San Francisco Travel: Downtown Luxury At The Handlery Hotel And Exotic Entertainment At Asia Sf
After our interesting introduction to local history as part of the Victorian Homes
Walking Tour we had to switch hotels for one night and grabbed our overnight bags to move to The Handlery Union Square Hotel in downtown Geary Street, just next to Union Square. It was now late afternoon, it was drizzling and the streets downtown were packed with revelers participating in the Chinese New Years Celebrations.We settled into our elegant suite, and I then located Karen Dominguez from the hotels marketing department to find out a little more about this venerable institution. The Handlery is family owned and operated, and in 2008 the Handlery family is celebrating 80 years of hotel ownership and operation in California.
Composed of two earlier hotels, The Handlery today is an upscale hotel that is located right in the heart of San Francisco, just minutes away from the cable cars, the theatres, the Museum of Modern Art, the Financial District and the Moscone Convention Center. Union Square, the 2.6 acre large plaza, is just steps away and features a variety of upscale boutiques, souvenir shops, art galleries and salons. The entire area is a mecca for shoppers and features department stores such as Macys, Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue. High-end fashion is represented by Dior, Gucci, Chanel, Giorgio Armani, Lacoste, Bulgari, Hermes and many more.
Two famous cable car lines (the Powell-Mason and Powell-Hyde lines) are a stones throw from the Handlery Hotel. Public transportation is also easily accessible through the Muni Metro and BART subway system at the Powell Street Station on Market Street.
Immediately to the northeast of this area is Chinatown and just one block north of Union Street is San Franciscos French Quarter, an area that is populated by many out-door cafes and French restaurants. Two major theatres are represented in this central area just a few steps west of The Handlery: San Franciscos Theatre District is anchored by the Geary and Curran Theatres, built in 1909 and 1922 respectively. The Tenderloin, an area that is still a little rough around the edges, is located west of the hotel; Nob Hill, an upscale residential neighbourhood, is located to the northeast of the area. The Yerba Buena Gardens and the Financial District are within easy walking distance. Leisure and business travelers alike appreciate the location and amenities of this central hotel.
Karen took me on a tour of the hotel which underwent a $10 million renovation in 2003. We started our walk from the Daily Grill restaurant which is located on the main floor and offers New York-based cuisine. She filled me in on some of the amenities and special services, which include an outdoor heated pool, a rarity in downtown San Francisco. The Handlery Union Square Hotel features wireless Internet, a sauna, access to fitness facilities as well as a barber shop that has been here since 1928. We thoroughly enjoyed the location, right in the heart of downtown San Francisco.
Our evening was promising a lot of excitement: we were planning to visit Asia SF, a restaurant/ night club that is a popular venue for birthday celebrations and bachelorette parties. This restaurant features upscale Cal Asian cuisine and a prize-winning wine list. What makes Asia SF unique is its catwalk, the domain of the beautiful and talented Ladies of Asia SF, all world famous gender illusionists.
Skip Young, one of the co-owners gave us an overview of this unique entertainment venue and indicated that several additional locations are planned throughout North America, including Hollywood and Toronto. He mentioned that this establishment was founded 14 years ago as a true celebration of diversity. Today 60% of the customers are women who truly adore the concept of gender illusion performances, without an ounce of jealousy.
Interestingly, Skip said that since he has been working with these gender illusionists, his understanding of women has improved. The transgender experience is very complex and still entails hardships for many individuals dealing with issues of gender identity. Concepts such as openness and tolerance are consciously practiced at Asia SF, and Skip concluded that social change often comes from women. Asia SFs female customers have certainly embraced the concept.
We sat down for a nice meal at the bar that also acts as a catwalk, and enjoyed delicious Tamarind Chicken Satays, Baby Bok Choy and Shiitake Mushrooms and a generous portion of Truffled Soba Noodles which include grilled portobello mushroom and asparagus slices, tossed with sesame soba noodles, white truffle oil and sweet tomatoes.
