Thought I would somewhat step away from the holiday blogging for a moment. Turns out I haven't blogged since I got to New Jersey (or at least, not about New Jersey). Perhaps there isn't much to blog about? Maybe it's too insanely hot for me to be bothered? And wait, didn't I just say I was going to step away from holiday blogging?
So. It was my Birthday on Sunday. Don't worry, you're not the only one who forgot! What did I get up to, I hear you asking.......Uhhhhmm... Nothing, really. It was too hot to do anything but lay under the fan and groan irritably. It was fun though. I carried out my yearly tradition of listening to, and manically posting the following song on every social networking site I use.
I don't know why, man, but this song reminds me of you Roadee. :)
I'm looking forward to going back to California.. Hold on, there's a song for that too....
Yeah, that's right.. Put any song to a video made of clips from Kingdom Hearts results in an instant winner!
What was .. oh yeah, California. I love that place. Or at least, I love San Francisco and the Bay Area, seeing as that's the only part I have seen (and the only part I care to see- well.. for the most part. I'm not particularly interested in visiting Southern Cali, it would be sorta cool to drive through Northern Cali.. One day, perhaps? Roadee, you in?). I want to visit Berkeley, as I am sure I've mentioned in a previous post. I think I'm going to New York City on Thursday for a few days. That'll be fun, I hope. - The I hope parts comes out of extraneous circumstances, not at all to do with the fact that it is New York. I'm sure NYC itself will be great. The #1 Vegan city in the world (San Francisco is #2 by the way, yeah!). I'm gonna go nuts.
In other news, there was a "Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction" marathon on the other day. I used to love watching that! They stopped showing it back in you-know-where, so I was like "wooooh, yeah!" and watched the whole of it. When it finished, it left me craving for more. Is it at all possible to purchase this series on DVD? I gotsta have it.
PS. 'Back to California' is by Sugarcult. Thought I'd throw that in.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
San Francisco Day #5
Really, this post should be called Oakland Day #1, seeing as that is where I went today and what this blog is going to be mostly about, but in the spirit of being consistent and the fact that groupings of 5 are supposed to be lucky (or something like that.. according to Japanese Zen or something but don't quote me on that because I don't fully recall).
I caught the BART from Powell station in downtown San Francisco to 12th Street in Oakland. It's basically a subway, and to get to East Bay, it goes under the bay. To be specific, it was the Pittsburgh/Baypoint line (I only mention this because I remember it hahaha). When I arrived in Oakland, I don't know, it wasn't quite what I expected (I by far don't mean that in a bad way). Though, I don't know what I expected, or of I expected anything at all. I had a few reasons as to why I wanted to go to Oakland. Perhaps the more obvious being that
the punk scene used to be great here back in the mid 80s-late 90s. Rancid, Green Day, The Matches, Operation Ivy to name a few, and I would almost say AFI, however I think they were from a little further north (I wanna say Eureka), but based in Berkeley... Don't quote me on that last part though. So yeah, I guess that was one reason for visiting the East Bay, but really, I was after some soul food... Souley Vegan, at Jack London Square in Oakland.. that's right, VEGAN soul food. I'm not joking, this place is amazing. The prices are more than reasonable, the food is exceptional and the staff are lovely. If you go here, I recommend the Southern Fried Tofu. It's like KFC, but waaaaaaay better. I had the Crispy Burger (which uses the above mentioned dish as the 'crispy' part). I also had it with a side of Mac'n'Cheese, and Cheesecake for dessert.
San Francisco Day #4
Day Four! Already? Really? No way.. I wish I had more time!
I walked to the Golden Gate Bridge today. In case you were wondering, YES it is a very long walk from downtown, and when you consider how many hills there are in San Francisco, how big these hills are and how steep they are... you're probably wondering whether I've gone mad.. And yes, I probably have. I could have caught the bus, but I wanted to actually take in the city, see places that well, as a cliche tourist, one wouldn't see. The San Francisco that makes San Francisco, San Francisco, so to speak. Conversely, I could have rented a bike and done the same thing (they have electric bikes-helps you get up those biiig hills!) but considering I haven't ridden a bike since I was 15, I didn't want to embarrass myself by failing miserably hahaha! I found myself in Nob Hill.
This is where the extremely luxurious hotels seem to be, as well as what seem to be some of the best houses/apartments. You can definitely tell that the people in this area are very different...Or maybe I was just delirious at this point from getting up all those hills! There were a few buildings here which I found difficult to distinguish between whether they were apartment buildings, boutique hotels or mansions.. (actually I think it was just one building).. It had a grand staircase leading to the front door and everything, but no signage to distinguish it as anything else but someones mansion. I was kinda in awe. That's not what that photo is though, that's just a house that I very much liked the look of. If I were rich, I would buy it, or something like it. But I'm not, so I took several photos of it. Might inspire a painting later on. 
