San Fransisco.. with flowers in my hair..(Phase 2 -The Pier, the Gate and beyond

Dear Diary,

In case you think that SF is all about shopping and clubbing. Pls don't mark Marcelly down as shallow just yet.

SF is also about the pier, the ocean breeze and the clam chowder. It's also about the gate, the dainty town beyond and the crazy weather.

You just have to make a trip down to the bay, to PIER 39

Well, if you're one of those old skools who must visit HardRock Cafe and collect their T-shirts in every city you go to. Then here's one.

.



The Major of SF is really dang good looking too! So it's worth a visit right? To support the economy such that he gets re-elected again. =).. See how forward thinking Marcelly is??

You'll be damned!

A carousel by the bay?

Why not?

Carousel just never loses it novelty, they still shoot MTVs and Korean dramas around bloody carousels!

Don't you think my BCBG dress is pretty? Guess how much it was in Palm Springs factory outlet? I got it for less than USD 40.!! *evil laughter*...

The Pier 39 was great for seafood luncheon, a bit of touristy shopping and snapping lots of awesome pictures. Look across and there it was.


















The famous Alcatraz prison.

We were contemplating on taking the ferry accross but my colleague Andy said:

"Why are we going there, when people were trying to escape so badly?"

He got a point, so we just bought its postcards and stayed on the bay to sip yummy clam chowder. Not to forget, we saw Captain Jack Sparrow doing some magic too!

He got his daughter to disappear from the wooden basket, for some pennies, .. nothing we haven't seen before.

But he was talking funny craps the whole time, non-stop, with pretty good Sparrow accent too, so I think we paid him some bucks so he can replenish his saliva.

Funny ideas for shops all around, how's a bullock cart stuck to our chicken rice stall?






















.
.
.
There were some circus baskers too.
This bunch was from England
Their cockney accent was overwhelming, but their WILD, BLUNT British humours were making us cramp with laughters.

So I put some bucks into his little pail.
More cars with AWESOME Rims!



















BLING BLING for a 1920s muscle car??

Waitaminute, I also saw one old mustang with a spinner!!

Mannn... they know how to up their ante!

I want 19"chromed deep dish for my next car!























Roadside Seafood Cocktail.. Funny, no alcohol. lol.

Ok lah.. the clam chowder better, don't bother buying this one. Unless you like plain seafood meats with ketchup. AH!! One more speciality from SF!

You can't buy normal bread here. They're all sourdough!

Here's the Boudin sourdough factory/store that supply sourdough to almost all of SF.

Sourdough is.. well. you didn't guess wrong.. sour dough lorr!!

The bread is yeasty sour but sourish fragrant.. but for me, I was yearning for my normal wholegrain bread, with no sour yeast!


Sour stuff aside, Reza picked us up to do more sightseeing.

We stopped by some cool houses by the shores.

Expensive I tell you, couple of millions at least, don't compare to Orchard rd penthouses lah... But these houses are not affected by subprime so much. These people who own expensive houses got prime rates anyway, not sub-prime ones.

Wah.. nice view from the bedroom, I bet.

This is the science discovery castle or temple of something, ruins of something legendary in the scientific world..or something.. Bah!! I am crap at describing and naming these stuffs cause they ain't factory outlets.. sorry.

Anyway, very pretty lah.. and perfect for romantic picnics!

Quality of life is so good there..Sian of having normal lunch? go for picnis? After picnic, cycle around or take the yacht out..

Provided the fogs don't come by..

What seemed like minutes later, the sky turned bleak.

And the evil fog swallowed the Golden Gate Bridge up!!!!

But fret not..

What seemed like half hour and a short drive through the Golden Gate Bridge later..

The fog has gone and the sun was shining again =)

Awesome take right?? So arty!! With my 3 fingers dancing with the 3 lines of hair.

This was a view from the other side. After crossing the bridge, you will find a dainty town called Sausalito.

The houses here are expensive too, as people in US would pay for privacy.. and this town looks and feels like a private resort. There's a burger place that Britney Spears frequents too..

Here it is! Dunno how true lah.. Reza say one..

Ah.. The pretty roads of Sausalito. Reza had to rush off after Sausalito, so he crossed the bridge back to SF and he dropped us at the best bakery in town.

Tartine!

Berry bread and butter pudding, chocolate tart with kumquat.

Whoa.. sounds like weird stuff? But they tasted heavenly. Very innovative yet yummy desserts.

A must to visit again!

For dinner, I took the gang to little Italy again and visited the Stinking Rose, the garlic restaurant. Everything also got garlic in it. Decorated by garlic cloves too!

Where I can assure you, is the best place to hide when vampires strike back!

But blimey it's not a good idea to take your girlfriend on first date here!

She wouldn't kiss you good night =)

Garlic boiled in olive oil for your bread's companiment??

Strangely, it wasn't very garlicky, it was fragrant.

Phew.... the asparagus and shrooms bruschetta and the fish was good too.

The food in SF has been very merciful actually. My boss declared that he wants to retire in SF.

Hmm.. I can consider.

After SF, we flew down to Phoenix, Arizona....

So you think Phoenix is an empty dessert??

Hmm.. Are you sure?

I'll prove you wrong.. stay tuned!