Travel: A Beautiful Day in San Francisco (7th November, 2011), Part 1

What's the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions about San Francisco? Will it be The Golden Gate Bridge, Napa Valley, China Town or it's a foodies nation?

Being able to travel to San Francisco was another dream came true and was certainly memorable. I LOVE to travel and this is one dream that I wish I don't have to wake up from sometimes. I have met so many wonderful ladies and new friends that made my trip colourful. There was a lot of humour, laughter, witty remarks and we sure talk one same language which is FOOD.

Right now, I would like to share with you my experience and I hope you find joy in reading through or browse through my photos.

On this very day, Elisabeth and I had to check-out of the Grand Hyatt. So I suggested that we check-out early and head towards our Concierge to get more information on the San Francisco City Tour Hop-On and Hop-Off buses where we kept seeing for the past three days while we were staying in the city.

This is one that I would strongly recommend to put under your To-Do List. Not only you get to see as many places that you probably wouldn't go there alone, and you also get to Hop-Off, walk around and wait for the next tour bus to come along and get right on to your next pit-stop.

First off, we went along with the Tour Bus company that has the Big American Flag banner on the double-decker bus. You get two options to choose from. A 24-hours tour or 48-hours tour. What it means is that you get to use this tour for a whole day or in 2 days. For example, if you chose the 24-hours tour, and purchase your ticket at 10:00am, your ticket will be valid to the next day 10:00am.

The tickets cost about USD $31.00 if booked directly via hotel concierge or USD $35.00 if purchase directly from the Tour Bus. Also if recalled correctly, 48-hours tour costs around USD $38.00 when booked via hotel.

This is a good deal, as it covers a lot of grounds and places to see within the San Francisco city and around the Bay Area. Don't worry about not getting a pick-up from the next tour bus, as there will be one on it's way every 15-minutes. Pick up a headset from the tour guide and just make sure to return it back to them, as each place is narrated by the tour guide. Most importantly, make sure to pack a jacket, cap or a scarf to tie round your neck to keep yourself warm, as the weather can be slightly unpredictable in San Francisco. Dress comfortably and wear comfortable walking shoes if you choose to walk a lot. This way you will be all set and have fun snapping. Trust me you wouldn't want to miss a single shot.

Our pick-up point was at Union Square, just right across from Macy's and is only 2 blocks walk down from the Grand Hyatt towards Geary Street. This is where the site-seeing begins. You will notice that San Francisco has lot to offer. From both new and old. It has huge diversity of culture.

Like myself, I will walk as much possible whenever I travel, so that I get to remember every little nity detail I see along the way. It's also a perfect way to experience where the locals go to.

The double-decker bus ride was an adventure. In fact I highly recommend to finish the entire tour. If you're into building architecture or graffiti, do keep a look out. My mind and eyes tend to attract towards colours, and love to snap on anything that I find interesting. Having travelled to many places, and as I grew older, I appreciate anything from old and new. I feel that there is a story behind every photo.

Asian Art Museum

City Hall

Here is what I notice. A lot of the buildings facade is from the Victorian period. So are the Victorian homes where they are maintained really well and every one seem to have them painted in really interesting colours. A sense of history, classic architecture with new coat of paint of vibrant colours stands out when the sun light shines against the building.

Another thing that goes through my mind constantly is "how do they park their car?" I wonder if any cars roll backwards before? Yes, I know there are hand breaks in our car, but still, how does that car stay stationary on a steep hill? That is just something I think a lot while I was there..LOL. Some roads or should I say hills are so steep that you couldn't even see the other end of the connecting road. It's really like a roller coaster ride.

Alamo Square with SF city view at the back

This is part of the beauty of San Francisco. You will definitely recognise the photo above. I remember how it was when I was younger while I watched the comedy series "Full House". It looked exactly the same. What I particularly like about the photo above is the San Francisco city view at the back drop.

Here are more photos of the Golden Gate Bridge. I just couldn't stop snapping. When the bus drove us acrossed The Golden Gate Bridge, I experienced a San Francisco Rush. My heart was beating with joy, and when the sun and cool breeze touches your skin, the feeling is unexplainable. It is like another sense of accomplishment, a reward to myself for my effort and time put into my hours of work.

Driving towards The Golden Gate Bridge

Alcatraz aka The Rock

A spectacular view of The Golden Gate Bridge

The last photo above, is where I bid Farewell to The Golden Gate Bridge. Perhaps for those who constantly drive pass this bridge every single day, might feel like this is another bridge. But at the end of the day, we all know that this is one of the iconic mega structure.

During the ride acrossed the bridge, I managed to squeeze in a lot of soul thinking and I know that as long I stay true to myself, and persevere in life, eventually it will bear fruits. Typing this post for you, has brought me back to that very moment on the bus. I could still remember every single minute of it. Bright sunny day, gentle cool breeze running through my hair, and light tingling warmth sensation from the sun light.

I am going to leave you now to have a quiet moment to think, and stay tune as more of San Francisco to come. Have a good week ahead everyone!!

xx

Foodbuzz Festival 2011: Day 2 (Nov 5th, 2011), Part 1

Waking up to a wonderful bright and shiny morning in San Francisco y'all seems like a dream come true. After having watched Full House when I was way younger, and seeing the Golden Gate Bridge on TV countless times; being here in San Francisco was indeed a sheer joy. Sometimes I even need to pinch and remind myself that this is real. What a surreal feeling for me having flown in from across the world. Did I tell you my flight was close to almost 16-18 hours?

