US 2017, San Francisco (Day 1, Part 1) - Hotel Stratford

Hi hi hi! 

I was going to start blogging about my recent US trip with what happened at LAX airport but since that is a whole other creature on its own, I've decided to skip that part for now and start off my entry on a happier note!

Except now that I think about it, starting my first entry with our trip to Alcatraz Island isn't exactly made up of happy stuff ah hahahahahaha

Ok la let's just start the ball rolling ok: So Saliheen and I flew in to Los Angeles via SQ, got detained for 2 hours aaaaand missed our domestic flight to San Francisco kwa kwa kwaaaaaaa. But nasib baik Virgin America offered us seats on the next flight out (which was their LAST flight out to San Francisco for the day, phew!)

Not sure if it's because we purchased Power Trip Package beforehand or because they are used to people missing flights because of delays at LAX but whatever it was, we were grateful for our positive experience with Virgin America. Great service from very helpful staff!

Although, on hindsight, we agreed it was silly for us to fly 17 hours into LA then take a 1.5 hour domestic flight out to SFO, when we could have flown directly into San Francisco. Lesson learned! Next time we'll opt for convenience, even if it's extra bucks. 

Hopped in an Uber from San Francisco International Airport (check online or with airport staff where the designated Uber pick-up point is) and journey took half an hour to our hotel - no pictures of the hotel room from us because we were so, so exhausted when we arrived so we quickly washed up, walked around the area, grabbed dinner and crashed into bed. Totally forgot to take any pictures of the hotel or room the days after that.

Here are some pictures I lifted off the internet:

We stayed at Hotel Stratford, located right smack in Union Square where there are lots of retail shops and cafes. Very central and very convenient! The twin room itself was decent for a few days' stay, I mean, it is a 2-star hotel after all, so we weren't expecting much anyway. No air-conditioning unit so we relied on the ceiling fan and cold air coming in from open windows - as sejuk as if kita pasang aircon, if not colder! Especially time malam brrrrr

The bathroom isn't the best - not a halal bathroom because no water spray next to the jamban, as with most toilets in angmoh countries (hur hur) and their shower head is fixed to the wall wtf i.e. we cannot pluck it down and use to creatively (haha) cebok! We never encountered this before so this is something new for us to note next time we travel - hotel bathrooms must have detachable shower heads if no water spray next to jamban #specific

Reception staff was friendly and made us feel at ease immediately! Hotel breakfast pulak was basic; they serve bread, cereal, muffins and fruits which are sufficient to start the day.

I read about a good breakfast spot near our hotel though so we skipped the hotel breakfast on our first full day and walked 10 minutes down to the Workshop Cafe. No regrets because both our breakfasts were so sedap la!!! Saliheen had "The Works" bagel which consisted of smoked salmon, cucumber ribbons, tomatoes and fried capers whereas I opted for the Banana Almond Oatmeal, which was ahhhhh so divine.

The creaminess of the hot oatmeal with crunchy almond butter and fresh banana slices masih terngiang ngiang on my tongue, man..................

But we had a full exciting day ahead of us so let me bring you to the next part of our first full day in San Francisco! Kita naik boat gi tengok prison, y'all.