Singapore

Layover in San Francisco
I scheduled a one day layover in San Francisco on my way to Singapore. I used this time to visit Muir Woods. It is a beautiful forest with many hiking trails.


Singapore
I flew San Francisco to Singapore on Singapore Airlines - 17 hours nonstop flight. Arrived in Changi International airport. This airport is one of the best I've visited. There is a shopping mall, many restaurants, and The Jewel which is an indoor rainforest with a large waterfall.


Singapore is a city built on an island. It combines skyscrapers with greenery including parks, nature trails, and gardens. Combined with a solid subway system, Singapore is a place where people could live, work, shop, play, and enjoy nature without going far.


Garden by the Bay is a large park along the Marina Bay. The gardens have two conservatories. One is a flower dome featuring plants from all over the world. The other is a cloud dome featuring an indoor rainforest and a large waterfall (reminds me of Amazon Spheres in Seattle). During the Christmas season, the Gardens feature a light show at night. The river has lots of egg-shaped structures which light up at night. We could also see the Garden lights from the Marina Bay Sands observatory.


The Marina Bay Sands is an iconic hotel in Singapore. It consists of three towers connected by a boat-shaped deck on top. At one end of the deck is an observatory where people can get panoramic views of Singapore. Best time to go up is close to sunset to enjoy day and night views of the city. There is also Spectra, a water and light show with music background. We watched Spectra from the observation deck, and people could also watch the show up close from the plaza.

San Francisco: Labor Day weekend 2012

My now annual summer trip to San Francisco. 

1) San Francisco neighborhood walking tours: Japantown, Chinatown including a visit to a temple, and the Financial District including the site of the First US Branch Mint which has been converted to a small Asian art museum. Interesting fact: The east part of the bay used to come to Montgomery Street and then a seawall was built in the Embarcadero area and the space between Montgomery Street and Embarcadero was filled with dirt and sand expanding San Francisco. So San Francisco east of Montgomery street was once all water.

2) Day trip to San Jose via Caltrain to visit my friend Angela. I visited her church, The Home church, which is the most diverse church I've attended. There are ministries for Americans, Chinese, Ethiopians/Africans, and Mexicans. I went with Angela and 2 of her friends to the Tech Museum - San Jose's crown jewel. Like the name implies, the museum is a hands-on display of technology and its uses.  There are displays where you compose music via a touchscreen, see parts of your head mixed with those of other visitors, create a roller coaster, play with the San Jose sharks hockey goalie simulator, and feel an earthquake. We got to feel an earthquake of 6.9 magnitude which is the magnitude of the 1989 earthquake in San Francisco. We even got a group picture by an infrared camera. There is also a Farmer's Market near The Home Church with fresh fruit samples  - the fruits tastes very sweet. Often overlooked in favor of San Francisco, downtown San Jose is a good place for groups of friends to  hangout.

3) Segway tour of San Francisco's hills. I have done segway tours before but this was my first that involved hills. The tour started out with San Francisco Maritime where we had views of Alcatraz Island and the San Francisco skyline. The tour guide mentioned the temperature of the San Francisco Bay is around 55-60 F - makes Austin's Barton Springs pool look warm by comparison. And yes, people do swim in the bay. Then came the hills, including 2 rides down the crooked Lombard street. I have driven down Lombard, walked down it, and now Segway-ed down it. Many pedestrians took pictures of us - we were like celebrities. Segway-ing down Lombard is actually straight forward (notice the irony? haha). You just lean back slightly and turn the handlebar according to the curves. We visited some hidden neighborhoods where we had great views of Bay Bridge, Treasure Island, and the Transamerica Pyramid.

4) Walk across Golden Gate bridge, one of my San Francisco traditions. This time, there is a visitor's plaza with a gift shop, garden, information displays, and models of the bridge. One model demonstrates how the bridge responds in heavy winds, vehicle traffic, and earthquakes. Another demonstrates how cable tension affects the difficulty of raising the bridge.  Lower cable tension means the bridge is easier to raise but require taller towers which cost more to build.  Engineers had to balance the cost of building the towers with ease of raising the bridge. Several color patterns were considered for Golden Gate bridge - one display shows the bridge in a checkered pattern.

San Francisco and Monterey

I traveled to San Francisco over Independence Day weekend to enjoy the beautiful city and take in much cooler weather. Temperatures were in the 60s and 70s which is a nice break from the 100+ temperatures in Texas.

I stayed at Le Meridien hotel for the first part of my trip, and then the Omni hotel for the second part. Both are very nice hotels in the financial district, though the Omni goes a step further in the room decor, and more personal service.

Monterey
I joined a tour group for a day trip to Monterey. Took the scenic route to Monterey, with many ocean views. Upon arrival in Monterey, I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Very nice, I now understand why it's one of the most popular attractions in Monterey. I got to see the feeding of an albatross and penguins. I also loved the octopus though the room was too dark to take pictures. Other highlights of Monterey include the Pacific Grove, 17 mile drive, Carmel, and seeing one of the oldest Spanish Mission in the country.

San Francisco
I did my favorite San Francisco activities: walk the Golden Gate bridge, took several rides on the cable cars and street cars, Chinatown, and Fisherman's Wharf. I also visited the Wells Fargo Museum which has a history about the Wells Fargo bank and includes gold nuggets and a stagecoach.

Fireworks
I love spending Independence Day in San Francisco - it's one of few places I can watch the fireworks without breaking a sweat. I joined a fireworks cruise. The boat sailed around the San Francisco Bay, with views of the city skyline, Bay Bridge, Alcatraz Island. The boat docked near the fireworks site for a close-up view of the show. It was a clear night (which is rare on July 4 in San Francisco) which made for a spectacular fireworks show.

