Life Style & Travel

SAN FRANCISCO—On Monday, August 17, owner Richard Wong announced that Ton Kiang, his family's dim-sum restaurant and Hakka-style banquet hall, will permanently close at the end of the month, The restaurant is located on Geary Street in San Francisco's Richmond District, where the Wong family has been serving dim-sum to San Franciscans for 40 years. Wong's father Ching Boon Wong...

SAN FRANCISCO—The City Board of Supervisors passed a vote on August 11 to reduce the consumption of animal products significantly in jails and public hospitals in the city of San Francisco. The passed vote's content should be as follows; jails must reduce consumption of animal products including meat, eggs, and dairy by 50 percent by 2024, and public hospitals, including...

UNITED STATES—I was just reflecting how wherever human beings are involved, there are contretemps. Now during the height of the demonstrations this cottage was like the house at the corner of the revolution. And the dog got to be taken very seriously as a protector. He got to be let out to yap and snarl as those dogs with...

HOLLYWOOD—I really don’t know how to best say this beyond I have been so angry that theaters have been shuttered since March. I am a movie buff, a filmmaker, screenwriter, director and when it comes to cinema, it is best seen on the big screen. We have been placed into a bubble (quite literally) and because of that, filmmaking...

SAN FRANCISCO—Armstrong Brewing, a brewery in South San Francisco announced on Tuesday, August 11 they are closing permanently due to its financial difficulty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as announced on their website. "To our loyal patrons and guests we are sad to announce that we will not be reopening for business and have made the difficult decision...

UNITED STATES—Many who enjoy gardening appreciate fragrant flowers. Many grow particular flowers specifically for their fragrance. Yet, not many consider why so many flowers are fragrant. Plants cannot enjoy their own alluring floral fragrances any more than they can enjoy their own delightful floral colors and forms. They do not expect people to enjoy their bloom either. Human appreciation...

SAN FRANCISCO—On August 6, 2020, the Golden Gate Restaurant Association launched the #ShowUsYourMaskSF campaign on Twitter, which asked restaurant owners to hang posters in their restaurants, which the association created, and requested that they ask their customers to scan a QR code and check the regulation while dining at the restaurants. However, many restaurants reported that it was hard...

OAKLAND—Brokeass Cooks, a backyard pop-up restaurant, was founded by three out-of-work chefs, Bilal Ali, Hoang Le, and Keone Koki, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Brokeass Cooks sells family-style jerk chicken in the West Oakland backyard they share. They offer a whole chicken ($50), a half jerk chicken ($25), and organic soy milk ($4). According to their ordering site,  “To order a...

SAN LEANDRO—Ricky Sports Theater and Grill faces closure due to major financial complications that come as a result of the closure of indoor dining due to the Coronavirus pandemic. In addition to the negative impact that the closure of indoor dining has had on their finances, Ricky's owners Ricky and Tina Ricardo are also having to deal with Ricky's Alzheimer's...

UNITED STATES—Some sudden pizza's infused my psyche the moment I learned that a very great fan of my books was going to be passing through Los Angeles on a moving trip with her husband and a 52-foot truck en route from Washington state to Sun City, Arizona. This is the kind of thing to put any budding author into...