Kumxia E!

Just want to thank E for introducing Everyday Minerals to me. I've been using their start to finish, foundation, concealor, blush and kabuki brushes for about 5 months now, and I'm happy with the outcome.

With acne-prone skin for must of my life, I'm glad that Everyday Minerals doesn't aggravate the oily and temperamential skin. Try their 12-piece custom kit, it's value-for-money, even with international shipping! :)

My Lucky Valentine

Kumxia Fata for the beautiful Lucky Valentine's Day gift! It was very expensive so I didn't want to get it, but he said that he'll get it for me for Valentine's Day.

Kumxia very very much for the Lucky Valentine! :)

New 'Worst' Discovery!

I think I may have found the worst person I have ever come across in my entire life.
I'm not exaggerating.

I had an earlier worst person before this new worst person and this new worst person is proving beyond all doubt that he/she can easily whoop that earlier worst person's behind! hahaha...

Guess you have to take the good with the bad. :P

In the mean time, I'm just going to relish in being able to wear my 'thin' jeans! (which I couldn't wear before the SF trip!)

What goes around comes around... I guess...

When I come across unhappy situations, or say someone or something who/which is not entirely thrilling... and if I do not have that option to either remove myself or rectify the 'problem'...

I'll just call it karma.

I can fully understand if it's an accident, or if some person's having a bad day/time, but if the person or 'thing' persists, then I just take it that I must be paying back for crap I did in my past life/lives...

Makes it a lot easier than trying to understand the unfathomable! :P

Toilet Star

Yes, this is a shot of my toilet... but there is a difference!
See that little blue star on the inside of the rim?
It's what I call my toilet star, otherwise known as Scrubbing Bubbles - Toilet Cleansing Gel.
It's supposed to help clean with every flush, and each star can last 1 week.
Kumxia for making loo-washing less painful...

Days 13, 14 & 15 - SF -> Narita -> SG

We got up at 6am to make buy sandwiches for the flight, plus clean up the apartment. Threw everything perishable out of the refrigerator, cleared out all the trash, made sure we didn't forget anything... Good thing we got everything into the bins before the cleaners came!

The airport shuttle arrived 10min early at 825am. Luckily we were already slowing carrying the bags down the stairs to the curb.

It was surprisingly quick customs clearance at SFO. So much that we were surveyed right at the end of the conveyor belt and we have them an above average rating. :) The flight was like almost 3 hours away, so we shared a pizza, the first one we've had the whole time we were there!

The 11.5 hours flight to Narita was uneventful (which is the best type of flight to have) and the meals we prepared were very useful in helping up adjust back to SG time. There were brie with crackers and strawberries, blackberries, sushi...

We barely had enough time to rush to the connecting flight in Narita, 'cos we had 1 hour to disembark, go through customs, buy food from McDonald's and board the next flight :P Kumxia the Japanese airport efficiency for getting us to the next flight on time!

We got home past 1am, and got in bed after a long shower... zzz...

Kumxia everyone, Tua Tao & Iguana, our North Point friends, our San Carlos friends, our Cupertino friends, PJ from Macy's for Men, the nice customs gentleman at SFO yesterday, the ice-cream guy at Bi-Rite which made a triple-scoop ice-cream cone work, the delicious Katan-ya & Cafe Dolci, Macy's for having great sales, Loehmman's for great treasures, Vitamin Water, Jason Albery at Heavenly for a great snowboard lesson 1, Daniel Rich also at Heavenly for superb snowboard lesson 2, the Chestnut Roastery, Facebook, internet messagaing, Fata... everyone, everything and the weather! for making our trip a good one :)

Day 12 (11Feb'09-Wed) - San Francisco

Today's the last full day in the city, and we got up early to maximize the time we have left in this gorgeous place. :)

We walked to the New York Bagel store along Chestnut Street to get a gourmet bagel, which was quite yummy. :) And to was to the Chestnut Roastery for a cafe latte and a chocolate cafe latte. I like the chocolate cafe latte, 'cos the chocolate taste didn't overpower the coffee taste like in a mocha (at least in the mochas I've had). :P

Being who we are, we were planning our meals for the flight home tomorrow morning. Like for the 11.5 hours from San Francisco to Narita, means 3 meals, one for when we get to the airport, one when we get on board and one more about 5 hours later. Then it's ramen at Narita! And bento boxes for the remaining flight back to Singapore.

