Solo in San Francisco 🌁
A photo travel diary of my recent solo trip to San Francisco! I was in town to watch BIGBANG’s 20th anniversary concert at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. A short weekend solo trip in a city that holds so many memories for me. Here’s a little recap of what I saw, ate, and experienced.
Downtown San Francisco | Timbri Hotel
I stayed at The Timbri Hotel in a skyline king suite with a street-facing view. The room was 200 sq. feet and spacious enough for me. It included a coffee machine, mini fridge, wardrobe, couch, small table right in front of the window, and a TV. The downside was that the mattress was way too soft. My body sank into the bed immediately. I chose this hotel because of its location. It’s within walking distance of bus stops and a BART station, and right by the Powell Station Turnaround stop for the famous cable car. The hotel has a cafe, lobby, gym, and a restaurant on the rooftop. They charge a daily fee—and $15 of it can be used for any food from the hotel lobby, cafe, or restaurant. While the hotel was conveniently located, I noticed a lot of noise and street activity from the street directly across. I didn’t eat at the restaurant, but I did get a latte from the cafe—they seemed to be out of food options the morning I was there.
Overall, a 3.5/5 rating for me. I liked the location the best. It was a safe and comfortable stay. I wouldn’t pay full price for this hotel; I booked through Capital One and used my travel credits.
Eats around The Timbri Hotel
Luckily, there were many food options around the hotel. I found a chicken-and-rice spot, Gai Chicken, on Google Maps and ordered the original chicken-and-rice dish. It was really flavorful, a solid Hainanese-style chicken-and-rice plate. The ginger sauce was so delicious. There weren’t too many bubble tea options around besides Asha Tea House. I’ve visited them before in Berkeley. Nothing too crazy; not my favorite. Their Hong Kong Milk Tea tasted more like black tea with too much milk. I stumbled upon this food center, Saluhall SF, a food hall with several different eateries, including a bakery and a burger joint, and it was connected to IKEA. I didn’t try anything from it, but it was a spacious food hall with lots of seating areas for people to sit, eat, and
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
The whole point of this trip was to watch BIGBANG’s 20th anniversary concert, COSMOS, live at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. I will have to make a separate post about this. I rate this venue a 4/5. I was quite shocked by the sound system; it was pretty decent. It was a straight ride on the BART from my hotel to the Coliseum, but leaving the venue was a struggle and a half.
Chinatown (唐人街) aka my happy place
Getting to Chinatown from my hotel was, again, very convenient. The Muni train is the transit system that runs through San Francisco. There was a station a few blocks from my hotel that took me straight into Chinatown. I didn’t realize how complex SF’s public transportation options were. Though I’ve been to this city many times, it was my first time paying attention to their transit map. I was so confused because there’s the BART, buses, Muni train line, streetcars, and the cable cars. It was a lot, but I wanted to ride on every one of them with my Clipper card—just for the experience lmao.
An abundance of culture
As a Canto girl who grew up in Seattle’s Chinatown, there’s no place that feels more like home than Chinatown. With SF’s Chinatown being the oldest one, I really felt a special connection to it. Despite visiting before, I still felt a new level of excitement to stroll around Chinatown. What I love about this Chinatown is the different alleyways. Murals, hidden shops, or grandpas playing cards—there’s not only an abundance of culture but also activity. It was bustling with locals who were on their way to buy groceries and tourists waiting in lines. The hustle and bustle reminded me of Asia; ah yes, it really felt like home. People were so alive in Chinatown on this beautiful weekend—maybe I came with low expectations because Seattle’s Chinatown has been so gentrified that I barely feel the connection these days. Something about being in SF’s Chinatown this weekend made me feel so alive. Was it post-concert high? Or was it longing for a Chinatown that isn’t mine? Maybe both.
Now, the food in SF’s Chinatown
I’m really picky about where I get my Cantonese food. I have high standards because I lived in Hong Kong for a month, and it’s really hard to find high-quality Cantonese food. Unless you’re in Richmond, BC. would say that the Cantonese food in SF’s Chinatown lives up to its reputation of being the oldest Chinatown in America. It was decently good.
Top left: Hong Milk Tea @ Metro HK Dessert (3.5/5)
Top right: Shrimp Feast & Pork and Preserved Egg Congee @ Rice Roll Express (5/5)
cash only! but they take venmo and zelle too
their chili sauce—mustttt add on top
limited seating
I went on a weekend, and there was a loooooooong wait, like at least 30 min, but I chatted it up with the two women in front of me while waiting in line, and they were solo travelling. we ended up eating lunch together ;)
Bottom left: Crispy BBQ Pork Rice Plate @ Duk Hing Express (3.75/5)
It was good but on the pricier end!
