Weekend View

Ahh...the weekend has come and going...and will soon be gone. It's been another busy week for me and here are some random pics that I took in San Francisco.

Beautiful houses ...

Weekend View

I wish I was back in San Francisco again .... enjoying such views of the Golden Gate Bridge. I'm missing it :o(

I wish I could ... take a drive for a scenic view

I wish I could ... sail away on to the horizon

I wish I could ...see such beautiful swirling clouds again

"Legendary" Dry Fried Chicken Wings @ San Tung, San Francisco

We had to...we just had to. We had to taste the "legendary" dry fried chicken wings at San Tung Chinese Restaurant. It seems like everyone one else had to too!

Patient customers waiting for tables outside San Tung Chinese Restaurant ...

Before we wax lyrically on poultry, it's been said that the shrimp & leek dumplings (USD6.50 for 12 small dumplings) are good here too ... The ground shrimp and Chinese chives gave more flavour as compared to those that comes with a whole shrimp to my opinion. It was pretty good and I definitely enjoyed this better than the ...

Finding Happiness @ farmerbrown's Little Skillet, San Francisco

Holy Mookie had been telling me about Little Skillet and how I have got to check this place out. On one sunny Saturday, the family finally made our way to farmerbrown's Little Skillet as we had to time it well since it's only open from 9am till 2.30pm! Well, not only did I manage to "devour" great tasting food but I also found happiness all around this little gem that delivers big time to its customers in so many ways.

Keeping true to their words in serving the local community with wholesome Southern American classic (as written on Little Skillet's website), it was just an overall wonderful experience for me as I took in not only the delicious chicken and waffle but also the warmth from the summer sunshine and that which was exude from the tiny little place that is located along a tiny one way street! One is encouraged to access Little Skillet on foot or by riding a bicycle! We parked the car along the main road and walked towards the inner smaller one way street. As soon as I saw Little Skillet, I couldn't stop smiling.

The red bricked building where you'll find Little Skillet (yes, some folks still drive into this lane)

Smacked in the middle of the building, you'll find the slightly faded baby blue shutter windows, with a little black canopy giving the customers some shade from the sun or rain.

The operating system : Windows :o) All the orders are taken at this window, with the kitchen in sight. Note how the window shutters also has a little rack holding all the multi coloured and flavoured drinks adding fun to the picture.

Night View in San Francisco - Twin Peaks, Castro & Broadway

The weekend is here and almost coming to an end.  While I'm still recuperating from my Taiwan trip (the schedule was hectic!), here are some shots of the night view in San Francisco.

If you're ever in San Francisco, make sure you go up to Twins Peak for it's one of the best spots for a great view of the city.  Be it day time or night time, the view of San Francisco city from Twin Peaks is breathtaking!

Pictorial Friday!

While I'm away in Taiwan, I thought I would post some photos of mine that were taken when I spent 2 months in San Francisco last year.  Yes, I haven't finished blogging on my USA trip! Hahaha.... I've also mentioned that there is still more from that trip to be blogged since I also traveled to Canada and took a little side trip to Las Vegas and here I am now, in Taiwan!

So, enjoy the sights ... Have a great weekend everyone :o)!

Columbus Tower (Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope Studios) along Kearny Street

Stopping to smell the flowers along California Street ...

Marco Polo Italian Ice Cream in San Francisco, USA

Apart from my usual visits to Ghirardelli for my hot fudge sundae, the other ice cream (or should I say gelato?) parlour that I love to visit whenever I'm in San Francisco is Marco Polo Italian Ice Cream parlour.

It's been around since 1982 - :o( I miss San Francisco and eating Marco Polo's ice cream...

Inside the parlour - simple no frills set up, with about 4 tables only.

Check out the cool flavours!While some are common to us folks in Malaysia, the fact is that they do serve great home made gelato at reasonable prices.

LEED, A Work Of Art - 555 Mission Street, San Francisco USA

555 Mission Street, an all glass 33 storey tower is one of San Francisco's signature tower as it's the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) development in the city. According to 555 Mission Street website, Tishman Speyer (the developer) is taking the following measures:-

• Refrigerants in all building heating and cooling systems that emit compounds that contribute to ozone depletion and global warming have been eliminated.
  
• The building has been designed so that the energy systems and building envelope exceed California's energy code performance by 5%. Exceeding the energy code means the building uses less energy than a typical office tower, saving fossil fuels.
  
