which sucks... cause I would have only tipped 10%). On top of that, they added a 3.5% charge for some health fund... so 18+3.5+9.75... that's 31.25% on top of your original bill! SO FREAKING HIGH!

I just finished cooking my fried rice with egg +beansprouts on the side. It tasted awful. Man I can't cook. Beansprouts here tastes weird! lol. and there's no way to give my fried rice any wok hei when I cook with a heating coil and not with fire. bah. I also made a pot of pasta sauce for my dinner over the week... let's see how long I'll keep to cooking my meals! hahah

Alcatraz Island

I woke up at some ungodly hour again!!!!

I was just soooo tired I knocked out at 6ish 7pm right after returning home. I finally went to get some cough mixture from Walgreens... I hope I get well soon. I was coughing so badly today I could hardly talk.

So anyways... yesterday we went to Alcatraz island(Pier 33) and Fisherman's Wharf (pier 39). The nearest BART is Embarcadero.

It costs 26usd to get to Alcatraz. Alcatraz was where the most notorious criminals of America get sent to. In there, it was written (for the tourists), "Break the rules and you go to Prison, break the Prison rules, and you go to Alcatraz". Some of the infamous prison inmates include Al Capone "Scarface", Machine Gun Kelly and Birdman Robert Shroud. We managed to catch a tour conducted by the National Park Ranger and she told us stories about the prison inmates... That Al Capone was a family man, who started soup kitchens for the poor and rallied for the law to print the date of production on milk boxes to prevent more deaths due to consumption of sour milk. The bottom line is she was trying to convince us that not ALL the inmates were dangerous. They just didn't behave. Al Capone bribed the prison guards to get him this and that so much so that the warden decided he was too out of control so he sent Al Capone to Alcatraz.

There were a few attempted escapes though it claims no one really ever got to taste freedom. The one instance when inmates managed to get out of the prison and out to sea, it was assumed that the water was too cold and too harsh. They were never seen again...

The visit was surprisingly long. We took the 10am ferry there and only got back past 1pm.

The view from the island was surprisingly beautiful.

This was how the prisoners escaped.

They apparently managed to make the vent so big by digging with spoons!

You see San Francisco so clearly.

so near yet so far for the inmates!

Fisherman's Wharf

Day 4 video

Day 4: San Francisco : Union Square and Chinatown

hmm I don't know where to start...

It's early here. I woke up at 4am. I don't know why, I don't know how. I slept at 12.30am!

My back is tired and aching (I need to start yoga again) and my cough aint getting better... And I'm starting to freak myself out about my fall in Shanghai. I fell down at the overhead bridge in Shanghai and got a bruise... that still hasn't gone down in swelling despite my best efforts in rubbing it. Excuse my paranoia, but I've heard of stories of a fall one winter vacation, and the man became paralysed from waist down. okay, this is totally gonna freak my mum out.

SO anyway, getting back to subject...

Yesterday (after one very effective sleeping pill and 13 hours of sleep), I woke up at 7am to use the internet and slowly get ready to leave the house.

I left the apartment at around 8 and took a nice refreshing walk down Shattuck Ave. I managed to go beyond Walgreens this time ;) I found a second hand book store, saw lots of little restaurants and acquainted myself with the place.

Later I met this other group of Singaporeans Frank met inside Walgreens to go to San Francisco for a shopping trip :) We got to their apartment around 10am and they were cooking french toast and bacon. mmm. They had to run some errands in the morning so after everything, we reached SanFran around 1pm. We got off at the Powell BART station, had lunch in Carls Junior (first burger of the trip) then we split up and walked around the place.

I was super excited to go into ANF to see hot people...

but I was disappointed. :(

Famous San Fran Tram!

They call it The Cable Car. haha

I love seeing American Flags everywhere.

This is a patriotic country

Saks of course

okay, I never should have gone into this place. lol

See the gradient?

THEN I SPOTTED A BEAUTIFUL PATCH OF

GRASS

I went to lie down of course :)

Union Square

They could have been celebrities... cause they got a lot of attention

It could also have been their matching outfits.

Or both.

I like it that there are random people sitting on the grass (on a Friday - workday!) and doing their own thing. relaxing... and living :)

We met back at 6pm then after a while, walked to Chinatown for dinner..

Chinatown is known as 唐人街。

Until a couple of years ago, I thought it was called 牛车水all around the world. lol

Anyway, I'm going to get ready for Alcatraz Island and Fisherman's Wharf today. I have videos from Day 4. I just need to mash it up. Check back for it!

Day 3: Grocery Shopping

I got out of the apartment early today! Managed to see the light of day.

The day and night temperature difference is pretty distinct. In the day, with sun, you can wear short sleeve shirts; without the sun, you need a jacket.

