Things to do in San Francisco – Part Three

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Welcome to Part Three of things to do in San Francisco. There are so many varying places to visit that I felt like this series deserved a final part three. This part will cover San Francisco’s best restaurants.

Hispanic Restaurants

La Taqueria – my dad claims this is the best Mexican restaurant in San Francisco. La Taqueria is a popular Mexican stop. They are famously known for their California Burrito, which is filled to the brim with carne asada, fries, cheese, and many other delicious fillings. Take note that they are closed on Monday and Tuesday!

  • 2889 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94110

Franco’s Latin Table – this charming Peruvian restaurant has great food. I personally love ordering the Lomo Saltado, a steak dish with fries, tomatos, onions, and flavorful rice. Franco’s Latin Table has excellent service and a large selection of meals to choose from.

  • 24 W Portal Ave, San Francisco, CA 94127

Italian Restaurants

Tommaso Ristorante Italiano – I’ve been going to Tommaso’s all my life, and every time I go, it never ever disappoints. Tommaso’s has the greatest Italian pizza and pasta in San Francisco. I love ordering their Margherita pizza. The ingredients are always fresh, and the pizzas are cooked in a wood-fired oven, which gives the pizza a nice charred edge. 

  • 1042 Kearny St, San Francisco, CA 94133

Molinari’s – This classic deli sells amazing meat and also sandwiches. Each sandwich is made with freshly sliced meat. It also has a very old-school feel with excellent service. You can’t really order anything wrong here: all the food is delicious.

  • 373 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133

Perbacco – this Italian restaurant is quite fancy, but has delicious, high-quality food. The service is impeccable, and each dish has so many different flavors. I highly recommend this place for lunch or dinner. It’s a great restaurant for fancy occasions or if you just want to have a nice meal. 

  • 230 California St, San Francisco, CA 94111

Asian Restaurants

Dumpling Zone – this place is a great takeout restaurant. I love Dumpling Zone’s pan-fried dumplings, as they are filled with flavor and much juice. Dumpling Zone has a great, simple menu and a fast turnaround time when you order in person or over the phone.

  • 408 Dewey Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94116

Enjoy eating!

Persepolis by Marjan Satrapi

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Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi unfolds visually as much as it does emotionally, which makes Marjane’s childhood feel immediate and raw. The book follows her growing up during and after the Iranian Revolution, but what makes it powerful isn’t just the political history; it’s how that history shapes her identity as she tries to figure out who she is.

Satrapi portrays childhood innocence colliding with violence and repression. Marjane doesn’t fully understand the revolution at first, but she feels its effects everywhere, in school, in her home, and in the rules suddenly imposed on her body and behavior. Seeing these events through a child’s perspective makes them even more unsettling, because the confusion and fear feel so real.

As Marjane grows older, the tension between individuality and conformity becomes stronger. She wants to express herself through music, clothes, and opinions, but constantly runs into limits placed on her because of politics and gender. That struggle felt especially relatable as a teen reader. Even though most of us aren’t growing up in revolutionary Iran, the feeling of being told who you should be, and being punished for resisting, translates across cultures.

One of the most meaningful aspects of Persepolis is Marjane’s relationship with her parents and grandmother. They encourage her to think critically and stay true to herself, even when it puts her at risk. At the same time, they are deeply aware of the dangers surrounding her. This push and pull between protection and independence captures a tension that many teens experience: wanting freedom while still needing guidance.

Satrapi doesn’t present herself as heroic or flawless. She shows her mistakes, her anger, and her confusion, especially when she later leaves Iran and struggles with isolation and guilt. These moments make the story feel human rather than idealized. Persepolis felt less like a political memoir and more like a story about growing up in a world that doesn’t make space for complexity. It’s a reminder that identity is shaped not just by personal choices, but by history, culture, and circumstance. For teen readers, Persepolis offers both perspective and reassurance: feeling conflicted, out of place, or divided between worlds doesn’t mean you’re lost; it means you’re growing.

