California Update : Day 3

We woke up early in the morning and went to Pier 39 which took only 5 minutes walk. We bought our City Passes for all the facilities and recreations provided there on the pier.

We were so excited to go for the cruise tour around San Francisco!

But we managed to grab breakfast on our way to the cruise. The cruise was located on the pier as well, so it didn't take that long. We went to the nearest coffee shop and ordered our favorites. As for me, I went for Hot Chocolate with whipped cream, of course. And we ordered some cinnamon rolls and chocolate chip cake to share. We ate while we were queuing in line to go on the cruise. There were so many people, so we had to eat standing. We didn't really have a choice.

We went to the upper level of the cruise to find ourselves available seats and lucky for us, there were enough for the 6 of us. We started taking pictures all around when we were taken to amazing views in San Francisco. The Golden Bridge Gate was so breathtaking, I swear! The cruise went under the bridge and stationed there for a little while for us to take photos.

And my most favorite part, which I've been waiting so long for was the part where the cruise brought us to the Alcatraz. A few years ago, my favorite author, Rachel Cohn, wrote a book called Gingerbread. Gingerbread is my all time favorite book to read. I've read all of my books at least a couple of times or more but Gingerbread? I've read it a thousand times. No kid. I love the book so much and that book was the main reason that got me loving Rachel Cohn. In Gingerbread, there's this girl named Cyd Charisse, a rebel. She lives in San Francisco, which is the reason why I got so excited when my Dad mentioned visiting San Francisco in the first place.

When I read the book, I felt like I was Cyd. I felt like I live in the book and all of it were real. So having to see the place where Cyd Charisse lives.. I don't know. It was just so exciting to finally see the environment described in the book. Also, Cyd Charisse related her grounded by her parents as being in Alcatraz. I knew the existence of Alcatraz from Cyd Charisse. Or rather, Rachel Cohn. I watched Escape from Alcatraz and it freaked me out a little. The place was pure torture. So when the cruise brought us to the Alcatraz, I kept quiet, observing every details on the building. Unfortunately, my family and I decided not to go inside the Alcatraz because there was just too many people inside and we didn't want to waste our time as we had a lot on our agenda that day. But whatever it is, Alcatraz amazed me. I don't know how to explain, but it just gives me this goosebumps whenever I came across Alcatraz and I'm really really curious about it.

After the cruise, we went to Aquarium of the Bay which was located on the Pier 39 as well. The experience was great, seeing all the sea creatures all around me.

This fish right here looked so fierce though!

The place was so big that my legs hurt when we were done. Like, literally hurting. I had fun though. I got super excited when I saw the jellyfish that light up! They were so cute!

They let us touch sting rays, sharks and starfish. I was kind of grossed out plus scared at first but hey, I figured, it's now or never. It isn't easy to have a chance to touch those… creatures. So I braved myself and touched the sting rays and then the starfish. As for the sharks…. never mind. I passed because I'm scared of sharks. Even though the sharks are little baby ones. I'm still scared of them.

We went on the famous San Francisco tramps just because we wanted to know how it feels like to be on one. The first thought came to mind when I got onto the tramp was That's So Raven.

Do you guys remember Raven from Disney Channel? It was one of my favorite tv shows on Disney and I still don't know why they would want to stop the series. I don't care if they show the old episodes because I can watch them again and again without getting bored. Anyways, That's So Raven was set in San Francisco and honestly, I didn't know this until I was in San Francisco myself. Seeing the houses and the tramps instantly reminded me of the tv series and when I Googled it, I found out that it was set in San Francisco.

San Francisco is a really amazing place. The environment, the views, the weather, the people and pretty much everything took my breath away.

By the time we got off the tramp, we were all famished. My Dad and brother searched for a Halal place to dine in because well, we miss meat. Hehe. We settled for Naan & Curry Restaurant and I had the most delicious Cheese Naan and Lamb Tikka Masala ever!! We were all so full and tired by the time we finished dinner. So we took the bus to get back to the hotel.

Disclaimer : All the photos in this post are mine. Please ask before doing anything with these photos.