Day In Brief:	Fisherman's Wharf	Pier 39
�	Ghiradelli Square	FAO Schwarz in Union Square

"Woke up kind of late today...well..but guess that's what a holiday is all about. Waking up as and when u like, going out for a good time and sleeping only when u feel like it ;p After everyone was ready, we took trolley no. 4 from a stop along Market Street down to Pier 39. Our initial plan was to go to Alcatraz Island i.e. the Rock. However, as tickets for the day tours for today and tomorrow had been sold out, we had to be contented with a guided night tour of Alcatraz on the following day."

Pier 39 "Found Pier 39 to be a rather touristy area with the usual lot of souvenir shops. What intrigued me most was the number of eateries selling sourdough and clam chowder, which according to what I've read, is the original concoction of Boudin in San Francisco."

Presenting to u the Stars of Pier 39-- Sealions! Credits for this photo goes to JKhoo

Had an extremely enjoyable time looking at the seals and sea lions at Pier 39. I was quite surprised to see the large number of seals lazing on the floating platform, frolicking in the surrounding icy waters and basically having a good time, while the rest of us were shivering as the strong winds blew while we were walking.

The weather was generally cold and windy today, partly because we were at the pier which does not have much shelter from winds blowing in from the open sea. Walking along the pier was no doubt an enjoyable but yet ardous experience due to the cold winds which I found really unbearable, having spent most of my 21 years in sunny Singapore :p Despite having my windbreaker on, normal walking was unable to generate sufficient body heat to warm me up.....;)

No....this is not a bad hair day... Just trying to show how strong the winds were! ;p

Fisherman's Wharf We finally got down to having breakfast at one of the eateries in Per 39 itself ;) Following which, we took a walk down to Fisherman's Wharf which is only a few piers away. Liked the sight of the many sea gulls flying around the area, the 4 of us made some attempts to take a shot of us with the seagulls in the background, but to no avail :p Had quite nice time walking and shopping round the shops, looking at the souvenirs and trying on a few things here and there..i.e. typical tourist behavior..haha. Also, such kind of shopping provided excellent refuge against the cold winds that kept on blowing outside ;p Although the weather felt cold, the sunlight was strong enough to get me sun burnt by the end of the day ;0

Lombard Street and Ghiradelli Square

Went on to Lombard street next, to see the "crookest street in the whole of SF". It took us a long time to climb to the top, but the view of the bay area, Alcatraz and parts of SF was well worth the strenous walk! Proceeded on to Ghiradelli Square next for more sight-seeing and shopping, since it was not too far from Lombard Street. Had the opportunity to try a little of the sourdough and clam chowder at a branch of Boudin's in a small cafe, liked the taste of the clam chowder, but I guess I can't really appreciate the taste of sourdough. Everyone was kind of tired from all the walking, so we took a nice break sitting outside the cafe, chit-chatting, crapping away, having some fun, with the glorious view of the bay area shimmering under the sunlight just behind us, simply beautiful :)

Dessert time next! Apparently, Ghiradelli Square used to be a chocolate factory, so we decided to go back for some sweet stuff. :) As C and I were still feeling cold by then, we went for hot mocha and hot chocolate, while the guys, having been used to cold weather, tucked into ice-cream instead ;p

FAO Schwarz in Union Square

"Thereafter, we decided to call it a day and head back to the Civic Centre on foot! Had my first experience of putting what I've learnt in map-reading to practice. Learnt quite a bit from the guys on how to orientate myself in order to utilise the map in the very first place ;) Thank goodness, the route was not too difficult, with only two turns along the way. As the route back was long, it took us through Chinatown once more, Chinatown at this time was definitely much more "awake" and noiser than the one that we saw last night while trying to find dinner. Popped into a big toy shop located in a street adjacent to market street, found the toys there rather interesting, but the prices were kind of steep compared to those in Singapore. Well...that's exchange differences for u...."

An interesting review on San Francisco

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