Then finally the performance started. One after another we saw the Ladies of Asia SF come out on the catwalk and perform their craft. Dressed up in tight-fitting sexy costumes and stunningly beautiful, they danced rhythmically on the stage and lip-synched to popular dance tunes. The crowd was cheering and loved it.
In between dance performances the ladies worked the crowd, chatted with customers and served drinks. They seemed to thoroughly enjoy interacting with the audience. I wanted to find out a little more about these graceful performers at Asia SF and was able to catch a few of them in between their performances. Most of them were very willing to talk with me and shared a bit of their life stories with me.
Darna, for example, arrived in San Francisco 11 years ago from the Philippines. She just graduated with a major in sociology and social welfare from Cal State University and now works with a non-profit organization that helps Asians and Pacific Islanders suffering from HIV. She feels that working at Asia SF empowers her and added that her work environment here is more like a family than a workplace.
Arianna, an African-American performer from Chicago, is a professional ballet dancer and started transitioning in July of 2007. People had always thought she was a girl since she was small. Her work at Asia SF is a conscious choice and her family supports her. In addition, San Franciscos transgendered community is very welcoming and made her transition easier. Although Arianna does not feel fully at home here yet, she loves living in Berkeley and enjoys coming to work at Asia SF.
Also hailing from the Philippines, Sharon has been working at Asia SF since 1999. She works full-time as a nurse and has a Master of Nursing degree. Today she works as an educator on infection control and teaches her coworkers and patients at the hospital about infection prevention. Despite the fact that her mother is a strict Catholic, she is very open-minded, and accept Sharons gender transition which happened in 1999. Sharon loves the environment at Asia SF which allows her to interact with people of all different walks of life in a safe, accepting environment. She also views her role as educational and wants to open peoples minds.
Lima, Peru, is Brannys home town. She moved to New York City 15 years ago and arrived in the Bay Area two years ago. She finished a diploma in design and is now studying psychology at San Francisco State University. Branny made her transition at age 15 and added that her parents were cool about it. They always knew that making the gender transition in Peru would be difficult and were there to help her. She added that she finds people in San Francisco more open than in New York City and loves living here. Even when she was a child she did not fit in and children picked on her. But strangely enough she loved the attention, and performing on stage at Asia SF gives her a chance to soak up the adoration of the audience. Branny loves fashion design, and when she is finished with her psychology degree she wants to give something back to society.
What stunned me the most was the diverse backgrounds of these talented performers: they hail from places such as the Philippines, Mexico, Peru and many others. The Ladies at Asia SF are not only beautiful, but also intelligent and caring individuals. I truly enjoyed the opportunity to get to know a little bit about some of the performers and their interesting backgrounds. These conversations really showed me what talented, multi-dimensional individuals these dancers are.
The crowd thoroughly enjoyed the performance and the audience interaction with the performers. Some special dance moves elicited exuberant whistles and cheers from the audience, and the atmosphere was very boisterous. Many of the tables were big groups celebrating birthdays or other special events. In addition to serving drinks and chatting with the audience, many of the dancers also get their pictures taken with various customers. For the finale, six Ladies of Asia SF got up on the catwalk and surprised the enthusiastic crowd with a final group performance of the day.
We had a great evening at Asia SF: delicious food, excellent entertainment, and a bit of an insight into the open-minded mindset and diversity that is San Francisco.
by: Susanne Pacher San Francisco Travel: The Queen Anne Hotel & Fishermans Wharf The Most Important Thing To Have When You Travel! San Francisco Travel: Biking Across The Golden Gate Bridge & Dinner At Mccormick & Kuletos Air Travel Discount Fares Are Available Now! Why Patriotic American Indian Miners Deserve To Receive Compensation A comfortable and pleasant trip to Barcelona Villacentre.co.uk : Going To Portugal - Go To Albufeira Villa Holidays Honeymoon Trip Holiday In India Explore Rajasthan & Himachal Pradesh Dive Travel and Diving Adventure on the West Coast of South Africa Washing Your American Pitbull Greece Travel Tips: Ten Must Do and See Things in Greece Kerala Honeymoon - Share Intimate Time In Heavenly Destinations