The Various Piers of San Francisco and Scoma's Restaurant

The bigger the boat, the better the ride

The numerous piers of San Francisco offer a lot of activities, such as museums, dining, submarines, boat rides, etc. It is also the starting point of numerous cruises on the Pacific Ocean.

The wildlife of San Francisco

The USS Pampanito, depicted on the above picture, is a World War II submarine that is open for visitors. The visit of the submarine is highly recommended as it is one of the last WWII submarine, and the audio tour gives explanations and anecdotes by former sailors of the ship.



My brother and I also ate lunch at Scoma's, a pier-to-plate restaurant, located on the next pier from the submarine's (1965 Al Scoma Way, San Francisco, CA 94133). It is probably one of the classiest restaurants you can find in the area (but I may be wrong.)

Hot Sampler Trio for Two

We ordered the hot sampler trio for two, consisting of calamari fritti, bacon-wrapped scallops, and crabcakes. The appetizers and the entrees were equally delicious and copious, so we did not have enough room to try the desserts.

Grilled Fish

It is recommended to book beforehand as the wait can be pretty long.

Pictures of Chinatown in San Francisco

Dragon's Gate: the Entrance of Chinatown in San Francisco

Chinatown in San Francisco is easily accessible from the Union Square area (Powell St. Station or Montgomery St. Station on the BART.) It is very refreshing to see the various eclectic ornaments on the buildings, and sharply contrast with some of the close surroundings, as the buildings are a lot shorter than the high-rises a few blocks away. 

Old Saint Mary's Cathedral

The main street in Chinatown

Music in Chinatown

Alcatraz Visit in San Francisco

Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, or what used to be one of the most unwelcoming places on Earth, can now be visited for a modest ferry fare.

Complimentary audio guides are available in several languages and guide visitors throughout the huge complex, punctuated with anecdotes from former prisoners and guards. 

The showers (and the line for the audio guides)

A cell of Alcatraz

Besides the numerous interesting stories that can be heard throughout the visit, one of the highlights is the view of San Francisco from the top of the rock.

The island offers several viewpoints of the Bay Area.

You can book your tickets to Alcatraz on Alcatraz Cruises' website, the official operator of the ferry to Alcatraz (booking in advance is highly recommended.) Then you can catch the ferry at the location on the map below.

 

House of Nanking in San Francisco

My brother and I ate lunch at the House of Nanking during our visit to San Francisco.

Famous Nanking Sesame Chicken

The restaurant is conveniently located on the border of Chinatown and nearby the Hilton San Francisco Financial District.

Most of the options at the House of Nanking are inexpensive and in the price range of what is being done in Chinatown. Besides the sesame chicken depicted above, we also got dumplings and fried rice. The dumplings were good, but there are probably better options than the fried rice.

Fried Rice

Pork Dumplings

Check out the Yelp page and the Zagat page for the House of Nanking.

Views of New York from the Empire State Building

Downtown Manhattan with the New World Trade Center under construction (March 2013)

The views of New York City from the Empire State building are really fantastic! Picking the right time to go there is crucial to get on top during the sunset; be mindful of the long line on the first floor to get to the elevator.

Uptown Manhattan and Central Park

The north side offers views of the Rockefeller Center as well as Central Park, while the Statue of Liberty and the New World Trade Center can be seen from the south side.

The Statue of Liberty

I have never been on top of the Rockefeller Center but I heard the views are better there, so please comment below if you think so!

East Side, Brooklyn and Queens

These pictures were taken in March 2013 with a Canon Rebel T3i (EOS 600D).

Korean Restaurants in Los Angeles

Sweet and Spicy Fried Chicken (양념치킨) at The Gangjung (강정식당)

Korean food options in Los Angeles are numerous and of great quality while remaining affordable. Most of these restaurants are located in Koreatown, accessible by subway with stops Wilshire/Western, Wilshire/Normandie, and Wilshire/Vermont. Restaurant The Gangjung (in the shopping mall near Wilshire/Western station) has a lot of fried chicken varieties for the hungry, such as the Garlic Gangjung (마늘강정), pictured below.

Garlic Gangjung (마늘강정)

Another good place to know is Hodori (호돌이) on S Vermont Ave and W Olympic Blvd. This place is famous for being open 24/7, and have some really affordable meat and seafood dishes. I am pretty certain I had gamjatang (감자탕—pork spine soup with potatoes) at this place, but cannot find it on their website; so the picture below may or may not be that dish.

Gamjatang (감자탕)?

The final restaurant I have pictures of is the barbecue joint I went to after the memorable Apink (에이핑크) concert. The BBQ place, Honey Pig, serves various meat dishes that are grilled in front of you; at the end of the meat galore, they will add rice to the pan so that you can enjoy fried rice and kimchi.

 

Jeju pork belly meat (흑돼지 삼겹살) and kimchi

Momiji Restaurant in Seattle

Momiji is one of my favorite restaurants in Seattle. It is conveniently close to Seattle University, and offers a very large selection of Japanese and Japanese-inspired dishes made to order. Probably one of the biggest draws is their happy hour menu; discounted sashimi, rolls, drinks, and others can be ordered every day from 4pm to 6pm. The Bad Boy Roll is shown in the picture above. 

Crunchy Seattle Roll aka rainy heaven

Cannot remember what it was besides that it was delicious

The restaurant is located on 12th Ave. between Pike St. and Pine St. and is served by numerous King County Metro bus stops. 

Tempura green tea ice cream to end dinner on a sweet note

Seattle Space Needle and Aquarium

The Space Needle in Seattle has a very peculiar design, with its lines pointing to the skies and its observation deck ending these lines. I took the picture below from that observation deck.

  View of Northern Seattle from the Space Needle

You can read more about my visit to the Space Needle on my main blog.

 

Besides the Space Needle, Seattle also has a wonderful aquarium, with parts indoor and parts outdoors. I managed to took pictures of otters while I was there. I only had my film SLR, so I could not really take indoor pictures with the film the camera was loaded with.

 

All the pictures in this post were taken with my Canon 300v film SLR in September 2012.