It's a jungle in there...

Oops, I lied... it's not a jungle in there, it's a rainforest but you'll forgive me.
So yesterday when we didn't make it into the museum we asked about today. They recommended that because the museum opens at 9:30am, we should get there at 8:30 to beat the queue. Of course. Arrive an hour before opening time to get into a museum!
And so we did. I'm not kidding.
We got up super early and caught a taxi over there. When we arrived there were already about a hundred people in line. Dad got in the ticket office queue (only a little shorter) and I got in the entrance line. Lucky we did because by the time dad joined me in the queue it had already gone done the stairs, around a corner and onwards. This not including the members only queue.
Then at opening time the line was huge beyond description, luckily we took pictures! See the far left of the picture? Next to the trees? Really really far away? Now see the little dots there? That's the end of the queue. But the start of the visible queue there? That's already a quarter of the way down the queue. I couldn't fit the whole queue in one shot. At opening time.
But THEY don't matter because WE got in on the first set. Muahahahahahaha!
But already we had to be quick again because already another queue was forming to get tickets to the planetarium show! Luckily we got those too, gee we're good.
We then went to the aquarium section which was pretty cool. You should have seen some of the fish! They were incredible! Oh wait... you can! We have photos!



























But that's not the most amazing marine animal we saw. Meet the albino alligator! (I know, omg right?)








How creepy is that??? It's white! And it's an alligator! By George, it's an albino alligator! Oh, I already said that!















The museum also has a living roof;
























And an African hall;
































And of course, that indoor rainforest I was talking about (it's in a bubble!);
























It's also got an underwater tunnel thingy underneath it which is really cool to look at from above;

























At all of these things as well as the cafe and bathrooms there was yet another mega queue but it was all worth it. That place was incredible. The rainforest had lots of butterflies and there were penguins and some great exhibits that I haven't put up photos of. In the gift-shop we got a plastic albino alligator.
We then caught the trams again but this time we didn't stop at Union Square, we took the trams all the way back to Fisherman's and walked back to the hotel for a rest before dinner- it had been a very busy day so.
By the way did I mention it's New Year's Eve today? It is. It's funny because there are about a million balloon company delivery vans rushing all over the city to various party locations. I'm looking forward to a walk around Fisherman's at night, hopefully there'll be some sights to see this NYE. I'll report back on that later.
Goodbye all and goodbye 2008!!! You've done me well!

Oh yeah, we can use the 30, 28 and N

Ok, I know,I'm a day late, I'm sorry. Build a bridge.

Anywho... yesterday was a very very busy day. We saw barely anything.Would that make sense on any normal day? no but yesterday wasn't quite normal. It was sold out.

Let me explain...
So yesterday morning we walked in the freezing cold to Pier 35 (like... 5 piers away from the Fisherman's area) in the hopes of getting on a tour to Alcatraz. We should have booked. It was sold out until Friday. Yesterday was Tuesday. It's insane isn't it?
So instead we walked around Fisherman's, saw the seals and I had a ride on the carousel. Yes, I am 14.
We also looked around at some of the wharf shops. Look what dad found! I'm having Little Britain flashbacks aren't you? I think it could be Mr. "I am the only gay in the village" in old age. You know, the old-Scottish-man-style hat with a gay twist.
Then we decided to see if we could go to the science museum we had heard about. And guess what? We used public transport! (You can see our tickets) On the way the bus stopped at the Golden Gate bridge so we got off and decided to re-catch the bus when it next came. Some thing really weird that we've noticed is that 70% of all the tourists are Americans. I swear we don't get that many Australian tourists back home. Correct me if I'm wrong- dad thinks I am. Anyway so we got back on the bus and went to Golden Gate park which is where the museum is. But guess what we found out? Apparently they'd sold out! How does a museum sell out of tickets????? But that is not the craziest part. Ok, for you to understand this you have to understand how it works. You buy your ticket from the ticket machine and get in line to enter right? This all happens outside the museum, not at desks inside the lobby like at home. So anyway the craziest part is the queue to get in! It was so long! Of course we were so awestruck that we forgot to take a picture of it (oops). So anyway we walked away (I'm pretty sure my jaw was still hanging open). From there we caught a different type of public transport (because we're that versatile!), it was like a tram. We went and did battle at the Westfield food court again. Then we looked at some more shops because they're never sold out. Oh wait, that is the kind of thing that SHOULD be sold out, not museum tickets! We also went on Nordstroms CURVY escalators!!! And I took pictures! Then we went to Tiffany's for a look. It was sooo pretty!!!! Then we caught the cable car back again. We decided to see if the aquarium at Fisherman's was sold out too and...OMG... it wasn't! So Alcatraz and science were sold out but the nice little fishies could fit little old us in. It was really good, the tunnel thingy had a conveyor belt that you could go on so that no one had to make any physical effort at all. So that's where the obesity crisis comes from!The schools ofanchovies were the most impressive. They were just a swarm of movement, completely in sync.
Finally,we had dinner at a restaurant on Fisherman's and went to sleep.

Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair...

Scott Mackenzie once told us in a song that "if you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair...", well sorry Mr Mackenzie but there were no flowers at hand although I swear there should have been the weather was so Spring-like! We had arrived in a comparatively "warm" San Fran- we didn't even have to wear jumpers!
From the airport we went to our hotel to freshen up before our first adventures in San Fran. Theseus and the Minotaur have got nothing on the maze of hallways we had to go through to find our room at the hotel! When we were about to go out again dad asked how we would get to Fisherman's Wharf and I responded something along the lines of "I think I can get us there from the lobby but how we get to the lobby is the real issue!"
After finally escaping the labyrinth we found our way to the cable car stop (the famous San Francisco cable car people) and got aboard ready to be taken all the way to Union Square for some good retail therapy. It's amazing all the sights you can see on the cable car...





















