SYD IN SAN FRANCISCO: DAY THREE, PART ONE

I've been editing nonstop to get these posts rolling! Day Three has a ton of content to it so I'm going ahead and splitting the day by two posts. By far I think Muir Woods was the prettiest to look at. When we planned this trip, I had no knowledge of this place until Amber brought it up. Amber's been here before and she absolutely loved it so she suggested it to us. After looking at various photos online, we were sold. Well, we were kinda sold already with the fact that Return of the Jedi was filmed there and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes took place here as well. 

I'm not one for physical activity but the hike in all honesty was beyond gorgeous. The giant Redwood Trees provided such copious amounts of shade that the inside of the forest dropped down to a chilly 70 or so degrees. The Muir Woods National Monument is part of California's State Parks and is 12 miles north of San Francisco. The drive up was beautiful and the most mind boggling thing about it was the fact that there were various homes around the mountain's edge. 

As a warning, this blog is mostly going to feature tons and tons of green. 

Since we wanted to hike when it was cool out, we all opted to get up much earlier compared to our regular schedule. Also, beating the traffic was a good idea as well. By the time we got to Muir Woods, it was still pretty vacant. 

Mucho thanks again to Amber's dad for driving us and hiking with us! 

Even before we entered the actual park, we were so amazed at how beautiful the gigantic trees were. Living in a dry and barren desert, you get used to red rocks and orange dusty hills. Seeing the massive amounts of trees was a nice change of scenery. I cannot describe how clean and cool the air was. 

How the trail starts up is the same for all of them. We had to walk through the initial forest first with all the historic plaques and what not. Afterwards, whatever trail you choose (we chose Bootjack) you follow, and the boardwalk ends. Once the boardwalk ends the dirt, the bugs, and the hike starts. 

Nikki and I both noted that this tree tunnel looked like something out of a Miyazaki movie, kinda like the tunnel they had to go through in Totoro and Spirited Away!

Amber told us to not worry about the sun. This is what I saw when I looked up. Massive trees giving us the loveliest of shade. 

We stopped to take pictures at this Wing Span poster. With my arms stretched out, I have the same wingspan as a Bald Eagle. Freedom! 

The boardwalk was the easy path! 

Size comparison of a Redwood to a Nikki. 

I guess one of the cooler things about Muir Woods is the various types of bugs and trees it has. For every other tree there would be a plaque describing it and it's importance. 

Throughout the entire time we kept asking each other, "Where's Caesar?" "Caesar are you home?". I really don't like the Planet of the Apes movie. Gives me the creeps. 

The trees got to the point where they blocked out the sun so much I had to button up my cardigan because of the chill. How I wish Las Vegas's climate wasn't scorching. 

Amber pointed out this trail and said this was the Ocean View one. We were all excited but once she said there were a ton of hills we all said nope and went on our way. Haha!

I actually wondered out loud that age old theory, "If a tree falls in a forest with no one around, will the tree make a sound?" Also I thought about pizza too. 

I love how the sun peers through some of the leaves. 

I felt like I was in Totoro crossing that bridge. I also felt like I was escaping Titans. 

Can you see me? 

Looking back on it now, the vast majority of these pictures could be either:

A. The cover to an obscure indie music group

B. A computer's screen saver

C. Your iPhone's default wallpaper lock screen

The trail was fairly easy until all of a sudden these hills started happening and more uphill walking happened. So at that point we all just decided to go down and find somewhere to eat in San Francisco. 

 

Muir Woods, I'll miss you. Thank you for your lovely shade and your weird looking Banana Slugs. 

Thank you for reading and stay tuned for what happened after Muir Woods! 

.x 

SYD IN SAN FRANCISCO: DAY TWO

When you wake up in a totally different city, you get that feeling of animation wash over you the minute your tired eyes flutter open. That's exactly how I could describe my sentiments the second I woke up. Our second day in San Francisco finally dawned on us and an early start for a busy day was needed. 

