San Francisco Couch Surfing

San Francisco is such a cultural destination. There are so many characters, artists, professionals, maintenance workers, kids and more immersing themselves amongst the revering crowds, that this city's ability to capture ones imagination and inspiration continues through good times and bad times.

San Francisco has a style of its own that splays out its tentacles and touches people from around the world bringing the ideas culminated here to their homes far far away.

Look around, listen, read, talk to strangers, what are people saying? But don't stop at one, there are multitudes of attitudes here. Some of them truly on the cutting edge and ready for your synapses to spark new realms of perception.

After living in the Netherlands, New York, Boston, Vancouver, San Francisco and Maui, I would definitely say the stories about California and especially San Francisco starting the trends that wave through the USA starts here.

Quick Tips:

For things to do, pick up the SF Weekly, the Guardian and/or Sunday's SF Chronicle pink pages. On the web check out http://bayarea.citysearch.com/.

If you are a food connoiseur definitely pick up a Zagat Survey on San Francisco's amazing restaurants.

There are many areas and neighborhoods worth checking out such as the Castro, the Haight, the Mission District, the North End, Noe Valley, the Sunset District, the Marina, South of Market, China Basin, the Tenderloin, the Financial District and Downtown.

There are the natural places to go to and see. The Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park and the botanical garden, Koit Tower, Alcatraz, the Cable Cars, Embarcadero, the Moma, and the Palace of Fine Arts are all fine traditions of San Francisco tourists.

If you want to get down to the nitty gritty of San Francisco events, get yourself on the Squid List on the Internet. The Squid List tells the Internet or email reader of activities such as moving theatre, treasure hunts, and unusual artshows.

Best Way To Get Around:

Most of the time I lived here, I had a car. When I sold it, I had to pay 1/6th of the selling price to the DMV. It was a nice car.

The parking scene tends to be a challenge here unless you have residential permits and know to go to certain destinations in off hours. For instance the Marina Monday-Friday during the day, but not in the evenings when everyone comes home from work.

San Francisco has good public transportation and fair weather. The public choices include our subway system BART, Muni, buses, taxis and personal vehicles. For more info on public transportaion call (415) 673-6894. My favorite taxi company is Taxi Citywide (415) 920-0700.

There are plenty of walking destinations and walking books. Walking in San Francisco can be a hike in itself with the wonderfully steep hills leading into the fog. It's certainly worth the effort for the experience and excercise. And there are plenty of flat areas to stroll as well.

Renting a bike is another way to explore San Francisco either on the streets or in the Golden Gate Park. Roller blading in the park is a blast.

Hola! says the service provider at the cash register with a moustached smile, dimples and sweet curly brown hair prepared to take my order in Spanish or English at the beginning of the long line stretching along the kitchen's glass counter out the door. From the grimy streets of Mission to the bathrooms in the back, the thin rectangular El Farolito #1 is decked out in yellow plastic table tops, blue plastic benches and faux wood tables and benches. El Farolito serves an eclectic group of Mission District locals and knowing passer byers.

Some argue about whether El Farolito is good or really good. It's definitely typical in the Mexican burrito scene and a notch above the alot of them in San Francisco in price, culture, and taste. Most are quite satisfied with their fresh tomatoes, whole avocadoes, sour cream dosage and meats.

El Farolito #1 is recognized for its convenience. It is open from 9am to 3am during the week days and until 4am on the weekends. Situated right next to the 24th and Mission BART station it is a highly popular destination for all walks of life inside and outside of the Mission District.

Today, couch surfing on Mission, I walked 1/2 a block to El Farolito. I waited in line along the burrito making Spanish speaking kitchen while taking in the sun glinting through the broken glass window splayed out like an animated spidery sun ray explosion. The guy before me in line read his newspaper while I noticed the bus squeak, screech and beep on the street letting out dozens of locals out the back door, a couple pouring into El Farolito. I asked a question of one of the kitchen preparers and he gave me a quizical look, a gesture of "uh", wanting to help he eyed the kitchen to the left and right, resting upon asking the order taker to understand and answer my question when he walked this way.

