The Town aka the Savage aka Oakland

Day 1 Friday 1/08/10

Got to the EWR at 5:00AM. The line was long but was moving, when someone directed me to the self-check out. I got my boarding pass and proceeded to security. After the recent attempted airplane bombing, security is now tight. We already had to remove belts, shoes, laptops, but now they request you to remove sweatshirts and hoodies. Before you know it the airports are going to look like Frank Lucas’s apartment in American Gangster. It’s now 5:39 AM and I’m starving, so I got a bagel then boarded the plane. When I got on the plane I was surprised it was not that full and for a minute thought I was about to get a whole row to myself. Turns out I was wrong, but did have one empty seat next to me. I Arrived in SFO at 10:00 AM and waited for my ride from the airport to Oakland. Oakland is home of the Warriors, Raiders, and Athletics. It’s also known for the hyphy movement, Oaksterdamn, Oaksterdamn University, and the Paramount Theatre. To get there we had to take the Bay Bridge, which crosses over the Bay Channel, towards downtown Oakland. I stayed with some friends, Romeo, Tsuki, and Erica on telegraph “do the math” ave. The apartment is attached to a nail salon, and it's located right next to mortuary. The city has Newark, New Jersey type feel, with less urban decay. It was still early and after a long flight I was hungry. We hit up this Japanese restaurant called Samurai Sushi Boat. They told me that there is a wide selection of sushi and the food is delivered about every two days, so it tastes fresh. They also have a nice sushi bar that is surrounded by a mini motto that has floating sushi boats. Everything looked good on the menu but I went with miso soup and the raider roll. The roll consists of tobik, unagi, avocado, and crab. When the soup came we didn’t get spoons right away. My friend Romeo started drinking from his bowl, but Tsuki, wasn’t. I was a little bit confused. I thought that maybe they served soup without spoons, but Romeo answered that for me after Tsuki started looking for her spoon. He logically and metaphorical said, did samurais use spoons? I couldn't argue with that, so I drank the soup right out the bowl and housed the raider roll like a samurai who just killed a dozen ninjas. What a way to start my trip, good company, good food, and good conversation.