Warning! Long post ahead! Slow down if you need to! Tell me if I should do the days on separate posts or if this is waaaayyyy tooooo long. Happy reading!
Happy New Year! I know it's kinda late but better late than never right? How did you spend your New Years? I spent mine sleeping in the back of a car driving to Tucson, Arizona. Not really an exciting way to set the tone for the rest of the year and sadly no fireworks that I saw (yeah there were fireworks but I missed it). :( Gosh, I should've stayed awake!
I arrived in Tucson at around 1AM in the morning. Even though I got lots of Zs on the way, I was just too tired to stay awake. We were staying at a family friend's place. It's a really cosy place. The decorations are beautiful and they have so much art every where. Their house is full of them, especially Native American art. It was like staying at a private gallery. My favourite piece of art are the Russian Eggs. I can't remember what they're called but they are just beautiful as its so intricate and delicate.
I slept right away as the bed was so comfortable. I don't know how it adjusted to my back so perfectly . It's so soft and the blanket too as well as warm. And the pillow was fluffy.... Zzzzz. (snores)
For the pass week I've really wanted to post my trip from the start but every time I started I had to do something else. Humph. But now since I'm on a road trip to Sedona and I've time on my side why not do this? So let's start from the landing in San Francisco.
Day 1 - Sunday, 25th Dec 2011
It was Christmas day in SF. It was a weird feeling as we left Singapore on a Christmas Day but time is behind Singapore here, so it was as if we time travelled.
As I looked out of the window the sun was setting down, bursting to brilliant colours of reds, blues and oranges. Then after awhile it dipped into the velvet blue sky , only leaving behind a light strip of yellow on the horizon. We were just landing in a few minutes when the sky turned blue black. The anticipation of landing was endearing. It took so long, as if it was forever. I couldn't hold myself together, I was going to be in America, in US, within a few minutes.
We landed and entered the airport. The first thing I noticed was that there were no plants in the airport. I wonder why. We went into immigration and the immigration officer wasn't too nice. He was plump and had a stern face.
Even though he looked serious he said "Can you please wait a minute?" and took out a gallon of juice.
My sister and I couldn't help but giggle, hiding behind my dads back. We passed immigration and collected our baggage and went to The Westin Hotel.
The Westin Hotel in San Francisco is famous for its glass elevator, so we went up to the top floor on the elevator and saw the night skyline of San Francisco, which twinkled in the black sky. We were tired but we had to have dinner and so we went to the nearest diner.
It's called the Pinecrest and it's the first American diner I went to. It was humble, cosy and warm. The serving portions were so large! Everything was Super-sized from the normal Asian portions I got. The onion rings were the size of my wrist when usually it's the size of my finger! It should be called an onion bracelet. I was loving the Rueben, it's was juicy, tender and it had beef. We've no beef in India and this was the good stuff too! (licks lips)
Since we had some time left we explored a little. We went to the nearby Union Square and took photos of this gigantic Xmas tree with pretty fairy lights hugging it and decorations hanging off it. There was also an ice rink and a man playing soulful jazz on the trumpet. Theres also a big heart statue. We went back to the hotel and Zzzz....
Day 2 - Monday, 26th Dec 2011
Long post right? Well.... I'm not done! Ready for Day 2? We did lots on this day! We started by going in a cable car after waiting in line for a loooong time. I sat on the outer part of the car, lucky me not squished in the inside. It was awesome! Wind in my hair as we were going down hill, the view was passing quickly. Then we went up hill, the same sensation except we were going a little slower.
We stopped at Fishermen's Wharf. There weren't a lot of people there since dense fog was covering the area. By the time we got here it was lunch time and we had lunch at McCormick's and Klutz's (I can't remember the name properly). It had really fresh and good seafood. One of the freshest I've ever got, then again the Bay was our beautiful unobstructed view. A place that I definitely recommend! We saw people swimming in the water! Who would swim in deadly cold waters in winter? Crazy athletes that's who! When we were finished... Guess what? The fog was gone, the sun was out and it was crawling with people.
So instead of going to the beach we went to Ghirardelli Square, which was basically just above the restaurant, around the corner. It's a small, cute, chic square, where the original Ghirardelli chocolate shop is. Before we went to the chocolate shop we looked around and went to Lola's, which is a cute little Knicks knack store. I bought a travel log, which I'm reading right now for reference.
When we visited the chocolate shop area, it was just as jam packed as empty as the Sahara Desert with people. The actual shop was even more packed, with people using elbows to fight the crowd. I'm not that fond of chocolate, so I really wasn't keen on it. But I did find a 50 Ib chocolate bar interesting, which costed a ridiculous amount.
