Sunday, August 3, 2008

ocean cave on hike near sutra baths, sf

Recent SF Cell Phone Videos



Shopping Cart Escalator at Bed Bath & Beyond (So this is the beyond!)

Photos & Stuff




pier 39 Seals
































SutroBaths/Hike


Sunday, July 20, 2008

Hiking

Today Debbie and I took her dog owen on a hike around the cliff trails at Land's End. The park is not far from my house and offers the most beautiful breathtaking views of the ocean, golden gate bridge, and cliffs getting sprayed from the waves. We climbed down into the beach area and went inside a cave where we sat on a rock that would become surrounded by the swirling tide pools.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

trevor and will came for Pride
so much fun
trans march power
thousands at dyke march
pink party madness
in the streets
dancing craziness
jakes birthday
on pride day
worked at the family garden
gay families galore

Sunday, June 22, 2008

sunny san francisco

i've neglected this blog
too much to write
must do it rosie style
saw the most beautiful beach
in my life today
golden gate bridge, cliffs, queers in the nude
french music festival and organic farmers market downtown
thai food for dinner
the past few weeks have been crazy
my cab was struck by a truck
i'm ok
hippie vegan raw food. i am delicious.
naked men with cockrings strolling the castro
tacos and free nachos at least once a week
communist coop, organic food & recyclabl toothbrush and razors
pride in a week
LA in 2

Friday, May 30, 2008

my san fran house

first floor apartments: 2 hippies who work at the vegetarian cafe, 1 gay cop

Our house: 1 vegetarian woman in her early 40s, a trannyfag couple who study homeopathy, our best trans queer friend vegetarian, and of course us - the two sissies :)

Yay!

Thursday, May 29, 2008

we fucking love it here.

We started our day in Chinatown where we had sushi and shopped around. Then I got a new pair of sneakers in the shopping district. We noticed how the food court in the mall here incuded so many teas, juices, and healthy food chains instead of your typical chinese food and mcdonalds food court. It's so much easier to be healthy here.

San Franciso has no shame. It's so beautiful - we noticed how everyone smiles at each other and people are polite to each othere here. And.. San Francisco has cheap food and cheap happy hours too!

For $5.50 we had 2 cocktails. That's cheaper than the Eagle, Boston Gays! And for $5.5o we not only had cocktails we also had fun dancing and pop music videos in a bar full of fun smiling people.

Seriously, San Fran = heaven.

And, I just found out I will not be charged for the zipcar incident:

"Dear Mark,

We have talked to all parties involved and everything is fine and you will not be charged anything for this incident. The other vehicle has some minor scratches and the owner has no problem with it. I would like to thank you for your great communication with me during this investigation process, you have been most helpful and kind. Have a nice day and thanks for being a Zipster! "

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

A Lovely Day


The weather here is sunny and is supposed to be for the next 10 days!

Wing and I started our day with lunch at the raw/vegan food place down the street. After that I went to the local organic/natural health/food co-op store. It's a worker owned place. I got my cool name brand natural shampoos and body products out of bulk bins for less $! So cool. People there were very friendly too.. I've noticed that people in San Francisco smile at each other. Boston - take note.

After that I walked home and soon Wing got back from his interview. Later we went to the Golden Gate park. It is right across the street - and it is breathtaking!

On our way to see the Buffalo area, we saw ponds, beautiful gushing stream with waterfalls, and areas where you can have a picnic or use public grills. The park has so much to offer. It's like having a little heaven right across the street. I can't wait to go back and meditate, check out the museums and flower gardens, etc.

After exploring just a portion of the park for an hour and a half we stopped by a vegetarian chinese place. It was cheap and delicious and we have a lot left over for a midnight snack.

Our bedroom is looking super cute - thanks evil Ikea. I'll post pictures of San Fran and our room very soon!

Mamma Mia IKEA!

Yesterday Wing's interview was rescheduled so we decided to do our big Ikea trip. We rode the subway downtown to our Zipcar Tocama Pick-up Truck. It took us a bit to find it, but once we did we were off to Emeryville.

First we drove across the Bay Bridge which was really scary but kinda fun. It was the first time I had driven in San Francisco, and one of the few times I had driven in a city in the past 5 years. There were like 5 lanes of traffic going crazy on me.

We found Ikea relatively easy. We didn't have all day so we rushed through the store, ate some cheap Ikea food, and then realized we had to do all the manual labor of loading up the truck. That was a disaster because we had so much stuff, huge furniture boxes, a mattress etc.

