Dragon Beaux, The Finest Dim Sum in SF

/ Cali, Food, Me

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Crispy roasted pork with two sauces. This is the bar.

It’s been a couple days since I’ve blogged, so there’s a ton to catch up on. I have plenty of content to post—stay tuned this week… there’s some good stuff to share.

On our last episode…

The last time I went to Dragon Beaux, it was with Sol and some of his friends. I posted pictures on instagram, and I think it sparked Annie’s interest. I can certainly say that this is probably one of the best places for dim sum, if you’re willing to pay. We ended up spending about $30 per person.

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Annie and Julia excited to try Dragon Beaux for the first time.

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Fried taro.

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Taro bun.

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Assorted Shanghai soup dumplings.

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Siu mai.

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Spare ribs in black bean sauce.

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Shrimp crepes.

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Fried meat dumpling.

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Zha leung.

This was probably one of the best dishes that we didn’t expect. It’s called zha leung with shrimp.

Zhaliang (炸兩) is a kind of food in Cantonese cuisine of China. It is made by tightly wrapping rice noodle roll around youtiao (fried dough). It is most popular in the Guangdong province of southern China, as well as in Hong Kong. –Wikipedia

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Fried rice.

This was actually mediochre. Avoid the main entrées and save your stomach exclusively for the dim sum.

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Finishing up dim sum. Jake pictured on the left.

Again, this place isn’t the cheapest, but it represents a pretty high bar for dim sum. I highly recommend it, and make sure to go with more people so you can order a larger variety of things to try.

Shopping for a Jacket at Uniqlo and Eating Corn Dogs

/ Cali, Food, Me, Photo

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Uniqlo in San Francisco.

I never heard of this store until Annie and Julia told me about it. Their clothing is a rare combination of sportiness, utility, style, quality and value.

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Poofy vests and jackets that can be compressed into tiny bags the size of your fist for storage.

Uniqlo has failed in previous expansion binges. In 2001, the retailer set its sights on capturing customers in the United States and the United Kingdom, but a year-and-a-half of dismal sales later, it shut the doors on most of the new stores. –Huffington Post

Apparently, the CEO tried launching his company several times with different magnitudes of failure. Now Uniqlo is on its way to the top. Seriously, the quality is up there with North Face, but for 1/3 the cost. You can read more about the company here.

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I’m definitely going to shop here once I need to update my cloths. I’m really digging the style and practicality… and most of all, the price!

After a little shopping, we went to grab some fresh corn dogs. Yes, there is a restaurant called Hot Dog on a Stick, and it’s amazing. You’ve got to try it out—you have no idea what you’re missing.

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Apple Store in the mall.

No mall visit would be complete without visiting the Apple store.

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New Apple Watch Nike Bands.

I’m really liking the watch bands made by Nike. I’m not sure if you can order them separately, but they look aiiiiiiight!

Dinner at Dumpling Kitchen

/ Cali, Food, Me, Product

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The signature Shanghai soup dumplings, served at Dumpling Kitchen.

Annie, Julia and I went to the Dumpling Kitchen to enjoy their most consistently delicious soup dumplings.

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Shanghai style noodles with chicken.

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Veggies.

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Beef in black bean sauce.

I’ve tried a lot of things at this restaurant, and I would say that this is probably one of their better dishes. If you go there, definitely order their beef with black bean sauce.

After Dumpling Kitchen, we made our way to Super Cue to get some boba. My personal favorite is their mango with pana cotta—it’s the perfect dessert to follow any meal. Julia claimed that Super Cue has the best tapioca pearls. ^_^

Anyway, this is an excellent combo between price and value (especially in SF).

Twin Peaks at Night

/ Cali, Me, Photo

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Long exposure of San Francisco from Twin Peaks at night. This photo was created by stacking 9 images together.

There’s been a crazy heat wave in San Francisco over the last two days, so night time photography seems to be the best solution to stay cool. We drove over to Twin Peaks to snap a couple photos.

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Annie and Julia posing in front of the San Francisco skyline at night.

I didn’t have a flash on me, so I used my iPhone light to create a little fill light. It turns out that the iPhone flash light works pretty well.

By the way, there were so many people smoking weed up there that I was probably getting a second hand high.

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Annie and I posing in front of the SF skyline.

The Twin Peaks are two prominent hills with an elevation of about 925 feet (282 m) located near the geographic center of San Francisco, California. Only 928 foot (283 m) Mount Davidson is higher within the city.

If you like these photos, you can check out some of pics I shot years ago with my old Nikon D200. Also, for a similar night time view, check out pictures from my hike at Mt. Davidson.

Fort Funston with Annie and Julia

/ Cali, Me, Photo

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Julia and Annie standing on the edge of Fort Funston.

Annie and Julia decided to take a trip out to Cali for the week. As always, we like kicking off things at Fort Funston.

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Sun touching down on the pacific ocean at 7pm.

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Julia and Annie showing off their freshly manicured nails as the sun sets.

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Photo of the Fort Funston precipice on a clear afternoon.

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Close up of Julia and Annie enjoying the view.

What an amazing afternoon. No matter how many times I come out here, I’m always blown away by the view (as long as it’s not foggy).

Here are some photos of when I visited Fort Funston with Tiffanie. And here’s another time when I went with Patrick.

On a side note, I was thinking about doing a series on the dogs of California, similar to The Humans of New York. What do you guys think? Would you read posts about stories of dogs in Cali?

Razer Gear

/ Cali, Gaming, Me, Photo, Tech

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A complete set of Razer products at the Razer store in San Francisco.

So, I’ll admit that I secretly really want some of the gear made by Razer. The lights really don’t serve any purpose other than looking really cool. You don’t need be a Twitch streamer to appreciate this stuff—LED color changing lights are bad ass.

Foo, I thought of you when I saw this. I’m surprised you don’t have your entire home setup decked out with this stuff. The Razer mouse pad retails for $51.99, and their Mamba mouse is $79.44.

Ps. Check out that bokeh in the photo above. Rainbow bokeh! It doesn’t top my christmas tree bokeh though.

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The Razer store hosting a game tournament on Friday afternoon in the mall.

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The Razer store located in Westfield Mall in SF

This is a really cool store. I’ve been there a couple of times. I may actually try to compete at the next Hearthstone tournament. ^_^