About the Trip III

Well, I left off after Alcatraz which we loved.

After getting off the ferry at the wharf, we rode the buses up to China Town and spent the rest of the afternoon there. How can I describe the oldest and one of the largest China Town's in the country? Well, it was fascinating and I loved every bit of it. The streets are very steep and you need to hold on tight to the rail of the bus as it is going up the steep incline. You have to climb out of the bus at your stop.

Our first stop was at the Dim Sum place that was recommended in the guide book. It was called the AH He Tea Room. It has been opened since 1920 and looked like it. It was off an alley way but just about everything there is off an alley way. The restaurant was very small about 8 tables. We did not get there until 3:00, so we were the only ones there besides the people working there. They were sitting at the table next to us eating their lunch while we were eating our lunch, it was just that type of place. Very family friendly and casual. It was as if you had a Chinese grandmother and you walked into her kitchen and ate what she made. That is how they made us feel. Very warm and welcoming. The food was traditional Dim Sum and we ordered the Dim Sum lunch. It was a culinary adventure that is for sure. It was excellent, and has now ruined all other Chinese food for me. P.F. Change's pales in comparison now. Mike loved it. We ate everything and it was the perfect amount of food. We left full and happy much like the happy Buddha shrine that we passed by on the way out. Buddha eats lunch there as well, he had a plate of food out and candles burning. It was quite the sight.

We then walked up a very steep hill in the wrong direction, but when is SF you must walk up at least one steep hill, right? We got our bearings and then asked the man cleaning the streets where to find our next destination. He gave us the directions and we headed out into the busy and foreign streets of China Town. Everywhere you looked there were crowds people. Can you picture the old man pushing a little cart laden with his fresh groceries that he had just bought? Perhaps you can picture the tail of the red fish still flapping in the grocery bag, that was one fresh fish. Picture store window after store window of butchers. They had displayed their wares of whole chickens, pigs, birds. Can you see the pork fat dripping into the chop suey displayed in the window? Can you smell all the smells? The air was filled with spices and chatter. Absolutely magical, enchanting. I felt transported to a different place and time. Time as seemed to stop there.

Our next stop was the fortune cookie "factory." I use the term "factory" loosely as it was a very small store front. We found it off another alley way. The man sitting out front of the store took one look at us and knew we were there to see the "factory." I am not sure how he knew that, maybe because we were the only white people in several blocks. We were warmly invited in to see the cookies being hand made, each one carefully folded and stuffed with the paper. I asked the woman if I could take a picture. She said 50 cents. Apparently there was a hand written sign that was above her head that said if you wanted a picture, pay 50 cents. I dug through my purse and placed 50 cents in the jar sitting across from her. It was so much fun seeing that.