#10 1/3/2000
Dive, Dive, Dive ...
How to See San Francisco Upside Down!
How did I celebrate the new millennium? Did I go sky diving? Did I go scuba diving? Did
I go bungee jumping ( http://www.sunshinedaydream.com/
) ? Did I go tandem hang-gliding ( http://members.home.com/sfhg/)
? Let's find out ...
Fortunately the fear about
Y2K turned out to be unfounded. Theresa and I celebrated the New Millennium by drinking a
glass of champagne and watching the San Francisco firework on T.V. So my 39.99th birthday
celebration can continue since the world did not end :-)
I started my adventure by
taking the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART www.bart.org )
from the Fremont station at 9.45a.m.
I arrived at the Embarcadero station in San Francisco shortly after
10:30a.m. Here is the Hyatt Regency ( http://www.hyatt.com/usa/san_francisco/hotels/hotel_sfors.html
). Next time Theresa and I will go up there again for dinner or a drink in Equinox, which
is a revolving restaurant, to enjoy a commanding view of the San Francisco skyline. I went
inside for a nostalgic look around. It was too bad that I did not get a chance in sneak
inside the atrium glass elevator for a ride--I got as far as the second floor before
having to get off. Oh well, sometimes my adventure doesn't always turn out the way I
wanted.
I was almost tempted to hop on the Cable Car ( http://www.sfcablecar.com/ ). However, I really
wanted to walk along the Embarcadero to enjoy a gloriously sunny day.
However, since it was still
a little chilly, I decided to warm myself up with a tall white chocolate mocha latte at
Starbucks ( http://www.starbucks.com/ ). My
brother Alex would be happy that Theresa and I always support him.
I was surprised to see a skating ring at the Justin Herman Plaza. Got to
try it--next time.
I have always admired the Ferry Building, which is built in 1892, from the
outside. Today I decided to sneak inside to look around.
Was there anything exciting to see? Only if you think it's exciting to see
a Seal of California mosaic tile floor. There was an interesting Chinese brush painting of
100 horses, which is an appropriate item for my birthday celebration since part of my
Chinese name means "Four Horses"! The Ferry Building also houses the Port of San
Francisco ( http://www.sfport.com/ ) and also the
ferry service between San Francisco and Larkspur and Sausalito ( http://www.transitinfo.org/GGT/ ).
Along the Herb Caen Way, I had a great view of the Bay Bridge. Here is a
live WEB camera showing Bay Bridge ( http://www.rearden.com/live/default.html
)
Forget about telecommuting from home! This guy had the right idea. He was
sitting on a comfortable chair with a million-dollar view of the Bay on a gorgeous sunny
day. He was talking on his cellular phone and taking notes in his notebook. He has the
right idea! But I was smarter than him, since I was not even working that day.
I started my walk at Pier 1.
It's funny that there is such
a thing as Pier 1 1/2. I guess it's for a half of a boat :-)
A panoramic picture of the Bay Bridge.
At Pier 3 I saw this sign for
a ferry boat Santa Rosa, that was built in 1927. It turned out to be the corporate office
for the Hornblower Dining Cruise ( http://www.hornblowercruises.com/
) I'm sure that place is not on anyone's list of top ten places to visit in San Francisco.
Nevertheless, I had a really good time enjoying the
view, especially I was the only one around--okay there was a flock of sea gulls too :-)
I sat on the deck chair to soak up all the sun. Do I look relaxed or
what?! :-)
A nice view of the Coit Tower from the top of the ferry. I was surprised
that the ferry was rocking to the rhythm of the Bay. I asked the receptionist to find out
if she ever gets motion sickness while working on the ferry. She said no since she has sea
legs :-)
After getting off the ferry,
I continued my adventure down Herb Caen Way along the Embarcadero waterfront on this warm,
sunny winter day.
Here was another tourist enjoying the
view of the Transamerica Building. How do I know she was a tourist? She was checking her
map!
Delta Deanna Tug boat and her sister boats.
Pier 17, home of
"America True," which is the first time that a ship for the America's Cup is
captained by a female. ( http://www.americatrue.org/
) As of Jan 6, 2000, America True has 1 Win and 2 Losses.
What is this? Is this a Hummer? Is this a limousine? It's both! It's a
6.5-liter turbo diesel Hummer stretch limousine! This is the way to travel in style -- in
Baghdad! ( http://www.bauerslimousine.com/ )
Of course, San Francisco is also known as Baghdad by the Bay.
After walking past 39 piers, I arrive at
Pier 39! ( http://pier39.com/ ) I did not visit the
Underwater World this time. I'll do that next time with Theresa.
