SF Chinatown

Don't Trust Those Tricky Women, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

I used to hate going into San Francisco because I disliked the traffic, the millions of one way streets, getting lost, looking for parking, getting lost, and getting lost. That all changed once the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) opened a station in Pleasanton. I love going into the city without the hassle of driving. One of my favorite things to do in SF is the urban hike. The nice thing about the urban hike is there's always a nice pub to stop into for a cool, refreshing drink. I also like the variety of restaurants and stores in the city.

A few weekends ago, the entire family was away at various activities, so I was a bachelor for a day. I decided to hook up with my brother for a walk around the city. We spent a fair amount of time in Chinatown. I've always walked down Grant Street, which apparently is the touristy part of Chinatown. Quite honestly, I didn't realize there was more to Chinatown. I loved the number of markets selling fresh fruits and vegetables, and the shops selling food, interesting smelling things with medicinal properties, and well, Chinese stuff.

The colors in Chinatown are wonderful, especially the bright reds. However, the last few times I've been in Chinatown, I happened to have B&W film in my camera. Although red isn't a prominent color in B&W photography, I do love the "old time" look of Chinatown in B&W photos, especially the architecture.

Here are a few photos from my walk. I especially liked the Chinese guy protesting those "tricky women." He had a big smile on his face and seemed so happy, waving at all the tourists walking by. In my opinion, he was doing this all wrong. His demeanor didn't match his message. Furthermore, his sign was too wordy -- he really needed a short, focused message. Although I found his sales and marketing skills lacking, I though he made for an interesting photograph.