• The architectural curtain wall was designed to enable direct views of the outdoor environment for 90% of the building's occupants.
  
• At least 10% of the materials used in the construction of the building are from recycled sources. The vast majority of the recycled content is from the building structural steel and in the aluminum curtain wall, not recycled materials used inside the building.
  
• The building mechanical design will bring in 30% more fresh air to all occupied spaces than required by code.
  
• An alarmed air quality monitoring system ensures that ventilation systems maintain design minimum ventilation requirements.
  
• All adhesives and sealants, paints and coatings, and carpet systems used in building meet or exceed the low VOC (volatile organic compounds) requirements of the South Coast Air Quality Mgmt District, Rule 1168, providing better indoor air quality to people with respiratory sensitivities.
  
• Total water usage the building is reduced by at least 30% through careful selection of water efficient fittings and fixtures.
  
• The roof will be a highly reflective, lightly colored 'cool roof' system that will reduce the affect of urban heat islands.
  
• The development will include designated parking spaces for low emission and fuel efficient vehicles.

Cool, eh? Check out the photos I took ... By the way, pardon my ignorance but does anyone know if we have any such LEED development in Malaysia?

555 Mission Street, San Francisco

There are art pieces around the area. This is Human Structures by Jonathan Borofsky.

A closer look at the structure

Moonrise by Ugo Rondinone

555 Mission Street building and Human Structures against the sky... towering art of beauty.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVEYRONE!

El Tonayense Taco Truck, San Francisco

After listening to Holymookie's constant raving about her fave street taco, she finally did good and brought me to one. Not being familiar with the streets of San Francisco, I had no idea where she was taking me as she drove me around for a good while before we finally saw the truck. Sorry for the bluish pics, as I was so excited that I didn't realise the white balance was in the wrong setting and hadn't bothered to check.

Yay! Found the El Tonayense Taco Truck

Well, why I go so excited initially was that I was totally looking forward to having tripitas tacos (tripe) .... quite a number of varieties.

A Day Out @ The Metreon & Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco

It has been a fun filled weekend and it's time for me to head off to bed for a much needed full 8 hour sleep, hahaha...Anyway, continuing on my San Francisco trip, here are some photos taken when I went on a walkabout with Zahara around Metreon for a short while (just before I caught a movie at Loews Theater). Enjoy the pics! ...and have a great week ahead everyone :o)

Caught this interesting looking statue along Market Street while making my way to the Metreon

Cheapy! Cheapy! Cheap! Cheap! Breakfast @ Hing Lung Restaurant, San Francisco

Now, walking around the area, Hing Lung would have easily gone unnoticed and can even pass off as another simple (read : no frills) Chinese restaurant that one can get here in Malaysia. However one thing that really differs is their cheap breakfast menu. Waking up early and having gone for a walk, mom and I decided to drop by Hing Lung for breakfast as we had enjoyed their breakfast set (namely the varieties of porridge) the last time we dropped by a couple of years ago. However, as Mom was going to cook porridge later for dinner on that day we went to Hing Lung, we decided to try something else....

Between 8am - 11am every Mon-Fri, Hing Lung dishes out breakfast specials. For USD3.75, one can choose from the range of porridge and noodles from the breakfast menu. We decided to order a bowl of Beef Stew Vermicelli (rice noodle) to share the rather large bowl of noodles ...

Look at the amount of beef stew and noodles...right to the brim! How's that for USD3.75? Value for money? Well, it would have been good if ALL of the beef stew were tender. A quarter of it was tough to chew on. I do like the texture of the vermicelli and the soup which is clear and sweet. Note : Stick to the porridge for a more satisfying breakfast unless Hing Lung can assure me that the whole serving of beef stew is totally tender!

Celebration @ Foreign Cinema, San Francisco USA

Taking a break from the excessive Chinese food fare for a while, I'm back to USA (yes, still lots to blog about since I was there for 2 months!) and reminiscing the time the group of us celebrated Mrs Pitt birthday (who had an earlier Peruvian fare celebration with the family) at Foreign Cinema.

We sat inside the restaurant as the weather would get colder as night approaches and this area has a more grandeur feel.

For those who chose to sit outside, there were heaters around to keep the patrons warm. More casual feel but sitting here has its benefit (More on the benefit later).