We found out which stores open early, like the bagel store opens at 6am and there's a deli that opens at 7am. Had to get the fruit from Marina Supermarket 'cos they don't open 'til 8am. Maybe heading to Safeway later tonight to get sushi and instant cup noodles? :P

Hopefully looking forward to the meals will help 'shorten' the flight and make it more bearable. hahaha... what better to look forward to then food?

Had to go back to Chestnut to put the laundry on the dryer, otherwise there'll be no bed sheets tonight! Had to do the bed linen before we go. :P

The rest of the day was amazingly tiring. We still had stuff to get for friends, and we wanted to take advantage of the Presidents' Day Sale at Macy's, so the first place we went to was Macy's For Men.

For lunch, Colin picked us up in his VW and we drove to 1 Ferry Terminal for lunch with one of our North Point friends. It was good to catch up and Colin was the list on our list of people to meet up while were there. :)

Filled up and ready to go, Colin dropped up off back to Chestnut to drop off the first round of shopping. Then we took bus 30 to Old Navy, San Francisco Shopping Center, Macy's, the Apple Store, Virgin Megastore... we found some really great deals!

Like Fata's Levi's denim shorts, they were labelled US$29.99, marked down to US$9.99, then at the register they were US$4.99 each! And a little Tokidoki bag in the bargain bin, originally US$158, then marked down on the tag to US$118.50, but I paid only about US$80 at the register! Looks like it's ok we didn't get a chance to go outlet shopping... hahaha...

We had to cab back to Chestnut 'cos we bought Rock Band 2 Special Edition with a cymbal! Yippee! We wanted to walk down Chestnut to grab a quick dinner but we got caught in the rain... our North Point friends 'rescued' us and we went to Bi-Rite ice-cream, in the Mission district. There was a line of people waiting for organic creamy goodness! And it was yummy! Kumxia for showing us where to get really delicious ice-cream! Will be back to more the next time we're in town! I really enjoyed the honey lavender!

It was quick stop at the Marina Safeway before packing to almost 2am... tired... 23kg (or 50lb) is very little, it fills up so quickly... hhhmmm...

Day 11 (10Feb'09-Tue) - San Francisco

Set off after an early breakfast from South Lake Tahoe into San Francisco. Kumxia out North Point friend & Fata for driving up back. :)

After dropping off our North Point friends at North Point, we drove back to Chestnut. I started laundry while Fata prepared for his meeting later.

From the car rental place (we returned the Xterra), we walked to his meeting place, which was like 8 blocks away, 'cos we didn't want to pay the US$5 per person to use the tram :P Oh well... then I walked to Katana-ya for lunch.

The town was mine and mine alone for a few hours, went to Westfield San Francisco Shopping Center and got some stuff our Singapore friends had asked for. Then I got caught with an Isreali lady who was trying to sell me The Secret Of The Himalaya... hhhmmm... I'm super lousy with persistant and nice sales people... I tried, I really really did... I left at the end with 2 items which I hope will help one of our friends with bad eczema... at least I paid less than the online discounted prices :P

Fata rang, we met quickly before his dinner meeting with the same client from earlier. We went back to Katana-ya for dinner and shopped again for friends and him. I'm very happy that he can get clothes in his size here. :)

At Macy's, we found out that there's going to be a Valentine's Day Sale starting tomorrow, so we will wait for tomorrow :P Then Fata went off for his dinner meeting 4 blocks from Union Square Park.

I went to Loehman's again, hoping to find a gem or 2. And I found 3! Yippee! Found a hard plastic case for my super-duper old 60gb iPod! Yippee!

