San Francisco #1: Quickly

Well, the plane ride to Oakland was uneventful. The trip from Oakland to San Fran on the BART Mass transit system was very much eventful, but for other reasons.* Anyway, I got to the bed and breakfast, the Castillo Inn in the Castro section of the city. I have never done a B&B before, and it's, well, different. Very cazh. The proprietor was not here when I checked in, so he told me to leave my payment for the room on my dresser. That was seven hours ago. Oh well. I'll just leave it here.

My first taste of San Fran was the gayest neighborhood in the gayest city in the world - both meant in a nice way, not the way that youths - even gay youths - sometimes use the word "gay" to mean "stupid". You've probably heard someone say "Dude, this is so gay" to mean "Dude, this is so stupid." Nope, of course I don't mean it in that sense. And if I did, a dozen angry drag queens would probably kick the shit out of me. Deservedly so, I might add - and those high heels can hurt!

Anyway, not far from what Frommer's San Francisco Day by Day guide refers to as "the gayest corner in the world" (Castro and 18th Streets), lies my first taste of San Fran deliciousness. It's called Quickly, and it ain't in any travel guide I've seen. This place, founded by entrepreneuse Nancy Yang, originated in Taiwan in 1996 (I think; their website isn't terribly clear). Quickly offers sickeningly cheap, quick bites - like junk food dim sum - from the US, Japan, China and Taiwan, Korea, Mexico and all over Southeast Asia, for anywhere between 60 cents and $4 (most things cost $3; the soft shell crab is one of their priciest, at $4).

I tried their hot dog - 59 cents, a standard but cheap hot dog - and something called chikuwa wrapped in bacon, on a stick. Six of these - in two groups of three fried, bacon-wrapped chikuwas - cost $3. So fattening, so greasy, and so - okay, above average. They fall into that "fried Twinkie" category - tasty once, but I'm not goin' there again, dude. Oh, and the chikuwas? I first thought they were squid, sans tentacles. Now I find out they're shaped like that, but made from the same stuff as krab-with-a-K.

I will get around to posting photos in a few days. I left all the wires I need to upload 'em into my computer back in the Inland Empire, so I couldn't even if I wanted to. It'll save me some time, so I can write about the dim sum crawl I went on today. Like a pub crawl, but with dim sum instead of beer. And dude, I am so stuffed from all that dim sum.

* This was a job offer and a very big choice, that's all I'm saying, and it so figures that I find out about it right now when anyone who cares is far, far away. At least it was good news.)