Saliheen & Farhana Goes To San Francisco & L.A 2017 from fazmals on Vimeo.

Our neat little travel video put together by my sister, as always! If you have any videography assignments or need editing help (she charges $100 for personal videos), you can contact her here or on her instagram (@nfzmls) ♥

Our Travel Dates

1 February 2017 to 10 February 2017

Flight Itinerary & Journey Duration

Singapore to Los Angeles via SQ12: 16 hours 45 minutes (Layover: 1 hour 45 minutes at Narita Airport)
Los Angeles to Singapore via SQ11: 19 hours 30 minutes (Layover: 1 hour 10 minutes at Narita Airport)

Time Difference

Singapore is 15 hours ahead of California (3.00pm in Singapore = 12.00am in California, same calendar day)

Weather During Our Stay

Between 10 to 18 degrees (depending on day/night, and whether there is rain)

Why We Chose to Travel to California

We went to California because................. kita nak makan Halal Guys, gaize. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. 

And yes I ain't even lyin', we booked our flight tickets to Los Angeles that very night, after this Whatsapp text conversation hahahahaha

Ok la ok la, it wasn't a super sudden decision la. The topic of heading to Los Angeles for a holiday has constantly popped into our conversations - the idea of going to the US now now now while we have no children and no other major commitments or health issues was just very attractive ok. And I guess the idea somehow blossomed in our minds and reached its climax when Halal Guys are mentioned HAHAHAHA #fat4life

Actually kan, before we decided on LA (and along with it, San Francisco), we were planning for our return trip to Tokyo tau haha! Terbabas ke Los Angeles pulak, and Tokyo became our flight layover instead hur hur (We're planning to go Tokyo at the end of this year instead insya Allah! That's if kita tak terpesong lagi ah)

Were We Detained Upon Arrival at LAX

Unfortunately, yes. You can read more here.

Where did We Stay at in California

We stayed at Hotel Stratford in San Francisco and Hollywood Celebrity Hotel in Los Angeles.

Which Attractions did We Visit in California

We went to a number of fun touristy places in San Francisco and Los Angeles, all of which you can read about by clicking the links below:

• US 2017, San Francisco, Feb 2017 (Day 1, Part 1)
• US 2017, San Francisco, Feb 2017 (Day 1, Part 2)
• US 2017, San Francisco, Feb 2017 (Day 1, Part 3)
• US 2017, San Francisco, Feb 2017 (Day 2, Part 1)
• US 2017, San Francisco, Feb 2017 (Day 2, Part 2)
• US 2017, San Francisco, Feb 2017 (Day 2, Part 3)
• US 2017, San Francisco, Feb 2017 (Day 2, Part 4)
• US 2017, Los Angeles, Feb 2017 (Day 3, Part 1)
• US 2017, Los Angeles, Feb 2017 (Day 3, Part 2)
• US 2017, Los Angeles, Feb 2017 (Day 4, Part 1)
• US 2017, Los Angeles, Feb 2017 (Day 4, Part 2)
• US 2017, Los Angeles, Feb 2017 (Day 4, Part 3)
• US 2017, Los Angeles, Feb 2017 (Day 4, Part 4)
• US 2017, Los Angeles, Feb 2017 (Day 5, Part 1)
• US 2017, Los Angeles, Feb 2017 (Day 5, Part 2) 
• US 2017, Los Angeles, Feb 2017 (Day 6, Part 1)
• US 2017, Los Angeles, Feb 2017 (Day 6, Part 2)
• US 2017, Los Angeles, Feb 2017 (Day 7, Part 1)
• US 2017, Los Angeles, Feb 2017 (Day 8, Part 1) 
• US 2017, Los Angeles, Feb 2017 (Day 8, Part 2)

We usually make it to 75% of our planned itinerary for every trip, so there were some places that we decided to skip because we didn't want to rush / we wanted to make a repeat visit to another place that we really liked. If we ever make a return trip to LA, I'd want to watch a drag show/comedy show, go down the skyslide at Skyspace LA, drink juice shots at Verve Cafe, drop by Union Station (where several movie scenes were shot), get lost in The Last Bookstore, eat rainbow grilled cheese at Chomp Eatery and go thrift-shopping. Maybe even go for that hip hop guided tour around Compton that Saliheen was considering to go! Hehe.