On accident, I managed to once again stumble upon an AAU building- only this time one of the dormitories.. Ironically, this was the exact dorm I would have stayed in, and the fact that I found it by accident is either a sign, life slapping me in the face, or a sick coincidence. So be it. A little further up the street was a nice little park. Got a nice view of the city from up there, but you know what, I'm not going to post any of those photos on here for the same reason I restricted myself from posting more photos in the previous blog. I will probably write another blog a little while from not with a collection of what I think are some of the best photos I took while in San Francisco once enough time has passed for me to properly assess the photos I've taken and differentiate between the photos that actually look good and properly show the place, and the photos that kinda don't show anything but in my head I know what I wanted to get in it.
I ended up getting slightly lost in the Presidio (again another area for the super wealthy, at least that is t my understanding). Well, it's not that i got lost, it's that there were so many road closures (including sidewalks) around there, I had to take a huge detour and backtrack to find a road that took me around to where I needed to go to get to the bridge. There's a national park around there, with some of the biggest and most beautiful trees I have EVER seen.
So, anyway, after almost giving up, I managed to find the Promenade and
found my way to the bridge after all. It was incredibly gusty, crazily
so...and the closer you get to the bridge, the stronger (and colder!) the wind is. I, for a while, thought I wasn't going to be able to make it up that hill to get to the bridge, considering I had already been walking for about four or five hours, constantly climbing up and down hills trying to get there. Somehow, I don't know how exactly, but somehow I made it. It was definitely worth it. I cannot fathom how one would begin to build something so colossal, I was essentially awestruck. I walked across the bridge (It took approximately half an hour), to what I believe was Sausalito. 
There is supposed to be a ferry around there that you can catch back to San Francisco, but I couldn't figure out how to get to the dock (there's a bike trail but it looked as if it was closed to pedestrians...) So turns out I had to walk all the way back- however this time I endeavored to take the shorter route, as the scenic route had taken forever and I was crazy tired.. but for some reason I decided to go back somewhat via the Presidio again, what was a detour again but the scenery was lovely. Oh yeah, I should probably include a photo of me on the bridge, right? 
This is so unbelievably high up, it's scary. The wind is so gusty, and even though you know it is impossible to fall off this bridge unless it is by force, you still feel overly cautious of not wanting to get too close to the railings (or perhaps it's just me...) If you look to the other side of the bridge (the side looking toward the ocean, away from the bay) it was so foggy, it felt as if I was floating... It was out of this world. It was amazing. Incredible. At this point, I was out-if-this-world hungry. I had earlier decided I was going to eat dinner at either Alive (a raw vegan restaurant) or Loving Hut, but I couldn't be bothered trying to find exactly where they were (I mean I had the addresses and I knew where the streets were and how to get to them) but I was so hungry, I decided to walk to Herbivore again, because I had already been there and knew I would be able to find it again with no problems. But there was a problem. Walking up Divisadero from the Marine District... Is insane, that hill.. I don't know if it was huge because I was so tired or if it really was as huge as it seemed. I had to take breaks, because my legs were far too tired at this point. Seriously, this is one street where it certainly wouldn't hurt to install a cable car!!! Anyway, I made it to Herbivore, and I think I shall end this post with photos of what I are and a comment on how incredibly friendly the wait staff are.
Green Salad. I love their salad.
Ravioli.. It's been years since I have had ravioli... I recommend this dish, seriously.
Carrot juice. Oh, I love it.
Pie for dessert with a scoop of ice cream. No idea what pie this was.. I ordered Blueberry, turns out they were sold out, so I asked the waitress what she recommended and she said this one was her favourite.... I think she said lalaberry, but that can't be how you spell it! It was tasty though.. I also don't remember what ice cream it was, because again I went with her recommendation because I just couldn't choose, and well, it was good. NO, it was great.
I walked to the Golden Gate Bridge today. In case you were wondering, YES it is a very long walk from downtown, and when you consider how many hills there are in San Francisco, how big these hills are and how steep they are... you're probably wondering whether I've gone mad.. And yes, I probably have. I could have caught the bus, but I wanted to actually take in the city, see places that well, as a cliche tourist, one wouldn't see. The San Francisco that makes San Francisco, San Francisco, so to speak. Conversely, I could have rented a bike and done the same thing (they have electric bikes-helps you get up those biiig hills!) but considering I haven't ridden a bike since I was 15, I didn't want to embarrass myself by failing miserably hahaha! I found myself in Nob Hill.
