Day 3 4/12/07 - USA

San Francisco

Highlight

• Had an early breakfast at the San Francisco Soup Company.
• Nothing was opened – I went to the Ferry Building for the supposed farmers market, but it wasn’t opening until 2pm. However, there were some cool shops in there (shut) and nice architecture.
• Back to Pier 33 to inquire about the missing cruise ticket, but it turns out that the cruise they advertised was substituted with the Alcaltraz one.
• Booked my Napa Valley tour.
• Got my keys cut for $2 but they didn’t have the particular key that I wanted so couldn’t get it all cut.
• Got a haircut at a convenient place. They got it completely wrong. It was way shorter than what I asked for and it was uneven. It was the worst paid haircut I’ve ever got. To add insult, it was expensive at $18 and it was done by Asians!!
• Went to the California Academy of Sciences – completely misleading name. Really an aquarium and insect place, not science. It was under renovation so there wasn’t much to see. I shared it with heaps of kids.
• Walked around Westfield – Bloomingdales, Nostrun and the food shop. It was very cool but I didn’t buy anything so I don’t have to carry anything around.
• Finally got the historic cable car. It was still crowded so I couldn’t sit on the outside.
• Got off (in the middle of the street, cool!) and looked at some Victorian Houses.
• Walked up Lambart St (known as the crookest street). Very cool and had good views too, but it was a bit foggy today.
• Down to Fishermans Wharf shops for photos because the sun came up. Browsed some shops (EB was the same price as everywhere else).
• Yerba Buena Garden – pretty, with a Martin Luther King Memorial fountain.
• SFMOMA – beautiful architecture. Joined a very detailed tour that explained a few paintings. I like Picasso and Maltese. I still don’t know how to appreciate the art that are just lines and blank canvas though.
• It was interesting to walk around the museum as there was actually information explaining the interpretation. It was free on the 1st Tuesday of the month, and since I didn’t finish it, I can come back again.
• Went to See’s Candies for free samples and some chocolates. It’s quite cheap for what you get.
• Got some replacement nail clipper and water at the pharmacy.
• Dinner in the Mission area. Range has one Michelin star. The food was very similar to Mod Oz or Mod Brit, but it was with "American" ingredients. The cocktails were excellent.
• Had a hot chocolate at Ghirardelli Square. It was nice but WAY too sweet.
• Caught the cable car back. Great views, got to hang on the outside finally.
• There was some police hold and that blocked the streets for some reason, so we had a long walk back to the hotel.

Food

• Kara's Cupcake Buttery Buttermilk Vanilla ($3) – vanilla cupcake with a Madagascar bourbon vanilla buttercream
• San Francisco Soup Company new England Clam Chowder ($5.99) – with clams, potatoes and bacon with a sourdough bread
• sourdough bread with mayo and sweet relish
• orange juice
• See’s candies dark chocolate truffle
• Range dinner:
  • Hawaiian ono
  • steak with horseradish
  • date tart
  • persimmon and lime cocktail
• Ghirardelli decadent hot chocolate with biscotti ($4.95)