We also wanted to try out theme parks in Los Angeles too but it was sooooo difficult to decide between Disneyland and Universal Studios that we decided to eff it, let's go to Six Flags instead hahahaha. But in the end we didn't go to Six Flag either, since we couldn't work their opening hours into our itinerary lolol. Still kept it open for consideration once we were there but like what my cikgu melayu used to say: Masa amat mencemburui kita. Lolol

Availability of Halal Food

There are a few places that sell halal food in San Francisco:- there's Wings Plus (chicken wings and burgers), Bang San Thai (thai cuisine), Bellissimo Pizza (didn't get the opportunity to try but apparently they have halal chicken pizza), Ziggy's Burger (burgers and sandwiches) and of course The Halal Guys.

As for Los Angeles, there are halal options as well (read here: mostly Indian or Middle Eastern, including The Halal Guys) but they're not easily accessible (like Thai restaurant Barn Rau Thai), especially if you're not driving. The nearest halal option near Hollywood is Yogi Dog but if you're irrationally allergic to the word "dog" like Malaysian's halal certification board (read here lol) then... makan rumput je ah kau. Haha. Luckily, LA is known to be a pretentious, health-conscious place so there are many good vegetarian/vegan cafes you can check out la.

Oh! I think I forgot to mention we also dropped by SUGARFISH by Sushi Nozawa (popular mid-range Japanese restaurant in California) for lunch on one of our shopping days. They're not halal certified so consume at your own discretion, but in any event, their food isn't worth the hype. You can get much better Japanese food in Singapore (which says something, since our local Japanese food is nothing compared to authentic Japanese food in Japan) 

Transportation Around California

Really happy we decided to drive around in Los Angeles because it made Saliheen a very, very, very happy man! Korang nampak tak muka ada senyum dia at the start of our travel video above hahaha. He enjoys driving and it helped that we had a very positive experience driving around LA.

Not sure why their locals bemoan their LA traffic, maybe they haven't experienced the horrors of traffic in Asia! Their drivers were respectful and patient and cooperative, and we couldn't get over the pleasant surprise of other drivers automatically giving way and slowing down whenever Saliheen signal nak tukar/masuk lanes. NOTHING like Singapore's rude, selfish and inconsiderate drivers lor. And Angelenos' complains about "bad" traffic jams??? Pfffffttttt. They ain't got anythin' on Jakarta's infamous 3-to-5-hours-long traffic jams! Seriously, they have no idea how good they have it. We'd take LA traffic over Singapore traffic any day! In less than a heartbeat!

All that aside, I personally do think that it would've worked out just as fine if we chose to Uber around in LA instead of driving - a lot of Angelenos move around in that way too and it was easy to get an Uber (from our experience booking Uber to and fro airport). We mostly travelled by Uber in San Francisco too, otherwise we walked.

Where to Buy Souveniers

Everywhere! Hahahaha. I'm not kidding you gaize, there were sooooo many souvenier shops near our accommodation so memang takde hal untuk dapatkan ole ole. Bought cute Hollywood movie clipboard acrylic key-chains for colleagues whereas we got t-shirts and cosmetics for our family and friends.

Availability of Wifi

As always, we relied heavily on our wifi router from Changi Recommends. If you're not willing to pay for that, Wifi is generally available in accommodation and some cafes.

Research Resources

It was very easy to research for California because all of the resources available online are in English and are very comprehensive. Some of the resources I relied on were San Francisco Travel, Nomadic Matt, Discover Los Angeles and Lonely Planet. Additionally, there are sooooo many vlogs on Youtube about travelling to and around California! I also sought advice from friends who have been to California before and stalked hashtags and location tags on Instagram.

Would We Return to California for Vacation

Sure! It has everything that makes up a happy and memorable holiday: Great shopping, lovely sights, excellent service staff, laid-back vibes. Food is A-OK, not the best if you compare against places like Japan and Thailand but ok la, we enjoyed ourselves at good makan spots like The Codmother Fish & Chips, Pokinometry and SQIRL.

