A Day of Adventures in Cold Weather that was REALLY Cold

From the recommendation of my good friend Eric I headed out on a day to hit up a foray of different sites. Here is the list of items I was going to hit up in one day. I would see the Hudson river, Columbia Univesity, Grants Tombs, the Chelsea Market, Highline Park, walk over to Madison Square, eat at Shakey Shack, then head down to the Brooklyn Bridge… All between the hours of 11 am and 6pm.

How did it all turn out? Well, to my shock, it worked out virtually flawlessly except for one flaw, which almost lead to my complete demise…

I explored the Columbia campus for a little bit with Eric where he showed me a massively large building which was the former library. Apparently this massive building had become too small to house all of the books at Columbia. He then pointed out the excessively super massive building in the other direction and informed me that was one (of the many) locations where the books were moved to.

This is the Massive building that was too small to house all the books.

Eric and I soon parted ways and I made my way to Grants Tomb. I read somethings that were interesting that would probably be boring to write on this blog.

I then got onto the 1 subway and headed downtown. I got off at 14^th street and slowly made my way to Chelsea Market. Chelsea Market is an interesting intertwining of an indoor mall/food court/really fresh good food/interesting little shops/other stuff. At the same time I struggle to give it any one of those labels because it has pieces of each of those but there are pieces to each of those labels that do the Market a total injustice. Just let it be said it was very unique.

From there I went to Highline park. Highline Park is basically an above ground park/walkway. It isn’t wide in the sense of most parks. It was about as wide as a large sidewalk. In the middle of it was a paved walkway for people to walk on while on the side of it were spots for plants. I want to emphasize that because it is still rather cold there were very few plants at Highline park though the signs were adamant in demanding that people stay on the paved areas to prevent any damage to plants.

A shot of Highline Park. It is above the city. 

From there I made my way to the Shake Shack (check out my blog on New York Foods to get more details about this). Let me just say, the shake shack was awesome and I hope that I have the opportunity to go there once more (before I leave New York).

This is the Shake Shack. It is outdoors. 

Eventually I found my way on the 6 subway towards the Brooklyn Bridge. Here is where nearly all was lost. As I exited the subway I became extremely aware of two things: 1. The biting cold and 2. My totally inappropriate dress for cold weather. I had a thin jacket and some pants. Ideally in this weather, multiple long sleeved layers plus some type of headwarming gear is critical. Being from California and having spent most of my life under the false guise of “I am immune to cold” I was severely underdressed for the occasion. I spent the next 30 minutes wandering around the area in hopes of purchasing a beanie…

How could I solve this problem? Easy, I’ll just text my friends for some advice. Well, this would require I have a fully working phone. Around this exact time my phones batter decided to become severely low. I was forced to turn my phone off.

I’m a man who loves himself a good picture. I also don’t have a great memory. Therefore, I knew if I could find a way to get across the bridge with some good pictures my memory would eventually reformulate the Brooklyn Bridge crossing experience into a “funny story” rather than “The coldest I have ever been IN MY LIFE”. After a few encouraging lies from my own inner voice I ventured across the bridge.

Well, let me tell you I am glad I did it! My mind was constantly alternating between these two basic thoughts “What a cool view” and “Mother F$@! It is cold!”. But eventually I did make it across and I did in fact live. All said and done, I wouldn’t change a thing. But in my future experiences I will change A LOT OF THINGS!

I got to the other side of the bridge and needed to contact Eric because I was going to meet up with him.  Here was my conundrum: 1. My phone may die at anytime and 2. I had no idea where Eric and I were to meet.  I turned on my phone called Eric and started the conversation with “my phone is low on battery email me directions if I lose you, I will find an internet café if need  be.”. I got to give Eric mad props! Eric quickly responded with immediate directions. Even more to his credit he intentionally said nothing else about anything (so I didn’t get anything confused and to save battery life). I hung up the phone and then turned it off. We met up at 14^th street and 7^th avenue back in Manhattan and all was well

They want us to protect which plants...

Nature our way: Golden Gate Park and a Windy Road

On our way across San Francisco I saw this cartoonish looking winding road. I asked Leanne, “What is that?”. She replied “Oh, that’s the curviest road in the world”… With an introduction like that we had to check it out.

