My first full day in SF/SJ area was pretty chill since it was another weekday (I arrived on Thursday), and I spent a lot of that time doing some things I needed to and hanging out with whoever was home. My family had asked if I had a bucket list of places to visit or see, and we started planning activities around that.
I woke up the next day around 7 AM, maybe a little earlier since I slept early too. This was quite surprising because during the summer I usually slept in unless I had school or work that day. My family seemed to be surprised that I woke up so early, but to be honest, since it was 10 AM in Toronto time, it felt normal to me.
Over breakfast (which I skipped like usual), my aunt and uncle explained that they planned to immerse me in the Vietnamese food scene in San Jose. I expected this because back in Toronto, my family mainly ate Chinese fare and cooked at home. And while we don’t eat out as often, I don’t remember there being a huge Vietnamese food scene or specialty restaurants in Toronto either but I could be wrong too. A lot of the restaurants I see serve Pho or other noodle soup-type dishes, and sometimes their menu will also have broken rice or Cơm tấm with the usual small plates like fresh spring rolls and the like.
I was a little hesitant because I was not sure what to expect, but I was also more than willing to try new things. For most of that morning, I spent time looking up internships, talking with my great-aunt and reading. When my aunt came back from dropping off my cousin, we went out to lunch at a local spot that was known for their Vietnamese pancakes, Bánh xèo.
Bánh xèo is one of my mom’s favourite dishes, but due to time constraints, she rarely gets to eat it. We also never managed to get enough greens to all three of us to eat, so I’m often left eating the pancake plain, which didn’t leave a lasting memory on 10-year-old me.
But let me just say, the portion was huge in comparison to the ones we made at home. It also stayed crispy for a good while too! It came with a mountain of greens on the side (we also ordered more halfway through) and their fish sauce. I had to watch my aunt assemble her first bite before imitating it, but it was delicious! I recommend a small-ish piece of bánh xèo to a large piece of lettuce and a few greens, but eat it how you like if you have a preferred ratio!
Over lunch, we got to know one another a little more, gossiped, and ultimately started planning some potential activities for the duration that I’d be visiting. Some ideas we had were visiting K-Town, the premium outlets (I’m not sure which one), SF Chinatown, Costco (I was curious), and the San Francisco Pen Show. I mentioned the pen show in passing, trying to gather information if I could take public transit to the venue, but we ended up planning to go anyway.
Later that day, we went to a solo hotpot place for dinner. It was only my aunt, my cousin and I but it was pretty fun. The place we went to serves solo hotpot on top of a little burner (think Mabu generation, not Hai Di Lao) and while it looked like a normal portion, it was still a lot. I got the sukiyaki version, and it was pretty good! I did struggle with shelling the shrimp, but in my defence, it was hot to the touch!
We skipped dessert since we were all too full, and I spent that evening on a call with my mom.
It’s actually funny looking back because this was the last “free” day I had while I was in the US. I don’t regret my adventures there, but oh my god were my days packed afterward!
