Muir Woods

Muir Woods is the very first national park in America.. or so that's what Phong told me.  After a long drive up and down some real narrow windy roads, we reached a queue that makes traffic jams in KL seem docile!  Turns out that apparently visiting forests is a big thing and there were hundreds of other people who decided to venture out there this very morning.

After putting our university parking stalking days back to use, we finally found a really good parking place!  So what is there to expect in a national park?  Trees!  And lots of them!

Yup, that's Phong in the blue starring at.. trees...

I do find it quite ironic that this is a protected area where trees are allowed to grow big and old, yet the walkway is build entirely of timber deckings!  I know they are probably trying to blend in the surroundings to the natural ways but all I can think of and see is the hundreds of trees that were felled to build this walkway!  Nevertheless, this place is very pretty and serene.

The trees are magnificently huge!  You will be immediately awed by the humongous size of the trunk and the height at first glance, but for me it was the wonderful smell wafting through the air!  What kind of trees are these??  Phong said that they were all redwoods and I was already planning to grow them in my future garden!  Yes, that was a ridiculous idea especially since these trees takes hundreds of years to mature!  But what was more ridiculous was the fact that when we rounded a corner, right infront of us was a cafe serving coffee and hot pastries.  Exactly what I was smelling all this time... it was coffee and pastries... good one Princess Bling... good one...

Just to see how wide and large the tree trunks were, here is a photo of my brother attempting to take an artistic shot with his latest toy... I just want to post this picture to embarrass him.. :)

As interesting as it was, how long can you honestly look at trees??  We opted to take the 1 mile trail instead of the more scenic trails because firstly, I was wearing heeled boots and was so not prepared to hike!  Secondly, we did not want to look at that many trees.  It seemed like a waste to just spend 30 minutes wondering around the park especially when we spent around the same time looking for a parking!  But hey, atleast I can say that I have been to Muir Woods and therefore can cross that off my bucket list! :)

Cruising San Francisco!

So my brother and his wife are visiting San Francisco!  So on a fine, beautiful Saturday morning, Phong and I rented a car and attempted to show how "local" we are in San Francisco by taking Ronald and Elvina to our favourite haunts and some scenic and touristy places around.


Our first stop was for brunch at none other than the Cliff House!  

I absolutely love having brunch in this bistro that is perched on top of a cliff side... hence the name of the place.  The views are totally breath taking and majestic.  I only wish I took more pictures but unfortunately due to our haste from a late morning start, I ran out of the apartment without a jacket!  


This history of this place is that it was once owned by a rich family who built it as an exclusive gentlemen's type club and since then, this place has burnt down twice.  The original building looks absolutely nothing like what it does now.  Nevertheless, it's still a beautiful place to have brunch with friends and family!  

Seating area - Walls are decorated with head shots of famous celebrities.  Some pictures are actually autographed by the celebrities too!

Bar area

Naturally, I always order a good ol american style breakfast everytime I get the opportunity to have brunch!  This time I ordered two fried eggs over medium with bacon (of course!)

The bacon is definitely the element that completes this dish!  It was beautifully cooked, perfectly crispy and absolutely delicious!!  However I do have a little complain about the eggs.  It was perfectly cooked as well, although there is a strong excessive taste of butter!!  Makes me wonder if they fried the eggs in butter instead of normal oil!  Talk about a heart attack in the making!  


Overall this dish is pretty delicious and a perfect companion to this dish would be a nice cold glass of simosa!!  But no.. I decided to go with coffee because I am still unfortunately extremely jet lagged and will take all opportunities to get caffeine in my system!

Valentines Day!

Once a year, Hallmark celebrates this apparently the most "romantic" day of the year by making loved-up couples buy overpriced flowers and presents to showcase their everlasting love for each other.  Do I sound bitter or what!  :)


To be honest, I have always told myself that this is a meaningless date and showing and proving one's love shouldn't be dictated by a single day in the calendar year.  Maybe this is to make myself feel alot better about myself if I did not receive a single valentines present!  But as I am much older and hopefully wiser now, I now believe that this is in fact true.  As my wonderful husband puts it, "Everyday is Valentines Day".  So hubby... does that mean I get presents every single day? :)


After taking 25 hours to fly back from Kuching to San Francisco, I arrived just in time to celebrate the "actual" Valentines day with Phong.  No presents were exchanged but I did decide to cook a wonderful dinner for the both of us.  On the menu, roasted lamb rack with homemade mushroom sauce with stir fry vegetables and roasted rosemary potatoes.  Dessert was the biggest strawberries I have ever seen!