Us driving down the curvy road.

Unfortunately, I was on the phone with my brother getting directions to our next location. I commited the cardinal sin. I was on the phone while seeing a sight for the first time. The thing is that my brother is a human GPS system for San Francisco. He had to get to class so if I didn’t get the directions at that exact time then I’d have been “F’ed”. When I say a human GPS I kid you not. He literally was able to pinpoint our exact point based on the street corners. He then proceeded to identify the upcoming streets by name. It was super duper awesome! I actually would have to say his incredible GPS-esque super human map skill was more impressive than the curvy road. 

Golden Gate Park was the opposite. I was able to give my full attention to it. The nature was a really nice break from the city. There also was a really cool white tower in the midst of the park.

A crazy looking tree in Golden Gate Park

Park’s in cities crack me up. Civillization has spent thousands of years to get out of nature. Now that we have accomplished leaving nature we now have developed nature with certain ramifications. Nature can be peaceful and relaxing. These are qualities we have decided to keep in our gated nature communities (also known as parks). But then Nature also has wild animals that can “F” your day up. This has conveniently been removed. Nature doesn’t have bathrooms or water fountains. We have decided to add these to our nature experiences. As humans we have managed to create a man made nature that incorporates all the good of nature, added in some good from society and then removed the bad of nature... This equals up to total awesomeness.

Leanne laughing about something funny

Coit Tower

Today I went to Coit Tower with my friend Leanne. I headed out via BART and got off at Embarcadero Station. From there Leanne picked me up and after a series of turns and the unavoidable dance with death that all drivers in san Francisco face, we made it to Coit Tower.

This is some of the art on the walls in Coit Tower.

On the outside it was really relaxing and nice. Since it was on the middle of a Friday there weren’t too many people there. Eventually we went inside. There was amazing art all over the walls inside on the bottom floor of the tower. The art portrayed life during this time frame (1933-1934). It was interesting to look at the details of some of the pictures and realize I have no idea what some of the major industries were during that time (even after seeing the art).

The Tower itself was finished around 1933. But some of the art was apparently controversial. Some believed that some of the art pieces inside conveyed communist support. Once these pieces were removed the Coit Tower was open to the public in 1934. 

The Piedmont "Rose" Gardens in Winter

Today I walked to the Piedmont Rose Gardens. It was very quiet and peaceful at the Rose Gardens. I feel like at this time of year calling it a “Rose Garden” could not be further from the truth as there are no roses in it. Looking at all of the Rose bushes without any roses gave an eerie horror movie feeling. 

I walked around for a while and took pictures. It was really quite beautiful. There were trees of many different types. The most common thing I noticed people doing while I was there: working out. People had their tight black spandex on, and they were running up and down the stairs, doing push-ups, and walking their dogs. 

Laying Low in Piedmont

Today, I walked around Piedmont. This is a small city in the Bay Area. It is a very peaceful community. The weather was cool but warm enough to walk around in a short sleeve. I felt real safe as I ventured around on Piedmont avenue (the main street in the area) and checked out the stores. 

It is incredibly green in this area. It is a city that is surprisingly relaxed considering how lively it feels. I enjoyed just walking around and exploring  the area.

I have been here many times before but I have never taken the time to walk around by myself. I was shocked to see the colors in the trees this time of year. The leaves showed fall reds but it is late January. 

While I was walking around  on Piedmont Avenue there was this crazy looking car. I don’t even think it could be called a car. It had written on it “Mog”. What is a Mog? Just look at the picture. However weird it looks it was way weirder in real life. 

Hanging out in Chicago

Today Sean and I went to downtown Chicago and explored for a while. We went to Wrigley park and walked around. We then went to Millenium park. It had this really awesome mirror bean thingy. The pictures do it more justice then I can explain.

It was fun just walking around and seeing Chicago. The vibe in Chicago is much more laid back then towns like New York. I would say it much calmer then San Fransciso. Although it is a very big city it doesn’t feel overcrowded at all. The public transit is efficient and runs until 2 am and starts back up again at 5 am.

