Two New Years in Two Cities Part 2

THE FABULOUS 9 TOURS SAN FRANCISCO - AKA the AARP tour

Day 1 - A DIM SUM FEAST

The average age among us nine folks that went to San Franicsco was about 59 with me being the second youngest at the age of 43. The group consisted of me, Gary, my sister, Lan, my mother, my brother's mother-in-law, my friends, Lewis, Ernest, Juan and Joe. We left on February 5 and after a one hour delayed, our planed landed safely in San Francisco and a reserved shuttle van (Super Shuttle - $75 one way) carried us to our first hotel, the Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf. This hotel, along with The Triton Hotel (near China Town) were the two hotels I got through Priceline.com for cheap. The cost of this five night/6 day trip was about $390.00 per person for airfare and hotel (3 to a room).

After checking in, we used our 7 Days MUNI (San Francisco Municipal Railway) "passport" , which we purchased at the information desk at the San Francisco airport for $24 a piece, to go to China Town for a late lunch. The passport enables us to ride the cable cars, the bus and the historical F Line Rail unlimited during our stay. This is a great savings since a one way fare on the popular cable cars is $5.

The cable car stop was two blocks from our Sheraton and we put on our raincoat ponchos and rode the cable car to China Town. The nine of us arrived at my favorite dim sum restaruant, Dol Ho around 3 PM. The owner/manager proceeded to bring us many different type to dim sums which we ate up with glee. Unfortunately, since it was late and we were her last customers, some of the popular dim sums were not available. The widly loved Chinese brocolli with oyster sauce was out and so most of the other vegetables dishes. What was available was just wonderful. There were plump pork sui mai dumplings, delcious shrimp dumplings, and many others delicious offerings. We also ordered some braised chicken feet and the house special, pork ribs and rice. The chicken feet were delicious but only the Asian members of the group ate it; however, Juan, was game enough to taste the chicken feet. This meal for nine cost a whopping $56.00!!!! Talk about cheap! One final note on this great eatery. The steamed bbq pork bun here is the best!!!

The gang was exhausted after a shopping trip through China Town, and after a quick run through a Safeway grocery store next to the hotel for water and snacks, most were in bed by the early evening. This left me, Gary and Lewis to dine at the restaurant nearby, Cafe Pescatore, by ourselves. It was a typical Italian eatery with reasonable price but my favorite thing of the night was the very tasty focaccia bread and a plate of crispy fried squid. I enjoyed my spinach pasta with shrimp and Lewis enjoyed his salmon dish but Gary's pizza was bland and lacked a decent amount of meat. The three of us drank two bottles of valpocelli wine to go with our meal.

Day 2 - THE MATSU TEMPLE & AN EVENING IN CASTRO

The second day in San Francisco started with another round of rain. Some of us got up very early and had breakfast at the nearby IHOP and took advantage of the senior citizen breakfast special for $6.99. Some of us including me decided to have an early lunch and skipped breakfast. This was a mistake since we walked aimlessly in China Town looking for my mother's favorite fast food bbq joint. I had written about his place on my blog but failed to read my article to refresh my memory and we ended up walking up and down Grant Avenue in China Town. With my right foot hurting from all the walking and the need to be a perfect tour host, I became bitchy and grouchy. My mother decided to eat at a small restaurant on Stockton and Gary, me, Lewis, my sister & Ms. Tuc (my brother's mother-in-law) joined her for a hearty meal. I was not too pleased with my pork rice soup congee. It was flavorless and needed plenty of salt.

During or time in China Town, we walked by a Matsu Temple (30 Beckett). Our group entered the temple and burned some incense and made small donations. Eventhough this place is a temple that worship the goddess of the sea, Matsu, it also have Buddhist shrine and offerings. It was a small place but very colorful and bright. I would like to visit this place again in the future.

Before dinner, some of us went to Fisherman's Wharf for the obligatory viewing of the seals at Pier 39. On the way back to our hotel, the men decided to eat the famous clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. I was hoping the Bushman of Fisherman's Wharf would be there that day, but he was not there. The Bushman hides behind a big bundle of tree branches and would jump out and scare the daylight out of unsuspecting tourists.

We took the historic F Line Rail which stop right in front of the Sheraton and rode the rail down to the famous Castro District for dinner at CHOW, a small chain eatery. My spaghetti and meat balls was ok since it needed more Italian spices and herbs, but the best dish of the night was my mother's braised short ribs with mashed potatoes. We also had a bottle of red wine with our meal.

