san francisco

Halloween 2009. . .thank God it’s over

Is it me or does Halloween seem more and more like New Year’s? All the pressure, the build-up, the preparation, then – wah wah waaaah. Maybe that’s Halloween in San Francisco.

MB and I went to a party last night. Between that and what we saw on the street, here’s my list of the Best and Worst Costumes for Halloween 2009.

Most Authentic

1950s milkman – From his cap, to the insignia above his left pocket, to his bike, this guy was the real deal. Aside from his iPhone.

Most Subtle

House – At the party MB saw someone he knew. “But I don’t remember him having a cane,” he said. “Maybe he hurt himself.” As we were talking, the guy suddenly pulled out a prescription bottle and offered us meds. “No thanks!” we said, thinking, What a weirdo! Suddenly, it dawned on me: “You’re House!” I cried. Dehr.

Skerriest

Burger King Guy – That mask combined with the guy’s tallness and long cape was the epitome of creepiness.

Most ’80’s

Evil Johnny Lawrence from The Karate Kid – From his Cobra Kai karate uniform to his feathery blond wig, the guy epitomized the ’80s for me.

Funniest

Knights from Monty Python and the Holy Grail – They got the costumes down to the clomping of horses’ hooves.

Bravest

The Naked Cowboy – This Asian dude had no problem going around in just his skivvies, a hat, a guitar, and his boots. More power to him.

Lamest

Five-way Tie:

Every girl who woke up and said, “I’m going as slutty this year.”
The guy who wrote BOOK on his face (we all saw that episode of The Office).
Every guy who wore regular clothes and a giant afro wig.
Doctors (come ON!).
The slutty girls (they deserve two spots).

As for me and MB, our costumes weren’t the best, but at least we tried. MB went as a douchebag founder (picture many pink pop-up collars, flip flops with jeans, and throwing fake money everywhere), and I went as Amelia Earhart. MB would like to remain anonymous, so here is photographic evidence of me:

me_ameliaearhart

I wish I could have gotten a full-length. My regular old boots with my regular old capris worked suprisingly well together. That hat was REALLY warm, by the way. I could only wear it for five minutes at a time.

As for the party itself, it was pretty fun, but I got real tired around midnight. Yes, I’m old! We took a cab home and watched the rest of the Ghosthunters marathon, a much more fun Halloween to me.

san francisco / weekends / writing — 1 Comment
26
Oct 09

I see a pattern here

My San Francisco time has become far less exciting now that I’ve fallen into a pattern of days of writing broken up with errands and working out.

Last week I went to Japantown a couple of times. I always think I’m going to find lots of groceries I want, but I never really do. If I want all the Pocky and seaweed snacks in the world, then I’m set. But I’ve yet to find something like M2M and their great wall of instant noodles.

Ah, M2M, how I miss thee.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Chinatown looking for a good grocery store, but couldn’t really find one. There are tons of markets, but they were all sort of, well, gross. But I only looked on Stockton Street. If anyone knows of a good (clean) supermarket in Chinatown, let me know.

Other big events last week, aside from my trip out to Haight Street, included eating lunch with MB (we like to get Japanese curry from Muracci’s), taking myself out to lunch at my favorite crepe place, Honey Honey, and buying a blanket. In our sublet we have a down comforter, which is way too warm. Hence, the blanket.

I went to the gym three times, and ran outside once. There are two routes I’ve come to like. Both start on Van Ness and head towards the water. One path leads me to the Fort Mason Center and this very steep hill; the other goes down Bay Street and to the Marina, towards the Golden Gate Bridge. I want to build up my endurance to reach the Bridge and back, which would be over six miles. When I was running a lot in Central Park, I easily did the six-mile loop, but I’m out of practice.

This weekend MB and I spent a lot of time in the apartment working. It’s good when he’s here because then I’m apt to work more. On my own, I get cabin fever faster. Saturday night we went to a party his workplace was hosting. It wasn’t too exciting, but fun to talk to new people. Also, it was my first time watching people play Rock Band. I can see how it’s addicting.

Afterwards, MB and I saw Astro Boy. It starts off incredibly boring, but turns out mildly entertaining. There were some noisy kids in the audience, but that didn’t bother me since it wasn’t like I was missing some riveting dialogue.

Yesterday we took a break by walking out to Office Depot in Union Square. I don’t really have a good work area set up. The coffee table is too low, and the desk is tiny and flimsy. The kitchen table isn’t bad, but I also want something like a simple folding table, basically a TV dinner tray, that I can put away while I’m not using it. I also want to invest in a printer. I’m kinda old school and like working off hard copies when I’m revising, and printing at FedEx Kinko’s all the time will add up.

