Chinatown

I recently revisited the site of my first great travel adventure - after a half-century, almost to the day. The destination of this foray into nostalgia and rediscovery was San Francisco. Why I had allowed a full 50 years to go by without returning to one of America's most beautiful and appealing cities is not easily explained. I had lived outside of the United States for several decades, and once back on the East Coast I was busy with other concerns. Still, San Francisco had always remained in my memory as a fabulous place.

Ramen Boy lasted, oh, about as long as one slurp. Or so it seemed for this sleek Chinatown entry from the owners of Yakitori Boy into the city's suddenly piping hot ramen scene. After a steady thrum of (justified) bad buzz on the "Yokohama-style" bowls, it closed after just five months while the owners regrouped. What a remarkable turnaround they've made in forming a new partnership with the Terakawa ramen restaurants from New York, which brought new recipes and a new chef. The cozy wood counter decor is the same, but the soups, focusing on richer tonkotsu, the cloudy broth steeped from Berkshire pork bones in the Kyushu style, are entirely more satisfying, and definitely worth another visit.

If you look at the whole of Philadelphia's architectural output over the last two decades, it becomes clear that much of the effort was about repair and recovery. Neglected neighborhoods were rediscovered, dilapidated houses were renovated, empty lots filled in. The most intensive repair has already occurred in Center City's neighborhoods. Downtown is now in such good physical shape, and has so few vacant building sites left, that the reclamation has shifted to the ring of neighborhoods beyond Philadelphia's traditional core, to places such as Graduate Hospital and Northern Liberties.

Dun Mark is the kind of person who makes Chinatown a community, not merely a place to live. Cross Spring Street early weekday mornings, cut through the alley to the basketball court tucked behind the Chinese Christian Church, and you'll find Mark teaching tai chi to senior citizens, free of charge. Some of his students are 80 or older. "They're healthy as hell," Mark said. So is he. At 88, Mark is fit, strong, and expecting to be around for a while. His mother lived to 107. On Saturday, he and his graying-but-vibrant students will perform at the 17th annual Mid-Autumn Festival, expected to draw 5,000 to Chinatown from across the Philadelphia region for kung fu exhibitions, Peking opera, health screenings, and a moon cake-eating contest.

An apartment building in Chinatown was evacuated Tuesday after pieces of the facade fell onto the sidewalk, a Red Cross spokesman said. About 22 people were told to leave at building at 12th and Race Streets around 8 p.m. after the problem was discovered, said spokesman Dave Schrader. No injuries were reported. The people were first relocated to the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The landlord then put the residents up at a local hotel while repairs are being done, Schrader said.

An apartment building in Chinatown was evacuated Tuesday after pieces of the facade fell onto the sidewalk, a Red Cross spokesman said. About 22 people were told to leave the building at 12th and Race Streets around 8 p.m. after the problem was discovered, said spokesman Dave Schrader. No injuries were reported. The people were first relocated to the Convention Center. The landlord then put the residents up at a local hotel while repairs are done, Schrader said. - Robert Moran

Federal regulators shut down 26 curbside bus operators on Thursday, including three in Philadelphia, one in Delaware County, and seven elsewhere in Pennsylvania, in the largest bus safety crackdown in U.S. history. The bus operators, which carried about 1,800 passengers a day along I-95 between New York and Florida, were cited for a variety of safety hazards, including drivers without valid licenses or medical certifications; buses with uninspected brakes, tires, and lights; and drivers who did not get mandatory rest periods.

Federal regulators shut down 26 curbside bus operators on Thursday, including three in Philadelphia and eight elsewhere in Pennsylvania, in the largest bus safety crackdown in U.S. history. A Philadelphia-based firm, New Century Travel, Inc., operated 10 of the lines. The bus operation, which carried about 1,800 passengers a day along I-95 between New York and Florida, were cited for a variety of safety hazards, including drivers without valid licenses or medical certifications, buses with uninspected brakes, tires and lights, and drivers who did not get mandatory rest periods.

?1? Man surrenders in groping incidents Spring Street near 10th, Chinatown The suspect in two recent groping incidents in Chinatown surrendered to cops in the Special Victims Unit on Friday, two days after being identified as a suspect, police announced Monday. Melvin Bulls, 24, now faces charges of indecent assault, unlawful contact with a minor, simple assault, harassment and related offenses for allegedly grabbing the backsides of a 23-year-old woman and a 12-year-old girl on April 26. An anonymous tip led police to issue a warrant for Bulls after they released surveillance video of one of the incidents early last week.

1 Warrant issued for groping suspect Spring Street near 10th, Chinatown An arrest warrant has been issued for a 24-year-old man on charges of groping a 23-year-old woman and a 12-year-old girl in Chinatown last week. After police released a surveillance video from one of the incidents, investigators received an anonymous phone tip Tuesday identifying Melvin Bulls as their wanted man. Police said Bulls' last known addresses were on Ridge Avenue near Wallace Street, on Bonsall Street near Federal and on Hamilton Street near 9th. The groping incidents occurred in Chinatown at 4:55 and 6:25 p.m. Thursday, when a man came up from behind the victims and touched their buttocks, police said.