Author: F C

What did I learn about San Francisco? It isn’t really a big city — P– and I hit virtually all of the neighborhoods (with the notable exception of Embarcadero/Financial District) on a 3 day $15 Muni pass. That included a half day at Alcatraz and walking over the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset. The free tourist map has a convenient checklist of tourist things to do — there were like only 15 things on the list, and we actually did most of them without even looking at the list. If you are going just to see sights, you can max out the place pretty easily. But that’s really not what the city is about.

San Francisco is an expensive city. It’s even more expensive than New York. However, the food is fresher and the seafood is more amazing. Value shopping is key. We paid $5 for sundaes at Ghirardelli Square and felt ripped off for getting only 6 oz of ice cream. However, we paid $26 for the omakase (chef’s selection) at Sushi on North Beach, and we got a 10 course meal. Gourmet Chinese food was excellent, but wasn’t value for money. However dim sum at Four Seas and Chinese pasteries at Gum Man Bakery (both Grant Avenue institutions) were incredible values. We ditched a $65 Napa tour and instead walked to Marin over the Golden Gate Bridge for $zero (not counting the transit pass). We bought wines at Safeway (10% off for a six-pack, and I joined their shopper’s club to get 2 for 1 discounts — we picked up a Modavi Private Reserve Merlot 2001 that YC and I saw being made the last time I was there — it took about 30 minutes of breathing, but afterwards, it was a fantastic wine) and chocolates at Walgreens ($2-5 cheaper than at the company store) and saved a bundle. We picked up Beach Blanket Babylon tickets for half price at the Tix Bay Area booth at Union Square, which when we told Bob the consierge gave us a totally dumbfounded look — apparently it was as if we got half price tickets to The Producers or something.

Sometimes, though, you just have to do things regardless of cost. You’re going to go to Alcatraz at least once for $15. Staying near Union Square was such a convenience it didn’t matter that it was $95 a night. Buying Girl Scout cookies from cute Japanese brownies will make you cough up $3.50. I’ve taken a new fondness for Red Bull (we snagged a 6 pack from the film festival after-party as they were a sponsor — it’s the perfect jet lag solution).

SF can be a lonely city, especially when we couldn’t get into Cafe du Nord (maxed out their capacity), and ended up missing the last tram back to downtown (froze our butts out on the median for 45 minutes for the next bus). Or when we got up for a Sunday morning flight and the BART wasn’t running and had to blow $35 for a cab. It can be a lonely city when you’re in a crowded theater and don’t know exactly how you got there, or why you eating Bento boxes in the middle of such a national landmark. There are many sidewalks where you are the solitary pedestrians, even when the street is busy. However, it encourages people to cling, especially since rents are so high that people have 4 or 5 roommates.

I made my quota of bumping into people I know unexpectedly. Risa I know from the film festival in New York and NYU. She’s such an over-achiever! MinJung is more funny, more sincere, more huggable in person than even on her website (maybe it was the liquor talking).

Of course the biggest thing that I learned was how great a travelling companion P– is. She’s good at getting the trains running on time, figuring what the hell happened to my cap or my cell phone for the 30th time, or making command decisions on cabs or public transport. Her Chinese is a gazillion times better than mine, so she bails me out when the need arises. She can make her entire wardrobe, six bottles of wine, a box of Chinese pasteries and more fit into a small red pullman, smaller than mine. She’s incredibly comforting when you’re in the middle of nowhere. And of course, that huge travel pillow that she carried, which we named “pseudo-Shelly” in honor of her sister’s beagle.

At one point I had thought about living there, though I don’t see how I would anymore. Nevertheless, I do share the intense joy for the city that Beach Blanket Babylon emits, and we intend to make the SF Asian American Film Festival a regular pilgrimage. Just stay away from the chocolate!

