the neighborhoods of san francisco


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Published: July 18th 2009
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Chinatown
Hungry and poor, we decided to make Chinatown our first stop in San Francisco. We bee-lined straight to a cheap dim sim restaurant ($5.99 all you can eat dim sims! (now I know saying this we sound as though we are total buffet endorsers, but we maintain- its not about the quantity, its about the price!… oh it was gastronomically heaven, even the regrettable third plate) passing myriad trinket stores along the way. They sold the most random things from kung-fu slippers to gunpowder pellets (you throw them at the ground and they make a popping sound like a gun going off) and jade-green buddha statues to ear-cleaning utensils (you know what, they sound like a great idea but those fuckers are murder- ask Aaron- he of the eternal ear wax). I caught an awesome bargain for some camera accessories (for Jamie and other camera-nerds: a fish-eye lens, UV filter, polarised filter, green filter and tripod) that were valued at over $USD700 RRP, and paid just $280. This equalled a very happy Jian.

Civic Center
Just like any other major city in Amazing America, downtown San Francisco is full of greyish skyscrapers, Chase ATMs, Starbucks cafes, H&M outlets, bagel stands and random block-sized parks offering that moment of solace from the surrounding chaos. Odd note, San Fran has a large homeless population, an issue in serious need of addressing. Their handwritten cardboard signs tell their stories and it makes you sad and if you have the change you help where you can. But on a personal note, you can’t help but be almost offended after seeing what real, undiluted, un-escapable poverty looks and smells like in a country like Cambodia, when you see homelessness becoming a trivial snide in society by reading the signs which say: ‘Spare anything for pot and alcohol?’ You hate yourself for even thinking it, but you look at them and you think… life is tough and you are obviously a victim and nobody will say you are not, but you cannot say that (and I know the intent is honesty, which many will commend) and not invite perspective. Utter poverty is when you are blind and you have five children and they don’t know any English except ‘please, help’ and they live in the dirt and it never rains and the youngest child has a dung beetle on a string to keep himself out of a stupor.

I once gave a homeless man a banana in London when he asked for change and he threw it away when he saw it was slightly bruised. Perspective… Not comparison, that’s not what I’m getting at. There is the homelessness that rips you apart because you know what you have lost and that is sad and that is where this mentality comes from. But then there is the homeless who are born into the world homeless and destined to live homeless, never knowing what the person on the other end of the flashing camera has and their comparatively pathetic problems. It’s tough. And it is sad.

Also, one thing the guide books don’t prepare you for is that a great deal of San Fran smells like downtown Phuket. Large, wet clouds of sewerage coming at you from every direction (it conspicuously fades out the closer North you get).

It was also in downtown SF that we met up again with Yeumee, paying an extreme $20 for cover charge and consuming $9 drinks whilst listening to European doof-doof music. Needless to say it is not usually our scene, but the money was well spent as we got to see Yeumee and Suze again, and meet the mysterious 4th housemate Annie who was previously M.I.A.

Fisherman’s Wharf
Brent and Kim had just come off their Contiki trip around western USA, and San Francisco was their final stop before they flew to New York for a week. We decided to catch up with them on a San Fran Bay Sunset Cruise, one of their tour’s extra add-ons that they had chosen to do. Seeing the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset with dramatic clouds overhead, sipping wines from plastic cups with Brent and Kim was just divine. The wharf area is reminiscent of Sydney’s Darling Harbour, complete with flocks of tourists and scores of pricey dining options, but with hundreds of hooting sea lions who call the area home (hehehe)…

Alcatraz
Aaron and I were lucky enough to get the two remaining tickets for the entire weekend that we were in SF, and we even booked a few days in advance. Alcatraz was eerie. Walking around the island you really get a sense of how the ex-prisoners felt; residents included Alphonse ‘Scarface’ Capone and George ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly. The feelings of absolute isolation and desperation seep through the scratched concrete walls of the tiny prison cells; the still intact iron bars a reminder of the maximum-security institution. The cruellest punishment enforced on the prisoners was the sheer visibility of San Francisco city from the island, which was a mere 10 minute ferry ride from Fisherman’s Wharf, forever taunting the inmates. It’s important to remember though that Alcatraz was also a place of hope, reconciliation and upheaval in the 70’s when many Native Indians claimed it as indigenous terra. There is graffiti signalling hope and equality throughout the complex. This is a sliver of history many don’t know about and is often overshadowed by the Capone’s and jail escapes.

