So, BMW Oracle brought home the America's Cup to the States and, more specifically, San Francisco Bay. The team came to show off their spoils today at City Hall.
A couple of security guards keeping an eye on the oldest trophy in sport.
The roof of the impressive SF City Hall rotunda.
The key players of today's event: Mayor Gavin Newsom, Team Principal Larry Ellison, Skipper James Spithill, Tactician John Kostecki & CEO Sir Russell Coutts
Russell saying a few words about the accomplishment of winning the Cup (again - for him at least). He, along with everyone else who spoke, discussed his preference of racing the next America's Cup here in SF Bay much to the delight of the partisan crowd.
The BMW Oracle team in its entirety (well, everyone who came).
Much of the sailing crew hung around to sign posters & caps for the fans who came out to congratulate them. Awesome bunch of sailors.
The Auld Mug aka the America's Cup. Quite an impressive sight closeup I must say.
This'll be coming back to NZ one day soon I hope!
Lunch after the festivities @ Crepe n Coffee. New Orleans crepe (swiss cheese, mushrooms, chicken, sun-dried tomatoes & salsa) with potatoes.
Dessert from Schubert's Bakery on Clement Street. Princess cake & the mango mousse cake.
Not a bad way to spend a Saturday. Quite pleased to have been able to see the America's Cup in person having followed it since 1995 (when, huddled inside a cabin in Northland, I watched Team NZ win with my family). I even remember the heartache of both 2003 (when, during my freshman yr at USC, Alinghi took the Cup away from NZ) and 2007 (when, during my last yr at USC, Team NZ could not prize the Cup back from Alinghi). If San Francisco became the host of the next America's Cup, I would most definitely want to stick around here to see that spectacle. Who knows, maybe I'll hop in a boat and indulge a new hobby..? Au revoir for now.
恭喜發財! Happy (Lunar) New Year to you all! What better way to celebrate the occasion than to wander the SF streets aimlessly?
Not quite aimlessly but the trek across the City began at the Embarcadero, traversed across Pier 39/Fisherman's Wharf and all the way to Crissy Field before looping through the Marina on the way back to the Ferry building. The day began early(ish) and shrouded in a thick veil of fog. Just before noon, by the time I marched along past Fisherman's Wharf, the blue sky began to poke its head through some of the fog.
Lunch came courtesy of the Crissy Field Center Cafe. Spinach quiche w/mixed greens accompanied by a nice cup of tomato bisque.
And by the time 2pm rolled on by, the fog had well and truly gone to reveal a beautiful day in San Francisco. Complete with obligatory Golden Gate bridge photo...
Hustled on back towards the Ferry Building to make it in time to see the Giant SF Pillowfight. Some crazy people spread out the news online for everyone to meet up and start beating each other with pillows, flashmob-style, tonight. The photo above depicts the scene about 20 min till.
And as the clock struck 6pm, a sea of pillows waved furiously about in the San Francisco twilight. What a sight to behold. Even 30 minutes after the pillow-fighting had begun, people were still showing up. Craziness...
I also learned tonight that South Food & Wine Bar (the Aussie-Kiwi restaurant in SF) had closed at the end of last year! A new restaurant will be opening up in its place called Marlowe (http://marlowesf.com). The new theme is American bistro so, as it appears, I'll have to head over to Alameda for any Down Under delicacies I might be craving... On that note, g'night all!
Dinner for this week = Chicken pot pie! I was inspired a bit by last week since a few of us did "Pie day" at work (bring a pie to share during lunch) and I made a small shepherd's pie to take in (sorry, no pic there). Grabbed some pre-made flaky pastry from the store and threw that on top of some chicken, carrots, celery, onion, sweet potato, corn and there you have it. Nothing fancy but it does the trick! Yum!
You might be asking what has Adrian been up to?! Well, for one thing, I've been trying to get over an annoying cough (thanks Deryck) that just doesn't want to go away completely. I've also had a number of visitors dropping by (and staying at my 1 bedroom place) keeping me busy/entertained in many ways. I can't say that I've gotten off to the best start with my "more photos" resolution, but check a few of these photos out to get a tiny glimpse into what I've been up to.
The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco looking glorious in the golden glow of the setting sun. I'm a fan of the building but looking at it from afar, you wouldn't really guess it has anything to do with Asian Art based on how it looks on the outside.
Po Po, Gung Gung & Grandson. Again, I'm a fan of the architecture despite it being kinda non-Asian.
A gilded statue from Burma on display in their special exhibit. DIdn't realize no photos allowed till after I took the pic. Really.
They did a live mochi pounding demonstration in celebration of the New Year. Above, you can see a product of their efforts (minus a bite I took).
Prison Window by Robert Gober. This comes from the SFMOMA where I went to check out their 75th anniversary shindig. Art, music, lots of people and free admission. I sadly don't have a picture of the creme brulee I enjoyed (from the creme brulee cart who had setup shop at the Electric Works gallery) just before heading over to the SFMOMA, but it was damn good.
The backside of the Palace of the Legion of Honor. You can't see it from this view, but this museum is situated in a similar manner to the Auckland War Memorial Museum. If you would like to know why I have no picture of the more familiar looking front of the building, it is because the sun was shining towards the camera at the front and completely washing out the image on my poor camera phone.
A view of the Golden Gate from just outside the aforementioned Palace of the Legion of Honor. San Francisco is a lovely city a lot of the time.
So, really, I'll be doing my best to do this photo thing more often. I can't let Deryck post more blog entries than me!!!! 'Till next time everyone...
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