Destinations USA 08 - DAY 9 / 10 /11 - The Journey Home

On to the final post for the trip...

At San Francisco's Airport (Day 9):


Our gate:


Our flight was SQ 001, and the first flight of 2009 to boot, flying off at 0005 Hrs on 01 Jan 09 (Day 10).

Cos of that, we got a special gift of chocolates:


From San Francisco, we flew across the Pacific to our transit stop in Hong Kong. Unfortunately for us, flying back across the International Date Line meant that our New Year's Day was approximatly only 4 Hrs long...

We reached Hong Kong on Day 11.

Transiting in Hong Kong:


Our Plane in Hong Kong:


From Hong Kong, we flew back to Singapore, and were home...

Our plane at Changi Airport:


Immigration:


The End.

Finally finished posting the "Photo Journal" of the US Trip... 3 months late...

Destinations USA 08 - DAY 9 - San Francisco

Continuing on again...

Day 9 started out foggy. The view out of the hotel during breakfast:


Sidetracking a little, I would like to "Showcase" the nice hotel that we stayed in:


Why I liked this hotel? Cos it has:

(1) Free internet access


(2) Flat screen TV with quite a number of channels


(3) A very nice toilet :)


Of course, it has a nice bed and such too...

Okay, back to the actual point of the post:

After breakfast, we left our hotel, walking to the nearest tram stop.(Or rather known asSan Francisco's famous cable cars)

Walking along foggy streets:


To take the cable car:


On the cable car (It's very crowded. Squeezy, but quite fun.):


We were taking the cable car to the new fisherman's wharf. Along the way, more foggy streets...


After alighting, we walked a short distance to:


Seagull!


The view on a foggy day?



We then took a cable car back, through still foggy streets...


...and went for a spot of shopping. (No, I didn't manage to buy anything.)

After shopping, we had our San Francisco "city tour".

First, a statue, if I'm not mistaken, of the people who made the city what it was:


Next, a photo of their city hall:


For the central part of the city, the fog had cleared off. But for the next place we went to. The fog remained, thick as ever.

What's the next place?

This:


The Golden Gate Bridge. Or a least, the part which we could see through the fog.

I walked onto the bridge a little to get a closer look...



After that, our tour coach took us across the Bridge and back...


View of the ocean while we were travelling across the bridge:


From the Golden Gate Bridge, we travelled back to Fisherman's Wharf to take a bay cruise around the bay.

The boat:


A seagull on the boat:


Sailing into the bay, one is able to see exactly how foggy the day is:



We sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge:




Made a U-turn back:


Then we sailed past Alcatraz Island...

Looming out from the fog:


Coming closer:


Passing by:



Then we sailed back to the city, which remained shrouded in fog...


Returning to Fisherman's Wharf, we had seafood for dinner.



There was also loads of other fresh seafood around:


After dinner, we had a little time to walked around a bit, but then it was time to head to the airport...

The last bit (mainly the journey back) will be continued in the next post.

Destinations USA 08 - DAY 8 - From Las Vegas to San Francisco

Continuing on...

Waking up before dawn:


We had to wake early on this day, as we had a domestic flight to catch.

We left our hotel in Las Vegas in the morning, and headed for the city's airport, which wasn't far.

Passing by the MGM Grand:


The airport only served one airline: Southwest Airlines.


Talk about absolute monopoly...

As the airport was very close to the city, we could see parts of the strip even when we were sitting in the plane, waiting for take off:


Our flight was just under 2 Hrs, to the city of San Jose, from which we would travel by coach to San Francisco.

When our plane approached San Jose to land, we saw that the entire area was shrouded in a thick layer of fog:


It looks really mysterious from above...

From below, it just looks wet and grey.

From the airport, the coach brought us along the Pacific coast (first sight of the ocean)...


...to Montery Bay (or harbour), where the old fisherman's wharf was located.


We saw some seagulls...


...and had our lunch:



At the restaurant, we had clam chowder, which tasted wonderful.


(Note the fact that I do not like clams, or any other shellfish, for that matter.)

They also had some of the best seafood...



After lunch, we headed to Cannery Row:


...which had more seagulls:


...and chocolate :)


After buying loads of chocolate and taking more photos of seagulls, we headed to the 17 mile drive, which was a scenic drive along the coastline.


We stopped a several points for photos...

(Seal Rock)


(Lone Cypress)



We caught the last bits of sunset at the Lone Cypress, and the colours of the sky were really beautiful.

From the Lone Cypress, we headed to Pebble Bay, which was a world famous golf resort, for a toilet break and souvenirs.

(Night has fallen...)


From Pebble Bay, it was a long drive all the way to San Francisco, where we arrived in the night.

To be continued...