That said, if you asked me to choose between Los Angeles/San Francisco or New York City, I'd pick NYC any time any day in any way possible. There is just something very charming and very exciting about NYC, and I am hopelessly in love! Till today I wonder if we made the right decision in not packing up and leaving for that job position in NYC that Saliheen was offered 2 years ago.........

Oh! We also struggled to get decent food at late hours (11pm, midnight ish) in LA - we eventually ordered food in via an app called LA Bite and paid a bomb, whereas in NYC we could pop into a 24 hour deli near our accommodation or easily pick up a $1 slice of pizza. Tapi at the end of the day Singapore tetap the best la got 24-hour hawker centres and coffees shops cheap cheap good good hahahaha

And there we have it! The last of the last of the last blog entry for our holiday in California!

Catch up with you guys when I'm back from Bangkok next week ok! Please excuse me while I stuff myself with tomyam soups and thai milk teas and pamper myself with massages and cheap shopping heh heh heh BAIIIIIIIIIIII

We were detained in LAX for 2 hours, and this is what happened

One of the most asked question we got from well-meaning friends and family when we made known we were going for our recent US trip (which happened a few weeks after America elected their new controversial president) was:

"Tak takut kena tahan ke?" ("You not scared kena detained ah?")

To which I replied: "Tak buat salah nak takut apa eh hahaha" ("I didn't do anything wrong, scared for what hahaha")

Please don't get me wrong; I'm not trying to be conceited and dismissing the possibility! But seriously guys - WHY should I be scared and what should I be scared of??? I KNOW I have done nothing wrong! And while I KNOW that the travel ban was not right and should not have happened in the first place, at the end of the day, it didn't include the country from where I'd be flying in from. So the best we could do was to prepare for the worst but hope for the best. After all, our Singapore passport is the second most powerful passport in the world, amirite???

Well, this was what we soon found out - so what if we hold the second most powerful passport in the world? 

As long as our names sounds (and are predominantly used by) Muslim, there was no way the TSA was letting us off without additional screening. Lol. And by screening, I mean making us wait 2 whole hours, not allowing us to use our phones and then waving us off with our passports after asking us a few questions about our travel into the US.

Before We Were Detained

We were a liiiiittle bit anxious while waiting to be cleared by LAX's customs clearance because we had a flight to San Francisco, and it was due to fly in 2 hours (our flight arrived at LAX at 11.50am, our next flight to San Francisco was due to depart at 2.10pm but was delayed till 2.40pm). We didn't want to worry about something that still hadn't happened so we patiently waited for our turn.

When it was our turn, nothing seemed out of place - the customs officer was friendly, we made small talk while he typed away at his keyboard, and we were still under the impression that we'd still be able to make it for our next flight. And then he tried to scan Saliheen's passport. There was a beep, and a frown, and then he tried again. Same thing - a beep, then a frown. Somewhere in the deep recesses of my heart, I knew.

 I knew we were going to miss that next flight.

But I'm an optimistic half glass full kind of person! I look for the silver lining of every dark cloud, and I believe in the power of positive thinking in everything I do/experience in life. So I thought, ah no big deal, he'll be questioned for 10 minutes, they'll know he's not a threat (unless he is at a buffet, dude will kill that shit in seconds) and we'll be on our way. Sure, we'll have to run like we've never ran before, but at least we'll be on our way, you know.

Then the kind customs officer said ok let me clear yours first (speaking to me) and he swiped my passport onto his system. Beep. Frown. Beep. Frown. Oh thanks dad, I said silently in my head, because I instantly knew his name which was attached to mine was causing those (totally unfair) little beeps. But I'm optimistic, remember??? I thought to myself "Oh well, at least I'll have to go in with Saliheen and won't have to wait and worry for him all by myself" Lolol.

The customs officer who served us was super nice about it though, and I knew he was really sorry when he told us he couldn't override the system even though he knew we weren't the "bad guys" blacklisted in his system. So he had to pack both of us off to the "reviews room". Which is just a nice politically correct way to say detention room ah.

The Reviews Room

Wish I could show you guys how the review room looks like but we weren't even allowed to hold our phones, let alone use it. The room itself wasn't as scary as I thought but you could tell the mood of the room was very subdued and miserable - not surprising, since most of the people had been waiting for hours for nothing that they had done.

