This is probably the first time that I packed most of my stuffs 1 day ahead of a trip; usually I’ll just do it the night before. Yes, I know that it’s not a good habit… but oh well, old habits die hard, ya? Anyway, I did manage to start packing 1 day ahead, so it’s not really that bad.

However, I ended up forgetting to reserve my phone over at the airport. I hope yesterday afternoon’s last minute  reservation did pull through, else I’d be out of comms for a good 1 week. Well, not exactly a bad thing sometimes, but not when you have to meet people there.

And guess what? I forgot to check the weather over there. I think it’s about 21/12 on most days, so I think it’d be pretty good weather. The last time I went on an trip during winter, the winter clothes took up about 1/2, if not 2/3 of my luggage. But I still think winters are special and nice, especially when it starts snowing. It’s just magical, isn’t it?

Anyway, it’s autumn this time round. No countless trips to YongPyeong will make any snow appear from the sky.

Good morning SFO! I’m leaving on a jet plane… don’t know when I’ll be back again…

Good morning! At’s 8am now and this morning will be the last time that I will breathing in this familiar air that I have accustomed to for the past week; not that it’s bad that, but the air is cold and it needs some getting used to! Ok, I’m weak…

Today will probably be spent shifting downtown so that it’s easier for me to get a blue shuttle. Apparently the blue shuttle goes everywhere, but I thought I just want to be safe. So it’ll be a lot of packing this morning. *pack pack pack all day long*

And oh, chances are I won’t be getting any sleep tonight because… there won’t be any chance to. Hmm… I’m not sure if I got my timings wrong. I didn’t remember not being able to sleep tonight. Sigh. Oh well…

Good evening Blogosphere! Woohoo! It’s probably the first time that I am writing my SF dailies in the evening! So what did I do today? Actually I went for a church service. Haha.. it was extraordinary! Maybe it’s because I seldom go for charasmatic services in Singapore…

After service, I was off to this park downtown, mat, sandwich and snapple in hand. Haha.. the weather’s great, although it looked a little overcast/cloudy. But the winds were fantastic! Just that… it seemed a little strange that I am picnicking alone. I didn’t bring my laptop out with me, else I might just be able to do some blogging outdoors, live! Oh well… another time (trip) perhaps.

GAP was next on the list after the morning brunch. I regretted not doing my recce in Singapore before leaving for SF because now I don’t know what’s in Singapore and what’s not. *pout pout pout* Ended up not getting anything because I didn’t want to buy something (and carry it miles back) just to find out that it’s being sold in Singapore, and worse, if it’s on discount cos’ of the GSS (Group Support System Great Singapore Sale).

After moving around on the roads and knocking nearly knocking down pedastrians, I decided that I had enough driving on the wrong side of the road and called to return the car. Driving back to the carpark was a bigger headache because…. the road wasn’t on my map! Haha… and it’s a single way drive which meant that I drove around the same place a few times because I missed the entrance. Duh! Probably I will plan my routes properly next time. Now I know what it means by not being familiar with the roads.

Walking on the pavement had never felt any better! Haha… (ok, I am sleepy now… write more later)

Good morning SF! Really early though! Haha… and oh, I am having a little hang over this morning. :S

I spent the whole of yesterday executing the drive downtown and across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was quite a cool and dim day, and there was this fog that was forming over the bridge. It was quite scary because apparently there is a minimum speed and because of the fog, I could only see the car in front of me. The best thing for me to do was just to keep in line.

So, where was I heading to? I didn’t really have any idea. After crossing the bridge, I was apparently on this highway (to nowhere?) and not too sure of where I was heading to. In the end, I saw an exit and proceeded to it. This exit led to some neighbourhood which was going up a hill… and I drove and drove. At the summit, I decided to stop and take a breather. Gosh! The view from the summit was significant! From there, I was able to see the bridge and SF and the air was good.

***

On my way back, I stopped by a cafe to get some food back, and guess what?!?! I met an ex-colleague of mine! Haha.. I didn’t expect to see him there at all. Apparently, he’s working for a financial institution now and is based in SF for a while. After some catching up and small talk, we agreed to meet up for a drink yesterday night. Little did I know what was in store…

***

Met him outside the place where I was staying and we cabbed down to… *gasp* a gay pub! Haha… I’ve never been to a gay pub before and it’s quite an eye opener. Apparently most of the patrons are asian, although you can probably spot a caucasian or 2. There were also girls in the pub so I didn’t feel too left out. It was some event night and the whole place was jam packed. Amidst the crowd are girls dancing on bar tops as well as bare chested men flexing their bods on pedestals!

