San Francisco Part 2

Our final day in San Francisco we woke up from night filled with sushi and pitchers of Sapporo, more on that later. Sly wanted to check out Lombard, 'The Crookedest Street in San Francisco', so we passed by there on the way back to Fisherman's Wharf, this was our second time there because we're both fiends for seafood and they serve it fresh from the ocean. We also wanted to go to the Musee Mecannique for a second time because we're also both huge dorks and wanted to take more photos of the old coin-op machines with the new 50mm lens we bought. The 50mm is good for low light and has a narrow depth of field to make for some great looking portrait shots. The Musee Mechannique was just a bonus we had no idea existed. It's basically a massive collection of different old coin operated machines. A lot of them were definitely not kids' games. You had mechanical baseball, saloon shootouts and Pixieland. But then there was also machines like 'Opium Den' or 'English Execution', the first one is basically a mechanical 60 seconds in the life of an Opium Den, complete with dealers, smack addicts, dragons and the angel of death. The english execution showed a prison facade and when you insert a quarter the doors open up to reveal a hooded man about to be hanged. A priests raises his arms up and down several times and then a trap door opens up and the dude hangs! Fun for the whole family! There was also a bunch of the original peep show booths like 'See what the Belly Dancer Does On Her Day Off', where you look into a old box with a viewfinder to see old black and white photos of nearly nude women posing with ukuleles. This stuff used to turn people on. Oh how times have changed. I wonder what a chap from the 1920's would think if he looked into the viewer and saw '2 girls 1 cup'. I'm guessing it would break his brain.

Picked up some 'Victoria Bitters' beer from Ghirardelli Square. It's this Australian beer that my brother in law Brian begged me to pick up. Apparently this Cellar 360 is the only place that sells it on the continent.
For our last night, we went to Ryoki, the sushi place that had been highly recommended, and as soon as we walked in there was a line all the way up the stairs, already a good sign.
As we're waiting, these two guys in front of us, do the San Francisco thing by making friendly remarks & asking us where we're from etc.
They get called to their table, wish us a good rest of our trip, and disappear into the back. Minutes later, the Japanese hostess approaches Sylvana and I, and tells us that the guys who were in front of us are very special customers and have invited us to sit in the blue room in the back with us. So we did.
After four pitchers of Sapporo, three shots of Sake, and some of the best fish I've ever tasted, we crawl out from the back room of Ryoki, having closed the place, and our new friends Chris and Jesus, have apparently taken care of everything. The kindness of strangers is always refreshing, and even more so when it involves your favorite food and a bunch of booze. Thanks for making our last night in San Francisco so delicious, drunk and hilarious.
Was up at the San Jose Improv Wednesday night for "Big Al's Big Ass Comedy Show". Great looking stage, room, and the audience couldn't have been more game for a show. After the show, we went to a nightclub called 'Toons' around the corner. The place was like any nightclub; loud music, coloured lights, and lots of people that I'm afraid of. I had shared a 'cigarette' with the generous Improv manager, Justin, so my fear of most people in nightclubs only increased after our trip from the parking lot. That was until this 40yr old couple, who arrived from 1982 via time machine, came into the bar and started dancing. These two came out of nowhere, and somehow the sight of them made me feel that as long as they were there busting a move, nothing dangerous was going to happen to me. Pretty soon BIg Al, and Justin left the bar, and finally, when the 80's guardian angel couple made their exit, I was no longer safe, so Sylvana and I headed towards LA.