migblog

what i really liked about the past two days was the lack of sleep. after writing the previous post, david and i have basically been up for an absurdly long time. in fact, i just got up from taking a long nap from ten o'clock this morning.

the depressing foursome (ie, kat, chappy, david and i) -- the four southern californians who didn't go back home for christmas -- went to the bruno family pasghetti-fest, and soon after, after cleaning ourselves up, we went to the city and gallivanted like crazy.

i must say, it was one of the most memorable christmases i have ever spent.

we reached montgomery station, and headed towards the loews cineplex in the metreon. there was yerba buena gardens to traipse around in first. (that park is too pretty.) then, the first showing we wanted to see was sold out, so we decided to romp around san francisco.

first stop: the argent hotel, thirty-sixth floor. the view was pretty cool, and then i grabbed some stationery to write guerrilla messages on.

soon we found ourselves in the view lounge of the marriott, up thirty-nine floors and a breathtaking view of san francisco as the sun was just about to set. we could see everything, from moma a few blocks away, the bridge, and glimpses of the berkeley campus, like the hearst greek theatre and memorial stadium. after that, we ended up at the concierge, and next thing you know, we're in a cab headed towards alamo square (yay david popping his taxi cherry).

and what's in alamo square, you ask? postcard row. if you've ever seen full house, it's the row of houses right behind them in the picnic scene. it was actually really really beautiful, since the city itself was comfortably placed behind the landscape. we were going to try and figure out which one was the house they actually used for the show, so we talked to some of the owners of the houses, until the owner of the fifth house from the left invited us in (!!!) and chatted us up when he found out we were from berkeley. his mother, apparently, had gone to cal in the fifties, and when she found out that we were all cal bandsmen, she said her favorite song was "palms." (you wouldn't think that it's due to the fact that pappy waldorf was coaching around the time she was at cal, do you?)

after that, we headed on west on hayes street, eventually making our way onto grove street. it was the most shady area we could walk past, with broken glass all over, as well as the heil-santas and apartment number six-six-six. we even found a da corner in the middle of ghetto-tastic.

we kept heading west, when we eventually hit city hall, symphony hall, and the opera house. the civic center is magnificent when it's lit up at night.

so we headed north on van ness to hit the amc, and when we got there, the show was sold out again. hmm. the other side of downtown san francisco, we got pretty well acquainted with. it was cool seeing all these shops open on christmas night. and it made for good times when we were hungry as fuck and decided to go to chinatown for dinner.

we headed west on washington to make chinatown, but once again, shadiness got the better of us. up hills, down hills, awesome views of the bridge and the bay, an enclave of fire escapes near leavenworth. we realized were kinda lost when we saw the intersection of washington and larkin, and most of us realized that "where the fuck are we" was an appropriate response. what ended up happening was david and chappy jumped some parking meters, we got booted out of the cable car garage, and we ended up in this really noisy restaurant called the great oriental (i was thinking, this is a hiro hiraiwa restaurant?), where the food was good, the atmosphere loud, and the service horrible.

after that, we headed down geary to make our way to the chinatown gate and back to the financial district. lots and lots of pictures ensued, and then we decided to head to the meteron again to catch a different movie.

when we got there, the showing was sold out again, so we went around yerba buena gardens at night, with all the trees lit up and the fountains turned off. there were some potsmokers on the top level, couples strewn about the park, and the ambient environment perfect. not too cold, not too hot -- just right.

deciding, then, that going back to berkeley was not yet an option, the four of us aimed our sights at union square. the christmas tree was hugegantic, expressly outshadowing the menorah that most everyone ignored. we then went to the elevators of the westin st. francis, staying up at the thirty-first floor for a while to take in the magnificent view of the shopping centre.

and then, the lobby of the westin st. francis knew all of our deep, dark secrets. just between the four of us it wouldn't even appear to be anything, but it was somewhat shocking to hear secrets from all these people. it was good. it was something that cemented the day and made it into an amazing christmas wassailfest.

we headed back to berkeley on bart (our third bart ride in twenty-four hours) and decided that we'll be up all night. david and chris came over to not sleep, and soon after, we were headed towards brh and soon, phoenix.

the airport was much not crowded, and the plane ride was less than eventful. we got to phoenix, rehearsed in tempe, and dawdled until the game arrived.

pregame was pretty cool, hearing an entire stadium of fans yelling grrrahs and spelling out california.

the game itself was close, and needlessly overly emotional. but it reminded me of the u$c game, so close, and decided yet again by the power of tyler fredrickson's foot. fifty-two to forty-nine, the bears won an amazing bowl game. at the end, chris murphy and vincent strang conducted us both to big c and fight. those guys are so cool.

people were crying afterwards, while we were singing all hail. it was definitely a moment to behold.

the second years, i think, had a wonderful time in arizona as we hated the denny's and loved the alcohol. there was no sleep, since call time was about five hours after we had arrived from bank one ballpark, and everyone had decided to stay awake.

i had a blast with you guys.

the plane ride was again uneventful, and the bus ride was too quiet.

after a long, well-deserved eight hours of sleep, i got up, now waiting for the shb to finish so i can do some more stuff as the city empties out. i go back to southern california on monday afternoon.

this has been a most memorable seventy-two hours. and whatever it is we took out of it, we won't be stopping it anytime soon.

y'all are awesome. if i don't see you then, have a great new year.

i feel it in my fingers. i feel it in my toes.

orange mocha frappucino!

posted by Open Source Food @ 7:25 PM