I took this photograph (L)yesterday as we were walking along Chinatown at around 11 AM. I was reprimanded by the Chinese vendor (a woman younger than I am), would you believe, for taking 2 snap shots of these sea horses! Traffic on foot yesterday to Chinatown was fairly good. Local and foreign tourists swarm our city and they are back to celebrating and worshipping the sun with some obsession and personality. Some come in full gear of pull over or sweats and jacket, too. Others are more liberal and gutsy~ they tend to show some flesh (despite the very chilly weather we have herein the city) if only to show off (*ta-dah*)!
For lunch, we tried out a sandwich @ Giordano's, an all-in-one sandwich place in North Beach. A couple we met later in the afternoon (at an Irish Pub on Columbus) raved about Giordano’s and quipped that it was featured on cable TV. Hearing us speak about it delighted them in a way. They plan to check it out, they said.
Giordano’s called an “all-in-one sandwich” because they smack the French fries and green salad right into your sandwich! When you chew it, everything is there in your palette all at once and that is the novelty behind it, no more, no less. Personally, it is not anything superb that I would recommend you to try out but husband was intrigued with its copyright ad that goes with its logo outside of the door. Therefore, we tried it but now we know better!
Overall, the SFO weather last weekend was nice. There was no fog for the whole week but it was breezy and chilly nonetheless. Outdoor chairs and tables at cafes and bistros are almost always, continually filled up with patrons eating, chatting, smoking, sipping wine, or drinking beer. At times, I think that they look like clones of people from Europe, but some of them really are from there! Well, North Beach is Little Italy so it really has a semblance of Italy. In fact, this is the most European side of the city.
After lunch, we walked along Mason and dropped off the magazines I borrowed at our North Beach Library. From there, we walked a few blocks more until we were in this uncanny art supplies store. Reluctant to enter this dark basement at first, I asked husband to inspect it as a prelude to me walking down there. Therefore, I waited by the entrance door. Minutes later, he came back to where I was and said thatI would love the place so I better check it out fast and easy! Indeed, I was scared to walk down there because I am afraid of heights. Had I been there and saw nothing interesting, I know it would have been a waste because I am afraid of heights and depths. With this in mind, I started to stress a bit. I was caressing the banister like it was my husband’s anatomy. Boy, it was tough to think that I could trip then that's the end of my day. My grip was tight. Moments later, my hands began to sweat. It was a sight you would not want to see me for I look handicapped with my inability to walk down in an easy fashion. I struggled through the time I was pacing my way to the basement. Then, I remember being in Acropolis in Greece. My mind brought me back to that moment in time I hyperventilated going up at Acropolis. However, I did it for the sake of confronting my phantom which is the heights. History was right between my eyes and I would not miss that chance to be in Greece and not see the perspective from the famous Acropolis!
From the art supply store, we went north of Fisherman's Wharf and went at Cost Plus on Taylor. There, I bought an assorted collection of spices akin to Indian, French, Greek, and Italian cooking. At Cost Plus as well, I was able to purchase “pappadums”(a crunchy Indian pita crackers, round like a Swiss pancake but flat and thin like an Italian thin pizza) which is eaten as hor’s doeuvres in Indian cuisine. Well, I thought I was lucky to have found this. I also bought a bottle each of mango chutney and hot pickled mango. I have long ago been craving for this food and yesterday was just my day that I was able to get them.
Beside Cost Plus is Starbucks,. It is located inside Barnes and Noble and is on the right side as you enter this bookshop. Husband designated himself to be there and texted me later on where to find him.
When I arrived to collect him, he was surrounded by books. We had to set them aside back at the shelving to give me some space. Atop the table were an empty piece of plate where he had eaten a piece of twisted cinnamon bread, and a large cup of coffee. Once seated, I asked him if he would like to try out some Indian food I bought. Would he? Oh boy, and he did it! But after finishing his plate, he said,
“Wow, that surely is so spicy! To like it you really have to acquire the taste for it!”
(Translation: “I won’t eat this ever again!”)
“Haha!" I had a good laugh. At least he tried!
At Barnes and Noble’s Starbucks, he was reading the latest best seller of Cormick McCarthy's “Road.” He was almost done with it when I said,
“Could we now go to Canary?”
“Sure.” And we did.
The Canary was the old factory building of Del Monte Corporation. After the company has relocated their factory elsewhere, this place was converted into a beautiful mall. The building is really awesome and it is made of bricks. Canary is the place to check out if you are within the area of the Fisherman's Wharf for it has many quaint little shops that include an olive oil store that mimics the one we saw in St. Helena’s town at Napa Valley.
(R), The "turn around" of the cable car in Mason
Canary has a courtyard and there, people come to snack on, sit down or just while away the time before going to their next destination. At the courtyard, a Filipino band was performing a genre of music, mostly dance music and jazz. Being two dance enthusiasts ourselves, we were thrilled to hear their music! And at the moment, we were just in awe. So as soon as we found a spot to dump our grocery bags, we took off our jackets, and started to kick off! As always, our dancing always gives us a lot of fun as a couple. Moments later, we caught the attention of the organizer and she prompted us to stay at the center of
the stage. Wow! In a second, 3 couples joined us as well. Oh, it was wonderful! Suddenly, with the music and the dancing going on at the same time, it just got so festive and convivial. After the music, we sat down to recharge our energy. We needed some air to pace our breathing. Gosh, we were both sweaty despite the perfect weather we had yesterday! Our adrenalin was working. As we rested for a nick of time, people at our back were raving about our dance move. Tee-ha! We surely had a ball! Incidentally, it was an early celebration of the Philippine Independence Day. It is actually on June 12 but the Filipino community from the Bay Area has done some advance celebration since the independence day itself falls on a weekday. They created a one-week program of activities relative to this. The musical extravaganza was one of them. Well, we were happy to have gone to Canary as it really energized us with the dancing part of it! After our stint at Canary, we walked then hopped over at the Indian Irish Pub on Powell. There, we met this couple (Rod and Jean) from Pensylvannia who just touched down from the airport. They too, like us, have found their feet dragging them at the pub. Jean striked a conversation with us.
“What’s the drinking age in California?”
After that, our connection just evolved. We hit it off as couples! We had a great time, too, chatting with them. With their luggage M.I.A. (missing in action), they decided to explore the city while waiting for it to manifest in their hotel door by the wharf. They are a wonderful couple and they added up the "element of surprise" as our day stretched out.
Relatively, we invited them to the “North Beach Festival” this weekend in our neighborhood. The event attracts visitors by the thousands. This will take place this Saturday and Sunday, June 16 and 17 from 10 AM to 4:30 PM. Jazz bands, flea market people plus arts and crafts folks will generate their time, talents, and energy to make this a colorful event just like last year. BTW, we will celebrate our first year anniversary as San Franciscans on June 18th. We relocated here last year from the suburbs and at noontime on a Sunday, our moving company was in panic because at least 25,000 people came by. The whole part of North Beach in Union, Grant, Vallejo and Columbus was filled up with people, walking, eating and drinking on the road. Our poor driver had nowhere else to park and decided to squeeze it out in our alley. Well, this year, we anticipate more people to come and jam with the rest of the populace during this weekend's event. Likely, they will come like colonies, herds, and migrants of birds from another continent. This is all. I have to read this again to check out if I missed out on an error. Until next blog, well~have a great start of the week ahead of you. Ciao!
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