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Cute Animals at the Zoo Today

July 31, 2012 by Mom on the Make 5 Comments

Sleeping Lion

Sleeping Lion at San Francisco Zoo

We visited the San Francisco zoo today for our second time this summer.

As you know from my recent post, this is my favorite zoo.  I just love visiting the precious animals and feeling the ocean breeze blowing throughout the space.

I believe the animals seem extra content here due to the amazing location directly across the street from the Pacific Ocean.

We saw some really furry and very cute animals today and I snapped a few of their photos to share. One of the reasons I am so enamored with this zoo is how close up you can get to the animals, which makes me want to snap photos all day long.

We were treated to viewing several animals as they napped.  They just looked so precious and huggable.  I know, I know, the fluffy white polar bears are not animals we should run up to and hug, but still, they are just so darn cute.  🙂

My Photos from the San Francisco Zoo today

Anteater at San Francisco Zoo

Anteater

Anteaters are extraordinary to watch roaming around their habitat.

Anteater at San Francisco Zoo

Anteaters move fast

Sleeping Lion at San Francisco Zoo

Sleeping Lion – so sweet 🙂

Close up view of the Big Cat

Close up view of the Big Cat

Going for a pleasant swim

Going for a pleasant swim

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

This Bald Eagle was hidden amongst a group of trees.  My brother pointed him out and I zoomed in.  How precious is that face?

Polar Bear at San Francisco Zoo

32 year old Polar Bear lounging in the afternoon

Polar Bear Close up

Close up of this sweet Polar Bear

Its hard to believe that the Polar Bear is one of the most ferocious bears.  You only want to encounter them from afar, or with a zoom lens. 🙂

Baby Seagull at San Francisco Zoo

Baby Seagull hanging out at the Sea Lion exhibit

Mama Seagull with her babies

Mama Seagull with her babies

Sea Lions at San Francisco Zoo

Sea Lions swimming so gracefully

Roseate Spoonbill at San Francisco Zoo

Roseate Spoonbill in the Rainforest Exhibit

Colorful Macaws at San Francisco Zoo

Colorful Macaws in the Rainforest Exhibit

Double Wattles Cassowary

Double Wattles Cassowary

The Double Wattles Cassowary has a very unique look.  It looks like he is wearing a crown made of gold on his large head.

Giraffe at San Francisco Zoo

Giraffe enjoying dinner

We were lucky to see the giraffes up close in the giraffe house at the closing of the zoo for the day.  By the time we made it to the African Savanna, the giraffes had been put back in their house for dinner.  They were amazing to watch so close up.

San Francisco Zoo

San Francisco Zoo – see the Pacific Ocean in the background?

Bye San Francisco Zoo.  We will be back soon.  Especially since we purchased a Family Membership today that is good for a year.  🙂

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: family activities, san francisco, zoo

We Went to the San Francisco Zoo Today

July 13, 2012 by Mom on the Make 3 Comments

East African Crowned Crane

East African Crowned Crane at the San Francisco Zoo

Mountain Man, Imagineer, Bam-Bam and I spent the latter half of today at the San Francisco Zoo.

This zoo is my favorite zoo, amongst all of the zoos I’ve visited with the little ones over the past decade.  The ocean breezes have a lot to do with it as well as the Lion House and the super cute train ride.

…

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Filed Under: Family Tagged With: family activities, san francisco, zoo

San Francisco Chinatown Walking Tour

May 6, 2012 by Mom on the Make Leave a Comment

Chinatown San Franciso

Chinatown San Franciso

I had the pleasure of taking a guided walking tour of Chinatown in San Francisco yesterday.  This tour was led by historian, Rick Evans.  Rick is a wonderful tour guide with insights galore into the history of the different neighborhoods of San Francisco.

My Mom and I have been on Rick’s Financial District Architecture Tour and loved it, so decided to give the Chinatown Tour a try as well.

Start of the Tour

We met at the Starbucks at the intersection of Grant and Bush directly in front of the entrance to Chinatown.  Rick showed us a map of where we would be heading for our tour.  He pointed out that for the first two blocks of Chinatown, there were no Chinese restaurants. I had never noticed that before, but its true.

The real Chinatown starts two blocks after the main entrance.  When you see red lanterns hanging above you, Chinatown officially begins.

Once we entered Chinatown, we walked about one block to St. Mary’s Square where we learned about

Sun Yat-sen Chinatown San Francisco

Sun Yat-sen Statue Chinatown San Francisco

Sun Yat-sen.  Sun Yat-sen is a very important person in Chinese history as he was the founding father of the Republic of China.  He is considered to be the first to introduce the democratic revolution to China.  There is a very large statue of Sun Yat Sen in the square.

