San Francisco Exotic Food Crawl Post: Origins

The Subway restaurant we dined at, located on 1500 Fillmore St.

This month marks the third year-anniversary of when my best friend and I started what we called our San Franciso Exotic Food Crawl, in which we try an unfamiliar dish from a cuisine we've eaten before or a new dish from an "exotic" cuisine each time we dine out in San Francisco. "Exotic" meaning that we would not be dining on the usual suspects of ubiquitous cuisines like Chinese, Indian, Thai, American, Mexican, Italian and Japanese, not unless it was a unique dish we had never tried before.

This 2-year and ongoing food journey was completely unplanned and the genesis of it all came about rather organically. It all started when we were looking for someplace to get dinner after watching a movie in San Francisco. We were supposed to watch The Lone Ranger together, but couldn't get seats, so she ended up watching Monster University, a prequel to Monsters Inc., while I went to see World War Z because she was too chicken to watch a horror flick with me. You can check out my review of War War Z here and my review of The Lone Ranger, which we got to see a couple of days after we couldn't get seats, here.

For some reason my best friend wanted Japanese food, and like total idiots, we drove to Japantown, which is possibly the worst place in San Francisco you can go to to get authentic Japanese food. I finally had enough when I was looking through the menu of one restaurant and it featured sake on sake sushi. As in sake alcohol on sake the fish. Baffling and as far from authentic Japanese food you could get. We ended up driving to a Subway restaurant and my friend, who once worked in a Subway restaurant during her teenage years, ordered a footlong Italian BMT to be shared between the two of us. We sat down at a public park to have our food, and it dawned on us how pathetic and sad it was that we were having Subway sandwiches for dinner in a city known for its diverse cuisines.

There and then we decided that this would be the last time we ended up eating at a chain restaurant when we dined in San Francisco. And so the San Francisco Exotic Food Crawl was born.

It's one thing to determine such a thing, it's completely another thing trying to figure out how to even start. Where do we even begin? And inspiration landed on my lap through another friend.

Check out my next post to read about the first restaurant we hit on our San Francisco Exotic Food Crawl culinary journey.

Now You See Me 2 Short Movie Review

Now You See Me 2 has a plot that is more incomprehensible, implausible and baffling that its predecessor. Had no idea that was possible. Nevertheless, it entertains well enough, and one does not go to a popcorn movie like this for a scintillating plot, even when the foregone conclusion could be glimpsed from a mile away.

Canny (financial) casting of Daniel Radcliffe and Jay Chou, which should conjure up extra ticket sales from Harry Potter fans and the entire Chinese-speaking market.

3 out of 5 stars for me.

Me Before You Short Movie Review

I am not generally a fan of the tearjerker genre, but since the movie was adapted from a bestselling book and starred Emilia Clarke and Sam Clafin, two actors who I enjoyed watching on Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games movie series respectively, I decided to give it a shot. The movie is a lot better than I expected, and actually quite funny.

Emilia is as different from her role as Khalessi as can be, but one wishes that she got to use a wider range of expression besides expressing either profound joy or abject sadness, like a maniac bipolar yo-yo.

By the end of the screening, I could hear people around me sobbing or see them wiping their eyes with their tissues, which made me feel like a monster because I wasn't one of those weeping into their Kleenex. Same thing happened at the screening of The Fault In Our Stars. I do cry at movies, but there's something about the sheer manipulation in such genres designed to induce viewers' tear ducts to overflow that makes me unable to shed any.

3 and a half stars out of 5 stars for me. Would recommend it as great alternative to the countless summer blockbusters sure to inundate the screens later this month.

Captain America: Civil War Short Review

I enjoyed Captain America: Civil War, even if I disagreed with the titular character ideologically. The whole plot could have been resolved with a phone call, but I'm not complaining. The best characters hands-down are Black Panther and Spider-Man, who steal every scene they are in. I can't wait to see their solo movies and that is saying a lot for the latter, because I simply loathed The Amazing Spider-Man 1 and 2. Lending Spider-Man to Marvel was a genius move by Sony; best advertisement they could have gotten.

4 out of 5 stars for me.

Batman v. Superman: short review of an overlong movie

Batman v. Superman is mind-numbingly dull, dour, overlong, lifeless and boring, with its huge gaping plot holes cutting a wider swath than the destruction wroth by its superheroes.

Particularly grating on the nerves is Lex Luthor in a role so badly mangled by Jesse Eisenberg and so annoying that I badly wanted to able reach into the screen to physically strangle him just so I wouldn't have to put up with his lunatic ranting and raving anymore.

I had no idea that one of Superman's rather large arsenal of abilities included a magical compass/radar that let him know whenever Lois Lane was in danger so he can rescue her for the millionth time.

Not even Wonder Woman's lasso could compel me to enjoy the movie, and the movie's portrayal of journalism was simply preposterous.

I can't think of a superhero movie that has ever made me feel this sleepy. Scratch that. I don't think I have ever watched a movie that made me feel sleepy. And I have seen my fair share of terrible superhero movies.

Zack Snyder, please just let other people handle future DC superhero movies in the future. Seriously Warner Brothers, what were you thinking handing the reins to the DC Universe to him?

2 out of 5 stars and I feel that I am being very generous.

Zootopia Short Movie Review

Beautifully filmed with gorgeous visuals and a highly entertaining zippy storyline with a timely inclusive theme about diversity that is neither cloying nor preachy, Zootopia is a must-watch for both kids and adults alike.

4 and a half stars out of 5 stars for me.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Movie Review

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is only as entertaining as it is silly; when the movie abruptly switches to a serious tone in the third act zombiefying boredom sets in.

Lily James is charming as Elizabeth Bennett but her love interest Mr Darcy is played by a very wooden Sam Riley. Matt Smith as Mr Collins steals all the scenes he's in.

2 and a half stars out of 5 stars for me.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Short Movie Review

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is basically a remake of Star Wars: A New Hope, with better special effects, a more diverse cast and a bucketful of nostalgia, with tons of nods and winks to the original trilogy.

Have to say though that the good guys are all idiots even if it serves to help move the plot; if the BB-8 is so bloody recognizable, for The Force's sake keep it safely hidden in a compartment somewhere instead of letting it toddle alongside you like some stupid shining beacon broadcasting to the entire galaxy who and where you are.

Still, it's entertaining enough, so 4 out of 5 stars for me.

Short Movie Review: The Good Dinosaur? More Like The Really Bad Dinosaur Movie.

Just as Inside Out is easily the best Pixar movie yet, so is The Good Dinosaur easily Pixar's worst film.

With a disjointed, weak narrative and characters painted in broad strokes with no real depth to speak of, The Good Dinosaur waddles on a crutch of stereotypes, cliches and tired archtypes to tell its story.

Young kids might enjoy it but I highly doubt adults will, which is a real anomaly in a Pixar feature.

2 out of 5 stars for me.

The Hunger Games Movie Series Ranked

1. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire



My review of Catching Fire

2. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2



My review of Mockingjay Part 2

3. The Hunger Games



4. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1



My movie review of Mockingjay Part 1

Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 Movie Review

While not as good as Catching Fire, Mockingjay Part 2 is the second strongest movie in the quartet and provides a satisfying conclusion to a great, if sometimes uneven, movie series.

A rare YA dystopian movie that is able to grow out of its roots and evolve into a full-fledged adult war movie, it is a must-watch for hardcore fans, casual fans and even just moviegoers in general. You do need to have watched Part 1 because Part 2 continues right where Part 1 ends.

4 out of 5 stars for me.