It's just a small room with a couple of counters, and a waiting area. Kind of like a polyclinic? Or like the waiting area in ICA building, only five times smaller. We saw 2 different people being led to the back and assumed that was where the interrogation rooms were, for those that needed further (more intense/intimidating) questioning.

I have to say that even in the reviews room, I remained hopeful. I was hopeful we could still make it on our next flight and I kept telling myself "it'll take 10 minutes, we can still make it, no big deal". 10 minutes stretched to 20, 20 stretched to 30, 30 stretched to 60, 60 stretched into "thank God we paid Virgin America extra during booking, guess we'll have to hop onto the next available flight since we'll miss ours" (See, positive thinking. Lolol)

Inside the Reviews Room

Unfortunately, I can't sing praises for the officers in the reviews room - they were bitter and hostile and mean, especially an Indian female officer who kept circling around the room like an aggressive vulture, shrieking at tired/scared people waiting in the room and pouncing on anyone who made the tiniest move, making sure they weren't holding their phones (Big no-no in the room, maybe she knew people would record her being a total witch).

Another officer confiscated a device from a woman and started berating her in front of everyone, rudely interrupting and talking over her, giving her absolutely NO chance to explain that the device was a music player (iPod). He looked slightly embarrassed when she finally got a word in, and tossed the device back to her, still trying to sound high and mighty when it was him who created a completely avoidable scene.

I'm not expecting friendly smiles, comforting words or free coffee coming from a reviews room, of course, but the people who were waiting for your inefficient asses to get your shit together were human beings with feelings and should be treated with a basic level of decency, especially if they're not even guilty of anything! Is that so difficult???

Anyway. I personally don't think the TSA specifically targets Muslims only, and they probably have different reasons for different people - the people we saw in the reviews room were of varying ethnicity, gender and age, and there was no way we could tell if all of them were Muslims anyway (except for 1, all of the females in the room, including me, were not wearing headscarves and not visibly Muslim)

During our 2-hour wait, there was a Caucasian backpacker couple, an Indian family with 4 young children, Middle Eastern elderly couple in wheelchairs (the wife was the only female wearing a headscarf), an Asian young male who looked like he could fit in with a K-pop band, a couple of Chinese tourists, a few Mexicans, an Indian dude with a turban, and a sprinkling number of guys whose nationality/ethnicity we couldn't determine (they looked like they could go whichever way; Caucasian, Italian, Arab, etc)

The Wait

To be honest, the wait wouldn't have been so bad if we didn't have a flight to catch and if we didn't just get off 17 hours of flight. But we did, and the unnecessary waiting added to our exhaustion and frustration (although the minute we knew we'd miss our flight, we resigned ourselves to fate and let it take its course). Kita dah penat sangat and terus lepas tangan to the point that we barely spoke during that 2 hours of waiting haha.

One of the things that made it frustrating was the fact that we didn't know how long we had to wait; we weren't given a queue number and had no information at all - we were told to just wait. So you could be held for 20 minutes (which happened to someone we know, also in LAX), 1 hour (this happened to our friend in Las Vegas airport, 2 hours (like us), 5 hours or even longer! There was even a possibility of being denied entry after hours of waiting and put into a flight back home, although we were convinced that wouldn't happen to us la.

Oh, an SQ representative came in about 30 minutes into our wait to let us know she'd already taken our luggage off the belt and left them right outside the reviews room, by the way. Silver lining! Someone already collected our luggage for us so no need to wait to collect them anymore..... (Hahaha look at me, grasping at straws..........)

The Questions They Asked

After two hours of waiting, we sighed with relief when Saliheen's name was called to one of the counters. We saw a Mexican woman being grilled relentlessly (and in a very loud accusatory tone) before that (she was one of the persons moved into the interrogation room at the back) so we made sure we were as docile and non-combative as possible - we just wanted to have a holiday, goddamnit!

