Vacation

**Uriel** · 01 Feb 2011, 04:55 PM

I'm spending a week+ in the SF Bay area in March. I'll be staying in San Leandro but will of course spend a lot of time in San Francisco.

Anybody have any recommendations on what to do besides the usual stuff like Chinatown? The main reason I'm going is to scope it out since I have tentative plans to move there next winter and have never been there, so I'm looking for destinations with that perspective in mind.

**Satsuki** · 01 Feb 2011, 06:36 PM

Oh man...I love SF. See everything, do everything. My favorite places in SF are (of course) Chinatown and Japantown. I lived in Chinatown for a little while and it was amazing. Japantown is not just for weeaboos, it's got amazing food, a cool art gallery, great shopping. I suppose it kind of depends on what you like to do - I am a shopper so I love Union Square and the Haight and Pacific Heights. Golden Gate Park is beautiful...it's worth it just to park and walk for a bit. Crazy people watching, nature...all that stuff. The Japanese Tea Garden there is touristy but pretty. The Mission is crazy and awesome. Lots of weird Mexican shops. There are some very cool art galleries in the Tenderloin...let me know what you're looking for and i'll try and help out.
Also check out Berkeley too, if you have a chance.

**Uriel** · 01 Feb 2011, 06:47 PM

Well, I am of course a nerd, so nerdy stuff (even what you might call "weaboo") would be interesting to me since there is practically none of it where I'm from. I'll also be checking out Amoeba I guess. I like to shop when I travel but won't have a ton of cash for it.

Also, if you know of a particularly good Dim Sum place that isn't too expensive, that's definitely something I want to try. The first one I went to (in Boston) was pretty damn good.

The first day has apparently been dedicated to weed and chicken and waffles, according to those I'm staying with.

**Satsuki** · 02 Feb 2011, 02:28 AM

ha ha ha, ok. There was this awesome comic/anime shop on Polk street that for the life of me I can't remember the name of so when I remember that I will tell you. You'll have your nerdy hands full in Japantown for sure. If records and music stores are your thing, the Ameoba in Berkeley is superior to the one on Haight imo, but both are worth checking out. The Kid Robot and Giant Robot shops are along the Haight strip too. Aquarius Records on Valencia Street is very very cool. Also on Valencia Street is this cool place called Botanica Yoruba that isn't nerdy - but they have all these voodoo spells and herbs for sale. Kind of a curiosity shoppe type thing.
If you head to Market, there is a huuuugeee comic and toy store called Jeffery's Toys, and a few blocks from it is Rasputin Records, which has a ton of records.

Unfortunately, despite my stint in Chinatown, I have never had good dim sum! I imagine yelp.com can help you in that direction if you're not aware of it already, they are also very helpful in general for reviews of restaurants and stores. My fav Chinese Food place was a vegetarian restaurant on Washington Street in Chinatown called "Lucky Creation." I'd suggest that any day...fuck, I want some of their food now ;__;