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