San Francisco: Mi-Tea
In August, my sister surprised me with tickets to Ali Wong's show. Ali had posted on Instagram that she'd added an additional show in San Francisco to her tour. My sister, on top of it as usual, immediately went to Ali's website and snagged two tickets before they sold out. Which apparently was very quickly. When my sister refreshed the page to see if she could get more tickets, they were all gone.
My sister is the best.
The show was amazing. Ali Wong KILLED it. It was completely new material and even though it was way past my bedtime, I was wide awake and cracking up until the end.
And then the nerves kicked in.
A little backstory for ya. The nonprofit I work for puts together a comedy night every year as our annual fundraiser. 2018 is our 100th year anniversary and we're hoping to get some big talent for the show. Ali Wong came up because 1) she's local, 2) she comes from an immigrant background, and 3) she's hilarious. My coworker found out that a colleague from another organization went to high school and college with Ali. That person agreed to pass along a letter fro. Our office was super excited and worked together to write an awesome ask letter. I even sacrificed my completed T4 stamp card as a bribe for Ali.
But then that person backed out. Which left us with the usual email-the-agent-black-hole route.
Fast forward weeks later to my sister calling me about the Ali Wong tickets. It was right before I took a week off for my family's staycation in the Russian River area, so I didn't have the opportunity to get the letter and my bribe from my coworker before I left. I printed out the ask letter at home, but the only T4 stamp card I had left was an incomplete one. Oh, well. Gotta make do.
Before the show, my sister and I tried to figure out how to get the letter to Ali. It seemed hopeless and I was ready to give up. Then at the end of the show, Ali announced that her husband would be selling posters in the lobby.
[insert Hallelujah chorus]
Except it was more easily said than done. When we were actually standing in the lobby staring at Ali's husband, I chickened out. I couldn't do it. I also didn't want to spend $20 for an unsigned poster (or $60 for a signed one) just to hand over a letter.
My sister was very nervous as well, but she definitely got all the ballsy genes in our family. We hung out in the lobby until most of the people had bought their posters and taken their stalker photos of Ali's husband. Then my sister moved up to the table and calmly asked for an unsigned poster. As she handed over her credit card, she politely asked Ali's husband whether it would be possible to get a letter to Ali. He said yes and she gave it to him.
Holy shit. She did it! My sister is a BOSS.
We were still talking about it the next day when we stopped by Mi-Tea:
It was a new pearl tea store for me (yes, there are still many pearl tea places I haven't tried yet):
We got the popcorn chicken ($4.99):
And per usual when I check out a new pearl tea joint, I got the original milk tea with pearls ($2.49 + $0.50 for topping):
Gotta give credit where it's due, that was some pretty solid milk tea. Not my most favorite, but it's good. Especially at that price point. These days, you can rarely get pearl milk tea for less than $4. The chicken was also good, though not as great as the popcorn chicken from T4 (Oakland branch) or the chicken steak from i-Tea (Milpitas branch).
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I would go back.
In the end, Ali Wong never contacted our office. She didn't even send me back my T4 stamp card! I provided her a self-addressed stamped envelope to do so too! Oh, well. It all worked out in the end. My sister and I got to enjoy a great show and gained a memorable story to tell.
And in case you're curious, yes, we did manage to land a comic for our 2018 Annual Comedy Night. Woot!
Mi-Tea
645 Irving St
San Francisco, CA 94122
(415) 996-9829
My sister is the best.
The show was amazing. Ali Wong KILLED it. It was completely new material and even though it was way past my bedtime, I was wide awake and cracking up until the end.
And then the nerves kicked in.
A little backstory for ya. The nonprofit I work for puts together a comedy night every year as our annual fundraiser. 2018 is our 100th year anniversary and we're hoping to get some big talent for the show. Ali Wong came up because 1) she's local, 2) she comes from an immigrant background, and 3) she's hilarious. My coworker found out that a colleague from another organization went to high school and college with Ali. That person agreed to pass along a letter fro. Our office was super excited and worked together to write an awesome ask letter. I even sacrificed my completed T4 stamp card as a bribe for Ali.
But then that person backed out. Which left us with the usual email-the-agent-black-hole route.
Fast forward weeks later to my sister calling me about the Ali Wong tickets. It was right before I took a week off for my family's staycation in the Russian River area, so I didn't have the opportunity to get the letter and my bribe from my coworker before I left. I printed out the ask letter at home, but the only T4 stamp card I had left was an incomplete one. Oh, well. Gotta make do.
Before the show, my sister and I tried to figure out how to get the letter to Ali. It seemed hopeless and I was ready to give up. Then at the end of the show, Ali announced that her husband would be selling posters in the lobby.
[insert Hallelujah chorus]
Except it was more easily said than done. When we were actually standing in the lobby staring at Ali's husband, I chickened out. I couldn't do it. I also didn't want to spend $20 for an unsigned poster (or $60 for a signed one) just to hand over a letter.
My sister was very nervous as well, but she definitely got all the ballsy genes in our family. We hung out in the lobby until most of the people had bought their posters and taken their stalker photos of Ali's husband. Then my sister moved up to the table and calmly asked for an unsigned poster. As she handed over her credit card, she politely asked Ali's husband whether it would be possible to get a letter to Ali. He said yes and she gave it to him.
Holy shit. She did it! My sister is a BOSS.
We were still talking about it the next day when we stopped by Mi-Tea:
It was a new pearl tea store for me (yes, there are still many pearl tea places I haven't tried yet):
We got the popcorn chicken ($4.99):
And per usual when I check out a new pearl tea joint, I got the original milk tea with pearls ($2.49 + $0.50 for topping):
Gotta give credit where it's due, that was some pretty solid milk tea. Not my most favorite, but it's good. Especially at that price point. These days, you can rarely get pearl milk tea for less than $4. The chicken was also good, though not as great as the popcorn chicken from T4 (Oakland branch) or the chicken steak from i-Tea (Milpitas branch).
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I would go back.
In the end, Ali Wong never contacted our office. She didn't even send me back my T4 stamp card! I provided her a self-addressed stamped envelope to do so too! Oh, well. It all worked out in the end. My sister and I got to enjoy a great show and gained a memorable story to tell.
And in case you're curious, yes, we did manage to land a comic for our 2018 Annual Comedy Night. Woot!
Mi-Tea
645 Irving St
San Francisco, CA 94122
(415) 996-9829
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