San Francisco

This past weekend, I was able to fly out to San Francisco and play tourist for Alyssa's birthday! It was a grand time filled with several unforgettable moments. Despite the amount of times I've been to SF, I've never really appreciated it as much as I have this time around. I've also never seen so much of it before!

Our first stop was at Mama's on Washington St. A serious tourist spot with a long line for such a tiny restaurant. Despite the horrid wait, the food was delicious. 

A fascinating building in Haight Ashbury which I believe is a downgraded Melrose. But I did enjoy walking around and there was definitely A LOT to see. Plus, I got new shoes.

This was actually the first time I visited the Painted Ladies. It was pretty and the people were so hip. I couldn't functiob in all of the coolness that was going on.

For dinner we met up with a family member of theirs and had a few drinks. I had a White Russian and couldn't hang. I literally wasn't able to eat either. But the tiny piece of bass, pork chop and fries that I did manage to taste, were really good!

To end the night, Alyssa decided we should go ghost hunting. I was terrified at first, but it ended up being quite the experience. This is Jim, our ghost hunter with his 100 year old inspired outfit. He was pretty awesome. Unfortunately, we didn't see or feel any ghosts but did witness something pretty gnarly. Keys moving on their own... dun dun duuuun.

Saturday morning we made our way to Alcatraz, which was also a first for me. I was so intrigued with the audio tour and kind of freaked out when I walked into the isolation cell. Nonetheless, it was great experience. I even got to meet one of the former inmates there. I won't know what exactly got him to Alcatraz until I finish reading his book. Also, THE VIEWS of SF from across the bay were beautiful.

Of course, for lunch we had Boudin clam chowder on Fisherman's Wharf. 

Next, being with the lovely people I was with, shopping had to be done. We took the super cool trolley to Union Square and it was THE COOLEST thing ever. 

I stood in the front, almost getting hit by a few cars, but nonetheless enjoying the views and breeze. People on bikes waved, tourists took pictures, and locals stared. My bright melon converse totally made me stand out that's for sure.

After Union Square, we got ready for dinner at 5A5 in the financial district. That was a very interesting dinner. One I will never EVER forget. I had another drink, just like the night before and was only able to eat truffle fries and the other starters prior to my cocktail. Let's just say I turned a bit purple, my head was throbbing and I didn't get to eat my VERY EXPENSIVE Waygu meat. I felt terrible about it too, but thankfully the others didn't complain and were happy to eat the barely touched food. After, Alyssa wanted some Ghirardelli's, so we took an Uber (which was our form of transportation the entire trip, either than walking) over there. Sadly, every smell was making me nauseous so I didn't order anything. I just wanted to go back to the room and sleep. And that's what I tried doing at 9 PM! (this story was cut short because it's a terrible one.)

On our last day we went to Tartine's and had breakfast at their neat cafe. We got there 20 minutes before it opened and there was already such a long line, but the wait wasn't nearly as long as Mama's, thankfully. We ordered a bunch of breakfast goodies which were delicious. 

We then walked a loooong mile up and down hills to get some cookies at Anthony's Cookies.

I bought a couple dozen of a few of the tastiest cookies I've had in a while.

Before our flight back, I got to visit the famous Chinatown which is better than our very own. We had Chinese food as well which I didn't get to enjoy since I was still feeling sick. (SO WEAK.)

After Chinatown, we were in route to LOS ANGELES! We played Heads Up at the airport which caused some heads to turn, but obvi it didn't bother us. (my shoes aren't actually THAT orange.)

We took Virgin Airlines with the super cool lights.

& now I'm home. Even though I fell in love with San Francisco, LA will forever be my favorite city. It is home and I honestly can't see myself living anywhere else... permanently. I could probably do SF for a year, or two, or less. haha. Really glad I was able to make this trip. Big thank you to my Ninang, Alyssa, Ate Beth, Ate Gen, and Ate Myndy!

It's only January and I'm happy to have done a quick getaway. Can't wait to see what's in store for 2014!