That’s a long way of saying Office Depot was closed when we got there. Closed on Sunday! But people shop on Sundays! We weren’t the only ones to stop there and be surprised.

Apropos of nothing, last weekend we went to this cafe to hang out, and the barista was the worst. He served up our order just fine, but he talked constantly in this loud, game show host voice. “Hi, and how are you folks today! What can I get for you! While you’re deciding, let me tell you about today’s prizes. . .a brand new car!!!” The couple next to us were totally annoyed as well.

I’ve gotten a lot of work done. For my memoir I’ve entered the revisions for parts one through three. Today I expect to finish four and five, which leaves me the rest of this week to do a final (fingers crossed) polishing before submitting to a contest that’s due on the 31st. I’ve written four essays, which need revision.

As for errands this week, I need to return some jeans (thought I liked them; don’t) and possibly look for an aviator cap. If we go out for Halloween, I may go as Amelia Earhart. I got a bomber jacket for pretty cheap, and I think I can get away with clothes I already have for the rest, especially if I’m able to find an aviator cap. Haight Street seems to be the place to look for something like that. Too bad I didn’t think of it while I was there.

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23
Oct 09

A Visit to the Haight

Yesterday I felt like taking pictures so I walked out to the Haight, the home of 1960s counter-culture and much graffiti.

In case you’re wondering, there aren’t groups of long-haired hippies hanging on every corner. The population seems to be a combination of people who’ve obviously been living there a long time; newer, younger residents (who have no time to wait for me to take a pic, but I do the same thing to tourists in New York); and lots of tourists.

The drivers that day were very aggressive. I jay walked, passing behind a parked car, which waited till I was directly behind it before gunning its engine and backing up. What the fuck? The windows were tinted so I don’t know if the driver saw the dirty look I gave him. Another driver was so anxious to park, she nearly ran over another group of tourists.

I guess the residents must be sick of out-of-towners gawking, but if you live around Haight Street, what do you expect?

Here are a few of my favorite graffiti pics:

Taken through a fence down an alleyway.

Part of a much larger mural that I had to shoot in several pieces. On Lower-Haight.

Sphinx-y.

I wanted to get closer to the one below, but when I did I spotted 1) a Roto Rooter guy with a mask dealing with brown sludge spewing from a sewer, and 2) a homeless guy getting high.

Oh well.

I didn’t try any of the eateries, but next time I’ll definitely have to dine in the Pork Store Cafe, which comes highly recommended. If you’re interested in other shopping and restaurants in the Haight, this site has a very comprehensive list.

See all my San Francisco pics.

san francisco — 3 Comments
16
Oct 09

Dear SF, it’s not you, it’s me

For those of you following my blog, you know I’m still getting accustomed to my new home. While there are aspects I absolutely love – the weather, the food, the lower cost of living, the lack of rats and mosquitoes – there are some things I need to get used to (more homeless, sucky mass transit, not having a Bed, Bath, & Beyond within spitting distance).

But yesterday as I rode the elliptical trainer at the gym, surrounded by tons of people of all ages in all states of dress, assaulted by the stink of douchebags working out in 100% humidity and the stare of the 50+ year old Asian weirdo on the machine next to me (though he might have been eyeballing the gaysian dude on my other side), I realized maybe I’ve been New York-insulated all this time.

I’ve mostly lived in gentrified areas
While I went to college uptown in the pre-Giuliani early ‘90s, when I returned in 1998, I lived in more gentrified areas: Prospect Heights, which was a bit sketchy compared to other parts of Brooklyn at the time but still okay, and the Upper West Side, the home of yuppies, the Natural History museum, and Zabar’s. Then it was off to the suburbs of Westchester, followed by the Upper East Side, which they might as well call lower Scarsdale. Finally, the Lower East Side, which while mixed is still pretty gentrified.

I’ve mostly walked around with my 6’2” boyfriend
On the UES, the only danger were tiny dogs that tried to bite your ankles. On the LES, I spent most of time walking around with MB (who maybe I should bring to the gym next time and make him lift heavy weights to let the freaks know they shouldn’t mess with me) so no one would say anything to me. When I walked alone, even in that area, there was more of a chance of something obnoxious being tossed my way (“Ni hao!” said by some Italian dude) but not as often you might expect.

I worked for a giant corporation for 10 years
For a good decade, my pattern was home, train, work, train, home, with trips to library school or Lord & Taylor thrown in. My company was so big, you didn’t have to leave for meals, the bank, the post office, or the gym.

At the gym everyone was kinda the same because we all worked for the same company and were made to wear a “uniform” – shorts and T-shirts provided by the facilities (which some found appalling but which I liked because you never had to remember to bring clothes or bring home smelly, sweaty ones in a plastic bag).

