Year of the Monkey: Day 3

This morning, I slept in a little, but got up and packed up all of my things to go downstairs, check out, have them store my bags, then walk around Chinatown again. The guy at the front desk recommended that I get back to the front desk at 11 if I was going to Oakland, or maybe earlier, but that would mean only about 30 minutes in Chinatown. I accepted the advice, but did my own math, and set out for a last venture.

I walked further down Kearney to avoid the steep hill on California. Once going up a smaller hill, I was in the heart of Chinatown for the New Year's festival.

There were many lines for people to gamble. Shops had tents outside, and I bought some lion puppets. A green one and a black and red one. I also walked down the street with the small carnival rides, never realizing that such things could exist within such a dense city.

I then went back to Delicious Dim Sum for some breakfast and later got a sesame ball from another dim sum place. I ate my dim sum while viewing the Bay Bridge from the middle of Chinatown, then took a photo of Mark's Beauty Salon, which is Delicious Dim Sum's neighbor.

After purchasing a few more items, mainly because they were billed as "Clearance", I walked back down to my hotel and took their car to the airport, as it was about the same price as a cab. The photos taken below were taken to compare to photos of downtown Houston.

The flight home was uneventful, or at least there are no photos from the flight. I arrived home to see Bruno out and about, most likely because I left my Rifftrax and MST3k movies playing on my computer and he didn't feel so abandoned. The pet sitter also mentioned two sightings over the weekend, which was a first. He was still very happy to see me, and I prepared for work the next day.

Year of the Monkey: Day 2

Day 1 was, by far, the longest day. Day 2 was far shorter. I started the day with a headache, and only got out of my hotel room in the afternoon, which is what I didn't want to do. I went to Walgreens there and got a spatula and more Fancy Feast for Bitey.

Then, my debit card didn't work at two ATMs, but while on a call with the bank, it did work, and I finally had cash to buy more finger puppets and children's sweaters.

I got on the BART for Ashby and decided to not go to The Vault and instead get lunch at the Cameroonian place.

Delicious. I probably ate maybe half of this.

Then I walked around the flea market and decided to give one of my sweaters to a friend's daughter, because she was about 2 and they're adorable sweaters. I bought a few more things, then went to my old apartment and gave Bitey some more food. I also got to see his real owners and had a conversation with my former landlady. She said that the apartment below my old place (which has the same layout) is going for $2300 a month - or at least that is what they are trying to get. I never paid more than $1400.

While walking back to the BART, I contemplated the BART ride and walk back to the Omni and opted to take a cab back. I was texting friends to meet up for the parade and in no mood for ambiguity or complexity.  I also read some articles about the myth that the Irish were enslaved the same way that Africans were enslaved in the US. I went back to my hotel room back in SF and got ready for the parade and headed out. The crowd was so huge, and I walked all the way to the end of it before I found a suitable location. Soon enough, my friend F and a friend of his arrived, then a work friend B and his daughter arrived. F and his friend left, then B and his daughter and I watched to the end of the parade.

Here I am feeding a lion.

We then walked to Chinatown and looked for a place to eat. I also made arrangements with my friend E to meet us. He finally did meet us at the restaurant - where I had chop seuy, which was really just bean sprouts, chicken, and cabbage - and we conversed. B and his daughter left, then E and I walked around for a while before I went back to my hotel for the night.

Here is a playlist of parade videos and here are all the parade photos.

My gift from F and N.

Firecracker remains.

We wondered who the hell these little princes were.

From the Art Academy, of course.

It's the Year of the Monkey.

WTF are these things?

Obligatory Selfie