As my last post mentioned, I’ve moved to a new apartment and new neighborhood in San Francisco, from Soma to the Sunset. I’m right in the middle of the Sunset (on 21st Ave), cradling the Inner and the Outer halves of it. It’s a drastic and incredibly different San Francisco than Soma. Missing are the crack addicts, the crack dealers, the wife beaters and the insane. They’ve been replaced by families and kids on bicycles and very long Muni rides. On the plus side, it’s an easy neighborhood to get around on, I’m fronting the park (and only a 15 minute walk to the de Young or the Botanical Gardens) and there are quite a few Muni lines (metro and bus) available. Given all that, it still doesn’t feel like my San Francisco.
Speaking of Muni rides, I gave my car to my sister about a month ago and have been totally reliant on public transportation to get to and from work. It’s quite a commute, about 2h15m each way. I leave the house around 8am, catch either the 16AX or 16BX on Lincoln and wind down across the park, past the panhandle, thru the city’s core. If I was unlucky (which I normally am) and got on a 16AX, I get off at 4th and Market and wait (a very random amount of time) to catch a 30 or a 45 to the CalTrain station. If I happened upon a 16BX, it goes all the way (except for today, where I got on a 16BX and it stopped at 4th and Market). Then it’s another hour by train, and then from the Mountain View train station, a shuttle ride to work. Door to door? A little over two hours.
My move to Shanghai is right around the corner, it’s this Friday. I’ll soon write a little more on my apartment I have rented in Shanghai and just some more on all that.