Berkeley City Club

Most of us have heard of Hearst Castle, one of Julia Morgan’s architectural marvel but little did I know that she designed over 700 buildings including one often dubbed the Little Castle, that was just blocks away from my Alma Mater in Berkeley. 

Almost 20 years after graduating, I made reservations to dine at Julia’s for that year’s Restaurant Week and I felt transported to a different time as soon as I stepped out of the car.  

You ring the bell, get buzzed in and Julia’s is nestled on the 2^nd floor of the Berkeley City Club, a historic hotel, private social club and event venue.  Named after Julia Morgan whose architecture is prevalent throughout the place, you might just feel like you are dining at Hearst Castle instead of Berkeley between campus and downtown. 

  

 

The food was so impressive that I have returned annually not just for Restaurant Week but for my cousin’s birthday dinner as well.  

After dinner, we walked across the hall into their library filled with vintage books and for the second time made me feel like I am in Hearst Castle.  I could not help but linger secretly hoping that an after-dinner drink would appear in my hand along with William Randolph Hearst.

That piqued my interest to see more of this masterpiece.  So, this past February, a month after our most recent dinner at Julia’s and shortly before our Bay Area shelter in place went into effect, we finally showed up for one of the tours of the Little Castle offered one day a month (either 3^rd or 4^th Sunday).  For just $10 a person, we got to see different areas inside and out at a leisurely pace on a lazy Sunday afternoon. 

The entrance itself is already impressive 

and the ballroom looked like a wonderful location for a wedding, reception, or a theatrical play. 

After drawing to our attention, we started noticing little details that we normally missed like the trefoils 

and quatrefoils 

throughout and the phone on the landing 

as we ascended the stairs that we had many times before on the way to Julia’s. 

Speaking of Julia’s, we got to stroll through it while it was completely empty allowing us to see it from a different perspective and angle than just the ones from where we were seated for our dinners. 

I really felt like I was getting a backstage pass to this place when we were able to see the members only lounge 

and when I laid my eyes on that pool.  

You immediately see the work of Julia Morgan from the vaulted ceiling to the original tilework, a bit reminiscent of the Roman Pool at Hearst Castle. 

When our guide asked at the end of the tour what my favorite room was, I immediately said library.  There was something magical about the sunlight streaming through the windows on that Sunday afternoon that made me want to curl up in one of those chairs or on the couch with one of the classics from that bookcase as if I was a guest of Hearst or Morgan.  

Pre-pandemic it could have been a reality as many areas that were part of the tour, guests of their hotel has free range to explore during their stay.  This includes the outside courtyard 

for some fresh air or to listen to the birds, the side lobby to enjoy a cup of coffee and read the paper, 

the pool to get in some laps and that library to read one of their books or your own. 

Since most indoor facilities are closed currently due to the pandemic, you may have limited access during your stay so call to get the latest availability.  Eventually when tours are available again, go explore this Little Castle, until you can get to that Big Castle on the Enchanted Hill.

Berkeley City Club

2315 Durant Avenue

Berkeley, CA 94704

510-848-7800 - https://www.berkeleycityclub.com/

Wat Dhammararam Buddhist Temple

When the coronavirus storm was closing in on us in March especially with the Grand Princess a floating reminder for the following month of how close it was hitting home, sleepless and at best restless nights and anxiety over such uncertainty became the norm for many of us around the Bay.  So, on our last road trip to Sacramento to exchange an item literally just days before our Shelter In Place went into effect, we stopped at the Wat Dhammararam Buddhist Temple.  

In a quiet area in the Southeast edge of Stockton by Hwy 99 is this Cambodian temple that offered me the peace and hope I so desperately needed in the midst of chaos.  No problem with social distancing which was already in our vocabulary as we had the sprawling grounds all to ourselves with the exception of the groundskeeper and a monk we saw in the distance, for the hour we were there.  

Although the giant 50-foot long sleeping Buddha is the main attraction, 

there are 50 other colorful statues 

and sculptures 

among the grounds to enjoy at a leisurely pace with donation boxes located throughout.  I chose some of my favorites to add to, worth every dollar.  Even though no services were being conducted, the temple itself was open at that time, although shoes needed to be removed before entering. 

These days there is much debate nationwide over the reopening of places of worship, but I still remember the sage advice of the leader of our temple before it had closed 10 years ago due to the building being sold.  He told us the building itself is just a physical meeting place but with faith, God is wherever you are and that can mean your home where you set up your own altar.  It reminded us that God is omnipresent and I do not need to be in a church or temple or synagogue in order for God to hear me or to help me.  As the saying goes, God helps those who help themselves and at this junction with Covid-19, we all need to do our part and with God’s help, we can overcome this. 

As if we need any more proof that God was looking out for us, we had a break in the rain the entire time we were there, only to start pouring minutes after we left.  Another sign to never lose hope that this storm too shall pass. 

Ignorance Not Asians Fueled This Pandemic

As an Asian American born in the US to parents who immigrated to America over 60 and 70 years ago respectively, we are Americans.  Unless you are a Native American Indian or Native Hawaiian, the rest of us are descendants of immigrants which is why America has been known as the melting pot creating a blend of different cultures and ethnicities that makes us unique with no race in our country name.  Hate crimes and racism against ANY race or ethnicity, more recently an increase in the Mexicans and the Jewish community is unacceptable and should never be tolerated.   

With the current environment around COVID-19, there has been an increase in racial hate crimes, including but not limited to verbal and physical abuse and harassment against Asian Americans solely based on their looks and that is ignorance and what ultimately fueled and continues to fuel this pandemic. 

Instead of applauding those who were proactive and took precautionary measures early on to wear  masks in crowded public places like subways and grocery stores for their own protection as well as yours, they were being verbally abused just because they are Asian.  Creating an environment that discourages people from wearing masks because they do not feel safe doing so is ignorance.

If you think about it, it is the norm in Japan to wear face masks at any time, when they have a cold or even during allergy season and is a staple in their society.  That is a very probable reason that despite the closer proximity to China, the first country to have reported the virus, Japan had one of the lowest per capita number of infections of developed countries during the first wave of infections.  Singapore and Taiwan, more examples of countries in much closer proximity to China had also minimized their cases during that first wave and they are Asians. 

Assuming that because a person is not Asian descent that they did/do not have the virus, that you did/do not have the virus is ignorance.  

A spring breaker's publicly stated comments that it was more important to party than take necessary precautions to social distance is ignorance, not Asian. 

A woman who walked into a Pennsylvania grocery store and coughed all over the produce costing the store over $35,000 in groceries in a time of food insecurity for many is sick but not Asian. 

COVID-19 unlike racists, do not discriminate and let’s not so easily forget the Native American and Native Hawaiian population greatly suffered in the past from European borne diseases.  

Ignoring safety restrictions and regulations in the midst of a global health crisis by crowding beaches and protesting sites WITHOUT social distancing is not only ignorant but does not help the cause and is no better than being a drunk driver.  It is important to practice responsibility to prove that we can be trusted to do the right thing to lift those restrictions because if having the open beaches on the first warm weekend was a test, those ignoring social distancing failed miserably.  

We are the United States of America, not the Divided States of America and for those who keep concentrating on oneself where “I” is in Ignorance, vs “We the People” the basis of our constitution to promote unity and general welfare, in this case working together, social distancing, taking necessary precautions, washing your hands, and staying home, then you are the ones who do not belong here.  Americans are better than that.  We need to be better than that.