San Francisco after 2 years

Always glad to have someone you know on the same flight as you are. Carolyn and Abby are on my flight, initially there is supposed to be Cecilia too, but she changed the flight away. There wasn't anything much during the first stopover, except for the fact that I met Iris. So happy!! Its been ages since I last saw her and I missed her.. really… she is such a good friend and lovely lady, we can totally click, too bad she is married…

Plans were mad for san francisco, on the first day, we will be doing our shopping, which was duly carried out but not before having lunch at Cheesecake Factory. Its been a while since I ate there, so was quite looking forward to it. I had Iris joining us for lunch as she just came back from shopping and she haven ate. She is such a pleasure to have, such a livewire when we were all so tired after the flight, but she being very nice, the rest of the girls find it easy to hang out with her. So it wasn't that bad at all. We shared a gigantic portion of pasta, steak, and Madeira chicken, each had a giant size smoothie and had a chocolate tuxedo cheesecake to top it up. After lunch, shopping commenced, girls went to Victoria Secrets and got their stuff, while me and Iris waited for them. After that was shopping for cosmetics, couldn't find what Jamie wanted cos it was sold out and serene’s bobbi brown is surprisingly missing from all major departmental stores. Nonetheless, we moved on to Apple as meimei wanted to get something from there but was denied from buying cos she is not signed up with any American service provider. AnF next, there wasn't anything particularly nice this season, I had almost nothing to buy, though I was pretty tempted by their berms and a long sleeve tshirt which was super cosy, but the berms was too ex anyway. Couldn't bear to part the money to pay for it. In the end, settled for American Eagles, they seemed to be having sales as all the items were going for close to half price as compared to AnF. No Holister this time though.

Next morning, we met for breakfast at Sears, on Iris’ recommendations. The breakfast was fantastic, filling and yummy, the service is so much better as compared to Cheesecake factory. Filled and satisfied, we headed towards fisherman’s wharf, determined to go on a cycling trip to Sausalito. We rented bicycles, Abby and Carolyn on single bikes while Mei mei who doesn't know how to cycle had to go on a tandem bike with me. Initially it was hard, trying to find balance and coordination but after a while, it was pretty ok and we set off. Uphills were killers, some of the hills were so steep that we had to get off and push the bicycle up. It was good exercise anyway, except that the butt hurts. Cycling in san franz is a joy because of the seaside location, though the sun is at its best, you hardly feel it because of the windy conditions. Warm and yet cold, if you can picture what I mean. We took plenty of pictures along the way, stopping occasionally for breaks and breathers. The Golden Gate bridge is a view, thus ended up as the backdrop for most of our photos. Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge is quite a challenge on a tandem bike with the constant stopping and braking for inconsiderate cyclists and pedestrians. After that, it was onwards to Sausalito, the journey is much smoother from then onwards cos we have left the hills behind us and it was downhill most of the time then on. Sausalito is a very beautiful seaside town, very much like Santorini but more colourful and more modern definitely. There is a certain village feel to it, laidback and relaxed yet not cut off from the world. Boatings are possible, fishing too, plenty of seagulls around. We boarded a ship which carried us back to fisherman’s wharf, passing by Alcatrez along the way. We proceeded to Boudin’s for the must have clam chowder soup before heading back to city for some last min shopping and retiring for the night.

Reaching Seoul, met Samuel on the plane but horror upon horror, my cargo bag did not arrive and it was left behind by the officers in San Franz, fuming and yet there is nothing I can do. I practically got nothing with me except my sleeping clothes and in a good mind, I left my jeans in my cabin bag. No shoes, no toiletries !!! sigh… we still went out for dinner after reaching hotel, Iris came to find me after her shopping. I accompanied her for some light shopping before going back. She lent me her sleeping tshirt just in case I got nothing to wear. So blissed  next day morning, Vijay called and lent me his spare shirt, which I thought is so kind of him to call and check on me.

Myeondong was on the agenda, headed out to pick up some clothes and necessities. But probably due to the jetlag, I couldn't get much sleep the night before so before long I was quite tired and the girls headed back to Lottemart for our grocery shopping after spending a lot on their clothes and accessories. Korean Barbeque was our lunch cum dinner as we were too full to eat anything after the buffet breakfast in the hotel.

Had my first ever mask by Carolyn’s courtesy, its such an enjoyment… now I know why girls buy so many facial masks when they come to Korea, that is now added to my shopping list the next time I come to Korea, on top of the cheap yakult, seaweed and Korean cup noodles. My bag finally arrived at 2am, just when you thought the saga is coming to an end, it was just another beginning as my bag’s lock is damaged, now I gotta send it for repair myself… grrrrrrrr… total waste of time and money.

All in all, it is still a fruitful trip, had fun with the girls, going sightseeing and hanging out together. Catching up with Iris, I am not intending to lose contact with her again. The only thing now is going back and make claims for my mishandled baggage and send my bag for repair. More things to do with the equities and have to meet up with roger and ruihan for our secret plan.