w a n d e r l u s t

Soundtrack of Mi Vida: On the Water – The Walkmen

First of all. . .

WE LOVE KCRW ! ! !

Mostly for its eargasm inducing DJs and original programming (love me some LR&C and Good Food) but also for giving us FREE Coachella tickets.

It was our first time so we did the cursory research and came prepared with sunblock, snacks, goldbond powder, and lotsa pockets. The lines were horrendous the first day due to the 75k bodies, andnew 3-day bracelets process but we were comforted by a rack of ribs from Tommy Lee’s crew,  cool breezes  and remembering the tickets were FREE ! Once cuffed with our purple bracelets we crammed in over 26 artists in 3 days ! Would we go again ? Hmmm . . .

Our Top 3 !

1. Florence and the Machine (with special guest, Nathan from Cold War Kids)

2. Mayer Hawthorne / Little Boots

3. Corinne Bailey Rae / Muse

Soundtrack of Mi Vida: To Love Someone – Taken by Trees

Soundtrack of Mi Vida: Blue – Calvin Harris

San Francisco

Day 1

Philz Coffee -  Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee

Arinell Pizza- Cheese slice

Range-  Scallop crudo/salad, Roasted Chicken, Braised Beef

Bi-Rite Creamery – Roasted Banana and Salted Caramel Gellato

Laszlo – Chambord Cosmo and Hendricks Gimlet

Day 2

Philz Coffee-  Mint Mojito Ice Coffee and Turkish Delight

Tartine AM-  Morning Bun and Gougeres

Tartine PM – Loaf of bread fresh out of the oven with Brillat-Savarin cheese from Bi-Rite

Foreign Cinema- Apple Pop Tart, French Toast, and Grilled Duck salad

Out the Door – Fresh spring Rolls (9 bucks ! ! ! sorry couldn’t fight the thrifty scrooge in me)

Burma Superstar – Tea Leaf Salad and Rainbow salad

Day 3

Good Luck Dim Sum- turnip cake (HJ best) and various dim sum items

Ton Kiang -  Shrimp and Chive Dumplings. Owner was very welcoming and gregarious.

Roadside BBQ – Pulled pork sandwich. Texan staff showed great hospitality.

Schubert’s Bakery-  Swedish princess cake

San Tung – Dried fried chicken wings

Underdog’s taco shop – Nick’s Baja Fish Tacos and Makers Martini. Bartender (skinny white guy) took pride in his craft.

Katana-ya -  Chasu ramen (the leftover soup is still congealed in my fridge) and Extra spicy ramen

All that SF yummy = 3lbs more to love

Bah ! WHO pandemic warnings are for wussies ! We visited the El D.F. aka Mexico City in June so the pandemic was subsiding as was the air and hotel prices. We stayed at a hostel called Casa Comtesse in Condessa, a upper middle-class area of Mexico City. Upper-middle and any middle class is a sliver between the poor and ultra-rich. (Sometimes I forget that I the world majority is poor and brown). Overall we felt safe but the local police thought it best that we not walk around at 11pm and hailed us a cab one night. When I visit a foreign land I try to take in the people, food, and culture. I think HJ’s order is food, food,  and culture (between meals).  Here’s the rundown…

Comida:  Seafood at Contramar, tasting menu at Pujol (yes, pronounced Poo-hole), original al pastor tacos at Tizoncito, hot choco and churro at El Morro, and steak sandwich & salad at Sputino

Culture: Indigenous arts at the National Anthropology Museum, Contemporary Art Museum at U of DF and hiking around Teotihuacan.

People:  Like in all major urban cities, most folks were rushing around minding their own business. Subways are the best way to travel but also a great place to meet and hug some of the 21M DFers during rush hour.

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