San Francisco - 49 Miles Scenic Drive part 3

Spoke to a friend H* on at the new year’s eve party about SF as he was living there. We arranged to meet up for drinks when I arrived in SF but it never materialized cause of the schedule and commitments I had. I did however take his advise to try out renting a mini car to drive the city. Mini cars are excellent for me cause it’s a comfortable size for a petite girl and comes with a GPS! Cars notice me cause I’m unusual and were all very courteous! Changing lanes were a breeze and I had so much fun driving compared to Singapore cause the motorists were not impatient and selfish. I also had some people walk up to take pictures of me in the vehicle cause they thought it was so cute!

Anyways… H* recommended that I have to do the 49 mile Scenic drive (drop me note if you would like a copy of the map) if I was in SF as it’s the best way to see all the best of what that area has to offer. 49 is a special number in SF cause the city measures 49 square miles and became well-known due to the gold rush of 1849. Some locals would have done the drive but rarely complete it as it was relatively to get lost or distracted with detours and most tourists never heard of it. I endeavored to do the whole 49 miles and not only managed it…. I even did some detours to see other parts of the city after the drive. Many locals which I’ve spoken too were pretty impressed and most can’t believe that a tiny little asian girl could do that drive in mini car especially since my car was open top and it is still spring weather! I have to concede that while the drive can be done in one sitting… for the most rewarding visit… drive the entire loop one day, and return another day to explore specific landmarks. It was a blessing that the days were cool and clear when I was in San Francisco since the city is known for it’s heavy fog.

There is way too many places to see and to do on this drive so I’ll just roughly skim through to the places I consider real nice. The ride starts from the City Hall or the United Nations Plaza. Here a couple of museums including the Asian Art museum. But if you are a Modern Art Lover the one you shouldn’t miss is the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). I drove through Japantown and stopped at Chinatown for lunch. Most of the scenery on this drive I used the video camera rather then the digital camera as I could only focus on using one of them.

Look out for the Transamerica Pyramid - the tallest and most recognizable skyscraper in the San Francisco skyline on the way. You might have seen the building in the TV series Charmed or movies such as Zodiac or the 1985 James Bond film A View to a Kill. Next up is North Beach and the Fisherman’s wharf areas which I covered in the previous posts. Driving past The Cannery and Ghirardelli Square which was an old chocolate factory that has been converted to a shopping mall. The Ghirardelli Soda Fountain & Chocolate Shop, known for its world famous ice cream sundaes is located here.

The coolest thing about driving in SF is being able to drive down Lombard Street… better known by most people as “the crookedest [most winding] street in world.” It’s actually not as hard as it looks to drive down this stretch as the speed limit is only 5 mph (8 km/h) on this down hill street. A little know fact is that in SF there is another street competing for “the crookedest in the world” title…. and it’s also located in SF. The section of Vermont street between 20th and 22nd Street is steeper than Lombard but has less turns.

I toured the Marina Green… home to the St. Francis Yacht Club and the Golden Gate Yacht Club.

If you love boats and yachts then give this place a look since the Golden Gate Yacht Club took part in the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup.

Will continue the journey in the next post!

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San Francisco - The Rock… part 2

The must see place everyone tells me is Fisherman’s wharf. And it is definitely a tourist trap. Almost half the people there have a camera in their bag. Pier 39 is the place that has all the restaurants and the shopping. You can get all your souvenirs and trinkets there but to be honest I wasn’t that impressed…. cause I can’t stand honky tonk stores that think I’m foolish enough to buy made in china tacky looking crap, just because it has the word “San Francisco” on it and the expensive parking at these areas is a big turn off. But to go to SF and never been to Fisherman’s wharf is unthinkable!

Food wise… although he main deal is seafood… I find most of the restaurants here overcharge for the quality they give… if you have to eat there don’t go for the cheapest deal cause it sucks and pay a little more to get quality food.

The famous things to try is the sour dough bread bowl with clam chowder. I have to admit the soup was really nice and rich. The fish I had was also not bad. However if you want to eat real good food in SF… go to the Restaurant Gary Danko… you won’t regret it.

The highlight of the Pier 39 for me is the nice view and the sea lions that have called the pier home for the last 9 years. It was fascinating for me to watch them dip in and out of the dark waters. Pier 39 also houses a 300-berth marina with quite a no. of private boats offering a tour of the scenic bay.