Nob Hill
Lombard St, the crookedest street in the world, was a bitch to climb up (work those thighs Aaron!!!). The views from the top of the hill and over to the Bay were worth it though, and the residents of this infamous street must’ve hired SF’s top landscape designers as evident by their Rolls Royces and BMWs.

North Beach
Perhaps the neighbourhood most akin to the laidback yet trendy SoCal lifestyle, we passed trendy Asian fusion food cafes and hip street graffiti wall murals.

The Castro
We were quite disappointed with The Castro. Perhaps we had built up in our minds a particular expectation of this world-renowned gay mecca. Going out for a trashy night, our ears burned as we heard Lady Gaga’s Just Dance (have we already mentioned that we have heard this freakin song in literally all 17 countries we have visited so far?) and our eyes bled as we saw trashy drugged-up mannequins dancing in tune. It just goes to show that homosexuality is becoming more and more a cliché and the more and more you want to have any sort of societal identity or interest that extends beyond s-and-m bars and bass driven music, you’re condemned to be an outsider. It’s the same everywhere. When it comes to gay culture within gay cultures its all the same bland shade of pink. Sigh.

We decided to give it another chance during the friendlier hours of daylight, took photographs of Harvey Milk’s old camera store (now converted into an ultra-trendy art deco store) and his memorial site which is kind of shafted into a dimly lit corner near the entrance to the subway… I would have thought there would be statues of him standing ten feet tall in the middle of the street… but no. I bought awesome bright red Puma shoes and some trinkets for our new Vancouver friend Chloe from an Aids charity store. We also visited a cool, though small museum to homosexual history in the area that we found interesting though a bit glazed over.

Mission District
As part of Aaron’s birthday present, we went shopping for some rare books by Robert Bloch and William Peter Blatty (author of the exorcist) in the Mission District, an area with a high Latino presence and consequently scores of Mexican food joints. This place has a far more authentic vibe to it than the cliché that the Castro has become. There is life here, variety. It’s a breath of fresh air and Aaron was in bookstore heaven- but he is not allowed to read a word until after his birthday.

Pacific Heights
“I. Am. Job!” We saw the Mrs Doubtfire house and I even got a photo pretending to eat the flowers in the front garden ala the donkey at the start of the film when Robin Williams invites a small carnival to the house for his son’s birthday (don’t tell me you don’t remember)- then Miranda comes home and flips, oh memories!! The ridiculously hilly areas, even more ridiculously opulent mansions and leafy boulevards paint a picture of the San Francisco we have all seen in films such as Mrs Doubtfire, Sister Act and Zodiac. But it IS nice, and it is expensive so you should expect it to be nice. It’s the type of place you would love to live and raise a family, if you won lotto or maybe one day married Paris Hilton or you know, one of the Trumps because God only knows you’d have to in order to pay da rent (ah-hmmm! *z-formation click provided at your convenience)

The Haights
A quick stroll through the area revealed hilly inclines, dog-walking parks, gourmet delis and pretty houses, including the one and only Full House house, which was quite fun! We walked off singing the theme tune (or as much as we could remember, there was a lot of ‘la-la-la, ‘shoo-ey-do-wup-wah-WAH’s’ going on) - sign us up for that record deal any moment Mushroom Records!




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19th July 2009

san fran!!! i loved hearing you write about this city, because i can remember it so vividly... it sounds like you saw so much stuff here! glad you loved it xxx
20th July 2009

Bahaha love the photo of you eating the flowers jian. I loved san fran when I went years and years ago. Definately plan to take Rohan there cause I think he'd also really like it. Liked your take on homelessness as well - its a very hard topic to think out loud about. I chuckled a little bit though when I read about the guy turning down your bruised bananna. I can picture the look on your face...take my bananna bitch!
20th July 2009

Oh wow jam packed guys.....i was wondering if u were goin to alkatraz.....can't wait to go some day!!! the photo "African-American cop helping Chinese-American senior across the street should be made a part of the M.I.L.K photo's soooo beautiful!!!!! full house and mrs doubtfire awwwwwww LOVE!!!! loved seeing pic's of the castro....dissapointing about hearing about the area though. Agreed with u fully on the homelessness bit! How awkward for the ppl who live on Lombard st aye!!! Id hate to live there, though its very pretty. Im so glad Aaron got some book treasure for his bday and love the new lenses Jian =) Love u and miss u guys soooooo much =) xXx

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