Free and Fun Outdoor Sound Activities at the United Nations Plaza, San Francisco

On our walk to the Mission District in San Francisco, we walked by some interesting buildings, parks and plazas.

One that really stood out for me was the United Nations Plaza at Market Street and 10th Street.



















What really caught my eyes was the beautiful classical dome building with modern lamp stands lining symmetrically in the plaza.

I am a fan of architecture and am often drawn to magnificent and historic buildings.


This time we were standing right in the actions of San Francisco - the Civic Centre.

We did not go into the Civic Centre as there were quite a number of interesting outside installations right in the plaza.


The long wooden sticks hanging in this urban park looked interesting, so we stopped for a few minutes to find out what these sticks were about.

This particular station was called Tick Tock Walk.

















Not far from the Tick Tock Walk, we saw another activity installation composed by a gravel path.


People took turns and were gingerly walking on this path.












The goal was to walk as gently and quietly as possible from one end of the gravel path to the end.

There was a score marker at the end tracking how loud one was walking

My husband and I tried this challenge and walked on this gravel path as quietly as we could.

It was not as easy as we thought!

We walked too loudly and the scale went through the roof!
















A kind gentleman working at this station demonstrated to us how one could walk quietly without making any noise at all.














His score was 0.1 which meant he hardly made any noise at all walking on this gravel path.

The Chime Line at the United Nations Plaza, San Francisco

The next station we wen to experiment was the Chime Line.

A pretty winding wooden path raised above the grassy lawn flanked by tall metal poles.

Visitors to this area were encouraged to ring these chimes and try to feel the vibrations in their bodies.

 Xylophones Station, United Nations Plaza

Not far from the Chimes, there were a number of Xylophones with a sign above them to encourage people to make music together by trying their hands on these musical instruments.

Echo Tubes for people to explore their own echos

There was a big long aluminum tube running across a part of the park.

" What is this?" I wondered myself.

These were Echo Tubes!

Visitors were invited to clap, talk, sing or yell and listen to the sound that bounce back to them.

I shouted into the Echo Tube

I shouted into one of the echo tubes.

Was the echo the same as the sound we sent out ?

No! We learned that the sound we sent out reacted with the environment and it came back sounding differently to ours.

Not only did we have a fun experience with the various sound installations and musical instruments in the United Nations Plaza. We also saw some grand buildings such as the Orphlum Theatre.

It was barely 5:30pm; there was a huge lineup of people waiting to purchase their tickets for the evening show at the theatre.

We also came across some fun characters, such as this lady walking with a cat sitting on her head. We happened to be walking in the direction as she was.

She walked for more than a block with this cute cat in this manner.














It was an enjoyable outing for us, exploring on our own and experimenting with the fun activities at the Untied Nations Plaza.


R.T.
United Nations Plaza
San Francisco
April. 2017

Exploring San Francisco's Mission District and Mission Delores on Foot

We walked by the financial district of San Francisco. 

We are visiting the United States and we have been in the city of San Francisco for a few days.

An old fashion street clock stands proudly on the street of SF.

Today we did one of my most favorite activities while on holiday - walking.

We always enjoy a walking tour of the city on our own without joining a tour or following other people's schedule!

 After  lunch at the Thai restaurant close to our hotel, we went to explore the Mission District passing by many beautiful buildings in the financial district.

We started walking from Market Street around the financial district.

The Mission District is situated at the Delores Street and 14^th Street area.

I just couldn't get the colourful  buildings we saw in San Francisco.

How often do you see a purple house or building?

We saw houses in this city painted in all kinds of vibrant colours such as purple, green, red, blue.

They looked beautiful indeed!

Old buildings and modern designed houses coexisting happily in this city.




















The residents seem to spare no expenses renovating and keeping these old buildings in excellent shape.

Mission Delores, San Francisco, USA

The Mission Delores  was the oldest building in San Francisco.

But it was destroyed in the 1900's and was rebuilt.




















Mission San Francisco de Asis is popularly known as Mission Delores.

Within the Mission, there are a number of things to see.

They are: a small chapel, the Basilica, a Diorama, a covered walkway, a museum and a cemetery.

We did not join the official tour but walked on our own to read and learn about the history about the Mission.

This historic site receives no public funding and relies completely on visitors' voluntary donations.

We started the self guided tour with the small original chapel built on site.

This building, completed in 1791, is 114 feet long and 22 feet wide with adobe walls 4 feet thick.

The baptistry is located midway in the chapel.

"To this day, parish baptisms take place here.
The first of more than 28,000 baptisms during the Mission Period took place two months before the official establishment of the Mission. The records are still preserved." Taken from the pamphlet given to visitors to the Mission Dolores.

We also visited the museum within the Mission. It used to be a classroom. Artifacts were gathered and displayed in this small but authentic museum.

We took a walk in the cemetery shaded by tall trees.

We learned about the founding father of this mission.




















One thing I did notice at this mission was that there were more emphasis and displays on the culture and life of the native people.

"While the Mission withstood the shock of the 1906 earthquake, the parish church was not so fortunate.

The present building was completed in 1918.

 In 1952, Pope Pius X designated it a basilica."

As we walked back towards our hotel, it was around 5pm and we were right in the smack of the rush hour.

 We saw a lot of cyclists getting home on the streets of SF. It was quite s sight.

Walking by the office of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, we saw the director of the organization out on the street giving the thumbs up to cyclists passing by and encouraging them.

We had an interesting conversation with him who share with passionately of the mission of his organization -

"For over 45 years, the SF Bicycle Coalition has been transforming San Francisco streets and neighborhoods into more livable and safe places by promoting the bicycles for everyday transportation."

Mission Delores, San Francisco

It is encounters like these, meeting with the local people and learning about their city and culture that makes our vacation enjoyable every time.

R.T.
Mission District
San Francisco
USA

Changing to a Different Hotel in San Francisco - a Good Decision for Us.

Week of April 3, 2017

Guest Lounge, Hilton Hotel, Downtown San Francisco

I had a really good sleep last night.

Thank God, my husband has been sleeping well and there has been no health issues with him on this trip.

My husband's favorite spot - the massage chair corner

He is enjoying this trip as much as I do as he is able to do all the things he wants to do.

Enjoying a massage from head to toe in the massage chair

Moving over to Hilton Hotel was a good idea as suggested by our son who really didn’t like the hotel we were at as it was too close to the less desirable district.

Dining Room, Hilton Hotel, Downtown San Francisco

The Hilton where we are staying  is a beautiful hotel with quite a few amenities and very close to downtown and everything.

 I stayed in our room and did some of my preparation work for the next weekend as I will be busy doing a few presentation.

My favorite spot at the hotel - the Reading Area

I got quite  a bit done as the wifi was fast which enabled me to do my work much more efficiently.

After I got my work done, we went out for lunch at one of the restaurants close by to the hotel.
We had Thai food and it was pretty good.

A very productive morning for me while on vacation!


R.T.
Tuesday
Day 4, San Franscisco