This is where the extremely luxurious hotels seem to be, as well as what seem to be some of the best houses/apartments. You can definitely tell that the people in this area are very different...Or maybe I was just delirious at this point from getting up all those hills! There were a few buildings here which I found difficult to distinguish between whether they were apartment buildings, boutique hotels or mansions.. (actually I think it was just one building).. It had a grand staircase leading to the front door and everything, but no signage to distinguish it as anything else but someones mansion. I was kinda in awe. That's not what that photo is though, that's just a house that I very much liked the look of. If I were rich, I would buy it, or something like it. But I'm not, so I took several photos of it. Might inspire a painting later on. 
On accident, I managed to once again stumble upon an AAU building- only this time one of the dormitories.. Ironically, this was the exact dorm I would have stayed in, and the fact that I found it by accident is either a sign, life slapping me in the face, or a sick coincidence. So be it. A little further up the street was a nice little park. Got a nice view of the city from up there, but you know what, I'm not going to post any of those photos on here for the same reason I restricted myself from posting more photos in the previous blog. I will probably write another blog a little while from not with a collection of what I think are some of the best photos I took while in San Francisco once enough time has passed for me to properly assess the photos I've taken and differentiate between the photos that actually look good and properly show the place, and the photos that kinda don't show anything but in my head I know what I wanted to get in it.
I ended up getting slightly lost in the Presidio (again another area for the super wealthy, at least that is t my understanding). Well, it's not that i got lost, it's that there were so many road closures (including sidewalks) around there, I had to take a huge detour and backtrack to find a road that took me around to where I needed to go to get to the bridge. There's a national park around there, with some of the biggest and most beautiful trees I have EVER seen.So, anyway, after almost giving up, I managed to find the Promenade and
found my way to the bridge after all. It was incredibly gusty, crazily
so...and the closer you get to the bridge, the stronger (and colder!) the wind is. I, for a while, thought I wasn't going to be able to make it up that hill to get to the bridge, considering I had already been walking for about four or five hours, constantly climbing up and down hills trying to get there. Somehow, I don't know how exactly, but somehow I made it. It was definitely worth it. I cannot fathom how one would begin to build something so colossal, I was essentially awestruck. I walked across the bridge (It took approximately half an hour), to what I believe was Sausalito. 
There is supposed to be a ferry around there that you can catch back to San Francisco, but I couldn't figure out how to get to the dock (there's a bike trail but it looked as if it was closed to pedestrians...) So turns out I had to walk all the way back- however this time I endeavored to take the shorter route, as the scenic route had taken forever and I was crazy tired.. but for some reason I decided to go back somewhat via the Presidio again, what was a detour again but the scenery was lovely. Oh yeah, I should probably include a photo of me on the bridge, right? 
This is so unbelievably high up, it's scary. The wind is so gusty, and even though you know it is impossible to fall off this bridge unless it is by force, you still feel overly cautious of not wanting to get too close to the railings (or perhaps it's just me...) If you look to the other side of the bridge (the side looking toward the ocean, away from the bay) it was so foggy, it felt as if I was floating... It was out of this world. It was amazing. Incredible. At this point, I was out-if-this-world hungry. I had earlier decided I was going to eat dinner at either Alive (a raw vegan restaurant) or Loving Hut, but I couldn't be bothered trying to find exactly where they were (I mean I had the addresses and I knew where the streets were and how to get to them) but I was so hungry, I decided to walk to Herbivore again, because I had already been there and knew I would be able to find it again with no problems. But there was a problem. Walking up Divisadero from the Marine District... Is insane, that hill.. I don't know if it was huge because I was so tired or if it really was as huge as it seemed. I had to take breaks, because my legs were far too tired at this point. Seriously, this is one street where it certainly wouldn't hurt to install a cable car!!! Anyway, I made it to Herbivore, and I think I shall end this post with photos of what I are and a comment on how incredibly friendly the wait staff are.
Green Salad. I love their salad.
Ravioli.. It's been years since I have had ravioli... I recommend this dish, seriously.
Carrot juice. Oh, I love it.
Pie for dessert with a scoop of ice cream. No idea what pie this was.. I ordered Blueberry, turns out they were sold out, so I asked the waitress what she recommended and she said this one was her favourite.... I think she said lalaberry, but that can't be how you spell it! It was tasty though.. I also don't remember what ice cream it was, because again I went with her recommendation because I just couldn't choose, and well, it was good. NO, it was great.San Francisco Day #3
So, I was having issues with getting WiFi since I posted my last blog and consequently need to catch up on 3 days worth of blogging.. I could put it all in one blog, but it might be easier on the eyes to split them into three (Seriously, would you want to read one humongous blog, or three kinda big but maybe, hopefully, still bearable to read through...?)