What struck me about the St. Mary’s Square is that it is off the beaten path.  If I hadn’t taken this tour, I probably never would have visited this square.  It is definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.

The Old St. Mary’s Church, built in 1854, is the first Catholic Cathedral in the West.  Very beautiful and peaceful inside.  Our tour guide explained that they are able to keep it going due to the weddings that are booked there every weekend.

Visit to Tien Hou Temple

We visited a Taoist temple on Waverly street.  This is the oldest Chinese Temple in the US.  You have to walk up four flights of stairs to get to it, but it is worth it.  The stairs reminded me of the movie with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda, Barefoot in the Park.  The stairs to their apartment in that movie are so steep , all of their visitors are out of breath when they arrive.  🙂

Steeped in history and incense, the temple is pretty neat to visit.  When you first walk in, you are supposed to put your incense stick into a bowl of gravel to announce to the gods that you are there.  It is nice to bring fruit to put at the altar to feed the gods.

There are lanterns hanging from the ceiling that people will purchase at the Chinese New Year for good luck.  The more you donate, the closer your lantern will be placed to the altar and the gods, and, the greater fortunes you will receive that year.

I thought their tradition of burning paper items in a big furnace for their deceased loved ones was especially interesting.  It is best to explain this tradition with an example.  Let’s say your uncle recently passed away. It is believed that you need to send him money in heaven to pay off the devil from chasing him.  The way to do this is to buy play paper money and throw it into the furnace, so that it can burn and go straight up to you uncle.

View from Tien Hou Temple

View from Tien Hou Temple

If you have not come to visit the furnace in a year or so, they have play paper credit cards, you can burn to send up to you uncle.  This way, he will not run out of cash to pay off the devil from chasing him.

In the several of the stores in Chinatown, you will see packages of paper items to send to you loved ones including paper cell phones, credit cards, money, jewels etc…  Very interesting tradition.

The views from this temple are quite extraordinary.

Great Wall Herb Store

The Great Wall Herb Store is the best in Chinatown, according to our tour guide’s opinion.  You can go to this store and visit the diagnostician in the back of the store and describe your ailment.  She will then prescribe an herb blend that will help you heal.

This was an amazing place to visit.  There were probably 200 wooden drawers behind the counter that looked like old card catalogs from a library.  Each of these drawers has special herbs and ingredients to create your healing medicine.   One of the drawers that was out while we were visiting was locust shells.  :0

Once you have gathered you ingredients, then you take your bag home and boil it in water.  You then drink the tea that is created.  This store was VERY busy and it appeared to be a thriving business.  Eastern medicine has been around far longer than western medicine, so I’m pretty sure they have some very valuable insights into maintaining balance and health.  I want to visit the diagnostician about my lower back pain.  I’ll report back and let you know how it goes.

Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory

Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory

Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory

It was really neat to visit the fortune cookie factory and check out the machines that create these unique cookies.  You can see in the picture to the right, that the machines are very efficient and create perfect circles of dough that the technician will then fold very quickly into a fortune cookie shape.  The folding has to be super quick so that the dough does not dry.

We were treated to samples during our visit of some of the cookies that dried in a circle before they had a chance to be folded.  I also bought some delicious almond cookies.

Ten Ren Tea

The Ten Ren Tea shop was delightful to visit.  We were taken to a tasting table where our tour guide

Ten Ren Tea

Ten Ren Tea

treated us to Hibiscus Spice Tea.  SO delicious.  It was red and had the perfect amount of spice to it.  I bought a package of this one and am enjoying one glass a day of this beneficial tea.

Portsmouth Square

Portsmouth Square was the last stop on our tour.  This square is known as “Chinatown’s backyard”.  The residents of Chinatown converge here every day to enjoy the breezes from the Bay and to play poker.

The women play for pennies and the men play for dollars.  Its neat to see the social groups in their separate huddles playing cards.  This has been a long time Chinese tradition and is quite evident in this square.

Walking Tours are Great

I think walking tours in big cities that are rich with history are just fantastic.  I believe they are the only way to truly understand the city and to get into the nitty gritty details of the history.  This tour really opened my eyes to the grand history of San Francisco and Chinatown specifically.

This post just touches on some of the highlights, but many more details and stories were covered by Rick as he took us on a journey to the past.  I think delving into the past makes us really appreciate our city and better understand the ins and outs of the different neighborhoods, which are all worlds of their own.