It started to rain and I was tired carrying all the fruits of out labor, I took bus 30 back to Chestnut. :P Another load of laundry and spent a bit of chatting online with Singapore friends. Found out that one of my colleagues is heading off to another country to start a new phase in her life, I wish her all the best and she will be missed at work :)

Day 10 (09Feb'09-Mon) - South Lake Tahoe

We had the complimentary hotel breakfast. Simple bread, bagels, cereals, coffee & tea... Then it was off to Heavenly again, for our Day 2 snow board lesson. We got a real cool coach, Daniel Rich. His easy, laid back method was great for us, PLUS, it was just Fata and I for the lesson so it was like having private lessons! Sweet!

We went up only to Patsys, bunny slopes but way longer than the training area. We managed super smooth runs (albeit really slow...) before lunch time. And with Dan's coaching I'm managing to get of the ski chairs without falling! Yippee!

*Note to ALL! Go skiing between Sunday and Thursday, (not including public holidays) the hotels are cheaper, and there are fewer people on the slopes. Makes for a way better time I think :P

After lunch, Fata pulled his knee on the first run, so we spent the rest of the afternoon sitting at a cafe at the start of the Patsys to the end of the lesson. Very nice. :) I spent the time playing in the snow, while Fata chatted with Dan.

Thank you to our North Point friends who waited for us for lunch, and took the extra trouble to go back to the hotel to get us our shoes so that we'll have footwear after we returned the rental board, binders, helmet and boots. :)

As there was still daylight, we went to Lake Tahoe for a look-see. Beautiful place, still white with last night's snow. :)

Dinner was yelp-ed. Off The Hook California Sushi. :) Crowded, and the food was good.

Now back at the hotel, we all watching Heroes! Yata!

Day 9 (08Feb'09-Sun) - San Francisco

Woke up at 3:30am, then went back to sleep... woke up again at 4:30am and this time we popped out of bed, brushed our teeth, put on our jackets, grabbed our bags and raced out of the apartment to drive our rented Nissan Xterra to pick up our North Point friends. Then we headed out to Heavenly at South Lake Tahoe! This will be our first experience with snow boards and Fata's first official encounter with snow! Many many things to look forward to today. :) Thank you to the 2 guys who took turns to drive us up to South Lake Tahoe. :)

At Heavenly is was change and go! We were not prepared to do that, so no sunblock, no water, no food... Well, we paid way too much money for 2 whole days of lessons :P we figured since this is the first time we are going this, to do it properly :P

The lessons covered equipment rental (board, bindings & boots only), had to pay extra for the helmet and a bit more of equipment damage cover. Thank you to Iguana and Tua Tao for lending us the ski pants and jackets and neck warmers and scarves and gloves and fleeces... many many things...

From 10am to 4pm, our instructor Jason Albery (he's originally from Sydney, Australia) was very patient (very personable) with all of us newbies, especially with Fata and me who spent most of our time falling - hahaha... it got more fun when we were allowed to take the chairs up to bunny slopes at the entrance of Pastsy Lane. :P

At the end of today...honestly, I'm tired... physically worn out (I didn't even have the energy to eat lunch!), and I don't get snow boarding, at least not today. Hopefully with tomorrow's 2nd day of lessons we will do better and be able to enjoy it more. I just hope I don't get that not-so-nice female instructor who spoke with us this morning... It was spending too much time on the beginner slopes which meant a lot of time & effort picking ourselves up, walking up and down, and messing around with the bindings... phew...

Dinner was at Applebee's with everyone who went skiing today, North Point friends, Cupertino friends and us. Cost effective meal, even got enough left over for tomorrow's lunch.

Fata and I went for a quick walk opposite our hotel Lake Tahoe Inn (just next to Applebee's), and he got a couple of thing to better prepare him for another day of lessons tomorrow. Okay, time to sleep... need to rest up for tomorrow! yippee...

Day 8 (07Feb'09-Sat) -San Francisco

We have been here for a whole week! And we marked the occasion by heading for the Farmer's Market after returning the rented Corolla, same thing we did the first day we arrived.

