we made our way to SF's city center, passing the bay bridge and into a block away from union square. we stayed at the downtown SF hostelling int'l instead of the fisherman's wharf one 'cos we are shopaholics. haha. but this being my last stop, i've spent quite a fair bit already. but that didn't really stop me from buying more stuff haha.
by the time we settled into our room and made friends with a really scary roommate who adores darren hayes (remember savage garden?) and is a close friend of 'my chemical romance' frontman. and she's like them, punk rocker with black eye make-up, black hair and black tight clothes. anyway it was close to dusk and the wind was super strong and cold. strange. but we walked around union square and soaked in the cool weather.
major shops like saks 5th ave, macy's and high end brands are all located around here.
eekk why my face so big.
i heart SF!
dinner was at this nice place at the heart of union square. called sears fine foods, lonely planet quoted their prices as US$7-$10 for mains and i got cheated. we ended up paying about US$20 plus each. LP please update your resources! but the good was very good.then we walked around for a bit more before retiring to our rooms for the night and going online for some research and face-booking.
the next day we were craving for some good dim sum and SF being home to many many chinese and HKers, we went in search of good dim sum and according to our sources, SF's financial district has a good one. so off we went early in the morning!
on our way to the subway station.
we saw a huge mega forever21, just as big as the new york city fashion ave one!
our brunch. was very. very. good. it's really comfort food for us. this place is called yank sing. we had a semi-hard time finding it. ended up asking some locals and they immediately knew what we were talking about. 'that dim sum place which is always crowded'.
mango pudding. cliche but good.
our tie yuan yin is yummy and comes in a stylo-looking pot. this meal was expensive again, but i didn't really mind paying 'cos the food was really good.
then to walk off our calories, and armed with a map, we decided to walk and explore SF's financial district, since SF is the financial 'capital' of US west coast, much like NYC in the east coast. we ventured toward the water and found ourselves at the port of SF.
port of SF has many nice little shops selling organic stuff, spices, bread, aromatherapy stuff and much more. i like. (:
the clock tower of the port.
the golden gate bridge's sibling, SF bay bridge.
the sea gull stands on one feet. yoga pose. linda the bird expert tells me that when a bird does that, it shows that it is relaxed and chilling out. how cute!
the bird expert and me.
that cluster of buildings is part of the financial center.
interesting art sculptures around.
it's a beautiful day. (:
the city gears up for the annual gay pride parade, which we attended on our very last day in SF. the parade is one of the major, if not the biggest, event in SF and the gay community calendar. and the rainbow flags lined the street that the parade was to take place in. market street.
SF's subway is very comfy! love their carpeting and cushioned seats.
this should be the SF district courthouse, or city hall. this cluster is called the SF civic center, which probably includes their government buildings, as well as their symphony concert hall, public library, asian art museum etc.
i like their buildings. and the space. not as claustrophoic as nyc.
more art around the civic center. this was in front of the symphony concert hall.
then we caught a bus to the famous place haight-ashbury. it is this hippie, fun-loving, cultural revolutionists neighbourhood that has very nice houses and hip stores and cafes. It has some strange characters, which is probably normal for such neighbourhoods.
i just adored the architecture here! they managed to make use of the slopes and gradients and make the buildings look so cool and hip.
i went to some shops and i bought a very comfy pair of wide-legged 3/4 pants which i always wear nowadays. and some ben&jerry's sundae.
slopes and more slopes.
houses here remind me of charmed! the tv show that i used to like a lot. heh. i did a quiz on FB and i turned out to be phoebe.
the sun starts to set. and we took a bus back to union square. we did some shopping and dinner at westfield shopping center at union square and i saw my very first mango store in the US!! i was so mango-sick haha after 5 months of no mango.and proceeded to buy stuff off the mango sale. yay. and also something from H&M. i miss H&M.so now that i'm in the midst of planning my grad trip to the US (again, haha). well i'm going there again 'cos i'll be visiting europe next year when i visit my sis in finland and i'm not advised to go to south america. the other option i had was xinjiang/tibet, but that's out due to the violence going on in lhasa now. SIGH. so america it is. not that i mind actually. i may be able to catch some presidential elections happenings while i'm there. go to a rally or speech or something. and taking advantage of the very very weak US dollar. (:
oh yes. maroon 5 concert was suprisingly good! i really didn't expect much from their concert since their MVs are really disappointing and adam levine is deadpan. but he managed to work the singapore crowd and of course the songs were radio-friendly and justina and i spent the whole concert dancing and rocking. he's quite cute too (hurhur) but very very skinny. and i also like the keyboardist (who can play guitar also!). really like my seats cos it was the 11th row from the stage and i didn't pay a single cent! (: (:
ok the next installment will feature more days in SF. meanwhile let me go rest my runny nose. toodles.
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