OAKLAND LOVE

Yes, I heard that Oakland can be scary. There are places here, that if you go further down, pass Chinatown, you are not in Kansas anymore. And every time you turn on the t.v., you hear something going on in Oakland, either violence, rape, abuse, drugs, etc. But no one really talk about the beauty of Oakland. I started to live here a month ago, and I will admit, I was aware of Oakland's reputation. What people don't know amazing Oakland can be. Everyday, as I walk more and more in Oakland, the more I love it. I wanted to blog, sort of a tribute to Oakland and all its beauty. Oakland and the community deserves a better reputation. Yes, they have some bad areas, and yes, they're reasons why media claims of Oakland's violence, but that goes with all cities, Chicago, New York, some parts in Los Angeles, and ESPECIALLY San Francisco. So far, living in Oakland, we found amazing places and awesome restaurants. I just wanted to feature once a week my love for Oakland, and how it's like living here.

Dan and I decided to walk and explore Oakland Sunday morning. I love Sundays. It's my favorite day of the week. We walked around Lake Merritt because it is right down the street from us, and attempted to walk around the whole lake. We came across downtown Oakland, maybe two miles away from our place, and saw Oakland Museum of CA. I am an adamant fan of museums. We decided to check it out, and I couldn't believe how awesome this museum is.

The museum's logo. Of course, love it.

Displayed when you walk in the museum, they had niches of hanging sculptures. I thought of it as big modern wind chimes

Above, California history museum. Displayed the 60s and 70s. Below is 1900s, and if you press a button, a woman would come out and talk about the history during that time.

The Oakland Museum has three levels. The first level is closed, which was the Science Laboratory, which will be opening in 2012, second level was California history, and the third level was dedicated to California artists, either contemporary and/or traditional. They also have a garden where there are a few modern sculptures. I truly recommend this for young children to go to this museum. This museum had so many active areas for children to play and explore, especially in the second level, California History. They had buttons to push, active tv screens for children to play on, and displays where kids can actually play with. Dan and I kept saying how we want our kids to play there, because they have fun and learn something.

2nd level - California history about immigration

2nd Level - History in the 50's

2nd level - A room where you can be recorded and tell your story how you came to California. You also hear some profound stories. Made me think of my parents.

Third level - modern sculpture
Third level - art installation. Their was a dedicated room where they showed this tin house and they had a rain installation. You could go inside this tin house and sit there. Displayed was a living room inside. It was incredible.

So intrigued by this mirrored box. It played with your mind

I want both of these pieces

Peace!

We got to the museum around 2:30 and they closed at 5. We weren't finish looking at everything, so we definitely want to go back with more time. Kudos Oakland!