2014 - Oakland, CA

East of Bay Bridge is the habor-front city: Oakland. However, since the 1960s, the beauty was taken away. Many neighborhoods remain unsafe due to widespread poverty and gang violence.

BAY BRIDGE
After 3 years and 5 months of construction, the two-level bridge opened in 1936. The four-mile structure has 2 sections: a cantilever bridge and a suspension bridge connected by a center anchorage. At that time, Bay Bridge was the longest bridge in the world. From 1936 to 1962, cars travelled in both directions on the upper deck and trucks and trains, on the lower deck. In 1962, the bridge was reconfigured to have 5 westbound lanes on the upper deck and 5 eastbound  lanes on the lower deck for cars and trucks only. During the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, a section of the upper deck collapsed onto the lower deck. A new Bay Bridge began to build in 2002 and was completed in 2013. I am lucky to be on both old and new Bay Bridge!

INTERSTATE HIGHWAY 580 & 880

I-580 (MacArthur Maze) and I-880 (Nimitz Freeway) are parallel highways in SF Bay Area. Trucks are banned on I-580. It is a scenic highway. Therefore, trucks are only allowed on I-880.

CHINATOWN
The main strip is 8th Street.

Vien Huong
712 Franklin St.
94607
510-465-5938

This restaurant specializes in big bowls of soup with rice noodles (潮州河粉). It is always crowded. The soup has no M.S.G. Therefore, you can drink the whole bowl of soup. Empty the bowl! I had a 潮州米面.

Peony Seafood Restaurant (金牡丹海鲜茶寮)
388 9th St #288
94607
510-286-8866

This restaurant is ideal for dinner. The appetizer includes peanuts, slices of bitter melon and kimchi. It was the first time I ate so much bitter melon. Usually I do not eat bitter melon due to the taste. We had pork neck, chicken, vegetable with enoki and tofu, shrimps with pecans, cod, 龜苓膏 (herbal jelly) and mango pudding.

(Apologize for picture quality of the cod.)

PIEDMONT AVENUE
Boutiques, galleries, coffee shops and restaurants are located on Piedmont.

LAKE MERRITT (Grand Lake)
Located in the middle of downtown, locals walk or jog the 3.1 miles along Lake Merritt. This lake contains 155 acres of natural saltwater. In 1870, Lake Merritt was the United States' first official wildlife refuge.

Sources: Fodor's, Art & History San Francisco and baybridgeinfo.org

2014 - San Francisco, CA (II)

YERBA BUENA

Beard Papa's
I had a cream puff filled with vanilla custard... yummy!

UNION SQUARE

Westfield San Francisco Centre
This indoor shopping mall is connected with Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's. It has a very nice dome in the ceiling.
845 Market St, 94103

Located on the 4th floor, there is a Chinese restaurant specialized in noodles and hand-folded dim sum: M.Y. China. It has one of the best Chinese Chefs.

BART
In SF, there are 2 subway systems: Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and MUNI. BART is faster than MUNI.

MISSION DISTRICT
In the early 20th century, Italian and Irish people lived in this area. Since the late 1960s, it became the Latino neighborhood. The Mission District has vivid murals coloured by the public in the alleyways and on building exteriors.

Taqueria El Farolito
This place is always crowded. 1 Regular burrito shared by 3 friends. As for meat, we selected the beef tongue. Very delicious. Can you imagine what is a Super Burrito?

MaestraPeace (1994)
Women's Building, 3543 18th St.
This mural is painted by 7 artists: Juana Alicia, Miranda Bergman, Edythe Boone, Susan Cervantes, Meera Desai, Yvonne Littleton, and Irene Perez. It celebrates women around the world who work for peace. (I forgot to take the other side of the wall...).

Bi-Rite Creamery & Bakeshop
3692 18th St.
A mix of banana and peanut butter flavours ice cream

Mission Dolores Park
19th and Dolores St, 94114
SF has very fun slides for both children and adults. 2 of the slides are located in the Helen Diller Playground at Mission Dolores Park.