Long stem strawberries

I have never cooked lamb before and there is nothing worst than eating over cooked lamb as it would feel like chewing through leather shoes.  However, I chose lamb because it's one meat that can be eaten both when undercooked or overcooked!  


After marinating the lamb in olive oil, rosemary and thyme, I proceeded to make the mushroom sauce.  The last time i made gravy was when I roasted the turkey for Christmas.  All that required was taking the drippings from the turkey, and added corn starch to thicken the drippings up and voila!  Gravy!  Taking this concept, I cooked mushrooms in beef stock and added corn starch and surprisingly, the mushroom sauce tasted really good!!  Judge for yourself....

I am glad to report that the lamb was perfectly cooked too!  10 minutes in 180 degrees oven for each side of the lamb.  So there you go..  I can actually cook!!! :)

Oh my eggs benedict!

Being so inspired by one of my besties' food blog, I've decided to try my hand at being a foodie too!  So on a fine, beautiful Sunday morning, Phong and I decided to go for a nice brunch.  We decided on a small little cafe called "The Creamery" which is located just behind our local supermarket, a 10 minute walk away from our apartment.  By the way, it's 10 minutes based on my walking pace.  Phong claims I walk slower than a crippled old woman... to that I reply where's the rush???  :)

"The Creamery".. makes you think that this is an ice cream joint doesn't it?  I know!!  

The Creamery 

I love the old quaint look and feel of this place.  However it is a little small and on this day, extremely crowded.  I found myself having to fight through a crowd of waiting patrons just to reach the sugar and milk area for my coffee!  When you first walk in you are instantly hit with the scent of freshly brewed coffee.  

Eagerly awaiting for his brunch... it was a bit late cause yours truly woke up late.. sorry! :(

The menu consists of both savory and sweet crepes, sandwiches of all sorts, and your typical brunch type items such as scrambled eggs, omelette and of course, eggs benedict!

Eggs Benedict

I don't think there is anything to hate about eggs benedict!  I mean you have eggs, bacon, and bread.. all the necessary items for a healthy balanced meal!  This dish came with a side of fresh fruits which adds to the healthiness of this meal .. bonus! :)

However as beautiful as this dish looks, there are a few things that I didn't quite enjoy.  First of all, the juices from the fruits leaked all over the plate, making the bottom of the english muffin soggy in several areas.  Very disappointing as I absolutely hate soggy bread!  Not to mention the fruits didn't quite go very well with hollandaise sauce... a good suggestion will be to serve the fruits in a separate bowl!  

The greatest part of this dish was of course, the canadian bacon!!  It had just the right amount of smokiness and saltiness to taste and it was absolutely divine.  The eggs were perfectly poached in my opinion.. which meant that the egg yolk was thoroughly cooked through and wasn't runny at all! This made it easier for me to negotiate around the egg yolk, pulling out as much white as I could and not letting the egg yolk ruin the dish for me! :)  The hollandaise sauce was fantastic as well, not too thick and tastes awesome.  Overall, I would rate this dish a 7 out of 10.

Phong ordered an omelette filled with capsicums, olives, spinach and feta cheese with a side of roasted potatoes and toasts.

This dish looked absolutely delicious as well, but unfortunately after I was done taking pictures and sampling my eggs benedict, I looked over to find that Phong had already polished off his eggs.  I guess he was a lot hungrier than I thought... :D

Le Shopping...

Now lets get straight down to the point.  Shopping in America is amazing... not because it's cheap.  I mean honestly, I was earning Ringgits and every time I purchase something I automatically multiply that amount by 3.2 times.  However, eventhough it's a high multiplying factor, the end result is still considerably cheaper than anywhere else in the world!!  Shopping here is amazing too because of the many different types of brands available.