Because we were at work, you’d never think of hitting on someone. My only experience was some random 50-year old (what’s with me and the 50-year olds?) who told me my form on the rowing machine was incorrect, tried to tell me the correct form, then said, “Go on, try it, I’ll watch,” kneeling next to me. Um, creepdom!

So maybe it’s me and not SF
In New York, I frequent only the safe routes – the streets that take me quickly home without incident, or where I can walk leisurely without worries; the areas of Central Park where I can sit for hours and daydream, or run with headphones and not worry about some crackhead coming up behind me – and avoid the areas that make me uncomfortable, which, for better or worse, are fewer and farther between nowadays.

I’m still getting to know San Francisco and so am venturing everywhere, not sure of the places to avoid. MB is at work all day so I’m walking alone more, and I don’t have an enormous bubble of a company to insulate me. Of course I’m going to be hit with “reality” a lot more here.

So dear SF, I’m definitely not breaking up with you. You deserve two or three years at least.

Though that Portland fellow is looking mighty fine lately. ;)

rant and/or rave / san francisco — 2 Comments
09
Oct 09

San Francisco: “Comfortable and cozy” or “Sleazy and scary”?

This week I wrote to my aunt who lives in San Jose, to say hi and reassure her I’m not and haven’t been a miserable divorcee. She likes that I’m somewhat nearby, told me that I’d love San Francisco, and that I’d surely find it much more “comfortable and cozy” than New York.

I’d say so far that it’s more “sleazy and scary.”

Of course I’ve been here for just a week, and there’s a lot more to the city than homeless people, but between crackheads muttering weird things at me, a homeless guy vomiting in the street at 11 o’clock in the morning, another guy basically following me in the Mission District till I acted suspicious, and MB being propositioned by prostitutes the other night (they said they wanted his donuts – RIGHT), I feel somewhat skeeved by the City by the Bay.

Then there’s this video which I’m sure you’ve all seen by now (first made known to me by Sitcomgirl):

Holy shit! I’m not sure who’s at fault here, the overly aggressive seat-taking Chinese lady or the touchy African-American woman. Either way, kudos to the young Chinese American woman who breaks up the fight, and boo-hiss to everyone else who basically did nothing, especially the driver and other MUNI employee standing outside.

Then to top it all off, on my very first visit to the San Francisco Public Library yesterday, I spotted a guy watching porn on his laptop. I’ve heard of such a thing happening from my library school classmates, but on all my visits to the New York Public Library, I never once witnessed it. Plus he was rubbing himself. Great! You’d think if you could afford a laptop, you could afford internet at home. Then again, maybe the appeal was doing it in public. Luckily there was a security guard (yes, a library complete with roaming security), and the perv stopped when he walked by.

Two lessons learned: do not ride the MUNI bus, at least around Chinatown, and don’t sit with my back to any suspicious people at the library.

rant and/or rave / san francisco — Comments Off
08
Oct 09

Exploring San Francisco

I’ve spent most of this first half of my first week in San Francisco getting to know the area.

Monday

This was a day of running errands. MB has been living like a bachelor this past month, which means 1) no organization, and 2) no groceries. After a morning of writing and blogging, as well as a quick crepe lunch with MB, I headed out to the Container Store, which was very easy to find. It’s actually not too far from where I live, so afterwards I was able to schlep back with my organizational goodies.

Bed, Bath, & Beyond, on the other hand, was way the fuck in the middle of nowhere. It was a sketchy walk, as have been many walks around here. There were plenty of homeless guys, one injured/fucked up one being helped by police, and one weirdo who kinda looked normal with his messenger bag but had his shirt cuffs unbuttoned and flapping, which for some reason made him seem like a freak. Plus the fact that no matter what speed I walked, he was there right next to me. Finally, I slowed way down and veered off to the side, looking at him suspiciously. He smiled and said something or another to me, who knows what, then took off.

There are so many freaks around here.

BB&B is part of a mall that includes Norstrand’s, Pier 1, and Trader Joe’s. Awesome if you have a car, which I do not. I loaded up my shopping cart (rice cooker, laundry drying rack, Brita filter, etc.), and the very nice check-out girl said she could call a cab for me. I waited not too long before the very nice cab driver, a young woman, came by.

We chatted the whole way back. She told me about SF weather, how in October it’s a bit warmer, their version of summer, and by Thanksgiving the rain and clouds will start rolling in. She also mentioned the crazy thunder from a few weeks back, and how rare that is.

“The last time we had thunder like that, it was three years ago,” she said.

