San Francisco -Sun, Shopping, downtown and old friends

San Fransisco is a name familiar to our ears..
In a song, In magazines.. in the history books.
Familiar with its friendly short nick - San Frans or shorter still.. SF, the city has its very own charm.

I was bursting with excitement when we reached SF.

It was a welcome change from LA, the air was different, the people are different, the vibe was different..!
We ditched our rented car as SF is public -transport friendly and like HK, it was so easy to walk /tram around the hot spots. And when it got too far, just hail a cab back.

SF is a downtown sorta city, car parks are hell to find. La is a decentralised city where you can't roll if you don't have wheels. So, SF is Oxford, LA is Cambridge. SF is HK, LA is Jakarta.


What better way to start the day?

I met some really really old friends.. and had great American breakfast at the legandary Lori's.





















Reza and Charles are my primary school friends!!! Back in Jakarta.
They were my school mates and we meet again in SF. Aint that awesome?

Ok, cheat a bit, Charles lives in Singapore and I have been in touch with him lah.
But Reza? That was the first time we meet him in ... 5..10..15..years!!!!!!!!!!!
He hasn't changes much. Other than he got much taller.
But he can't recognise me at all.

Ocht well, what to do. I was a really ugly geeky girl back in school.





















Here's the 4 of us, Louis, me, Reza and Charles.

American Breakfast = singapore breakfast +lunch +high tea+ dinner.

I tell you. Can't even finish 1/3 of it and I felt like 100 kg heavy.

But it's worth every penny for the ones with hearty appetites.
No wonder most Americans are obese. So sad right?
Think of the poor kids in Africa.

Such extremities..

Oh well,

let's come back to SF.

























We found springs blossoms!!! Wow, was I in Tokyo?
Anyhow, it was sunny, the streets were lovely, the colours were vibrant,
the shops were calling out..
and the magic card with the VISA label was still working..
What else to do???

Shopping la dey...!

Here's a huge shopping centre. I love the architecture so much!
So much nicer than Paragon plus Takashimaya put together yea?
























Forgot what this one was called. But its has lots of shops for sure...
It contains all the big department stores like Nordstorm.. A & F and Forever 21 were everywhere! And trust me Forever 21 is so dirt cheap there that I refuse to ever step into the ones in Singapore again.






















Check our them American cars..Hydarulics all. haha.. good for romping or what?

SO!! This is where all the good rims >19" get exported to.
I think very little go to Singapore.. Tsk.. Singapore cars are so horribly done.

Put vynils, LED.. oh biang colours.. soft toys (??).. but the rims still 15".. like WTH..=)


Anyway, I realised SF building are very close to the main roads. So privacy and Quietness is a question, But fret not. The fire staircase is so sexy..


























Ah.. see this staircase is where the hidden boyfriends/mistresses escape when time calls.

It is the type of staircase where Richard Gere climbed up to win over Julia Roberts in Pretty Womea.. So romantic right??


Back to shopping...



We visited Abercrombie & Fitch. Naturally.

Because the male models there are chest naked and they are to-die for!!

Dont tell Mr Gan but OMG I was dying to touch those bronzed, well-sculpted men!!!!


sorry lah no picture allowed in the shops.. dang right?!!

























More pictures downtown..
I think some of these pictures good enough for wall papers..
Yay! Love it!






















We stopped to satiate our cravings for GOOD CHINESE FOOD!!
Where else, but China town..

SF's China town is the biggest in the world, mind you.

Good Chinese food is such a rarity in US!
Gosh, La's Chinese food was crap.. oily and bland.. but I suppose that's cause we didn't go to the expensive designer restaurants la..
We went to the food courts.. So.. pay peanuts get peanuts right????

Other than China town, SF has little Italy, little Japan. etc, But I was sad they didn't have little Indonesia or little Singapore..haha!























Here's the bunch touring China town.. I bought some American ginseng for muy dearest clients.
The China town is all steep slopes and stoned, uneven pavements. But it was great workout for my butts.
Though they are very pert already, I must say..
























Back to Union Square.. this is where it all happens again! Nice place to just absorb all the worldliness in SF. Big names shouting out from all corners.

Victoria's Secret was not escaping my grasp.

I spent a bomb there.. but.. seriously.. inviting laces, satinnes, intricate apparels that no one but me will ever see, yet stood at ridiculous prices.. who the hell's gonna buy???

Apparently, tonnes of us girls do!!

We really wear them to feel good. And when we feel good, we look good and we will be good! So, it's worth every penny!!