On the way home the directions and traffic were much worse. We ended up missing an exit and heading towards San Jose. After being tired, angry, and lost for an hour we finally made it home and unload the truck so we could hurry back to drop it off.

With the scary exhuasting Ikea trip out of the way we went and had a snack on the harbor. The views here are so incredible.

Then we walked to Bed Bath and Beyond and purchased pillows, towells, and some other accessories. Mostly in the "beyond" department.

When we got home to our neighborhood we had bubbletea and snacks from Quickly. They have like 200 flavors of bubbletea to choose from, and a bunch of cheap fried snacks. The cheesestix are only $3 compared to the $7 I used to pay at Nicoles in Boston.

When we got to our house we had to start putting together the Ikea. Ugh. Not my favorite thing to do but Wing enjoys it. In the end we noticed someting funny - our bed was missing a peice and it was a queen, not a full. So now our mattress is sittting in the middle of the bed frame until we can take yet another nightmare trip back to Ikea to replace it....
BUT we might not be able to because Ikea is claiming that the parking attendant on duty saw me hit a car in the parking lot and they are investigating the situation and willl let me know how much $ I owe and if I can remain a zipcar member. Now if we did hit another car, the impact was so light I never felt anything - so I am ready to challenge this in small claims court if I must.

In good news, my future boss called today and I will be working full-time.

We are loving our neighborhood (Sunset) more and more each day. Later, I'm going to walk to the ocean then stop by the raw food restaurant for lunch. Then I'm picking up a bunch of natural home and body products at the natural food store.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

San Francisco

Wow. San Francisco is at once overwhelming in the best and worst of ways. It's now our third day here and I have a moment to blog about our experience moving from Boston to San Francisco.

By the time we arrived Sunday evening I was exhausted. I had taken two sleeping pills but my anxiety about flying and the subsequent adrenaline rush post-landing in our new home wouldn't let them kick in until we arrived at our house.

Our friends Debbie & Megan picked us up, and then picked up our friend Diego who had randomly had his flight to Hawaii cancelled - so we all got to hang out. It was super great to see everyone together.

The house is adorable, and right next to the Golden Gate Park - which we have yet to explore. It is HUGE, miles and miles long. In fact there are even Buffalo in the park not too far from here.

At first I was feeling very tired and very worried that I wouldn't love it here. I couldn't help but think about the amazing lives we led in Boston and fear things wouldn't be so good here. After a much needed nap Wing convinced me to go out for some food. I'm so glad we did!

Just a few blocks away there is a strip of cute food joints. Most of them are Asian including vietnamese, korean, japanese, and an Indian place. There are a few Asian grocery stores as well. All of the dining options in our neighborhood are about 1/4 the cost of the restaurants in our Boston neighborhood. We had a full course Korean meal with all the little dish thingies for about 10 bux each. We're both really excited about having cheap yummy food nearby.

This morning we woke up ready to get our U-haul and go to Ikea to get furniture for our new bedroom. But, the U-haul place was closed for Memorial Day so we decided to explore. First, I wanted to see the ocean. It's about a 20 minute walk downhill from our house to the ocean. On our way there we saw a vegan raw foods restaurant and a natural health store that is worker-owned and co-opt. I'm going to be purchasing my all natural bath and body products there in my canvas bags (plastic bags are banned here. )

The ocean was beautiful. Ocean Beach is a wide and long sandy beach. Although today was chilly and cloudy many people were out having picnics and surfing.

After breathing in the beauty of the ocean and mountains, watching the clouds and fog move in and out, we hopped on the train that took us downtown. The train ride took about 30 minutes.

Downtown we ate at a yummy vegetarian restaurant (Wing had "neatloaf") run by followers of a guru. There's a lot of guru following going on here in San Fran, so much so that I now have to let go of my anti-cult crusade. It just isn't worth it here. If Bostonians think Dahn Yoga and Scientology are taking over, you should see the situation here. It seems like everyone is in some sort of cult one way or another. It's like they know how ridiculous it is but they're okay with it.

Then we met up with our friend Jenn and her Girlfriend Denise who showed us through Chinatown. Huge Chinatown offering lots of our favorite things: cheap food, bubble tea, and cool stuff to decorate our room with.

We continued on to North Beach, which felt like we had arrived on a corner in Paris or Italy. Lots and lots of cafes with outdoor seating on the sidewalks. People watching. Very quaint.

From there we kept walking to the waterfront where Wing got to see the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time. It was beautiful as usual.

After that we got on the bus and went towards the Haight.

