Take a breather

I finally know what living out of a suitcase feels like. At least I have not pack or unpack my suitcase for the past month, and the next coming 2 months. So this is how "youth" and "travelling the world" and "seeing beyond the horizon" feels like.

I enjoy travelling a lot. Well, it sucks big time when you're travelling alone, but still nonetheless much better than staying at home doing nothing (except recently I have been playing Final Fantasy non-stop -- still counts as doing nothing). But there are big perks too. Its much easier to leech accommodations off friends, there is the flexibility of "not having to mood" to go somewhere, and the option of being cheapo and use public transport.

Lets take a step back and take a deep breath into my hectic travelling schedule for the next month or more. I'm leaving for Chicago tomorrow, and going to Cleveland on the 11th, in which I am catching a bus to Akron, and back to Philadelphia on the 12th. Then on the 14th, I'm off to Boston, only to be back in DC on Friday the 16th, and back in Boston on the Saturday after that (blame the lousy interview planner in me). Then on the 21st, I'll be back in Philadelphia, heading to New York 2 days later, coming back to Philadelphia again, then to DC for another 2 days, and then back to Philadelphia. Not to mention more upcoming trips to Baltimore the following week, and another New York stopover, and another flight to Chicago to catch. Owh, and then there is New Jersey too how did I forget that.

Yeapz, that is my next 2 months in a nutshell. I feel the stress already. But that also means more beautiful places to see, more people to meet, and more pictures to capture the moments.

Anyways, couple more picture to finish of my SF trip. I know, it is finally ending. Must be so tired of seeing SF and SF and SF on my blog over and over again.

Here's a face this blog hasn't seen for a while. 

The view of SF.

One of our Jefferson faculty was kind enough to invite all Jefferson faculty and students to join him on a sunset cruise. B-E-S-T C-R-U-I-S-E E-V-E-R !-!-!  You soon see why. The view is amazing. 

I have a thing for sails and boats.

The starting part of the sunset. With the Golden gate bridge.

I swear this is not a postcard. Isn't it breathtakingly amazing?

With a little photoediting.

The red bridge again.

Ahhhhhhh finally a picture together.

I love the sunset.

And courtesy to Mr Fong who had a poster to present during the conference. Otherwise I probably won't be having this trip.

Last but not the least, a Japanese sushi place with boats on water carrying sushi instead of the regular conveyor belt. Cute!

Thats the end of my SF story!

Wine Wine Wine

Napa Valley was a sight indeed. Had the opportunity to visit the amazing winery valley, although I am not a big wine person. But the beautiful scenery is definitely a good enough excuse to drop by, especially when I have such lovely hosts offering me a ride there! Big thank to Frankie and Felicia

Wines left to age for hundreds of years!

The view there is definitely breathtaking. Got a lot of pictures up for show.

This room was used to film "Bedtime Story" the moving starring Adam Sandler.

The Wine Cellar.

Kinda lazy to blog with words this time. =) Stay tune.

Never Ending. . . . . . . . .

I do not know why I have so many pictures yet to be posted on my San Francisco trip. It seems like I went crazy with picture taking within that 5 days. And I am too lazy to slowly crop them nicely and post it all at once, hence I am staggering the pictures. Come to think about it, it was a month ago when I was there. And here I am, still posting crazy loads of pics. Lolz.

Bear with me. The nicest of all picture is still not up.

If any of you have watched the movie "The Rock", or has a boyfriend like mine who absolutely loves the show and made you watch it 3 times with him, or have extremely good general knowledge about prisons, you would have heard about the famous "Alcatraz". (Trust me, I never heard of it until I watch the movie). It is a deadly island, a land that is not suitable for plantations, and suffers extreme weathers, and is surrounded by deadly waves crashing into the rocks. Hence, a perfect place for a prison. 

The view from Alcatraz island.

All I knew about this island was that is has a prison in which noone EVER in the history of mankind had escaped from it successfully. Many attempted and either died in the process, or disappeared. Well long time ago, this island used to be San Francisco's fort because of its strategic location. They held slaves and prisoners during war times, and realize that this island was perfect for a prison, and hence built one.

How do I know all these? Because they have an award winning audio tour to accompany you throughout you visit. Which was pretty good. It forces you to spend a good one and half hour walking around the story lanes of gruesome incidents in the prison, which decorated cells to show. 

Bars give me chills. Prison bars. 

More touring around the city after that. The cable car was pretty scary as I kept thinking the cars passing by will chop my hands off. I need those for a living. 

@ Union Square. My hotel was just next to this beautiful plaza.  

Another postcard shot of SF. The night view from above! (Not the last of pics yet lolz, more to come)

More of SF!

Isn't San Francisco at night amazingly beautiful? Although not a city with tall sky scrapers like New York, this city has enough lights in the city to bright up the west coast sky.

I was very fortunate to have a friend with a car to drive me around to take beautiful pictures and savour yummy food. Had a chance to eat at a Hong Kong cafe (virtually non-existent in Philadelphia). Good ol' asian delights warm my stomach. Can't wait for my trip back to Malaysia. 

My night in SF was usually interrupted by a little cute fluffy Tofu.

Looks exactly like a fluffy Tofu. I am so gonna get a Pomeranian when I start working. My goal!

Lady bug stuck on the car window. 

The next day (Day 2) we took the ferry into the city (because parking in the city will empty your wallet in 2 seconds). If you google SF's map, Felicia live outside of SF, and to get to SF you need to cross a river (hence the bridges). So we took the ferry instead. 

Pictures from the ferry.

We stopped by the Fisherman's Wharf, and stroll along the bay for a while. The boats the yatches oh man this is heaven! And there was even a seal section.

We ended up having yummy yummy crab chowder and crab, but it was expensive though. Haha.

One more picture of my host! Felicia!