Sharing New Year Red Envelop Tradition at Pier 39

E. came first thing in the morning and had breakfast with us at the hotel dining room. S. rested a little bit more after breakfast in the lovely hotel room until 2p.m. Since was still not 100% recovered from his illness, we could not do a lot of sightseeing. But there was one place I felt it he should not miss visiting - Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf

From the dock of Pier 39 we could see the Island of Alcatraz clearly and it was interesting to learn about American's once most infamous prison.  Pier 39 is a popular place for tourists.

Interesting Info about Alcatraz

Sea Lions at Pier 39

It has nice boardwalk, a multitude of shops, eatery, games and free entertainment for kids, musicians playing on the sidewalk and its most famous inhabitants - sea lions.

Since my husband tired easily from his condition, we sat down and relaxed rather than walking around too much.

Birds roamed about freely in the restaurant

We rested at this restaurant with an outdoor patio and waiting for Er. and his room mate to join us for dinner.

Sipping on our hot beverages, we watched the world go by and the birds strutting on the ground of the restaurant.

Delicious seafood chowder

How could one visit San Francisco without sampling the seafood they have to offer?

We ordered the seafood chowder and it was delicious with chunks of fresh fish, scallops, shrimps and all the yummy stuffs in it!






E. and his friend, H. came and joined us for dinner at around 6p.m. and it was nice seeing them again. Er. has forewarned us before our arrival that he would not be able to spend a lot of time with us sightseeing due to his work situation.So we were really glad to see him for the third time on this trip!

A Red Lucky Pocket

Since we saw them on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Horse, I took the opportunity and gave Holly a red lucky pocket according to tradition. ( Chinese tradition has it that only married people can give out this red lucky envelop to unmarried people during the new year. If one is given one of these red envelops, unlike western tradition when your are given a gift, you open it before the giver, you should not open the red envelop because it contains money and you don't want to embarrasse the giver if the amount is very small.)

I had to explain this tradition to H. since she asked me if she could open hers. Chinese calendar runs on a twelve year cycle and each year is represented by an animal. If you are born say in the Year of Horse, Chinese myths say that something really good would happen to you when  the Year of Horse comes around again which is twelve year later. H. and Er. were very interested when I shared some of the stories of what happened to me in my career during the previous Years of the Horse.

 I also shared with them  what I would like to receive as gifts in this my supposed to be lucky Year of the Horse. We all burst into laughter and chuckled at my wish as I quoted what Herb said to Sarah regarding his strong desire of having grandchildren - " I want grandchildren from you soon and I don't care how to get them, married or not!"

It was a fun dinner and evening! To think that I was nervous before the dinner worrying about what to say to Er's roommate. But that was not a problem at all and we all had a great time!  Praise God again for His faithfulness!

R.T.
San Francisco, California