How Reading Helps You Become a Better Writer (Without Trying)

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Notice how whenever you’re writing an essay, you suddenly think of a fancy word to write even though it isn’t in your everyday vocabulary? Yeah, that’s no surprise. When we’re reading, our brains pick up on different words and ways to write that it later stores until it’s time to use those skills. Books expose us to many different types of dialogue, tone, pacing, and techniques without us realizing. As you read, you tend to notice what makes your chest ache and what makes you cringe. This can also link to what authors we prefer and which ones we tend to stay away from. It’s the same with the way we often speak similarly to the peers around us. That’s also why people from different cultures speak a certain way as well. Anyway, the bottom line is, the more you prioritize reading into your daily life, the more your brain understands how to use proper grammar skills. Something to think about while you’re reading is how to read like a writer. I’ve previously mentioned that when you read, your brain picks up on what works without you realizing it. However, instead of just reading to enjoy a story, you should also try to understand why something works. Whenever it’s time to unwind for the day and pick up a good book, pay attention to the diction the author is using. The more you do this, the quicker your brain learns how to write like a true writer and create unique stories for others to enjoy. So pick up a book and start reading. 

The Map Trap by Andrew Clements

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The Map Trap is a short book written by Andrew Clements.  The story focuses on a boy named Alton Ziegler.  Alton is a socially-awkward sixth-grader who loves to draw maps.  He has a large collection of maps that he has created over the years.  He keeps a stash of some of the maps hidden from others, because they contain personal opinions that could offend some of his classmates and teachers.  One day, Alton decides to show some of the secret maps to a classmate named Quint, in an attempt to impress him.  Soon after leaving school, however, Alton realizes that he forgot his maps.  He tries to recover them but they have been stolen.  Alton now needs to track down the perpetrator before the maps are revealed to the entire school.

I really enjoyed reading this book for a number of reasons.  One thing I enjoyed was the fast and entertaining plot that is filled with surprising twists and turns.  It was difficult to put this book down from the moment I began reading it.  Another thing I really liked about this story was Alton himself.  I enjoyed watching his character develop and grow to become more mature as an individual.  I also really liked how realistic this book felt.  It seems like it could have actually happened in real life.  Overall, this book is very enjoyable with an engaging plot and interesting characters.  It seems to be targeted toward younger audiences, but I would still recommend it to readers of all ages.

Tackling Burnout

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At the start of the school year, you’re breezing by the school year and performing well in school, but now, as it nears its end,  you find that you have no motivation to do anything, your grades are dropping, you’re getting less sleep, and you’re just done with all of the school stuff.  That’s called burnout, and research from the article Student Burnout Statistics: Causes, Prevalence, and Impact, states that 30% to 40% of students experience burnout. Burnouts are normal and inevitable for students in high school, especially those with rigorous classes, but there are ways to prevent them from happening.

The best way to tackle burnout is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Burnout happens when a person experiences too much stress to the point of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion. For students, this can be caused by the pile of work or activities that they need to complete. To prevent this, you need to stop procrastinating. Don’t get me wrong–as a student, I procrastinate all the time, but sometimes it has its consequences. When you procrastinate, you push that work aside to do later, and you do this over and over again with different assignments. Next thing you know, it’s the night before all your assignments are due, and you’re racing against the clock to ensure that you maintain your grade in your class. The huge pile of homework that is pushed aside causes burnout because the more work a person has, the more stressed they will be, causing mental exhaustion.

To prevent procrastination, great time management is essential to ensure that all your assignments are completed on time. You can do this by creating planners, schedules, or to-do lists that can aid you in organizing your work into sections so that you can prioritize assignments and complete them. If these don’t work, you can even use psychological tactics to your advantage. You can use the reward system and reward yourself each time you complete a task, reinforcing that behavior of doing the task, or you can do the complete opposite and have consequences for not doing your tasks, such as having your car keys taken away. By doing these, it ensures that you can complete the tasks and prevent them from piling up.

