always something to see
it started innocently enough. the boy toyed with going on a long ride with judah; i struggled with afternoon solo activities, but quickly settled on seeing a matinee. but after a conversation with a shower curtain between us, naz and i opted for a stroll to japantown, inspired by thoughts of ramen.
perhaps after we’ve been in san francisco for a year or more, we’ll grow weary of these alleged epic walks—repeated to us three separate times, “woah, that’s far.” but the truth be told, knowing that i can hoof it less than two miles, scale a few small hills, travel over 2–3 neighborhoods, seeing sights yet unseen; i quite enjoy our adventures. and seriously, walking 1.8 miles to get good japanese food (approximately 40 minutes) is not that far nor really that epic. (epic is when you see the eiffel tower in the distance from your hostel, set out on foot, and just keep walking until the base of the tower grows larger and larger.)
though our intentions were to grab some soothing bowls of ramen, we actually ended up at a conveyor belt sushi operation. but instead of a conveyor belt, it was an oval ribbon of water, where sushi plates sat on cute bamboo boats and ‘round and ‘round they went. dizzied by the options and my first visit to one of these establishments, i was pretty giddy with anticipation. i love the notion that you can eat as little or as much as you want. i stopped after about seven pieces and one hand roll, but naz snatched up a couple more plates till he reached his fill.
after japantown, our next stop was actually lower pacific heights. cute designer stores populate this street, so we made our way in and out of open doors, with no real need to buy anything. though a stop at crossroads caused me to purchase a couple semi-new tops. fillmore was blocked off part way to allow room for a small street festival. it was a $20 fee to partake in food and bevvies, but having sushi in our bellies, we weren’t interested anyway. i was more enamored with random dogs sitting outside with their owners while they brunched and the fashion show in the street. neither the models nor their clothing were captivating, so onward we moved.
through the twitterverse, we were made aware of a sporting goods store over in nob hill that was having a rooftop sample sale. preferring to hang out while naz perused sale items, i waited downstairs till he informed me that wool tops were deeply discounted. and had i needed a new wet suit, i would have walked away with one of those for half off as well.
our next destination was bubble tea; rarely a weekend goes by where we don’t stop either at quickly or a small shop in the mission called chamalyn.
feeling full from sushi, bubble tea, wool, and sunshine; we started to make our way home. though the closer to downtown we got, the more near nakedness and crazy sequined, feathery, colorful attire appeared. as we started scratching our heads and wondered what odd event SF was boasting this week, james called us and asked if we wanted to meet him at the love parade.
i didn’t see anything resembling a parade; it was a mob of kids in aforementioned clothing or non-clothing, acting out/dancing/drinking/smoking/all of the above. it was a sight to behold as the cops did their best to regulate the overflow at the entrance gates. if you’re an avid people watcher as i am, you would have loved the mayhem. some kids were already strung out at 3 in the afternoon, others were hootin’ and hollerin’, and still others looked off in bewilderment while they tried to track down friends via cell phone.
sadly, we were without proper camera for any of these scenes. but i’ll leave with this one image from the day, taken by naz with his iphone:
we continue to be in awe of SF’s festivities. there’s always something to see here, and we love it.