We had arrived at Foreign Cinema early for drinks first and took our time before we ordered our food. Boy! We took a rather long time to decide as we perused the large two sided A3 paper menu. Apart from loving the ambiance, I knew that the dining experience at Foreign Cinema would be different as their menu changes DAILY! The menu (even the smaller drink and wine list) has the specific date printed on it!

Fig wrapped in prosciutto - complimentary appetizer; a toast to the birthday girl; the busy kitchen area.

Picnic @ The Presidio, San Francisco

Well, now you know that we had bought all the earlier stuff from Whole Foods Market for our picnic at The Presidio. It was a cloudy day but we decided to still go ahead with it despite the drop in temperature.

Well, The Presidio itself is a park within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and within The Presidio itself is home to George Lucas' headquarters of Industrial Light and Magic and LucasArts. It was on George Lucas' 7 acre "Great Lawn" where we had on picnic - yes, it's open to the public! How nice of George! :o) But of course, there are security staff patrolling the grounds, so that things are kept orderly and proper. Nevertheless, mom and I were happy to have had the experience of not only visiting The Presidio but also picnicking in such a lovely area.

I was thrilled to see Yoda in the park! He's my favourite character from Star Wars

This time round though, Yoda was at "the office"! Hahaha....


The office was closed, being the weekend and all. We walked right up to the office to take a look inside, through the glass door ...


...and saw Darth Vader and Jango Fett! We fled from the scene, fearing for our lives! :p


We then reached the Great Lawn area ....

Picnic Prelude - Shopping @ Whole Foods Market, San Francisco

I was told that we would be going for a picnic (no, not the "picnic" we had in Sonoman County) on one of the weekends while I was vacationing in San Francisco. WHERE were we going? Let's get to that part later. So, what do we usually do to get ready for a picnic? Why, go shopping for food stuff of course....and off we went to Whole Foods Market. Yay! Not that we had a lot of food to get but I've always enjoyed visiting Whole Foods Market as it is always a nice experience.

Lovely city view from where we parked...can you see the TransAmerica building on the left?

Cheesey Pick Up Line :o)

Cold Cuts' Choice

Muir Woods National Monument, San Francisco USA - Weekend Tour

Well, it's back to USA this weekend and this time round, I'm posting up the pics I took when I visited Muir Woods (named after naturalist, John Muir). Muir Woods was declared a national monument by Theodore Roosevelt back in 1908! Click on the highlighted words to read more about it.

Ahh....the tranquility....






Apart from several species, the star attraction of Muir Woods are the Coast Redwood trees (also know as Sequoia), the tallest type of tree in the world! The tallest redwood tree in Muir Woods stands at 258 feet while it's been said that they can grow up to 380 feet tall with a diameter of 20 feet!

Klondike Bar

Merry Christmas everyone!....I guess some of us are nursing a hangover, having already celebrated and/or still celebrating the holidays till 2009 is over. I have been busy myself and finally got a chance to sit down long enough to blog.

While I haven't been drinking at the bar during this festive season, I love recalling my indulgence in this particular 'bar". This time, on one of my fave dessert when I was in San Francisco - THE Klondike Bar. This simple square vanilla ice cream coated with a lovely thick chocolate flavoured coating (now even with a thicker chocolatey shell is simply divine.

With nice, smooth and creamy vanilla ice-cream, biting into one of these Klondike Bar is a heavenly mouthful. There are several varieties like Heath, Krunch, Oreo, Reese's, Neapolitan to name a few, my favourite is still the Original Klondike Bar. At around USD2.50-4 (depending on which retail outlet and promotion) for a pack of 6, there's no reason not to pick up a pack (or two) whenever I'm visiting USA :o)





As their famous tagline goes -What would you do for a Klondike Bar??? :o)


HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

Things & Places Seen In San Francisco - Part 9B

Continuing with more photos I took at Marin Headlands, San Francisco. We made our way towards Point Bonita Lighthouse ...

As we made our way towards the lighthouse, I realised everything in the area is very well maintained and kept clean.


Finally, we caught sight of the lighthouse ahead

Things & Places Seen In San Francisco - Part 9A

One sunny day, we decided to head on out to Marin Headlands to do some serious walking and enjoy the sights at the same time. The place was beautiful, coupled with the great weather, I had a great time - getting a workout from all that walking and taking photos at the same time.

Enjoy the pics!

Before we reached Marin Headlands, we made pit stops along the way for me to take some photos ...

Light At The End Of The Tunnel


Pulled over by the side to enjoy the view


Arriving at Marin Headlands


Life is Good!