Came in from San Francisco late last night. I had thought that I hadn't adjusted to the time change while I was over there and I'd be on my normal schedule when I got back. Then I found myself aimlessly awake at two thirty in the morning.
Notes from my trip, in brief:
The Work Stuff: Very boring and a big flop. Necessary, but disappointing.
The Writing Stuff: Didn't happen. Did a lot of reading and took a bunch of notes, instead. I'm cool with that.
The hotel: $460 at a regular rate. Nice place, right in the middle of downtown, totally not worth the price.
The City: Beautiful. Brick sidewalks everywhere. Wide streets and low buildings give a sense of space. Architecture is new but not sterile, old but not decrepit.
The Suburbs: A lot like upstate New York, only green, populated and not run-down. Rolling hills and gorgeous views abound.
The Homeless: A disturbingly large population. More than in New York. Maybe more than Philidelphia. At least they're comparatively sane.
City Hall: Looks nice and governmental. City must have two, as not a single gay couple stood outside this one, despite it being mid-day on Wednesday.
Walgreens and Rite-Aid: Pretty much expect to find snickers and M&Ms as pharmacy candy. Secretly long to find Pocky and Roasted Green Peas. Don't necessarily want to buy these delightful Japanese candies, but want to have the option readily available. In San Francisco, I do.
Chinatown: Gate is nice and good for taking picture in front of. Rest is filled with cheap tchotchkes for anglo tourists who have a thing for Asian culture. Will doubtless one day own a lot of this stuff.
Asian Art Museum: Remarkably hard to find, three stories tall and flat out fantastic. Incredible, detailed and informative exhibits, plus a slew of special programs. Spent almost an entire day there.
BART: Subway and commuter rail in one. Clean and carpeted, a nice change of pace. Could use a more extensive line of service. Also, incredibly disturbing that it runs underground while inside the city. What with the earthquakes and all.
Trolleys: Rails for them everywhere, but not as many actually moving around as expected.
Rice-a-Roni: Didn't see any. Must not be as much of a treat for San Francisco as the commercials would have me believe.
Things I Didn't Get To: Haight-Ashbury, Golden Gate Park, Golden Gate Bridge, Embarkadero Street, Sausalito, the Fillmore, Fisherman's Wharf, UC Berkeley, Wine Country, Sundry Other Places.
Odds I'll Go Back: 100%
Comments (4)
Good to see you are back
i dont think i would have visited half as many places as you did ... well maybe if my girl was with me she would want to visit them :)
for my part i would have gone straight to the malls on a shopping spree :)
Gus
Posted by Gus | March 1, 2004 3:33 PM
Posted on March 1, 2004 15:33
I like to play tourist, though I do hate to go places myself. It's a strange situation. Eh, next time I'll be sure to have company.
Oh, and as for shopping spree... well, I didn't mention in my post the trip to Borders the night I got in or the nearly hundred and fifty dollars I spent at the Asian Art Museum's bookstore (stuff's being shipped to me. Free shipping is my downfall...)
Posted by Jason | March 1, 2004 11:47 PM
Posted on March 1, 2004 23:47
Question....can a piece of souvenir junky gadgetry technically be called a "tchotchkes?"
Just trying to make conversation.
Posted by Marc | March 2, 2004 9:53 AM
Posted on March 2, 2004 09:53
Ah, what you don't realize about San Francisco's Chinatown, Marc, is that they don't actually sell gadetry there. No cheap-ass easily broken walkmen for you, oh no. (Ok, well, technically they do. But that's not what I was talking about.)
What I was talking about were the tiny statues of the Buddha, good luck cats, dragons and gods; little jade pigs and amulets for the other zodiac animals; Bao Ding and Bagua; faux-silk shirts, skirts, dresses and kimonos, chop sticks and statues. Stuff like that. Things that match the definition of "cheap showy trinket" to be sure.
But, uhm, yeah: otherwise, I don't really think of eletronics and gadgetry, no matter how cheaply made in Taiwan, as "tchotchkes."
Posted by Jason | March 2, 2004 3:21 PM
Posted on March 2, 2004 15:21