course, kat, wes and i were still very zombie-like in the queue and it wasn't quite until we got on board the ferry that we started to slowly come to life. to our surprise, we had our picture taken with a backdrop of alcatraz as we were queuing, so that we can purchase it afterwards for a souvenir if we wanted to. erm, we had our sleepy and puffy faces on when that "surprise" photo was taken so suffice it to say, we did not buy it when we did see it. not our best kodak moment.
the weather was just purr-fect. sunny, warm and no fog. in fact, there has been hardly any of the ubiquitous fog that san francisco is so famous for. in fact, everyone tells me that i lucked out and came at the right week, weather-wise. it has been nothing but sunny skies.
the ferry ride was quick since alcatraz is only 1 1/4 mile away from the pier. we docked and after a quick hello with the guide, we were allowed to roam the island and the prison at our own pace, with the self-guided audio tour. the thing you notice first about alcatraz is the smell of the seagulls and salt-water. to get to the cellhouse entrance of the prison, you ascend the hill which is the equivalent to climbing 13 stories, but you'd never feel it as you take in the outside surroundings. the guard tower stands imposingly and the recreation hall/officer's club and warden's house are all but a skeleton, having been destroyed by fire.
once inside, the first section you get to is the prison showers and where prisoners would be issued uniforms. walking upstairs on your tour, you learn about the prison library where some inmates became better read than most people in the free world. the above gun galleries were built at either side of the 2 main cell blocks. i took a picture of myself in one of the opened general population cells, but i refused to even step into any of the opened solitary confinement cells of d block, which were like the regular jail cells but included a metal door for total darkness and isolation. the six closed-front cells were used for the most severe disciplinary problems. i couldn't bring myself to go in "the hole" - one doesn't have to be spiritual to know that there's a lot of bad energy in there.
another major area to check out was the dining hall where inmates were fed 3 square meals a day. there were tear-gas canisters mounted on the ceiling in case of any disruptions but were never once used. it would've been a mistake if it had to be used, as there were always a couple of guards in the lunchroom with the inmates. and should things gone pear-shaped and tear gas released, these guards would've been outnumbered and would've perished at the hands of the inmates. when you take a peek into the kitchen behind bars, you can see on the cabinet walls where knives were hung up. as a precaution, the shape of the knives were painted in black. this was so one could easily see which knives were missing or stolen. all the things that had to be taken into consideration. the mind reels.
the most interesting about the audio tour was learning about the famous attempted escapes. the most fascinating and disturbing was the battle of alcatraz on may 2, 1946, which escalated into a 2 day stand-off which involved the prisoners, guards, police, marines, fbi, coast guards and air force.
another famous escape was that involving 3 inmates who vanished from their cells and were never seen again. they came up with an intricate escape plot that involved drilling vent holes, false wall segments and realistic dummy heads (made from soap and complete with human hair) placed in the beds for nighttime count during their escape. speculation is that the trio drowned on their home-made life rafts out in the frigid san francisco bay, but who knows for sure? they could've made it and years later came back to see their own stomping grounds; that is when alcatraz opened up to tourists. or so kat joked. this escape has since been immortalized by the clint eastwood movie, escape from alcatraz.
the audio tour probably lasts about 1 1/2 hours but it's so fascinating that by the time you're finished, you're wanting to know more. walking around alcatraz leaves you kinda feeling disturbed and sad, as it's an unfathomable concept at what the prisoners and guards must've went through. if the walls and bars could talk... even more ungrasp-able are the wives and children (of the guards) living and playing on the same island as this penitentiary.
we were finished by 1130am and caught the ferry back, so that i could meet joichi to go hiking at muir woods in marin county. or i should say, walking on the number of paved trails. beside alcatraz, the only other thing i really wanted to see was muir woods, a forest populated by sky-high old growth redwood trees. the tallest tree stands about 258 feet and the oldest tree is around 1,200 years old. the average tree here is between 500-800 years old.
i had to laugh because as soon as i entered the woods, i said to joichi that it looks like an ewoks village and he told me that the movie, return of the jedi was indeed filmed at muir woods. this was the forest moon of endor! but asides from that little movie tidbit, i highly recommend making the drive to check out this magnificent forest. it truly is stunning and somewhere i wanted to check out since my last trip out here years ago.
it is the kind of place where topics of conversation ebb and flow like water. the trees are so majestically tall, it literally provides such cool and comfortable shade that you felt a world removed from the heat outside the woods. being out in nature is something that i enjoy. add to that good conversation with good company makes for a day well spent.
being in such an environment was conducive to waxing philosophical, from buddhism, meditation, enlightenment, nirvana and zen-ness. joichi embodies this way of life and thinking. something that he's said long ago has always stayed with me and that is that good or bad, people are going to do what they're going to do. be it lying, cheating, stealing or being manipulative - none of these are things that you can control. all you can do is to keep your heart open, remain positive and continue to hope for the best. and although it sucks when you're on the receiving end of such behaviour, knowing and accepting this truth helps to free you of being stuck in that "woe is me throw yourself into the abyss" stage. well, it should help a little.
after spending most of the afternoon, contemplating zen-ness in the woods, i was excited for family dinner at my aunt's. it didn't matter what we ate or if we ate out/in, i wanted to just chill with my relatives for my last night and enjoy their company. i hadn't seen kat's kidlets for a day and a half and i wanted to hang out with them, in hopes that they'll (ages 4 and 7) remember me for when next they see me. given how i was raised and being an independent type, i never thought growing up that i would become so family-centric. but funnily enough, as i get older, i realize that i am THAT type of person. and it's proving to bring me all sorts of joy.