I remember that thunder. It was so long and prolonged, MB jumped wide awake out of bed.

“Was it an exploision?” he asked, all dazed.

In addition, she told me about Halloween and how it’s gotten violent in the past few years, and finally ended our ride by informing me about Free First Tuesdays – the first Tuesday of every month, all the museums are free. Sweet!

At home I was very happy with my purchases, except for one thing: the laundry drying rack. Somehow I had read the price tag as $3.99 when actually it was $39.99. How could I make such a mistake? And how could I justify spending 40 bucks on a freaking laundry drying rack? MB made fun of me for the rest of the night.

Tuesday

Museum day! I decided to go to the de Young Museum, as per my dad’s recommendation. It took a year to get out there, and lemme tell ya, the MUNI sucks. First off, another sketchy walk to get to the UN Plaza stop (cue vomiting homeless guy). Then you can’t even buy a MUNI pass with cash on it. The only pass available is monthly, which you have to buy at another stop altogether. Otherwise, exact change, no dollars.

I asked this woman selling who knows what for change, and she told me how I could get coins for $1 bills from the BART machine. Well, why didn’t the MUNI guy tell me that?

Of course at first I got on a train going in the wrong direction. Luckily I didn’t have to wait too long for the next one going the opposite way. The ride itself wasn’t too long, and it was easy to find the museum walking from the stop.

I had a nice time at the de Young. I got the audio tour and saw most of the place, I think. I may have missed a whole wing, but I can always go back. I liked the garden outside the cafe:

It was nice to sit out there, but the minute I did, these little girls made a bee line towards me and stayed right near me, yakking very loudly.

I planned on walking back, and actually had no idea how to get to the road I needed. I sort of wandered around and stumbled upon the Conservatory. Free too! It was lovely to walk through and snap lots of pictures of the beautiful flowers.

After going the wrong way for a bit, I found a map and figured out where I was supposed to be. It was a small miracle when I finally made it out of the park. The rest of the walk back was quite long, but without incident, except for the rude check-out guy at the grocer’s, who when I said, “Excuse me?” didn’t look up from dialing his phone, and so I said again, “Excuse me?” and he answered, “Yes,” still without looking up, and very unsmilingly, reluctantly gave me a bag with handles as requested.

“Normally it costs 50 cents,” he informed me. “But I’ll give it to you this time.”

Gee thanks, asshole.

Wednesday

Designated working day. I spent the morning revising The Ring essay, as well as doing a load of laundry and using my – yes, I have to admit – spiffy new laundry drying rack. It’s pretty neat because you can expand it, and the top rack locks so that when you lift the whole rack, it doesn’t fall apart, with wet clothes tumbling, like my last one.

After lunch I headed out to a FedEx/Kinko’s to print my essay, then attempted to hang out in Union Square and write some more. But it was cold and windy so after a little bit, I’d head into a store (Border’s, Macy’s – shoes!) before coming back out again. By almost 5, I gave up and headed back.

Had a very nice run. Probably barely four miles, but lots of crazy hills. At first I thought, This is too easy, but after the first hill, I was sweating.

I got back the same time as another woman in our building. She was probably my age or younger. I smiled, thinking either we’d introduce ourselves or she’d just let me in, as is the practice in New York when you encounter someone you might not be familiar with but who at least matches the rest of the population in the building. She, however, did not smile and basically blocked the door.

“Who are – do you – ?” she stammered. “I’m the housekeeper of the building, and I’m sorry I don’t recognize you?”

“I just moved in,” I said, then told her the unit number.

Still, she didn’t move, and stuck out her hand – her left hand, which was totally weird because it’s not like her right hand was a hook, she was just holding something. So I very awkwardly shook her left hand, and we exchanged names, and she still seemed hesitant, and I wanted to say, “Bitch, you’re the housekeeper, not the manager, not the super. Back away.” Instead I named the owner and assured her that she knew me.

“Okay, awesome,” housekeeper girl said.

What the fuck? Yes, I totally look suspicious in my running clothes.

Maybe I’m being oversensitive since I’m the new kid on the block, but she and the rude grocery guy totally set me on edge. I mean, of course in New York you run into rude people all the time, but maybe because there are so many people, you’re more anonymous and cushioned by the crowds. Here there are fewer people and you’re less anonymous (if one more mofo I don’t know smiles at me, I’m not sure what I’ll do – just kidding [not really]) so when someone’s not nice, it sort of sticks out.

But it hasn’t even been a week. I’m sure I’ll get used to things soon enough.

moving / san francisco — Comments Off
06
Oct 09

Officially in San Francisco

After a month of weekend visits, I’m finally here! I keep forgetting that I’m here permanently now and don’t have to fly back to New York in a couple of days.

