Nights & days...

.: Nights & days:.

Sunshiny day @ union square.

Shopping @ Macy's.. San francisco is a great place for stocking up on yr Junk food tees and Benefit cosmetics.. and Marc jacobs/kate spade is cheaper by a fair bit too. Imagine the hole in my pocket!

restless in the night. I love this pic.

 

We land in Hk and my mood changes instantly. I crave for pork chop rice, star ferry rides & cheap bargains.

Jerome & i love to hang out at Stanley, plus the 'treacherous' bus ride there is half the fun. We found a rocky spot where we could catch up without the crowd & enjoy the sea breeze. He teaches me so many simple things about life and takes care of me just like a big brother. He's a true gem.

An ice cream to cheer me up!

Dear jolene... my companion in food & shoppin during this long trip... I swear she is a dead ringer for Elva Hsiao!!!We check out new cha chan tengs & gorge ourselves silly on mango desserts. I bring her to Lucky dessert to try more mango.

We have mango sago in milk & mango pancakes with cream... after this trip i can't stomach any more mango for the next few mths.

We traverse CWB and MK to find the perfect purse. She was lookin for the same porter boy purse that i have! We are amazed at the sheer variety of 2nd hand luxury products they have... are HK girls really that materialistic?? I don't really think so though.

Having said that, the brazen cheapo shopaholics in us get matching fake Anya hindmarch bags for only 10SGD. Why queue in the rain or kill yself cos u're not on the despairingly long waiting list? Its just a canvas bag that happens to be very cheap and will probably not replace any plastic bags or leave a lasting environmental msg anyway.

Oh and we also bought SoftBank parallel imports, complete with japanese graphics & menus heh.

In short, just come to TST & all yr desires shall be fulfilled.

Its old and slow and sometimes u see cockroaches but i feel so calm & relaxed each time i take the star ferry.

The view itself is reason enough to take it  As jerome always tells me, the boat will not take u any faster in such a fast-paced city. So during that short ride, all the time in the world belongs to me.

 

Napa Valley

Summer in san francisco =

Afternoons at union square, people-watching, shopping, cuppas, cool breezes, hotdogs, tram rides..

Wine country, dazzling blue skies, vineyard tours.

Viansa - a well-known vineyard in the Napa valley region

Its italian decor & lovely views ensure that it's always popular for weddings and private functions.

Gettin some cool respite from the heat amongst the french oaks

Too much free wine and the blistering heat makes u very sleepy indeed.

and *burp* silly too.

Golden gate... a golden day

This past week has been exactly what i need.. it seriously didnt feel like work at all.. space from everyone around me & visitin 2 of my fave cities again.

San francisco was sunny & cool... perfect for takin a trip out of the city... I have always wanted to visit Sausalito, a quaint bayside community across the bay.

Originally planning on taking the ferry, a crazy idea struck my friend. Heck lets cycle there! Um great weather for doing that, but i can't really cycle & did i hear the guy say u can go along the bayfront, up some hills, along the highway,past the Golden gate bridge, & then another 15mins or so towards Sausalito????

According to him, it would take us about 1hr 15mins. Arthur gamely offers to ride a double bike with me. How hard can it be?

This is us after an hour... dammit we're not even on the bridge yet! It looks very far!!!

Getting nearer... pant pant*

And we're up! The sun on your cheeks, wind in your hair, cars whizzing past us... i've never felt so carefree... the feeling is indescribable.

There and then, I knew I would always remember this moment.

Finally Sausalito comes in to view & we're greeted by cheery houses perched atop hills, fellow red-in-the-face cyclists & the shimmery waters of the bay.

it is quite a perfect day.

We stop for a long long lunch... Kudos to arthur who's such a sweetie.. always my buddy on long-haul flights, i will definitely miss him after this trip.

After lunch, we decide that the best way back is via the ferry lest we roll down the hills together with the bike. By this time, our muscles are aching & the thought of riding back makes me wanna puke. 

It's been a good day but we don't wanna go back yet..

Welcome to the most crooked road in the world.

The city is well-known for its slopes but this particularly steep incline makes it impossible for cars to go straight down hence the winding road.

I don't quite know what was wrong with us that day but we decide to climb up the slope & check out the view.

Beautiful eh?

I spend the next day shopping... happiness. Got a pair of jeans from 7 for all mankind for only 143 USD... i think it's less than half the price u pay in Singapore. Plus lotsa Junk food & heartbreaker tees... i lugged back all my shopping with only a hint of guilt because i know i wont have time to shop in HK..

Next up: champagnepout in HK again :D

PS. Thank u to everyone who emailed/msged me.. im feelin betta as u can see. :) 

 

San Francisco

I'm back in sunny singapore! Seoul & frisco were cold cold cold... This trip opened my eyes to many things... foreign discoveries not withstandin.. i'm startin to see the many facets of people. Some pleasant, some frightening... but many fake.

Oh well.. maybe it's XXX still haunting me... i can't get to sleep as yet. So let me indulge in my memories of San francisco..

 

The most comfy hotel bed i ever slept in... it was difficult gettin up for the next 2 days.

 

Fisherman's wharf.. we took the frisco bay cruise to see Alcatraz & the Golden gate bridge... it was a chilly morning & what better way to beat the cold than to have a steaming sourdough bowl of clam chowder? Absolutely yummy!!!

Californian sealions frolicking in the sun!

The world-famous Golden gate bridge... an engineering feat & one of the icons of America.

Huimin & I braving the strong winds... our fingers were practically numb but it's so fun to be doing touristy stuff with the girls.

 

We get ready to hit the shops. Endless shopping malls all beckoning us to go in... American sales service is surprisingly good... in every boutique we went to, the girls were friendly & hardworking. Our wallets worked hard too! Coach is so much cheaper there that i get yet another mini skinny in a different color i can't find in singapore. We all end up gettin the same thing except that celest bought a pair of sunglasses as well & huimin a wristlet... & so began the shopping spree. Victoria's secret next. Between the 4 of us, i think we bought enough panties to dress a family of 6 for a whole week. But everything is so pink & lovely that it makes u wanna just buy & buy! And then on to Abercrombie where we bought more clothes... but when yr feet threaten to stop walking u to the next boutique, u know it's time for a slice of cheesecake from the famous Cheesecake factory!

 

It's so popular that a private lift services the restaurant and snaking queues form around the lift faster than u can say 'to the top please'. Definitely a must-go!

ok my eyes are closing... need a good rest before i start the day. see ya later.