Day 19 - 20

Day 19 - after having slept the whole day away yesterday, we woke up bright and early for a game of golf.

It was my first time playing golf and it wasn't as bad as I thought as it would be. Maybe I should take up lessons when I'm back in Singapore. But then there's the problem of taking the clubs around...I need a car. I need a licence first. So many things to accomplish...aargghh...

Had lunch at a Chinese restaurant called Silver Lake recommended to Louis by Vera. Nice. Huge portions again. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Louis now eats brinjal simply because it's called eggplant here. I used to try to persuade him to try a tiny sliver but he would give me a look of utter disgust and I would give up. Looks like America has really changed him. =]

Went shopping at Tanforan Mall in San Bruno after that when Louis went to work. Went to Target to try to get the Lipsmackers but only found one pack so I'll probably have to go to another branch. Wandered around aimlessly and finally headed back. Had some trouble locating the BART but I eventually found it after a few frantic prayers.

Day 20 - Google tour today courtesy of Jake! It's a cool place to work and we got free food...harharhar...Vera tagged along and kept going on about the oracle of the Bay area, so we had to smack her. Kidding lah, Vera! =P

Vera's reluctance is apparent. =]

After the tour, I went to Dinah's house to make sushi while Louis and Vera went to work. Harharhar...no work for me!

I toned my arms muscles today by lifting the boys and then flinging them around. They had fun and I had my exercise.

Sushi-making! Everyone helped and dinner was 90% ready by the time Jake got back.

My camera ran out of battery but I got a shot of the final product. Yummy! Thanks again, Jake and Dinah! =]

Seattle-Vancouver trip (Day 14-18)

Day 14 - Drove the two hours to Vancouver and took some time finding lodgings again. Alot of the cheaper inns were fully booked and we learnt out lesson to book in advance in future.

Once we settled down in Best Western Inn (the cheapest available), we went to Stanley Park. Vancouver is covered in green and much of our visit was spent with nature. It's a really beautiful place. The existence of a creator cannot be denied in such a lovely place.

The day ended with dinner at Guu, a Japanese restaurant where the service was so slow, we waited 30 min for each dish. The food was good but the servings were really small and Louis had to buy another meal from BK after that. Canada is much more expensive than the US.

Day 15 - Went to Whistler. Another two-hour drive up a mountain. Saw and touched snow for the first time! I look terrible in the photos but it was so cold that appearance was the last thing on my mind. The chairlift was scary at first but got better on the way down. The views are awesome.

Snow-capped mountains. =]

Had a really expensive hot pot dinner at a Cantonese restaurant. It was delicious and the waiter was really nice and helpful but living in Canada will require a very healthy bank account.

Day 16 - Visited a tourist attraction - The Capilano Suspension Bridge. And left for Victoria via ferry. We drove the car onto the ferry actually.

As usual, beautiful views everywhere you look.

Louis had booked a room at Traveller's Inn the night before, so we arrived in Victoria well-prepared this time. Headed to Downtown Victoria and the wharf for some sight-seeing and had dinner at Barb's Fish & Chips.

This is some government building.

That's the wharf behind me.

And this is the place where we had dinner.

Look at what I found! Such a cute wolf-dog! Harharhar...I think it's a husky. It was very friendly. And for those who are looking to live by the sea can buy a floating house with heating and full utilities for half a million Canadian dollars. It's like a house that doubles up as a boat. I want!!!

Started the long walk back to the hotel because the guy at the reception told us that parking was hard to find. LIES. There were lots of parking! However, walking was not without its disadvantages. We caught the beautiful sunset at about 9.20pm. Yup. 9.20pm at night. The further north you go, the later the sun sets.

Found the gates to Chinatown on the way back.

Day 17 - Went back to Downtown Victoria to explore the shops and Chinatown in daylight before heading to the Royal British Columbia Museum. Had lunch at White Spot, a chain of restaurants. Had left my watch in the hotel room before that but thank God, we found it when we went back. Careless me.

My fries look darker because they are sweet potato fries. Very yummy!

Louis in Fan Tan Alley, part of Chinatown. This was where opium was sold in the old days. Now it's just a narrow alley with shops selling Indian and new age-ish stuff.

This is the back of the Royal BC Museum. Quite an interesting place. We spent a few hours exploring.

Decided to leave for the ferry terminal just in case we could not get back to Vancouver on time. On the way, we stopped at a small town - Sidney. Was quite boring actually. Alot of antique stores and second-hand book stores. Bought a book and a Calvin and Hobbes comic from one of them before going to the ferry terminal.