In tacquerias such as El Farolito and the thousands etched throughout the Bay Area, it is common to have mostly Spanish speaking employees. The guy at the cash register of El Farolito was happy to switch between Spanish, English and a Spanish-English mix for each customer's specific needs in communication.

I bought a vegetarian super burrito for $4.25 and broke down to have a bottled Coca-Cola imported from Mexico. I swear the formula is different, the water source not from the USA, and I'm quite nostalgic to drink out of the old school glass bottles.

El Farolito is a popular destination any time of the day can be quite a life-saver when starving after dancing all night in a club, or drinking without having eaten dinner in the first place. It hits the spot.

El Farolito serves burritos, tacos, tostadas, tortas, carne asada (grilled steak), pollo (chicken), enchiladas, quesadillas, agua frescas (todays natural seasaon flavors were cantelope, strawberry and the creamy horchata), sodas and mexi-sodas.

An intriguingly eccentric friend introduced me to the Atlas Cafe when she lived in the Lower Mission/Potrero Hill area, the community I had wanted to move to yet ended up in another progressive community, Berkeley, the same month she moved out of Berkeley.

Since then I have gone to the Atlas many times, I look forward to it on my returns to San Francisco during my couch surfing frenzies. Close to the freeway, away from inner city traffic, nestled amongst artist/activist warehouses and flats, Mexican/American family housing and some recent posh faux warehouse complexes and glass businesses, it is sometimes hard to find a parking space. But it is not as hard as it was last year before the booming dot.com hype became the arresting dot.bomb blow.

The Atlas is one of my favorite cafes in the city to hang out and chat with friends, read and write, look at the locals, join in on conversations, and basically check out what is up in the city by checking the flyers and SF Weekly or talking to the broad-minded beings who are attracted to the space.

Filled with local artists, activists, laborers, entrepreneurs, writers and flailers the regulars often know each other, knitting a fabric of community and having a central space to meet and rap about life. You will tend to see people sitting outside under the awnings with laptops and a purpose, people with dogs reading the paper and drinking their coffee, and groups of friends having a conversation with intent and shuffling papers around, as well as those making rounds to each others tables. The people at Atlas are not tourists, they are the San Franciscan subterranean channels and they like their kind.

Open from weekdays 7am to 10pm, Saturday 8am to 10pm and Sundays 8am to 8pm, they offer all cafe beverages from house coffee to cafe latte to tea, ginger ale and Odwalla juice. For the tea lover, they started getting specialty kinds, but not too many, please request more! They have added more since I started requesting, but now I have changed my pallet again. Their light breakfast includes bagels with various spreads, steamed egg on croissant, fresh fruit and yogurt. Their cookie and pastry selection gives me the chocolate sugar boost I often seek. Chocolate covered macadamia cookies, moist brownies, chocolate chip cookies and your selection of dipping cookies allow you to harvest drips of saliva while waiting in the line that sometimes goes out the door. Their lunch/dinner menu runs the gamut of smoked turkey and grilled cuban beef to roasted yam and eggplant sandwiches (yum-yum!). They also serve homemade soups, salads and pizza.

Having many low-cost delights for the vegetarian and some for the meat eaters, the Atlas Cafe makes my tummy very happy. Baked Tofu on toasted whole grain with nori, tomato, red onion and tamarind vinaigrette, now that sounds like something I'd like to eat now!

Enjoy!

In the lounge of the Millenium restaurant, picking up the vibrancy of the crystal chandelier and red carpeting of the Abigail Hotel that houses the restaurant's dining experience, a prominent quote reads itself to me, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world, indeed it's the only thing that ever has." ~Margaret Mead.

And through food, the Millenium does its part in changing the world. A top gourmet vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco, it supports a local economy, and a healthy way of life by buying produce only from small farms and cooking organic vegetables delivered fresh daily. They are dedicated to earthly concepts such as sustainable agriculture, composting and recycling. Dedicated to the yummy of your tummy and to your health, Millenium knows how to tickle the taste buds not only for the progressive consumer but for all lovers of food.