I did sign up for some talks and was supposed to make my way to Foodbuzz's Federated Media Headquarters. However, I was really tired from my long haul flight and decided to get a little more shut eye. Instead I decided to stroll down along Sutter Street together with Elisabeth, where we went out on a hunt for her coffee and breakfast to kick start our day.

Along the way, I found William's Sonoma and I told Elisabeth that I got to head in there right now..LOL.. Can you imagine, I put coffee and breakfast on hold just because of William's Sonoma??!? I think I might have upset her then cause I chose William's Sonoma over a cup of coffee. Elisabeth said graciously to me "Jo, we are suppose to get breakfast and right now you want to make a pit stop at William's Sanoma?" I felt pretty guilty at that point of time. Do forgive me peeps, there isn't a William's Sanoma back home here in Malaysia, so you could only imagine my excitement when I saw one of their outlets. The best part, it's just right behind our hotel. So I said to myself, I shall be back.

Now, looking back I thought it was really funny how it turned out. I put William's a side and continue to look for a shop for us to get our breakfast. We ended up getting bagels at Posh Bagels on Sutter Street  for breakfast. It's only about 1 block walk down along Sutter Street from the Grand Hyatt on Stockton. I hate to do this but I didn't quite like the lady serving over the counter. She's quite a meanie I tell you; so you better make up your mind quick before placing an order. No offense to her, but she strike me as a person who's impatient and has quite a sense of sarcasm in her tone. Other than that, the bagel breakkie was not bad at all. Maybe because I got all my appetite worked up..LOL

After we got our orders, Elisabeth and I sat along the window on the bar stools and people watched. San Francisco like any other city has a culture of their own. Therefore I would say, when you travel, ALWAYS go with an open heart and mind. Don't critic or judge. What you see on the surface may not be as bad as you think it is. Adapt to their culture and blend in as much possible to enjoy San Francisco.

Something hit me though, is that seeing an old lady digging into bins for recyclable tin cans or plastic bottles. I felt really bad for her, and wished that sometimes people don't have to go through that in life. All I could think of was "Gees, where are her children?". Also I made another self discovery of myself knowing that how fortunate am I to be sitting in a shop having breakfast in a chilly morning. That really made me appreciate every single thing that I have gone through during my high and low times and treasure everything that is  happening right in front of my eyes.

After breakfast, we headed back to the hotel to get some directions on how to get to the Metreon for the Taste Pavilion session. That is right peeps..more food and I recalled that I can't wait to check out what Foodbuzz had planned out for us. Throughout the whole event, there were 2 big sponsors based on what I observed. One of them being Alexia Foods and the other is Godiva.

This time round, a lot of the food stalls were geared towards promoting organic produce. I definitely can do that, as organic produce is free from pesticides. Although, at one point while I was walking together with Emily @ Savory and Savage; I recalled mentioning to her that I wanted more sinful food, as all of them looked so healthy.. LOL. What can I say, I am a foodie and I had an appetite to try out the real American food.

Emily and I head back to some stalls for second helpings too. There was this one particular stall which was serving seafood. Instead of what everybody always know of the famous Crab Cake or Crab Croquette, they were serving out Alaska Halibut and Caramelized Onion Croquettes with Fig Dijonnaise. One word to sum up this juicy filled halibut croquette which was lightly coated in breadcrumbs and fried to a golden perfection served with a doll-up of fig dijonnaise "YUMMMmmmmmm". It was so "YUMMMMmmm" that Emily and I went back for a second round. Did I make you drool here, cause thinking back right now is sure making me drool. We just couldn't get enough of it and wish we could have more.

Speaking of being a glutton, be prepared for the next photos; cause there I was stuffing myself with all the delicious treats, I snapped as many I could for you to feast with your eyes. To reassure myself, I paced back and forth and walked from one end back to the other to burn off what I consumed..LOL.. as though that would work, in my mind I think it did.

 

So what do you think? There were tonnes of selection to choose from. I think I was really spoilt with the choices, but I do have my favourites. If I were to choose, I would go back for more fluffy Alaska Halibut Croquettes, Warren Pears which were absolutely soft, not too crunchy when it's ripe and ultra sweet; absolutely perfect for poaching [that's how I love my pears to be..], Watermelon Infused Beer which leaves an after note of cooling sensation from the natural watermelon juice, Godiva's Pumpkin Spiced Latte with no sugar required and only needs about 2-3 tablespoons of good Maple Syrup, where this latte combination was absolutely smooth and had a real musky rich flavour from the blend of some cinnamon; perfect cuppa for any chilly days and to end it with Three Twins' Mint Confetti Ice-Cream which was ultra smooth, and has just the perfect balance of sweetness, blend of chocolate chips and mint infused cream.

I am going to leave you now to enjoy the above and hopefully you will come back for more? Do come back anyhow because Day 2 was a long fruitful day, and the next coming part 2 will be quite exciting.. Till then!!

xx