We had to join the line for Blue Bottle coffee. :) Still yummy. This time we tried an egg and bacon sandwich from that Rose stall right at the start of the row of food places right next to Pier 2. But we think that the mushroom omelette from last week was way better.

AND if you ever find yourself at the Farmer's Market in San Francisco at 1 Ferry Terminal on a Saturday, and if you eat pork, you MUST try the porchetta from the big rotisserie along the side of the main market building. The skin was crispy and crunchy, the meat was very lean with a thin layer of fat and and seasoning.

Also tried organic pomegrante juice, very organic and fresh tasting :P

Met up with friends from Cupertino and we went to Japan town for lunch.

All if us then met up with our North Point friends and went to ILM to see Yoda. :P A live-yoda-size statue on the ILM grounds just by the Exploratorium.

Then we drove over the Golden Gate bridge and traced our friend's cycling route(s). There was a lookout which gave us a beautiful view of the Golden Gate Bridge, and today's weather was gorgeous, we saw the entire bridge and even Bay Bridge behind that. Very pretty.

We stopped at Rodeo Beach before driving to Fairfax for dinner at the Ironside Brewery & Restaurant.

Had to get back early 'cos tomorrow we set off at 430am for South Lake Tahoe, and our virgin snow ski/board trip. Hoping for lots of beautful, soft white snow... But not before a quick trip to the 24-hour Marina Safeway :P

Day 7 (06Feb'09-Fri) - San Francisco

When I sit down at the end of each day I get confused. My laptop's still configured to Singapore time, to better facilitate chatting with friends, but I'm on SF time. So I have to re-confirm the dates and the day for each day's title...

Another thing, today's the last day on our 7-day Muni pass. The 7-day pass is US$24, very worthwhile cos we were hopping on and off the buses very often :P

The morning started with Peet's coffee and a Whole Foods (the one at Van Ness / California) breakfast of minestrone soup and an golden gate sandwich. Good food at a fair price.

With filled bellies, we walked to City Rent-A-Car, got our economy Corolla with a GPS and drove towards Sacramento, 'cos he had to meet some people he'd met earlier this week at the convention. It was pouring rain, almost like a Singapore storm during part of the drive.

Sacramento's an industrial town, so while he had his meeting, I wondered around with yelp's help. Found Wishing Well, a craft supplied store. I got a few scented candles and a votive.

Around the corner from that was Beers Books, good bargains on new and used books. The place reminded me of a library, very quiet... my squeaky shoes were the loudest things there! ssshhh...

After he meeting, I brought him back to Beers Books and he got 3 books, 2 for himself & 1 as a gift.

On the way to San Francisco, we decided to pop by Vacaville Premium Outlets, at least to setlle his mom's gift. We went into Guess, but couldn't find an appropriate white bag for my colleague. :( Good thing he found a couple of belts and a pair of shorts :)

As we were in a hurry, we rushed to Coach to get a gift for his mom. The Coach store was having a clearance sale, over and above the already discounted prices! So we got a US$400+ bag, discounted to US$330, then a further 50% off that! So we had enough leftover to get her a wallet, AND got his aunt a US$64 bag (was like over S$200+, dicounted to like US$130 then 50% off again!) Only if Coach did it for me, I would have been on cloud nine... trust me, I tried... walked around the store more than a couple of times... just not me... :P

Our tummies were rumbling 'cos all we had since breakfast were strawberries, so we stopped for a cheesburger to go, while we drove back into San Francisco city to pick up a friend, then head out to Palo Alto to another yelp-ed restaurant Evvia, along Emerson Street.

It was like a Singapore convention, 7 adults and 1 kid, not all Singaporeans, but all lived in Singapore at one time, and we all met in Singapore. The greek restaurant was super crowded, we had a 630pm reservation, but due to an injury-accident along south 101 which closed the left 3 lanes, we were an hour late! And the table had another booking at 830pm... it would've been nice if they's told us about the 2nd seating when we booked the table... like at home, they'll tell you right away if there's more than 1 seating...