Then we went down to the beach and found many seagulls in the sand doing their stuff. Some even went into the water! They looked like weird, giant ducks floating. Lots of bikers were around as well as families and other people. It was buzzing. Next we walked to a bus station on the way we saw lots of tourists shops, cheap stores and tourists.
We headed to the Ferry Building next and bought ferry tickets to Sausalito, but soon we learnt that the ferry we were going is late in the evening so we didn't go. Instead we spent our time shopping in a kitchen shop called Sur la Table which means under the table in French. After that we walked all the way to See's, which is the chocolate and candy shop I told you about. Unfortunately, the shop closed minutes before we got there. So then our dad took us to a leather jacket shop. He wanted one since.... well the trip to America got planned. So he bought one and so did mom.
Then we went over to Macy's, which is one of the largest department stores I've been to. We went to the kids section and looked at the boots. I was really jumpy about this and... there was a sale, so I had more chances of getting one. The boot I really wanted was a UGG type boot, sand coloured with sheep wool in the inside. Too bad they didn't have my size and my sister got it instead. But, I did like another one which is dark brown, just below knee and no lining inside. So I got that one. I'm lovin' it! :) :) :) <3
After boot shopping we went back to the hotel and ate the same thing for dinner as yesterday.
Day 3 - Tuesday, 27th Dec 2011
Kinda woke up late this day. Since we didn't go to Sausalito yesterday, we went on this day. We took a taxi all the way to Sausalito. By now I've noticed that there weren't any
real malls with the shops clubbed together under one roof stacks on levels of floors in San Francisco. Instead they have individual shops lining the streets. I find this more interesting and better as it gives each shop more character and personality, a sense of individualism. Also it's healthier for people to walk, but they are some who just rather use their car to move around (lazy), though most walk.
Back to Sausalito, we crossed the grand Golden Gate bridge. The area was foggy which made it look even more grand and majestic. We went under the gigantic supports, which stand tall as a giant, and saw that it stood over the fog. It's not a feeling you can describe. It felt like the bridge was this majestic King ruling over the bay.
We reached Sausalito and smelt the fresh cold air. It was a small island with cute, unique shops and narrow alley ways dotting it. It's my favourite place, including San Francisco, so far on this trip since its so laid back and peaceful, not like the hard and fast environment back home. My favourite place in Sausalito is between the famous ice cream shop near the ferry pier and the unique t-shirt shop. Although the ice cream shop didn't have a ton of flavour to choose from, their ice cream was flavourful and creamy smooth. The t-shirt shop is unique because they dye their tees with chocolate, recycled cash, candy etc.
I wanted my dad to buy this green, cash dyed shirt that said, "Bank of Dad" on the front and said, "Bank of Dad closed" and on the bottom it read, "Go ask your Mother" on the back. LOL :D Too bad it costed $$$ for a tee.
We went home by ferry, eating our ice cream, and found out that we can take your bikes on a ferry. Interesting. As we sat on the ferry we saw Sausalito in the suns glare, shining and sparkling in the middle of the sea. A beautiful sight to start the day. I couldn't stay still inside the boat so my dad and I went out to the deck. The wind was blowing crazily in my hair, I couldn't see properly. The ride had many jolts as the waves pushed the boat on the side. It was freezing, my ears were dead cold.
But against all that the view was magnificent, beautiful. The was sun shining on the water, glistening. The fog was moving away to reveal Alcatraz, the prison on an island. Now abandoned, only tourist set foot there regularly. The area around it is still hazy. I wonder what secrets lie beyond the prison gates. The city was coming up as the fog was moving. What a sight, undescriable sight. So pretty....... Then to the left, still standing tall and majestic as ever, is the Golden Gate bridge. I can't seem to remember well enough, my minds a little forgetful at times but I do remember I had a great time. A time that I'll treasure.
Fortunately, after we reached the Ferry Building we walked to See's again and it was open. I walked into the store hypnotised by the sight and smells. Ahhh.... the sweet smell of chocolate. I got jumpy again. We got delicious free samples too. In the end we bought 4 Ib worth of chocolate, a jar of toffettes, which are chocolate and almond covered toffees, and peanut brittle. I absolutely LOVE the toffettes, their crunch on the outside and smooth on the inside.
After that we checked out of the hotel and went to get our rental car. There I used a vending machine for the first time in a long time. Then we drove to L.A. I slept most of the way. Snooze time! Zzzz.... We arrived in L.A around 1AM in the morning.
I'd post pictures but I can't do that on my iPad! I'll post them when I get home. I got real good shots.
That's all for San Francisco. I know it's a really long post and if you made it here, Congratulations! It took me two days to write this. I just found out this morning that I have a science project to do during the holidays. Arrgh. Oh Well...I'm now in Grand Canyon National Park. The Canyon is spectacular, but that's another story.
It's 11:36PM now and we're ready for bed. Night-night sleep tight.
C U next time!
Ni sa
