Haight-Ashbury, aka Hippie Hill

So, today we went to Haight-Ashbury, which is well-known for its shopping. If you're looking for clothes, there's plenty of thrift stores and other little boutiques, but if you're looking for something more shady, you know, "clothes" (hahaha so appropriate in this context @viv), there's also plenty of people dealing those on the streets. People really like their mushrooms and other nature-related goods, if you get my drift.
I love this city because it has such strange dynamics. On the one hand, there are the friendly Americans who, (this happened today, twice) when you're just chatting with a friend about directions, will interrupt your conversation to chat to you and give you directions. But, then there are the flocks of homeless/ hippies who walk past you and offer you things or call you sexy (There was this one homeless today who had a bear beanie on his head and I nearly pissed my pants right there and then. I MEAN, it was one of these- http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRBZuf_M1EfWD865MwuJTBbKWbvUFf-qaYUvAG6rzIURepVSdxFzQ - the ones with the dangly ear parts. Kawaii desu homeless =^w^=!!)
Anyway, obviously we tried some because its a once in a lifetime thing.
Then we went home.

And if you believed that you're a wanker. Don't do drugs, children.
We went to a cafe to get coffee, and there was a sign that said "Friends dont let friends go to Starbucks!" which is HONESTLY the most HIPSTER thing I have ever read in my life.

"Where do you drown a hipster?"
"In the mainstream"
- Steph ©  

My friends had some food at a pizza place. It was like $3-4 for a big, fat slice. It was super retro and oldschool because they had old vinyls and posters on the walls (as you can see). To be honest, the big slices of pizza aren't as appealing to me as the gourmet pizza back home. It's just fun to have the pizza here because it feels so American. Oh! Also I forgot to mention that sandwiches here are really good. I mean, now I FINALLY understand why Joey Tribbiani was so attached to his sandwiches. There's just so much variety... Americans really care about their sandwiches. I'd say the best place to get a sandwich is at Subway back home. And here, Subway is like shit compared to some of their other sandwiches. (Although I do love Subway still. There's Subtember deals on right now, $5 for a footlong of the majority of subs. What the ffuuuuuuhk.)

Then! We went to Hippie Hill. Which, as you can all figure, is a hill filled with hippies. I'm not even joking when I say you just follow the sound of the drum circle to the hill. Today was a relatively quiet day with not that many crazies so it wasn't very eventful. Also the photos I took dont accurately depict the craziness of these hippies. In the first photo, with the man on the mat and the dog, I swear at one point the dog had a hit because he was breathing smoke out.

... and then I saw a dragon and a smoking dog.

It's really funny too because people just walk up to each other real suss, talk for a few seconds, exchange something, and then walk away. One of the guys was stumbling everywhere and looked like he was going to fall down on his back as he walked into the bush. But he made it into the bush and clearly had a good pee and then stumbled all the way back. Achievement accomplished. This man deserves an award. Legit.
Also, there were two children standing dangerously close to the circle, and their dad was standing behind them a few metres away. At first I was like wow, why would you ever let your children stand so close... but then I figured he must've told them "If you don't fucking go to college, this is you in 30 years. Stand RIGHT THERE AND DONT MOVE. LET IT SINK IN"

After that, we went SHOPPING!!!! (YAYAYAY) I bought a lot of clothes (Help me.) and was pleasantly surprised at how great thrift stores are here. There are "vintage" places that sell clothes for way expensive, and Goodwells, which is sort of like Salvies back home; those were quite mediocre... but then we went into a store called Buffalo Exchange and it was the best thrift store I've ever been to. Everything was a decent price, and if I had enough time I would've bought a lot more. (NTS- Defintely going back)
Aaaaaand that's a picture of Alex looking extremely seedy in what looks like a pimp jacket.

THEN (I AM SORRY FOR THE LENGTH OF THIS POST) we went for dinner, but accidentally left the bus a lot earlier than we were supposed to. San Francisco is a scary place to be lost in because it gets really foggy in a really short period of time. I'm not sure if you can see the fog in the photos, but I guess the glare of the streetlights sort of indicates how foggy it is. The fog makes it seem like a horror movie and when you're walking around in the fog with only one other person it does get pretty scary.
Also there were random bagels on the floor next to a bus stop we passed and I took photos of it.
There is only one place where you will find bagels dropped on the floor.
MURCA.

Also we had shabu shabu for dinner and it was really really gnarlicious. Apparently the place has only been open since Wednesday (We only went there because we passed it on the bus a few days ago), and I bestfriended the waitress there and she said she would get us drinks the next time we're there.

#BESTIES4LYF

I'm starting to miss Asian food.... more specifically home cooked food.
And Casey. I miss Casey a lot.
I've been trying to pet people's dogs (that sounds weird) but I always say hi to them and they always run away from me.
Even when their owners like me, their dogs don't.
One dog ran away from me as its owner pulled it towards me, and she told me her dog must be blind, not that it didn't like me and was trying to run away.

Pls, don't lie to me.

I'd throw my pie for you,
Emma
x

Ps. will upload a video of the drum circle crazies later when I have better internet