Viva Las Vegas!

Initially we only intended to spend our vacation in SF but happens one day when I was surfing and somehow clicked on one of the tourist sites which leads me to South West airline promotion. A return trip to LV from SF costs only usd100! include tax somemore, where to get right, so I quickly booked it!

If I were to take a bus from SF to LV, it takes like 10hours, if train I need to change somewhere and it didnt occur to me that I could fly to LV at such a cheap fare.





























View from my hotel room, stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacation. Lesson to be learn about hotels in LV, they are usually quite cheap cos they want you to spend at the casino. I didnt know so after I booked the Hilton, then happen to talk to my colleague and he said I should have stayed in one of those casino hotels. I did a check and those nice casino hotels really cos cheaper than the one that I've booked :( Didn't do my homework properly, cos I assume that hotels are all expensive here.

Here you see the many adverts on the various performance, concerts, shows you can catch:




















Elton John, Celine Dion performing at Caesar's Palce















Toni Braxton at the Flamingo, not a good shot, kena blocked by one building but have to take it , didnt know she has such a nice figure :)




















Ooh-la-la, no, this is not Toni Braxton's backview :)




















Cirque Du Soleil at Bellagio

Another ooh-la-la show at the Tropicana.

We didn't catch any of the show, too pricey lah and time were quite limited as we only have 3D2N in LV. Spent rest of the time relaxing, walking, enjoying all the nice casino views that LV has to offer.

Downtown

We spent the next day walking around the town, taking in the sights.

San Francisco is known for its hilly roads. We spent almost half of the day on foot, up the hill, down the valley , it helps when it's windy and the weather is not humid.
















Didn't take the famed cable car cos the queue is so so long, packed with tourists so usually we just commute by bus or their trolley. Cable car not cheap usd5 per ride but it brings you from Fisherman Wharf to Union Square, their Orchard Road, all the shopping malls are there.





























This is Lombard Street, the world's crookiest street. If you take a closer look, you can send the many bends the cars have to navigate through.




















You see the Tower up there? That's the Coit Tower, you can't miss it from the SF skyline. If the name sounds familiar, yes Swensen restaurant actually got one ice cream named Coit Tower too! By the way, if you want to go up to get a good view, trust me, save your $. We paid to go up, not cheap hor, and the view is obstructed by those plastic panels, can't take any nice shots at all















I took this at the top of the hill, bottom of Coit Tower, nice place to see the sunset.

Yosemite

Yosemite - pronounced as "Yeo-si-mee-teh". Luckily didnt malu myself, cos I actually thought it is to be read as "Yeos-might", don't laugh :)

I didn't want to drive cos don't feel confident driving in a foreign land so no choice have to take the local tour. Beware though, it's a 14 hours day tour, paid usd125 per pax, excluding tips. In USA, when you dine at restaurant, day tour etc all have to give tips so alot of hidden costs.

Yosemite is one of the natural wonders of the world so since come all the way to San Frans didnt want to miss it.

Most of the tour to Yosemite end in October cos nearing to Nov and Dec, there are snows so usually they don't conduct tours during this period. We were there early Nov and luckily found one operator that still run this tour.

The coach bus (big one, got toilet inside type) came to pick us up at our hotel at about 7am. I counted, including us, there were like 15 people. We cross the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge at sunrise. We stopped for refreshment at around 9.30am and reached Yosemite at about 11am. Yes 4 hours there , and a dreadful 4 hours back.

We have until 4pm to wander around, the sights were just magnificent! All so picturesque and you don't need a special camera to take postcards kind of pictures!

Sausalito

Sausalito is a nice quaint little town, about an hour ferry ride from Fisherman Wharf. It's like going to Pulau Ubin from Changi :)

If you are more time and have the energy, you can also cycle there, not sure how long it takes but Sausalito is just on the other side of the Golden Gate bridge. You can also opt for a ferry and cycle combo but we chose the 2 way ferry instead.















Sausalito has art galleries, cafes, souvenir shops and waterfront restaurants where you can see San Francisco from across the bay.































We also took a bus ride to the area just next to Golden Gate bridge. Here, you can a very nice view of the bay and a close up view of the bridge.

San Francisco Day 1 & 2

I am back 2 weeks from my vacation in San Francisco but have yet to update my blog. The hotels that I stayed does not come with free internet access and I didnt bring my laptop along so have to refresh my memory now. Hopefully the pictures will help :)

The flight bounded for SF was about 15hours with an hour transit at Seoul. It was a pleasant surprise for wife and I when we boarded the plane and found out that it is a new fleet, the 777-300ER aircraft. So swaku cos so far in my business trip, I have not seated on this fleet before. It was also by chance that I chose this flight. There were 2 daily departures to SF, one is the morning via Seoul, the other in the evening via Hong Kong. If I have chosen the latter, I would be flying the normal fleet.

This is the new Economy Class, with roomier seats and bigger screen. I am the sort who don't really take note of the type of fleet, what Boeing, Airbus, 777, 747 etc. If you have asked me before, what kind of plane I flew on, I will not be able to tell you. All I care are the movies and the music I will get to enjoy :)

But now having enjoyed this new fleet, next time when I booked a flight, I will take note and check if its a 777-300ER. I sat on a 777-300 last week to Delhi on a business trip, I thought it is the same, no no, must have the "ER", dunno what it stands for though, LOL :)

Arrived at SF on the 31st Oct at around 1pm. We stayed near the Fisherman Wharf area so it was quite convenient to get around.

We took a cruise to see the Golden Gate bridge, you can kill 2 birds with one stone if you are not taking the Alcatraz tour cos while on board the cruise, you will be able to catch a glimpse of the famous Alcatraz prison.






























Fisherman Wharf area, that's where Pier 39 is. You will see a lot of sea lions sun bathing at the deck and making a lot of noise, seeking attention :)