I couldn't hear the conversation between Saliheen and the officer because he kept his voice low but it was over in 2 minutes, and Saliheen was made to immediately walk out of the reviews room, dude didn't even dare to make eye contact with me haha. My name was called next! Well, technically it was my father's name la haha since that's considered my surname in the US. I could sense confusion in some of the minds in the room, wondering why this female non-Arab person's name is the very masculine "Abdul Malek" hahahahaha

The officer just asked me 2 questions: What are you doing in the USA? "I'm here on vacation" Are you with your husband... the guy just now? "Yes, that's my husband" before he stamped on my passport and waved me away. Bolted out of there immediately! Tak tengok kiri kanan, told myself jangan pandang belakang.

Saliheen was waiting outside with our luggage, and he told me the questions he was asked:

(1) What are you doing in the USA? (2) How long will you be in USA? (3) Who are you with? 

He also told me the officer asked whether he supports PAP or WP HAHAHAHAHA SIAK (This was just my husband cracking a joke, guys, the TSA officer didn't really ask him that la hahaha). Orang dah penat lagi nak bergurau! But that's one of the reasons why I dig him and want him around as much as possible - he makes me laugh even in the face of adversity and extreme post-17 hours flight exhaustion hahaha

By the way, kenapa they couldn't just ask those questions when we were at the passport clearance counter itself eh? We were asked those questions when we were at London's Heathrow Airport too, but it happened while our passports were being checked and stamped at the clearance counter, not after 2 hours of unnecessary waiting in a depressing reviews room with nasty officers. But whatever, goodbye to those suckers and their mean little spirits.

Will This Stop Us From Travelling to US?

N-O. No. Definitely not! We're even toying around with the idea of returning to the US next year, possibly to revisit NYC and LA, quick visit to Las Vegas if we have the time, insya Allah, but only if kita belum ada rezeki anak of course. We also tell ourselves that if we get detained again the next time we travel to the US, at least we'd already know the process and would be mentally prepared for it. Also, lesson learned - next time, we'll fly straight into the state we want to visit first or if need be, make sure our connecting flight is more than 2 hours after we land.

I strongly believe that we shouldn't let prejudices stop us from travelling to see the world, at least not something as unfair as being detained at an airport because you have a name or a physical aspect that reflects your religion. You know you've done nothing wrong, you know your religion is loving and peaceful, so what is there to be afraid of?

It just sucks knowing that all of the excessive security measures we see in US airports are, at the end of the day, just for show. You can Google about security theater or watch this for a quick overview. While I understand that it can help to make it more difficult for terrorists to smuggle in explosives, etc, they're also spending a more-than-necessary amount of budget for minimal results. Menambahkan confusion and leceh and unnecessary delays lagi ada. But what can I do - I'm not an important influential policymaker in the States, just a regular citizen from the small sunny island of Singapore who wants to go to 'Murica for a holiday. Nak tak nak, layankan je la.

US 2017, Los Angeles (Day 8, Part 2) - The Broad Museum & Grand Central Market

After breakfast and a morning stroll at Venice Beach, we hopped into our rental car and drove up to downtown Los Angeles for the next museum on our itinerary - The Broad! It's the hottest new contemporary art museum in town so it's very, very popular  and very, very busy - admission is free but you have to book a slot in advance. Checked their website for the very few available slots left and found one which worked for us.

US 2017, Los Angeles (Day 8, Part 1) - The Butcher's Daughter & Venice Beach

Apa maksud dah last full day in LA baru nak gi Venice Beach......... 

Hahahaha no thanks to unpredictable weather ok, which led to reshuffling of plans!

Actually we drove down to Venice Beach the previous afternoon (after the celebrity homes guided tour) but Venice Beach was filled with thick fog lolol. And there were many barricades because of a fashion runway event called Tommyland wtf so Saliheen and I left after less than half an hour. Tried to catch a glimpse of celebrities in attendance (Lady Gaga, Kris Jenner, Fergie, Bella Hadid, Gigi Hadid, etc) but takde nasib. They were probably ushered through special entrances la, saham jatuh seh kalau kena wait in line with regular folks hahahaha

We drove back to Venice Beach the next morning - tu pun nekad ah, tak tau hujan ke, foggy ke, taufan batu ke, ape ke. Weather forecast was really tak guna because whatever the predicted weather was for the rest of LA didn't seem to apply to Venice Beach! We were happy when we left our hotel because skies were looking blue and pretty but they turned grey about 10 minutes before we arrived Venice Beach wtf. Thaaaaanks.