And that's the end of the trip. Drove back to Seattle. Slept in the car because our flight was at 7.15am and we didn't wanna spend money on lodging. Returned the rented car at 5am and took shuttle back to the airport.

Arrived in SFO around 11.15am and I just slept for the rest of day 18. Oh...I finished watching Desperate Housewives and before Louis went to work, we went to try Quizno's Sub. I think Subway is still better. Heh...

Seattle-Vancouver trip (Day 13)

Louis took 2 days off to make this trip possible and we had a very relaxing time. On Wednesday morning, we took Virgin America Airlines to Seattle and arrived around 11.15am. Had to wait in the cold for the shuttle that would take us to the car rental company.

After getting the car (Chrysler PT Cruiser), we headed straight to Downtown Seattle to find lodgings for that night. Finally decided on Ramada Inn because we had stayed at another of its chain last year. Lodgings here are really expensive so unless you wanna stay at those very dodgy motels (just ask Kelvin Teo), be prepared to fork out more than a hundered bucks per night.

This was our first glimpse of Downtown Seattle!

After settling down, we headed off to see the famous Seattle Space Needle which was a short walk from our hotel. Bought sandwiches from Subway for a late lunch while walking there. It's much better than the Singaporean version.

The view from the top was breath-taking and you could see the entire city. Then we headed to Pike Place Market to find the FIRST STARBUCKS! In this city, coffee has a cult following and I just HAD TO see the place where it all began. Now all that remained was the tiny problem of locating it.

It was evening by then and most of the shops were closing but we pressed on.

The above is a famous shop that sells fish. They throw the fish around when an order is made. Literally throw a slab of fish around. Harharhar...so silly...Finally! The FIRST STARBUCKS!

Bought a cup of coffee before heading back to the hotel for the car and then out to find a place for dinner. Ended up at a haven for book lovers because we weren't too hungry.

The store had wood-panelled floors and shelves that reached almost to the ceiling. Tiny nooks and crannies where bargain books were available. Absolutely delightful! I had to buy a book, of course. Chose one on sale. Books are much cheaper here. Wish I could buy back ALL of them! *sigh*

Had dinner at a Hawaiian-Japanese place - Ohana. Weird mix but it was one of the few decent places open after 9pm and beggars cannot be choosers especially if they're hungry ones.

On the whole, Seattle was ok. Not very exciting compared to New York or even Singapore. The shops close too early.

Day 9 to Day 18

Wow...did not realise that 10 days have flown past. Sometimes, things get overwhelming and putting feelings into words become difficult.

Day 9 - Napa Valley

This was the first winery we went to - V. Sattui

The second winery was not as picturesque so I'm not including any photos. Also, wine-tasting was very expensive and we did not stay long. The weather was really hot that day. It was the last day of the heatwave actually because the next day was cold and windy again. Nice. I could get used to it after the relentless heat.

That's the vineyard of the third and last winery we went to. Very beautiful. Louis bought three bottles of wine and I bought this Champagne Pear Vinaigrette - salad dressing that was YUMMY.


We had dinner at Haight Street. Some weird place that I don't know how to describe. Ordered a few dinner tapas and devoured them before we even thought of taking any photos. =P



Day 10 - Went to the church that Louis goes to (Cornerstone). It was a relaxing day overall. Didn't do much. Had lunch at a cafe. Had to pack the leftovers as usual because the portions are huge and went to watch Prince Caspian! Good movie! I really liked it...we were too full for dinner and the shops are closed at like 6pm on Sundays! There was nothing to eat even if we wanted to! Anyway, went to Quickly for bubble tea and headed home to plan for Seattle-Vancouver trip.



Day 11 - Woke up a little earlier and went to the city of San Mateo. Had lunch at a Japanese restaurant named Ni-mo. Hee...remember the fish? We ate him. Sashimi was fantastic!


After that, we wandered back to Millbrae and visited the library for some guidebooks. Do you know that a member can borrow 50 items??? I'm not exaggerating!!! 50!!! I borrowed Desperate Housewives Season 3 (I'm bored when Louis is at work ok!) and Borat (Haven't watched it yet) and some guidebooks that were outdated but still of some help.

Below is the Millbrae Museum! Wanted to visit it but no time. Had to rush back so that Louis could fetch his housemate to work.

I was super hardworking because we got maps from AAA and I circled all the locations that we could visit and found directions. Heh...I can read maps!!!