Finding the study technique that works for you the best ensures that you can learn information and understand it, so you can keep up with your classes. If you are just breezing through classes and not putting much effort into learning, taking tests, or doing assignments, it might become too difficult because there’s little to no understanding of the classes. There are multiple study techniques out there, such as the Pomodoro technique, flashcards, and my personal favorite, the Recall Method, which can aid you in understanding the material.

Last but not least, you need to take care of yourself! When a person is burned out, they feel sad and unmotivated to do anything, and this can affect their mental health significantly. You can take care of yourself by making sure you eat, drink, and get a good night’s sleep. Sleep is so essential to the performance of a performance, so make sure to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep.

Exploring Women’s Accomplishments throughout American History: A Celebration of

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Woman’s History Month

Hello, everybody, it’s me again, and since the month of this post’s writing is March, which is Women’s History Month, I’ll be writing about two women whom I believe are worthy of admiration and respect.

  1. Annie Oakley, Legendary Sharpshooter

Nicknamed “Little Sure Shot” by close friend Lakota leader Sitting Bull, Annie Oakley, born Phoebe Ann Moses, was a world-renowned champion markswoman with humble beginnings. She began her career as a professional shooter at age fifteen and performed before dignitaries and royalty, a notable example being Queen Victoria of England.

I first discovered Annie Oakley a few years ago through the  Historical American Biographies series, with Oakley’s biography titled Annie Oakley: Legendary Sharpshooter and written by Jean Flynn. I thoroughly enjoyed this biography, and it increased my love of historical fiction literature.

I believe Oakley deserves to be remembered this Woman’s History Month not only because of her extraordinary shooting ability but also for her humility, charity to the poor, particularly to young children, and quiet confidence.

Read more about Annie Oakley at the following websites: https://centerofthewest.org/explore/buffalo-bill/research/annie-oakley/, https://www.annieoakleycenterfoundation.com/faq.html

  1.  Helen Keller

Perhaps the most famous person with deafness and blindness of all time, Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama, at Ivy Green. Although born healthy, Keller contracted an unknown illness, commonly thought to be rubella or scarlet fever, that rendered her deaf and blind.  

Through the help of teacher and long-time friend and companion Anne Sullivan, Helen was able to learn the alphabet, both manual and in raised print for blind readers. She also became very successful at reading and writing and even eventually learned to speak.

Throughout her life, Helen Keller achieved many feats, such as being friends with a good number of the famous people of her time, Alexander Graham Bell and Mark Twain among the group. She was also an excellent writer who penned several published works, including her own autobiography, titled The Story of My Life. But, by far, what people should arguably know the most about Keller is her tireless advocacy for those with vision loss. 

Read more about Helen Keller at the following websites:

https://afb.org/about-afb/history/helen-keller/biography-and-chronology/biography#meeting

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/helen-keller

I hope you enjoyed reading this article! – Peace F.

Alphonse Mucha

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Alphonse Mucha was a painter, graphic artist, and illustrator from the Czech Republic. Living from 1860 to 1939, Mucha was known for his works during the Art Nouveau period. He worked on many forms of art, such as paintings, architecture, furniture, jewelry, and theatrical sets. During the second portion of his career, he worked on a series of 20 canvases, The Slav Epic, to represent Slavic people and their history.

He became famous in Paris after creating works that consisted of clean, flowing line art, and drapery that further developed the elegant style. Mucha was inspired by nature, which was a common theme during the Art Nouveau era. Women were also a common subject for him, as he celebrated femininity and beauty. The flowing lines, combined with his decorative style and soft, graceful colors, made him popular all across Europe. Alphonse Mucha wanted art to be accessible to the common person, hence his art appearing in ads; his works blurred the line between fine and commercial art. Especially after creating posters for Sarah Bernhardt, an actress, Mucha challenged the idea of posters being low-status.