I admit it. I was tempted to take a ride on this sea plane. ( http://www.seaplane.com/index.html )
However, I was even more tempted to take a helicopter ride on this clear, sunny day ( http://www.sfhelicoptertours.com/ ) However,
Theresa would not have been that happy with me if I went on a helicopter. At least a
helicopter ride is safer than sky diving or scuba diving. However, since I'm looking for
an adventure today I decided to take a risk and see San Francisco upside down!
What was I doing?
Speaking of a cheap thrill, for a mere $6 I got to be on a bungee
trampoline. I was doing flips both forward and backward. Who needs a Starbucks espresso
drink to get my heart going? After a few jumps, I was laughing out loud even though my
heart was racing due to all the excitement.
Forget about sky diving. This is much more fun!
Alcatraz ( http://www.nps.gov/alcatraz/ )
I had a clam chowder in a San Francisco sourdough bread bowl at
Fishermen's Wharf! How San Francisco can I get! I skipped the freshly steamed dunginess
crab, because I intend to cook some for Theresa in the near future.
"Dive, dive, dive ..." Where was I?
It turned out that the real reason for me to come to San Francisco is to
visit the USS Pampanito submarine ( http://www.maritime.org/pamphome.htm
). During World War II in the Pacific Theater, it sunk 6 Japanese ships and damaged 4
other.
I had a very informative tour of the interior while listening to an
automated narration. I cannot imagine working and living in such a cramped space for a
prolong period of time.
This is a picture of Pampanito with Bay Bridge, Coit Tower, and the
Transamerica building in the backdrop. Pretty dramatic view from the bow of the Jeremiah
O'Brien.
This is the liberty ship Jeremiah O'Brien ( http://www.crl.com/~wefald/obrien.html
).
The highlight of the tour was visiting the engine room. Look at the size
of this wrench--it's bigger than my head! The engine room gained world-wide fame, because
it was used as the engine room during the filming of Titanic!
I tried to put the ship in gear, but it wouldn't budge. Just kidding. I
was not able to start the engine all by myself. :-)
I was practically the only person on the whole ship. I explored the deck
and enjoyed this sunny day. Here was Alacatrz in the background.
After getting off the ship, I continued my exploration in Fishermen's Wharf ( http://www.sanfranciscoonline.com/bcg/City_Sights/Fishermans_Wharf/Fishermans_Wharf.html
)
I enjoyed
listening to these two south American musicians at the Cannery ( http://www.thecannery.com/home.html
).
What is something not to be missed? There
is a Crepes A La Carte stand in the Cannery. I had a chocolate crepe. It was freshly made,
and the melted Ghiradelli Chocolate was just decadent. ( http://www.ghirardelli.com/ghirardelli/home.asp
) Don't miss it.
The daylight started to fade. I reluctantly started to make plan to leave
Aquatic Park. There are still many things for me to do next time. I wanted to visit the
boutiques in Ghiradelli Square.
I wanted to bike across the Golden Gate Bridge ( http://www.goldengate.org/ ) next time.
I wanted to come back and visit the historic schooner Balclutha ( http://www.maritime.org/safrhome.htm ) and
also the National Maritime Museum. Most of all I wanted to come back to kayak in the bay (
http://www.seatrekkayak.com/ ). I think that
would be a blast. Maybe next time I can also convince Theresa that we should take a
helicopter tour!
In many respects Fishermen
Wharf is a tourist trap. Since I was a tourist for the day, I did not mind. I was
particularly amused by these two T-shirts. I'm looking forward to one of these days
wearing the shirt that says "I'm Retired--Don't Ask Me To Do A Damn Thing!" The
other shirt was my favorite "I hate golf! I hate golf! Nice shot. I love golf!"
On the walk back from Aquatic Park to the Embarcadero BART station along the Herb Caen
Way, I happened to see this bicycle rental place at Pier 39. I plan to organize a
bicycling trip for some of our friends in the spring or summer on one of the 5 recommended
routes. Blazing Saddles ( http://www.blazingsaddles.com/
)
Here are some transit guidelines on bicycling ( http://www.transitinfo.org/GGT/bicycles.html
)
Maybe next time I'll even bring Rondo to San Francisco. ( http://www.dogfriendly.com/Cities/sanfran.htm
)
After getting off BART at the Berkeley
Station I called up Theresa at her work to meet me for dinner.
After some exploration, we decided to
have dinner at the Santa Fe Bistro ( http://www.santafegrill.com/
). We topped off my successful adventure with creme brulee!
What a fun day at Baghdad by the Bay. Trust me, San Francisco looks just great upside
down! Try it sometimes.
