My 1st USA trip: Harlo,San Francisco!!! part 3

A FULL-ON DAY

Lots of

walking, snapping and enjoying

what SAN Francisco can Offer!!!

Although not the best weather for the day, 

no foggy morning

but being able to see the FULL Golden Gate Bridge

is just like a little dream came true

Fort point

My 1st USA trip: Harlo,San Francisco!!! part 2

San Francisco

One of the obvious differences between the cities I have been to e.g Australian cities

is the way the residential units are designed

Much like what I saw in the TV dramas like "Friends" sitcom, 

They are colourful with its own unique character 

and 

consist of stairways outside each apartments

My 1st USA trip: Harlo,San Francisco!!! part 1

Hello San Francisco!!!

One of the most talk about and famous city in the USA.

Today, San Francisco is one of the top tourist destinations in the world, ranking 35th out of the 100 most visited cities worldwide.

Landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, Alcatraz Island and its former prison, and its Chinatown.

With a tight flight schedule, I got to San Francisco late at night,

caught the Muni train to the city.

The San Francisco Municipal Railway, known as Muni, is the primary public transit system of San Francisco.

I must admit walking in a city that is totally stranger to u at night is kinda scary

especially when I picked the shortcuts to cut through the city via side roads and back alleys. 

Didn't realized the downtown can be a totally different scene at night 

with all the poor, drunks and homeless seeking shelter at walkways, in front of the shop entrance, etc.

I don't know what got into me to persist through, luckily I got to my backpacker hostel safely, haha.

Oh well, there's always a first time.

With my limited time, 

I visited the fisherman's wharf right after I settled in

The wharf was surprisingly quiet and many shops have shut

But I can sense that this place can be the opposite at daylight and evening.

Walked pass this restaurant and heard JAZZ!!! 

I really wanted to go in and watch the live jazz which is what the blacks are famous for!!! 

But price-wise and time-wise (it's closing).....hmmm 

My 1st USA trip: Stanford University

I'm here @
Stanford University!!!

One of the most prestigious university in the world.

Ranked World no. 2 among all the universities!!!

Founded in 1891 by railway tycoon Leland Stanford in remembrance of his son, who died aged 16, Stanford is said to be, after Harvard, the US' most selective university, accepting around 7 per cent of applicants. Its alumni founded corporate giants including Hewlett-Packard and Google. The world's third-richest university, it teaches about 7,000 undergraduate and around 4,000 graduate students.

One thing I like bout the uni is it's close proximity between buildings

Some species of redwood trees

My 1st USA trip: The Grand Canyon

When I knew I had the approval to go to the Keystone symposium, I have been planning madly how to squeeze in some sightseeing around. At Keystone, I was supposed to follow a tour to see the amazing intercontinental divide but that didn't happened due to some miscommunication. 

In the end, I managed to squeeze in Flagstaff + Grand Canyon for a weekend trip. Of course, I was greedy and hoped for more, but oh well...there's just so much time!!! A lot of hard work + research had gone into this to make it happen. I even joined Couch surfing group to try to get free beds, haha which workout fine. 

I did not stay behind for the last free & easy day of the conference and opted to fly out straight from Denver to Flagstaff (3-4 hrs from Grand canyon south rim). But it's just so hard to match all the connecting transportation, which ended up I missed the last public van to Grand canyon the same day I touched down (just minutes away??!!). 

I was pretty stubborn and persist that maybe I can hitch hike though it's forbidden in US law. And in fact I did had that prepared as my last option and done my research. Caught a cab to one of the nearest petrol station and tried my luck. However, hitch-hiking prove to be pretty hard when u are out of luck. It was approaching evening too, so everyone was heading home. Those I met at the petrol station if any just came down from Grand canyon and heading further south. One even offered US$100 to take me up there, but no way, the public van only cost 30$, I'm not that desperate, haha.