Anyhow, the food was quite good, we had mousaka, roasted lamb and starters. Kumxia Alan & Suzanne for finding, booking and suggesting Evvia. :)

We had dessert down the street at a nice cofffee place. I had peppered-hot chocolate for US$6 + tax! But it was a yummy experience :P

Now we're back at the apartment, packing for the weekend and getting sleepy...

Day 6 (05Feb'09-Thu) - San Francisco

He spent a good part of the morning working. :) I just harvested fruit trees :P

Took the Blue & Gold ferry from Pier 41 to Sausalito. We couldn't go earlier this week, 'cos Scoma's there is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays during winter.

Off the ferry we headed into town and looked for Scoma's. Found it, looked at the menu outside and headed in. Our timing could not have been better, the moment we sat down it started to rain.

Lunch at Scoma's was delicious! The clam chowder was many times better than the stuff we had on the first day along Fisherman's Wharf. :P Crab cakes were good, and the pasta diplomatico was superb! Lobster tails, shrimp and mushrooms in a creamy white sauce... mmm... There was also a stuffed fish, stuffed with crab and shrimp, also super yummy! No space for dessert after :) very happy were lunched at Scoma's at Sausalito.

Noticed something here... despite the great open spaces... sitting areas in the restaurants we have been, are tiny... lots of people squished at small tables. Then again, I guess it's 'cos food here are usually served course by course and there's little communal food. Not like at home where most food is communal :P

Anyhow, by the time we were done with lunch, the rain had left towards the Bay Bridge, and it was a good chance to take a walk before the ferry back to San Francisco. The town was quiet, we didn't see more than 30 visitors, and there were many emptied out stores for lease... I hope the world economic scene picks up soon...

Found that same shop from years back, the Sausalito Ferry Co., where they stock Paul Frank, Gama-go and lots of other fun stuff! Nosed around and bought some stuff, while considering the baggage allowance for the trip home... :P

Back in San Francisco, we took bus 47 to the Guitar Center along Van Ness, before Van Ness & California. The store is huge, lots to choose from! He played with US$5,000 guitars... sounded fantastic... there were Gibson, Martin, Ibanez, Ovation, and many other brands. Anything from US$199 starter kits to US$8,000 for an acoustic guitar... of course, there were also lots of electric guitar stuff, they even sold Guitar Hero! hahaha...

We went around the corner to Whole Foods, that supermarket Top Chefs keep rushing into... Had to get some baby calendula cream for JD :P

Walked to Post Street and bus 3 (not 30) to Union Square. Went into Coach, and I re-state that Coach is not for me, at least not now... :P

We had to go to North Face to get some cold weather gear for him. They were having a sale, so he got his ski pants, a fleece and a pair of pants in preparation for this weekend :P

It was bus 30 back to chestnut and dinner at the Pacific Bowl. Was told that their teriyaki bowls were good, so I had a shrimp one. It was ok lah, they leave the chili seeds in the red chili lor... aiyo... the iced tea wasn't not enough :( good thing the weather was chilly.

We are back and he is working again... 2 time zones...

Day 5 (04Feb'09-Wed) - San Francisco

Took bus 30 to Moscone West Convention Center with Fata, today's the last day of the convention, and it's only a half day.

I left him and wandered into Old Navy around the corner. Bought lots of clothes for his sister's 2 kids and my bro's daughter. They are having a good kids' stuff sale right now.

Found myself walking around in circles on the 3rd floor (kids' stuff) for over 2 hours! By the time Allan finished, he found me looking quite lost :( Anyhow, sorted the 3 kids out and we don't need to think about small clothes anymore! yippee!

We yelp-ed for lunch, and Cafe Dolci popped up! (Kumxia Iguana for the iPhone - it's a life-saver here!) About 1-2 blocks from Union Square, Cafe Dolci was along Market Street. It was a little hole in the wall which made yummy take-away sandwiches only. I got a delicious grilled pork sandwich, Fata had the meatball sandwich.

