San Francisco's Chinatown, part 3

In my opinion, one shouldn't visit Chinatown without enjoying some truly delicious food because it's hands' down the best Chinese food in the US. On my visit, my friend and I had our minds set on dim sum. I love eating at "ethnic" restaurants where the majority of the clientele is of that ethnicity. This was true of the dim sum restaurant we went to, and we were delighted by the experience.

I snapped a few shots of our delectable dim sum selections with my camera phone. 

I don't even know what this was -
but it was so tasty!
Crunchy on the outside,
gooey on the inside.

BBQ pork buns - a dim sum classic

hot chili oil, a requirement in my book!

YUM!

my all time favorite dim sum -
steamed shrimp dumplings

the scene at our dim sum spot

San Francisco's Chinatown, part 2

One of my favorite aspects of San Francisco's Chinatown is that it's a real neighborhood with real people living and working. There's nothing fake about it. 

When I travel, I try to take candid shots of locals, which can be challenging for me, because I never want to intrude, so I try my best to be quite sly about taking pictures of strangers. I still have work to do to get better at this! Here are a few photos I did manage to shoot of a few Chinatown denizens. I think each speaks volumes about the vibrant community that is San Francisco's Chinatown.

elderly man waiting
to cross the street -
look at his face,
what do you see?

it might be hard to tell what's going on here - but,
it's a back alley game of badminton!
these boys were so fun to watch

locals out grocery shopping

an elderly lady -
I think she was going home
I like her pants!  :-)

San Francisco's Chinatown, part 1

This past weekend, I met a dear friend in San Francisco - we both flew in for a little weekend get-away.  We saw some sights, ate amazing food, and took lots of photos. We're both into photography, and it was fun to have someone else to shoot with. 

San Francisco's Chinatown is a place where I love meandering and just taking it all in. There is so much to see and so much great food to enjoy. We had some delicious dim sum at a restaurant where we were in the minority by speaking English. It is a neighborhood like no other I've been to in the U.S. because it is still so distinct from its surroundings. I love that its residents have kept their culture so alive.  

the main drag in Chinatown

what a contrast!

typical buildings in the neighborhood