food trucks

Every time I come here, be it for one week or one month, there is some strange new trend that didn't exist the last time I was here.  For example--the ipads that scan your credit card and you sign with your finger, or the foodie-obsession with nutrient-rich kale...

Or the FOOD TRUCKS.  Yes, they are exactly what they sound like.  Food trucks.  They park all over the city and set up a portable restaurant right in front of their service windows.  There are breakfast ones, lunch ones, even late-nite ones! On sunny days downtown, all the business men are sitting on their picnic tables in suits enjoying the fresh (and cheap!) food they have to offer...

And they offer EVERYTHING.  In fact, I think a prerequisite for owning a food truck is specializing in some bizarre fusion of cuisines, like Indian Burritos, or Hawaiian Barbeque.  The one right next to Andrew's house that I passed every day on my way home from work last week was called "Le Truc" and, so boring, specialized in french cuisine.  It was an adorable truck though.

They are all adorable trucks, just the french one per usual is cuter than the rest.  But really, another prerequisite of the food truck: aesthetically pleasing.  The french one is in a navy blue school bus (like the typical yellow ones, but navy blue) with classic white cursive lettering and chic black umbrellas.

If you aren't already thrilled by the idea of Food Trucks, just wait because it's about to get much, much better.  

The best part about these food trucks is that they congregate.

A music festival? You can bet the Taco Truck and the Salad Toss Truck are there.

A flea market?  The Korean Kobe Burger truck would be stationed and serving by noon, right alongside the Peruvian Pigs in a Blanket.

An empty parking lot full of Food Trucks? Yep.

A PARTY DEDICATED STRICTLY TO FOOD TRUCKING? DAMN STRAIGHT.

And they take credit cards.  The end.

(this was a sort of letter I wrote to Lucas, part of the series I like to call Just wait til you get here cause even I'm having culture shock.  Then I thought I should just share it with others, for anyone who might still be out there reading this, who actually know and experience what I am talking about. Do you guys thinks it's funny too?)

lust for life

hello sf

Hi everyone from sunny and breezy SF.

I arrived with few troubles on Thursday night.  MAD to JFK to SFO, a payphone, a slouchy, dimly-lit BART ride, then all the sudden, just like that, I find myself waiting downstairs at the 16th and Mission muni for Ash because upstairs, outside on the corner, the station is overly populated with crazies at all hours of the day...

I have to admit that I have had one person on my mind a lot since I got here, partly because he will be here in September.  It will be his first everything, having never been to the US before.  So I see crazies downstairs even at the 16th and Mission muni station, and think of him, he who has a million notions but really no idea what to expect, he who does not yet realize the extent of madness the San Francisco hobos are all about.  He's going to love them.

So anyway, a little reverse culture shock here and there, but give it a week... in any case, I'm currently sitting in this garden of eden at my July summer pad...part of me hoping that somehow plans will change and it will remain my August pad as well.  I really had no idea what to expect, besides the slightly scary location, so you can imagine what a pleasure it was to find this tiny, two-floor, tucked away paradise on 21st and York.  I love everything about it (except walking alone at night).

So wish me luck in the next week that everything else falls into place.  I totally forgot that Wednesday was the one and only 4th of July, so that is kind of putting a stop on things for me, and by that I mean I am putting a stop on things because I want to go drink beers on a boat.  I know we can't have it all, but we can have a little.  A bit of indulgence is the key to happiness, right?