Having been to San Francisco numerous times, the Golden Gate wasn't a new sight to me. I was just excited to spend my time there with Tiffanie, Amber, and Nikki. Tiffanie, being a first timer in San Francisco was the one whom was most excited. It was fun seeing her reactions! 

We started off our day at Muji, one of my favorite stores. If you remember, I blogged about said store a couple posts back when I visited Manila. Every time an opportunity to Muji arises, I take it and do as much as possible. 

The closest Muji I think is all the way in L.A for us Vegas-inhabitants. Is it worth the 4 hour drive? For someone who appreciates minimalistic design, hell yeah. 

I was carrying a gigantic Canon DSLR with me and I'm positive that photography in most stores is prohibited, so I was only able to snap two photos inside. 

I was finally able to try the Muji Stamp Yourself station and customized my own mini sketchbook. 

Three if you count this group picture. Pay no mind to my mismatched socks. 

See ya soon Muji. Open in Las Vegas, please. おねがいします！

While Amber's parents shopped around, we decided to hang out in the adjacent parking lot and snapped a few photos. It was obvious as day that we were tourists with huge cameras and all, haha.

Chic couple that I saw down the street.

After Muji we went and took a small detour, we drove around a bit and Amber's parents suggested we head to Baker Beach. Since it was Tiffanie's first time in San Francisco and her first time ever being on a beach, we went ahead.

Every time I'm in a city that has crowded buildings, I have an affinity to go and take as many pictures of the structures as much as possible. I think I may have been an architect in a past life. 

I forgot what this building is, I think Amber's dad told us it was a Church? Or was it a Performing Arts building? Either way it's beautiful. 

 At first glance I automatically assumed this building was a Fireman's Headquarters. The red brick draws me in. 

Baker Beach! It was all our first time there. Amber's parents opted for us to go here since 1. It was all our first time 2. It was close to The Golden Gate Bridge 3. The weather was perfect. When you think of the beach you think of a hot, balmy, and sunny day. The weather for us was a mix between cloudy and foggy, but warm nonetheless. 

These beach houses beat the ones at Manhattan Beach. 

The Golden Gate Bridge faces eastward. Don't let the fog fool you, the weather was very warm. 

With how Tiffanie's hair is in this picture, you can guess how windy it was! 

We took a higher drive up the hill to get an up and close shot of the Golden Gate. It was windy down below, you can guess how windy it was at the top of the hill. 

The hill we walked on top of turned out to be some sort of abandoned guard station? There were various monuments that told of Civil War stories. It was a pretty cool place to shoot though, the place had a creepy and rustic feel to it. 

I guess the creepy thing about the entire station had been the various jail cells. That didn't stop us from taking pictures in it though, haha. 

Jailed for being nerds!

Since we've already seen the Golden Gate as is, we decided to head down and go eat. Amber's parents took us to dinner at one of the most delicious Chinese-Singaporean-Vietnamese restaurant ever. I don't remember what's it called or what I ate, but I do know that it was number 53 on the menu. 

I cannot thank the Dancel family enough for allowing us to stay in their lovely home and taking us to all these fantastic places! 

As dinner concluded we headed to Sheng Kee bakery to get some snacks for the trip to Muir Woods the next day (a post I have saved after this, stay tuned!). 

It's weird to say, but I have this unnatural love for the look of bakeries. I don't know, maybe it's the vast amount of gluten that draws me to them. If it isn't obvious already, I have such a weird love of the weird. 

Delicious cakes as far as the eye can see. 

FUNNY STORY. Tiffanie, Nikki, Amber, and I were standing in front of a bunch of bread looking at what to buy when all of a sudden, the little girl in the red polka dotted dress above comes out from under the table we were standing around and scampers away. She gave all of us a fright and after five minutes of hyper ventilating and and collecting ourselves we all thought it was cute. Hell, she matched with her mother. 

By far the funniest State Farm ad I have ever seen. 

Thanks for reading this photo blog! Stay tuned for more pictures about my adventure to San Francisco! 

.x