Thursday, June 23, 2005
California Raisin
Last night, I looked into the mirror and found one too many creases. I recounted how much I have been in the sun for the past week - I have been outside every single frickin' day.
On Saturday, Martin and I scraped ourselves from the disaster the night before and headed down to San Jose (on his sweet convertible - nice! :) for a soccer tournament. It's moments like this when you feel the awesome internationalism of Aiesec - we had about 30 players and people cheering from the sideline - Azerbaijan, France, Germany, Scottland, Japan, Sweden, Egypt, Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines, Dominican Republic, Hungary, Brazil, Turkey... we had a lot of nationalities - represent! Besides, I loved our amazingly-good-looking team - 3 cute French men, 1 hot Swede, and me (well, you can't have it all, I guess).
On Sunday, Gordon arrived from Hong Kong. It was his first time in the US, and I was definitely going to settle scores with this guy (we had an interesting discussion while in HK about the US - he was convinced that Americans shoot people over parking spaces, drive huge monster trucks, are obesely rolling in the streets, and love Bush unconditionally). I'm glad he chose San Francisco to start weaning off that kind of crazy talk.
In the guise of "taking Gordon on a tour of San Francisco," I got to experience the City all over again. We did Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, Lombard Street (the windiest road in the world), Ghiradelli Square, Golden Gate Bridge, China Town, North Beach, Sony Metreon, walking down Embarcadero at night, and Alcatraz within the last 3 days. Gordon is ecstatic about the weather and the views - I breathe in the crisp air and smile.
My heart is in San Francisco
I figured Gordon took enough photos for the both of us (he has 2 cameras), so I only have a few to show. I finally went to Alcatraz, which I have been putting off because being a local, you just don't participate in those sort of touristy activities. I obviously gave in this time.
Welcome to the Rock
The Rock!
Alcatraz was supposed to be the most frightful prison ever - famous convicts such as Al Capone checked in here.
After the government officially shut down Alcatraz as a state prison, native Americans took hold of the island to protest for Native American rights. The seize lasted for 19months (the demise due to the unravelling of their own unity and the state marshalls arresting the remaining protestors).
In the entire history of Alcatraz prison: 8 people committed suicide, 3 wardens were killed (trying to stop riots/escapes), no convict was ever executed on the island. Numerous escape attempts were made, but only 3 prisoners made a successful escape (and were never heard from again).
The square hole under the sink was made by one of the prisoners who successfully escaped from Alcatraz. The trio climbed between walls, crawled along the water pipes and escaped outside (Hmm... Shawshank Redemption, anybody?)
All in all, I disagree that the Rock was the "most frightful prison" - I thought that the French prison in Hanoi for reeducating Vietnamese rebels was 100 times more trecherous with all the brutal torturing practices and displays of guillotines in the courtyard.
Just when you thought your socks were drying...
It's been fun observing the place I thought familiar a year and half ago. Things have changed, people have changed. Tower Records closed down, our favorite karaoke hangout is an Indian curry house, and I don't recognize anybody on campus anymore. I went to school in Berkeley for 4 years, and those 4 years have faded away with the changing tides.
And things haven't changed, and some people haven't changed. Walking down Telegraph Avenue, the same old crazy lady in a blue construction helmet was selling her dirty cabbage patch kid dolls and knit beanies. The street vendor gave me an eye and said, "you dirty hippie, I know you're smoking all those dope." The smell of urine and marijuana become stronger as you walk towards the Oakland side.
Out of all the places I have lived in the US, I really think the Bay Area (or Northern California) has a win-win combination of being the most comfortable and interesting.
I can't believe I will be taking off from this amazing place soon... I did it before, and I can do it again. But...
...You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave...
On Saturday, Martin and I scraped ourselves from the disaster the night before and headed down to San Jose (on his sweet convertible - nice! :) for a soccer tournament. It's moments like this when you feel the awesome internationalism of Aiesec - we had about 30 players and people cheering from the sideline - Azerbaijan, France, Germany, Scottland, Japan, Sweden, Egypt, Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines, Dominican Republic, Hungary, Brazil, Turkey... we had a lot of nationalities - represent! Besides, I loved our amazingly-good-looking team - 3 cute French men, 1 hot Swede, and me (well, you can't have it all, I guess).
On Sunday, Gordon arrived from Hong Kong. It was his first time in the US, and I was definitely going to settle scores with this guy (we had an interesting discussion while in HK about the US - he was convinced that Americans shoot people over parking spaces, drive huge monster trucks, are obesely rolling in the streets, and love Bush unconditionally). I'm glad he chose San Francisco to start weaning off that kind of crazy talk.
In the guise of "taking Gordon on a tour of San Francisco," I got to experience the City all over again. We did Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, Lombard Street (the windiest road in the world), Ghiradelli Square, Golden Gate Bridge, China Town, North Beach, Sony Metreon, walking down Embarcadero at night, and Alcatraz within the last 3 days. Gordon is ecstatic about the weather and the views - I breathe in the crisp air and smile.
My heart is in San Francisco
I figured Gordon took enough photos for the both of us (he has 2 cameras), so I only have a few to show. I finally went to Alcatraz, which I have been putting off because being a local, you just don't participate in those sort of touristy activities. I obviously gave in this time.
Welcome to the Rock
The Rock!
Alcatraz was supposed to be the most frightful prison ever - famous convicts such as Al Capone checked in here.
After the government officially shut down Alcatraz as a state prison, native Americans took hold of the island to protest for Native American rights. The seize lasted for 19months (the demise due to the unravelling of their own unity and the state marshalls arresting the remaining protestors).
In the entire history of Alcatraz prison: 8 people committed suicide, 3 wardens were killed (trying to stop riots/escapes), no convict was ever executed on the island. Numerous escape attempts were made, but only 3 prisoners made a successful escape (and were never heard from again).
The square hole under the sink was made by one of the prisoners who successfully escaped from Alcatraz. The trio climbed between walls, crawled along the water pipes and escaped outside (Hmm... Shawshank Redemption, anybody?)
All in all, I disagree that the Rock was the "most frightful prison" - I thought that the French prison in Hanoi for reeducating Vietnamese rebels was 100 times more trecherous with all the brutal torturing practices and displays of guillotines in the courtyard.
Just when you thought your socks were drying...
It's been fun observing the place I thought familiar a year and half ago. Things have changed, people have changed. Tower Records closed down, our favorite karaoke hangout is an Indian curry house, and I don't recognize anybody on campus anymore. I went to school in Berkeley for 4 years, and those 4 years have faded away with the changing tides.
And things haven't changed, and some people haven't changed. Walking down Telegraph Avenue, the same old crazy lady in a blue construction helmet was selling her dirty cabbage patch kid dolls and knit beanies. The street vendor gave me an eye and said, "you dirty hippie, I know you're smoking all those dope." The smell of urine and marijuana become stronger as you walk towards the Oakland side.
Out of all the places I have lived in the US, I really think the Bay Area (or Northern California) has a win-win combination of being the most comfortable and interesting.
I can't believe I will be taking off from this amazing place soon... I did it before, and I can do it again. But...
...You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave...
// posted by sakit @ 11:41 AM 
Comments:
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man, i love your posts. i've always wanted to visit the alcatraz.... or san francisco for that matter. <3
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