Soon after, we order some housepour drinks but could barely talk. The music was nice, but a little too loud for my liking. The bartender made some extra drinks for me, but I couldn’t quite figure what it was. What I do know was that I nearly got wasted. Sigh. I’m not really an enthusiast of alcoholic drinks. Should just stick to mocktails next time.

Thank goodness my friend gave me a lift back. By then, I was too lightheaded but thankfully I was still able to walk a straight line. Haha… no more pubs for the rest of the trip.

Good morning! Woohoo! Didn’t get to sleep much last night. Sigh. *Yawn* Did I mention I rented a car? Was deciding that I’d rent a car since I’d be going a few places. Haha… and yes, it’s left-hand drive… and I nearly drove against the traffic somewhere near Market Street! Thank goodness that happened at night and there weren’t many cars on the road. In the end, I had to pretend that I was parking so that I can compose myself.

So what happened was that I was flipping through some free papers and read that there were some car rental companies that will rent out cars as long as we have a legal driving licence. So I went down the car office and told the owner, who is a Chinese, that I would like to rent a car. He asked where I was from and said that he had been to Singapore a couple of times. This naturally made renting the car much easier. Rapport is sometimes very important when you are talking to someone for the first time. Kekeke…

Soon after, I got hold of a red Honda Civic 1.5 Auto and clumsily drove my way out of the carpark… for the first time! After driving for a short distance, I thought some re-orientation of my driving is sorely needed, and understanding how the traffic flows is equally important. In the end, I drove down a quiet neighbourhood to get the hang of driving on the left side.

Frankly, I realised that I am not really that good a driver, cos’ in the end, I was just driving blindly. Gosh, I wonder how I even survived?

Places visited by foot: Bombard Street, Fisherman Wharf, Downtown

Place visited by car: All minor roads and some major roads

Good morning Blogosphere! Feeling a little tired this morning because I spent the whole night chasing after the news of 2Lt Li and all. Took me quite a while to understand what is really going on.

So, what did I do yesterday? Absolutely nothing! Haha.. I spent the day lazing at a nearby cafe, book in hand, coffee on table, a sandwich cut in half next to it with a bright and sunny skies accompanied by cool winds. Life couldn’t get better than this, can it?

I like it here because the weather’s really great even without the airconditioning that is so frequently found in Singapore. I’d love an al fresco here anytime, but will probably give it a miss if I am in Singapore. Not only is the weather too hot, but it’s probably populated with smokers. Moreover, it doesn’t really help that the “smoking” tables are placed next to the non-smoking ones. It’s not as if there is some “force-field” of sorts to keep the smoke to that table itself.

I was looking around for any upcoming events in SF and realised that the 37th Annual SF Pride Celebration was just over 3 weeks ago. I’ve heard so much about it in Singapore, but didn’t really have a chance to witness one. I’ve heard of Mardi Gras too. Are they the same thing?

Yes, by now, you would have realised that this is an impromptu trip. Well, almost actually.

Luckily, today is the start of the 12th Annual SF Silent Film Festival with 3 days of performances at the Castro Threatre… sounds like it’s near where I am putting up. The Festival opener is The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927), directed by Ernst Lubitsch. The Silent Film Festival closes with Cecil B. DeMille’s The Godless Girl (1929). Between start and finish is a roster of eleven programs, including features, short films, and special author and historian appearances sponsored by Booksmith.

If you are in SF, reading this and would like to go for any of the screenings, tickets are available online or by telephone (925-275-9005) through July 12, or at the Castro Theatre box office, the day of the show. Information courtesy of http://sanfrancisco.about.com/ :P And oh, I can’t seem to find ticket pricing information for this. Hmm…

Coincidentally, the 7th Annual Fire Arts Festival is also in town, and more information can be obtained by clicking on the link. However, at US$ 40 to US$ 250 per person (the latter for the gala), I’m not too sure if I’m willing to fork that out to see things go up in flames.