Breakfast at The Butcher's Daughter because what's a trip to LA for if not for instagrammable avocado toast???

US 2017, Los Angeles (Day 5, Part 2) - Shopping @ Melrose Avenue & North Fairfaix Avenue

So after spending our morning at LACMA, we went on to the next item on our itinerary i.e. something that Saliheen had been looking forward to for months..... SHOPPING! More specifically streetwear shopping la.

Don't know how many times we drove up and down along Melrose Avenue and North Fairfax Avenue (where most of the streetwear brand stores are located). Some of the shops we went to: Adidas Originals, Round Two, The Hundreds, Flight Club, Diamond Supply Co, Supreme, Killion, etc.

US 2017, Los Angeles (Day 5, Part 1) - LACMA

After our first day (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4) in LA, we started our second day with a visit to the Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Arts... or lebih dikenali by its nama manja haha - LACMA! Admission fee is US$15.00 per adult, which is ok la standard museum pricing.

Walked around the museum to look at its art collections and even though we enjoyed our time there, we couldn't shake off the feeling that we still preferred MOMA (in NYC) over anything else. We really should make a return trip to NYC to ubatkan this rindu.................... (right?!?!) But back to LACMA!

US 2017, Los Angeles (Day 4, Part 4) - Hollywood Sign, ROSS Dress for Less and Target

After the first part (here, here and here) of our first full day in LA, we made our way to the Lake Hollywood Park to take pictures with the Hollywood sign! Kebetulan a few weeks before we flew over to LA, there was a video on directions to great spots to view the Hollywood sign (here) so that was very useful for us.

I knew I didn't want to trek all the way up to the Hollywood sign (unhealthy body, remember???), and we didn't want to deal with all of the confusing directions and blocked access stuff so we decided the best location for us was Lake Hollywood Park. We could still drive up with a car, involves minimal walking and the Hollywood sign would be near enough, without looking like a white speck from afar.

Don't know why it doesn't look that near in pictures but the sign felt pretty near to us in real life, I swear!

US 2017, Los Angeles (Day 4, Part 3) - Griffith Observatory

After picking up our rental car, breakfast and our photoshoot tak balek modal at Projection LA, Saliheen and I headed out to Griffith Observatory! Which is perched on some gunung so we had to drive up long, windy roads just to get there - kudos to Saliheen for bringing us there safely, even though he was still in the early stages of familiarizing himself with left hand driving and still recovering from the shock of termasuk freeway hahahaha

US 2017, Los Angeles (Day 4, Part 2) - SQIRL & Projection LA

So if you're wondering what was the destination that caused Saliheen to drive masuk freeway against his will (hahahaha), that destination was SQIRL! It's this really hip spot for breakfast and serves very interesting dishes, which are a hit amongst Angelenos and visitors alike - we ordered their signature sorrel pesto rice with poached eggs and brioche toast with blackberry jam and almond hazelnut butter... sounds damn good, right?!

US 2017, Los Angeles (Day 4, Part 1) - AVIS Car Rental

The first thing we had to do before we start our first full day in Los Angeles wasssssss... to collect our car rental!!!!!!!!!! This was monumental for us because one of the major decisions we had to make before coming to Los Angeles was: whether we wanted to whack Uber all over LA OR rent a car and drive around ourselves.

We agonized over this decision for MONTHS ok! 

We'd read online articles and watch videos comparing the two options, and we'd bounce from let's yolo and drive around LA!!! to maybe we're in over our heads... to how can we miss this opportunity to drive around LA seh??? to isn't it more convenient to just book Uber everywhere we go................ to if not now then WHEN

US 2017, Los Angeles (Day 3, Part 2) - Hollywood & Highland

After checking in to our hotel in LA, Saliheen and I walked over to Hollywood & Highland (which is a mall along the Hollywood Walk of Stars) to jalan jalan and have dinner at Pokinometry!

