Friday, December 29, 2006
Our flight was scheduled at 7am, so we were supposed to leave for the airport in the wee hours of the morning.. However, we received a phone call on Wednesday night from Frontier Airlines.. apparently our flight had been delayed! And because we would miss the connecting flight, we were scheduled for an afternoon flight instead..
Talk about being unlucky.. I had heard about Denver, Colorado having snow storms and all.. and I had a slight recollection that one of my flights had a stopover there.. [I had been purchasing so many flight tickets that I kinda lost track after a while] but did it have to happen to me??? Well, apparently it did. We were supposed to be touring San Francisco city today, and going to Yosemite Valley the next, but our hopes were dashed after this unfortunate delay.
Well, on the positive side, we took the extra day to rest a little more, and do more last minute planning for the upcoming trip.. we didn't exactly plan everything yet, so it was pretty good that we got to research a little more. Also, thank god we bought insurance.. muahaha. We're trying to claim for both the train delay and baggage delay.. woohoo.
So, we drove my baby solara to the akron/canton airport, and went up to the hertz area.. I was kinda worried that they wouldn't allow us to keep the car there, but were relieved when the helpful lady said they would in fact, drive it to the garage to keep it there til I come back. They're so nice at this airport.. some airports' staff are just plain mean.
After passing the car to their care, we looked around for the usual shuttle bus service to the airport, but didn't see any signs so we asked a man there..
Us: "Hi, may we know where the shuttle bus to the airport is?"
Man: *ridiculous + puzzled look*
Man: *Stares at us for a moment*
Man: "This IS the airport?"
Yes, so it was super smart of us.. We assumed that the car rental wasn't in the airport compounds but it really was for this airport. HAHA. Can't believe we were so dumb, the man must have found it entirely amusing..
The flights were delayed again and we waited a pretty long time for our flight to finally set off on our flight to Denver, Colorado, and then San Jose [pronounced ho-zay], California.
Talk about being unlucky.. I had heard about Denver, Colorado having snow storms and all.. and I had a slight recollection that one of my flights had a stopover there.. [I had been purchasing so many flight tickets that I kinda lost track after a while] but did it have to happen to me??? Well, apparently it did. We were supposed to be touring San Francisco city today, and going to Yosemite Valley the next, but our hopes were dashed after this unfortunate delay.
Well, on the positive side, we took the extra day to rest a little more, and do more last minute planning for the upcoming trip.. we didn't exactly plan everything yet, so it was pretty good that we got to research a little more. Also, thank god we bought insurance.. muahaha. We're trying to claim for both the train delay and baggage delay.. woohoo.
So, we drove my baby solara to the akron/canton airport, and went up to the hertz area.. I was kinda worried that they wouldn't allow us to keep the car there, but were relieved when the helpful lady said they would in fact, drive it to the garage to keep it there til I come back. They're so nice at this airport.. some airports' staff are just plain mean.
After passing the car to their care, we looked around for the usual shuttle bus service to the airport, but didn't see any signs so we asked a man there..
Us: "Hi, may we know where the shuttle bus to the airport is?"
Man: *ridiculous + puzzled look*
Man: *Stares at us for a moment*
Man: "This IS the airport?"
Yes, so it was super smart of us.. We assumed that the car rental wasn't in the airport compounds but it really was for this airport. HAHA. Can't believe we were so dumb, the man must have found it entirely amusing..
The flights were delayed again and we waited a pretty long time for our flight to finally set off on our flight to Denver, Colorado, and then San Jose [pronounced ho-zay], California.
Snow covered Denver airport
The connecting UA flight from Denver to San Jose was quite a rush for us and we had to run from one to other. We made it! But our luggage didn't. Sadly after we reached San Jose, our luggage wasn't there yet! Ok, we were pretty amused, since we bought insurance so we were half hoping it would take more time and we could claim more. hurhur.
I had booked a hotel in Modesto, CA which is like in between yosemite and san francisco cos we were supposed to go the next day. Which means it was a 3 hours drive from the San Jose airport.. And we would have to drive back to San Francisco the next day.. Super sian, damn the stupid Denver weather.
