17th August - San Francisco

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Woke up at about 8:30am and went downstairs for Starbucks coffee as they were located to the side of the hotel lobby. Louis was being taken by his relatives again and asked me to come along but I declined. Decided to go check out the sights and my first activity for the day was to catch the Cable Car to Fishermen's wharf. Cable car ride was enjoyable and I quickly came to the realisation that SF is a very hilly city. There were heaps of people hanging around Lombard street at the most crookedest street spot. Fishermen's wharf is pretty cool, an entertainment area along the numerous piers. I then hopped onto a 1hr sight seeing cruise which took me out to the Golden Gate bridge. We went underneath it before doubling back and going close to Alcatraz. Thankfully there was no fog today and I had a good view of everything.

After the cruise I ventured over to Pier 45 where seafood vendors were selling fresh seafood with standing benches to eat off. I had to do the whole local experience thing, bought a whole boiled dungeoness crab and proceeded to eat it on the spot. It was messy but enjoyed it immensely. The crab was fresh and juicy and to finish off my meal I got some fried calamari and chips and almost got my meal stolen by some pretty aggressive seagulls. Decided to walk off my indulgent lunch by climbing up Lombard street to see the crookedest street and I have to say - that is one steep road! Ventured back down to the Cable Car stop and hopped back on to get myself to Chinatown. I quickly learnt Chinatown is very large and there are quite a few hills to navigate. Did some exploring before going back to the hotel for a rest - had been a pretty busy day. Walked back out after dark and went to the Westfields food court and had some awesome korean dish with grilled chicken, rice and potato starch noodles. To finish off my night, I spent a few hours at the acclaimed Crazy Horse club which is definitely different to any other such establishment I have frequented previously.

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