Fireworks videos:
Part 1
Part 2 - Smiley Faces

Previous San Francisco fireworks:
2009
2010

San Francisco (Independence Day weekend 2010)

A trip to San Francisco during Independence Day holiday weekend, to enjoy the beautiful cool weather of San Francisco, take in the holiday celebrations, and retreat from the Austin summer heat. I flew to and from San Francisco on JetBlue, a small but fun airline with free TV at your seat and lots of free snacks to choose from. There is more legroom than your average coach seat. And the first checked bag is free. Even though JetBlue is all coach class, I consider it a hybrid between coach and business class. American is my primary airline but for this trip, JetBlue had a non-stop Austin-San Francisco flight and it was significantly cheaper than American.

July 2
Arrived in San Francisco, took BART to the city. Checked into the Hyatt hotel in the Embarcadero. I got a room with a view of the bay. After having lunch in Chinatown, I walked around Union Square area to get an overview of the many shops and malls there. I noticed lots of multistory malls, and they are much larger than the malls in Austin. Now I know why shopping is a big thing in San Francisco. I'm not a fan of shopping so I limited my time there. I then took the cable car to Fisherman's wharf to have a crab sandwich and watch the sea lions on Pier 39.

July 3
Went to the farmer's market outside the Ferry Building to buy some fruit. Then headed to the California Academy of Science museum and spent most of the day there. This museum has a natural history museum, aquarium, planetarium, and an indoor rain forest under one roof. My favorites were the rain forest (which has butterflies flying around), the planetarium (where I watched a giant 3D movie that made me feel like I'm in outer space), and the climate change exhibit. Tip for visitors: if you take public transportation to the museum, show your ticket stub, receipt, or pass and you get a $3 discount off the admission price.

July 4
Rented a bike, then rode the bike from Fisherman's Wharf to the Golden Gate bridge, then across the bridge and into Sausalito. The bike path from Fisherman's Wharf to Golden Gate Bridge lies close to the water so I could easily take in the beauty of the San Francisco coast line. Sausalito is a small town filled with homes, shops, and restaurants. There were some hills along the path, but I had a mountain bike so that made climbing hills more manageable. Although it was still a challenge. Later in the day, I had dinner at In and Out Burger, then grabbed ice cream at Normans - it's not Ghirardelli but they do sell Mitchell's ice cream which is locally made in San Francisco. Afterwords, I boarded a cruise ship to see the fireworks. I actually saw 2 fireworks displays - 1 at Fisherman's Wharf and another near bay bridge. Cruise ship is the way to go for seeing fireworks - closer to the action and less crowded.

July 5
I went to the Japanese Tea Garden. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays before 10am, admission is free. The garden features Japanese plants, ponds, a shrine, and a tea house. I had green tea at the tea house while taking in the beauty of the garden. There is also a small well where people can throw pennies. The story is make a wish, then throw a penny, and if you hit the well your wish will come true. I threw a penny and hit the well and I can say my wish definitely came true :)

Independence Day in San Francisco

This was a continuation of my last trip to San Francisco in Labor Day of last year. It also allowed me to escape the Texas summer heat for a few days, and enjoy the great San Francisco summer weather of sunny skies and temperatures in the 50s and 60s. In fact, San Francisco summers are almost on par with typical Austin winter weather. Mark Twain once said, "the coldest winter I have experienced is a summer in San Francisco". The great weather, combined with Chinatown and other distinct features of San Francisco, make it one of my favorite summer destinations.

I stayed in the Financial District, near the Embarcadero, in the Le Meridien hotel. Since this area caters to business travelers, you can get good deals at luxury hotels here. Check out this note left by a housekeeper. It's just a simple thank you note, but it was a nice gesture and it shows the housekeepers really appreciate tips :)

1) Checked out the demonstration window of Boudin Bakery in Fishermans Wharf, where you can see bakers making sourdough bread, some shaped like animals like this turtle. I highly recommend their clam chowder in a bread bowl.

2) Visited Ghirardelli Square

3) Ate in Chinatown

4) Walked the Golden Gate bridge

5) Rode the glass elevator in the Westin St. Francis hotel where I got nice views of Union Square.

6) Went to Coit Tower, build in honor of firefighters which explains the fire hose shape of the building. Rode the elevator to the top (about 27 stories) to take in birds-eye views of the city.

7) Visited the Levi Plaza, which included a visitor's center with displays about the Levi jeans history and development, as well as information about other Levi products.

8) Took a cruise in the San Francisco Bay, sailing to the Golden Gate Bridge, around Alcatrez Island, and docked near Pier 33 in Fishermans Wharf to watch the fireworks. Being on the cruise ship offered the best views of the fireworks, and is less crowded than standing in Fishermans Wharf. With temperatures in the high 50s, it was by far the coldest Independence Day I have ever experienced.

9) Checked out the Farmer's Market in the Ferry Building. They have many samples of bread, fruit, sauces, and juices.

10) Rode the cable cars - they are a fun way to get around (though not the fastest) and you get to experience how people got around in SF in the late 1800s.

San Francisco

I visited San Francisco over Labor Day weekend. San Francisco has an international feel, with people of different nationalities, Victorian style buildings, and the world's largest Chinatown outside of China. With summers consisting of mostly sunny skies and 70's during the day, San Francisco is an excellent way to escape the Texas summer heat. What stuck out to me is how unique San Francisco is from other U.S. cities - cable cars, steep hills, and an island that used to serve as a prison.

Pictures:
Random places in San Francisco

Golden Gate Bridge

Alcatrez Island

Lombard Street