The other must-see for the day was to take the ferry ride to old famous Alcatraz… otherwise known as “The Rock”. If you caught the movie before than you would know that this is the home away from home for some infamous characters such as Al Capone… Robert “the Birdman” Stroud… and “Machine Gun” Kelly. The ferry for Alcatraz departs at Pier 33 and it’s crucial to book early for tickets.

The ferry ride was really windy and cold! So I’m really glad I had my gloves and ear muffles!

Alcatraz first served as a lighthouse for the ships coming into the SF bay in search for gold and is the West Coast’s first (and oldest operating) lighthouse.

In the history of the island… you’ll learn that it served as a lighthouse, then a military fortification, then a military prison followed by a federal prison before it was shut down. There was a period where native American Indians occupied the island too!

The key attraction on the island is of course the prison. You can go through the audio tours and learn about key figures and escape attempts as you browse the jail house.

The view of SF is quite amazing from the island and I guess it’s the fact that the prisoners can see the bustling city from their jail cell and smell freedom that is so near yet so far that kills them psychologically.

I have many pictures of the birds and the trees on the island but I’ll just share 2 of my favs. These 2 pictures gave me some inspiration for a design concept =)

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San Francisco - the land of the world’s last manual cable cars… Part 1

Before you start reading you need to know that this post is picture intensive and that there’s a lot of me in it. Unfortunately… I’m very old school in terms of holiday photos. When I see something nice I run next to it and shout for someone to take my picture…only to realize after downloading the picture on my computer that I have 10000 pictures of me in different poses or places… so if you can stomach those sort of pictures… read on!

My next stop after HK was San Francisco (thereafter known as SF) in California. And I have to say I love SF! The weather is cold but a mild sorta winter. It is however, the wind that makes it chilly. Locals tell me that my timing is fabulous and that the weather is good and the skies are clear. SF is known to be rainy this season and there were thunderstorms both before I arrived and after I left!

One of the must do things in SF is to take the cable car ride! It’s the world’s last permanently operational manually-operated cable car system and the only moving National Historic Landmarks.Well I’m sure you would have seen how hilly a city SF is in movies and all. I would definitely get a tone butt if I lived there and had to climb a hill every time I walked on the street.

Well… the cable car started because in the late 1800s, Andrew Smith Hallidie witness a horse-drawn carriage slip backward down a hill due to heavy load (SF was after all a gold mining city) and killed 5 horses. So he invented the wire rope cable car to deal with SF fearsome hills!

I personally took the Powell-Hyde line which begins at the Powell Market turntable (near my hotel) and runs over Nob and Russian hills before ending at Aquatic Park near Ghiradelli Square… from which I walked to fisherman’s wharf. I took the liberty of standing at the back of the trolley instead of sitting inside so I can view the scenery when the cable car is at the top of a hill!

The place I was standing is also where the grip handler is. Grip handlers need great upper body strength to control the breaks! In fact the 1st female grip handler in 1998 had to train hard to develop muscles to be hired to operate the cable car. It so happens that this chinese grip handler I had is a very friendly guy who came to the US from HK to live and was also very knowledgeable about the history of SF and the cable car line. He loves Singapore and the fact that I’m a teochew (ka ki nang!) so he showed how the whole thing works. I was pretty shocked that at the end of the trip I learned it was his first day on the job! He seemed awful informed… at least enough to fool a tourist like me!

Will share more of SF in the next post!

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Hong Kong

I left for Hong Kong before CNY… and my sweet parents came to send me off! Of course it was also an excuse for them to explore the new Terminal 3. I treated them to some Shanghai cuisine on the 2nd floor before I left and it was really yummy!

Well… this time going to Hong Kong has been the coldest I remember. I think temperatures should be warming up by now but when I was there it was about 10C. It was a comfortable temperature for me… cool but not cold. While I could still run the streets in leggings and skirt… the locals are wearing ski jackets like it’s below freezing. I can’t help but feel that they are very exaggerated or that the people of Hong Kong have zero tolerance to the cold weather.

The first place I went was to Avenue of Stars to catch the city light show. It was quite a spectacular sight to see the buildings across the bay all lighted up with Chinese New Year greetings and lights that blink to the music. Here’s a picture of me pretending to be a director!

