Back to update the last leg of the U.S. trip.
The Okauchis kindly offered to send us to the airport for our 8am flight and we were to leave their place at 545am. Because of the late night before, supper and all, we left at 6am instead and reached the airport at 630am. Didn't know we have to check in ourselves and the airport was quite crowded that early. Long story short - took awhile to check ourselves in, go through security check, etc, we ran to the gate and boarded the plane 3mins before departure! I have never ran that hard and because of the heavy bags, boots and all, I didn't seem to be running although it was with all my might. That's the closest shave ever and we swore to never do that again. Nowadays, we plan to reach the airport at least 2hrs prior. We have learned our lesson. Perhaps we got all that to thank because saying goodbye was easier. - there was simply no time to get emo. Until they went home and we were sitting in the crappy hotel reminiscing the fun we had the past few days.
SF's weather was a lot nicer and kinder. Not the slopes though. Dragging our suitcase to the hotel was a pain and we checked in to realise there's no A/C in the rooms and the building's old and smelly :(
First stop - food! Nice and juicy mushroom burger and sweet potato fries.
A little tour around the hotel and Chinatown in the evening.
We were at the quieter side of Chinatown so we had Japanese near the hotel instead. It seemed to be very popular but my Unagi was not good at all. Expectation or crowded doesn't equate to quality?
Day 2 - Golden Gate Bridge. Finally here & fulfilled one of my dreams. It's as seen in movies :)
We found decent Thai food around our hotel and had that twice in the four days we were there. Asians will always miss Asian food when they are away from home me think.
Day 3 - Alcatraz Island - love it! - a little haunting yet an interesting tour. Ai Wei Wei exhibition was there too so we saw some arts. After that was Fisherman Wharf, a heavy lunch, ice cream by the sea and a challenging stroll on one of the steepest roads. On our way back, we had cravings for KFC and alighted along the way to hunt for KFC. Big mistake. That area was so dodgy and we were the only Chinese there that night. When we were waiting for the bus, I saw with my own eyes a drug transaction. The three sellers were just standing outside a minimart near the bus stop and a buyer walked past, they exchanged the goods and cash, done deal. It was that easy, casual and quick. I imagined they have guns and when the police came, they would start firing and all.... I wouldn't do that again if you ask me. Singapore no KFC meh?! How stupid would we look if we got into some unfortunate situation and the headline reads Singaporean couple killed after KFC dinner?
After two full days, we were pretty much done but we still had another two full days...so we went to the gay and punk district to look see and to the Giants game to see how they claimed championship. The city went crazy that night and the atmosphere was electrifying. We didn't understand the game of course so we just cheered along. Fortunately we could walk to our hotel because there were so many people parading. Everyone was happy and so was I when I had my mac n' cheese that night. I'm easily contented.
Last day - we were on a late flight so we had one full day. Lunch was at another crowded and seemingly popular Ramen place beside the hotel. It's still not fantastic compared to what we can find here in Singapore. After lunch was the iconic trolley bus ride, as seen on TV again. With little money left and nothing much to do, we headed back to Fisherman Wharf and ended the trip with a decent dinner. A pity I didn't have my clam chowder.
What I like about SF - the weather and the places of interest.
What I didn't like - way too many homeless and crazy people and the slopes.
And that's the end of our first U.S. trip.
I didn't fall in love with the cities immediately but they grew on me eventually. When I saw a familiar scene on TV, I would go, ah I've been there. I'm still more of a Europe girl/fan I think but I'm thankful for this experience. Spent a lot, not really on shopping, but I think it's worth it.
Looking forward to exploring more new places!
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