Gutsy Ladies......

When friends come over, mana la lagi nak bawak melainkan ke San Francisco. Kat sana ada jambatan, laut, pelabuhan, jalan yang krekod - krekod ( orang utara cukup pandai adaptasi bahasa oghang putih 'crooked' jadi 'krekod' ), apa lagi ek? Beautiful architecture, cool lovely weather & roller coaster like roads - jalan turun naik dan menjunam macam roller coaster ! Budak-budak suka sangat but it's a strain on the 'minyak'. Dah la minyak mahal sekarang nie. Berlainan dengan the city of San Jose where there's nothing much to see - except for buildings & offices of famous internet & computer companies. San Jose is not really a touristy city - more for engineers & industrialists. Banyak lagi tempat - tempat di San Francisco tu yang menarik but by just visiting the Golden Gate Bridge, Crooked Street & Pier 39 pun dah cukup for you to spend a day there. Oh, jangan lupa the quaint little town of Sausolito which is at the end of the bridge. Kalau tak pergi sebelah sana, tak dapat la experience crossing the jambatan. Tak kan Penang Bridge jer yang kita nak lalu.., kan? Kalau tak nak jugak, then parking jer kereta kat sebelah San Francisco and jalan kaki melintasi besi buruk tuu.. Tak payah kita bayar tol... kalau nak berbasikal pun boleh. Another place to visit is the Island of Alcatraz - bekas penjara yang di buat jadi tourist attraction. Tempat yang di ceritakan dalam filem The Rock. Kalau nak ke sana kena naik ferry di Pier 33, which is just walking distance from Pier 39. Actually I haven't visited the island myself... peluang belum sampai. Lagi pun tambang ferry rasanya mahal la ... 24 dollar ! Kalau kali 5 dewasa dah berapa tuu... Cukup la dengan ambek gambar dari jauh jer. So, I don't really have anything to story about the place. However, my husband's colleagues who happen to be my friends also: Fauzimah, Zu, Lily and Shira (Zu's niece) dah sampai ke tempat tu.. Bukan saja ke Alcatraz... merata2 tempat di US dan beberapa negara lain dia orang dah sampai. Best betul ! Wanita2 srikandi ... he..he... jangan marah yer. Lesen Malaysia laku untuk beberapa bulan (not sure berapa) jadi bergilir2 la driving ... cool jer..... Kat sini harga sewa kereta masih berpatutan ... but make sure sewa sekali dengan GPS - Garmin or Tom-Tom, kami sekeluarga call it 'makcik'...sebab suara perempuan... dan dia akan bercakap macam 'berleter' whenever kita tersilap jalan... " re-calculating!.. in point 3 miles make a U - turn " Benda yang we can do without - must have ! - whenever travelling these days. Dulu2 kita bawa peta..

Ferry to Alcatraz and a few other places like under the Golden Gate Bridge and Pier 39...

Double click to enlarge image....

Between San Francisco and Sausolito.....

Between San Francisco and Sausolito ... lies the Golden
Gate which bridges the two cities together and provides a shorter route to the northern side of the San Francisco Bay. I don't know why, but Sausolito seems to be familiar ... macam dah pernah dengar or dah pernah baca.. maybe in one of the romantic novels I used to read when younger. It is a lovely, small town - quite romantic actually - with many art galleries and souvenier shops. So, when friends here wanted to take a trip there, we tagged along ! My children suka jalan ramai-ramai ... they say, lagi seronok. I guess dia orang dah naik boring tiap-tiap hari tengok muka masing2 jer.. :-)
No bridge toll going to Sausolito... however, kena toll fee of 5 dollars when crossing back to San Francisco. I hear they're going to increase the toll fee... sigh !
Parking lot in the middle of town is a convenient place to leave our cars and just walk around absorbing the view of Sausolito and of San Francisco right across. From there we could even take a ferry to tour the island of Alcatraz and Pier 39. But, the man balancing rocks at a spot along Main Street Sausolito fascinated us more ! Like magic .. once balanced nothing could move or blow away his creations. Rupa-rupa nya cina Indon...






Don't know how he does it... I suppose patience is key when doing his art...








Jina's handsome, youngest son Yunus wanted to see the bridge again and my handsome, eldest wanted to experience Lombard Street - The Crooked Street !




.. makan-makan kat Bang San, Thai Halal Food Cuisine. They have opened up another branch and this one is much bigger. There is also a small room for customers to perform solat...seronok rasa, tak payah nak solat duduk dalam kereta. I suppose it's common in most halal restaurants back home, but knowing a space is available in most halal restaurants here is just great !



... queuing at the Ghirardelli for a taste of their world famous ice cream !







Memories are for us to treasure...