Keep it real... & ...Keep it here..: Trip to San Francisco... with Rose's family

We're back in San Francisco again, but this time with Rose's family. I browsed the internet for sight seeing in San Francisco and I came up with amongst others, Pier 39 & Fishermen's Wharf, The Golden Gate Bridge - Chrissy Fields & Battery East Park, Lombard Street, Twin Peaks - the highest point in SF, Alamo Square - where 'The Painted Ladies' sit in a row and boat cruise to The Alcatraz & Angel Island. Since it's a one-day affair we just managed to visit the sites

that my daughters and I visited earlier and those that are within reach. Of course we did not take the cruise as it would take us at least half a day on the boat. And we also couldn't find The Painted Ladies - a row of Victorian style houses which are made famous by the sitcom Full House, even though we use the GPS - which we call 'mak cik'. She can be annoying at times when we missed a turn and she is forced to 're-calculate'. Well, maybe next time. Our first stop was Pier 39...like I

had mentioned before, it's a place for souveniers and photo taking of The Golden Gate, The Bay Bridge and Alcatraz in the background... and not forgetting the sea lions.
Muzakkir, anak bujang Rose who has begun mellow-ing with us by now... at Magnetron - The House of Magnets
As Christmas is approaching,

Pier 39 pun tak ketinggalan with its Christmas and holiday decorations. A big tree with wrapped up boxes underneath, - presents lookalike - is spotted at the entrance. The potted plants are shaped into deers, elephants and other animals. I believe most of the shopping malls in KL dah meriah by now...kadang2 tu perhiasan untuk Hari Natal lagi sakan pulak daripada Hari Raya. Sebesar2 nya pokok kat

Center Court di Mega Mall, Mid Valley tu! Jangan segan2 ambil presents kat situ kalau Santa Clauss 'mata sepet' or 'kulit gelap' offer.. They say celebration nie its all in the giving.. so ambil, jangan tak ambil. After all, semua nya datang from the money we shopped there. Staff Telekom, Tenaga & RTM.... he..he... I am not being sarcastic, but its the truth, right? .. :) Picture of us sederet, getting the background of The Golden Gate in the far distance... at Pier 39.

Sohaimi's and Rahim's girls fooling around...at Pier 39.

Masing2 tunjuk gaya, oblivious of those around them! Tak kisah dengan orang sekeliling... & orang pun tak kisah dengan kita.. :)

Our next stop, after missing a few turns was an area somewhere below San Francisco Bridge. A place known as Chrissy Fields, where many jog, picnic and

even fishing or crabbing. But that day seemed to be extra cold and windier. We tried to open up our picnic stuff on one of the picnic tables but gave up... sebab semua kesejuuuukan!! So we ended up eating in the car instead. You might say why take all the trouble, pergi jer la Mc D or any restaurants. Well, its fun this way! There's always plenty of food and, I think the children will never forget the memories of eating with jari-jari bekuu...

The jetty in the pictures on the right are used for fishing and crabbing as told by Carlos during our first trip here with him.

Next stop was Battery East Park or the Golden Gate Park. Full of tourists ...everybody was trying to get the best angle of the bridge. There is even a Japanese Tea Garden somewhere nearby but we were pressed for time so we opted that out.

The bridge has got pedestrian walkway if one feels like walking across to the other side. I even saw couples pushing strollers just to get the feel of the iron structure and the water underneath. There is no toll charged for pedestrians but automobiles will have to pay the bridge toll of 7 dollars on the way back. Our GPS - 'mak cik' can be very usefull at times of total lost. Just punch in Muslim Community Center or Masjid and she will direct you to the

nearest one. Alhamdulillah, at the time of our arrival Bro. Abdul Rahim, the caretaker and bilal was about to open up the door to the MCC at 850, Divisadero Street. The African-American has been a Muslim since 1965, and he was so excited to be imam-ed by my husband for the Asar prayers. On Sunday mornings the center is being used for Arabic classes. It's good to know that the place is being made full use of. Being right in the middle of the city, the rental must be exorbitant! Abdul Rahim

says that there are many who travel, musafir like us stop by the center to pray. He has met many Muslims from around the world. Too bad we did not have a chance to meet the jema'ah there. He also provided us with a list of Masjids around Western States of US... those that are in California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Huih.. banyaak! In San Francisco itself there are 6 Masjids.
Seen on the right is Rose talking to Abdul Rahim, the caretaker and Bilal of the

Muslim Community Center, San Francisco...
Lombard Street or the Crooked Street was our next destination. Cari punya cari, tiba2 sampai jer to that unique street which slopes at an angle of at least 45 degrees! Turning & winding downhill, our car was filled with oohs and aahs made by Anis, Atiqah & Nisya. They are also excited whenever we went down the sharp slopes of San Francisco streets. Rasa macam roller coaster pulak!! The sides of Lombard Street are flanked

with beautiful homes and if put up for sale, those houses must be fetching millions! If you want to see downtown San Francisco at a higher elevation then Twin Peaks is the spot to be at. The structure in picture below is not an information booth as I first thought, it's actually a public toilet! The door opens whenever a quarter is inserted. Convenient indeed, since there are no other buildings there! .