The grilled pork was sweet, like bah-kuah! His meatball sandwich was more savory, but just as good. Another thing, they had sticky rice with waxed meat. Nice!

Coke Zero samples were handed out at one corner of Macy's, so armed with 2 sandwiches, 1 sticky rice and 2 cans of Coke Zero, we proceeded to sit in Union Square, in the sun, to eat lunch. Al fresco dining is only good if the weather permits, and it was hot this afternoon. :P (Must look for that Coke Plus I once saw in a magazine, don't know if it's still available...)

Off we went to Macy's for Men, they started a Red Sale today to Sunday, if you wear red, you get a 20%, with certain exclusions of course. So we went shopping with my red Paul Frank top! Fata got shoes, 20% off. He also got 3 paris of Levi's jeans, discounted and another 20% off! I got 2 pairs of jeans, discounted and 20% off too! At this point, we were carrying tons of small clothes and 5 pairs of jeans, tired we were getting...

Neverthless we persisted, Rite Aid was just around the corner, and we went to get some Aveeno skin care stuff for a friend with special skin care needs. :)

Too tired, bus 30 back to the apartment for a cat nap. Shopping is hard work when you have to carry everything with you...

It was bus 30 again to dinner, this time we stopped at Little Italy, a friend recommended The Stinking Rose Restaurant, they are also known as A Garlic Restaurant. We had to have the garlic! Garlic cooked in oil and herbs, served with crunchy bread. Spread oily garlic on crunchy toast and eat.

Shared a spicy tomato seafood soup and an angelhair pasta tossed in oil. The soup was good though the mussels weren't so fresh. The angelhair pasta was overcooked and plain, even softer than ramen! Good thing the soup and the garlic helped jazz up the pasta. :P Think there are better restaurants in the area.

Walked to Cafe Greco (started 1988) for some canoli, latte and hot chocolate. Yummy!

Strolled up and down Columbus a little before it was bus 30 back to the apartment.

Day 4 (03Feb'09-Tue)- San Francisco

We have been here only 4 days, but it feels like a week... don't if that's a good or bad thing :P the weather's been super though, between 10C to 20C & sunny :)

Went to the Vitamin Shoppe this morning to get supplements. Took bus 30 from Chestnut to Van Ness, then bus 47 to Van Ness & Pine Street. Took the same set of buses back to Chestnut 'cos that 5ld tub was too heavy to walk around with...

On the way back, Van Ness & California was a Guitar Center, I think we will be visiting that soon...

Bus 30 again to Moscone West Center, Tram F to the Farmer's Market at 1 Ferry Terminal. This Farmer's Market happens every Tuesday and Sunday, Sunday's got more stalls around the market, also meaning more cooked food! Yummy!

This time I had a spicy Italian sausage in am Acme bun, Acme is a bakery within the Ferry Terminal building. It was pepper spicy, not chili spicy so it was good in the 15C.

In the afternoon, I took a US$19 round trip ferry ride, from Pier 41 to Triburon, Angel Island and Sausalito. Was hoping to spend a couple of hours on Sausalito, but I was on the 2nd last ferry back to San Francisco, so had to stay on and play photo-taking-tourist. The last ferry yesterday was 8pm, too late...

Met up with Fata after his convention and we went to the Levi's store just at the corner of Unionn Square. I bough 3 pairs of jeans, and with my track record they should last be at least 10 years each? hehehe... I'm still wearing jeans from university and earlier.

For dinner, we yelp-ed! Found Katana-ya, a small, very cozy, Japanese ramen store, about 2 block along Geary Street from Macy's Union Square.

Initially, the smell of bamboo shoots were very strong, but when you get used to it, you don't even notice it. The ramen noodles were the yellow stringy kind, quite good in the rich miso broth I picked. The salmon skin roll was good, the salmon skin was still warm. But the special crab croquet was just battered and deep fried mush, couldn't find any crab anywhere, unless it was all pureed up?

Headed back to apartment to do more online research on what to do next...

Day 3 (02Feb'09-Mon) - San Francisco

We wake up before the sun's up. And he's gone for his conference soon after.

