Bay Area (4/1 - 4/3): Touring the Bay

And here we are, the 5th and final installment of my recent trip to the U.S.

When I arrived around 11 p.m. at Oakland Airport, I grabbed a shuttle over to the hotel where my mom and Reid were staying.  (Reid is my step-father, for those of you who don't know.)  I grabbed a room for myself and after chatting with my mom for a while, I did a little bit of online work and then went to bed.

The next morning I met both of them in the lobby and we checked out.  It had turned out that my sister was actually in town the day before and had eaten dinner with the two of them.  Since I got in so late I missed the party, and she had flown out very early that morning while I was still sleeping.  Ah well ... perhaps next time ...

We headed out (after checking out) and made our way across the water to San Francisco.  We were scouting out some locations for a tour group that they would be leading through town a month or two later, but it was a good chance for me to see parts of the city that I hadn't seen in a long while.

First it was over to Fisherman's Wharf.  It was pretty much as I remembered it.  We drove there via the Embarcadero and parked right next to the crab and seafood stalls.  We made our way along the waterfront to an old SF landmark called "Scoma's".  I had a shrimp and crab salad open-face sandwich which was quite delicious.  All their food was quite good, actually.  I guess the restaurant had been there for several decades since Reid remembered it from when he lived in the area, and that was back around the early part of his life.

Fisherman's Wharf

Mom and Reid checking out some seafood

Nice looking crabs

Scoma's! Good restaurant

My open-face Shrimp and Crab Sandwich

A classical SF shot

After eating we walked over to Ghiradelli Square and then headed back to the car.  Then it was time for a nice drive to a part of the Presidio I had never been to before.  There was a nice spot with a great view of the bridge so I took lots of photos there and basked in the pleasant weather.

A San Francisco Landmark

A shot of the Golden Gate Bridge

Artistic Shot of the Chain

I like the yin-yang affect of this picture

I'm pretty sure that chain is older than I am.

After that we drove through the Presidio.  Reid was stationed there back in the day when it was still a military base, so he was telling us which buildings were used for what and what places he used to hang out in.  We then drove back around from the other side and drove by the house he grew up in on Pacific. 

It was right around there that I started to fade.  I fell asleep in the car and didn't wake up until we had arrived at the hotel they were going to stay at near SFO.  I helped them check-in to their room and did a bit of work on the computer too while Reid took a nap and my mom read her book.

My mom and her book

My mom intently focused on her book

But, soon enough it was time to head out.  So, they both gave me a ride to the airport and we said our farewells.  I have to say that the one thing I'm really happy about on this trip is that I was able to see all my family members this time around.  Usually I only get to see one or two of them, but this time I got to meet up with everyone, so it feels like the trip was "complete".

I had a very late flight out of SFO. I was checking in on the 2nd of April, but the flight actually left around 1 a.m. on the 3rd.  Once again Singapore airlines was very pleasant and I slept a fair part of the way back to Hong Kong.

Since I'm writing this blog after the fact, most of what happened after I returned to Hong Kong is already known.  So, for those of you keeping track the next blog entry will pick up at the Hong Kong Film Awards and the events of my life which followed it.

Thanks for reading (or skimming, if this is Pat) everything so far.  I realize I tend to write a lot more than most people in my blogs, but I figure that someday my kids (if I ever get around to having them) will read through this stuff and it'll be nice for them to be able to know some things about me that I might not remember once they're old enough for me to tell them.

Speaking of which, Mom and Dad, hurry up and write those memoirs!

You can view all the pictures from this leg of my trip here.