Chinatown

I have visited China Town in San Francisco before, but this time I had new-found appreciation for the sights and smells.  For brief moments I was back in Chaoyang, thinking about the kids there and what they were doing.  The shops that we went to in Chaoyang seem much more modern and westernized than some of the shops we went to in ChinaTown.  It was particularlly fun going into little restaurants and know a little bit about the food as most likely we had eaten something similar for breakfast, lunch or dinner in Chaoyang.

The boys and I spent more time in the shops looking at the unique foods, trying to figure out what exactly they were.  

I was on a particular mission to find gifts for my nieces birthdays.  I did find some cute little purses, but I was specifically looking for a certain candy for Jaelyn.  Alas, I don't think it is something that is imported.  I asked many shop keepers, but they had no recollection of what I was searching for.

Bush Man of San Francisco

Okay, This is like the second time I have written this post, Blogger loses it  and I re-type it.  The story has lost some of its flair during the last couple of re-writes so bear with me!!

When we were in San Francisco over Christmas we were able to visit the pier and Fisherman's Wharf.  It is always  a fun place to visit, with the sights of the wharf, sounds of all the people and smell of the sourdough bread steaming from the bakery!

We were unable to eat at the sourdough bakery as the lines were just way too long so we made our way back down the pier to "Joe's Crab Shack".  Pat and I had eaten at Joe's in Houston, but not the one in San Fran.  The restaurant itself is above street level and was surprisingly empty. 

We were seated at a window table with a full view of the street below.  After a couple of minutes a man, who I will call "Bushman", came along with his 5 gallon bucket to sit on and an armful of branches. 

 Bushman set up shop on the opposite sidewalk and we watched with a perfect view.  What happened was absolutely hysterical.  This guy would 'hide' behind his armful of branches and scare any unsuspecting soul that happened to not be paying attention...which was quite a few.

We saw big burly men jump about 3 inches off the ground when Bushman would scare them.  There were quite a few of us in the restaurant who where busting a gut laughing at what was going on at street level.  We had a perfect view.  

What we couldn't see was the mob of people that had grown on the sidewalk below us watching  Bushman do his thing!