Sunday, October 28, 2007

While DIVING......Drink Some Water..

Peribahasa kita ada meyebut, sambil menyelam minum air.. makna nya mengambil kesempatan ketika membuat sesuatu pekerjaan yang lain. Agak2 macam tu la makna nya. Yesterday my husband was invited by the Malaysian Professional & Business Association (MPBA) to speak at a seminar in Crowne Plaza San Francisco. The current president, Haniza Zainal Abidin or Haniza Schlosser and her committee are very active in organising events under the 'umbrella' of MPBA. While he was there, I and my daughters with Carlos went round sightseeing Frisco or The City by the Bay. Carlos is very familiar with this area since he has been living in the US for almost 20 years and frequently goes crabbing in this part of the waters. Funny though, his Filipino 'twang' masih tak hilang...San Francisco is almost one hour drive north of San Jose and saturday traffic is not too bad. It is part of the much larger San Francisco Bay Area which is home to approx. 7.2 million people. The city is located on the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, with the Pacific Ocean to the west, the San Francisco Bay to the east, and the Golden Gate to the north. San Francisco is a popular international tourist destination renowned for its steep rolling hills which is also frequently used for film settings, especially scenes involving speedy car chases. The architecture is an eclectic mix of Victorian and modern...to me a bit of Mediterranean (Spanish) influence pun ada jugak. Famous landmarks and places to go see in San Francisco includes The Golden Gate Bridge of course, The Alcatraz Island, The cable cars, The Painted Ladies, Pier 39, The 'crooked street' and many more. The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge - literally means ' Jambatan Gantung' - suspended from cables anchored by towers at either end and supported by structures at regular intervals. It spans the Golden Gate, which is the opening into San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean and connects the city of San Francisco on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula to Marin County as part of US Highway 101 and California State Highway 1. The Golden Gate Bridge was completed in 1937 and has become an internationally recognized symbol of San Francisco and also....of the US. To note: The Penang Bridge is built using the cable-stayed technology of San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge. The Port of San Francisco was once the largest and busiest seaport on the west coast. But now its activities focused on developing waterside assets to support recreation and tourism. Pier 39 and the Fishermen's Wharf is the center of it all. San Francisco's Premier Bay Attraction, Pier 39 offers shopping, souvenier hunting, entertainment and dining. It also provides cruising facilities around the bay including to the island of Alcatraz. Once a federal maximum security prison, Alcatraz has housed notorious inmates such as Al Capone. Teringat pulak movie "The Rock" starring Nicholas Cage and Sean Connery. Cerita mengenai ex-military men taking over Alcatraz and threatened to launch rockets loaded with deadly nerve gas on San Francisco. Seronok!.. We were also fascinated by the antics of the California Sea Lions camped out in Pier 39's West Marina. These Pier 39's 'visitors' are typically males looking from the bump or 'crest' that males develop on their heads around 5 years of age. Grown males reach 850pounds and 7 feet in length whereas grown females can grow 300pounds and only 6 feet in length. The California Sea Lions started to make this marina their home shortly after the 1989 San Francisco earthquake and due to the plentiful herring supply and the protected environment their number multiplied. Given more time I would love to visit The Crooked Street or The Painted Ladies where the latter used to be the backdrop for the introduction to the sitcom The Full House - made popular in the 90s by the cute Olsen Twins, now celebrity entrepreneurs. There are still re-runs of the show even now! We had lunch at a quaint little Thai Halal Restaurant which serves 'huge' nasi goreng, Tom Yam and other mouth watering Thai dishes.. The street ( I forgot the name) that the restaurant is on, has several others from India, Pakistan and the Mediteranean serving halal food ...







4 comments:

RusminahAbuBakar said...

Jangan lupa bawak kami sekeluarga ke Frisco nanti masa weekend 1/2 Dec nanti...nak stay overnight ke atau day trip ke ..you suggest lah!! Factory outlet pun ade dekat2 situ kan on the way to Frisco from your house..Great Mall tu..

zidnee 'ilmaa said...

No problem..insya Allah..Buat apa nak stay overnite,dekat..tak puas, kita pergi lagi the next day! Outlet? Ok jer...I pun boleh tumpang shopping..he..he..

Anonymous said...

amboi..bestnya nak shopping2...by the way, its 'my daughters and i'..jadi tukang edit la pulak. nak create blog sendiri pun terkial2.. nak comment pun punya la dok bertagak2..

zidnee 'ilmaa said...

just playing around with words.. he..he..glad u noticed! Thanx..
senang jer nak buat blog..do click on Create Blog on the upper right hand side of Blogsini..also use the 'banners' or 'slides' if you wish..it's great fun!
ainal

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