While being seated the aesthetics of the Millenium will fill the nostrils and eyes. Foods are delicately placed on elegant platters... sauces drizzled in intricate patterns, bites combined with vivid colors contrast and form architectural shapes. Each presentation brings the dribbles out of my cheeks and tongue, the visual mood of the platters to be served put me in a salivating trance. To quench my taste buds with their savory treats, I am eager for!

My meat eating friend who had not experienced much vegetarian cuisine came to the restaurant not knowing what to expect....

He ate Aurelio's Tamal with wild mushrooms, smoked seitan and huitlacoche, corn wrapped and baked in a phyllo tamal; served over potato, sweet pepper, and onion saltado with braised greens, cilantro-chili oil, and Oaxacan yellow pepper, peanut, and cashew mole.

I ate the Autumn Lasagnette, with housemade rosemary-black pepper pasta sheets layered with roasted sweet peppers, kabocha squash, tofu ricotta, and beans; served over Pernod and orange French lentil ragout and garnished with caramelized garlic-tomato fondue and pumpkinseed-herb gremolata.

My friend is now thinking of becoming vegetarian. He left being succulently satisfied and impressed with Chef Eric Tucker's ability to create savory tastes without the animal products and by-products so many of our mouth munching machines crave. The cuisine, influenced by flavors and styles of many cultures and drawn on the health principles of pioneers, provides the nutrients and proteins necessary to keep the gusto of the body dancing down the road. And it feels good to the soul. After all, you are consuming environmentally friendly and body friendly foods.

Millenium, one of the top vegetarian, albeit Vegan restaurants in San Francisco is beyond politically correct when it comes to restauranteering, it is ahead of the game, buying the best food from the best sources for the consumer's health and delight. The Millenium is truly a cuisine of this century.

Check out their 5 star website where you can easily make your reservations times, available from 5:30 - 9:30!

http://www.milleniumrestaurant.com/

October 31st in San Francisco it has long been a tradition to saunter the Castro where the streets are open only to foot traffic, where fully costumed freaks flock to gawk at each other and taste the flavor of Halloween San Francisco style.

Castro Halloween 2001 this year, I could easily walk the entire Castro street in 10 minutes from Market to 19th, while last year and even the years prior, it took hours, of squeezing through, gawking, pushing, whining, and going in circles around people and finding funneling tunnels to stream forward on a flowing path. With the fall of Twin Towers on 9/11 a month before, and the fall of the dot.bomb this year, the streets were easily navigatable and somehow, more friendly and open to my own fun even with the thought that half the city was hiding in the safety of their own homes, or have left for new supportive avenues of life.

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The San Francisco style of Halloween costuming tends to be Burning Man influenced. I decked my friend out who hardly ever wears costume for any occasion in a bunch of colorful ball pony tails, super-star sparkly sun glasses with red lenses, a sparkly fluffy shawl, a muscle shirt that I use as a vest and hulk pants that I used in the circus for our jungle scene. We were thinking of making him the Incredible Hulk and painting him green as he's quite muscular, but didn't get that going in our last minute costume making rush. He was the super-star Hulk Hunk.

My other friend wore her dream boy's costume that we had created on http://www.heromachine.com/ a month earlier. She wore a flame red, orange and yellow wig, sunglasses and orange material to flame with it. With her white wings, she was an orange Firefly.

I wore my friend's long black wig, a tall grey and white fluff hat, a cape from Europe in the 70s, a scarf, a slim fitting black dress that I never revealed because it was too cold, some boots, fake eyelashes and lipstick. (I don't usually wear makeup.) It was decided that I was Princess Alelele.

Our other friends, were a cat, a devil, Al Capone, a guy in a robe and cigar, darth vader and other momentary lashes of alter egos.

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Having friends near the Castro, we had a Halloween-pre-Castro-gathering at a comfortable house. We had some warm conversation, drink and smoke, then walked to the Castro to start our gawking, dancing and prancing.

Walking along Market towards the Castro, I was surprised at how many people were leaving. Were we too late at the hour of 10 to be there with the masses? Were they going home because of the fear of being bombed?

