As many might know now, I now have a car. After not having a car since high school (that’s 10 years fyi), I have a single car garage in my building and will have it until my roommate buys a new car.

What’s amazing is that now…I can have fresh meals! Before, I would drag my sorry self the weekend before or what ever day I had 2 hours free to a supermarket (or I luckily made it back before 7 pm to the corner store)…then buy things for the week. As any city person knows, every evening can change. A coworker invites you out, but your chicken is defrosted…well too bad! Or a friend suddenly drops in town and says “omg we haven’t seen each other forever”…well I guess there goes to the spinach.

So today I drove to my favorite market—Manila Oriental Market aka M.O.M. which is located in that god forsaken place (sorry Tinna) of an-area-that-is-south-of-Mission. There were a few times that I would take the 49 muni bus there, but like all muni buses, it was full of annoyingly smelly people and people who gave you stares. I don’t mind usually, but it’s the kind of thing…that when you get home, you realize that your fellow muni passengers really sucked the life out of you and you just don’t want to cook anymore.

As I walked in today, I thought…well I feel like making roast chicken tonight. So I got chicken and picked up a few more essential items. And automatically, I thought about my meals in the next few days. I had some stuff for the Japanese rice bowl that is great with fish. But wait a minute…I didn’t have to even buy fish today! I was so awestruck! I could buy fish on Thursday, Friday…or even on the day that I planned to make the dish! The fish would be FRESH!

It was a revelation.

Next up: classes on the other side of city that I could actually get to without an hourlong bus ride. But what!