Treasure Island and Chairman Bao

I finally visited Treasure Island and Robert Louis Stevenson is full of shit.  There are no pirates (or Muppets) and most likely no buried treasure, but Treasure Island is still pretty cool.

We had visitors again this weekend and the main attraction on Saturday was visiting the Treasure Island Flea Market.  We all purchased tickets through Groupon which included admission, food, wine tasting, and glass of wine for two.  At a cost of $17 this was a fantastic deal.  Public transportation to the island was also surprisingly easy and efficient.  We rode the BART to Embarcadero and then caught the 108 Bus.  The bus ride only takes 10 minutes and the view going across the bridge is well worth the $2 fare.  Once we arrived at the Flea Market the first stop was the Chairman Bao food truck.  The Chairman offers a Pork Belly Bun that Rachel has been raving about since we moved here.  I don't eat a lot of pork, but felt it necessary to find out what this hype is all about.  I can undoubtedly say that the Pork Belly Bun from the Chairman Bao food truck is one of the most delicious things that I have ever eaten in my whole life!  Chuck D had it all wrong, you must believe the hype!

In addition, to Treasure Island we did some light weight city exploring and had a nice dinner at Scoma's Seafood Restaurant near Fisherman's Wharf.  It was a fun weekend and I was glad to spend it with our friends Phil, Bee, Jeff, and Laurie.

And now pictures...

I mistakingly suggested we try the Tofu... but thankfully Rachel set me straight.

Laurie and Rachel ready to eat.

I think she loves Pork Belly Bun more than me.

I told Phil that I was going to take pictures of him eating all weekend...

And Bee too.

Local artist making art.

If you know Laurie, you know she loves donuts.

The group about to drink down some Ask Alice Rose.

Jeff shooting the city (coincidentally I owe Jeff a thank you and shout out for loaning me the lenses I took most of these pictures with).

This was the only picture I was able to snap of the Pork Belly Bun before it was quickly devoured.

Sometimes I get to be in front of the camera too... although this picture is fair evidence that I should probably stay behind the camera.

Phil was ready for oysters all day and he finally found some at the Wharf.

On Sunday, we attended the Millbrae Lunar New Year Festival... it was pretty terrible, this shot encompasses pretty much the whole event with a few booths to the side.

Since the Lunar New Year Festival was a bust we ended up eating at our go-to Vietnamese place!

San Francisco Zoo

This week, Rachel and I visited the San Francisco Zoo.  It was our first trip to this zoo and overall I was impressed.  The location is ideal, right across from the beach.  The zoo is significantly smaller than the one in San Diego, but still has a large and interesting assortment of animals.  However, a few of the animals did appear to have noticeable deformities such as the bald eagle with one wing.

In preparation for our zoo trip, I rented a telephoto lens from BorrowLenses.com.  The great thing about BorrowLenses is that the main headquarters is only about 20 minutes from home, so I can pick up the order and save on shipping.  I decided to rent the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L lens because it seemed like the ideal focal length for shooting at the zoo and was less than $40 to rent for a week.  This was my first time using one of Canon's top shelf L-series lenses and I liked it.  However, I would not purchase this particular lens because it serves a specific niche focal range that I would probably not use too often.

Below are some pictures of the animals at the SF Zoo.  Thank you for reading and take care!