Here goes...
Day #3
Today started out quite nicely. I think I had a kinda slow-ish start getting out today, but I went for a walk and found myself at Union Square, where I got a taste of San Franciscan style Animal Rights. Had a short chat with a local vegan. I am constantly being surprised with how nice people here are. I suppose I'm not used to genuinely friendly people. It's odd, I love it. I love the way the locals talk too.
Everyday I've been here, I've walked past one of these campuses at least once. There are so many, scattered throughout the city. This was, originally, the art school I wanted to go to, when I first found out about it 3 or so years ago. It was the place that made me think "you know what, I actually WANT to attend University", as opposed to feeling like I had to do it, and it wasn't long after I realised that Fine Arts is what I wanted to study (thank you to my 11th grade Art Teacher, Miss Kyriakides). As it happens, I am not attending this school. It's probably impossible, but a girl can dream, right? Kinda breaks my heart every time I see that logo though... and they have banners at nearly every street corner (or it seems that way).
Anyway...I ended walking up what might have been Stockton Street and eventually ran into another tourist, from Germany. Turns out she was heading for Fisherman's Wharf, as was I, so we walked there together for a while. Walked past what looked to be some kinda street fair or party of sort. I meant to go past it on the way back to see what it was, but I ended up walking back a different way, along the bay. Anyway. We got to Fisherman's Wharf, it was expectantly windy. I'm not sure if you can tell in the photo though. Saw the Sea Lions at Pier39, of which I wont include a photograph, because if I did that then I'd feel obligued to include several other photos which would just clog up this post and probably cause the page to load really slowly. The Sea Lions were sweet! Some of the were huge, and others were really small (pups!!!). I walked down Embarcadero and saw crowds and crowds of Sailors. I ended up walking a total of four hours today. It felt good, but was sort of a shock to the system, seeing as I've done very little walking since I got my Driver's License in November.
Here goes...
Day #3
Today started out quite nicely. I think I had a kinda slow-ish start getting out today, but I went for a walk and found myself at Union Square, where I got a taste of San Franciscan style Animal Rights. Had a short chat with a local vegan. I am constantly being surprised with how nice people here are. I suppose I'm not used to genuinely friendly people. It's odd, I love it. I love the way the locals talk too.
Everyday I've been here, I've walked past one of these campuses at least once. There are so many, scattered throughout the city. This was, originally, the art school I wanted to go to, when I first found out about it 3 or so years ago. It was the place that made me think "you know what, I actually WANT to attend University", as opposed to feeling like I had to do it, and it wasn't long after I realised that Fine Arts is what I wanted to study (thank you to my 11th grade Art Teacher, Miss Kyriakides). As it happens, I am not attending this school. It's probably impossible, but a girl can dream, right? Kinda breaks my heart every time I see that logo though... and they have banners at nearly every street corner (or it seems that way).
Anyway...I ended walking up what might have been Stockton Street and eventually ran into another tourist, from Germany. Turns out she was heading for Fisherman's Wharf, as was I, so we walked there together for a while. Walked past what looked to be some kinda street fair or party of sort. I meant to go past it on the way back to see what it was, but I ended up walking back a different way, along the bay. Anyway. We got to Fisherman's Wharf, it was expectantly windy. I'm not sure if you can tell in the photo though. Saw the Sea Lions at Pier39, of which I wont include a photograph, because if I did that then I'd feel obligued to include several other photos which would just clog up this post and probably cause the page to load really slowly. The Sea Lions were sweet! Some of the were huge, and others were really small (pups!!!). I walked down Embarcadero and saw crowds and crowds of Sailors. I ended up walking a total of four hours today. It felt good, but was sort of a shock to the system, seeing as I've done very little walking since I got my Driver's License in November.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
San Francisco Day #2
I slept for what could have been 13 hours, but now I think I have overcome my Jetlag. Only took one day. I'm also kinda not used to it still being bright outside after 8pm (it is currently 8.10- I realise the time stamp probably has Brisbane time), considering that in Brisbane it is dark by 6pm, no matter what time of the year.