Contrasting his delicate works in Paris, The Slav Epic was historical and political. Alphonse Mucha returned to his homeland to create this series of paintings. It told the story of Slavic people, inspiring unity and national pride. Additionally, it focused more on collective identity, rather than individual beauty. The paintings were dimensionally large and were meant to be impactful and rich. This series was developed around the time of World War I, in which several Slavic groups were fighting for independence from empires. Although The Slav Epic was not as decorative as his art from the Art Nouveau period, Mucha’s artistic style can still be seen: he uses light and soft, glowing colors, as well as symbolic figures mixed with historical events. Alphonse Mucha considered this series of canvases his most important work.

Things to do in San Francisco – Part Two

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San Fransico is a hub of good food, with many diverse cuisines. This article focuses on the best SWEET eats in San Francisco! First, it’s essential to start any day with a cup of coffee or a good breakfast.

Coffee Stops

Caffe Trieste – this historical coffee shop is located in North Beach, the Italian part of San Francisco. Caffe Trieste has great coffee blends that my parents always look forward to bringing home after visiting San Francisco.

Blackbird – this unique coffee shop doubles as a cafe and bookstore. Blackbird is an upscale coffee shop with delicious coffee and a great setup to study. I highly recommend checking this place out if you love cute coffee shops.

Motoring Coffee – I believe that this place is one of the coolest coffee shops to exist. Motoring Coffee is unique in that there are vintage cars inside the coffee shop (including a vintage red Porsche).  Order a coffee and sip on it while you admire the trendy decor and wonderful cars.

Bakeries

Arsicault – If I had to say the best pastry shop that I’ve been to, I would 100% say Arsicault. This is one of those places where you wish you could bring the business back home with you. Arsicault was voted to have the best croissants in the United States. As a frequent customer when I visit San Francisco, I can fully testify that Arsicault has the best croissants and pastries I’ve ever had. If I had to recommend one item, I would recommend their Ham and Cheese Croissant. This croissant puts all others to shame, with its flaky, buttery layers and generous fillings of gourmet cheese and ham. As you can tell, I’m still dreaming about it. Anyways, Arsicault is amazing, get the Ham and Cheese Croissant as well as the Kouign-Amann if you go!

  • Note: this place is very popular, and they often sell out quickly

Butter & Crumble – recently, this place took social media by a storm. Butter & Crumble has excellent pastries. Here, you’ll find many options of cakes and sweet and savory pastries.

Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory – This place is a great bakery to visit as a first-time tourist in San Francisco. The Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory brings tourists through the process of making fortune cookies. Enjoy a historical lecture with a fun bakery twist!

Ice Cream

Humphrey Slocome – this ice cream shop is a classic place to visit. Humphrey Slocome prides itself on sourcing local ingredients to make high-quality ice cream. While their serving portions are a bit smaller, I love visiting Humphrey Slocome because of their creamy, rich ice cream.

Mitchells – this ice cream shop is family-owned and operated. I love this place because they have so many different and unique ice cream flavors, with most of them being Asian inspired. Mitchells is a great family business that sells delicious ice cream (with large portions, too).

Yoshinobu Yamamoto – Command over size

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Do you like the Dodgers? On the Dodgers team three Japanese players are dominating Major League Baseball and they led the Dodgers to win 2 World Series (2024, 2025). These three players are Shohei Ohtani, Roki Sasaki, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. In this post, I’m going to write about Yoshinobu Yamamoto and why is he special.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto is baseball player who is Japanese right-handed pitcher and 2025 World Series MVP. When he played in NPB which is Japan professional baseball league, he played for Orix Buffaloes. During his time in NPB, he led the Buffaloes to a Japan Series championship in 2022 and won the prestigious Eiji Sawamura Award three consecutive times from 2021 to 2023. The Sawamura Award is considered the Japanese equivalent of MLB’s Cy Young Award, given to the best pitcher each season. Because of his dominance in Japan, Yamamoto signed a historic contract with the Dodgers, becoming one of the most highly valued pitchers in baseball history.