Once we were at Union Square we went on a hunt for all our usual shops. We have decided that the quality of the options has dropped severely because there weren't nearly as many things that I wanted. We also ate crepes for lunch in an American food court. You probably don't think this is very significant but honestly, the differences are huge! You still think our food courts are crowded? I laugh at you. This place was packed. What do you get when you cross a jungle and an Olympic racing event? The table hunt in an American food court. The food available wasn't too bad, there were heaps of worldly options and not a maccas in sight (guess the stories aren't true then folks). Another thing- no plastic plates and cutlery here people, no sir-y! All the food was served on proper plates with proper cutlery!
We did most of our shopping in the super mega jumbo size Westfield (with no less than 3 department stores in the building, let alone speciality stores). It's really pretty. And do you want to know a really cool thing about the Westfield? It has SPIRAL elevators! Not boring parallel ones like us! I don't know if we have pics of the elevators from this trip (last trip's photos aren't available to us right now) but here's a few of pretty stuff in general inside the building...

Finally after all that we went to get the cable car back to Fisherman's Wharf (the general location of our hotel). But the queue was huge. It curved around the whole cable car turning wheel (Union Square is the final stop so there is a wheel-y thing to turn the cars around for the return trip) and continued for ages along the street! I really should have taken a photo shouldn't I? Sorry! Because of this we decided to walk a little and catch up at the next stop... when we were distracted by the idea of checking out the Saks Fifth Avenue store (you know, the famous rich-people-only-shop-here department store). I have a love/hate relationship with stores like that. In some ways I love looking at all the amazing stuff but then I kind of hate it when I have to look at the price tag. Or even worse; when you find out it doesn't have a price tag which means that if you need to ask the price, there is no way you can afford it. But still, it's fun looking at all the incredible designer stuff and even more fun laughing at the really "special" items.
We then returned to Fisherman's Wharf where we fulfilled our tradition of getting me a new Paul Frank t-shirt every time we come to the US because they are soooo much cheaper here! Dad also got some jeans. This to add to my successful purchase of the Abercrombie and Fitch tee that I wanted earlier that day.
By this point we were very tired so stopped for a pick-me-up at my beloved Boudin's Sourdough Bakery before returning to the hotel where we had dinner.
It is now late-ish (9:30pm, come on, I've had a huge day, I have a right to be tired) so I am going togo to sleep. Bonnuit! I love San Fran. (as the picture would imply!!!!)

Flying High...

The flight was so good I've decided to dedicate a whole post to it.
First of all, it left ON TIME. I'll just give you a minute to get over the shock of that, I know I needed one because that is a big first for us.We usually seem to be delay magnets.

Minute done. Then the person sitting next to us was moved to a different spot (we're still not quite sure why... not that I'm complaining) which meant that we got a whole row to ourselves including a window seat. I got to stretch out over two seats so I actually got some reasonable sleep (pictured). Dad still only used one seat so for him, not so much...Another great thing was that the on-demand actually worked!!! WOOOO! Unlike a certain Sydney to San Fran flight last trip, but I'm not naming names...
We had no turbulence.
The flight which was meant to last 14 hours took12. Dad reckons we must have had "a monster tail wind" (quote).
Finally, to top off a great flight- the luggage came off on time!

Welcome to Sydney Airport, Entertainment Options: Next to None

We arrived at the airport at midday, a mere 3 and a half hours before the flight. I think we both showed great restraint and yes, I used we. Even I, who usually laughs at dad's obsession with being early, was itching to get to the airport- my excitement just could not be contained.
Not much to report beyond that. We had lunch at the bistro just outside customs etc which was quite good (yeah, this is the kind of thrilling suspenseful stuff you've been waiting for on the edge of your seat, isn't it?) and are now in the Qantas club waiting. I have no clue how we passed the time seeing as Sydney airport seems to have got more boring since last time but we have a mere half an hour to go til boarding now and yet we are both strangely calm. Of course, I'm only like that because I'm trying to keep my stomach in check after some recent upset with it (fingers crossed for me people although my hopes and expections are high that I'll be fine).
It's thrilling to think that we'll be in San Fran at aproximately 5:30am Sydney time tomorrow!!!! Hopefully next post will be filled with more interesting things for you to read about than where dad and I ate lunch. I'm almost certain it will be, Fisherman's Wharf has to give me some material, right?

And so it begins...

Today is the big day!!!!!!
How do I know this? Because we have the usual signs of Big-Day-itis and they are as follows:

• Dad is pacing... a lot.
  
• He is also debating with himself over how early is too early to get to the airport. He seems to be pretty close to deciding on 4 hours before the flight. A good 2 hours earlier than suggested by the airline.
  
• He is constantly asking me what he has forgotten- how am I meant to know????
• As suggested by the previous points- all sense of logic has left us.
• I am debating which top would be best to wear on the flight and whether I should be wearing my jeans yet (not in this humidity thank you!)
• Dad is checking the snow-cams every 5 minutes (I'm surprised he hasn't poked me off the computer yet!), as if they are going to have a 30 inch dump in the 5 minutes since he last checked.
• I have that incredibly cheesy grin plastered on my face

These are all the symptoms right now, surely more are to follow. For example, dad hasn't started doing that thing he always does where he makes random odd sounds because of nerves.
Only path of treatment- GET ON THAT PLANE!!!!
So we sit here not so patiently waiting. Dad is very impatient- he just suggested we go to the airport. It's quarter past 8 in the morning. Our flight is at half past 3 in the afternoon.
I laughed. As crazy as it all sounds this lead-up is kind of fun for me, although not as much fun as the actual trip is.
And so it begins!!!!!