don't call it frisco 2
january 27, 2007
ever since returning back from SF, i've been feeling out of sorts. i'm trying to get back into my regular routine to find it really hard to do so because of illness, injuries or what not. and this weather keeps on changing on me. it never helps with my allergies and sinuses. but back to the san francisco entries:
i knew i was in for a really long day on saturday and i was surprised that i didn't conk out somewhere in the middle of the day. whenever i travel, my first day is typically one that is somewhat mellow. i typically fly in and check in and then hang out letting my body get accustomed to the changes. of course SF being the same time zone and only an hour long flight, there wasn't much acclimating needed. the weather and my overall fatigue however really got to me.
after strolling through fisherman's wharf, we headed over to the east bay to see my sister. it's been over 3 years since i last saw her. in fact, it was at jasmine's 2nd birthday party that she last visited LA. since then we've grown out of touch and before we knew it, it's been 3 years. this trip was really to see her and to rebuild that bond again. in addition, it was a good time for jasmine to get to know her other auntie too. since i live in socal, i'm the predominant aunt that she has interaction with but we certainly don't want to her to not know the other aunt.
it was really good to see my sister again. shortly before our trip, we started to write a lot of emails back and forth and it was just like no time had passed between us. although she's 14 years my senior, she in many ways seem younger than i.
i was happy to see that she was now living in one of the nicer areas of the east bay and everything was so nice and convenient for her. i remember as a child, i would visit her when she lived in daly city and sunset. then she moved out to pleasant hill, walnut creek and orinda. now she's at another locale that's really a nice place to live.
we strolled along her street and had dinner at one of the local japanese restaurants. it was pretty decent but then again, i have a super inflated expectation regarding japanese food. for someplace in the east bay, it wasn't bad at all. but definitely not as cheap nor as tasty as the stuff i can get in LA. but overall, a very good meal with all my siblings. i can't remember when we did something like this. i suppose what made this trip unique was that my brother and i both were there visiting my sister together. i recall when we were younger, we would visit her every year until he got too old to travel with me and then i got too old to travel with him. i think the last time we did that was when i was 14?
after dinner, we bid adieu and took BART back into the city and walked to our hotel in union square. i remember a couple years ago i was watching the travel channel and samantha brown was talking about some hotel she was trying out called hotel diva. it looked interesting and since then i filed the hotel name away in my head. so when i began planning for this trip, i pulled the name out of the cobwebs of my memory and looked into it. it was very well centrally located and the price was very very good for the city being that it was about 1.5 blocks away from union square.
by the time we got to our room, it was nearing 10pm. i walked in to find a rather ample sized room with a murphy bed in the wall and then found a separate bedroom - each of the room having its own LCD tv and heating system. this all turned out to be a blessing as TGILW came down with a major flu and was pretty much bedridden on that murphy bed for 2 whole days. thank god i didn't have to share his bed, air, or tv. he was sick on his own in the "living room" area while i got the sterility of my own bedroom. of course being cooped up with his germs eventually caused my downfall when i returned home.
the room itself though was very modern, clean and sleek. i love hotels that looks like this. i also like plush places as well but i prefer things to be spartan and neat. the table and chairs came in handy though as that was our centralized dining area for the 2 days that he was in the room. all in all, it worked out well to our situation.
i ended up really loving the hotel diva for its really nice and sincere staff, convenience to everything from walgreens, cable cars, union square, westfield shopping center etc and their free business center and free bag of toiletries galore!! BUT i have to say that the noise level was really terrible. sirens, homeless folks cussing, crazy hookers and some live band performance were heard outside at all hours of the night. i thought i was going to not make it. as much as i love all the pros about it, having to deal with pan handlers every single day and the noise pollution makes me want to reconsider staying there next time. it was however quite cheap, clean and fab though. ah well.
due to the aforementioned noise decibels that night, i hardly slept. by the time i woke up sunday, i wasn't feeling so great. TGILW came down with a full on flu by this time and was shivering, feverish and completely bed-ridden. not wanting to get more sick, i went out on the cable car to pick up something that we left behind at one of the coffee shops the day before. then i rode the cable car up to chinatown and then got the sickie some jook. while i was in chinatown, i picked up some chinese meds for him as well.
when i was younger, i would spend most of my trip in chinatown for some reason. it completely mesmerized me in so many ways - sounds, sights, emotions, imagination. everything about it was such a wonder to me. it amazes me that this place was home to so many chinese way back when and here it still stands to this day.
there were always favorite alleys for me to walk along and favorite restaurants and bakeries to visit. i would listen to the toisanese talking and wishing how we would have a chinatown this vast with such a rich history in los angeles. somehow i could walk there for hours and hours before heading home to my sisters. i thought i would get a chance to savor those memories again during this visit but unfortunately, my 2 visits to chinatown were very short and fleeting. i'll have to make a more conscious effort to block out time for it next time i'm there.
after dropping off the food and checking in on the sick boy, i ventured out again to do some shopping for my sister at the new westfield shopping center. wow, things have really changed since i was last there. i remember when the nordstroms in the sf centre was the newest thing but now bloomies has really changed the look of market street. although the shops were a lot like most of the other nicer westfield properties here in socal, i did enjoy spending my time grazing through bloomingdales. i never get a chance to shop at the bloomies here in LA for some reason. everything was *so* tempting to buy but i only purchased a new purse from francesco biasia for $150! it was $200 off! :o aside from the big name luxury brands of purses, i do love some nice mid-line purses as well and francesco biasia is definitely one that i do keep my eye out for often.
i spent a good two hours in westfield but would you believe that i didn't even get a chance to hit 2nd floor and above?!?! i was only on first floor and the basement picking up a few things here and there. oh, how i would really love to have spent hours shopping there for myself but i don't really *need* much these days...especially now that i'm not working and i don't need to dress up at all (not that i ever did for work).
shortly after shopping, i returned back to the hotel and grabbed a slice of pizza along the way. it obviously was not the type of trip i was expecting to have since i was going back to see how TGILW was doing. as i thought, he was still in bed and pumped up on meds. seeing that the hotel room did not offer much of a safe refuge, i headed out shortly after that to borders to spend an hour or so looking at books.
i realized how much of a mass transit girl i am when someone said to me "you love public transportation don't you?" random statement i know but i do love good efficient, effective public transportation. i don't consider los angeles to fall into this category unfortunately. at least not at this very moment in time. or not until they build a cool metroline by where i live. BART is great though. it's up there in cleanliness and comfort really. not too many other subway system uses upholstered seats that's for sure. as much as i love to use the red/green/blue/gold lines here in LA - they aren't exactly right at my doorstep. buses are good if you live close to a stop. metrolink is way to expensive at times although quite a nice ride overall. i guess for the time being, i'll have to stick to my car when living in LA.
after wandering around borders and lush, i went back to get some dinner for the bedridden one. i never thought that all 3 meals in that one day would be eaten in my hotel room that's for sure. at least i'm still thankful i didn't come down with whatever he got.
yet.
and the fact that i did get some downtime to think about things on my own.
currently listening to: bic runga, when i see you smile [god, how i love this song right now]
