Saket Vora

As many people know, the Bay Area is a haven for folks to appreciate the consumption and creation of food. The Eat Real Fest in Oakland’s Jack London Square is a celebration of this, drawing lots of great food trucks (!) but also a huge variety of locally produced food businesses and entrepreneurs. Brock and Heather were going, and I joined them for the afternoon too.

One cool thing was their friend Rachel Saunders, who started making homemade jam in her kitchen then started selling it at farmer’s markets (Brock and Heather would help man the booth). She soon turned it into a business — Blue Chair Fruit — and was able to move production into a commercial certified kitchen that helps small entrepreneurs get started selling their goods. Now, she is in over a hundred Williams-and-Sonoma stores, did a segment on jam making on the Martha Stewart show, and has released a couple of cookbooks. Pretty awesome.

We perused several food trucks, had bourbon popsicles, and tried some local brews. What a really pleasant way to spend a lazy weekend day!

The busy fall concert schedule doesn’t let up! Last night I saw the Irish rockers Two Door Cinema Club perform at the Warfield in San Francisco, marking the first show I’ve seen at the Warfield. Chrissy had an extra ticket and I was glad to go — I’ve enjoyed the energy of Two Door Cinema Club ever since Troy introduced them to me over a year ago. I saw the band play at Slim’s just under a year ago, and they have been touring heavily for a long time.

Now here they were headlining a much bigger venue. Bonus points for Grouplove being the opening act – a fun super energetic electro-pop band I first heard a month ago at Outside Lands. They sounded great again, and I think the band is really about to get way more popular. We had balcony seats for the main show which gave us great views down to the stage, but the downside was that we’d get blinded everytime the stage strobe lights would fire — which happened a lot. Something was definitely up with the sound setup too…i noticed the band making gestures throughout the first two songs. My guess was that the on-stage monitors weren’t working properly. Finally, the band actually stopped the show for about five minutes so the stage crew could sort out of the issues. Once they were back, it went really smoothly.

The self-titled sophomore album by Bon Iver will very likely be my favorite album of 2011. It is nuanced, layered, emotional, and I think I’ve listened to it more than anything new album this year. Needless to say, I couldn’t wait to see the band frontman Justin Vernon assembled for this latest incarnation of Bon Iver. It has come a long, long, way from a man recording songs by himself in a cabin in the woods in the middle of winter.

Last night, Bon Iver played the Greek Theater in Berkeley. As a bonus, Other Lives was opening for them, a band I had seen earlier this year. However, we didn’t realize that the time printed on the ticket was the show time (not doors), so we ended up arriving three quarters of the way through their set. John drove up a car with Sean, Jason, and myself. Traffic was utterly horrendous near campus so we ditched the car and walked the last mile in. Heather was able to get there early, and a fellow NC State alum Erin also made it inside. With some tips from me, the two linked up and reserved a large patch in the same spot that we saw the Fleet Foxes a couple weeks earlier. Brock joined us, as did John’s friend Rosie too.

photo by Isabel Golinn

The band took a few songs to gel, but the show was a great experience. The songs took on a more raw edge to them as the large band played them live, and we were treated to an especially muscular version of one of my favorite Bon Iver songs, Blood Bank. As the main set ended, a lone stage hand came out to set a beaten, well worn acoustic guitar next to a single chair – completely (but not surprisingly) betraying the inevitable encore song of Skinny Love. For anyone that doesn’t know what I’m talking about, just watch this. Vernon could have sat there and played by himself and the sell-out crowd of 8,000 would have watched captivated. But the rest of the band came and song along, clapping and stomping to give the song a new air.

As Vernon said after the first couple of songs, as he and the band looked out onto the packed outdoor amphitheatre on a beautiful Bay Area fall evening — wow, just wow.

The Fleet Foxes had a great debut back in 2008, and yet I was slow to pick up on their 2011 followup Helplessness Blues. They played at the Greek Theater in Berkeley last night and I’m really glad I went! Brock and Heather snagged a spot early in line with burritos, and we got in right when the doors opened to snag a good spot. Chrissy joined us later on before the show, and some other friends joined us too.

Fleet Foxes are known for their harmonies, and they sounded great live. We were treated to a nice mix of their new album and old album, and they hit all my favorite songs over the course of their ~1.5 hour set. The weather was perfect, and the company wonderful.

I had heard a great deal about Hong Kong from my colleagues who had been through there on previous trips, and this was my chance to finally see it in person. The first thing that strike you is the jaw dropping natural beauty of the city. Hong Kong is built atop of extraordinarily rugged mountain islands — skyscrapers built right up against cliffs and hills, with water and small bays everywhere. On the drive in from Shenzhen, I stared dumbfounded at a skyscraper city sprawling along both sides of a harbor, only to be reminded that the city in question was just a suburb of Hong Kong.

The hotel Sean got us was right in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui, amidst the hustle and the bustle, below the Kowloon area. The city is divided into two parts, with a bay in the middle. Because of the British influence into Hong Kong, getting around is remarkably easy for someone who just knows English. Many of the major streets have retained their English names, and the Metro system is extensive and easy to navigate.

The first night we headed out to Lan Kwai Fong, the most happening place for bars and nightlife in the City. From there we explored the surrounding streets, following a series of escalators up and up and up into the hills. It’s just incredible, the charming small windy cobblestoned streets, interesting restaurants and bars and cafes of every possible cuisine tucked into every corner, all nestled into beautiful hills and buildings…like San Francisco on steroids.

The next day we took a long walk to the famous Ladies Market (cheap trinkets and knockoffs), swinging by a nice city park along the way that had an aviary with exotic birds. The other remarkable part of Hong Kong to me was how insanely clean the place was. Even side streets and alleys, the vast subway and Metro system, everything was scarily clean. Made me think of morlocks.

The next day, we took a bus down to the other end of the south island, to a resort town called Stanley. There is a ‘boardwalk’ there, and we had lunch at a German restaurant on the second floor of the former residence of some bigshot. Stunning views. We later walked (a lot of walking this trip) around part of the Island, making it to the beach on the other side before heading back.

That evening we took in the famous light show that the skyscrapers along the water take part in, and then headed out to one of the night markets for last minute souvenir shopping.

The next morning, it was just a short train ride over to the Hong Kong airport and we were off, homeward bound. What an incredible city. Can’t wait to go back!

So after Japan, I was in China for just under five days on business.

Went to eat at a great Italian restaurant, and surprisingly decent Indian food too. Caught up with a colleague I hadn’t seen in half a year at the penthouse bar in the hotel one evening.

Anyway, moving on. It was Labor Day weekend coming up and instead of rushing back home, we decided to spend an extra day in Hong Kong…