My Journey to San Francisco

[highmay]

Well, where to start...there was the near perfect weather best described as 'perpetual fall', the unbelievable scenery, the amazing food, the women, the parties...ugghhhh...AMAZING...all of it...I need to get back there as soon as possible.

Wednesday, July 2nd

I arrived in Oakland at 10:15 in the ante meridian. I bunked at the Travelodge on Market & Valencia. From there, I proceded to walk right down Market. I went through Tenderloin (now I see why everyone told me to avoid it), Union Square (with the Powell St. Cable Cars), the Financial District, and finally ended chilling out with the old chinese men as they played mah-jong at Chinatown Gate.

The Chinatown in SF is better than the Chinatown in NYC (then again, it should be considering that it was the first Chinatown in the US). The Dim Sum at Gold Mountain was orgasmic. The ice cream shop at the corner was soooo cool with the Chinese candies!!

That night I checked out Spesh and Gil @ 111 Minna. Very good San Fran house with an eclectic (albeit musically uninclined) crowd. I loved the idea of throwing the party during happy hour, inside an art gallery no less.

Thursday, July 3rd

The Haight-Ashbury section looks like what Bedford Ave. in my neighborhood will look like in 40 years: commercialized and riddled with tourists, yet maintaining an artistic and cutting edge environment. I saw the houses of The Grateful Dead, Hell's Angels, and Janis Joplin. I also checked out the beauty of Alamo Square. Ameoba Records was AMAZING. I then walked through Golden Gate Park.

And then came Sasha @ The Mezzanine.

For starters, Steve Porter opened and tore that club to shreds. Sick SICK SICK tech-house and breaks. But Sasha owned me with the first track he dropped: HOLDEN - A BREAK IN THE CLOUDS!!!! He played a very good set, but I and the rest of the club didn't know what was up with that remix of Smells Like Teen Spirit . Overall a good night, especially when I met a fellow Williamsburg resident by sheer chance.

Friday, July 4th

Ventured into the tourist trap known as Fisherman's Wharf. Fisherman's Wharf is The South Street Seaport on steroids. It's a great place to take the family, especially to laugh at the sea lions fighting for a spot on the docks while simulteaneously tanning in the sun. I then traveled over to Russian Hill and Ghiradelli Square (awesome chocolates!!) I also love how there's a live Mexican EDM band playing ambient chill Massive Attack-live music right in the middle of the Square. After the fireworks, I grabbed sushi at No Name in Japantown (which was surprisingly dead).

I then check out Tall Paul @ Ruby Skye. Long story short: Tall Paul plays house music now. The only good part of his set was when he felt like dropping Heavenscent later in the night. Ruby Skye is NY's Exit, and that's not a good thing.

Saturday, July 5th

After one day of being the supercheesy tourist, I decided to go back into Conquistador mode and discovered the yet undiscovered. For me, that was Hayes St. in Fillmore. After being humbled by wonderment of Ameoba Music, I did the SF underground record shops and found BPM on Hayes, the stomping grounds for Miguel Migs, Jay-J, Jerry Bonham, and all the SF talent. After an interesting convo with Victor, the owner of the shop, I headed up and down Hayes. Very interesting shops and restaurants, even though it hadn't reached its full potential. I then headed over to Tweekin' for a bit. Tweekin' has a larger selection of vinyl than BPM, but other than that they're pretty head to head.

Next was Twin Peaks. I met two girls from Westchester on the bus ride up and we both hiked up to the summit. It got windier and windier as we traveled up. I was the first to reach the top of the summit, and I was hit with the biggest gusts of wind I've ever felt. It was a consistent 40-50 mph wind. It was a hassle for me just to take a pic of the city, and it was foggy on top of that so the pic wasn't the best.

So after a quick pass through of Castro, SF's gay district, I went to dinner with the girls at Pancho Villas on 16th and Mission. They then joined me to Kelly's Mission Rock. Jerry was very good, dropping the usual suspects (Kate Bush vs Infusion, David Gahan, etc.) along with some very good techno. He opened up for Uberzone who dropped a SICK SET!!! That was some of the craziest breaks I ever heard. What sucked was that both Jerry and Uberzone only played for an hour, and the raver crowd there was on the young side. Someone has to tell FutureFunk (the event organizers) to have both performers play longer. I left at 2 and headed to 1015 Folsom for Behrouz. I have to hand it to him because he took a dead crowd of about 20 people on the floor and created a vibe with his music. Behrouz is a true Tenaglia disciple. But by this time, the lack of sleep and proper vibe had overcame my motivation to party anymore. I should have gone to EndUp for Miguel Migs after Cappella for Krafty Kuts, but I had a good time nonetheless. By the time I was done at 1015, I had to head back to prepare for the shuttle back to Oakland and on my way home. I have much undone business in SF.

My only beef with the city is its homeless epidemic. The homeless are EVERYWHERE: in the parks, on the streets, in the buses. Since I'm from NYC I'm a little more used to it, but I wonder what tourists from, say, Jackson Hole, Wyoming thought when trying to enjoy SF yet having a drunk homeless person, with a stench that wreaks of alcohol, sit right next to them on a bus or panhandle on the street. I wonder what the city is doing to handle that situation, if anything at all. But in any case...

San Francisco is a true versatile city. Some parts reminded me of San Diego with their neverending freeways. Other parts reminded me of Puerto Rico and their style of houses. Some areas even reminded me of NYC and the underground feel. But with steep hills that make this city a heaven for bikers, near perfect weather all year long, the generally accepting attitude of everyone (and I mean EVERYONE), and the ability to look down any street straight to the horizen with a breathtaking view of natural beauty, San Francisco has a true uniqueness and feel that can not be duplicated anywhere. I have grown an affinity for that town already.

[roha3000]

shutup! noone cares about your exploits.

[guest00901]

U really have a lot of time on your hands to write this whole thing that no one really gives two shits about

[dgmodel]

[disk-ofreak]

don't listen to anyone, fuck em, just jealous you went away and had a good time. iv never been, but have always wanted to go.glad to hear bout sasha, i think he a good dj. post any good pics up.

[dgmodel]

i always wanted to visit san fran...

[girly]

Originally posted by **********
U really have a lot of time on your hands to write this whole thing that no one really gives two shits about

I give 2 shits, and its obvious other people do also, the only right thing about your statement is that you considered yourself "no one"

Hey highmay- I still haven't been there yet but want to move there one day.. Glad you had a good time and thanks for sharing..

[tunnelbandit]

Originally posted by girly
the only right thing about your statement is that you considered yourself "no one"

I liked your review as well.

[funkyfreshdc]

Originally posted by dgmodel

lol i just saw a video about that monkey in my psychology class

[dgmodel]

lol quite entertaining no???

[wideskies]

lordy... the BEST CHOCOLATE MILKSHAKE EVER can be found in Ghirardelli square.

glad you had fun. i was there a month or so ago and it was such a wonderful change from the NYC area.

[nyc420]

Looks like a good trip my friend. Glad you had fun.

BabyD....you suck.

[magua0]

Homeless is ny is so much less last few years....

[guest00901]

Originally posted by girly
I give 2 shits, and its obvious other people do also, the only right thing about your statement is that you considered yourself "no one"

Hey highmay- I still haven't been there yet but want to move there one day.. Glad you had a good time and thanks for sharing..

How bout u take another hit off that pipe there cracky

[£ddie]

Glad you had a blast brutha. Good seeing you tonight, that party was INSANE!!!