Anyway, I went to CVS Pharmacy just now and spent 80usd on toiletries, some make up, medication and food. There's no Walmart here, and that disappointed me a bit. But CVS is a pretty good substitute. It's cheaper than Walgreens at least!

And guess how much Herbal Essences cost here? It'd 2.99 for a 12 oz bottle. Note that everything I quote now is in USD unless otherwise mentioned. That's cheaper than Singapore right? It's been a while since I bought that brand cause I always thought it was quite expensive. Surprise surprise, I don't spend that much :) And make up here is super cheap. I'm going to load up before I return home.

I bought ramen from Walgreens yesterday. That's like our instant noodles. It's like the cheapest food in the US I think. 5 packets for 1.49. It's cheaper than in Singapore. I don't know why. But I guess it'll be quite a staple in my diet for the next 6-8 weeks. I just cooked that for my lunch today. Chicken flavour. Guess how it tastes like? Chicken Campbell soup. It's supposed to be good right? But I miss 出千一丁。 I don't know what are the exact chinese characters so excuse any 错别字！

I'm glad my house mates are Koreans... so there are chopsticks in the apartment :) And if you were speculating, there's Kimchi in the fridge, and they buy 辛拉面 by the box! lol.

I also bought one whole box of ziplock bags... getting ready to make sandwiches for lunch to bring to school. Am I overdoing it? But it really would cost so much if I eat out everyday! I'll see how it goes... Everything is so expensive here. I wonder how the American kids support themselves..I salute them!

Day 2 in Berkeley

After posting the previous blog post, I actually went back to sleep and woke up at 7pm. I was really starving by then. I was supposed to meet Frank for dinner at Downtown BART station...

So I had the map in hand... left the apartment... AND

took a wrong turn.

I got lost.

Luckily, I met 2 girls who were on their way to the station too and they walked me all the way there.

Frank and I wondered around for like half an hour before finally choosing the place for dinner... we had chinese food. The portions were HUGE and food here is expensive (as expected). I had Char siew rice for USD 6.50. LOTS of Charsiew. Served with veg - broccoli, zuchini and carrots.. I rem my dad told me he had to endure wonton noodles with carrots when he was in London. I guess westerners love their carrots.

Anyway the girl at the counter happened to be from China... when she saw me, she said "Are you Chinese?" in english...

And I said "yes I'm chinese but not from China"

We chatted a bit... like which part of China she's from, what she's doing in Berkeley (studying) and we started speaking in Mandarin. She seemed very happy to see us.

There are lots of Asians here in Berkeley. But many of them are Americans. At least, they have a strong American accent. Although I speak English and so I shouldn't have a problem communicating, I still feel like I stick out from the crowd (like a sore thumb). Suddenly I became so aware of my actions... the way I ask for directions, jay-walking, shopping in the supermarket etc. I just became really self-conscious. I'm afraid of being one of those foreigners the locals will label. Why do people do that anyway? It's not so fun when you're on the other side.

Journey to Berkeley

I'm in Berkeley at last!
It's 12 noon here... I better get out of the apartment soon and go grocery shopping lest I starve to death. I'm so hungry!

Visit to Zhongshan

I forgot to mention that I visited Juncheng on Saturday. He can cook now! He cooked dinner for Frank and I - Lotus soup, Broccoli salad, tempura prawn and fried prawns with cereal. Pity I forgot to take pictures!

I did however, remember to take pictures for Yong Chuan. 龙之梦and 中山公园站！

Walking around Shanghai

I love Tian Zi Fang!

I went back to my favourite Tianzifang cafe Kommune.

And tried the giant double latte there.

So brilliant you know... the guy puts more coffee is an ultra huge bowl

and wala, he gives everyone an urge to drink more coffee and pay a lot more.

All day breakfast.. :)

I didn't know about this before...

but most old houses have these...

they are boxes for the milk man to put your daily milk delivery into!

sweet!

panda obsession

man sleeping by the road

3 years ago, i saw a man standing on the zebra crossing in his PJs and talking on the phone.

haha. Only in china!

Evi recommended me to go to the culture street duolun road... so after lunch, Kalley and I took the Bus from Huaihai road to Sichuan road... and we got off the bus a little too early.... so we walked like 40 minutes before Kalley said she had to go already!! So I walked a little more before I finally arrived at the very quiet, not very happening road.

Met up with Sooyan, Zhuangyi and Frank for dinner. We had 本帮菜（上海菜）at this small restaurant owned by an 80 something year old 阿婆。

and here's a little randomness on huaihai road...

There's a nicer video with Soo yan... but she's in China and I forgot to take it from her. So I'll make do with this one!

Evi, you would have done this with me right? haha!