I’m having a fine time in San Francisco. Saw Beach Blanket Bablyon yesterday — it was worth every penny. It’s the world’s longest running variety show. The official “plot” is Snow White searches around the world to find her Prince Charming, and encounters a variety of different celebrity impersonators. However, it’s more than that, in an incredibly inexplicable way. And it’s done with a lot of big hats, some going 3 or more stories in height. Afterwards, went to Sushi at North Beach. Katsu, the owner, served us the omakase, and scored like 4 major home runs with the dishes. The next day, we walked the Golden Gate Bridge, saw a series of Asian gay themed movie shorts at the Castro Theatre for the SFAAIFF (really interesting, beautiful theater), bought bento boxes (fantastic) and bought a dozen more of those dan tats to bring home.

The mixed review is Ton Kiang, the Hakka Chinese restaurant that I really wanted to go to. The Cantonese waiter kept pushing the tamer, expensive dishes, and I was insisting on having the real stuff. Didn’t turn out so good. Let me qualify that — it was excellent Chinese food, just it wasn’t authentic Hakka dishes. However, I made small talk with the manager, Richard, who was really cool, and he said that the people here don’t really want to try the real stuff, like stuffed bitter melon, stewed beef tripe or “steamed bacon with mustard greens”. He insisted that we try him again and he’ll make sure to get us the real stuff.

We’re flying out at 8 am; we’re going to take a taxi to SFO in a few hours because the BART doesn’t run in the morning. SSW, I have fresh dan tat’s waiting if you’re willing to come out on Sunday night!

Haven’t written in a while — major problems at work, so I’ve been pulling all-nighters. However, I managed to be able to start my mini-vacation with P– on Thursday to San Francisco. We flew out of JFK to SFO and got in at 10 AM. We’re staying at a hotel near Union Square. We managed to pull of going to Fisherman’s Wharf and eat the mandatory Dungeness crab (the best place is the nondiscript place at #2 Fisherman’s Wharf that has the rattiness folding chairs but the best crab subs and whole crab at their sidewalk stand. Got cable car passes which worked great. Walgreens is our savior from tourist trap hell (their souveniors are cheaper, and their Ghirardelli chocolates are cheaper than even the ones sold at Ghirardelli Square). We walked to Ghirardelli Square, saw a few art galleries, had overpriced sundaes at Ghirardelli — we checked and found out that the cups held only 6 ozs! Saw Hero at the San Francisco Asian American Film Festival, finally met Min Jung, gorged food at the Asian Art Museum and went home to conk out. Got to the Alcatraz boat in time by taking a taxi in the morning. Had dim sum in Chinatown at Four Seas (founded 1960 — recommended) and bought Chinese pasteries at a bakery on Grant Avenue that I forgot the name of, just that it is north of Old St. Mary’s Church, but was the biggest, most delicious dan tat’s (egg custard tarts) that I’ve ever seen. Tonight we have half priced tickets to Beach Blanket Babylon and going to the Film Festival’s event at Cafe du Nord. OK, more detail tomorrow — have to find the theater….

Flying out of JFK in two weeks, being something of a travel freak, and having a nice evening with no obligations on my hands, I wanted to figure out the JFK AirTrain to see if it was practical and figure out any problems with logistics. The major question that I had was whether it was better to take the LIRR to Jamaica or the A Train to Howard Beach. So I decided to take it to Jamaica towards JFK, and the A Train departing from JFK. The tag point would be the schedule screens next to the news stand in front of the security checkpoint at Terminal 9, American Airline’s domestic terminal.

7:05 PM: bus from Downtown Brooklyn to the Flatbush LIRR station (aka Atlantic/Pacific).
7:10 PM: let off across the street on Flatbush after Atlantic Avenue. Big mistake: it’s virtually impossible to cross the street on the south west corner as traffic from those two thorughfares doesn’t stop for anyone. Note to self: get off at the previous stop.
7:18 PM: finally get into station, missed the train that had just left 3 minutes ago. Bought a $2.50 CityPass (a single one way weekend discount fare for travel within the City limits). The full off-peak fare is $6.50.
7:48 PM: next train to Jamaica leaves. This is not your parents’ LIRR train — new faux leather cushioned chairs similarin feel and color scheme to Amtrak’s Acela service. It has a real bathroom which is wheelchair accessible, meaning it’s bigger than my kitchen.
8:07 PM: train arrives on time at Jamaica. Elapsed time for this leg: 62 minutes (actual travel time had all connections been made: 25 minutes)