Pokinometry calls itself a Japanese restaurant (oh the blasphemy) but it's really just a nice casual makan place which serves Hawaiian inspired poki bowls - you can customize your own bowls by choosing from a variety of sliced/diced fish or seafood such as salmon, tuna, albacore, octopus, shrimp, etc mixed very generously with toppings such as crab meat, avocado, cucumbers, onions, etc (your choice too). All that is put together atop your base of choice; either white rice, brown rice, salad, wrap or chips, and if you want it spicy, you can add in their dynamite sauce (which we did, and while it doesn't reach dynamite level for melayu makan cili padi like us haha, it was still pretty spicy so kita tak muak after a few spoonfuls)

US 2017, Los Angeles (Day 3, Part 1) - Hollywood Celebrity Hotel

After two fun days (and two half days haha) in San Francisco (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7), it's time to wrap up our adventures - woke up early for hotel breakfast, took some pictures around Union Square before we checked out of Hotel Stratford and left San Francisco for Looooooos Angeles, baby!

Boarded our Virgin America flight and touched down in LA at about 1.30pm (without any incidents since we were on a domestic flight) and we headed straight to the designated pick-up point for Uber. Just like San Francisco International Airport, you can't just book and wait for an Uber anywhere outside the airport... must find designated pick-up point, one! Luckily, they're all pretty easy to locate:

US 2017, San Francisco (Day 2, Part 4) - Cable Car & Chinatown

So now that I've blogged about our day 1 (part 1, part 2, part 3) and earlier parts of day 2 (part 1, part 2, part 3), it's time to wrap up our second full day in San Francisco!

Even before we stepped foot ke sana, we knew we had to hop on their cable car at least once - it is one of the main icons of San Francisco seh. So we chose to travel from Fisherman Wharf to our next destination (which was Chinatown) by way of cable car! A one-way trip ticket costs US$7.00 per adult, which is about S$10.00 (although you can get a one-day unlimited pass for US$17.00 if you're going to take multiple rides in a day) 

US 2017, San Francisco (Day 2, Part 3) - Fisherman's Wharf

Ok fellas as per usual, you can read about day 1 (part 1, part 2, part 3) and the earlier parts of day 2 (part 1 and part 2) first before this entry - where I blog about our trip down to the popular San Francisco spot Fisherman's Wharf! And the first order of business is lunch, of course.

I read great reviews online about this cute little food truck called The Codmother Fish & Chips and wanted to try the hype - happy to report that we were not disappointed at all! Yay! Great service from friendly staff and I like its casual al fresco setting. Shared a basket of fish and chips and fish tacos with baja sauce, both of which were super filling and so sedap!!! Comparable to the fish and chips we had at Poppies in London, if not better.

US 2017, San Francisco (Day 2, Part 2) - Golden Gate Bridge

Since we're done with day 1 (part 1, part 2, part 3) and the earlier part of day 2 (here), I'll blog about the next part where we headed out to the pride, the joy and the icon of San Francisco - the Golden Gate Bridge, of course!

One of the important things we wanted to figure out before San Francisco was the best location/spot to view the Golden Gate Bridge! There are several spots recommended from what we read online (here, here and here) but we narrowed our list down to these 3: Fort Point, Battery East Carpark and Crissy Fields.

US 2017, San Francisco (Day 2, Part 1) - Mr Holmes Bakehouse

After a fun and fruitful 1st day (part 1, part 2, part 3), we woke up bright and early for our 2nd day in the city by the bay! Because nak makan breakfast cantik punya pasal hehehe. 

Chanced upon pictures of delicious looking bakes from Mr Holmes Bakehouse online so I made it my personal mission to grab breakfast from their cute little bakery! Konon nak photoshoot onsite but there were so many people swarmed in front of their neon lighted sign zzZzzz so I'll lift a sample picture off the internet la ok.

US 2017, San Francisco (Day 1, Part 3) - Pier 39, First Swensens & Lombard Street

After leaving our hotel for breakfast and visiting Alcatraz Island for a tour, Saliheen and I walked from Pier 33 (where Alcatraz Cruises is stationed) to Pier 39 for lunch and to see the famous sea lions! We were starving when we arrived at Pier 39 so we had lunch first.

