PASSING TIME

I miss the old neighborhood. I live on the other side of the hill, so it's within easy walking distance. But it is different now.

After the Loma Prieta Earthquake - when the Embarcadero Freeway was torn down - weekend shoppers stopped coming in to purchase their Italian or Chinese essentials, preferring more easily accessed neighborhoods instead.

But there has also been a change in population flux. Up until the handover of Hong Kong, a steady stream of immigrants injected liveliness into the place at the same time as more acclimatized previous arrivals moved out to the avenues. That process has slowed down considerably. There are fewer new arrivals, and they aren't as well-funded. There are no sweatshops anymore either, and the economy has slowed down. The vibrant optimism has been replaced by ..... stasis.

Grant Avenue used to have more shops and restaurants catering to locals, and the side streets had any number of interesting enterprises. Now most of the restaurants cater to tasteless tourists, and many wholesalers of non-wasp merchandise have disappeared.

There was a rice-dealer on one of the alleys that sold crops from different regions and various qualities in fifty and hundred pound bags. Their business was spread out over three shop-fronts, with high ceilings, wooden floors. Old generation, long gone.

The dealers in American ginseng off Kearney street recently closed after more than twenty years. Another large shop that traded in both American and Korean ginseng as well as tonic herbs on Grant disappeared years ago - moved to a warehouse in Oakland.
Both stores had been fixtures, but their customers no longer came into the district.

The store with large steamers, woks, strainers, and similar equipment, is now a 'neighborhood beautification project art space'. Meaning, of course, that the once flourishing business which once graced that site has ceased to exist.

The stationers just down from the Buddha where I shopped on a regular basis also closed a few years ago. Notebooks, greeting cards, red envelopes.
The owners retired and there was no one who wanted to continue the business.


ONE STREET UP, MORE LIVELY
I avoid Grant Avenue - far too many slow-moving people speaking German or French, too few places where actual residents might find necessities.
Dry goods, canned foods, condiments, live seafood, and above all fresh fresh fresh vegetables are all on Stockton between Clay and Vallejo. It's bustling and alive up there.
Remarkably, German and French are not spoken, and even Mid-Western and Southern accents are rare.
I don't think such people actually eat.

There are several places on Stockton where you can buy coffee and a pastry and observe the world from behind your crumbs. Very nice.
Maybe a flaky charsiu pocket, or a slice roll-cake with dow sa filling? And perhaps a little egg tart.
Lienyong pao or custard pie also can.

If you see me, come on over and introduce yourself. I'll cover what you're having, just sit a while and keep me company. We don't have to talk.
Just a few moments together as the world imperceptibly changes, hmmm?
Perhaps we could do dinner at the 嶺南小館 sometime - they'll still be around a while.



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