Review: Cirque du Soleil Corteo

Since Inna purchased tickets to the new Cirque du Soleil Corteo show at Chase Center in San Francisco, we decided to spend the whole day there.

With a favorable wind forecast at Crissy Field, I brought my wing foiling gear to Crissy Field so I could wing foil if the opportunity presented itself.

After loading up my 2008 Toyota Sienna, we drove to San Francisco at 09:40, arriving at Crissy Field around 11:10. We parked at the East Beach parking lot. We walked to our favorite Chestnut Street to explore the scene and check out newly opened restaurants.

We planned to stop by Cracked & Battered for a Crispy Chicken and Waffles lunch. It was open when we arrived, and we sat down for lunch. We ordered the following items from the online menu:

• Boris: Chicken & Waffles with extra chicken, Drop Coffee
• Inna: Fried Chicken, Scrambled Eggs, Tea

I enjoyed the waffles and the chicken, but our outdoor table was quite loud, and I didn't enjoy the loud conversations. (I wish I had earplugs!)

After lunch, we walked to Fort Mason, stopping by Equator Coffee for a drink. Inna ordered a cold brew while I just enjoyed the scenery.

We noticed loud music from Radhaus restaurant; it was an Asian wedding. We returned to Crissy Field's East Beach. I was hoping the wind would pick up, and I noticed that one wing foiler was out, but he was not doing well.

Inna continued her walk while I returned to the van and assembled my wing-foiling gear. I attached the Armstrong foil to my Naish Hover LE 95-liter board and inflated the Duotone 5.0m Slick SLS wing.

At 14:00, I wore my wetsuit, booties, and helmet and headed for the water. As soon as I launched, I was foiling! I expected to have a challenging start. I had a fantastic time for about 2 hours. At 15:00, the wind increased slightly, with white caps on the water. I was having a great time, though the flooding tide was quite strong, and I found it difficult to stay upwind.

At 15:45, I returned to the minivan and disassembled my gear. I took a quick shower and put all of my gear away. I drove to pick up Inna, who was busy at Browser Books, and then we continued to Chase Center. 

On the way to Chase Center, we parked at the UCSF Medical Center parking garage ($40 parking) and walked to Dumpling Time Restaurant at Chase Center.

We met our friends there and sat down to order the following items:

• Garlicky Green
• Shrimp & Pork Siu Mai
• Lamp Dumpling
• Chili Pok
• Seafood Gyoza
• Tie Guan Yin
• Sticky Rice Lotus Leaf Wrap
  
• Oolong Tea 

Although we enjoyed the dumplings, they could have been more outstanding.

Since we had some time left before the 19:30 show, we decided to walk around, stopping by  Somisomi Ice Cream, where I ordered a soft-serve ice cream (Matcha with Nutella). It was alright.

• "Ah-Boong," a fish-shaped waffle cone with Matcha and Nutella

  We also stopped by for some fresh Bobba Tea.

We returned to Chase Center and found our seats. The show started around 19:40 and lasted 2 hours with a 20-minute intermission.

It was interesting and a bit whimsical, with some exciting acrobatic routines but not much of a story.

Cirque du Soleil Corteo Review

Highlights

• Excellent acrobatics
  

Lowlights

• Weak story