US of A (Day 1 - Day 3)

My recent trip to US has been a real eye opener. There's been too much misconceptions about the country. Everything I saw was obviously in comparison to my home country. I began to saw light at why America's security and employment rates could never par up with my own country's. I always bore a sense of pride in my own country's immaculate performance at how no other countries sometimes come close to comparison  in many aspects. But throughout the trip, M's bro (who shall be addressed as GEGE henceforth) constantly reminded us that SG is merely the size of SF. There is NO WAY the gov can penetrate as thoroughly into every area of US as much as SG can. On top of it, SG is an urban landscape on the whole whereas US is filled with numerous rural lands. Besides, the culture in Am is very different, people are so much friendlier and more patient and good looking (I'm biased on this). They are SO friendly and full of genuine compliments. The country is also a shopping haven. This trip was probably 70% shopping and 30% visiting tourist attractions. Food there is really fresh because they have lots of agricultural products and immigrants. So we were really surprised to tuck into Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Hong Kong and even Indian cuisines to find ourselves preferring the taste over there. Life in America takes on a much slower pace so we really got to take a break (literally, from the hectic lifestyle in SG). And lastly, the weather there is one of its own. The sun is really lethal and strong partly because its summer but it's freezing cold. As Mark Twain famously puts- The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in  San Francisco.

Day 1: SG - HK - SF

3AM on 1st June at the airport before take-off

Transiting at HK International Airport. By then we were pretty lethargic already cause it was about 10AM and we had missed one night of rest already

After another 12 hours of flight (it was the most painful part of the journey), we got to SF, local time 9AM feeling very sleep deprived but no less excited. GEGE picked us up at the airport before dropping us at his place for us to settle down while he went back to office for a meeting. We try not to rely on following tours but instead plan our own holidays because no tour itinerary will put up with crazy shopaholics but mostly because we want to experience life as a local to the fullest possibility.

This was the view from his apartment balcony in Burlingame. The weather was pretty cooling with a tinge of warmth from the sun which was a fresh respite from the crazy weather in SG.

GEGE came back home after his meeting to bring us out for lunch and we chose in-n-out burger, a local product. He told us that the reason why the burgers remain so fresh is because the owners reject any notions of franchise to ensure the quality of their food.

GEGE! The awesome host who put us up, together with our mess and nonsense and drove us to places without complaints :)

The patty is so fresh and juicy

After lunch, we headed for union square to do some shopping

on Bart after an eventful day of shopping at Union

you cant really tell but we were very jet lagged. The time difference is about 15 hours so although it was about 5PM US time, it was 8AM the next day in SG alrd which meant that we had missed 2 nights of rest alrd.

At night, GEGE brought us for a simple Jap meal near home which according to him, was only 'normal' and nothing fantastic because we looked too tired to brave the cold and a 2 hours queuing at one of the better restaurants. The weather gets pretty cold once the sun is covered by the clouds, despite it being summer.

Although he'd said the meal was 'normal' in Burlingame's standards, it was enough to throw us off the grounds.

After dinner, we headed home and literally slept like logs because GEGE allegedly accused us of sleeping very nosily throughout the night 


OOTD: Jacket- HnM HK || Top- Cotton On || Bottoms - MNG || Studded Pumps - Topshop || Rings- Gift, Forever 21

Day 2: SF - Gilroy - San Jose
They say holidays are not meant to rest your physical bodies because more often than not, you end up more tired after an overseas trip. Well, its true and time waits for no men. So, we had an agreement that we'll have a hearty Brunch before GEGE drove us (about 2 hours ride) to Gilroy for some massive shopping. Along the way at San Jose, we picked up T (who's also from our home church back in SG whom got linked up to GEGE in SF) and J (T's friend).

Brunch at Crepevine in Burlingame.

If you pay attention to the backdrop, you realize that wild honey in SG applies the same concept of using a chalkboard to write up the menu. No offense but, after having tasted all the Americanized brunches and breakfasts in SF, I think breakfast places in SG are highly overrated and overpriced. 

Check out the gigantous (gigantic + enormous) portions

our suave GEGE 

No the picture is not deceiving. It taste as good as it looks

on our ways to San Jose to pick up the girls before heading for Gilroy

Gilroy is the largest outlet in SF and has about 150 brands. It's not a shopping mall which houses all the different brands. Rather, the stores are 1 storey high and seated side by side, stretching across a few roads. It's like a mini town on its own and we experienced heaven on earth. 

This person is a true blue Bath n Body Works Ambassador

After shopping for about 6 hours, we decided that our purses needed a time out and because the girls wanted to get their Korean Cravings fixed, we headed for a korean restaurant in San Jose 

Complementary Appetizers in the small bowls + Hot plate tofu 

Korean rice cake

We also ordered cold noodles, BimBimBap and a beef hot plate. The food turned out to be too much for a table of 5 but it was so good. so good that J actually packed some home. GEGE sent T and J home after dinner before we proceeded to shop for groceries nearby our apartment. We practically went crazy because they sell BnJ at 3 tubs for 10USD. It is $22 per tub in SG


OOTD: White Jacket - HnM HK || Floral Dress- Topshop

Day 3: Palo Alto - San Jose

On Sunday morning, we got up at 7ish to prepare for church. C3 in SV is a new startup and hold their services in Crowne Plaza Cabana Hotel, Palo Alto (but everyone's gearing up for their move to a new location in July). Usually, service starts at 10AM and GEGE would head down earlier to help out so we'd tagged along with him. 

Cereal breakfast with berries. The milk turned out really sweet and addictive

Sunday routines, anywhere around the world :)

The church was about 40-50 ppl strong and everyone is so hospitable. I think it was partly aided by the culture in the country because everyone is really friendly.

After church, we had lunch at Harbor fish n Chips (in San Jose) before GEGE brought us to shop at the largest flea market in San Jose

Im not advocating or exaggerating but the food is really fresh. It was opened by a Hong Kong citizen who migrated over to US.

I think it was the size of several football fields combined

Under the open sky of San Jose

At one of the shade stalls

The ESSENCE of AWESOMENESS

Because the sun was quite hot, we decided to change our location and GEGE brought us to Target!

Target is simply amazing. They sell literally everything. Just look at the rows of nail polish

They have shelves after shelves of shoes

We spent about 3 hours in Target because really, our greatest abilities lie in our ability to shop

After calling it a day with shopping, we were deliberating between movie or simple dinner affair at home. Because GEGE had to work the next morning, we decided on the latter. And we decided that we'd whip up a meal to reward/ appreciate GEGE (with the food and ingredients he bought) for driving us around.

our Michelin-inspired dinner (actually we just took 3 boxes of frozen food and put them into the microwave. Even the meatball in the center was prepared the same way.)

Even in the midst of preparing food, we nibbled on small delights

We watched youtube videos of Wong Fu Productions whilst having dinner because all 3 of us are pretty ardent supporters of the WFP. 

 

A very silly makeup-without-mirror game we were playing while GEGE was sound asleep (and no, we really don't look like this usually)

OOTD: Jacket - HnM HK || Red Velvet Dress- Topshop || Stockings - HK mall || (Red) Heels - Target || Necklace- Flea Market || Rings- Gift, Flea Market