When we got there, there was still a sea of people walking in all directions coloring the landsape of the street, puddling at points of concentration membranes of strange sounds uttered from gutteral insides of characters made for the day. Revelations of who one can be, a persona, an anima within our psyches is allowed to come out this day. That sexy outfit that you never had a chance to wear, can be worn. A way of being that you usually don't allow to be evident, reveals itself. The funny or scary monster with acts on the streets. The Queen of Castro (several of them) prance with attitude. The acting student practices the part they want to play. We each in our creativity come out to play on the open venue of Castro Street for the day of Halloween in San Francisco.

I even let it happen to myself this time. I am not usually much of a flirt but a couple times at this Castro event, I found some costumed men and women giving me an eye that I usually look away from in timidity. This time, I looked them in the eye and played their game, licking my chops, mimicking, staring them up and down with my salivary glands dangling out of my mouth, or flipping my black wigged hair in their face and harumphing with snobbishness, coyly looking out of the corners of my eyes at an interest of mine, or twirling and dancing with my hunk and fly friends. Being in costume allowed me to assume a character I don't usually allow to come out and play.

Hunk Hulk got much attention from the females and males. He got hoots, hollers and buttox squeezes. One girl came up to him hissed, sizzled and meowed, grabbed his arm and started biting his bicep! She held onto him and growled like a lioness having found her king of the jungle. I got some blurry pictures of the whole scene. Our Hunk Hulk did not abandon the group to go with the provocative lioness, even with her consuming coaxing....

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On the Castro costumed freaks hang out windows giving speeches, music blasts out of houses, strip shows on fire escapes, dancing profiles in windows and drinking gawkers look down on the crowds.

There's often musicians, street performers and vendors. But this year it was low in that realm. Cellular phones worked (last year they didn't), yet there were no bands in the closed shop's entryways, and less wild dancing than the past Castro Halloweens. There was one circle of techno jerking music for people to dance and roll to. Maybe they weren't allowing semi-organized performances because of 9/11.

The top costumes I saw on the Castro this year was a robotic bride and groom depicted by the wife carrying her bouquet of flowers. They held hands the whole time walking down the isle of the camera shooting Castro gawkers, pausing every few feet to pose for pictures. They carefully strutted their silver boxes with their dangling silver reflective material and lights emanating from inside.

Overview
Harbin Hotsprings located just above Calistoga and Napa Valley is a special retreat for all those living and visiting between San Francisco and Humboldt. I always see someone I know there from my rendezvous with life in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Harbin's 100% spring water is untouched yet its purity is monitored. The mysterious natural earth minerals exfoliate my face without a facial, ease my busy mind's chatter, rinse my organs each gulp, tenderize my muscles with floatation and the added touch of massage and watsu, a water therapy practiced and taught by many at Harbin. Harbin Hotsprings even heals wounds....

Think about this, I cut my foot, got 2 stitches that should have been 7 (not supposed to have stitches after 24 hours - another story) and went to Harbin with a slow healing wound that was a little red with a wee bit of puss and still scarily open. Having to avoid walking alot and putting a plastic bag over my foot when bathing, I was afraid to put my foot into the spring pools. Keeping my foot above water in my long soaks and not dipping my foot into the hot pool at all, I slowly allowed my foot to stay under the pools giving it time to breath outside of them as well. Suddenly after two days of bathing in the springs' pools, my two week old sore was miraculously no longer an open cut, but healing skin with some scabbing. I left Harbin over due to take my stitches out, no longer wearing bandages and open top shoes and being able to take longer walks again. My wound would not have healed so quickly without Harbin's springs, my friends tending to my foot were surprised at its progress as well. It looks like it might not even scar!

Aside from the miracles of Harbin, this space offers alot to its visitors. Harbin Hotsprings wow! Not only in your paid visit can you dip in all the pools from warm to hot to cold, you can take yoga, tai chi, aikido, didgeridoo, writing, breathing, meditation and other classes offered to its guests. Check it out! They post a differing schedule every week. For an extra price, spa favorites such as massage, watsu therapy and facials can be scheduled with a professional practitioner. The health food store, restaurant and community kitchen will help you provide yourself with sustenance during your stay.