Bottom right: Fresh Mango Mochi @ iCafe Bakery (4.25/5)
A sweet treat to fuel the never-ending hills of SF! I’m not a big fan of coconut flakes, but the mango and mochi was very fresh. The inside was filled with mango puree.
Wandering like a bird and satisfying my inner nerd,
One of my favorite things about solo traveling is walking with no planned agenda. Seeing where the wind takes me. I love discovering something by chance because it’s fun to follow my curiosity like an animal. Instead of letting social media dictate my itinerary, I let my senses guide me. This allows me to practice the art of wandering.
I stumbled upon this gift shop called On Waverly, and I was immediately obsessed. It’s a bookstore, gift shop, and community space dedicated to the AAPINH community. They had books, stickers, cards, zines, pins, bags, art prints, and more! It’s not often that I can walk into a space dedicated to my Asian American diaspora identity. I’m a huge nerd who loves all things multimedia. It was a delight to see different bodies of work from Asian American artists. Not to mention, they had a great selection of items—I saw so many books from my TBR list. Self-control was exercised that day.
Now Place 此间
Then I visited another bookstore that highlights Asian diaspora voices, Now Place 此间. Though they are a smaller space located in the outer streets of Chinatown, they also had a variety of books, zines, and art prints. As an Asian American creative, it’s inspiring to see art from fellow artists. I had Now Place 此间 bookmarked for a while—it was fulfilling to check this off my list. If I lived in SF, both Now Place 此间 and On Waverly would be my go-to spots.
Last day shenanigans
On my last day, I had a few hours to spare before heading to SFO. I made a reservation at this Korean restaurant, SUNGHO that specializes in pork gukbap, a traditional Korean dish where rice is added into soup. The internet calls it Brothy Rice, but it’s gukbap in Korean. I wrote a whole article ranting about the stupid Brothy Rice trend.
SUNGHO was located in a very dynamic area, I’ll say. There were security guards at the corners of each block. With quite a lot of folks on the streets, I had to stay more vigilant than usual while walking alone from my hotel to SUNGHO.
However, the service and food at SUNGHO were great. The broth itself was so flavorful and the pork slices melted in my mouth. It was a big portion for one person so I couldn’t finish my bowl. It’s on the pricier side as well, $33 for a bowl after taxes. Again—downside to solo traveling, no one to share food with :(
After lunch, I wanted to ride the famous cable car at the Powell-Hyde Station except the lines were so long. Understandable, as I was in town during Labor Day weekend. I opted for the streetcar instead because they were so aesthetically cute. However, the second I got on I regretted my decision. We were packed like sardines and it seemed most people had the same idea as me. To ride the streetcar down to Pier 39 / Fisherman’s Wharf. That was definitely a one-time thing, I’ll never do it again.
I strolled around Pier 39 and did some window shopping until I was overwhelmed. I cut my time short and called an Uber back to my hotel. Then I took the BART straight to SFO. Surprisingly, I got through TSA in time because there was no line.
I chilled at The Club lounge for a bit, except the food options were horrendous in my opinion. A bunch of finger food, mostly beans and chips, that were underseasoned. I decided to stroll around my terminal before heading to my gate, only to realize how expensive food in SFO was. A slice of pizza costed $14. Outrageous. At this point, I was so ready to go home because SF’s pretentious HCOL was getting to me by the end of my trip. I think Seattle prices are terrible these days but then I forget that San Francisco exists so this was a great reminder.
San Francisco was a great solo weekend trip because there was good public transportation and a variety of food and activities. Three days and two nights was just right because if I had stayed any longer, my wallet would have ripped into pieces. Of course, my main objective for this trip was to watch BigBang’s concert but it also gave me an excuse to reconnect with a city that holds many memories for me.
In the city of Waymos, overpriced food, tech bros, AI billboards, and hills that make my knees go weak, SF is still a city full of charms.
Walking through the city brought up mixed feelings. It was very trippy to see the contrast of homeless people sleeping on the same street as tourists hopping into those self-driving Waymo cars. Black Mirror vibes were heavy. The income disparity was very apparent. Despite the aggressive tech influence throughout the city, I can still feel the energy of people who are trying their best to survive. Maybe that’s why I enjoyed Chinatown so much, it felt so humane in comparison to the overpriced pretentious ego that SF has been trying to adopt. Nonetheless, the longevity of the city speaks for itself. In its public transporation, architecture, and people.
My hope is that San Francisco, especially Chinatown, can continue to retain it’s history and culture no matter how fast technology is trying to takeover because we don’t need any more soul-sucking Zuckerberg energy.
What we need is more compassion and empathy for one another.
And what SFO needs is more affordable restaurants. A slice of pizza costing $14 should be a crime. Enough with the health cafes, quinoa bowls, and smoothies. Put a McDonald’s in there for goodness sake.