Mission Dolores was the first mission of San Francisco. It was settled by Spanish clerics led by captain Jose Moraga in 1776.

 (I actually slid this slide!)

(I need to have a kid with me in order to slide legally.)

On sunny afternoons, Mission Dolores Park is a popular destination for people to gather, play, picnic, walk with their dogs and enjoy the beautiful view of SF's skyline.

The Little Giant
A few steps from the Mission Dolores Park, located on the corner of the 20th and Church streets, the Little Giant was the only working hydrant allowing firefighters to halt the fires during the Great Quake (1906). Locals paint the hydrant gold in celebration each April.

CASTRO
This district is the "gay capital of the world".

HAIGHT-ASHBURY
This neighborhood retains the 1960s counterculture: the hippies! The Haight neighborhood's decline began in 1917. In the 1960s, low rent and good karma attracted groups of infamous hippies to this area. Since then, it became the mecca of Love Generation. In 1967, the Summer of Love transformed the name of this neighborhood to Haight-Ashbury. Due to gentrification, the Haight has been reborn in the past decade.

Toronado Pub
547 Haight St.
94117
415-863-2276

Apparently it is one of the best places to grab a beer with some friends. We entered. We could not stay. Someone was under age. We had a baby with us! Gotta go back next time!

Rosamunde Sausage Grill
545 Haight St.
94117
415-437-6851

Are you hungry? Right besides Toronado Pub, it is sausage time!

Wing Wings
(Lower Haight)
422 Haight St.
94117
415-834-5001

How dare us forget chicken wings? As for sauces, we tried the Angry Korean and the Papalote Salsa. The Pa Paco's Rice Pudding is also delicious.

Painted Ladies
From the Alamo Square, you can view the Painted Ladies on the opposite side of Steiner St. These 6 Victorian houses were constructed between 1870 and 1900 and were painted in the 1960s. They survived the Great Quake. The original colors were neutrals. The hippies embellished these houses by painting them with bright colors (yellow, purple, fuschia). These colors accentuate the architectural details. San Francisco's Victorian houses are in 3 main styles: Italianate, Queen Anne and Sick or Eastlake. The "Six Sisters" were built in Queen Anne style by developer Matthew Kavanaugh.

Source: Art and History San Francisco

2013 - ByWard Market, Ottawa

http://www.byward-market.com/

It is nice to walk around in the Byward Market.

According to the "You Gotta Eat Here!" television show, I tried the following 3 restaurants:
1. Pressed :
Urban Gourmet Sandwich Bar. Casual and relaxed feeling. Check out the events on their calendar.
I went to brunch there on purpose for their specialty:  Waffle Brunch on Saturday & Sunday between 10am & 2 pm.

2. The SmoQue Shack :
I love this restaurant! Enjoy your meal while watching sports. I had the sampling plate in which you choose any 3 of the BBQ meats Pork + Beef Rib. I also ate the corn bread with fried pickles.

3. MurrayStreet Kitchen :

Asparagus.

Poutine.

Charcuterie.

S'more

Finally, I had to watch a hockey game, so I decided to go in an Irish pub named the Aulde Dubliner & Pour House: the Pittsburgh Penguins@ Ottawa Senators (Game #3). The Sens finally won the game during OT #2 by 2-1. Since the Habs lost, I cheered for the Penguins, but I was happy for the Sens. Unlike Montreal, Sens fans were very happy to win this game but they were also very calm. Habs fans are much more crazier.

Guess what? This pub gave me this Budweiser helmet!!! 

2014 - Berkeley, CA

In Alameda County, besides Oakland, there is this college town known for its liberal ethos: Berkeley. This diverse community has a great reputation for its academic achievement, scientific exploration, free speech and arts.

University of California
www.berkeley.edu
This university is known as one of the leading intellectual centers in the country and a major site for scientific research. The campus is beautified by the oak trees. Cal Bear!

Piedmont
Unlike Oakland, Piedmont Ave. in Berkeley is the major street for the fraternity area.

Source: www.ci.berkeley.ca.us