My short guide to San Francisco

Monday ended my 5-week stay in the United States. I’m happy to report that I’m not at all jetlagged but everybody’s been telling me that I’ve gained weight, which is a little upsetting. Tellingsomeone that they’ve become fatter without you asking is extremely rude. Just a little tip.

Since San Francisco seems to attract so many freaking tourists, I thought I’d write down a little travel guide based on what I’ve experienced during my short stay there. Kind of like friendly advice from a tourist to a fellow tourist.

Restaurants
I guess I can blame all that sudden weight gain to my Tita Lorna and Tito Erik’s gourmet cooking, as well as the one thing you must have in San Francisco: clam chowder in sourdough bread. I hear clam chowder in Cape Cod is the best though, but I wasn’t in Cape Cod and I enjoyed San Francisco clam chowder very much. I loved it so much that I had at least one bowl everyday from different places. The best I’ve had is at Nick’s Lighthouse, which you can find at Fisherman’s Wharf, along a row of restaurants past the Alcatraz tours. I’m told they make their chowder from scratch, using fresh clams. God, just thinking about it is making me hungry. The clam chowder at Boudin’s is my second favorite, so you might want to check that out as well.

Alcatraz
If you want to see the island, make sure you get your tickets in advance–like around the day before. I was unable to go to Alcatraz because they ran out of ferry tickets for the 12:15 ride and only had slots for the 4:30 one available. The latter trip was a little late since I was due back in the suburbs at 8. I was very, very disappointed. And to think that it was on a weekday too!

Pier 39
Talk about a tourist trap. Everything there is too freaking expensive, unless you’re the type to waste your money on souvenirs. Go there for the restaurants. I haven’t tried any of them but I went to Bubba Gump when I was 13. Their Shrimper’s Net Catch is orgasmic. You can eat just that and not order anything else. Well, that’s what I would do, anyway.

Shopping
I didn’t really do a lot of touristy things since I’ve done those the first time I was there (stupid Alcatraz), but I did spend a lot of my time just going around, checking out the shops. Clothes in the States are at least three times more expensive than those in the Philippines and I was real happy when my uncle took me to Ross’ Dress for Less. They had a lot of great, inexpensive clothes in there–I was even able to find a white Guess purse for just four bucks! I wish I had known about that place when I still had a lot of money, but it was on the last few days of my trip and I was down to my last $60 bucks. Luckily my Tito Erik paid for my stuff, so yay.

Macy’s ate up a lot of my cash because their bras (Maidenform) were so expensive in spite of the sale ($24 per!). So I was a bit upset when I found that I could get 2 Maidenform bras in Costco for $19. *sigh* Oh wells. If you’re from an Asian country or a place where you can buy clothes at home for a lot cheaper than in the States, spend your money on clothes when department stores hold sales or go to Ross’. Underwear is hella cheap at Costco as well, and they don’t sell low-quality stuff; they have brands like Maidenform, Lily of France, etc.

Because I was looking for posters for my room, I wandered into Rasputin to see if they had anything. Rasputin is a music store five stories tall and well, music stores usually carry posters. Anyway, not only did I find that their posters are priced low (around $6), but their used CDs are a real bargain as well. I got a The Ataris CD for just $7 and the whole thing looked and sounded just like a brand new one.

Perhaps I’ll be adding more to this tomorrow. Jetlag calls.