Before leaving for San Francisco, I went to the Chase Bank in the Food Maxx Shopping Center, on the corner of Tuolumne and Redwood Streets, here in Vallejo, CA, to deposit a check and to get some spending money for my vacation. When I parked my car, I noticed a bunch of police officers surrounding a silver-colored car. The cop that approached the car on the right side had his right hand on his gun, ready to shoot whoever was in the car.
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| I was standing in front of Goin' Postal when I took this quick shot. There was a total of 1 unmarked police car, 1 police motorcycle and 4 standard police cars. |
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| Here's a better photo. I had to be quick about shooting the pictures because I didn't want any of the cops to notice that I was shooting at them because they might shoot back at me--and you know cops don't usually carry cameras to shoot with! Ha, ha, ha. Anyway, I actually took a total of five photos of this incident; but the other three didn't turn-out well so I just deleted them. And the 3 AAA batteries in my Vivitar Vivicam 9112 died-out on me! 'Talk about bad timing!!! |
I asked the teller at the Chase Bank inside of Food Maxx what the commotion was all about outside of the store. She didn't know. Then, she asked me how my day was going. I told her that it's the start of my vacation, that I am on my way to San Francisco where I'll be staying for the next few days. And I added that I planned on going to Fisherman's Wharf, via Cable Car, and that I was gonna check out Joe's Crab Shack because somebody recommended the place to me two days ago. And the teller told me to try the "Boiling Crab", whatever that is.
On my way back to my car, I saw the cops taking into custody two adults and two teens.
Then, I saw a man, riding a yellow Geely Motor Scooter, pull into a parking spot in front of Goin' Postal. I went over and asked him about his scooter because I wasn't sure about the reliability of Chinese-made scooters ( I read some "horror" stories of such scooters ). He said that it was okay. Then, I asked him if it could go up and down hills easily because Vallejo has a lot of hills. He said that it could. When I asked him what kind of license it takes to operate his scooter and he said that all that was needed was a helmet, I realized that the scooter was just a 50cc. I looked at the speedometer; sure enough, it only has a top speed of just 60 kph ( 37 mph ). 'Not fast enough on city streets where a bunch of Dumbass Idiot Drivers recklessly and impatiently drive around.
I boarded the SolTrans # 4 bus at 11:16 a.m. On Broadway, a female driver took over the bus. When we got to Old Downtown Vallejo, she made a left on Sonoma Boulevard and a right on York Street when she should have made a right on Sonoma Boulevard and a left on Florida Street! She put her hands up in the air and said, "Oops, I went the wrong way!" ( Woman driver--ha, ha, ha. ) She called the # 80 to let the driver of that bus know that we would be late arriving at the transfer station.
The SolTrans # 80 was approaching the Lemon Street/Curtola Parkway bus stop when I noticed a feature I hadn't seen before in the 24 years that I've lived here in Vallejo, CA: Lake Dalwigk now has water in it!!! The last time that I passed by this place was six ( 6 ) months ago when some workers were digging the land. Yes, Lake Dalwigk was a landfill with weeds and tall grass growing all over the area. And I didn't know that this place was a lake until about 1994 ( two years before my mom passed away ) when I looked it up on the map and went looking for it because I wanted to go swimming in a lake but all I found was dry land!!! The water is still very low right now. Maybe, it will be totally reclaimed someday and become a little lake once again--good, because I want to christen this lake with my pee.
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| Bear in mind, this picture of Lake Dalwigk is an artist's rendering of what it would look like once it is filled with water to full capacity. |
As I waited for the San Francisco-bound BART train at the El Cerrito Del Norte BART Station, I took this photo of the bus that I was just on, SolTrans # 80:
When I stepped-out of the Montgomery BART Station, the first thing that I did was walk on over to the 7-11 Store on Sutter Street to buy a Cheese Stick and a 16.9 oz bottle of water ( for a total of $2.09 ) because I had a very light breakfast and was quite famished.
I checked-in at Grant Plaza Hotel in San Francisco's Chinatown. I was assigned room # 209, a single-occupancy room this time but in the same hallway as the one I stayed in six months ago.
After dropping-off my bags in my room, trying the alarm clock to make sure that it will wake me up on time tomorrow, and checking their free Wi-Fi connection, I decided to walk up Chinatown because I wanted to eat at the All-You-Can-Eat Dim Sum Restaurant that I saw last year. But I couldn't find it anymore. I guess somebody tipped them off to let them know that I was coming with a voracious appetite for anything Chinese!
I decided to walk a block over, to Washington Street, still looking for the dim sum buffet restaurant, when right there on the corner of Grant Avenue, at 1:56 p.m., a short Buddhist nun accosted me and asked me if I would like a protection amulet, a Kai Guang ( a.k.a. Guanyin Bodhisattva ) amulet. I initially refused her offer, but I did my Zhunti Mantra on my commute to San Francisco and it would have been rude of me to refuse a Buddhist nun right after I had just recited a Buddhist mantra. So, I gave in. She asked for a $5.00 donation as she handed me the "golden" amulet. As I was about to give her a 5-spot, she asked me to put my name on a booklet--my name was probably the only one listed on that page that was not written in Chinese! Then, before I could do anything else, she slipped a wooden bracelet on my right wrist. Then, she asked me to put my donation amount on the page. I wrote 5, she wrote 10, I gave her a 5, then she corrected her entry--I don't know what that was all about ( miscommunication, perhaps ).