On the way there, we were in the Silicon Valley area, and I saw the Ebay and Paypal headquarters! Too bad it was at night and we were tired and hungry and dirty, i.e. not in the mood to take photos. I also saw another online shopping website, can't remember what it was.. Haha, feels so close to home!
So, we stopped by Denny's for supper.
I had booked a hotel in Modesto, CA which is like in between yosemite and san francisco cos we were supposed to go the next day. Which means it was a 3 hours drive from the San Jose airport.. And we would have to drive back to San Francisco the next day.. Super sian, damn the stupid Denver weather.
On the way there, we were in the Silicon Valley area, and I saw the Ebay and Paypal headquarters! Too bad it was at night and we were tired and hungry and dirty, i.e. not in the mood to take photos. I also saw another online shopping website, can't remember what it was.. Haha, feels so close to home!
So, we stopped by Denny's for supper.
Milkshake goodness
omelette supper
We were so tired by then that we decided to heck the stupid faraway hotel, and sleep in the hotel right next to Denny's.. If you've been observant enough, it's our favorite Travelodge, as seen through the window of Denny's.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Now I know why people always say, bring a change of clothes in your carry on.. Even though I am always too lazy to do so, but shit happens. And it really sucks to have to wear back your dirty clothes. This would be impossible in spore cos its so humid and it would be far too gross, but at least here it's cold and dry so it's not that bad, but still gross.
So we tried not to think so much, and woke up early to set off for San Francisco!
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Now I know why people always say, bring a change of clothes in your carry on.. Even though I am always too lazy to do so, but shit happens. And it really sucks to have to wear back your dirty clothes. This would be impossible in spore cos its so humid and it would be far too gross, but at least here it's cold and dry so it's not that bad, but still gross.
So we tried not to think so much, and woke up early to set off for San Francisco!
Saturn Ion
We had the previous day's Denny's hashbrowns and junky hotdogs+coffee from 7-11 for breakfast. We also picked up some necessities from 7-11, including this stupid hairbrush that doesn't work at all. It's the kind with the hard black bristles? Really hurts and doesn't work with my tangled hair at all! hate it.
We reached the Bay Bridge connecting Oakland and San Francisco after a 40 min drive.. After which we went up to Twin Peaks for a good view of the whole city.
San Francisco is really crowded.. Haven't seen such a city in some time. Beautiful aint it. Can you spot the golden gate bridge in the distance? And that's pb, happily playing with his new toy =).
Next up, the most important San Francisco sight in my opinion.. the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge.
that's the size of one of its cables!!
hot coffee in the freezing cold
i thought i was seeing things when I saw a phone on the bridge..
We did walk on the bridge, but it got a little mundane and it is freaking long. So we gave up before we even reached half of it heh heh. Next was the souvenir shop of course.. See the pict we bought? We were trying to take a photo that's the same as the pict, but the flowers and bushes have grown a lot higher than in the painting!
On our way to lunch, we went past the Crooked Lombard Street...
On our way to lunch, we went past the Crooked Lombard Street...
Just look at the road sign in the right pict.
At the top of the crooked section of the street..
Cute right? Too bad it's winter so there aren't any flowers..
Yes, this is Chinatown! the shops were damn touristy, cannot take it. We were here just for some good dimsum!
Waverly STREET!!! Remember? This is the very street Waverly Jong was named after, in the Joy Luck Club! If I had more time I'd probably be able to find the streets she played in.. the corner where she played checkers with the old man.. You know which part of the story I like best? It's the part where Waverly's mother cooked crab for her.. and it went something like this: "That's how Asian mothers show their love and concern.. through stern offerings of steamed crab." And I think it's so true and touching.
We eyed a rather expensive looking cafe which we were reluctant to enter. [I know that sounds kinda contradictory but.. whatever] A few steps later, we were approached by an old man giving out flyers.. and it said Dimsum! woohoo. We were hungry and the parking meter was ticking away so we thought we'd just take a gamble, and followed the old man into the restaurant in a little alley.
