Skip to main content

Fog City Strolls

This Mem Day we decided to chill in the hood - so to speak. From the far east bay we took our one source of reliable transit into SF.

It had been a while since the family hit the tracks to coast into town and take in the sights, sounds and food.

We enjoyed getting on the BART from a new infill station in the east bay - all shiny new fixtures unlike the grunge look that the rest of the system has developed over years of use and poorly guided funding spend.

Once we got into the city the presence of international hob nobble gobble surrounded us with different languages, styles and cultures making a fantastic ambience around the Ferry Building.

From admiring the amazing art that the locals produce using glass, copper, plastic, wood and canvas with oils we strolled our way to China Town. Using a locally grown technology called iphone we dug a place to chew for our little one - she had her mind set on crepes. Turned out YELP was HELPLESS than helpful - what was defined as OPEN turned out CLOSED. After encountering the same experience with a place that would other day serve great Mediterranean food (turned out to not want customers on SAT either) we gave up on the Yelping and focused on using our eyes and noses to track something down worth chewing.

Not sure what to make of this apathy the local merchants exhibit toward a city supposedly welcoming all from far and near to enjoy the variety of food available. Not when 90% of the businesses were closed. Sort of reminded us of Europe after 6 pm.

Ended up having some good calzones for the daughter and some Zagat rated Hunan near Montgomery for our souls.

Typically its hard to screw up Chinese food - although my experience - honest with anything Zagat - has been less than stellar. So was this joint. With mediocre service from wait staff that partially spoke the lingo; to blah to terrible tasting dishes we were not pleased with this take on the southeastern cuisine from the land of the Chinese.


Thence we migrated to do some casual shopping and headed back to the BART for our journey home.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Of chocolates

I like chocolates. Godiva Dark with Almonds - not sure of the naked woman on the horse to be the icon of some choice cocoa based products but tastes good. Started in Belgium but now owned by some Turks. Cadburys - Fruit and Nut Milk Bars - awesome combination of dried fruit pieces along with a medley of nuts makes your toungue dance - started by a Brit now owen by Kraft USA. Lindt Hazelnut spheres - made by a Swiss confectioner are divine balls that melt in your mouth with a lingering nutty taste Ghirardelli Milk Crisp Squares - crunchy and light these milk squares are easy on the palate but pack some serious calories - all good I say! Originally founded by an Italian who moved around till he landed in SF Bay today also owned by the Swiss Lindt empire.

Columbia SC

 The Palmetto state.  One of the confederate kinds. History dating couple centuries back.  We visited the capital yet again this time to take in the SC State Museum. Occupying the former digs (literally remodeled) of an erstwhile cotton mill this structure is an amazing piece of reimagination.  Four floors of excitement for kids and young at heart alike. Located on the shores of the Congaree River formed when the Broad meets up with the Saluda River, this edifice is approx. 60 years old.  The front of the building has a more modern planetarium that was added about a decade ago.  The museum itself has different areas of interest segregated on each of its four floors. The first floor has gift shop and a diorama of some of the local geography including the swamps and the state beaches with audio guides to help understand what fauna thrives locally. The second floor is all about natural history and showcases animal kingdom that may have survived on this latitud...

But What If We're Wrong?

I attempted to read this book by author Chuck Klosterman backward to forward but it started hurting my brain so I decided to stop and do it like any other publication in the English language.  Start from page 1 and move to the right. Witty, caustic and thought provoking this is a book you want to read if you believe that the status quo might, just might be wrong. At times bordering on being contrarian about most things around us it tries to zero in on the notion of what makes anything believable and certain in our minds.  The fact that there is a fact itself is ironic.  Something analogous to the idea that you can never predict the future because there is no future. Many books and movies have tried to play on this concept - best that I recollect (I think I am) was 'The Truman Show'.  This book by Klosterman attempts to provoke the reader to at least contemplate that what they think they know may be wrong. He uses examples like concept of gravity, and how it ...