Your Travel Buddy

This was me when I was still a puny pre-schooler, around the age of 3. This was my first time to travel, and our destination? You guessed that right! United States of Red and Blue, I mean, America. Ever since I was little, I've been in and out of the U.S., and I've only stopped going there since I was 18 years old. Most of the time I've spent in the States was spent in California, particularly, San Francisco. I basically live there 2 months a year. The foremost reason why it's always in the Golden State is because all of our close relatives live there, hence the stay. Now off to our itinerary!

Itinerary:

Golden Gate Bridge

Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39

Alcatraz

Lombard Street

Chinatown

Golden Gate Bridge

Built in the 1930's this thing of beauty is known to be San Francisco's main attraction, keying in millions of visitors every year. You've never really been to San Francisco if you didn't see it and had a picture taken with it as your background. You can spend a leisurely time at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area if you want to spend a laid back afternoon with the Bridge as your background. For more details on this check out: http://www.nps.gov/goga/index.htm

The last time I went to San Francisco, we went through Sausalito and had our picture taken on top of a hill over looking the bridge. Which, I must say, is the best and closest that you can get to taking a picture with a good portion of the bridge. :) And of course after that, we had a little detour to the Sausalito port to see the yachts. But still, the best way to experience the Bridge is by crossing it. It's a bit windy, okay, maybe very windy, but it's not everyday that you can say, "I walked through the Golden Gate Bridge." If you want to go under the bridge, you can ride a ferry at Lakespur or Sausalito.

Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39

I remember getting off the Cable Car and walking a couple of blocks to these two sister attractions. I don't rememeber the specific street but there's a street there where they sell Clam Chowder on a carved big bread. They also sell really huge California Crabs. Want to see some seals? They have that. Walk a few blocks from Fisherman's Wharf and you'll find yourself in a bustling Pier 39. This place has food, clothes and whatnots. My brother bought me my first and only Beanie Baby here. I have a fresh pearl necklace bought here too, I don't know the name of the store because it was just a gift. You can choose what color of pearl you want because it depends on what you want to have, like prosperity, peace, etc. Just have a little walk around this favorite tourist spot and you'll see the local favorites such as the Wax Museum, Ripley's Believe It or Not and Hard Rock Cafe.

Alcatraz Island

Since you're already at Pier 39, you can go to Pier 33 and ride a ferry that'll take you to Alcatraz Island, also widely called "The Rock." A former house to some of America's most famous gangsters such as the famous Al Capone, Robert Stroud, Machine Gun Kelly and Alvin "Creepy" Karpis. This old military fortress-turned-military prison is another very popular tourist destination, so you might want to book yourselves in advance through Alcatraz Cruises for a more comfortable time. It includes an audio tour as well. You can choose a daytime tour but it's more of a carefree self-guided tour compared to the formal guided nighttime tour.

Lombard Street

The crookedest street on Earth. We drove through the street and took a picture at the end of the road after finding a parking lot a couple of blocks away. I've read that there's another crooked street around that area but they said that the Lombard Street is still way more photogenic than it. Probably because of the beautiful flowers and the thrill of driving through it adds up to its beauty. Now, that's one hell of a ride. Whoops! I meant, heaven. :P

Chinatown

Dubbed as the largest Chinatown outside of Asia, you can probably find anything that need you that is related to the Chinese. It is also the oldest Chinatown in the whole of North America. When you go to this place, you'll forget that you're in San Francisco because of all the Chinese architecture surrounding the place. I've only dined once in Chinatown and I forgot the name of the restaurant but surely, any spot will give you that authentic Chinese restaurant service. And there are a lot to choose from, you basically have the whole alphabet to choose from. :) For more information about San Francisco's Chinatown click this link http://www.sanfranciscochinatown.com/

Here are other tourist spots that you might want to visit during your stay in the Bay Area:

Palace of the Fine Arts

Coit Tower

California Palace of the Legion of Honor

Union Square

Oh, before I forget, to get that authentic Bay Area tourist feeling, the best way to get around is by using the Cable Car. I know the rates have changed so I can't really say how much they are now. But I know that you can get a ticket that will last you for a day so that you don't have to buy a ticket everytime you need to get on it. :)

Your Travel Buddy,

Grace

P.S. I actually planned on adding my own photos but apparently my photo album is at our other house which is very far from here, so I succumbed into getting photos from the internet. :( Some of the photos are mine though. :) Feel free to comment and suggest which country I should feature on my next Travel the World segment. :) Til the next. :)

Welcome, Buddy! :)

2012-06-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Welcome to my travel blog www.your-travel-buddy.blogspot.com ! :)

You might be wondering, “Why did you open a travel blog, when everyone’s opening a fashion blog?” I’ve got two answers for that. First, well, the answer is in the question itself. Everyone’s opening a fashion blog already, might as well be different. Second, I’m not that fashionable and I love travelling more than I love dressing myself up. Well, except on certain occasions. :)

Every month I’ll be supplying 4 blog posts, one for each segment of my blog, which are as follows:
Travel the World
Travel Philippines
Travel Tips
The Foodie Traveller

Travel the World will feature countries that I’ve been to and countries that I wanna go to. I’ll be putting up itineraries for each country. Since I’ll be posting up about countries that I’ve never been to, I’ll be pulling out information from the world wide web and from friends who have been to these places, and from my parents, who have walked this earth more than I have.

Travel Philippines will feature the best of the best of my country. Yes, I’m from the Philippines. This will most probably feature a lot of beach spots since our country is an archipelago, which makes us rich in sand and water. This will also feature Historical places that are must-visits when you go to the Philippines.

Travel Tips will feature well, duh, tips. Just kidding. From the essentials to how to fit it all in your luggage to being careful in your travels and many more. These are just quick easy tips that every traveller should remember.

The Foodie Traveller will feature foods that are considered a must-try in each country. If the Philippines has Adobo, then Thailand has Tom Yum, and Korea has Jjampong. Each country has their own unique delicacy that’s just waiting to get in touch with your taste buds. I might also put up recipes for the cook-able ones, so that you may have a taste of these foods in the comfort of your homes.

Well, that’s it! Wait for my first blog post and spread the word, please and thank you! :)

Your Travel Buddy,
Grace

P.S. If you have a Tumblr account, you can follow my blog there: www.yourtravelbuddy.tumblr.com :) Please and thanks! :)