Day 04: San Francisco

Today is sightseeing day. We are travelled by Muni bus, bringing us to Chinatown, Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, these places of interest without a hassle.

After 3 days of western cuisine, we decide to eat Asian food. Took a Muni to Chinatown in San Francisco, it is a total different world. I would say it resembles streets of Hong Kong, a little old, dirty, cluttered and pack with Chinese.

We picked a dining place which labelled itself as Hong Kong cafe, pinning hopes for some good Hong Kong food. Everything we ordered goes wrong, service sucks, we don’t even feel like tipping and probably not even worth mentioning.

We then embark on our Golden Gate Bridge walkathon. One end of the bridge provides the bicycle renting service, the other end provides open top bus tour service. We did a miscalculation thinking that both ends have the bicycle renting services. And we walked to and fro the bridge. Hectic. The return journey took us 30min walk, only if you walk at Lester’s speed. Restrooms are available on both ends. Sun is pretty strong, windy on the bridge. Do put on sun block, sun glasses and a coat. View is magnificent. Definitely a must visit
place.

IMG_3629
Specifications of Golden Gate BridgeIMG_3640
Golden Gate Bridge
IMG_3696
“Happy” Walking

Took a Muni to Lincoln Street where Golden Gate Park is. It is probably a 10 minutes bus ride, but you need to walk into the park to the other attractions.

IMG_6619
Golden Gate ParkIMG_6620
One of the Entrances

I actually love Golden Gate Park the most. You can practically spend your whole day there. There are Japanese Tea House, Botanical Garden, de Young Museum, Academy of Science… You would want to come here early in the day. Most of these attractions close promptly at 6pm and admission fees are sold separately.

For museum lovers, additional USD 2 discount for museum admission tickets if you keep and show them a Muni ticket. For students with student ID, do produce them upon ticket purchase, you’ll get admission tickets at student price. International student ID is also welcomed. We visited de Young Museum, hosting the exhibition “Masters of Venice”.

IMG_6636
de Young Fine Arts MuseumIMG_3762
Golden Gate BridgeIMG_6627
Masters of Venice Tickets at Student Price

Lester researched a Japanese ramen restaurant for dinner, Katana-ya, near our hotel through yelp.com. The restaurant might not have a reception area, but you can help yourself by writing your name, number of people on the waiting list. Wait for your call when the table is ready.

IMG_6652
Katana-ya
IMG_6654
Self-help Waiting List

They serve pretty decent ramen, exactly what you’ll crave for on cold winter nights. They also serve sushi and other rice options.

IMG_6648
RamenIMG_6649
Ramen

Day 05 is arranged just for me. We are going to The Cliff House to have a wonderful breakfast and then head on to Legion of Honor museum.

Day 02: San Francisco

No jet lag but was too tired to wake up in the morning. Mess up a little of our planning.

Lester embarks his journey of worship to Timbuk2 shop at Hayes Street with Muni bus. An adult requires to pay USD 2  for Muni, regardless of the number of stations you are going to travel. Within the time frame given on the ticket, you can transfer and hop on to another Muni without paying (we only get to understand this on day 03).

IMG_6340Muni

IMG_6341
Muni ticket states between now to 4:30pm, your transfer to another Muni is FREE!

Loves Hayes Street! It is very quiet town with blooming creative boutique shops.

IMG_6344
Timbuk2 Store
IMG_6347
Timbuk2’s Interior

Dinner at Blue Mermaid restaurant at Fisherman Wharf. But of course, there are a lot more dining choices available. Probably the 1 and only 1 meal for the day, we ordered 1 sample soups (select 3 soups), Seafood Trio with shrimps, crab cake, salmon and seasonal vegetable. I chose garlic parmesan french fries while Lester chooses mashed potato.

IMG_6379
Blue Mermaid Chowder House & Bar
IMG_6371

Mascot Mermaid
IMG_6373
3 Sample Soups
IMG_6375
My Seafood Trio
IMG_6376
Lester’s Seafood Trio

Took a stroll along Fisherman Wharf. Hmm… Can’t see much as the night has fall pretty early. We get to pop in and out souvenir shops. Ghirardeli Square is another must visit place. Architecture is romantic, especially with Christmas lightings, very much like Singapore’s Boat Quay. Ghirardeli is a famous chocolate brand in San Francisco, and so we went to its cafe for chocolate drinks.

IMG_6400
One of the Ghirardeli stores at Ghirardeli Square

As Fisherman Wharf is one of the terminals of the cable car, we decided to take a ride back to our hotel. Each ride cost USD 6 for each passenger, regardless where you alight.

IMG_6549
Cable Car Ticket
IMG_6366
Cable Car Terminal at Fisherman Wharf
IMG_6411
Cable Car Ride

Slightly into shopping mood, bought some sleeping pants from Old Navy for me and my sister.

Day 03, Lester will be driving to geek’s paradise: Google HQ and Apple company store. Night!