Dim Sum eats & rollerblading the San Francisco pier

August 12, 2007 Sunday

Another craving set in...why not go to Chinatown in the city and get dim sum? But Greg came up with a better idea, to eat dim sum at the best Chinese restaurant in town- Yank Sing at the Rincon Center on Howard Street in San Francisco.

So Kai got to pick and choose his food and I ate like there was no tomorrow. Yummy! This place was so busy they set up tables out in the atrium amongst great architecture and an 85-foot waterfall that flowed into a feng shui-themed pool.

The last time we ate here was at a Chinese wedding a couple years ago. My co-worker had a fascinating show with a dancing dragon during her reception. We also had a 12 course meal- unfortunately we did not look at the menu first and we stuffed our faces by the time the 2nd dish came round! OOps.

Water falls into the pool below...

The Rincon Center was actually built as a post office in 1939 and has great murals by Anton Refregier that depicts the history of Northern California. This place is on the National Registry of Historic Places. In the lobby was a display of building artifacts from the 1907 San Francisco fire. And in this case, I was intrigued by this newspaper display that was once called the Oakland Daily Evening Tribune, which was revised in 1891 and renamed the Oakland Tribune.

"Penny Pipes". For a coin, one could purchase a tobacco-filled pipe and promptly dispose of it. Betcha they didn't have much concern for recycling back in those days.

Tourist attraction! OOHOOOH I just gotta get that snow globe!

Outside view of the Rincon Center.

Red Mercedes cruising past the Oakland Bay Bridge.

Intrigued by this MRI advertisement. Could be my brain and Kai's.

Typical of us, we don't just walk like everyone else- we had to rollerblade our meal off along the pier with Kai in his off-trail stroller. We got as far as Pier 39 when we decided it was not a good idea to continue as the touristy section was getting pretty congested. There was bound to be an accident with us.

Greg says my rollerblading is just like my driving. He noticed a lot of heads turned as I dashed past pedestrians- even one guy asked "You don't jog anymore?" I told him it takes too much time.

Alacatraz seen off Pier 39.

Battleship with Golden Gate Bridge in background.

A painting by the infamous artist Wyland.

The port of San Francisco with Ghandi in the foreground.

At Pier 39, I discovered for $89 you can have a bobble-head made of yourself!

The carousel ride at Pier 39. I don't do too well going in circles anymore, so I had Greg ride with Kai while I took pictures.

Other weird and fascinating things people can get conned into doing for entertainment.

Watch the video...

The part of the bridge that collapsed and was quickly rebuilt (eek- we are driving over it- see the white section?) You might have heard on the news a couple months back on how a truck caught fire and melted this part of the bridge. Governor Schwartzeneggar requested for national assistance as this was a major highway that screwed up business.

Finally, we return home. And the Gregers come over to have dinner with us. That's Kai frowning at me for taking a picture while he plays with his buddy Brennan.