8:15 PM: tragedy strikes. The AirTrain is down — some sort of computer problem; the computers are being restarted. The bus just left, but another bus will show up in five minutes, at least that was the promise. A number of people go up the elevator only to be told to go back down the escalator.
8:32 PM: bus driver walks over — he was parked around the corner and no one told him he should be where we were standing. Other Chinese guy who was a Chairman Mao look-a-like was going my way — he was equally confused.
8:52 PM: Arrive at American Airlines Terminal 9. Kind of anti-climatic, but things were cooking in the arrivals area.
Total cost: $2.50 plus $1 tip to the bus driver (the bus was free because of the mishap) and 167 minutes (44 minutes of actual travel time). At full fare, this trip would have been $6.50 for the LIRR and $5 for the AirTrain.

As apparently someone managed to give a swift kick into the systems’ innards, I tried the internal loop to get to Terminal 4, the International terminal.
9:00 PM: walked over to the 8/9 AirTrain station. The internal loop train arrived. Pretty much identical to AirTrain Newark’s trains. They are actually not a monorail, but have regular size tracks and an electrified third rail. According to what I read, magnets in the bottom of the train push off against other magnets placed between the rails to propel the train, so there’s no real motor to speak of. The interiors are spacious and suitable for carrying a few pieces of luggage.
9:05 PM: We’re stuck at the station. After a woman fiddles with some hidden controls underneath the back window of the front car, we are finally able to leave the station.
9:10 PM: got to Terminal 4. Whole lot of Koreans waiting in front of the security checkpoint eating and just generally procrastinating before going through security. A Robert Palmer-esque phalanx of 5′-11″ Korean supermodels in flight attendant uniforms part the crowd as they march to the security checkpoint. Contemplate eating dinner, but the best thing on offer was a $6.34 Big Mac, so I pass on it.
9:30 PM: The outbound loop is back in operation, get on the wrong train towards Jamaica. I get off at the 8/9 stop and wait for a Howard Beach train.
9:45 PM: After 2 more Jamaica trains pass, the Howard Beach train arrives. Top speed on the train is something around 60 mph, as we were lapping cars on the Van Wyck at one point, but we eventually coasted to around 45 mph. Annoying conductor begins telling people not to lean on the doors, but there’s nowhere for people to go as it’s as crammed in as the 4 train in the morning. Must have been all of the people who got stuch when the system went down.
10:00 PM: Arrive at Station B, long term parking. The FlyerTalk bulletin board describes a technique where if you know how to exit the parking lot and get to the local streets, you can bypass the last stop and legally avoid paying the $5 fare.
10:15 PM: I walk following underneath the tracks, and end up at the last stop. However, it’s pretty dark, and I can’t find the cross-over to the other side of the street, so I give up and reenter AirTrain through Station A and pay the fare.

Total travel time for this leg: 30 minutes (10 minutes waiting for 3 trains, 15 minutes actual travel time plus 5 minutes walking between Station B and Station A).

Note to NYC natives with an unlimited Metrocard: it’s $5.00 to enter or leave the AirTrain, payable only with a debit MetroCard. Standard Unlimited Metrocard does not work. When leaving at Station A, there are two banks of hi-tech looking turnstiles: a right bank(more like straight ahead) and a left bank . If you take the left bank, your card will be debited $7 for both the AirTrain exit plus the subway entrance. If you take the right bank, you will be only charged $5 for the AirTrain exit. Then you can then turn left and enter the subway through regular turnstiles using your unlimited MetroCard and save $2.00.

