Wow - I realize that my last post was exactly a month ago on Thanksgiving ... December has flown by completely, and I can't believe we've come to the end of 2011. So much has happened this year - I was living in Seattle just earlier this year, we moved here to San Francisco in Feb/March living on a 30 foot sailboat, and now have a cozy apartment in the middle of the Castro. I've now officially been hired on as UCSF staff at work, and have started to study for the Graduate Australian Medical School Admissions Test. More on that later ... for now: Alcatraz!
Since Mom and Bryan are in town visiting, Ian and I figured it would be fun to surprise them both with tickets for a night visit to Alcatraz Island. Although Mom lived in the city for many years, she said she had never had the chance to visit the picturesque island before. She was genuinely excited and really had no idea what we were doing until we were at the gate of the ferry terminal.
Leaving our apartment ... Mom has no idea where we're going
Arrived at Pier 33: Alcatraz Island departures
And we're off ... beautiful San Francisco skyline behind us, setting sun behind the Golden Gate Bridge to the west, and the eerie lighthouse of Alcatraz to the north
The cruise ships that shuttled us to and from the island were diesel-electric hybrids. Considering how windy it is in San Francisco, in addition to the apparent wind generated by us moving forward (learned this from when I learned to sail), adding on wind turbines to the ship can generate a tremendous amount of clean, renewable energy. Solar panels also line the passenger canopies
Foghorn greets us as we arrive at the island after sundown ... I love the eerie feeling of everything lit up with yellow lighting creating dramatic shadows
The soldiers' barracks (from when Alcatraz was a US military fort, prior to becoming a prison). Alcatraz Island was the first fort built on the West Coast of the US, and with the two forts under both ends of the Golden Gate Bridge, form the "triangle of defense" in the Bay.
Old schoolhouses and apartments for the staff working on the island
Standard open-bar cell
Maximum security solitary confinement ... in the dark
Mom was pretty scared standing inside the solitary confinement cell in the dark!
Look there's an orb in the corner .... you know what that means! haha
Not surprised ... inside the prison library
Bullet marks in the wall from the Battle of Alcatraz (an unsuccessful attempt at escape from the federal penitentiary killing 5 people total and involving the US military. More info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_alcatraz)
Grenade marks on the floor from the battle
Typical furnished room setup in standard cells. The box on the wall (left) with two holes is actually a radio outlet ... inmates could plug into two radio stations
Administrative office
View from the island southward towards the city, just barely over a mile away
Sweeping light from the lighthouse
The big escape!
The old tunnels (some dating back to the mid 1800s) under and through the old fort area
Enjoying a late dinner at Chow after our day's adventure
I was scared that Alcatraz was just going to be way too touristy for my taste. However, even a lot of local San Franciscans have told me that if you live here, it's something that you just have to do. I'm happy to say that the night tour was really cool - it's a totally different feeling to be there at night, and our boat was the only group of people on the island (unlike during the day when there is a boat every 30 mins). Before leaving the island on the last ferry, we had a small 12-person private tour detailing the plans of the mysterious three who escaped from Alcatraz but were never seen again. We retraced their escape route in the dark (as they would have done), and our guides were enthusiastic and engaging.
Of course I have to update the blog with some of the latest teas I've been tasting ... first up is my favorite Pu Erh so far ... a 2001 aged sheng. I bought a small sample of this $120 cake just to be able to really learn the differences between a new sheng, aged sheng, and artificially "aged" (fermented) shou Pu Erh. From the first sip, it was pretty obvious why a true aged sheng pu erh cake is valued so much.
Breaking off a sample for the gaiwan brewing. Leaves were still relatively tightly compressed in the cake, despite being aged for 10 years. Still, though, it was pretty easy to separate without too much breaking of the leaves.
Golden amber brew from this aged sheng. Has the camphor-ey/floral aspects of a young green sheng, but is starting to develop some wood/bark elements of a fully ripened pu erh. Mouthfeel is still strong and assertive, unlike the soft feel of a shou. Really great pu erh - still leaning towards the "green" side of the spectrum... perhaps another 10 years aging? That is, if you can wait that long! From this particular cake I learned how the astringency in a young green sheng transforms into the maltiness and woodsy/bark taste. 10 years of aging has mellowed out a lot of the astringency while leaving just enough for that cooling sweet hui gan.
Wet leaves: I learned that by rubbing the leaves, one can determine whether a pu erh is sheng or shou ... Sheng (young or aged) does not disintegrate when the leaves are rubbed between the fingers ... a shou will fall apart
Got Ian this white buds cake to celebrate his acceptance into University of Sydney's nursing school :-)
Really unique cake .. white buds processed just like a Pu Erh. Instead of that light, delicate honeydew white tea taste, this is a much hardier tea, brewed at 208F. Taste is incredibly camphor-ey and has a really nice assertive quality. After a couple of brewings, the buds open up in the gaiwan beautifully. Definitely getting some more of this in the future
Finally, I'm embarking on what will be a strenuous plan to study for the Graduate Australian Medical School Admissions Test (GAMSAT). The test is only offered once a year (March 24th), and only in Washington DC for all of the Americas (otherwise, it's offered in London and in the capitol cities of Australia). The goal is to get into University of Sydney's school of medicine - the oldest in Australia and one of the leading medical institutions in Australasia. Their curriculum was even licensed to be used to teach medicine in Canada, New Zealand, and the UK, so it's an excellent program. We'll see how the studying goes .... T-minus 3 months, and there are 712 pages in my book to cover in detail! Two days since I've received the book and I haven't yet read very much ...... we're off to a great start *wink*
