A day of higher education

On Friday, my aunt was able to take some time off work, so she decided to take me out to more areas I wouldn't readily be able to get to on my own. First stop was the local Costco for some quick shopping and lunch. I found it interesting to see what kind of products they offered in the US compared to in Canada - it looks like more selection in general. Even what they offered at the cafeteria differed. The biggest difference though was that you could buy alcohol in bulk! I had forgotten that there's no restrictions on where to buy alcohol in the US unlike in Ontario, so I was totally surprised to see an entire section filled with only alcohol - beer, spirits, everything! I picked up a bottle of Remy Martin XO for myself to round out my set of fine cognac - $20 cheaper than it is here after conversion, and it came with a special jewelry gift box too!

Oh my...

My aunt wanted to take me around to take a look at the universities in the area to give me an idea of what they were like in the Bay Area (not all schools can be Stanford after all).

On the campus of the University of California, back to using my compact camera. It looked a bit bland, just grey and green, but I think the cloudy weather had a lot to do with that.


The next stop was the town of Berkeley, before visiting UC Berkeley. To get here, we had to cross the Bay Bridge, and that is one long bridge - over 3 km long! My aunt told me Berkeley would have some interesting sights, and she couldn't be more right - I think the photos speak for themselves haha. The 60s may be over, but there was still a very strong hippie/bohemian vibe in the air. Somehow, I doubt the sign in the 4th photo...take a look at the 6th photo hahaha.


On the UC Berkeley campus. I didn't spend too much time checking out the entire campus on foot, mainly because the grey skies threatened a rain storm at any time. I spent most of the time in their gift shop, checking out the very stylish University of California gear - way better than the junk in the U of T stores both in quality and style. I ended up picking up a Marshawn Lynch jersey that I had wanted since the Buffalo Bills had drafted him, and my aunt bought me a school hoodie that said California across the front (the perfect souvenir!). Honestly, the quality and feel of material is so much better than the cheap U of T stuff, the actual hood had a nice design, and inside the pouch, there was even a cool mini-pocket for a MP3 player, with a slit so that the earphone cord could go directly underneath the hoodie!


Driving through the surrounding school residence.


Driving by the school stadium and athletic fields. Ohhh, now I know what a real school stadium looks like in person hahaha. It looked like there was lacrosse practice going on while we were driving through the area (3rd photo).


Amusing myself during the car ride hahaha.


Trying to take some photos of Berkeley as we drove out of town, unfortunately with my compact camera.


When we got back into town, my aunt actually took me to the HP headquarters to take a peek at their offices and miniature product museum, since she works there. It was actually pretty interesting to see inside the offices - the company has preserved the original offices of Hewlett and Packard - and they had a layout of their most recent product releases in the lobby. It's too bad I've had too many bad experiences with their laptops, I don't think I'll ever buy another HP unless they improve their product quality.


Replica jersey of Marshawn Lynch's Cal jersey, photographed back at home. It's too bad he seems to have fallen out of favour with the Bills.


Back home, with my set of fine cognacs (all XO), now finally complete with the big 3 (Remy Martin, Courvoisier, and Hennessy) plus Camus as well (which I picked up at the airport in HK before my last flight from HK)!

When we visited UC Berkeley, we actually passed through Oakland, but there's not really much to see in Oakland so we drove straight through. I now really understand why the college experience is such a major thing in the US; from my point of view, the Canadian experience just isn't as notable. I can only imagine what it would've been like to go to university in the US; I'm kind of jealous (in a good way) of my American cousins now hahaha.

San Francisco, my way: Part II

And my long walk through SF continues (based on a very rough estimation using Google Maps, I walked at least 13.5 km that day)!

I continued northeast, wandering into what looked like SF's red light district. I like the advertising line of the bar in the last photo: "Where - good friends & girls meet"; at least it's not trying to hide what type of place it really is hahaha.


I headed back west, ending up wandering through Chinatown again.


Coming out the south end of Chinatown.


Definitely no longer in Chinatown; I continued westward along Bush St. through the southern end of an area known as Nob Hill, which looked to be mostly residential. More interesting architecture to keep my eyes busy!


Continuing west, I crossed into a mainly residential neighbourhood known as Lower Pacific Heights, which includes SF's Japantown (4th photo).


Wow, remember when this was such a big deal? I still haven't gotten my shot yet, and I don't think I ever will hahaha.


Continuing on through Lower Pacific Heights. Check out the crazy network of cables for the buses (3rd photo)!


More interesting graffiti.


The real reason why I wandered this far out west from the SF downtown core: a deadstock shoe specialty store called harputs. On their website, they were showing they had a pair of deadstock shoes that I really wanted, so I figured since I was going to be in SF, I might as well head out to the shop. Well, wouldn't you know it, with my luck, the shop was closed when I got there! They already had a moving sale and were in the middle of relocation, but nothing was listed on their website when I checked! I wouldn't say this trip was a complete waste of time, since I still got to see areas of SF most tourists probably don't see, but it was still a long walk to get out this far from where I started and I was really disappointed to learn the store was closed.


An interesting statue I noticed near the shoe store.


Looping back around east through Japantown. The Peace Pagoda (2nd photo) was donated by the city of Osaka, Japan! There were quite a few Korean shops in the area too.


Passing through the northern end of another neighbourhood known as Tenderloin. There were so many homeless people here - SF has one of the highest homeless rates in the US - and the Tenderloin area is considered a high crime area (I could feel it, prior to now researching this fact, when I walked the streets).


At Union Square. There were so many upscale shops in the area! And who says you can't go skating outdoors in sunny California (7th photo)? I ended up stopping in the Nike flagship store to take a look around - not as nice as the NYC one hahaha.


My last stop of the day in SF, the Financial District, with more interesting architecture to look at. It might've been the buildings or the sun starting to set, but the streets felt more cramped compared to the financial district in Toronto.


On the bus ride back to the Caltrain station. I could've easily walked back, but I came across a bus headed for the station just as I passed a bus stop, so I decided to board it. They have a pretty strange way of checking for fares though - halfway through the ride at one of the stops, the bus completely stopped, and transit officers came on and checked everybody's fare as they exited the bus and then everyone else who remained seated. The way it works in SF is that you're given a transfer ticket automatically after paying your fare, and luckily I read the ticket to know that you're supposed to keep it as proof of payment even if you don't plan on using it, but it seemed like such an unnecessary and time-consuming step, since you pay once you get on the bus at the front like in most cities. I guess they have a lot of problems with people trying to sneak on through the back doors?


Back at the Caltrain station.


Double-decker, just like the GO trains.


How appropriate that my day would end at a station called California Avenue! The dusk sky was gorgeous, and with this photo marked the last time I'd explore a city solo with only camera in hand, at least for now anyway...