10:18 PM: The A train arrives relatively quickly. Trip was quick and uneventful.
10:45 PM: A train arrives at Jay Street/Borough Hall station.
This leg: 27 minutes (30 minutes including waiting time). Total time: 75 minutes (44 minutes actual travel time, assuming 2 additional minutes had I taken the train between Stations B and A). $7 cost (could have been $5 had I not been snookered into not using the unlimited Metrocard, or $0 if I had found the long term parking shortcut).

The options are practically equal from Downtown Brooklyn except for the missed connections and the higher cost of the LIRR. As viewed on The Amazing Race, where connections are involved and all other things being equal, take the option that is more frequent and has the most opportunities for connections. Jamaica/LIRR may work out better going towards Penn Station, since trains show up practically every 5 minutes going in that direction, but there are 30 minute gaps in service going to and from Flatbush. There’s some questions about AirTrain’s overall reliability, but the staff is usually able to reboot the system or get alternate transport relatively quickly. However, while the trip itself is more comfortable and avoids traffic, it doesn’t get there faster than the previous train/bus combo, and it’s $5 more expensive.

‘American Idol’ Reject Idolized by Web (AP)

William Hung, a Real American Idol

OK, so he’s not that good of a singer, but he’s got moxie, and if he can show up Simon, more power to him!

On the Apprentice, Donald Trump’s right-hand man and general counsel George “Determinator” Ross is a ’53 grad of my law school. What a great, but high pressure GC gig that must be? My DVR failed to record this week’s episode because it recorded the competing Enterprise. Have to say I rather watch the Apprentice this time.

Mega Millions is now up to $222 million. That’s an extra $7 million from what it was when we passed the billboard on the BQE. I took the $2 that I won last time and reinvested it for Friday’s drawing. The odds of winning the jackpot are greater than 1 in 143 million; however, the odds of winning something is better than 1 in 43, which isn’t so bad.

Gage and Tollner, Brooklyn’s oldest restaurant, closed down on Saturday. It was counting on business from Ratner’s MetroTech to roll over and support a higher end market, but it never happened. The campus atmosphere encouraged companies to fund their own cafeterias so employees wouldn’t ever have to leave their buildings. The she-crab soup was really something, not to mention the landmark gas lit interior. I’d like to express my gratitude to all of the expense account meals that others have treated me there.

OnFocus briefly linked to us due to a few book mentions, such as The Tipping Point (note to everyone else writing — link your book reviews to Amazon) . The ultra-summary on the Tipping Point: there are three types of influencial people in the world: Connectors (know a lot of people), Salespeople (know how to be convincing), and Mavens (know how to find the info). The most powerful people are those that have 2 or more of these characteristics. It isn’t necessary to work on convincing a majority of the people. The actual tipping point that starts a chain reaction, or “epidemic”, turns out to be between 5% and 20%, if those “tipped” are composed of these influencial people. Growth occurs exponentially after that point. The author could have said that, and left it at that, but his book contract must have been similar to Charles Dickens — by the word. The thesis is rather simple and profound, but he repeats examples and concepts in the same way that one does to make a page limit for a term paper.

I’m booked for 2 trips to California with P– in March: 4-7 in San Francisco to catch the San Francisco International Asian Film Festival and see Napa, and 27-30 in San Diego to drive around Orange County and see Tiajuana, Mexico. That should net 10K miles, plus 5K + 1K mile bonuses, plus a free American Airlines ticket. Let’s see how that goes; I hope to see you there if you are in the area.

In the same vein, someone is trying to make a mega mileage run — he’s going to spend $7,000 to accumulate 500K miles within three months. That’s crazy!

YC just one step closer to Malaysian nuptials; leaving in his wake the SF gay marriage showdown. Would like to see him at the airport…

He shoots, he scores! I got the roses from James Weir Florist in Brooklyn Heights instead of at Chelsea Market. Turns out that I got the roses for the same price that I would have gotten from Chelsea Market. These were no bodega flowers — these were the real thing, a dozen long stems in a box.