So, what am I going to do today? I realised that I was at Pier 39 the other day, and Fisherman Wharf was just next to me. Duh! I’m really blur. So, I’ll head back there today, and since I am there, I might climb up the stairs that run next to the Windiest Road in SF (and the world?) and I think it’s called Lombard Street.

While I am there, I might get a good view of the Golden Gate bridge too. Actually I am thinking of driving across the bridge, but I think I’m being a little too adventurous. Haha… oh well, we’ll see.

Other places I’d like to go includes Japan Town (thanks, K!), a trip to the vineyards (I heard it’s expensive?), SF Museum of Modern Art, Zoo (?!), more museums, up the twin peaks (wherever it is), and probably check out the various districts. And oh, a friend of mine said that I can drive up to San Jose to visit her.

Huh?!?! How to go?

Good day Blogosphere! Wow, I am actually feeling quite tired this morning… must have been the walking, especially the 3 hour one the other day. *massage legs* actually… arms are also a little tired from carrying a 2 kg load everyday. Or is it 5kg? *massage arms and joints*

I tried looking for Chinatown yesterday. Didn’t really get to see much things there, but I did witness something else on my way there. Gay-bashing! Or rather, the result of someone being gay-bashed. I was walking past this medical center when i saw this guy have bruises on his face. Being the kay poh caring Singaporean, I asked if he was ok and helped him along.

He gave a rather resigned look and after some small talk, I found out that he was beaten up by some guys who didn’t like him. I didn’t dig too much into details. Come to think of it, I’m not sure if I got his name, but I hope he’s well. For a place like SF, where I thought the GLBTs are commonplace, it’s quite shocking to find someone the result of a hate crime.

Chinatown was… well, Chinatown. I was greeted with a Macs at somewhere where I assume is the entrance to Chinatown and being the non-adventurous person that I am, I decided to just settle for some fast food before moving on. I was served by a non-Chinese, but I was wondering if they spoke Mandarin or any forms of dialects at all (and it’d be quite a surprise if they did). I figured that one of the common dialects that’s spoken there was Cantonese and most of them seemed to come from Hong Kong.

After lunch, I decided to venture a little into the smaller streets, which are literally small. The path is a more congested than more of the roads I have walked so far in SF and it’s quite a busy place. It’s very much like the Chinatown that you can find in NY, except that this seems to be… somehow different, but I couldn’t put a finger to it. It’s also probably here that you can find Singapore Noodles or Malaysia Kway Teow, but I’d prefer a Hong Kong Dim Sum anytime. Did I mention that fortune cookies are omnipresent?

Besides hearing from K, I also realised that there are indeed 2 Chinatowns - one for the locals and the other to charm the tourists, but I am not sure which is which. K also mentioned that there is a nice Japan-town that I can go to, but that’s the other direction from where I was heading. Maybe tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

After Chinatown, I found some strength to walk up this really steep slope. I’m not sure if there is a name to it, but there’s a hotel at the end of the road. I took some pictures, but don’t have it with me now… probably update later or something. But from the initial looks of the exterior of the building, I doubt it’s anywhere that I’d stay in anytime soon (read: expensive).

Hmm… the rest of the day was spent walking in and out of shopping centres. Feeling a little tired now. Maybe more updates later… Ciao!

Hello Blogosphere! Today’s another cool day… a little too cool for me! Haha…

Guess what? I checked out the iPhone yesterday… it’s a fad! Like what most people say… you take away the bells and whistles and it’s just… another PDA phone, with non-removable battery and memory.

And it’s a fingerprint collector.

Oh well… perhaps I’m not really an Apple person (with regards to iPods and iPhone and variants of those), but a lot of people would like to get their hands on it to use it as a fashion statement. It’s like… I’ve an iPhone and so I’m cool… I heard that there’s a variant statement in China that goes… I’ve an iPhoney and so I’m cool… :S

Anyway, checking out the iPhone was the highlight yesterday. I wanted to check out Chinatown and Fisherman’s Wharf and do some (window) shopping at the same time… but I think, for some reason, I missed the whart completely and ended up at some ferry terminal that has some service to some other island. Nonetheless, I took the service and ended up somewhere… which seems like a tourist spot to me. It seems as if there was a Mt Faber there, with shops and houses lining the roads leading to the summit.