We eyed a rather expensive looking cafe which we were reluctant to enter. [I know that sounds kinda contradictory but.. whatever] A few steps later, we were approached by an old man giving out flyers.. and it said Dimsum! woohoo. We were hungry and the parking meter was ticking away so we thought we'd just take a gamble, and followed the old man into the restaurant in a little alley.
=) i rike.
Union Square. There's probably some history to it, cos I had a free mp3 guided tour on it.. but I was too lazy to park and listen, and so to me, it's just a bunch of shopping centers. You know, I'd love to spell in british english [like, centres instead of centers] but blogger keeps giving me squiggly red lines and it's really irritating. Well, basically we just drove around.. in our favorite lazy tourist mode.
DUNGENESS crabs at Fisherman's Wharf!!! i'm salivating just thinking of them.
Alcatraz Prison
We went into this silly museum full of old arcade games and displays.. it was cheap and fun.. each of these wooden boxes either play a tune, or display/animate a scene for a quarter. The right is a toothpick display of an amusement park.. We also played some stupid boxing game. haha waste time only.
There were supposed to be sea lions at Pier 39 but when this pict was taken, we were busy on the phone with the airline people settling our baggage.. sigh. such that I totally forgot to go see them basking on the rocks. Stupid!
On the right is Ghirardelli square.. We walked quite far from fisherman's wharf to reach it. I had read that there' s supposed to be free chocolate samples [haha] so I imagined it to be a chocolate factory, but seems to be now defunct. There was a super long queue though. Upon close examination we found that it was a queue into their cafe! Can you believe it.. these pple are damn boliao. Queue up so much just for some rich chocolatey whipped creamy Ghirardelli dessert and fragrant coffee made from freshly ground Ghirardelli coffee beans. Grr.. well, if only I had the time, I would too! It looked really good.
On the right is Ghirardelli square.. We walked quite far from fisherman's wharf to reach it. I had read that there' s supposed to be free chocolate samples [haha] so I imagined it to be a chocolate factory, but seems to be now defunct. There was a super long queue though. Upon close examination we found that it was a queue into their cafe! Can you believe it.. these pple are damn boliao. Queue up so much just for some rich chocolatey whipped creamy Ghirardelli dessert and fragrant coffee made from freshly ground Ghirardelli coffee beans. Grr.. well, if only I had the time, I would too! It looked really good.
San Francisco is really small. To pb's left is the golden gate bridge (yes, again) and to our right is the Alcatraz island.
As darkness fell, we left Fisherman's Wharf [and those crabs] behind to catch a couple more attractions.
Transamerica Pyramid
The church of scientology! I read that the members have to regularly pay a super huge amount of money when they join.. Fortunately, when Tom Cruise tried to pull Victoria Beckham [+ david beckham] in, she refused to.. Hoho.. She is smart!
The view from (below) Coit Tower. We didn't go up cos we couldn't be bothered as usual, but it was pretty.. There were some murals on the ground floor, but nothing spectacular. I used this toilet outside the tower, you pay a quarter and the doors open for you, then lock for a certain time.. it was quite dirty. Later on we found free toilets in the tower itself. damn it.
We were glad to have finished up the main attractions on our checklist! Now it is time for us to enjoy.. the dungeness crabS!!! Did you think that I had forgotten to eat them? hurhur. We went back and tapaoed a clam chowder in the breadbowl [the bread wasn't eaten though, haha] and a crab.
On the way to San Carlos Inn, we went by Mission District to check out Mission Dolores, but it was all dark so we couldn't see much. San Carlos Inn looked pretty scary in the photos [don't ask me why I still booked it.. budget what] but it was really decent.
We were glad to have finished up the main attractions on our checklist! Now it is time for us to enjoy.. the dungeness crabS!!! Did you think that I had forgotten to eat them? hurhur. We went back and tapaoed a clam chowder in the breadbowl [the bread wasn't eaten though, haha] and a crab.
On the way to San Carlos Inn, we went by Mission District to check out Mission Dolores, but it was all dark so we couldn't see much. San Carlos Inn looked pretty scary in the photos [don't ask me why I still booked it.. budget what] but it was really decent.
back at fisherman's wharf for the food.. til now, we still regret getting only one crab. what were were we thinking! I miss fresh dungeness crab.. :(