As an interesting historical aside, James Weir started this florist shop in 1859. He is the guy responsible for changing the name of the area called Yellow Hook into what is now known as Bay Ridge.

As a gag, I dressed in typical Chinese delivery guy attire: black slacks, blue shirt, baseball cap and, the piece de resistance, a turquoise blue parka. I took one of the business cards and wrote P–‘s name and address on it and proceeded to take the subway. I had my hood on all the time on the train. It’s kind of interesting — nobody thought it was my roses on the train.

Getting off near Hunter College, I kept up the facade. I got up to the guards at P–‘s workplace, mumbled “delivery” and handled over the card. They called her up to the front, and I sprung it on her. Boy did I get everyone! We went to East for sushi for lunch, and went happily ever after.

I’m over her place right now, and the roses are holding up pretty well!

Catchup blog:
Saw the off-Bway play Platanos & Collard Greens yesterday. One of my friends is in it from law school, and was a lot more complex than I expected. Recommended.

The teams were reshuffled into co-ed teams on the Apprentice after 4 successive losses by the boy’s team. The two companies were each given $1,000 to buy stuff to be sold at a flea market; the team with the most profit wins. Getting a heads-up on future sleezyness, $200 is “lost” (aka embezzled) by one of the teams and they lose.

I find out that YC’s ex lives directly above P–‘s apartment. Major world wide disbelief ensues. Everyone’s ok about this, though, I think.

Read The Passport, reading The Tipping Point. Titles of books nowadays tend to be physical nouns rather than verbs or gerunds. Why is that?

Mission impossible: I’m going to run to Chelsea Market, buy a dozen roses, and deliver them to P– before 10 am. Let’s see if this can happen.

At a banquet at Tavern on the Green, I won election as one of nine directors of an Asian organization that I’m active with. It’s kind of wierd to being introduced by FOX 5’s Bob DeCastro to like 500 attorneys. Nice event, much better than previous ones that were basically Chinese wedding banquets. I designed the printed program, which looked really good, I had to say. Then afterwards, I had to run back to work to set up for a symposium. On the way back, I passed the new Time Warner headquarters at Columbus Circle. Holy cow, it’s huge! My friend Peter, who was heading back to Brooklyn with me, said it reminded him of Hong Kong’s version of Times Square. The symposium starts at 8 am this morning; writing this entry is probably what I shouldn’t be doing.

It’s raining in New York. That’s significant because it’s no longer freezing, even though some stupid punk groundhog Phil from PA says that we’re going to have six more weeks of winter.

Super Bowl: Ads were not that great. As a whole they were really not that inspirational. The geezers fighting over the potato chips was just wrong. Homer was good, but didn’t really change the way I thought. The two that were thought provoking were the shardsoglass.com anti-smoking ad and I kind of liked monster.com’s ID card sequence. I can’t believe that Bermuda spent the $30M for an ad though.

The Janet Jackson thing was totally bogus — everyone knew exactly what they were doing. I generally do like the CBS lineup these past 2 seasons (you can’t pry me away from the Amazing Race with a crowbar, and CSI and Joan of Arcadia are great), and this will help them on their entertainment side, but ultimately is going to hurt them on the news side — Ed Murrow and Ed Sullivan are rolling over in their graves, and Walter Cronkite would be if he had one.

Oh yeah, the game — what an awesome game! Although I had no idea who anyone was, it was the best game in at least 5 years. They were so craving for points that they were going for 2 point conversions after the touchdown, which almost never happens nowadays. You also have to think that there were 8 touchdowns and 2 field goals: the ball travelled 1,000 yards during that game — that’s more than half a mile. I don’t think I could have run a half mile like that.

I was down 25 fan in the pre-game mahjong fest, but in honor of Mastercard, I won a Homer Simpson Braineez talking head on the first half box (thanks Carolina for coming through, even though I’m sorry you didn’t go the distance).

Super Tuesday: I think that it’s obvious Kerry’s the annointed one at this point. Edwards has been trying for a stealth 2nd, but Kerry has the single package.