By then, evening was approaching and I figured that it’d be wise to head back to the mainland. There is an islet between the island and mainland with some building… I think that’s the statue of liberty Alcatraz, but the ferry didn’t stop there… so it’s a straight ride to downtown for me.

Once back safely on land, I decided that I’d do some window shopping. For once, I belonged to the petite section! Woohoo! I wonder where do petite Singaporeans go to when they are here. Haha… there’s quite a fair bit of variety because no one seems to buy those. There are quite a lot of shoes too! But none to my liking… what a pity. Oh well, will be back for more soon.

Late lunch/Early dinner was at Mac, with some dollar burger that was enough to last me through the evening. Here, there’s no chilli sause, no sweet chilli, nor other exotic sauses in Asia. They have ketchup, and lots of it. Instead of presenting it to you in packets, you have to help yourself from some dispenser. Beats having to ask them for it consistently. And oh, if you are dying for something hot, ask for salsa.

Wanted to check out the nightspot here… but I was carrying too many things to be comfy. I’d probably leave behind my stuffs tomorrow. As for now.. it’s gonna be al fresco mexican food by the yard! Woohoo! Yum yum! =P~~~~~~

Good morning Blogosphere! It’s freezing this morning at 14 deg Celsius, which probably is very good weather for the people here, but it’s freezing for a tropical tourist like myself. Sweater, check! Scarf, check! Water, check!

Breakfast was an alfresco dining by the patio today, consisting of a sunny side up, some sausages and bacon, served together with English breakfast tea and some chips. It’s really a different feeling to have your meals while overlooking the (not-so-big) crowd at the roads. From the patio, it is also possible to observe that the roads are not entirely straight and consists of many slopes.

After the morning mail check, I decided to walk round the neighbourhood by foot yesterday. There are lots of interesting shops, from those selling art stuffs to zodiac books that also helps to interpret your dreams. There are also quite a few rainbow shops that sells interesting pins and tags.

Speaking of which, I noticed that some places or shops hang this rainbow flag. A conversation with the locals revealed that this is really called The Rainbow Flag, which is a symbol of GLTB, which usually means the residents or business supports the GLTB cause. I forgot to ask if it necessarily means that the residents or owners are themselves GLTB. Oh well… I guess it doesn’t really matter here.

Another thing that I realised is that while the map depicts downtown to be pretty near where I am staying, it really isn’t so. I spent 3 hours walking towards downtown but didn’t seem to reach it. The only sight of anything commercial is the occasional supermarket or Walmart (or was it K-mart? or both?) The place seems unusually slow, quite unlike the crowd in Singapore, where everyone seems to be rushing every other minute.

Speaking of Walmart, I encountered this subway (the train, not the sandwich bar) track that runs onto the main road (near one of the Walmarts) and into some tunnel again. It’s nothing new but the only place in Singapore that I saw anything close is the Malaysian railway that cuts through Choa Chu Kang Road near Teck Whye, and it’s not somewhere that I frequent.

After 3 hours, I decided that enough is enough and started searching for directions to make sure that I wasn’t walking the wrong way. I chanced upon a US Postal Service mail man and asked him if I was heading the correct way. The good news was that I was heading in the right direction. The bad news was… it’d take me another 2 hours by foot! Argh!

So, it was off to the bus stop. Finding a bus that goes downtown is easy. But deciding where to stop in downtown is the next headache because… I wasn’t sure of where I was heading. Eventually, I alighted somewhere near Montgomery Station and got a little lost. Everywhere was buildings and more buildings. To add to that, the GPS wasn’t receiving any signals and I had to figure my way around.

By then, I was a little hungry and wondered around, looking for food… like a poor kitten. Thankfully, I found this small Japanese sushi shop that offered quite decent food. The food was nice, pretty much like those that you find in Sushi Tei or Sakae Sushi. Just outside the shop were trucks carrying props for some play that was coming to (or going from) town, but by then, I was too exhausted from the 3 hour walk to figure out more. In the end, I grabbed the train back to Church and 24th Street… home sweet home.

Today will consist of more recce and exploration. The weather’s quite nice and it’s probably a good time to talk a trip to the Bay Area. More updates tonight or tomorrow!