tour: the City by the Bay

A quick tour of some of San Francisco's sights. What a beautiful city! Looking forward to going back there - hopefully sometime soon.

the Golden Gate Bridge from above

these trees had such
interesting limbs!

a cable car and a rainbow flag -
quintessential San Francisco!
Did you know the rainbow flag
originated there?

the Transatlantic pyramid
from Chinatown

the Dewey Monument
in Union Square -
Victory is atop the column

a fantastic and
very old Italian restaurant

Saints Peter and Paul church 

flowerful Friday - special edition!

Today is another special edition of the flowerful Friday post - all floral photos from my recent trip to the City by the Bay, San Francisco. Both times I've been to this beautiful city, I was struck by its lushness; it's green everywhere you look! Even in the smallest of yards, you can tell that residents take pride in their gardens. Here are a few photos I snapped of flowers that caught my eye.

Happy Friday!

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

light and reflections

A sparkly, ceiling to floor piece of art at San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art. I love how it catches and reflects light against both a black and white wall. The pictures don't really do it justice - quite mesmerizing in person!

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