The move last week went smoothly, aside from the bacon grease incident. The day before I dropped off the last of our donations at Housing Works and packed up most of the rest of our stuff. That night I had dinner with YP, who was kind enough to let me into his workplace and give me another much needed box.

The next afternoon, the movers arrived on time. There were just two guys, since I didn’t have much to move, even less so when I ended up leaving behind more furniture than I had planned (one bookcase, a kitchen rack, the kitchen table and chairs). Steve was willing to take anything and I was tired of dealing with my parents’ bickering and stress over what I was bringing home.

The movers were done in about an hour. They took off in their truck while I hopped the NJ Transit. They offered me a ride, but I declined, thinking they might hit a lot of traffic and also not wanting to make small talk for two hours (so I’m antisocial).

My train was really slow and they got a little lost, so we arrived within minutes of each other. From there it was smooth sailing. My parents good-naturedly ordered them around, and the movers good-naturedly followed their orders. They also helped my parents move their old TV to the basement, freeing up space in the study. Again, done in about an hour. All moved in by dinner time.

As I expected, my parents were excited about using our little things – MB’s old speakers, my laundry drying rack, this random stool. My dad also really likes MB’s desk. I’m thinking I should have given him MB’s huge computer monitor instead of leaving it behind, but I was picturing an argument. Mom: “This one’s better, you should use it.” Dad: “I don’t need it, the one I have is fine.” Mom: “Why, just use this one.” Dad: “No, I like the one I have.” Back and forth, and in increasing volume. Then again, my dad might have decided to use it anyway if it showed up without warning. Ah, parents.

The rest of my time there was uneventful. Thursday morning I slept till 10, exhausted from the move. AY was home sick from work but feeling better by noon, so we grabbed lunch and coffee afterwards. It was fun catching up.

After I got home, I had a nice run on the road behind my parents’ house (about 3.5 miles). It was easy since I hadn’t run in about a week and the weather was so cool. But I was very sore the next day.

That may have partially been because I didn’t fall asleep till about 3 AM. That damn coffee! I got up around 9 and felt the whole day that I was coming down with something. But I think I was just tired because the next day I felt fine.

I spent Saturday with YP. I was flying out of JFK early Sunday morning so it’d be easier to stay in the city the night before. Plus it was nice to spend some time with a pal before my move.

We had lunch at Cafe Habana, and walked all around afterwards, that is when we weren’t avoiding the tremendous and sudden rain. Umbrella-less, we dashed from awning to awning till finally taking refuge in a bookstore. About an hour later, the rain slowed and we were able to walk back to his place, where we spent a good while drying out and watching TV.

A little while later, the skies cleared up more so we headed back out. We didn’t do a photo theme this time, just snapped when we felt like it. I had been wanting to get out to the water, so we walked out to Christopher Pier. It was lovely.

Then it was back to YP’s for some absinthe, my first time. It was surprisingly tasty – like licorice – but I’m not sure it did anything. I did feel bit of a weird buzz but it’s hard to say. Drinks were followed by dinner at Room Service, then Naked Comedy at the PIT. No better way to end my stint in New York.

The line-up was really good for a change, and there were a ton of comics so we didn’t have to hear the host make the same jokes again and watch him do yoga – AGAIN. (Yeah, a chubby naked guy doing yoga, not my thing.) A few of the guys had some nice tushies. Oh yeah, and they were funny too (the guys, not their tushies).

I got a few mosquito while we were walking around so all night I was paranoid. YP hasn’t had any buggers for weeks but with my luck, they’d reappear the night I stayed over. Plus I was anxious about having to get up early.

But again I was anxious for nothing. I got up in time, caught up a cab quickly, and got to the airport lickety split. I was so tired I actually slept a bit on the plane, and then was bored pretty much the whole time. (So tired of flying.)

Then I was home! Yay!

Since I was so pooped, MB and I took it easy. Had lunch, then walked out to Valencia Street. Finally saw what everyone calls the hip Mission district. Our assessment: enh. Yes, there seem to be lots of yummy Mexican places, but otherwise, we’re pretty satisfied with our own area.

We saw a matinee of Zombieland, which was lots of fun, then had an early night in. MB picked up dinner from Shalimar. I was unconscious by 11.

This morning I’ve been unpacking and reorganizing. Also waiting on a load of laundry (in the building! how novel). This afternoon I plan on hitting the Container Store, Bed, Bath, & Beyond, and Whole Foods, and possibly go for a run. And of course I need to squeeze in some writing (though I guess I’m writing right now).

food / san francisco / travel — 1 Comment
29
Sep 09

The Marina and tacos

The weekend in San Francisco was really warm, like in the 80s or 90s, perfect weather for a walk around the Marina and tasty tacos.