Last, but now least, I have to mention where we ventured after our tour for a delicious dinner.  R&G

R & G Lounge Dishes

R & G Lounge Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice and Cashew Chicken

Lounge, which is around the corner from Portsmouth Square serves authentic Chinese food and is wonderful.

From the entrance, you walk down a long stairway to the basement restaurant.  You will notice that the Salt and Pepper Crab is ordered quite a bit by glancing at patron’s plates.  We were not in the mood for crab this time, but what we did order was delicious.

Pineapple and Shrimp Fried Rice and Chicken Cashew was really, really yummy.  🙂

So, get out there and take those walks, learn a lot, and finish your informative day with a delicious local dinner.  Enjoy!

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: entertainment, family activities, san francisco

Swimming from Alcatraz Island

April 18, 2012 by Mom on the Make 1 Comment

Alcatraz

Alcatraz with San Francisco in background

Sometimes, as a Mom, I believe its a good idea to get out of your comfort zone and do something a little crazy.

Something that will challenge and inspire you.

My Alcatraz swim fits into this crazy category, and I remember it with fond memories.

The Swim from Alcatraz

Icy cold waters, high waves, and high winds are typically what come to mind when you think of swimming in the San Francisco Bay.

Even with these conditions, thousands of people every year brave the treacherous cold to complete the Alcatraz crossing, a 1.5 mile swim from Alcatraz to the city.

I understand the allure of this swim, and here is my story……..

In 2004, I watched my brother get on a boat at Pier 42 in San Francisco and head on out to Alcatraz Island.  When the boat reached Alcatraz, all 200 of the swimmers on the boat jumped into the cold waters of the San Francisco Bay to begin their 1.5 mile swim back to the city.

I decided to be a spectator on the boat ride and was able to stand on the top deck, so I had a first hand view of the event.

At the time, I thought my brother and all of the other swimmers were insane.  I could not stop laughing when my brother jumped off the boat and said “wow,that’s cold”.  I was truly awestruck that such a race even existed, much less drew this much interest.

My shock did not last long though, because the following year, I decided to attempt my first Alcatraz crossing.

My First Swim From Alcatraz

I signed up to compete in the “Swim with the Centurions” race hosted by Pedro Ordenes and the Water World Swim Club.  The event took place in July and I was extremely uneasy about my decision to do this swim.

The beneficial part for me about signing up for an event is that it causes me to be very consistent with my swim workouts.  This consistency is created out of a desire to make sure I do not look foolish or completely out of shape.  🙂

On race morning, I arrived at the bleachers in front of Ghiradelli Square at 6:30am in Aquatic Park to check in, put my wetsuit on, and mentally prepared for my race.

Yes, I chose to be in the wetsuit group as opposed to the “skinny dippers”.  If you chose to not wear a wetsuit (only a swimsuit), you were referred to as a “skinny dipper”, which I thought was very amusing.

It is necessary to have two race divisions, because with a wetsuit, you should swim faster than without one.  Its incredible how the wetsuit gives you much more buoyancy and such a super sleek feel in the water (its like wearing dolphin skin).

This was my first experience with a wetsuit.  After the initial 14 tries or so of trying to put my suit on in the store, I finally got the hang of it!  The suit really does make swimming in cold waters so much more bearable.

The March to Pier 42

Ship to AlcatrazThe boat for the swimmers to get out to Alcatraz takes off from Pier 42, which is about a 3/4 mile walk from the bleachers at Aquatic Park.  To make the beginning of this walk momentous and to kick off the craziness with style, the race coordinators hired several Scottish bagpipe players.

The idea is that when you hear the bagpipes, this is your signal to start the walk to the boat that will take you to Alcatraz.  The boat will take you to the rock, where you will then jump off the boat and swim back to Aquatic Park.

When the bagpipes started, the butterflies started for me.  I was distracted by all of the silliness going on around me.  There was a man dressed up as a shark as well as people in their bathrobes and slippers making their way to the boat.

We were literally walking through the streets of San Francisco at 7am in the morning on a Sunday, being led by bagpipers.  Really, really fun stuff.  🙂

We Arrive at the Boat

Finally, the walk that seemed to go on forever ended at Pier 42, where we were greeted by a large boat that was the size of the Blue and Gold Fleet tour boats that you see frequently in the San Francisco Bay.

I climbed aboard and started to obsessively adjust my cap and goggles.  I really did not want my goggles to fall off when I dove from the boat.  Its ok to lose your goggles in a pool, but not in the murky San Francisco Bay.  I also wore two swim caps, just in case one fell off from the persistent waves.  The waves were a medium size that day, so I guess it could have been worse.