After dinner, my cousin, Dr. Ana, who lives in Oakland and works in San Francisco, drove the three ladies back to the Sheraton while the boys stayed behind to play in the Castro. Our friend, Ted, who also lives in the Bay area, met with us at a bar one block from Castro Street. Moby Dick was packed wall to wall with people. The place is no bigger than my house and the bathroom was quite evil. The six foot long metal urinal trough had a reflecting mirror so that when a man is doing his thing, he can see his thing.

We did go inside an adult books and video store and some of us took advantage of the sale of some salacious titles. Since it was too hot inside the store, I decided to wait outside as the men were shopping and I witnessed the strangest thing of the night. A thin tall man was walking around completely naked and dissappeared into a store nearby.

We the walked to Cafe Flore on Market Street and spend the remaining of the evening there drinking and eating cakes. I had a delicous Boston cream pie and Gary had a pumpkin pie along with two shots of kamikazes.

Lady GaGa Dances On

The night ended with Ted driving Ernest around the city and eventually back to the hotel. Gary, Lewis, Juan, Joe and I took the F Line Rail back to the hotel. I was the first person to board the train and sitting on the right side was a young and plump lady with a yellow licra shirt so tight that it looked like to burst out of her body. She was wearing the most fabulous green leather boots to go with her thong underwear which could be seen through the tight fitting short yellow lycra shirt. She was talking on the cell and in between her conversation which was in Russian, the young lady was singing Lady GaGa's song, Just Dance. I wanted to go up to her and ask where she bought the boots, but was too scared to . After a short ride, our Lady GaGa got off the train and that is when Gary noticed the nice package she was sporting and informed us that what we just saw was a young man not a woman.

Day 3 - CELBRATING CHINESE NEW YEAR IN CHINA TOWN

Gary got up early and ran across the street to buy me some extra strength Bengay ointment for my sore right foot. I wear a very comfortable pair of New Balance walking shoe, but my right foot was just hurting and this continuous pain made me still irritable. I massaged a load of Bengay on my foot but it did not help much.

I obtained the address of Yee's Restaurant on Grant Street by reading my post from last year. My friend, Annie and her husband, George, met the 8 of us at the restaurant. Lewis decided to go to the Cinemark (very antigay) to watch the live broadcast of an opera from the METS. We ordered plates full of various roasted meats ranging from traditional roasted pork, duck to a big heaping pile of sliced gizzards. My favorite dish of the meal was a large plate of stir fried eggplant in black bean sauce. It was a nice contrast to all the meat dishes.

The annual Chinese New Year's Parade and festival was on Saturday, February 6. We walked down Grant Avenue and enjoyed the street festival in the early afternoon prior to heading back to our hotel for some needed rest. The rest was short and despite the painful right foot, I went with my friends Annie, George, and three members of my family to Fisherman's Wharf for a quick dungeness crab meal prior to heading back to China Town for the parade. Gary wisely chose to rest his legs.

The two grandmothers watched the parade in the comfort of their hotel room while the rest of us foolishly walked to China Town and watched the parade in the very cold and dry winter night. I met up with Randall, a friend from San Francisco, and his friends and watched the parade on Kearney Street. My cousin, Ana and the rest of the gang watched the parade at the very end of the route on Jackson Street. Lewis was no where to be seen. He may have been kidnapped by aliens.

The San Franciso boys were very lively and animated and occasionally broke into a dance routine, but the cold weather beat their behinds and soon they disbanded to go to a warmer location and that is when Gary and I decided to join my group at Jackson Street. Lewis soon met up with us after his " alien encounter" carrying a bag of goods that he had bought from the museums he visited prior to the parade. The cold weather and sore feet caused Joe and Juan to go back to the hotel and watched the parade in the warm room. Annie and her husband could not stand the cold and the fatigue and left before the parade ended to go back to their place in Mountain View, California. Dr. Ana left as soon as the parade ended. I felt her hands and they were cold as ice. Lewis, Lan, Gary and I walked back to our hotel, but caught a late dinnere at The Stinking Rose restaurant.

THE STINKING ROSE

The Stinking Rose is an iconic Italian restaurant situtated in Little Italy on Columbus Avenue. I really like the ambience and decor of this place. Our table was like a private box at the opera. Each table in our dining section had its own curtain and chandelier. The dishes here are infused and cooked with plenty of garlic. The best thing we had was the outrageous garlic icecream. It was strange and yet so addictive. Eating all this garlic left Lewis with heartburns through out the night.

Day 4 - THE GOLDEN GATE AND A DATE WITH CASANDRA CASS

The day started very early with an ominous fire alarm at 7:30 AM at the Sheraton. Everyone was told to go to the nearest stair to evacuate. As everyon was trying to figure out where the stairs were the voice on the intercom told us that it was a false alarm. Apparently, someone was stuck in an elevator; panicked and pushed the fire alarm button.

