I
dived at the chance of taking a short vacation to San Francisco after my
business trip in Oregon. I love it there, absolutely. The weather there in
December were great (not too cold) and the Christmas lightings never fail to
beautify a city!
After
reading tons of reviews, I settled for Hotel Stratford located in the heart of
Union Square. I did not want to stay in an isolated hotel given that I am bad with directions. The hotel is simply fabulous – Macy is just right at the back of hotel and
the cables car (heading to fishermen & Castro are just right outside the
door). Many negative reviews about the hotel are about the slow lift and the
low pressure shower but I found them to be pretty fine. Times whereby I had to
wait for the lift (after breakfast), I simply took the staircase. I love the
location of my hotel.
All the shops – Saks Fifth Avenue; Macy; Prada; Disney
etc are all within walking distance. I did not shop much in SF given the sales
tax – I did most of my shopping in Oregon before I flew over which saved me a
lot of money. Since it was the Christmas period, Macy is decorated with the
puppies and kittens from the SPCA. I read about this and thought that they were
displaying soft toys but over the display windows were adorable puppies and
kittens waiting to be adopted. Each day, the number of these cuties reduces and
I pray that they got a nice loving home.
Since
it was late, I took a cab to the hotel. I dived into a quick wash-up and change
of clothes and headed for a gay party organized by SFCB – the club was only 8
minutes drive from my hotel. I was alone and slightly exhausted but it was my
first time in a US gay club so it was fun!
Music was great; audiences were happening; beer was dirt cheap – USD5 so
I had 2 bottles before flagging a cab back to my hotel at 2am.
Next
day is the visit to the Golden Gate Bridge! First, I headed to Marin Headlands
by bus 76x which operates only on weekends. This is an express bus from Union
Square to Marin headlands which took me less than 30 minutes. Walking along
Rodeo beach and up the hill was great – there were many others walking their
dogs. I realized that the golden gate is totally not in that direction but I
was cool as I read many great reviews about the Rodeo beach. It was a nice cool
beach! I walked for a long distance heading to the golden gate bridge view
point before settling for a bus. The view is marvelous and I stayed there for
at least 2 hours to snap pictures and to admire the views and the cool weather.
The
palace of fine arts is as beautiful as shown in its images. However, it is very
small. I love the architecture ; the plants & trees around it; the ducks
waddling in the pond; the swans on the grasses; the rows of Victorian-looking
houses along the street – all these make the place very romantic!
I took a walk
to Cow Hollow district which has rows of restaurants and shops. I picked a
pretty restaurant; ordered a plate of wrap and enjoyed people & dog
watching for an hour. There are many steep hills in SF so I did lost some
weight after spending few days there!
From Cow Hollow, I searched for the famous Lombard Street. As usual, I
got lost despite my Google map and had to ask for directions. I finally got
there before sun set and it was crowded. I ended up at the top of Lombard
street so I was snapping pictures downward – I think it makes more sense to be
snapping upwards from downhill which many were doing. The cable car back to
hotel was easily accessible from there so I made no attempt to walk downhill. After snapping many pictures, it was almost
dark so I hopped onto the cable car and made my way back.
Castro
is a LBGT district. Once alighted from the cable car, I saw the symbolic
rainbow flags along the street. I had intended to join a free-tour but was
early so I hopped into star bucks. I was surprised to see the rainbow flag in star
bucks too! I grabbed a coffee and a bagel, and sat beside two gay guys talking
about the night life in Taipei. Coming from Asia, I was excited and joined in
their conversation, commenting on the dynamic night life in Taipei is. I
suggested coming to Singapore too and the first thing I heard is “No, we hear
that Singapore is anti-gays and it is a crime to be a gay”. That was an
ultimate embarrassment for a Singaporean who is supposed to be living in
first-world city. They were not exactly
wrong but I did assure them that there are many gay-friendly hotels and clubs
in Singapore too. I left shortly for my free group tour. It is great and the
guide was very knowledgeable about Castro!
I
went to Fishermen Wharf too early in the morning and my visit to Alcatraz was
only at noon. Nonetheless, I took a slow walk along the wharf and took pictures
of the submarines; the seals and the shops. The seals were really adorable but
noisy! I had lunch at a clam chowder café and it was fantastic. I love the fun
shops along the wharf too.
I pre-booked
my Alcatraz cruise so the queue to get up the boat was pretty quick. Before I
board, the staff took a picture of every passenger in front of a board staring
the Alcatraz as background – that was pretty stupid. Of course, I did not buy
these pictures. The cruise to Alcatraz was nice and I caught sight of the
golden gate bridge. Ride was about 10-15 minutes and we quickly got down the
boat. It was rather crowded and we were
welcomed by an introduction at the entrance. I went up the hills to the
Alcatraz and joined the audio tour like everyone else. There is a story about
some escapees who were never found. We were only allowed to tour the 1st
level. The place is filled with people so it is not eerie or anything. However,
it did felt slightly eerie if you looked up to the cells on 2nd or 3rd
floor which are empty and not accessible. I had intended to take the night tour
but timid me advised me not to. Souvenir shops are my favorite and I got 2
Alcatraz prisoner mugs; a baseball and a golden gate bridge photo frame for my
mum (weird I know).
I
headed down to the fisherman wharf on a separate evening to visit the
Ghirardelli Square which is the home to the famous Ghirardelli chocolates!
There is a store selling wide variety of the chocolate and a café which I
ordered the famous chocolate sundae.
Since I had the sundae, they offered me discount when purchasing the
chocolates – bought a huge pack of assorted ones!
Mission
district is a suburb district for many homeless folks. I went there for the
wall murals which I read was very amazing. The murals were indeed beautifully
painted but it was a complicated street which I got lost several times – thanks
to goggle map. Sun was setting and the
homeless were staring at me. I feel slightly insecure here but overall was
safe. I walked for a distance after getting lost and jumped onto a bus to get
out of the district. The bus, unfortunately, broke down and I had to change to
another bus. There were weird passengers on these buses – either talking to
themselves or screaming out of the blue – a little scary but no one seem to be
affected. I was so glad that I got back to the hotel safely after switching to
one more bus along the way. No regret heading to Mission for the wall murals.
North
beach, also known as Little Italy consists of several stretches of cool
restaurants and cafes – many of which are Italian. I sat inside a café and had
croissant and coffee instead. The pace here was slow which I love it. Across
the street is the Washington Square park and the St Paul and Peter Church which
is very beautiful. They were closing for the afternoon so I did not get to tour
the interior of the church. The church staff was very friendly and invited me
for the evening mass which I had intended to go but was tired after waiting for
2 hours. I am glad that I found the
famous chocolate truffle store – XOX Truffle which is located 2-3 streets down
from the park. There was a wide variety
of chocolate truffles and I bought 2 assorted boxes.
Alamo
Square is a pretty park with many locals and their dogs. Across the park is the
famous row of Victorian houses which many refer to as the “painted ladies”.
Every
review recommended going the Cheesecake Factory at the top level of Macy which
I did on my last night in San Francisco. There was a long queue and I was told
to wait for an hour. Macy is just right behind
my hotel so I took the chance to head back for my packing. I headed back to the
Cheesecake Factory after an hour when it was almost 11pm. It was cold but the view was wonderful since
it was few days away from Christmas. I took the outside table which gave me a
good view of union square; the ice-skating rinks and the Christmas lights. I am
lucky to be seated under a heater which kept me warm for 1.5 hour out there.
The cheesecake and hot tea kept me warm as well but with a heavy heart on my
last night. San Francisco – I will be back! J
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