Last night, I went to see Princess of Mount Ledang at the Kabuki theater as part of the San Francisco International Film Festival. Me and my beau got on the train at the Embarcadero, transferred to the 22 Fillmore on Church St., and made our way up to Japantown. On our way up, we passed by hippie-borne stores, shops selling neon signs, Asian restaurants, and all manner of cafes and coffee shops.

We made it to the theater just on time, and we watched the movie (which was quite splendid — a review will be coming up shortly). I was suddenly struck by the incredible multicultural-ness of this city, and how even though I was miles away from Asia, I still felt like I was close to home. This hit even closer when after the movie was over, there was a brief Q & A with the director, and I suddenly found myself in the midst of other Malaysians in the audience. How bizarre is this, and how awesome, that we could all converge in the same space just because there was this movie that was from our home country. It was like a strange impromptu reunion, like a return home sans expensive flight ticket.

After mingling around with them for awhile, we made our way home. Before getting on the last train, we stopped by the 24 hour Safeway on Church and Market and got ourselves some last-minute eats (yet another awesome part about living in the city). All in all, it was quite a typical San Franciscan evening — a mingling of cultures, a celebration of urban life, and a strange sense of home. At least for me anyway.