SF Bay Area Adventure

Since the age of 14, I've always been an adventure kind of guy, when I travelled solo from Taiwan to Paraguay. So, I'm quite accustomed to traveling alone. 

Happy Lunar New Year of the Snake

Over President's Day weekend, I took the opportunity for another solo adventure. Since I've never experienced traveling from Oakland to San Francisco via BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), this trip has been a long-awaited goal, which was to participate in the Chinese New Year Parade with my coworkers at Comcast. I was initially invited by the lead of APA ERG (Asian Pacific American Employee Recourse Group) back in 2023. Unfortunately, I had to decline because I was committed to attend the HQ APA's LNY celebration in Philadelphia. 

This dragon was uniquely lit up from the inside

This parade was on Saturday, February 15. I landed in Oakland on Friday, eager to get acquainted with the area and map out my public transit options. I chose to stay at the Radisson Hotel Oakland Airport because it's closest to the Oakland Coliseum BART Station. I checked the BART trip planner several times before I hopped on the train. 

So many people watching

I aimed to arrive early for the group meeting. So, I could explore the city and become familiar with the area. I'd been to San Francisco plenty of times when I lived in South Bay several decades ago, but I'd never actually used the public transportation.

Crowds watching above the Portsmouth Square Plaza Garage

Riding in the BART train was exciting. It actually went through the Transbay Tube underwater from Oakland to San Francisco. Although it was dark, I could still feel the descending experience. Whole trip took about 23 minutes with a few stops. 

Crowd watching from department store buildings

At the parade assembly area, I was excited to meet my coworkers for the first time. We chatted about each others workgroups. I just love seeing people in real life since I work remotely. The most exciting part of the evening was the parade. Most of time, we watch parade floats to go by. But this time, I was part of the float. The energy from the audience was incredible. According to the Comcast California News Article, there were over a million spectators attending this event. The entire route is about 2 miles and took us about 50 minutes to walk. 

Floats at the staging area

When my coworkers asked if I would join them again next year, I said I'd absolutely love to.

Grace and Aida's connection made my participation a reality. Thank you.

See you next year!

Note: This trip was a personal venture, funded by myself.


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