Anyway, I bought this brasserie that costs 50USD, I though it was stupid. but this praticular one can be worn 100 ways!! (Cause it has like many different strap holes to adjust to)

So I though one way is only 50 cents. (If you divide 50USd with 100 ways). Quite worth it what? Make sure to wear 100 ways lor..




























We then went to Macy's.. top floor is the Cheesecake Factory. It was bliss!!
Best cheesecake in town I must say. Here's the view from Macy's. That's Union Square down there.



After wild shopping hours. We walked past a pub in union square that had a sign:

USD 2.99 for margarita!!!!

























So, we couldn't help ourselves.

The margarita was really good. Such a refreshment after shopping.
And best of all, it doesnt burn anymore holes in my pocket.

So, we walked home happy, shopping-high and margarita-high.

But something else stopped me...


























After all these many years!! From the streets of London, Oxford, Singapore and now SF!!

The bloody Britsh/French still don't know to spell swear words!!! What the hell is feschuk..

But their marketing strategy works DAMN well.. ain't it?

One brand you won't ever forget, Great branding move! FCUK what people think la!



After resting in the hotel for an hour... Oh by the way, we stayed in this hotel called Britton Hotel, value for money I tell you! So close - by all the great shops and it's cheap!

Anyway, yeah.. after resting, I had to go out with more old friends. Yay!!

Apparently Reza knows another friend of mind who resides in SF, Prety, she is my childhood friend too. Together they picked me up and we went to eat some fusion Chinese food.

Located accross the Hilton hotel, end of the China town slope, House of Nanking is one humble Chinese eatery but there's always a bloody queue!























Me and Prety!

You guys should try the wonton soup! It was like National Treasure, between the luscious wontons, you can find lemon grass, red onions, tomate swimming in the fragrant soup.

Interesting!

Their dishes are really innovative. Give it a try if you ever go to SF k!!
Try the kongpao chicken also, it's like mixed with rojak. Fusion mah!

























Yum yum....

After Nanking, we went around the little Italy..



















We walked past the Broadway.. where the red lights district was!!

Hmm.. like more posh than Geylang..


Sadly, the poorer, black vagabonds roam around the streets of SF at night. Although harmless, they bring fears to us Singapoream tourists. Because we don't have these at home.

At first I was a bit freaked out but after a while I got used to it.
they should be rather harmless, cause most of them were fully smoked up with all the weed.
So I bet even if they try to hit my face, they would miss the face.

So I felt safer liao. But I could smell burnt splif almost every corner of the streets in SF.
























Here's Little Italy. Oh, some of the restaurants have really cute Italian waiters. one particular restaurant will have the cute waiters stripping, dancing, singing for you if it's your birthday (must be a Bday girl la).. then they will queue up to kiss you.

They tried to take me there but I shy lah.. I scared I don't wanna go home after that.

























Didn't I tell you I love bulldogs? I love bulldogs. So ugly it's cute..

Anyway, we had Affogato and dessert at a coffee shop in Little Italy.

(But seriously, the best Affogato is in Singapore - check out the little bakery/cafe next to Prive (Keppel Island), one of Michel's latest discoveries - Go and order Affogato with honey-date ice cream.. oh heaven!!! I kept coming back!!)

FYI - Affogate is thick espresso shot over a scoop of ice cream).




After little Italy. We went clubbing!!!

Clubbing in SF is so special. LA needs you to be on guest list, needs to be Miss Spears or Hilton.

But in SF, you can be whoever you wanna be!! No pretense.

BUT!! You need to know where to go!

There is a centralised system that appoints a certain hip club to host Asian night every other weekend.

Be sure to have this info on hand. Else you will end up in a club filled with blacks, or Latinos, or Russians or whites only. So you'll feel really weird. Well, that's up to you of course, if you like that, go ahead. (Actually I should ask for Latino nights next time.. Aorrrr..)
Especially the SPGs... oh they will love angmoh nights. I bet the stewardesses won't go for Asian nights either. No? Sorry. stereotyping again.

I am very very yellow, so I like to see familiar faces.
So, Reza helped us check the Asian night club that night
Sadly, the clubs in SF are very old and run-down. Forget decors like Zouk or St JAmes.. Cool lazer?? Cool toilets? Forget it..!!!

They were all like the old Mdm Wongs with cracked floors and rusty railings.

But the party was spinning, the people were abviously having a blast!
The club was pumping with hundreds and hundreds of Asians; Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and we spotted Singaporeans and Indonesians.

Funny, I didn't feel like I was in States. Ha Ha!
To top it all, the drinks were dirt cheap, unlike clubbing in Singapore (except St James, which has good - value - for - money bottle offers all the time, I love it!)

Anyhow, it was a blast and I am coming back for more!!


(to be continued - days in SF never end..)