Had dinner with Vera. Went to a Vietnamese place. After that, I went back to her messy apartment to play Wii. Harharhar...we had so much fun!!! We took turns to play this shooting game and tried to make it to level 9 but only got to level 5 before I had to go. Louis came to fetch me because it was like 2.30am by then. Our eyeballs were about to fall out.

Day 12 - had pancakes for brunch courtesy of Louis' housemates. They like to cook. Louis is the only one who doesn't. Not surprising. =]

It was an uneventful day. Went for a walk at a park. I don't know the name. I just walked and walked and walked and walked till I reached the bay. Could see the runway and planes taking off. I think it took me more than half an hour to get there. Bought dinner at 'In and Out' on the way back. Big mistake. The wind was so strong and I had to clutch on desperately to the paperbag! The Americans don't really use plastic bags and I had to hold the drink in my hand and it was freezing and I had trouble walking against the crazy strong wind. Very traumatic. I'm not doing that again. Once home, I felt better and spent the night watching Desperate Housewives!!! How come their lives so intriguing??? Aargh...mine seems mundane in comparison. =(

Day 13-18 - Seattle & Vancouver trip. More on that later! Gotta go for a game of golf! =]

Day 7 & 8 - How time flies

Day 7 - Went to Union Square again after having dim sum in Chinatown. Louis and I wanted to find the exact restaurant that we had dim sum at last year when we were here, so we parked and walked around the area. However, we couldn't find the place after half an hour so we gave up and walked back to the car and realised............................that we parked right outside the dim sum restaurant!!! harharhar!!! So silly...wasted 30min walking around to find a place that was right in front of us. The dim sum was as good as we remembered and Louis packed the lor mai gai for his dinner at work.The restaurant is called Pearl City located along Grant and Jackson. It's a pretty decent-looking place. Louis always looks so sleepy. After that we bought yummy egg tarts!! Oh yah...the weird thing was that the waitress at the restaurant spoke to us in Cantonese! She just ASSUMED that we could speak it as well!

This is a view of Chinatown from the car. Didn't really walk around much because we've already been here last year. Anyway, Louis dropped me off at Union Square for another round of shopping before he went to work.

This is my trusty guide! It helped me to navigate my way around Union Square. Very useful! Louis got it for me. Thanks! =]



These are some views of Union Square and the surrounding areas. I got lost on the way back. Ran for the train and didn't know that it was a train bound for SF airport instead of Millbrae! Ended up at the airport and panicked for awhile as I looked for someone to ask for directions. Apparently I'm not the only person who gets lost. A lady at the station actually gave me TYPED INSTRUCTIONS on how to get back! harharhar...ingenious Americans...oh...she looked Asian by the way.

Day 8 - Time really flies! It's the start of the second week. I feel a little panicky about going back to work. =(

Anyway, we went to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk today. Very nice beach. Different feel from Sentosa. More tacky actually. Harharharh...there's an amusement park and we took a roller coaster ride! It's called the Giant Dipper! I forgot how scary roller coasters could be! Now I remember the fear. I'm rethinking our trip to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. But Louis is quite adamant that I should go. =(

We drove by the Pacific Ocean on the way to Santa Cruz. It was beautiful. My photos do no justice to the real scenery.

Louis parked by the side of the road so that I could take some photos.

Finally! Santa Cruz! After two long hours in the car. Weather was super hot today. However, the wind was still chilly. I think my feet became darker because we stood in the sun the whole day. It doesn't feel hot, just dry because of the wind. Nice, not sticky and humid like Singapore. But my skin suffers from the dryness.

I think he's looking at some hot babe on the stairs above. I don't blame him. I was looking myself. Some were hot. Some had huge tummies bulging out of their bikini bottoms. Maybe some guys like THE BIG BULGE. I have a tiny one. hee...

My eyes are half-closed because the sun was really glaring. I tried to open my eyes but they started to water.

That's the wooden roller coaster behind that we rode. It was not as scary as The Ghost Rider that we took TWICE at Knott's Berry Farm last year but it was enough to put the fear back into my heart.

The Giant Dipper sign!

There's an arcade, casino and food place all crammed into one.

That's a full view of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk taken from the pier. Next up, more shopping at Great Mall, Milpitas. Hope I spelt that correctly. Then dinner at Banana Leaf Restaurant. They serve Malaysian food. It was very, very good!!! The coconut rice was so fragrant! And free refills of rice and coke. Absolutely marvellous!!! I had a great experience. =]

Tomorrow we're going Napa Valley for a picnic!