Sunday we ate a new place, at least for me, Nick’s Crispy Tacos. It was sooo good. Usually I don’t find tacos filling at all. I eat two and I’m still kinda hungry but in that yucky, fast food way. But the tacos in “Nick’s style” – with cheese and guacamole and wrapped in two tortillas, one fried and one soft – were completely satisfying.

I had one carnitas – the pork tender, lean, and juicy – and one fried fish, which was doused in a deliciously tangy lime sauce, and was full about halfway through the fish, but ate it all anyway.

Plus the decor was really cool, like something out of the Rat Pack era:

I could imagine Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Ava Gardner lounging in their tuxes and furs in one of those red booths, with taco juice dripping down their chins.

Afterwards we walked out to the Marina area. What a great day to be near the water, though I resisted walking on the sand, which in retrospect I should have because the callouses on my heels could have used a good scrubbing. We had fun watching the dogs play on the beach. I find it hilarious when they roll around in the sand.

As we were strolling, we saw the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance. “Let’s walk across it!” MB said. The bridge seemed pretty long to me, and I wasn’t sure if people actually walked across it like they do the Brooklyn Bridge. But sure why not? Then as we kept going, the bridge hardly got any closer, and we realized it was much farther away than we thought. Ah well, next time.

On the way back, we ran into the Palace of Fine Arts. It was really pretty!

We saw a bride and groom having their pictures taken. The bride looked pretty, but the groom was wearing one of those tacky white tuxes. Plus he looked so not thrilled to be there. Then again, when does any groom?

Walking back home was a challenge because of all the hills. I kept thinking, How are these hills in real life and not part of some extreme gym workout? We were so pooped, we had to stop in Japantown and see a movie (Surrogates, wait for the DVD).

Now it’s back to packing and organizing. Soon it will be over!

moving / rant and/or rave / san francisco — 2 Comments
21
Sep 09

Back from another SF trip

This time the flight out was better than the return. I had an empty seat next to me, we left on time, AND got in a whole hour early. Unheard of! The pilot said something about the winds being in our favor.

After I got to the apartment, we did what seems to now be our tradition: go to Grub Stake for a late dinner, then pick up pastries for breakfast from Bob’s Donuts. Yelp reviewers had raved about the apple fritters so we got a couple of those. Delicious! Like a cross between a donut and a danish with pieces of baked apple here and there.

Saturday we walked out to Haight-Ashbury, which was as expected: grubby and touristy. There was some cool graffiti but I wasn’t in the mood to take pics. I’ll have plenty of time do so when I’m all moved in. We walked around Golden Gate Park as well, where there was the BEST PLAYGROUND EVER. There was this ropy climbing thing that looked kinda dangerous (the best kind), little bouncy tea cups for toddlers, and a slide along the lines of Action Park. The kids all rode down on flattened cardboard boxes, and we wondered if the park had them lying around, or if the kids knew to bring them. I totally wanted to ride the slide and climb the ropy thing.

I might have mentioned this before, but what I’ve noticed about SF is that there are a lot of homeless people. A lot more than, at least, New York. I think it’s a combination of the mild weather and that there’s less walking traffic. People who aren’t homeless are more likely to be in cars, while in New York almost everyone walks.

There were tons of homeless in Golden Gate Park, a combination of older guys who look like they’ve been homeless for a long time, and scrubby kids with their dogs. I’m sorry but I have zero sympathy for the scrubby kids. If you can afford a purebred dog, tattoos, combat boots, and a leather jacket, no matter how dirty they are, you can afford a sandwich. You’re white, young, and articulate – work at the fucking Gap. Or go home to Mom and Dad in San Jose. In New York you see the kids only in the summer – they “summer” in New York, I guess you could say – but now I’ll get to enjoy them year round.

Saturday afternoon we just lazed around the apartment, then got dinner at Shalimar, this Indian/Pakistani place near our apartment. Like Bob’s Donuts, the place doesn’t have much of a décor, but the food was really good. We got chicken jalfrezi, chicken tandoori, daal, and nan, all for just $22. Everything was yummy.

That night we saw The Informant. Matt Damon was terrific. With some actors, you can’t get past who they are (eg, Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston), but I kept forgetting it was Matt Damon and just thought it was this schlubby, dopey guy.

Again, no one talked during the movie! I could hardly believe it. We were probably the noisiest.