I went for a walk to Market Street (again). Today, I saw no sign of Bucketman. I did, however, go into the Westfield. I have to say, this Westfield was much nicer than any of the ones I've been to in Australia-they're all far too sterile for my liking. This one had some kind of personality to it. I walked around for a while. I walked past one of those make-up stalls and for some reason decided to not just walk past to the guy working there who say 'hello' to me. Turns out, it's pretty good stuff, so I did actually buy some for a change, and it wasn't expensive either. From memory, I think his name was Giovanni. Nice guy, spoke to him for a while, then continued aimlessly walking around Westfield until I realised 'I'm not actually going to buy anything today...' and left. I then embarked on a long walk to Herbivore (a vegan restaurant) on Divisadero- I've heard the one there is better than the other two in the Bay Area. Here are some pictures I took while on my way there.
Needless to say, this was the best vegan restaurant I have ever been to (I'm also including vegetarian restaurants in this, actually..) and I've been to enough to know the difference between 'okay', 'good' and 'amazing'. This was amazing. Also the first Veg restaurant that I have been to that wasn't based on Asian cuisine. But that's not why it is my favourite. I took some time to take photos of my lovely meal, of which I ate FAR too much. Too bad I have unsteady hands today...
Mushroom sautee
Side Salad
Lasagne.. I couldn't even finish this, I was so full...and somehow I still managed to eat dessert!
AND for dessert... German Chocolate cake. Sascha, if you are reading this, you would love this cake...and the frosting..to die for!
Afterwards I walked back to the hotel (takes about an hour) and on the way went into Walgreens for no reason at all.
I went for a walk to Market Street (again). Today, I saw no sign of Bucketman. I did, however, go into the Westfield. I have to say, this Westfield was much nicer than any of the ones I've been to in Australia-they're all far too sterile for my liking. This one had some kind of personality to it. I walked around for a while. I walked past one of those make-up stalls and for some reason decided to not just walk past to the guy working there who say 'hello' to me. Turns out, it's pretty good stuff, so I did actually buy some for a change, and it wasn't expensive either. From memory, I think his name was Giovanni. Nice guy, spoke to him for a while, then continued aimlessly walking around Westfield until I realised 'I'm not actually going to buy anything today...' and left. I then embarked on a long walk to Herbivore (a vegan restaurant) on Divisadero- I've heard the one there is better than the other two in the Bay Area. Here are some pictures I took while on my way there.
Needless to say, this was the best vegan restaurant I have ever been to (I'm also including vegetarian restaurants in this, actually..) and I've been to enough to know the difference between 'okay', 'good' and 'amazing'. This was amazing. Also the first Veg restaurant that I have been to that wasn't based on Asian cuisine. But that's not why it is my favourite. I took some time to take photos of my lovely meal, of which I ate FAR too much. Too bad I have unsteady hands today...
Mushroom sautee
Side Salad
Lasagne.. I couldn't even finish this, I was so full...and somehow I still managed to eat dessert!
AND for dessert... German Chocolate cake. Sascha, if you are reading this, you would love this cake...and the frosting..to die for!
Afterwards I walked back to the hotel (takes about an hour) and on the way went into Walgreens for no reason at all.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
San Francisco Day #1
Ahh, the city by the bay. How long have I longed to visit you? I arrived this morning, after several mess-ups with flights, etc (Thanks, Delta...)It was a major pain, but nonetheless, I got there in the end and that's what counts! Although, I didn't appreciate being charged an extra $90 for 'overweight' at LAX when checking into my domestic flight.. Seriously? I just got off of an international flight... you'd think they'd take that into consideration. And you know what, I'm not even going to go into that. Who cares. I'm here. It's awesome. I'm awesome.. I could end this post right there, agreed?
Hahaha.. I haven't done much sight-seeing yet. I did enjoy the taxi-ride to the hotel though. I went for a walk that lasted perhaps an hour and a half, then came back. While on my walk, on the corner of Market and 4th street, I saw what was possibly the coolest thing ever seen. Which made me think, someone else must have found it cool too...
I'm thinking that tomorrow, I'll do some of those cliche tourist things... Who knows, I'll see how it folds out. All I know is that before I leave, I need to have visited at least two of the vegan restaurants I've been looking at online since forever. I'll leave it at that for now.
Hahaha.. I haven't done much sight-seeing yet. I did enjoy the taxi-ride to the hotel though. I went for a walk that lasted perhaps an hour and a half, then came back. While on my walk, on the corner of Market and 4th street, I saw what was possibly the coolest thing ever seen. Which made me think, someone else must have found it cool too...
I'm thinking that tomorrow, I'll do some of those cliche tourist things... Who knows, I'll see how it folds out. All I know is that before I leave, I need to have visited at least two of the vegan restaurants I've been looking at online since forever. I'll leave it at that for now.
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