in this satellite city

We all know what it means when the parents are in town. Free food. Free groceries. Free gas. Tourist mode.
I was saving Mister Jiu's for them.

I had read about this soudough scallion pancake somewhere. And I was instantly intrigued.

Also got dutch crunch bbq pork buns. As the other obviously SF-Chinese fusion dish. Not gonna lie, I prefer the 'pineapple' topping on pineapple buns. But in a world where fusion means stuffing an Asian dish into a taco, I liked how seamless this was. [Not that I have any qualms with soy braised pork belly in a tortilla.]

My dad jumped on devil's gulch pig head...

...and chilled beef tendon before I did. So clearly raised by my dad in food matters. Which works in my favor when he thinks it was his idea to order exactly what I wanted. ...hehehehe.

My brother... is a different story. Not quite on the same side of Asianess as the rest of us.

His pick of the night was the orange chicken wings. Hmm, okay. Probably my least favorite dish because they were so sweet. And so small.

The only problem with my stepmom's cheong fun with dungeness crab, caviar, and sprouts was how modest (read: tiny) it was. With a few chunks of crab on top of the slippery carb.

But the thing I really wanted the entire night was the salt-baked Mcfarland Springs trout. Came cracked open and unwrapped with a bowl of salty trout roe and ginger scallion sauce and rice. Which is key because I'm not used to having to order a bowl of rice.

Pretty much the only thing I really needed from Mister Jiu's. Pretty much the only thing I'd go back for. But this city is too big to go somewhere twice.

Today is basically one year since I started my life here. And it simultaneously feels like not quite that long and ages longer than that. Like I'm constantly moving and doing something but also when I think about my days, nothing comes to mind. Like I'm both a seasoned veteran at work and completely clueless. In a city where it feels like people are constantly coming and going, it's nice to go to boxing where the trainers recognize me, it's comforting to play hostess in a home that comes with a pergola, it's reassuring to know there will always be something to do on mental health days. Still trying to decide if city living is actually for me while I fight the urgency to move just because that's been my life since leaving home.