Macy's window display for Christmas.  Gorgeous!

With beautiful store front displays and sales happening all over the place, how can one resist shopping??  


I love jeans.  Nothing makes me happier than buying the perfect pair of jeans and trust me, that ain't an easy task!  My favourite brand of jeans is "7 For all Mankind" jeans and America is the cheapest place I have found for this particular brand.  Example.. my first pair of jeans from this brand is bought in Sydney and I paid over AUD300 for it.  I bought a new pair in San Francisco for USD109.00.  Fine, this pair was on sale but even at full price, it's still cheaper than prices you would find in Australia and definitely cheaper than Singapore!

Thank you Phong for taking such a good picture that doesn't make my behind look like a blimp. :)

I absolutely love this pair of jeans and I honestly haven't said that phase in a long long time.  Upon trying out this pair, I opted for size 26 as that was my usual size and the only other size available was size 24!  After secretly checking the price in the privacy of the changing room (I didn't want to look blatantly obvious that I was only aiming for jeans that were on sale!) I was happy that the sales price was marked down to USD149.00.  However I felt that the jeans were a little loose fitting as the material was of the stretched kind.  Feeling somewhat brave, I tried on size 24 and not only did it fit perfectly.. I immediately noticed that the marked down price was only USD109.00!!!  In my mind, this jeans is already considered sold. :)


At the cash register however, once the jeans was scanned in, the price showed that it was indeed USD149.00 and that someone has marked it wrongly to USD109.00.  That's why don't do markdowns in writing!  But I sure ain't complaining because guess what.. customers are always right!!!  The nice sales lady immediately told me she will match the price written!  There is nothing I love more than a bargain!!  Not only did I find an awesome pair of jeans, it was on sale and even after that, I managed to get it for USD40.00 less.  BARGAIN!!!!

All around America there are many outlet locations.  The most famous ones are the Premium Outlets and brands there includes BCBG, Coach, Nike, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Gap, Banana Republic... and hundreds more.  I am not joking.  So Phong and I decided to visit Gilroy Premium Outlets which is over an hours drive away.  We decided to go on 26th December, or more commonly known in America as one of the biggest sales day in the year.  (Apparently Boxing Day is not a term that is known here... )

After stalking people in the parking lot for over 30 minutes, we finally found a parking space (I will not mention whether it was an actual parking or not.. :P) and proceeded to join the hoards of bargain hunters looking for the best deals.  

As it was the day after Christmas, I initially assumed that this massive queue was for Starbucks as I assumed they were nursing a hangover and needed a caffeine fix.  But just looking at the ratio of 95% asians lining up, I concluded that yes this queue is indeed for Coach.  That explained the tour buses parked all along the street at Gilroy!  Needless to say, I wasn't allowed to join the queue as Phong threatened to drive home if I did... :P

After 2 hours of walking, all I bought was a dress for Chinese New Year.  Why you may ask?  Well everyone always assumes that Outlets are cheap, but they always forget that the stocks that they mostly carry are standard items such as polo shirts, jeans, and off season items that couldn't be sold off cause well.. they are ugly.  Once in a while you will find amazing pieces and one shop in particular that you can find this is in BCBG!  I absolutely love BCBG dresses and it's one of the only few shops I aim for in the Outlets.

Just before we left the Outlets, I noticed a shop handing out free bottles of mineral water to patrons entering their premises.  Being slight dehydrated from all the walking, and being asian (:P) I couldn't pass up the chance for freebies!  It was then I realised I had walked into a shoe shop and it was where I bought my new favourite pair of boots!

Vince Camuto.. Never ever heard of that brand before but just look at the packaging!  Looks expensive doesn't it?  Not only was it only USD79.00, there was an additional 20% off just because it was Christmas!!  BARGAIN!  So for my Christmas, my handsome husband bought me a beautiful dress and pair of beige suede boots.  Another bonus fact.. Jessica Alba has the exact same style of boots!!  :)  


So apparently everyone knows how great prices and brands are in America.  Not only that, you can shop for anything and everything online as well!!  And majority of them offer free shipping to anywhere in America.  So guess what our apartment has become???

Boxes from numerous online shopping shipments.. 