Harbin is a large facility with 7 natural springs contributing to the flow of the pools. It accomodates many people daily and nightly. It is especially busy on the weekends and holidays. Try to make it during the weekdays when the water is fresh from fewer bodies soaking and not so packed, leaving plenty of room to float.

Bring a water bottle to fill continuously with the tasty spring water flowing out of the taps. You'll enjoy guzzling the pure taste, and the all around body cleanse will be loved by your body.

The Pools
The Harbin Hotspring pools and upper deck are clothing optional, but mostly nudes saunter around freely dipping in pool to pool. If uncomfortable, you can wear your towel or robe until you reach your first dipping point, then you'll probably get used to it.

First try the large, slightly above body temperature, pool under a shady tree where guests spend alot of time floating, doing and getting watsu, and just plain relaxing silently with eyes closed and mind at peace. The next step after awhile of initial soaking there, you can go to the hot pool situated in a beautiful open air building with cast iron railings to hold onto while lowering your body into the wet heat, stain glass windows introducing the light of dawn, and water altar with the natural hot spring flow pouring out of a sculpted fish's mouth into the pool. At night, the candles are lit. When dipping into this pool, new comers fear a scorching of the skin its so hot. But this fear is easily appeased. The cold pool braces you for the hot, jump into the cold, then you'll want the hot and won't feel any initial shock to the skin and you'll be glad you went in! It's definitely one of the best pools.

After a few dips between the cold pool and hot pool, your skin doesn't burn like thought, but your muscles tingle with relief and relaxation, oxygenating the tissues deeply. Breathing is a good to supplement your dips, as well as yoga and meditation.

Harbin also shares with you its cold lap pool, and a warm pool shaped like a heart perfect for watsu therapy, a dry wood sauna, showers supplied with soap, a dressing room, and a sun bathing deck all for our comfort and pleasure!

Ammenities
Harbin, set between California mountains, has many paths for hikes and long walks in nature. Don't forget to pet the deer, but please don't feed them.

Bring your own food and you can cook all your vegetarian meals in the large community kitchen tooling all your chef needs with pots & pans, dishes & utensils, 12 burners, a fat broiler, 3 industrial size steel refrigerators to store your goods, and free food bins for the food people leave behind to share. We outfitted our stir-fry from the free bin!

If you really want to appreciate the lux, Harbin has its own restaurant with a daily vegetarian and fish menu. The two times I went there, once to get soup and once too late to get anything (they close at 8pm), I got a free romaine lettuce salad and healthy brownie, left overs from the day.

Harbin also has a very well stocked health food store, a cafe, a library, computers with internet access, laptop internet station. The last time I was at Harbin, I attended a writing class in the library. The library having a lodge feel to it, is one of my favorite places. Next to the cafe it has walls of books, nice couches and pillowed seating areas. Enjoy tranquility while the riches of the reading realm seep into your peace of mind after a healthy soak and the outdoors.

Every night the Harbin residents pick out two movies to be played in their cush theatre with body length carpeted stairs and hundreds of pillows. This visit there, I was in a movie watching mood and saw for the first time Chariots of Fire while sipping tea with my friends relaxing on the myriad of colorfully patterned pillows.

Accomodations
There are many choices of accomodation type at Harbin Hotsprings. You can camp for $25 a night per person while getting usage of all the facilities. $35 a night for a dorm room bed and $90 a night for a room with a friend. Harbin also has day passes for the passer by and local. There is a $10 membership fee that lasts for a month or a $30 membership fee for a year. This entitles you and your guest the rates above.

Harbin extends their reach to special events and some dance parties. You might want to check the schedule to find one you want to attend or a time that you don't want to. An event with friends interested in the same things as you is a good way to acquaint a new comer to Harbin.

Find pictures, events, workshops, rates and spring information on their website at http://www.harbinhotsprings.com