Chinatown and Jellyfish Dim Sum
San Francisco, 10th November 2001.
 We'd originally planned to go on a small guided tour around
Chinatown, however, it started in Portsmouth Square, and no one we
asked knew where it was. In the end we gave up and decided to wander
around the streets of Chinatown ourselves. The pocket of Chinese
culture was quite strange in this sea of Americanism, but it was
nice to have a flavour of a really foreign culture, even if it was a
bit diluted. The streets were bustling, street stalls were common
and there were loads of places selling ethnic Chinese food, and
that's what got most of our attention. We bought some traditional
Chinese cakes and some real spring rolls to fuel us up for the rest
of the morning. Good job too, because I took the others on a bit of
a very long wild goose chase to find a post office. Our collection
of souvenirs had steadily grown too big, so we nod needed to post
some bits back, myself in particular.
The Lonely Planet guide said that the main post office with poste
restante facilities is at the other end of town. So after a very,
very long hike through the city, we eventually came to a huge
building with the Post symbol on it. The interior of the building is
very grubby, depressing and filled with annoying flies. We pick our
way through, past rows & rows of small locked boxes, to the desk.
The lady the told us that this was the post office for the homeless,
and that we couldn't post our things from here. Right. And the
nearest post office was miles back through the town, Do'h!
Giving up on the post office, we headed back to the nearest shopping
centre so the girls could have some real shopping fun. I wandered
off to buy a warm pretzel (yum) while they looked through some other
shops. They were all in a small calendar shop when I found them
again, and because I was eating, I just sat down outside, waiting
for them. While I was sitting, the manager of the shop came out a
looked at me. "Are you tired?", he asked in a tone that obviously
showed he though I was some sort of tramp hanging near his shop,
planning to mug all his customers. When I told him I was waiting for
my friends inside, pointing to them, his mood instantly changed and
he went back into his shop, satisfied.
After waiting for about 30 minutes, getting quite bored, I decided
on a plan of action. We'll all go and do our own thing, then meet
back here at 4:30pm. This is a good plan if you're travelling in a
group. Take time during the day where you go your own way and do
your own thing. That way everyone is satisfied and you don't get
annoyed, so everyone will therefore get on much better. We did this
a lot during our travels, and we had pretty much no fights!
Impressive when you're with each other almost 24/7.
I spent the whole afternoon on my epic attempt to post my parcel
home. I had to rush all around town, finding post-offices, finding
boxes, finding tape, finding money and even struggling to find exits
from the post-office! When I'd finally got it all sorted, it was
time to meet the others.
 On our walk back to the hostel, it started to rain gently. The
locals seemed to get really worked out over it. Suddenly everyone
was running around with plastic bags over their head, brandishing
huge umbrellas or whipping out mobiles to phone spouses for a lift.
But to us English folk, this rain is nothing, so we just walked
normally, brushing off this mere drizzle.
We reached Chinatown again, and were amazed by how stunning it
looked at night. The neon lights, in every colour of the rainbow
glinted & reflected in the gentle rain and puddles. People pushed
past, trying to get around quickly and stay dry. A gentle red
ambience seemed to hang over the streets, mixed with the smell of
herbs, it gave the whole place a magical feeling.
With yet another urge for some food, I pulled the others into a
small Chinese snack shop, and perused the shelves for an interesting
snack. After some difficult communication with the shop workers
(they spoke little English, and I spoke no Cantonese) I managed to
get a few tasty bits & bobs. I bought a Chinese pancake and some Dim
Sum, which were all delicious. However, as the Dim Sum looked like a
little jellyfish, I couldn't convince Stinge or Em to try a bit...
By the time we reached the hostel we're all soaked through from the
light, but consistent, rain. So as our clothes were wet anyway, we
made use of the evening to stick our clothes in the laundry and to
relax for a bit.
After phoning Rose, the lady who lives in San Jose, to inform that
we'd be in San Jose tomorrow, Nat & I decided to have a walk around
San Francisco for our last night here. It was a lovely night, the
rain had eased off, the moon was bright, and the streets were alive,
because it was Saturday night. We wandered through the vibrant
streets until we reached a small Italian coffee shop where we
stopped for a drink (non-alcoholic of course, we're under 21). Nat
grabbed a sensible Cappuccino, and trying to be cultured, I had an
Espresso. Bleurgh! That was strong stuff! I managed to force it
down, before chomping on a biscotti to regain feeling in my tongue.
We took a roundabout route to get back, and when we got to the
hostel, we'd found, to our amazement, that Stinge & Em had sorted
the washing out and hung them all up! Stinge & Em doing the washing?
Whoosh! There went a flying pig!
After packing the rest of our things away, we decided to call it a
night, but not before making more use of the free internet!
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