Dim sum and thrown chairs
My first post from the Bay Area
The first thing I did when I got to the Bay Area was cross a bridge. Not once, not twice, not even thrice. On my first day, a crossed a bridge five times, an impressive feat of not planning ahead.
I arrived in Palo Alto, what I thought would be my final destination, ahead of schedule by 90 minutes. To get to Palo Alto, I had to cross a bridge. My friend Brian, who I would be staying with for the weekend, was nowhere near done with work. So, I went to pick up my friend Kevin, who lives in Oakland. Oakland is across that very same bridge, which I crossed during peak traffic time to pick up Kevin. Two hours after I first arrived, Kevin and I finally picked up Brian from work, crossing the bridge a third time to get him. Our first stop? An all-you-can-eat soup and salad restaurant. (Luckily, on the same side of the bridge)
Mostly, my first two days in San Francisco were spent eating different types of food. After aforementioned restaurant and detours to Dave & Buster’s and a mall, Brian, Kevin, and I got boba tea in Milpitas. It was the first of three boba shops we stopped in that weekend, but it was my first ever experience trying the drink. Though the first drink wasn’t good, I kept trying at the other shops to see if I was missing something. I still don’t think I was, but at least I tried.
The following day (after returning to Palo Alto and Oakland over that same bridge two more times and finally getting to unpack), we joined two more friends, Kim and Amber, for some morning dim sum in Chinatown. At a typical dim sum restaurant, employees push around carts with one or two types of food. Your table then states whether they want the food or not. If you do select the dish, your bill is marked and when you are done, the bill is totaled and handed back. This was my second time at a dim sum restaurant, with my first occurring in Toronto in March.
The experience in San Francisco was a lot less hectic. I knew what to expect, and Kevin was dining with me. Kevin grew up eating dim sum dishes and knew which ones were good and which ones to pass on. He also spoke with the employees in Mandarin, greatly helping our table’s street cred, ensuring we would get the dishes he wanted to see.
Later that day, we traveled to the piers. Pier 39 is the big tourist hot spot, with loads of shops and food stands. It’s also where the famous seals live. We took the long route and walked from the Ferry Building (next to Pier 1). It’s a nice walk along the bay and Embarcadero Road, though filled with tourists. Before we embarked, we ate ice cream from a place inside the Ferry Building. This was my second time eating ice cream on a pier this trip, the first occurring in Portland, Maine on the complete opposite coast. There were only a few seals at Pier 39 because they mate in Mexico over the summer. It was a bit dull, just watching them, what few there were, sitting on rocks. I’m not sure what people find appealing about them.
The next day, a Sunday, we went to Dolores Park for a nice picnic lunch. I was quite impressed with the park. It was very large and has lots of open areas. There were plenty of other people enjoying picnics, playing with dogs, or just walking through. In particular, I remember two groups of people. The first group composed of three pairs of young people. They were practicing ground-based acrobatics by balancing on top of each other and pulling off poses. Obviously, this requires immense skill and strength. A couple of my friends decided to try, and while they didn’t fail miserably, I wouldn’t be signing up to see them at the circus anytime soon. The other group I distinctly remember was a group of young people who had set up a game of pong. (I thought it was beer pong, but they were far away). A park police officer pulled up next to them and promptly kicked them out of the park. I guess even in San Francisco parks the rules of my college residence hall still apply. No pong allowed.
On my second day in the Bay Area, I convinced my friends to go with me to a game between the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants. I think what really convinced them to come was the fact that the seats were only $10. Why? Because the A’s (what most people call the Athletics) were trying to set an attendance record for the second game of the Bay Bridge series. They opened up the normally-covered Mount Davis. The seats were in center field but really high up. Also, we couldn’t really see the back of the outfield. This didn’t really affect our viewing experience too much because few balls were hit deep in the outfield. We could see the rest of the field in front of us, however.
The A’s play in the Oakland Coliseum, a venue they share (for now) with the Oakland Raiders of the NFL. The stadium is huge and one of the highest capacity in the league. Because of the cheap tickets and closeness of the visiting team’s fans, the game was a complete sellout. And, boy, did it get loud. No matter which team was doing well, I heard raucous cheering from the crowd. Of course, when the A’s scored the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning, the Coliseum went crazy.
That’s right, I said 11th inning. This game was the first on my trip to reach extra innings, and it wouldn’t be the last either. The A’s had a one-run lead heading into the ninth inning with one of the best closers in the game (Blake Treinen) on the mound to close it out. With two outs, Alen Hanson struck out but advanced to first on a wild pitch. The next batter, Hunter Pence, roped a double down the right field line. The A’s right fielder tried to field the ball as it caromed into the Giants bullpen (on the field, a quirk of the Coliseum). He was unable to snag the ball in time and throw Hanson out at home, and the game was tied. The A’s argued, with the assistance of a video review, that the Giants relief pitcher interfered with the outfielder by moving a chair. The video was inconclusive, so the A’s came to bat in the bottom half of the inning. After a scoreless, hitless 10th inning, the home team rallied with three singles in the bottom of the 11th. Jonathan Lucroy delivered the run-scoring single, giving the A’s a 4–3 victory.
Of course with the huge crowd, getting back to San Francisco proved to be a bit of a challenge. A stream of people left the stadium, trying to board the BART train back to the city. Luckily the train we were boarding was already in the station. However, it took us about 20 minutes just to get from our seats to the train, despite the fact that the station is connected to the stadium.
Home team record: 5–1
Combined team records since I’ve seen them (as of July 26): 44–18 (.710)
I have a working theory that teams I see do better after I see them play. It’s completely ridiculous, of course. Still fun to track though. It really helps that Pittsburgh reeled off a long winning streak and so did the A’s after my visits to their parks.
Where to next? My next post will be about more adventures in San Francisco.