For those who’ve never been there, Avenue of Stars is similar to Hollywood’s Walk of Stars where there are little hand imprints on the floor with the celeb’s name.

I’m not too familiar with the names of many Hong Kong stars but I did know a few such as Jackie Chan… Jet Li… Andy Lau… Jacky Cheung… and my hands almost fit the Maggie Cheungs’!

The main attraction of Hong Kong for me is the food! It’s cheap and absolutely fantastic! Even those on the street are good. Here’s a meat pie recommended to me by the auntie at the stall… very nice and warm for the cool weather.

and the desert was a fruit cocktail that is much nicer than it looks.

The best Tim Sum is at Maxim Place City Hall. Recommended to me by my Uncle Edmund.

It is the traditional push cart style and even though the place is huge… it was filled up pretty fast. Thank goddness I went early! I took a photo at the table to show the crowd… the waiter didn’t think I was weird so it must be pretty common to ask for pictures… lol… Remember these pictures are taken before the lunch time crowd!

The view of the bay from the restaurant is gorgeous! I ate like there was no tomorrow. I never knew I could eat so much! And I totally don’t regret it. I wish I could have gone there with friends that way I could sample more food! Anyone organizing a trip call me yah?

After the meal I was off to do some shopping at Kowloon so I took the ferry over. The ferries are old but very well maintained.

Here I am at one of the boutiques… the whole flight of stairs is a fashion runway presentation… quite impressive though my camera doesn’t capture it well.

I know I’ve been blogging a lot about HK food but I can’t help it… eating was all I did and food is all I could think of… in fact these pictures are making me drool. So if you go to HK don’t miss out on …

the yummy mango dessert… found almost everywhere and is totally packed with mangos…

the carrot cake with XO sauce… I’m actually allergic to seafood and therefore XO sauce but I took the risk and it paid off!

the famous custard buns… which are more like buns with butter and condense milk. It sounds simple but it’s heavenly. Many celebs come to this particular diner just for these buns. If you are keen drop me an email and I’ll give you the directions.

And the famous duck from this restaurant that is listed in Forbes magazine as the world’s top 15 restaurant. It has a whole list of awards and the first 4 or 5 pages of their menu states the awards. Many of the dishes there are highly recommended but I only tried their duck which was quite a wait to taste it. Again… email me for info if keen.

On the whole… though my HK stay was short it was memorable. The HK people have very good service attitude these days and Singapore has a lot to learn from them. If you are wondering why I didn’t go to any touristy attractions… well… it’s because I’ve been there before. Went to Ocean Park a couple of times and Disneyland HK is just not worth going if you’ve been to Disneyworld at Orlando. Even Disneyland at Tokyo and Paris couldn’t compare so I’m not gonna waste my money with HK’s version.

I missed CNY with my close family and friends but I’m sure they’ll understand. I did catch my first glimpse of cherry blossom blooming at the nearby park even though its a little early in the season and I do love cherry blossoms.

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Sick and Green as a Pea!

I caught the flu bug on the plane from San Francisco to New York! And now I’m on house arrest till I get better and don’t pass the flu bug to anyone else. Boo hoo!

Thankfully I have Uncle Tom to take me to the doctors to get some antibiotic and medication. (Visiting the doctors in the states in definitely an expensive affair!) So hopefully in a couple of days I will be well enough to go out!

Auntie Margaret and Uncle Tom has been really nice to lazy me who spends more time in bed or on the computer in the room then out helping out. I’m so glad that I have them here to take care of me when I’m 12,000 miles away from Singapore.

I promise to blog about my Hong Kong and San Francisco leg of the trip soon with loads of pictures!

To Lalitha… I hope you had a fantastic ROM celebration and a happy 27th birthday! I’ll meet up with you in March I hope!

To Bernice… Just drop me an email if you need any help in your preparations or once you have come up with your schedule for the day.

To Doreen… I’ll definitely be back in time for your wedding! It was such a pleasant surprise! I thought Sean was the next in line.

To my daring doggies, Louis and Emmie… I know you are not smart enough to read mummy’s blog yet but I hope that whoever sees you guys conveys how much I miss you both! Don’t be naughty ya? I’ll be home soon and I promise you lots of belly rubs!

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