November Mineral Haul and More SF Pictures

As promised, here is part II of my San Francisco photo dump consist of mostly haul items. I didn't bother with makeup (except for a little Benefit set from their vending machine) since I am on a perpetual high-buy anyway/ could shop at Sephora or Asian items back in Jersey/NYC . 

Instead, I hauled a bunch of mineral/gem products that I don't come across locally. The jewelry stores at Manhattan Chinatown mostly sell gold and diamond (which don't mean much to me)  so the SF Chinatown was a paradise for me as there. As expected with touristy places, there are plenty of fakes and low grade gems (I collected a bunch of those as a kid so now I am aiming for better marbles for toys) but if you have the eyes and patience, there are some interesting pieces for grown up collectors as well. 
First impluse buy from Jing Ying Gift Shop (I could do without, oyyy) are the two bead bracelet with prehnite and sugilite. The sugilite are so dark (no gem grade material there) that it barely looks purple but I like the grapey look. 

Across the street there is Jenju & Co. The front of the store is mostly items to fool tourists but I found these cute coral studs .
Another pair of turquoise - I am 90% sure these are treated with resin, hence the plastic shine. Untreated turquoise has a dry waxy luster.
I also found a strand of jadeite necklace I really like. 
Arm party
Since the store specializes in pearl (Jenju 珍珠 pearl in Chinese). Here is something interesting. Tiny 3mm Akoya strands I have not seen anywhere (the boss lady said the farmers stopped making them already). Akoya are those medium to small sized perfectly round (what I call boring old lady pearls) that don't do much for me, but these are just adorable. 
I bought (what I thought was) the most lustrous strand. I need some tiny clasp to wear with pendants. By the way, most other pearl from the store are of mediocre quality, not worth the money. 
Not from SF but from my trip to China, I might as well put them here (this one was from a mall between Hongkong and Shenzhen). My little jadeite teardrops. These are made of scraps material so they were super affordable. 
A slightly bigger one made of sugulite. During winter I replace pearly dangles with big(ish) statement studs since they don't get caught in flying hair, hats, and earphone wires. 
Back to Chinatown : A pair of jadeite goldfish earrings. I can't say no to animal figures. I forgot the store name but it's a small onemanaged by a 阿伯 (Asian man in his 50-60s)  only a block west of Jenju/Jing Yin. 
When I came back -There is a gem and mineral show (80% mineral and fossil though). 
Since I don't have any shelf space for large mineral samples. I got a quartz ball, prenhnite and rutilated quartz cabs. The three little jade beads are from the SF middle aged man store. 
And another pair earrings(love at first sight, what else can I say?) This one is made of butterscotch amber. The sunny yellow just makes me feel warm and happy. The booth is by a very well-dressed couple (with Eastern European accent) from Ontario. I hope they will come back for the spring show. 
The five dollar quartz ball turned out quite handy since I could bring it anywhere use it as poor man's fish eye lens. 
Good old Times Square. Being NY, most people leave me alone except for the  creepy mascots there. 

Enough of mineral, back to photo dump.
Daiso at Market St.  The eyeshadow sponges there are quite usable.
Chinatown 
East meets West - I am not sure what to call this architectual (atrocity) style here. 
Stalking dog because that's what I do.
Seagull king
Jadeite from the 1960s Shanghai
Snuff bottles made of enamel (the one on the left has a jade cap)
I don't get modern Asian Art but at least the mosquito looks realistic? (It's supposed to be a wasp, I don't believe it)
I should try doing that with brush pen and Q tips. 
Aww. Y'all need to work on your penmanship.
Ceiling of Orpheum Theater- watched Lion King here(and cried like faucet).  This is my first musical (never went to one at NYC). While I love the performance, I think I will stick with classical for now. I can get a lot of discount membership tickets from Carneigie Hall anyway. 
More sunshine at Yosemite
The crystal clear water
  A Deer
Glacier Point
  Upper Yosemite Fall. This is my virgin mountain hike and Lord was I dying up there (I shouldn't have brought that bag full of craps and my DSLR with me, thinking I would take some glamour shots). All the stairs climbing at Carneigie Hall didn't prepare me for anything...
Lastly, my phone picture masterpiece - I particularly like the composition (the poses of the three men on the right) here. 

Phew, finally finished. Now I shall take some pretty pictures with my quartz ball.

Comments

  1. Gorgeous photos of the hike, beautiful beads you got there, and I wish I could go play in the Daiso :(

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    Replies
    1. I remember I had so much fun on that Daiso but now I don't know what to get when I go back...The US Daiso store selection is quite tame compared to Japan. No cute plates, just pretty lunch bag and decant bottles...

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    2. There weren't any cute stationery like note cards and such?

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    3. Oh I bought a pack of mini panda postcard. I hoarded way too many paper goods already so the daiso ones don't raise my pulse...

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    4. Oh man, they're what I go to Daiso for ^.^ And those printed super cute masking tapes!

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