Flew back yesterday. The flight left on time, but I was very tired. I thought I had a whole row to myself, but at the last minute this couple with a 10-month old showed up. At first I thought, Great, but the baby was well-behaved. He got a little fussy but didn’t really cry and slept most of the time. When he was awake, he was pretty cute. After we landed and were waiting to deboard, I heard a farting noise, but thought it was someone shifting their luggage. Then the couple cracked up. “That smells so bad!” they kept saying. It was the baby. Luckily I didn’t smell anything.

I missed the AirTrain by seconds cuz this idiot went to the doors, then decided, No, I’m not going in, and got out of the way VERY SLOWLY. “Excuse me!” I said, and he turned around and was like, After you, as the doors were closing. Yeah, thanks asshole. I didn’t have to wait too long for the next one, but the J took a year to get there, and also to get home. But hey, five bucks beats $50.

~ ~ ~

Oh my God, I forgot to write about the nightmare I had with FedEx last week. I shipped MB four boxes over the course of four days. He was supposed to get the first one on Wednesday, but he hadn’t. There wasn’t even a door tag. I checked the tracking number, and it had been sent back to the FedEx station because “the resident wasn’t home.” Well, yeah, that was why I said “No Signature Required.”

I called and the guy said there was a note in the system that the courier didn’t feel it was safe to leave the box, ie, it would be gone by the time MB came home. I said, “Okay, what do you think I should do?” The guy suggested letting a neighbor or the super know about the box, but I said I didn’t know anyone in the building, and who knows who would be home in the middle of the day? Then the guy said just leave the door tag with a signature, and I explained that wouldn’t work since the door tag had been taken. Finally, the dude assured me that the courier would probably just ring buzzers till a neighbor came down and would sign for the box.

Well, that didn’t work, because later I saw that the box had been returned AGAIN. I called FedEx and was basically freaking out. I felt so frustrated because I didn’t know why the guy wouldn’t leave the box, aside from “the resident wasn’t home.” Plus there were three other boxes in the same situation. The poor FedEx woman made all the same suggestions again, and I almost lost it.

“THERE IS NO DOOR TAG! SOMEONE TOOK THE DOOR TAG ONCE AND WILL PROBABLY TAKE IT AGAIN!”

I asked about redirecting the boxes, and when she took the address, she kept spelling the street name back wrong. True, English was her second language, but maybe it shouldn’t have been. In the end I decided not to redirect since it would cost extra. She was in touch with the FedEx station a couple of times, and finally someone there suggested that perhaps the courier needed the code to get in the building. I was reluctant to give it out, but I didn’t know what else to do. The rep gave the code to the station, then at the end of the call I said, “What code did you give them? I just want to make sure you got it right.” Then she proceeded to read back the zip code to me.

My head almost exploded.

After asking my question twice more, she finally got it, found the message, and read back the right code.

I felt like I still had no guarantee that the boxes would be delivered, though I did feel better when I called back regarding the other three to give the code. The reps I talked to sounded much more like they knew what they were doing. They asked for my name and a contact number, in case anything came up, while that first woman didn’t ask for any information from me.

I was very relieved on Friday night to see that the boxes had arrived. Sheesh.

There’s one more that should be arriving today (fingers crossed) and one last shipment that I am sending to MB’s work place instead. Taking no chances.

Oh, and because I had such a bad experience with FedEx (and that’s a first, usually they’re great), I ended up lugging a suitcase full of books to the airport, instead of shipping them like I was planning. It wasn’t so bad, or at least it was bad for a very short time, like when I dropped my duffel bag and both suitcases in front of a JetBlue guy, who just stood there, not moving a muscle to help me. But soon enough the suitcases were checked, and when I got to SFO, I found a cart just hanging out, and so was able to use to without paying the $5.

food / san francisco / travel — Comments Off
14
Sep 09

Had a lovely weekend in San Francisco

My flight was supposed to get in at 10 PM on Friday, but we didn’t land till almost 11. The weather was terrible in New York that day – rainy, windy, and cold – so we sat on the tarmac for an hour, waiting for the 40 other planes in front of us to take off.

When I got on board, I realized I had forgotten my iPod and headphones, and I had to buy Jet Blue’s crummy ones for $2. The left side worked only sometimes. Jet Blue has gotten kind of ghetto, at least compared to Virgin America. You even have to buy blankets and pillows, and there’s almost no food. I loved being able to buy eats any time I wanted on Virgin, and not having to wait for the damned cart.

On the other hand, Jet Blue has more leg room and comfier seats. Most seats have that annoying head rest – who ever wants that? It pushes your head foreward so that you get a crick in your neck. Jet Blue’s doesn’t have that; it does what a seat should – dips back and contours to your head.

At SFO I thought I’d have to wait forever for my bags, but they came out lickety split. I think it’s only New York airports that are so awful about getting luggage out in time. By the time my taxi pulled up to our place, it was midnight, and I was pooped and hungry.