One of the things about Chicago during this time of year is the color of the trees. The leaves have an amazing yellow color to them. I also like walking around and seeing all the leaves that have fallen on the ground. There are some sidewalks that are flooded with leaves.



California Academy of Science at Golden Gate Park

Today Zach and I went to the California Academy of Science in Golden Gate Park. There were a variety of exhibits. There was a scientist created Garden at the top of the Academy. The garden was inspired by a draft design that had the Academy being developed underneath the hillside.

Inside the Academy are numerous exhibits. They have a rainforest biome, an Aquarium, a planetarium, an extreme mammal exhibit (no pictures allowed), an African animals exhibit, and many other smaller exhibits.

It is not very large but they manage to fit in a world of information within the Academy. There are also enough exhibits that I stayed entertained the entire day. We got there at about 11 am and left at about 430 pm.

There is such a mass of information at a place like this that it can be visited many times.

Fisherman's Wharf

Today I woke up around 1030 am. Both Zach and I were slow to get up. We left the house around 12 pm. We headed to Fisherman's wharf and walked around for a while. Fisherman's wharf is really cool because there are tons of little shops. But by far the coolest part of Fisherman's wharf are the people putting on entertainment shows on the side of the street. There are people developing art, people break dancing, people putting on talent shows, there are people pretending to be frozen. There was even a homeless guy that has a bunch of bushes that he holds with his hands to hide his face. When people pass by him he pushes the branches to the side and tries to scare him. It is hilarious.

 

One of the other really cool things about fisherman's wharf is that from the pier you can see Alcatraz and Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco is a city with so many amazing views.

After this we walked through the financial district on our way to Nike town. It was interesting to experience the financial district though there really is no reason for me to go back there.

A Walk to the Golden Gate Bridge

I am currently staying in the Marina area with my friend Zach. I have known Zach since we were very small children (before preschool age).

Today we woke up around 930. We made a breakfast. We had scrambled eggs, sausages, baked potatoes seasoned with minced onions, garlic powder, olive oil, salt and pepper. We then decided to head out to the Golden Gate Bridge.

We walked all around the marina area near the ocean. It was windy but since Zach and I had awesome Northshore jackets we were not effected by the cold. As we walked through the Marina area we crossed through a park, walked right on the coast, up a hilly green region, and then across the bridge.

 

Walking across Golden Gate Bridge always has its moments when fear strikes. When I sit and look over the edge of the Golden Gate Bridge and look into the water I always get a slight tingle up my body. It is very powerful to be standing so high above such a powerful image. It is quite a postcard to look across the bridge to see San Francisco. It is quite shocking how much depth of the city can be seeing from the bridge.

On our way back to Zach's place we saw a small festival for children. Zach noticed from afar that there was a band playing. As we looked closer we realized they were a rock band of kids that could not have been older than 11. It was hilarious seeing some 11 year olds rock out to hardcore music. I had no idea what they were saying.

Zach and I then returned back to Zach's place in the Marina. We then created sandwiches . I had an oven roasted turkey sandwich with spicy mustard, spinach and tomato on sourdough bread.

Castles, Temples, and Shrines Oh My!

Me in front of Kinkajuki Temple.

Today I went out and saw some sights in Kyoto. I used their bus system to get everywhere. It was really easy. I found myself really enjoying trying to figure out how the transit system worked. I would walk to a location and then look at the geography map and bus map and try to figure out how to get to different locations. The more I have travelled the more comfortable I have become with transportation. Ironically this increases the likelihood that I will get lost because I am more willing to just go somewhere because I have confidence that I will be able to figure out how to get back.

I saw two of their major sights. I saw the Nijo Castle and the Kinkakuji Temple. The nijo castle was really cool. There was a very beautiful tea garden after the castle.

Below to the left is a picture of me in front of Nijo Castle

Above to the right is a picture of Nijo Castle and the tea garden.

The Kinkakuji temple was awesome. This is a major historic sight in Japan. It is a national treasure. When I entered the garden there was a huge golden temple ( I assume this is Kinkakuji temple but I wasn't quite clear on it).
This is a picture of Kinkajuki Temple.