SF Chinatown on The Bold Italic

The Bold Italic understands and knows my people.
I love the way they have been capturing San Francisco's Chinatown. From Chinatown Sartorialist exploring senior styles to a tour of the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory – these articles bring back so many memories of my youth growing up in the Bay Area and being in San Francisco with my family every weekend.

This was my Ning-Ning's (grandmother on father's side) uniform: some sort of quilted floral patchwork silk jacket or wool cardigan paired with a baseball cap / hat... usually from Snap-On because my uncle is a mechanic. My Paw-Paw (grandmother on mother's side) who is still living at 95 likes to say the more colorful the better because she wants to feel vibrant and happy... and what good is it if I can't see her. ha! I love them so.

I used to visit my Boc-Paw (great grandmother) at a senior's living center and the Lee Family Association in Chinatown. Always hanging clothes drying in an assortment of colors & prints and always a hot pot on an electric stove in her little room with piles of Chinatown papers and calendars. Chinese people love their calendars.... I don't know why.

When I was 4 or 5 years old, we went to visit Golden Gate Fortune Cookies because my Paw Paw recommended my mom take her kids to see how the magic happens. It was along an alley and rinky-dinky. I don't recall much lighting, just natural light radiating from the open doors. The ladies were so nice. They showed us their process: how the cookies came out warm and flat (! -a life-changing revelation for a preschool aged Chinese-American) and how with their swift hand movements around a metal thingie (technical term), they formed the iconic shape. What a rad thing it was to carry off a baggie filled with warm, sweet smelling FLAT fortune cookies.

Thank you. Too many memories to recount.

p.s. Special shout-out to Accidental Chinese Hipster

All images via Bold Italic.