The Jump off the Boat at the Alcatraz Rock

The ride was about 10 minutes at the most.  It could have been shorter – my memory is

Alcatraz 100

Alcatraz 100

probably clouded by the extreme terror I was feeling at that particular moment.  Over the few weeks leading up to the event, I had gotten myself worked up over the threat of sharks lurking in the Bay.

I had been assured, though, by many individuals that the only sharks in that region of the bay were sand sharks that swam very close to the bottom of the bay and nowhere near the swimmers.  Great, that calms my fears.  NOT.

I had done my research and found out that the sharks humans should really be worried about are great white sharks.  The great whites are interested in humans if they catch them encroaching on their territory, but most other types of sharks are not interested in messing with us.  PHEW…

So, I had mostly gotten over this fear, but then that silly swimmer had to dress up in a shark costume to walk to the boat.  I have to admit, it did make me laugh.  His face was showing through the sharks teeth lined mouth.  Really, really funny.  🙂

Anyway, I digress.  So, we arrive at the rock, and the coordinators tell the swimmers to get in line.  They proceed to let three people jump off the boat at a time.  Everyone has a time piece strapped to their ankles to determine accurate individual times.

When I was a few groups behind the group jumping, I thought I was going to vomit, I was so worked up.  I started to worry that if I didn’t swim fast enough after making the eight foot jump from the boat, that I would be sucked under the boat by the fast moving propellers.

Its really amazing what your mind can conjure up when you are irrationally worked up over something.  😉

The Jump Went Great

So, I made the jump, my goggles stayed on, and I started swimming as fast as I possibly could to get away from the boat.

Once I was swimming, it was just amazing.  When I took a breath to my right, I could see the Golden Gate Bridge, and when I took a breath to my left, I could see the Bay Bridge.  It truly was spectacular to see the bridges and the city of San Francisco from this angle.

The race coordinators told us to focus on a large condo building behind ghiradelli square.  By aiming for that particular building, it would help us to swim in a straighter line, as opposed to zig zagging all over the place.  The focal point for the swim will differ depending on what the current is doing on race day.  Focusing on that building really helped me!  I wound up lifting my head about every 20 strokes, so I could look straight ahead and make sure I was still on course.

If you veered too much off course, the race organizers surrounded the swimmers in the race with kayakers, who would tell you that you were veering too much right or too much left.  Knowing they were there gave me a much needed reassurance, but I actually never encountered a kayaker, so good for me.  🙂

Even though there were about 400 swimmers that day, I felt alone in the vast waters of the San Francisco bay.  It was really quite amazing how quickly everyone dispersed and went on their own way.

Nearing the end of the race

Celebrate the Alcatraz crossing

Celebrate the Alcatraz crossing

Aquatic Park is surrounded by solid piers that help to keep the waters calm inside the park.  When you get to the point where you are swimming through the opening between the two piers, you know you are almost there!!!  You can finally see the balloons waiting for you at the finish line and the people cheering.

Even though you are almost there, it is still 400 yards to the finish line, and it did seem to take forever, but I made it!  When I stood up, my legs were so wobbly, I could barely run across the finish line.  I think the temperature of the water and the constant waves the you endure for the entire swim throws off your equilibrium.

The swim took me 40 minutes.  Since I did not have another swim to compare this time to, I was very proud of myself.  After the swim, you get to enjoy fresh San Francisco clam chowder and hot tea and coffee right next to the bay.

I Liked it So Much, I Did the Swim Again

Yes, that’s right.  After all the build up, anxiety, and drama I put myself through the first time, I actually wanted to sign up for the swim the next year, and I did!

This time, the waters were much calmer, and I was much calmer.  I dropped my time to 33 minutes.  I could see how the water conditions really make all the difference in how long your crossing will be that day.

I’m thankful that I started my Alcatraz crossings with a wavy course, and not the calm one.

Although, after experiencing both now, I’m hoping for a calm course next time a I sign up.  I’m hoping to sign up for a swim this year.  There are many clubs that put on these events.  I think I might be ready by September.  Also, it will give me a reason to show up to swim workout three times per week.

There is an Alcatraz 100 Club where you can join and swim with swimmers who have completed the Alcatraz crossing at least 100 times.  They are part of the “centurion club”.  Maybe I’ll go for it.  I’ll keep you posted.

If you love swimming and want to swim the course that prisoners attempted many years ago from the infamous Alcatraz rock, sign up for this swim.  You will be glad you did.  🙂

 

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: me time, san francisco, swimming

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