[ODDS and EVENS] Yoshinobu Yamamoto is Having Another Sensational Season for the Buffaloes ...

Why is Yamamoto special? First, he is an undersized player. He is only 5’10 and that is much shorter than other players. For example, Shohei Ohtani and Yu Darvish are Japanese players, but they’re 6’4 and 6’5. Despite this physical disadvantage, Yamamoto can throw a fastball reaching 98 miles per hour. Second, his pitching form is unique. Rather than using an exaggerated leg kick, his motion moves quickly and directly toward the catcher, creating excellent balance and efficiency. Lastly, his training mechanics are very unique. When you watch his training on video, you will never see on the video that he is lifting weights. He’s working out his flexibility such as bridge and headstand. And when you watch his training, you will see that he’s throwing spear. You’ve probably never seen any pitcher throw a spear in practice.

His training philosophy is equally unusual. Instead of focusing heavily on weightlifting, Yamamoto emphasizes on flexibility and body control through exercises such as bridges and headstands. He even practices spear-throwing movements to develop proper arm mechanics and energy transfer. These methods help him generate power efficiently rather than relying purely on size or strength.

Yamamoto’s intelligence on the field further separates him from other pitchers. During games, he frequently studies hitters using an iPad in the dugout, analyzing swing tendencies and identifying which pitches have the highest probability of producing a miss. He also trains his upper and lower body separately to maximize mechanical efficiency. By increasing the speed and rhythm of his delivery, he disrupts hitters’ timing and compensates for his smaller frame. His preparation demonstrates how careful study and strategic thinking can overcome physical limitations.

In a sport where height and power often dominate scouting reports, Yoshinobu Yamamoto represents a different path to success. His career suggests that precision, intelligence, and preparation can rival physical size. Command, not height, defines true pitching dominance.

Shohei Ohtani and 4 other Japanese players come home to start the MLB season - The Press Democrat

Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion

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Reading Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion didn’t feel like reading a typical book. It felt more like stepping into someone else’s way of seeing the world. The collection of essays captures America in the 1960s, a time of cultural fracture, uncertainty, and quiet unraveling, but what makes the book powerful isn’t just its historical context. It’s the way Didion observes chaos without trying to neatly explain it.

What stood out to me immediately was Didion’s voice. She writes with a kind of emotional restraint that makes everything she describes feel sharper. Whether she’s writing about California counterculture, political unrest, or her own sense of unease, she never tells the reader how to feel. Instead, she presents moments, conversations, and details, and trusts us to sit with the discomfort. That refusal to offer easy conclusions is what makes the essays feel so relevant, even decades later.

The title essay, “Slouching Towards Bethlehem,” is especially unsettling. Didion immerses herself in a community where people are searching for meaning, rejecting structure, and living in extremes. What’s striking isn’t rebellion itself, but how hollow it sometimes feels. The essay captures a loss of shared values, where freedom exists without responsibility and idealism collapses into neglect. Reading it, I couldn’t help but think about how often chaos is romanticized, especially by younger generations looking for identity or belonging.

The book feels unexpectedly familiar. Even though the essays are set in the 1960s, the emotional landscape mirrors our own: disconnection, overstimulation, and a constant search for meaning in a world that doesn’t feel stable. Didion’s work reminds us that cultural breakdown isn’t new, and that uncertainty is something every generation believes it’s facing for the first time.

What I appreciated most about Slouching Towards Bethlehem is that it doesn’t try to fix anything. Didion isn’t offering solutions or moral lessons. She’s documenting what it feels like when systems stop making sense and people are left to navigate the aftermath. That honesty makes the book more powerful than if it tried to be optimistic or reassuring.

By the end, I realized that Slouching Towards Bethlehem isn’t just about the 1960s; it’s about what happens when people lose faith in structure but haven’t figured out what should replace it. Reading it made me more aware of how fragile order can be, and how important it is to question what we’re moving toward, even when we don’t fully understand where we are.