this is a panoramic view of the CEMEX auditorium where the entire group (145 of us) goes when we have guest speakers. and outside the auditorium there is this interesting wall with tiles that flip over and change colour. i have yet to figure out what it is supposed to represent. anyway, today was the last day of the first half of the program, and we were off after lunch!!!
ping-soon (ps) and vijay (vj - get it?) and i went to san francisco that afternoon to have dinner and catch a show. we parked near chinatown and walked around for a bit before the show. like this mural on the side of a building?
we were going to have dinner only after the show, and decided it would be a good idea to get something to eat first. ps recalled that when he lived in redmond (which is near san francisco) 6 years ago, there was a bakery selling very good egg tarts. we asked for directions from a hairdresser who happened to be smoking outside her salon and found the place.
it tastes as good as it looks, and it's better than tong heng egg tarts from chinatown in singapore. the shop itself is small and packed to the rafters with all kinds of boxes and stuff and there was only a small display and counter selling the egg tarts and bo lo buns (the buns still tasted good the next day). and there were lots of people going in all the time.
and this is the traditional gateway into chinatown. we decided to do some window shopping before the show which started at 8, and came across mummy's favourite shop just before 7 (their closing time).
this is kate spade in san francisco. the shop really has something special, a certain quirky charm in the decor as well as some of the products. for example, a bag that had clips to fasten onto a bicycle rack - i wish i had taken a picture of it. but i do have a picture of this!
and we all bought bags, all 3 of us! i bet they did not expect to sell that many just before closing. then we were off to the show, beach blanket babylon. apparently it is somewhat of an institution, having run for more than 30 years. it is performed at a small club called club fugazi which seats only about 200 or so.
it is a musical revue. a simple story line about how snow white wants to find love, and they weave in snippets of lots of old and new songs, changing some lyrics along the way, while wearing outrageous costumes and headpieces - one of which was the city of san francisco. it was big. can't show you pictures because they did not allow photography. i did not understand or even know who some of the characters were because they were american political figures, but apart from that I could recognise most of the rest. most importantly the show was hilarious.
this was another dinner place recommended by someone in the program and it is called the house. it's just opposite the stinking rose, where uncle jerry brought us for lunch the first time we visited them. the food is asian fusion and quite interesting. tastes good too. as you can see, not a very big restaurant but very popular and we had to wait, even though we had a reservation.
this is the grilled sea bass with garlic ginger soy, and it was excellent. can't remember the rest but one of them was deep-fried salmon roll with chinese hot mustard. we happened to sit next to a oriental chap (might be korean or jap) and he recommended that we try dessert just across the street. an italian place called the steps of rome.
we had the canelloni (top) and of course, tiramisu. and that was our night out in san francisco!
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