We should start a new posting company.  I'm thinking PLD services.. Phong Laura Delivery services!  :)  

Fisherman's Wharf

Fisherman's Wharf is definitely one of my favourite spots in San Francisco!  It's an entire stretch of street filled with wonderful restaurants and cafes, tourist souvenior shops, many interesting knick knack type shops, and even a Madame Tussauds Wax Museum!  

This picture was taken 2 years ago on my first trip to San Francisco.  Why didn't I post a recent picture?  Just take a look at the quality of the wax figures.. who are they?? EXACTLY!  I wasn't about to waste money to see this museum again!

Again this picture was taken 2 years ago with my mother.  :)

But my absolute favourite spot along Fisherman's Wharf has to be Pier 39.  This area oozes "tourist trap" but it's just portraited so beautifully that one would immediately forget about the extra prices you pay for food and drinks just to enjoy the wonderful ambience this place provides.

This day that we visited the wharf was another beautiful day with clear blue skies and warm-ish temperatures.  Pier 39 was packed with many locals and tourists, all taking advantage of this beautiful weather.  

Just walking up and down this pier, it feels like stepping into a whole new area and era.  It's like walking back in time to the cowboy era in the old wild wild west... minus the sand and the dust!  Shops here includes many restaurants such as Bubba Gump Shrimp (FORREST GUMP!! :P) and Crab House and interesting shops such a shop dedicated to left handed people (I am so taking Christine here) and a shop that sells all sports team name outfits and university outfits.  

Right in the middle of the pier is a magnificent carousel that totally brought out the inner child in me.  If only I had a willing participant to ride the carousel with me.... :(

Absolutely Magnificent!!!

They even have a giant Claw game machine with giant stuff toys as prizes.  Again, if only I had a willing participant to help me win a prize... :(

One of the famous attraction in this place are the seals that hangs around this pier.  Nobody knows why they just hang around, although they did mysteriously disappear for a whole year last year but now they are back!

Logically thinking, as a seal, why would I ever want to leave this pier!  The waters around have abundant amounts of food (from the sea and also from the oogling tourists!), they are perched on floating decks that has full exposure of sunlight and is secluded enough so no one can disturb them, and they are celebrities of the pier!  Pretty good deal if you ask me...

Personally, I think another important under appreciated attraction on this pier are the seagulls.  I have NEVER seen such huge seagulls ever in my life!!  If you have ever wondered to yourself, how did the birds in the Alfred Hitchcock movie ever killed anyone?  Well, if they were the size of the seagulls here, all I can say is RUN FOR YOU LIVES!!!

Alcatraz, the famous prison island, is just a boat ride away from the pier.  

A secluded prison on a private island... eventhough it is quite a distance away, I swear I can feel the sense of foreboding terror and solitariness that this massive hunk of concrete building gives.  Thankfully it's no longer used as a prison and is now a tourist destination which I hope to visit one day.  

Ok, now to show you my FAVOURITE reason for coming to Pier 39.  The Crab House!  I was introduced to this restaurant two years ago by my twin sister Lisa, and in my 3 visits to San Francisco, I have probably frequent this joint about 8 times now.  Many will confirm that I have a sick addiction to crabs of all sorts.  Mud crabs, flower crabs, King crabs, snow crabs.. and my number one favourite, dungeness crabs!  

Cooked in generous amounts of garlic butter, this sweet dungeness crabs are simply divine.  Only the claws are served and the best part about eating this crab is cracking open the shell and pulling out huge chunks of meat that makes all the hard work of cracking it so worth it.

Such an enjoyable meal that this couple of oblivious to anything or anyone around them... only the presence of the dungeness crabs.. :)

As hubby Phong always claim, this is the only time that I am silent cause I'm too busy concentrating on eating them.  True story.... 

In fact during our lunch with Rina and Clements, the only sound you could hear for a good 30 minutes was the sound of shells cracking.  Of course occasionally you will hear squeals of laughter as pieces of shells become airborne and acted as projectile missile aiming at unsuspecting victims (namely Phong!).

Another satisfied customers at The Crab House!  Now, have you booked your ticket to San Francisco yet???  :)