US 2017, San Francisco (Day 1, Part 2) - Alcatraz Island

After our very yummy breakfast during the first part of our first day in San Francisco, Saliheen and I hopped into an Uber to head to Pier 33, where we were due to board the first ferry out to Alcatraz Island. The Uber driver glanced at me from her rear screen mirror after our initial pleasantries and asked me with genuine concern as to whether I was properly bundled up for the freezing weather

Hahahahaha! I clearly wasn't la but what to do, I didn't bring anything else that is meant for single digit temperature! Confident gila seh it won't be so sejuk, clearly didn't learn from my experience pergi pier in the early morning kat NYC. Dah tau nak gi pier pagi pagi buta tapi tak bawak appropriate wear to battle the cold! Nasib baik gemuk, ada jugak babat tolong tahankan sejuk 

Had to wait about 15 minutes to board the ferry because we arrived early! Just in case we need time to queue up and exchange email printout with actual tickets but the ticket printout attached to their confirmation email was enough.

We booked 2 adult tickets at US$35.50 per pax (which converts to S$50, and includes two-way ferry trips and entry tickets to Alcatraz) via the one and only official website Alcatraz Cruises here. Made our online booking slightly more than a month in advance because tickets sell out weeks in advance! 

It felt so surreal for me when we were in the ferry approaching Alcatraz Island!!! I've always dreamed of visiting Alcatraz Island (as much as I really wanted to step into the former Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps in Krakow, which I did in 2014) and I was struggling to comprehend how lucky I was to have another one of my teenage dreams come to life right in front of eyes (only with His will and grace of course, syukur Alhamdullilah)

That's me, when I stepped into one of the cells to take a picture. Also stepped into one of the solitary confinement cells (pictured below) where I got hardcore goosebumps. 

The minute I stepped into this cell, my mind and heart started racing SO HARD. I don't have claustrophobia but even I started feeling panicky at the idea of being left inside this cell! It boggles my mind seh how anyone can even survive a stint in solitary confinement. Maybe this is why I'm a law-binding citizen - I cannot stand the idea of being imprisoned in a prison cell and having my freedom and liberty taken away from me!

Some of the other areas we got to see during the tour - the dining hall, the warden offices and accommodation, the gardens outside the prison building, the visitation area and the gun gallery (where one of their infamous break-out attempts first started). We also happened to walk past when one of the staff was just starting her demonstration of the cell doors clanking and banging open and shut so that was interesting to watch and experience. 

The whole tour around Alcatraz took us about 2 hours, 2.5 hours? Loved the tour because we could stop and pause anytime we want (since it's a self-guided audio tour) to read information boards, to take pictures or to discuss dengan each other without worrying we will delay anyone else. And it was really easy to follow because the signs/pit-stops were all clearly marked. There were intermittent construction noises since Alcatraz is undergoing restoration works but we didn't mind la since it didn't interfere with the audio tour.

Really worth the trip if anyone is planning to go to San Francisco, I won't delve into all of its history and stuff since you can read all of that online or when you head down to Alcatraz yourself. All I want to say is that I enjoyed myself thoroughly and I am very happy to have stepped foot into this piece of history - I mean, this is where Alvin "Creepy" Karpis, George "Machine Gun" Kelly, Arthur "Doc" Barker, Harris "Mickey" Cohen and Al Capone has walked and lived and breathed before seh! (Let's just say I was obsessed with post-Great Depression outlaws and criminals and mafia bosses at one point of my life haha)

So long, Alcatraz! Thank you for being better than what I can ever imagine. 

(Also, not sure why I expected the prison cells to smell of piss and sewage when nobody has lived in the cells for so many years??????? Sepatutnya aku should be more concerned eh kalau ada bau hancing HAHAHAHAHA OK BYE off to the next part of the day pls)

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!)

Back From Murica!

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!

And still not blogging as regularly as I would like to

But it's ok akak feeling generous today so akak belanja you all dua gambar! You nak terima ke tak nak terima ke, tu bukan akak punya problem, you all yang datang blog akak

San Francisco and Los Angeles was fun, fun, fun! The rain messed up our itinerary for 2 whole days but all part of the memories, amirite??? And kalau compare dengan NYC of course ada its strengths and weaknesses but I'll blog about that in days to come. Or weeks. Or... months. Who knows??? I'm such a ~mystery~ nowadays