First, we noticed a park that was a big round hill. It was like a forest. We entered the path that wound up up up to the top until finally, after an intense workout, we were rewarded with a most spectacular view of the city.

The haight still has lots of vintage stores, the huge Ameoba used record store, some cheap places to eat (but the forces of gentrification are noticeable!) and a ton of hippies, people on drugs, more hippies, faux hippes, people talking to themselves, people throwing up on the street, people singing and dancing, people with piercings coming from every part of their face, people wearing animal ears, people pretending they are at a rave.... and yeah I saw all that and more today. The concept of a "character" does not exist in San Francisco. There are about 5 "characters" on every block here. In Boston, we would get to know someone if they were messed up in public alot, or if they had a unique talent to showcase, or if they rode a particular tricycle.

Even in our residential, family centric neighborhood there are plenty of queers, hippies, surfers, etc. All kinds of folks.

It feels a bit odd to not standout for my outfits or queerness. Wing and I feel almost invisible. There are many other gays, asians, and white/asian gay couples here. Wing is experiencing what it is like to be checked out by lots of other gaysians. In Boston mostly white guys would check him out.

I like feeling like we all fit in here and anything goes - but I also worry I'm unsure of my identity now that people don't laugh at my big sunglasses or mimick my feminine behavior.

And the choices for food, activities, and learning are sooo overwhelming. It is like someone took al of the things I'm interested in and built a city of things to try with them. It's hard to figure out where to devote my attention with so many options. If I wanted to find a yoga teacher I would have like 5000 to choose from. If I wanted to eat at a vegetariant restuarant in the Bay Area I would have 90 - Boston has 3.

One of my biggest fears here is Earth Quakes. The chances of a large one hitting in our neighborhood by 2035 are about 25%. This house and this area do not seem ready in the least - and most news reports of late verify it. Yikes.

I'm also anxious about starting my new job on June 2. I'm still waiting to hear if it will be full-time or not.

Wing has an interview tomorrow at a travel company. We're going to the huge farmer's market (there are tons of them here.... in fact this city is very noticeably obsessed with trying to be green) for lunch and then checking out the Castro. Wing said he kind of missed the "South End gays", so I'm sure he'll be happy with a Castro visit tomorrow where we'll have a variety of queer contingents to people-watch.

Peace!

PS: Amy Contrada /MassResistance,
If you want to continue stalking me it will have to be online unless you want to come visit me in your faaaaaavorite city! Gurl, you thought Boston was depraved... HA! (Of course your lesbian daughter is always welcome to stay with us if she wants to check out San Fran.)

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Monday, January 21, 2008

Hong Kong: Welcome to Sai Kung

Sai Kung town is just a five minute walk away from Sha Kok Mei Village and this is where I did some growing up too. Located right next to the ocean and surrounded by mountains, Sai Kung is a popular location for seafood and expats. It has a towny feeling but also the busyness of the city. Everyday that I want to go out to the city, I had to walk to town to catch the minivan.




This is the a harbor view of the ocean from Sai Kung. Notice the contrast between the motor boats and the small wooden boats. Those small boats are inhabited by the tankas or the boat dwellers. They make a living off fishing and spend most of their time in their boats.









Along the harbor lies these cramp aquariums with all types of seafood. There's literally everything imagined from giant eels to things that I can't even name. This is just one restaurant front out of many more.









That's me obviously. Picture was taken by another fellow visitor.











Typical aesthetic of the town. Notice all the clothes being hung off the balcony. People in Hong Kong almost never use a dryer to dry their clothes.








The gate to the old side of town. What's behind the gate? Why more seafood restaurant of course.











A glimpse of the old part of town. Don't let the photo fool you! This street is actually not empty (that is impossible to find to Hong Kong). The dingy appearance is a prevalent theme of Hong Kong.











Much to my surprise, this was actually my kindergarten. I never knew that I went to school in Sai Kung when I was young. All I remember about my kindergarten day was that every day at the same time, tens of pigeons would fly into the classroom and we would all scream hysterically.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Hong Kong: Sha Kok Mei Village

I acknowledge that my Hong Kong blog has been a big failure. I didn't update it frequently and I didn't put any pictures up due to the fact that I couldn't have regular access to a computer. But now that I'm back, I can do my Hong Kong adventure blog justice! To kick it off, let me introduce to you the village that I stayed in!

Introducing Sha Kok Mei Village:

The town entrance

The town pagoda

This village is where I was brought up until I was like 4 or 5. I don't quite remember much about it except that this town has really developed throughout the years. There's constant construction going on and most roads are not even paved yet. Many foreigners are actually moving to this village for its relatively peaceful location. It's right next to the ocean and the houses are relatively bigger than the ones in the city.