While there seem to be fewer places that are open late in SF, there are still a few. We went to Grub Steak, kind of like a diner but nicer. I had a cheeseburger for about $8 – not bad! The fries were an extra $2, kind of a rip off, but I usually only eat a few fries anway so I didn’t bother getting any.

MB gets fed at work so he had virtually no food in the apartment (pasta, cream of wheat, tomato sauce, parmesan cheese, spoiled milk, and of course coffee). I wanted stuff for breakfast so we stopped at Bob’s Donuts. It looks like a hole in the wall, but who cares when fresh-baked donuts and pastries are melting your mind with their good-smellness. We got a couple of croissants and old-fashioneds, all for about $5. The croissants were just right – huge and fluffy, better actually than the ones we used to get at the more gourmet pastry shop near our NYC apartment. Next time I’ll have try the apple fritters.

The next morning was peaceful and lovely. I unpacked and did some rearranging while MB practiced piano (he bought a keyboard!) and fooled around on the computer. We spent the rest of the day just walking around. For lunch we grabbed crepes at Honey Honey (again!) since we were on Post and I was STARVING, then we wandered through Chinatown.

I have to say SF Chinatown is about a billion times cleaner than New York’s. Canal Street is a chaotic, fishy mess of markets selling, well, fish, weird seafood, and even weirder dried substances; old Chinese ladies pushing you out of the way to get their grocer shopping done; and clueless tourists trying to get their picture taken in the midst of a Mandarin (well, Cantonese really) maelstrom. SF’s Chinatown is very neat and calm in comparison. The only crowd I saw was in front of the very popular Golden Gate Bakery, which I will have to try next time.

Eventually we ended up near Coit Tower, and decided to climb up. The hill was by far the steepest I’ve climbed so far. There are steps in some parts, but I’m not sure they’re so helpful. Once at top, we got a very nice view.

Chilly off and on the whole day, I was in the mood for hot noodles come dinnertime. MB did some Yelp-searching and found Chai-Yo Thai Noodle. It was really good!

I had the Yen Ta Foe, a “combination of seafood with red bean curd in a spicy and sour soup” and your choice of noodles. I got the vermicelli which was probably a bit too delicate, but the dish itself was amazing. There was plenty of seafood – shrimp, fishcakes, squid, and this thing that had the consistency of a jelly fish but looked almost like an anenome. I have no idea what it was but it was tasty. Plus the soup was nice and sour, and just a little spicy. A bargain at $8.95. In New York the same thing would have been $12 or more.

That night we saw 9. We had heard it was hokey, but we liked it. The preview did make it seem very dark so it was good to adjust our expectations. Plus we loved the theater we saw it in. It was huge and so non-ghetto. Going to the movies in New York is often a ghetto experience – people talking in regular voices the whole time, a mess all over the floor, cell phones going off and mofos answering them. Hopefully on the west coast it’ll be different.

The next morning I had to leave! It was tough although we’ll be seeing each other again in just a few days. My flight back was much easier than my flight in. I breezed right through check-in and security.

“Where is everyone?” I asked one of the security guys.

“September and October are the best months to fly,” he told me. Kids are back in school, and the holidays are not yet upon us. Plus that time of day was before the international flight rush hour, which was what we hit last time when the line stretched all the way across the terminal.

The flight left on time and for most of it, my rowmate and I enjoyed an empty seat between us, till some guy just *had* to watch TV and squeezed in. We were both annoyed, though I probably wouldn’t like not having TV either. Next time I’m bringing some DVDs. Hopefully I’ll get the next Dexter soon from Netflix.

Plus it was so nice to have almost no luggage, having dropped everything off at our new place. All I had was my computer, purse junk, and an almost empty duffel bag. Since I was carrying almost nothing, I took the Air Train and subway home, which took about an hour, including wait time. I’m thinking about taking it for my trip out as well this Friday. Although I’ll be carrying stuff, I may just suck it up since it’s so cheap.

I’m totally taking Friday off. I thought about changing my flight to earlier in the day, but last night I took a gander at our still mostly unpacked apartment, and began to panic. I’d rather take the day to organize and throw stuff out instead, before heading out around 3.

Work was pretty calm today. I had time to mail out a whole bunch of Amazon orders (keep ‘em coming!) and a box of MB’s stuff, the first of several shipments. Tonight I may start trying to organize. I’m thinking about taping up signs around the apartment – Toss, Donate, Keep (NJ), Keep (SF) – and just throwing stuff into piles.

See all my SF pics.

Angela Tung Oversharing on the internet since 2005.