San Francisco - Day 1

The first thing we did on Monday morning was buy a 7-day transit pass that allowed us to ride the city buses or trolleys as much as we wanted. They really weren't that expensive and we used them all the time. Our hotel was really close to the Hyde-Powell turn table.

We rode the cable car down (and up) to Union Square, where we ate breakfast at the phenomenal Sears Fine Foods. Their Swedish pancakes are supposedly famous, but seriously, it's the sourdough french toast with strawberries that is unbelievably good.

I don't think anyone could tell we were tourists :)

After breakfast we walked around Union Square and looked in shops. Most of the shops in Union Square were shops that you can go into anywhere, like Old Navy and Macy's. So, we didn't spend too much time there, but there were a few unique shops that were neat.



We also explored the area of San Francisco known as Chinatown on Monday. We got some silk stuff and I got a cross from a Roman Catholic Chinese shop. There weren't too many shops selling crosses in San Francisco. While we were in Chinatown, we went down this creepy alley to find a fortune cookie factory that we had read about in a tourist book. The factory was tiny, there was a guy handing out samples, and there was an old lady hand-bending hundreds of fortune cookies. There was a sign above the old lady that said you had to pay 50 cents if you wanted to take a picture.


That night we walked from our hotel, through Chinatown, to the House of Nanking. My parents went to the House of Nanking when they visited San Francisco a few years ago and they strongly recommended that we try it. The owner takes all the orders and if you tell him what you like (beef, chicken, pork, etc.) he'll say, "I make you a chicken dish that you love". AJ ordered sesame chicken and I let the owner make me a shrimp dish that I would love (I didn't really though...). The best part of the House of Nanking was the potstickers. When I went to China a few years ago, I learned that I love Chinese potstickers/dumplings and they were great at the House of Nanking.



After dinner we went to Ghiradelli Square (again) and shared an ice cream sundae. It was 99% whipped cream. Oh my gosh. Haha.

It was way too much excitement (& sugar) for AJ - she fell out of the booth (for real, I made her re-enact it for this picture) :)