Honeymoon to the United States - 2 Days 2 Nights in San Francisco

Continued from our previous post - Honeymoon to the United States - 3 Days 2 Nights in New York

Day 3

We took the domestic Alaska flight from EWR airport to San Francisco. Guess what, the flight duration from NY to SF is more than 6 hours! That's enough for us to fly from Singapore to Japan? I didn't know America is so huge (okay I am a sua ku). Thankfully, due to the time difference between NY and SF, we managed to "fly back in time" and reached SF around 10pm. We checked in at the nearby Four Points by Sheraton San Francisco Airport Hotel (free shuttle bus provided) and that basically sums up our first night in SF.

Effort A+!

Day 4
7:00AM - Breakfast checked
7:30AM - Check in @ The Park Central San Francisco checked
8:00AM - South of Market (SoMa) checked
9:00AM - Twitter HQ checked
9:30AM - San Francisco Cityhall checked
10:00AM - The Walt Disney Family Museum checked
12:30PM - Golden Gate Bridge checked
1:30PM - Lombard Street checked
2:30PM - Tony's Pizza Napoletana (award-winning pizza) checked
3:30PM - Coit Tower skipped
4:30PM - Fisherman Wharf / Pier 39 checked
7:30PM - Chinatown checked

Reality:

If you have been following from the previous post, you will notice that we have been waking up before 7am everyday. Yes, our travels are always highly ambitious as I always want to cover as much as we can. So I basically have to drag KPO out of bed every morning. Poor KPO CZM!

Back to our travels, we woke up and walked to the Dunkin Donut outlet near our hotel for breakfast. It was cheap - a burger + coffee only costs under $4 (and no need for tips haha). After that, we took a Uber from Four Points to our next hotel, Park Central San Francisco. We realized that Uber is much cheaper than Taxi because 1) the rate is generally cheaper, 2) no need for tips again. Furthermore, they have much more options/types of Uber - they have the normal Uber, Uber Pool, and Uber Express. Uber Express is something which we do not have in Singapore. It is cheaper than Pool but doesn't guarantee that you will be picked up and dropped off at the exact location that you requested. So you may have to walk a small distance so that it is more convenient for pick up/drop off. But the fares are really worth it! It is almost the same price as the public buses!

The view from our hotel room. The haze >.<"

Our initial hotel booking at Park Central did not come with free breakfast. However, KPO managed to find cheaper rate + breakfast from those OTAs (either Expedia or hotel.com) and did a Best Rate Guarantee claim with SPG. Before leaving the hotel, they also gave us free N95 masks due to the bad haze there. Good service indeed.

SoMa is just within walking distance from our hotel. Hence, we decided to explore the area by foot. However, it was probably too early so none of the shops were opened :( Tip: suggest people to only visit the area during afternoons/evenings. We then headed to Twitter HQ and Cityhall for some photo takings. Not that I have a Twitter account, but since we were there, why not.

Encountered hotel staffs protesting/on strike - One job is enough?

San Francisco City Hall

We took the local public bus to The Walt Disney Family Museum after that. The ticket costs $25 per pax. It introduces Walt Disney and his family, how he built his career and eventually the Disneyland theme park as well. It is quite interesting, but probably not meant for kids as the exhibitions can be rather wordy. We spent quite some time in the Museum and only left around 2pm.

Did you know Disney Snow White was created in 1938?

As Golden Gate Bridge is only round the corner, we took the free Presidio shuttle outside the Museum to the Golden Gate Bridge and took some photos there.

Limited visibility/view due to the haze :(

By that time, I was famished. Hence, we decided to try the Uber Express to the Tony's Pizza place. Tony's Pizza is home of 13-time World Pizza Champion Tony Gemignani. Thankfully, because of the odd meal hours, we did not have to wait very long for our turn.

Yummy!

After our late lunch, we decided to give Coit Tower a miss, and head straight to Lombard Street - the street which is famous for a steep, one-block section with eight hairpin turns. Lombard Street is also a stone throw away from the Fisherman Wharf!

Lombard Street!

Fisherman Wharf!

As the sky starts to darken by then, we decided to walk further down to Pier 39 first to catch a glimpse of the seals lying by the pier. I was only expecting a few seals, but was surprised to see the entire pier filled with seals! I wonder why the seals are only attracted to this pier.. hmmm.. Anyway, I highly recommend this place!

Look at all the seals!

Fisherman Wharf, on the other hand, has the Clark Quay vibe. It is filled with restaurants and souvenir shops. Bought some souvenir for our colleagues before we took Uber Express again to Chinatown for dinner. I am addicted to Uber Express! We ate dinner at Hong Kong Clay Pot Restaurant which has one of the best ratings on Google. Sadly, we were disappointed again. The portions were huge, but the food was mediocre in my opinion. After dinner, KPO forbid me from taking Uber Express again so we had to walk back to our hotel! What a Kiam Pok indeed. :(

This pretty much sums up our adventure at San Francisco. Travelling down to Yosemite the next day. Stay tuned to the next post. :)

You might be interested in these blog posts too:
- Honeymoon to the United States - 3 Days 2 Nights in New York
- Honeymoon to the United States - Renting a $275,888 Mercedes Benz Convertible with Hertz
- Singapore Airlines Suites Experience - SQ26 Singapore to New York
- Singapore Airlines Suites Experience - The Private Room

- Singapore Airlines Suites - Book the Cook

- Redeeming KrisFlyer Miles for Singapore Airlines Suites = 38.6% Cashback!

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