Happy 4th! Completely unrelatedly, here’s the continuation of our travel tales… 

My cousin Ben works for a biotech company in the Bay Area. Like me, he grew up in Malaysia and like me, he married an American and settled here. Like me….uhm, that’s where the similarities end. For you see, Ben is a non-breeder. (But we love him anyway.)

Zoe and I spent two nights at Pui-Wing and Steve’s home, where art supplies cover the dining table and rubber princesses line the bath tub.

Then we packed our bags and headed to Ben and wife Unhei’s very sharp, very urban-style loft in Oakland.

“You’ll have to tell me what to do with kids,” said Ben, thoughtfully coming to get us in his wife’s sedan instead of his usual two-seater sports car.

We had Sophie along for the day, giving her mom time with the baby. Zoe and Sophie both thought this an excellent arrangement.

Ben and Unhei’s loft, atop a single-family home, was all dark wood and metal. In the middle was a moss-green couch accented with a red satin cushion. There were candles in the shower, candles in glass cylinders in the living room on shelves at shin-level. It was lovely. I of course kept a lookout for what Zoe might knock over.

We hopped on the BART and headed downtown. Sophie held Ben’s hand, Zoe held mine. We emerged on Market Street to crowds and police barricades. It was Gay Pride weekend.

We jumped on the cable car before the parade arrived, probably a lucky thing since I’m not sure I could adequately explain its theme to two curious four-year-olds. As the old, wooden street cars wobbled up the hill, the girls got on their knees, pushed their faces up against the windows, and yelled at the sights: “Pyramid tower! White fire hydrant! With a red top! Sparkly sidewalk! Pyramid tower again!”

First stop was Ghirardelli Square, with its pretty cobblestones and fountain. For some reason, I’d expected to see a working chocolate factory. But it had long moved away. The girls were too busy eating chocolate cupcakes to notice. Ben departed for a wine-tasting event - ah, the life of the non-breeder - promising to catch up with us later.

Shiver me timbers

Zoe and Sophie made myriad stops along Fisherman’s Wharf, sinking into the sandy beach (I wondered briefly: are there buried syringes?) , marveling at a pirate statue, watching bakers at the Boudin bakery shape dough in alligator and teddy bear shapes. They gaped at the mime artists in metallic paint. Everything was endlessly fascinating. They just had to swing under every inverted U bike rack, yell “Pigeon!” at every pigeon.

I thought we’d never get there but finally, we were at the Aquarium Under the Bay. Parents, if you’re looking for a sure-fire hit, this is it. Two sets of glass tunnels, star fish and stingrays and leopard sharks galore overhead. Finally, after two rounds through the tunnels, we were done.

The girls were tired and hungry and Ben wasn’t quite ready to leave his wine event yet. We stopped at a cafe for some chicken tenders and lemonade. I decided to enjoy my own personal wine-tasting with a glass of chardonnay. I have no idea what I drank. But after an afternoon running after two preschoolers, I was ready to vote it Wine of the Month.

Ben with fan club

By the time we dropped Sophie home and headed out for Ethiopian food, Zoe was loopy with exhaustion. It was, after all, already 10pm Minnesota time. It felt good to collapse on the blow-up bed that night.

“Uhm, we have no breakfast food,” Unhei confessed the next morning. (Non-breeders apparently drink protein shakes or skip breakfast altogether.) So Zoe drank some fat-free milk until we got out to the neighborhood bakery.

Another round of goodbyes, and finally, it was just Zoe and me.

We had half a day before us before our late-afternoon flight back to Minnesota.

Coming Monday: Part 3

This entry was posted on Friday, July 4th, 2008 at 11:21 am and is filed under Holidays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.