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| This is not my hand ( obviously, I don't use nail polish ). I found this picture on the Internet. But the amulet is the same as the one that I was given. The wooden bracelet is not the same, though. The wooden bracelet that I was given has a big oblong bead ( 7 total ) alternating with two smaller round beads ( 14 total ). And the wooden bracelet is made of Sandalwood and a stretchy brown string, just so you know. |
According to what I found on the Internet, Kai Guang means "Opening of Light." And it is quite serendipitous that I would be handed this amulet after I had just recited the Zhunti Mantra, a mantra used for Divine Enlightenment.
Since I had not had lunch yet, I just decided to eat at Eastern Bakery, San Francisco's oldest Chinese bakery, and my eldest sister's frequent dining spot when she lived here in San Francisco years ago before she moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Inside of this bakery is a poster of former President Bill Clinton posing with the owner.
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| This bakery is right on the corner of Grant Avenue and Commercial Street. It was featured in last year's AAA NCNU's ( AAA Northern California, Nevada, Utah ) VIA Magazine, I forget which month. |
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At Eastern Bakery, I bought a Baked Pork Bun, a Chinese "tamale", a 16.9 oz bottle of Lipton Green Tea Lemonade, a bag of crystallized Water Chestnuts and a bag of crystallized Kumquats, all for $8.72.
As I sat at the table, I noticed that I had a clear view of the restroom. And I could see the cook ( they serve lunch and dinner, too ) washing his hands in there since he left the door open. I noticed something strange and quickly took a picture of it ( which is why it's kind of blurry ):
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| Do you notice anything out of place in this picture? 'Give up ...? On the upper right of the red-colored door frame is a roll of toilet paper!!! I guess you really need to keep the door wide open if you're gonna use this toilet. Ha, ha, ha---Snort! I wonder if ol' Bill Clinton had to use this toilet and if his bodyguard covered for him and/or handed him the toilet paper as needed. LOL |
On my way back to the hotel, I took this picture of it from across the street:
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| Not shown in this picture, and to the right of it, was where I stayed 6 months ago. I can easily afford to stay at a better hotel--even for free--but this one is close to where I want to go exploring. Besides, I can always write this off when I file my income tax next year because of the true nature of my visit. |
Back in my hotel room, I took the following three pictures to show you where I'll be staying at for the next few days. By the way, this room has creaky floorboards like the one I occupied six months ago.
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| You can see my Acer C7 Chromebook on the table in the foreground and my backpack and hat in the background. |
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| This is the bed. For some reason, I cannot get the curtain to come down. Oh, well, I guess the hotel guests staying across from me will just have to endure seeing me butt-naked in bed for the next few nights! Ha, ha, ha. |
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| This is the bathroom. At least, it's a shower tub this time around! Six months ago, I was in a double-occupancy room with only a shower stall--'doesn't make sense at all. |
Loading the above photos to my Acer C7 Chromebook and downloading them to this blog post drained my camera's fresh set of AAA batteries by 50%! I had to walk down to the Walgreens Drug Store at 141 Kearny Street to buy an 8-pack set of store-brand AAA batteries. I spent $5.53 on my purchase.
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| I decided to watch OBLIVION again for the 3rd time because I was unsure about my notes on the drones. Sure enough, I was wrong and I corrected my mistakes on the drones. During the movie's Ending Credits, an elderly white gentleman stopped in front of me and asked, "Can you explain the movie to us ( he was with his wife )?" Actually, I said, I already blogged about it. "'You are seeing it for the second time?" No, I said, this is my third time--I wanted to see it in I-Max. Then, I gave him my Cine-Man card so that he could read what I have to say about this movie. We shook hands before he and his wife left. |
I spent $18.00 for the 7:30 p.m. I-Max show. And I paid $4.25 for a 20.0 oz bottle of Powerade, and $5.00 for a tray of Curly Fries w/ Ranch Dressing and two packets of Parmesan Cheese at the concessions counter. I squirted some Ketchup into my Ranch Dressing cup just to liven-up the flavor.
Their I-Max show was reserved seating only--this is a new one on me! I was assigned C24 ( i.e. 3rd row from the front, 24th column from the right ). But some Chinese idiot sat in C23--'probably just sat there because he wanted to. So, I was forced to sit in C25. Luckily for me, nobody else sat anywhere to my left. Later on, the Chinese guy said to me that he sat too close to the screen. I said that I like sitting close to the screen. Late in the movie, I glanced at him and saw him resting his head in the palm of his left hand, either he was getting sleepy or he was getting eye and neck strain. Hah! good for him---Not!!!
After the movie, as I exited the theatre, a wheelchair-bound beggar on the sidewalk blocked my way to try to "bum" some "spare change" from me. I was put-off by his aggressiveness and just walked away.
I went to a newspaper dispenser nearby and got a copy of the English edition of the Epoch Times. This newspaper concerns itself mostly with news about China that the mainstream media dare not to report on. One of the things that I look for when I peruse this newspaper is the total number of Chinese people who have renounced their ties to the Chinese Communist Party; as of this current issue ( April 18-24, 2013 ) the number now stands at 136,560,817, and counting ....
I went to the Del Taco at 711 Market Street, Suite B, to have a late dinner and to check-out the place because I've never been to a Del Taco before. I ordered the # 6 meal combo ( burrito and small cup of water---I did have a small sip of their lemonade, though ) for $6.62. After finishing my meal and before heading back to the hotel, I took the following picture:
I walked up Grant Avenue and noticed about four homeless people sleeping on the sidewalk.
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