I discovered my love for Popcorners in my last US trip in 2022. It was available in the office pantry and I had the Sweet and Salty flavour. Then I went back to the same pantry this year and I couldn’t find it anymore. I wasn’t able to find it in Sprouts too. I nearly forgot about it until I saw it in Google office pantry. Many thanks for my friend/ex-colleague Daniyal for inviting me for a lunch at his office. I had an office tour, tea and even snacks haul when I was visiting San Francisco as part of my personal vacation. 🙂 He told me I can get it from Costco but I don’t have Costco membership. He told me next time he will bring 3kg worth of Popcorners for me since I love it so much. Hahaha! Anyway, I managed to find it in Safeway in the end and I brought 4 big packs of Popcorners home. Feeling quite happy.

One of my favourite Korean YouTubers, Kieun Choi, also likes Popcorners too haha.

I have an interesting story in my hunt for Popcorners actually. After I went to visit Daniyal in the Spear Street office then I walked to Ferry Building to get my matcha latte from Blue Bottle Coffee. I don’t drink coffee but Blue Bottle Coffee is so ironic and I felt I should get something from there. I usually get hot chocolate but I wanted a change. In my effort for more changes, I opt for almond milk instead of normal whole milk. It’s not very nice so be warned – don’t pick almond milk when it comes to matcha latte. :/ Anyway, it is like 13 degrees Celsius and I somehow decided to drink iced matcha latte instead of hot. Then I took an Uber ride to Golden Gate Bridge and was quite pleased with myself for ordering the iced version. However, Golden Gate Bridge is quite cold. Folks who visit San Francisco before would know that the fog and temperature is usually the lowest in Golden Gate Bridge. Here I am – drinking iced matcha latte and walking on the bridge. Not exactly a wise choice but hey, it turned out to be a good choice because I was sweating on the bridge. Well, I was wearing my thin collar short sleeve shirt from Uniqlo (meant for Singapore weather), my baby blue cardigan from SPAO (my recent purchase from my Seoul business trip a few weeks back), my relatively new down jacket from The North Face and my new 100% cashmere scarf from Hermes. The cashmere scarf turns out to be too hot for the 11 to 13 degree Celsius weather on the bridge. I was basically sweating on my neck and arms. To be honest, I don’t think I will sweat without the Hermes scarf. Well, that proved to be very worthwhile purchase I guess. The iced matcha latte helped to keep me cool.

Then I stayed on to watch the sunset at the Golden Gate Bridge since I realised it is going to be sunset and it isn’t as crowded. Probably because it is much colder than usual or by SF standards and also a work day so less locals are there. The sunset in California is always very beautiful. The paddle pop sky is very pretty.

Then I decided to hunt for Popcorners since I have some time before going back to meet Gulabi for dinner. I originally wanted to take Uber to go there but I happened to see a bus at that time. So I decided to ask the driver if that’s the same bus that is going to the direction where Safeway is. Luckily I asked because it was the wrong direction. Lol. So I waited for the right bus and board it to go to Safeway. Unfortunately, I am supposed to alight before the bus goes into Golden Gate Park but I missed the stop so it went into the Golden Gate Park and exited it on the other end. I could have retrace back the route but it is quite dark and Golden Gate Park looks quite dark and scary. So I immediately went to find another Safeway that is slightly further but I can take another bus from the other side of the Golden Gate Park and avoid the dark and scary route of Golden Gate Park. When I reached the bus stop, I realised the bus I am taking is arriving much later. So I took the bus that came earlier and boarded it with everyone else in the same bus stop. The unfortunate part? I have to walk 6 streets/junctions before I can reach Safeway. Well, the roads are dark but since it is like the residential area, it doesn’t feel as scary. Furthermore, that area is relatively rich neighbourhood so it is unlikely to be dangerous. Scary – yes. Dangerous – no. Unfortunately it is a upslope route so that was a good workout since I haven’t been working out for some time. I’m still wearing the same Hermes scarf that is causing me to sweat earlier. However, the temperature has dropped and there is no sun to generate heat so it is actually quite cold. I’m thankful for the scarf at that time.

By the time I reached Safeway, it’s like close to 7pm. I managed to find my Popcorners at the store and it makes all these adventures pretty worth it haha.

It’s interesting how some stuff seems to be messed up at the start – like my “bad” decisions on the iced matcha latte or the missed bus stop for my bus ride to Safeway turned out to be a good decision in the end. Life is interesting, isn’t it?