March '06 trip-report - Part 2

This was Part 1:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60713-i30-k610295鈥?/a>

Below is Part 2.

March '06 trip-report - Part 2

Friday 3rd March 2006

We awoke to another dry morning after what had apparently been a very wet night.

At 9.30am we left the hotel and walked to Bay Street where we caught the Powell-Mason cable-car to Union Square. Despite the sunshine it was pretty darn nippy sitting on the open-sided cable-car. Nonetheless, the views were outstanding and the craic was good.

At Union Square we took pictures of the fat heart sculpture, painted by Tony Bennett. I regret not seeing the gold coin-encrusted heart, sponsored by Wells Fargo. I love civic art.

In the post-office in Macy*s basement I mailed 27 orange-flavoured Kit-Kats (!) to a friend in Bakersfield before we headed up Grant Street, entering Chinatown via the main Gateway.

Between bright sunshine and short showers we wended our way, calling in at various stores. One of our favourites was Old Shanghai, 645 Grant Street. Beautiful merchandise. At the other end of the spectrum, and another favourite, China Bazaar, 667 Grant Street: three floors crammed to the rafters with more things than you even knew existed. Bottom floor: crockery and housewares; middle-floor: %26#39;gifts%26#39; and %26#39;tat%26#39; (... it was here I hit the Maneki-Neko mother lode!); top floor, toys. Excellent.

We called in at Old St. Mary%26#39;s Cathedral, Grant and California. Glorious paintings. Beautiful church.

At 12.30pm we had lunch in the Hang Ah Tea Room, 1 Pagoda Place, between Sacramento and Stockton. It is allegedly the %26#39;oldest dim sum restaurant in Chinatown%26#39;, dating from 1920. It had changed a bit since our last visit in 2003. Back then it was plain formica-tables and nondescript decor; now it is a symphony in acid-green and fluorescent orange ;-) Nonetheless, the food was delicious and very well-priced. We took the dim-sum set-lunch ($7.95): shrimp dumpling, Su mi, pork bow, pot-sticker, bbq pork fried rice, tea and a fortune cookie. Brilliant.

After lunch, in a tiny $ store next to the Tea Room, I bought a tapestry zip-top shoulder-bag to carry my camera, umbrella and guidebook. 98c. Saw the exact same bags later for %26lt;gasp%26gt; $5!

We then walked down to Portsmouth Plaza, a small square in the heart of Chinatown. It still serves as a social centre, and was full of women and children, as well as men playing cards and mah jong. The public toilets were beyond disgusting, according to Dad.

Off Jackson Street we found Ross Alley and nipped into the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory. Three ladies were busy at work, and the place fell silent when we walked in. A sign in English read: %26#39;Hello! How are you? If you take picture please pay 50c.%26#39; So we smiled and nodded and put a couple of dollars in the collection-box, before getting out our cameras. I managed one photo before they all put their heads down and turned their backs on us! Dad didn%26#39;t get a pic at all. It was pretty funny in a vaguely embarrassing way ;-)

We continued through the alleyways until we found Waverly Place. At #125 we climbed the narrow wooden stairs to the top floor and visited the %26#39;longest-operating Chinese temple in the United States%26#39;, the Tin How Temple. It was smoky with sweet incense and full of beautiful carved deities and fresh-fruit offerings. A young girl talked us through the history of the temple which was very interesting. Before leaving we made a donation, and the young girl then re-appeared and gave us each a small red and gold envelope containing tea, which we were to drink after making a wish. A lovely place.

We made our way to Stockton Street where the more authentic, less touristy shops are. It was alive with locals buying their fresh vegetables, fresh fish, fresh meat. In one baker%26#39;s shop there was an astonishing display of decorated cakes, including a six-tier wedding-cake with a green and yellow icing dragon climbing up it. Incredible.

I enjoyed seeing all the little children emerging from the day-care centre in the bowels of the big building with the huge, impressive mural of laughing faces painted on it. Close by was a display of disturbing posters, decrying the Communist regime in China, and highlighting some of the many atrocities that still occur there.

Late afternoon we took the #30 bus back to the wharf. Dad returned to the hotel to suss out the new digital camera he%26#39;d bought earlier, whilst my son and I beat the well-trodden path to Walgreens where we picked up pasta salad and Ghirardelli chocolate for the evening.

SnowFalling

March '06 trip-report - Part 2

That is a fabulous description of Chinatown (You should be an interior designer with your use of the phrase ';symphony of acid-green and flourescent orange';). It%26#39;s really made me want to wander round there in September...your detail is great.

What a great report, thanks! Is there a part 3?

I think you must be a travel writer. If not you have missed your calling. You make me want to get on a plane to revisit chinatown right now!! Thanks for the great report!!

You know I only bother writing trip-reports because of you Daisiegee. Nobody else is interested ;-)

Jo, there is more to come, but I haven%26#39;t typed it yet (!)

Riffsmom, thanks for that very nice compliment. Oh but it were true.

This is such a descriptive report SFOC, loads of people will want to read it. I think it deserves ';bumping';

I think the trip reports are so interesting and your detail is amazing! Can hardly wait to leave the Floods of 2006 here in the east and head west. Is it June yet?

Thank you Snow (may I call you that, for short) for your Part 2 trip report. Chinatown indeed has lots of character, personality, and history there. Every time I think of Chinatown, it always makes me think of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical that took place there, ';Flower Drum Song';. You definitely haven%26#39;t seen San Francisco, unless you stroll on Grant and Stockton Ave%26#39;s! I agree with a prior poster that you definitely could make a career out of travel reporting. Perhaps you could join the Travel Channel as a correspondent or something and I could see you on TV!

Hi, Snow (I hope it%26#39;s okay if I call you that)

I forgot to ask you something regarding your part 2 trip report.

In the second paragraph, at the end, you mention that the craic was good on the cable car. I am not knowledgeable enough about the Scottish lingo, what is craic? Thanks so much in advance for your reply to perhaps a dumb question!

Kind, you can call me Snow anytime :-) Plenty of others do.

I%26#39;m not familiar with the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical you mentioned (Flower Drum Song). I%26#39;ll have to keep an eye out for it.

Thanks again for the vote of confidence re: travel-reporting. I%26#39;m not sure about tv though; my face is more suited to radio ;-)

Re: the word %26#39;craic%26#39;. I used it in the Irish way, eg, good fun, good conversation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craic

And I didn%26#39;t think it was a %26#39;dumb question%26#39; at all :-)