Don't know what today will bring... might walk to Union St and pick up stuff from Sephora. And I need to get that Go Phone...

Back from Marina Safeway (they are open 24/7), no Go Phone. Chestnut Street, no cheap Go Phone, the cheapest one was US$160. So got a SIM was mintues. Auto-roaming charges are very steep, S$3.50/minute outgoing, S%2/minute incoming.

Bussed 30 to Moscone West to meet up for lunch at the food basement of Westfield Center.

Found Kiehl's, The Container Store & Sephora!

Tired... I'm back at the apartment to drop the stuff off. Going back into town soon :P

Off I go on bus 30 again! Walked right past the Paul Frank store and headed for Loehmann's, but didn't find anything interesting in the clothing nor the shoe stores.

A Singapore friend found me at Loehmann's! We were chatting online today and were hoping to meet for dinner. After meeting Fata we took bus 30 back to Chestnut to drop off our stuff, and go out for dinner at a new Mexican restaurant along Chestnut.

We then went to their home to plan this weekend's getaway! Interspersed with Heroes season 3 episode 1. :P

Back at our temporary home, we pushed our return flight by 4 days. I just hope that Tua Tao makes it back before we leave...

Day 2 (01Feb'09-Sun) - San Francisco

I think we are managing ok, no jet lag, forced ourselves to go to bed only after 9am last night!

Woke up almost 12 hours later. Yippee!

Took bus 30 to Chestnut / Scott for breakfast at The Coffee Roastery at Chestnut. The coffee cups were huge compared to what we get at home.

Went to Walgreens, along Chestnut and got milk and stuff.

Got a raisin walnut loaf from The Chestnut Bakery. Will find out later if it's any good...

Back at the apartment, I'm blogging and he's working. :P

Tummy's rumbling, wondering what's for lunch...

Walked to Marina Safeway, just 2-3 blocks away. Very crowded, many people were picking up last minute provisions for Superbowl Sunday! And being at a supermarket 2 hours before it started wasn't a very good idea. Super crowded! Picked up lunch and Lysol and went back to the apartment.

After lunch we went out at about 3pm for Moscone West Convention Center, using bus 30. After registering for the next 3 days, we decided to take the Caltrain to visit friends in San Carlos.

Caltrain was about 45mins from San Francisco to San Carlos. But after a snack of mocha and a cobblestone muffin from Panera Bread around the corner.

It was good to catch up with friends at their home. We had a BBQ dinner and we even had bubble tea dessert from a strip mall near Hillsdale Caltrain station. (*iCaltrain is very useful in providing the schedule for the trains.)

Back at the apartment, I'm updating this post... my feet are cold... catching with friends back in Singapore via online chat. :P

SG to SF (31Jan'09-Sat) - and I'm still awake...

Jet lag... what we will do to avoid you...

We got on an airplane 6am Singapore time, had to pack so didn't sleep. This meant staying up 20 hours, up to the point the airplane took off from Singapore.

A little less than 7 hours later, we landed in Narita, Japan. Still awake cos we told ourselves the best time to sleep was the Narita to San Francisco leg.

About 8 hours later, we landed in SF, found our temporary abode and went out to the Farmer's Market at the Ferry Terminal. The Blue Bottle coffee was delicious! We tried it both hot and cold, equally yummy!

Cos we were told by a fellow airport-shuttle passenger that her son was in a civil war re-enactment under the Bay Bridge, we walked all the way to the Bay Bridge. Couldn't find anything.

Thought we'll try out luck under the Golden Gate Bridge, but getting there was a challenge from Pier 26, beyond the Bay Bridge... Trammed, bussed and walked... made it to the Exploratarium, and Crissy Park. Walked and walked and ended up shopping at Sports Basement. I like!

Dinner was at Johnny Rockets, then bussed back.

Now the food! Many people had warned us about the food quality on the carrier we were using, and we were prepared to feed ourselves and that we did! :P Bought sushi from Singapore, bought McDonald's and bento boxes from Narita... Spent more time eating than sleeping!