i left my heart in san francisco.

continuing on my series of posts on my very-long-ago summer trip in the US, i've arrived at san francisco from a short plane ride from LA. SFO is a nice airport and on the way to the city center i saw a city called brisbane. heh as if that short plane ride brought me to australia.

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.

long long time ago.

so it's been awhile since i landed back in singapore. amidst the west wing dvd marathon (i'm already halfway through season 3, you wouldn't believe how addictive the show is, and how muc politics you can learn), i have done unpacking, watched more dvds, met up with friends, ate local food, watched transformers, perspired perpetually as my body tries to acclimatize, and still very unwilling to tidy up my messy room and update my blog and write about the last 6 months.

well now that i've finally gotten around to organizing the 7000+ pictures that i took over the last 6 months, now it's time to continue with where i left off with pictures.

ok now photobucket has decided to give up on me. so let's deal with words here.

my last entry was made in san francisco. it was the night after we came back from biking the golden gate bridge. i remember 'cos i was so tired and my butt was aching from all the cycling. but i loved san francisco a lot. i love its climate, its people, the shopping, the neighbourhoods, the culture (although i'm still upset i didn't get to visit museums there, or in LA), the liberal scene, the buzzing financial district (SF being the financial capital of the west coast), the sights.

anyway the next day we got up way too early to meet our guide for the yosemite (yo-si-mee-tee) national park tour. it was a very small tour just 13 of us. and our guide doubled up as the driver. the drive there took about 3 hours and we packed lunch at a safeway at our rest stop. we saw the usual sights of yosemite. the tunnel view, el capitan, bridalveil falls, yosemite falls, the half dome etc. the sights were breathtaking and it was a great geography lesson. i'm convinced that secondary school students should have the opportunity to visit places like yosemite and grand canyon because it makes geography come alive and SO interesting. i wished i could see all that when i was mugging for geog O-levels. and it turns out that our guide was from university of washington! geology major. small world afterall. after we got back to the hostel, we decided to celebrate our last night in SF by going out for drinks around union square. cheesecake factory on top of macy's. tropical martini.

cheers to a beautiful city. and a well-spent summer vacation in the united states.

our last day was spent shopping last minute and the annual gay pride parade along market street. SF is a major gay hub and it was THEIR day. and they are so proud of it. SF's gay pride parade is the 2nd biggest event in california after the rose bowl in LA. so it was once-in-a-lifetime that i was able to be part of the parade. well at least stand by the sidelines and watch the parade and cheer. their parade is something like our chingay, complete with floats and bands and all, but the crowds are much more lively and they love to be there! in contrast to chingay's people where they always look like they are forced to do it. anyway it was a great parade.

so we got on our way to SFO, got on our united flight back and i realized that'd be the last time i'd be taking domestic, at least for the time being. that comforted me a little, having taken about 10+ flights since i arrived in US, going through all the security stuff and checks. met some pretty chatty guys on the bus. haha had a good talk with them, as well as introducing singapore, all the good and bad things, to them.

then i got back, and realized i had to pack my life into 2 bags and 1 box. the nightmare began. things to throw, things to recycle, things to pack, things to vacuum pack, things to give to people. then the packing was more or less done. and i headed out on 3 roadtrips. to 2 national parks and 1 to see the salmon jump.

more later. time to watch curtis stone on tv. he's so cute and my sister loves him. oh yes we love his recipes too. =)

cities, cultures, people.

my summer trip is ending very soon. it's very fast and surreal. it has been one trip of seeing new things, exploring new cities. and it's amazing.

highlights of LA (continued)

- neighbourhoods of LA include santa monica, downtown LA, beverley hills, hollywood, rodeo drive shopping (or rather window shopping). i like santa monica. 'cos it reminds me of a less snobby OC. it's very young, hip, cool beachside town. the main shopping street, 3rd st, is filled with shops, restaurants and buskers.

- warner brothers studio tour. was amazing for a film and tv geek like me. we saw all the sets on the lot of WB for SO MANY movies and tv shows. primarily gilmore girls and west wing and spiderman (the upside-down kiss!) and ER and without a trace. now when i watch gilmore girls i'd be reminded that all the buildings are fake and all. plus we went into sookie's house and lorelai's house is just behind! and not to forget dosy's and luke's. we also saw the sound stages for ocean's 13, the former one for friends and many more. plus the WB museum had very cool props and costumes from all 5 harry potter movies (yes including the soon-to-be-released order of phoenix). jiejie i think you'd love this tour!

- disneyland. of course. we sat most of the "adult" rides, including the famed space mountain roller coaster twice. 'cos it was just such a thrilling ride, even better than the mummy ride at universal. we saw the usual disney parade and re-lived all my childhood memories of watching disney cartoons and movies.

- farmer's market on 3rd and fairfax. i first read about this farmer's market from corrinne may's blog. and it's a nice flea market! i bought quite a number of stuff 'cos they were either vintage or unique or just so nice. i love flea markets.

- roadtrip up north of LA to malibu and santa barbara. malibu is pretty quiet and small, despite how famous its name is. but santa barbara is just beautiful. another seaside town. but not ulu 'cos it's pretty upmarket and affluent, with all the usual shops and cafes. and i just love the vibe of this city. not to mention a lot of celebrities have homes here. no i didn't see any. but the view alone is enough. it has become one of my favorite cities now.

highlights from san francisco (so far)

- union square shopping. no i didn't buy a lot. but it's a great shopping paradise. =)

- neighbourhoods of SF, each with its distinctive architecture and character. explored financial district, chinatown, telegraph hill and coit tower, russian hill and the winding road, fisherman's wharf, nob hill, civic center and haight-ashbury. we took 2 days to cover all these places, which basically covers the entire SF, with the exception of a couple of neighbourhoods and the university.

- roadtrip down the pacific coast. was a beautiful drive. just miles and miles of unspoiled beaches. we stopped at several beaches to rest or eat. 2 major stops were santa cruz (where we met 2 NUS girls on the work and travel program, and how we met was standing in line for lemonade at the beachside theme park, overhearing each other's unique singapore accent) and monterey bay. santa cruz reminded me a lot of santa monica, while monterey is quieter like malibu, but bigger and less ulu. we saw sea lions playing around the dock, like at pier39 of fisherman's wharf. and the view along the bay is just too beautiful to be described. we saw the sunset before heading back to SF.

- biking the golden gate bridge. we rented bicycles and cycled from fisherman's wharf, along the bay, up the golen gate bridge, cross the bridge to the other side (marin county), heading to this small nice town called sausilto. very very pretty sights, we saw the whole day. but we are now all so tired from the biking, and our muscles are aching. but it was worth it. =)

tomorrow my last full day in SF. planned a yosemite national park tour. then on sunday we'll do some last minute shopping around union square, attend the gay pride parade before heading back to seattle.

oh noooo it's ending. means i'm heading home soon. miss you all a lot. =)