San Francisco Trip Part 2 - Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market

This is #2 on the list from the website.

http://www.timeout.com/san-francisco/things-to-do/the-49-best-things-to-do-in-san-francisco

Forage for fresh produce at the Ferry Building

On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays until 2pm, hordes of food-obsessed locals can be found combing the crowded aisles and produce stands of the Ferry Building Marketplace, where 75 regional farmers and artisan food purveyors offer a dizzying array of organic fruit and vegetables, and gourmet goodies from olive oils, meat, cheese and bread to chocolate, jams and flowers. In addition to the tri-weekly farmer's market, homegrown brands such as Acme Bread, Cowgirl Creamery, Hog Island Oyster Co. and Blue Bottle Coffee sell from permanent stalls.

Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

http://www.yelp.com/biz/ferry-plaza-farmers-market-san-francisco


We visited the Ferry Building Farmer's Market on a Saturday. Which opens at 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
The reviews all says to visit early because it's a popular tourist spot as well as a favorite for locals.
We feel in love with this place! Not only it has hundreds of fresh produce and vegetables, they are mostly organic and there are free tastings at each booth. You can just go around and sample at each booth! There are also tons of food booths if you want to grab lunch there.

Unfortunately it was getting really crowded since it was a long holiday weekend, so I wasn't able to try everything I wanted to there. Like Roli Roti (the best porchetta sandwich), Cowgirl Creamery (cheese), Blue Bottle Coffee, Omurice from Namu Street Food, and the fresh oysters from
Hog Island Oyster Company. But I was able to try some Samosa, Hummus, and some fresh baked pastry there that was delicious.

Las Vegas farmer's market is a joke compare to what San Francisco offers. I would totally move there just for the farmer's market! I can't wait to visit again to see what different items they have in different seasons!

This is another must-see for San Francisco, come hungry, come with cash (things can get pretty expensive here since you are tempted to buy everything!) and come with reusable bags to carry all the stuff you'll be buying here!)

small section of the farmer's market

fresh lavender

fresh varieties of citrus

look at all these fresh mushrooms!

organic free range farm raised meats

fresh oysters

San Francisco Trip Part 1 - Thai Temple Brunch

It's been a while since we had a vacation by ourselves. Luckily we found some cheap tickets for after Christmas and decided to visit my cousin and his wife in San Francisco. I was researching for places to visit, things to do there and came across this site: http://www.timeout.com/san-francisco/things-to-do/the-49-best-things-to-do-in-san-francisco

We picked out a few we wanted to do during our 5 day trip:
#1.Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge
#2. Forage for fresh produce at the Ferry Building
#11. Trade tokens for Thai brunch
#13. Explore the country’s largest Chinatown
#17. Discover the secrets of sourdough

This is #11. Trade tokens for Thai brunch.

This small Thai Buddhist temple is a Berkeley mainstay, not only for practicing Thai American Buddhists and curious UC students, but also for anyone with a few bucks and an appetite. Every Sunday, the temple hosts a communal-style Thai brunch, serving up dishes like pad thai, beef noodle soup, mango with sticky rice and coconut pancakes and pudding to anyone who makes a donation; dollars are traded for tokens, which can then be exchanged for food. The weekly meal brings all types of residents and visitors together. While it's definitely the temple's most well-known contribution to the community, it's certainly not the only one; the venue hosts regular cultural events and serves both as Berkeley's official Thai Cultural Center and a Thai school for Bay area youth.

Knowing me, I have to Yelp it first, and it has raving good reviews on Yelp, so we gotta check it out!
http://www.yelp.com/biz/wat-mongkolratanaram-berkeley

Wat Mongkolratanaram
4.0 star rating
673 reviews Details
Thai, Buddhist Temples

So it's a hosted at a Thai temple in quiet neighborhood in Berkeley every Sunday from 10 am - 1 pm.
It's a token system, first you exchange money for tokens, $1 = 1 token.

Token Booth

Dessert section

Seating area.

Main Dishes. There are two lines, one for meat and one for vegetarian.

Another dessert area. Mango Sticky Rice.

Waiting in line for my noodle soup.

Meat combo.

Papaya Salad

Vegetarian combo

Mango and pudding with sticky rice

Noodle Soup

Thai Coffee

The food was delicious!  We couldn't try everything there this time, there were so many options!

I definitely recommend to visit here to try some delicious and cheap Thai food, and it's for a good cause!

We exchanged $40 between the two of us and had plenty leftovers so we bought some spring rolls, couple more desserts to bring home. And of course, you can donate the rest of it to the temple or save it for your next visit!