At 9 AM, 7 of us along with Dr. Ana, took the bus to the Golden Gate Bridge for an obligatory walk and photo shoot of the bridge.

The weather was overcast and grey, but there was no fog so we were able to see from the bridge. Riding the MUNI is very easy; if you do not have internet, you can dial 311 and the operator will tell you step by step how to get to your destination from where ever you are. While the 8 of us rode the bus to the bridge, Lewis rode the bus to the museum and my mother stayed behind to rest.

My cousin, Ana, treated us to a Sunday Brunch at the Sir Francis Drake's Hotel. We rode the cable car and got off right on Stockton in front of the hotel and took the elevator to the 21st floor to the Harry Denton's Starlight Room where the brunch was held. There were a variety of dishes that made up a typical brunch buffet including turkey breast, mixed green salad, roast beef, omelette cooked to order and many other dishes. The star of the brunch was not the food, but a fabulous drag show emceed by San Francisco icon, Donna Sachet. We attended the second showing of the "Sunday's A Drag Brunch" and our performers for this day was Donna Sachet, Gina LaDivina, Holotta Tymes and the extremely beautiful and curvaceous, Cassandra Cass. Each performers did two routines with the exeption of Donna Sachet who treated us to a third performance. Donna sings her songs and did them in beautiful dresses. Gina LaDivina's old school glamour brought cheers from the appreciative crowd. Holotta Tymes first number was a tribute to a very old and chunky Cher and her second number was an April Steven's song, Teach Me Tiger, in which she playfully toyed around with a very embarrassed young Asian man in the audience. The most amazing performer was Cassandra Cass. She opened up with Madonna's Vogue and during her performance, she brought Gary up on stage and proceeded to ride him like a horse. It was quite lively. The transexual actress/performer's second number was to the Divinyls' I touch Myself. Cassandra walked on stage draped in a large blue and purple boa only to removed it and continued to perform her number is a blue sequinced two piece bikini. Cassandra told Ernest after the show that she works out two hours each day to keep her body in top shape. My mother, sister, Ernest and I bought her calendar and we all posed with the peformers after the show. Thank you Dr. Ana for treating us to such a memorable day.

After the brunch, we all headed out to various places. Lewis went to see more museums while Joe and Juan went back to the Castro to buy more "things". Ernest went to a ... let just say that Ernest had fun. The remaining 5 went to China Town to enjoy more of the street festival on Sunday.

It rained a lot this evening and Gary, Lan and I decided to brave the wet and cold weather and walked to Ghirardelli Chocolate Square and have our share of icecream. On the way back, we got burgers to go at In-N-Out Burger and ate them in the comfort of our hotel rooms. The Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf has a wonderful outdoor sititng area with many fireplaces. Lewis and I spent our last night at this hotel sitting outside enjoying the gas lit fireplace.

Day 5 - LOUNGING AT THE HOTEL TRITON

Our last full day in San Francisco started with us moving to the Hotel Trition on Grant Avenue across from the China Town's Gate. What a lovely hotel this was. The boutique hotel is small, but it is uniquely decorated and its staff was very nice. Every day at 5 PM there is a free wine social at the lobby. We enjoyed sipping our red and white wines along with cookies and chocolate. There was also a tarot card reader that charged a small fee of $15 for a reading which Lewis and Lan were happy to do so. We really enjoyed this hotel and I do hope that I can get this hotel again in the future through Priceline.com.

Gary, Lan, Lewis and I went to the Academy of Science Museum/Steinhart Aquariaum on this day. The building was designed by the very famous Renzo Piano and it features a "green" roof full of vegetation. I am going to be very honest here by saying that once you see a few aquariums, you pretty much have seen them all. I have been to many (with the exception of the Monterey's Aquarium) and my favorite remains the Chattanooga Aquarium. My right foot started to hurt again and my grouchiness came back with Lewis as the poor target of my mood swing.

We all ended our trip with another special dinner. Dr. Ana again treated us to a dinner at New Delhi, an Indian restaurant near Union Square. We dined on mouth watering dishes that included vegetarian samosas, creamy spinach (sag paneer), lamb curry andchicken breast cooked in creamy almond sauce.

It was a good thing that we were on our feet everyday because the walking helps burn the extra calories we ate on this trip.

THE RETURN

We left the Triton at 9:00 AM to head back to Houston. What a wonderful time we all had. I was a little too worried about the group since I had organized the trip and felt responsible for the group. Next time I will not worry too much and walk less so that my right foot will not hurt as much and therefore not be so grouchy.