At night, the dogs rule the streets. My 14 year old cousin would carry a broom stick with her when she's walking around the village because the dogs are a different creature at night. During the day, all they'd do is sleep and eat but at night, their eyes turn red and chase anyone in their path! I almost got bit once coming home late one night.

In addition to dogs, this village occasionally gets visit from wild cows. After living here for 2 and a half weeks, I spotted one just hanging around and eating grass. That thing was HUGE! I walked passed it like it wasn't there but there was a point when it was staring at me. I was so afraid that it was going to charge at me.
A wild ox grazing next to the village's parking lot.



Me with my grandma

So I stayed at my grandma's place when I was in HK. Everyday she goes to "work" (meaning play mahjong with other gamblers) at 10 in the morning and comes back around six. I had the hardest time communicating with her since she speaks a hakka dialect of cantonese (which makes me half Hakka), so I faked it and nodded a lot. She seemed content with just that.

What is Hakka you ask? Well, that is one of the four main ethnic groups that migrated to Hong Kong. As the second group of people to migrate to Hong Kong, the Hakka settled on land that was not of the best quality. One other ethnicity of interest in Hong Kong is the Boat dwellers. They literally live on boats all their life and some still do that till this day. I've been approached by several old ladies asking me if I wanted to ride on their boat for a tour.

The living room My little room. I literally couldn't stand in my room because it was so small.

So there you go. That's the village that I stayed in. Tune in next time for my presentation of the Sai Kung Town and my kindergarten.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

"caught in a hit and run"

Saturday, September 7th
After a wild night out at the last Hot Lunch queer party ever, our friend Jake was hit by a car and flew from his bike onto his chin. We spent several hours in the ER. Jake has a bunch of stitches now.


Sunday, September 8th
After our wild night on Saturday we decided to stay in and play board games with our friend Debbie who was in town from Oakland, CA. We ordered Terryaki House delivery, which is always delicious - and you can have bubble tea delivered! Wing, Jake, and I decided to go to the ATM right down the street. On our way home we felt an erie silence, and noticed a group of 4-7 people behind us. I asked Wing what was going on, and after one more glance he yelled, "RUN!". As we ran down Warren Ave and West Brookline Ave. the group began grunting/hooting a strange noise and chasing us. Wing was also street wise enough to start yelling help, and Jake and I followed his lead. Poor Wing's flip flops fell off so he was running in his bare feet. We are all okay, but still wondering why the area surrounding the South West Corridor of Boston is still completely unpatrolled by police. I read online that the police are fighting about who's responsibility it is. I have heard many reports from the coffeeshop to my coworkers of people being mugged by groups of young men in the area.


Monday, September 9th
Randolf Country Club 2007!


After that kind of weekend, we needed to lay in the sun by a swimming pool! Yay Labour Day! The boys even convinced me to play Volleyball - and of course it was ouchey! Never again.
My glasses, towell, lounge chair, and reading materials must always match in public! I tease, I tease!

We might be skinny little boys but we sure love to eat!





Saturday, September 1, 2007

Saturday, Sept. 1 2007

To start our day we had a picnic on the Charles river.

That is an iced green tea latte. Soy, of course.
After sitting down, we saw a gondola. (see video)



It's a Saturday night! We're going out to the last Hot Lunch - a queer party in Allston.



Hello Kitty belt buckle brings much joy to all.
(Click Here for Mark's hit song: Hello Kitty Time! As featured on cutekitty.com!)

These power sissies are ready to light up the night!

Quiiiiiiiche with Ugly Betty!!!

Last night's dinner deserves to be marked in my life's accomplishments. Why? Because it was the first time that I've made a quiche! A spinach quiche to be exact. You can find the recipe here. Be careful not to break the pie crust though! I had a bad experience with the continuous outflow of the milk and egg mixture. Not to mention, it was vile and sticky!
In the end the quiche turned out to be lovely and delicious. Now I can die with a smile on my face.


Our entertainment of the night was disc 5 of Ugly Betty, the best show ever! I think the reason I love that show is because I can see myself as Betty sometimes.

Friday, August 31, 2007

dinner 08/29/07


I made a quick meal from a recipe in Vegetarian Times. Yum! Basically you bake some polenta and throw on some red beans, diced tomato with jalapeno (comes in a can), some spices like paprika, and cumin. Then top it off with cilantro and feta cheese.