San Francisco Part 1 by Adrian (4th July week)

It has been a while since we had a family vacation. So we decided to spend five days in San Francisco. I personally have been to San Francisco but it was just in and out for business. If you have never been to San Francisco, let me share with you what to expect.

First of all, you will feel like you are in an Asian country as there are Asians everywhere. I mean more than New York City excluding Queens and Chinatown. Second, everyone is very courteous including the car drivers. We had an incident whereby a car pulled in our parking lot where we had waited for and the driver rolled down the window and asked us whether we were waiting for the spot. We said yes and he just pulled out for us. It was a very nice gesture. Unfortunately, that will never happen in New Jersey or New York area. Shame on us!!!! Thirdly, the weather is excellent...! Some might find it too chilly but it was just nice for us. The average temperature is mid 60F or 18C pretty much all year round. I suggest you bring a light jacket or fleece for the evening. It gets a bit cold and windy..! Anyway, you judge for yourself whether San Francisco is a place you would like to visit.
  
Our hotel

The Westin Market Street

King Size Bed with Brandon in the middle (It was quite an experience with Brandon smacking us during his sleep)

Snacks above the mini bar (Note you will be charged within 10 seconds of your removal of the snacks, please do not remove if you don't plan to consume it)

Mini bar with jacked up hotel price

Our first stop was Chinatown for lunch. The hotel concierge told us it is the largest Chinatown in US. Really! I thought NY Chinatown is larger. Well, I am not writing for argument sake.

The arch marking the entrance to Chinatown (Grant Street)

The only Chinatown with steep hill

Trolley service to Chinatown

Chinese traditional shoes

Brandon enjoying his noodles!! Good? No?

From Chinatown we walked to Pier 39. Thank God it was downhill from Chinatown. I cannot imagine someone would walk from Pier 39 to Chinatown. On the way to Pier 39 we passed a few areas. One of them was Washington Square. Next to the park (Washington Square) is the church of Saints Peter and Paul historically catering to the Italian American community. This area is also known as Little Italy but called North Beach. Do you know that this is the hometown of the baseball legend Joe DiMaggio? Yes, it is.

Imagine having to walk home uphill

Pier 39

The place is packed with people from all over

Boats are everywhere next to the pier

Ta...da! Sea lions

We were a bit disappointed that we did not see lots of sea lions as they were in Channel Islands National Park mating. I suppose the ones that stayed at Pier 39 are the seniors. Lol....! Anyway, that's basically it for us on our first day. There are more exciting places to come. Till then stay tuned...!