okie. spent 2 nice days in San Francisco.

went to Union Square yesterday. it is this huge place like SoHo in New York, which consists of just shops and shops and shops. aha you can spend your whole day shopping there, but I only went there to take pictures. oops.

then walked to Chinatown. it was around 6 blocks away and were mostly uphill. so quite shag. din want to take the cable cars coz i never got the day pass for that day. so just walked and walked. Chinatown was nice, because there are many cheap bargains as compared to the rest of San Francisco. like miniature cable cars for only 1.50 usd compared to maybe 4 usd outside? the lights in Chinatown was also nice. actually reminds me of Singapore's chinatown. hehe.

woke up early today so that can finish as much as possible today since tomorrow i am flying to Los Angeles. hehe. going to fly there earlier in case i cant fly there on time to catch my flight back to Singapore on Sunday, can get some souvenirs that I lost as well.

first, went to Coit Tower, which has this stunning view of San Francisco city skyline, alcatraz island, angel island, bay bridge and golden gate bridge. well it was kinda foggy, so cant really see golden gate bridge. climbed alot of stairs to get up to the base of the tower. kind of shag. but everytime you stop, there's a different view for you to see, so its kinda cool. there were many asians climbing together with me. got to know them because i asked them to help me take some pictures. they were from korea, thailand and taiwan. cool.

second, took the MUNI bus to Pier 39. its a nice place, where you can see many yachts and there were shops for you to get souvenirs and stuff as well. not forgetting the numerous eating places selling seafood. you could see sea lions too! and they were kinda noisy even though they were lumbering around. can see their funny antics too. cool. can also see the view of golden gate bridge and alcatraz island. too bad the tix for alcatraz was sold out though. its this prison on an island by itself, which is kinda sad for the prisoners.

third, walked to the main Fisherman's Wharf area. Pier 39 is actually part of Fisherman's Wharf, but is usually listed as a separate attraction. got to try the seafood at one of the stalls there, because it was cheaper and i wanted to avoid the restaurant tax and tips. splurged a little on the seafood because its supposed to be fresh and nice! and it was really so. when i was eating, talked to this Mexican guy beside me, and i got a photo taken with a crab! hehe. okie la, sounds normal, but its quite unique to me because I am taking in Fisherman's Wharf. haha. managed to take it coz the Mexican guy knows the boss of the stall I was eating from. cool

then walked to Ghiradelli Square and took some pictures before i went to take the Cable Car (Powell-Hyde line) to Lombard Street. they are famous for the Ghiradelli chocolates. it was super crowded at the cable car turnaround stop. waited for about 45 minutes before i managed to get up on the cable car. it was cool because they had to manually turn the cable car around to go in the other direction.

the cable cars are damn cool. they went up the steep slopes just like that, at about 9.5 miles per hr, which is about 20km/h. as the cable cars went up the slope, we could see the view from the sea, which is really cool. other than seats, you could hang at the sides of the cable car. i tried all positions by the end of the day: standing at the end, standing in the middle, sitting at the side with no railings in front of you and hanging at the side. haha.

san francisco is full of steep slopes. omg. even when i walk down the roads, i can feel myself falling down at any time. though i din fall la. haha. but i would definitely NOT drive a manual car here. even with the handbrake, i think i will go mad when i go up the steep slopes. its that steep that you cant even see the next road. on some roads, cars have to park at ninety degrees to the kerb and not parallel coz of the steep roads.

anw back to Lombard Street. its cool! its this steep road inclined at 30 degrees (i think) and is made up on 8 hairpin loops. and the flowers grown at the loops were really nice too. omg. its well known even though apparently, its not the steepest road in the US.

next, went to the Golden Gate Bridge. it was very foggy when I got there, and couldnt take any nice pictures but luckily the fog cleared. but its still so high up that the top's covered by clouds at times. cool. walked to the centre of the bridge and the view of San Francisco's skyline and the coastline was overwhelming. think i preferred Golden Gate Bridge to Brooklyn Bridge. haha.

then took a bus back to Powell, then cable cars (Powell-Mason St line and California line) to Chinatown to get some stuff. got some cheap bargains. when i went yesterday, it was 3 or 4 shirts for 10.99 and today, due to some unknown reason, it was 6 shirts for 9.99. swee. so bought for my cousins, den got some other stuff.

then went back to Union Square. wanted to do some shopping but shops were closing except for Forever 21. so got a nice top for myself! yeah. though the dress I bought in LA was much better. too bad its lost.

going to explore Mission District tmr, which is where I stay in. haha. before I fly to Los Angeles tmr afternoon.