13 days in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas

(21st Jan to 3rd Feb 2017)

It was my 2nd time to US and the last time was more than 20 years ago. This time, it's mainly for work but I had spent a few days for leisure as well. A tiring 20+ hours of fight from Singapore and all together 4.5 days in Los Angeles, 4.5 days in San Francisco and 5 days in Las Vegas.

Day 1: Landing in Los Angeles, went to Hollywood walk-of-fame

First time on a 'Premium economy' class flight and the extra comfort definitely helped in my 20+ hours of flight. Arrived at LA around 8am in the morning and checked in to 'Hollywood Celebrity Hotel' . The hotel was big, location was pretty good, but it was a little old. I was really tired from the flight and only took a walk along Hollywood walk-of-fame on that day. There were many Hollywood stars with their names and signatures printed on the floor for tourist to take photos of. It was a short and straight stretch of road with some street performers along the street. Point to note, if you were to take photos together with the street performers, they will demand a tip from you. The walk-of-fame is worth going but would not take you more than half a day. 

Day 2: Rented a car, went to Desert Hills premier Outlet

Really not many photos to post for this day as it was a shopping day. Had 'Panda Express' for lunch. It is a chain of small restaurants selling Chinese food. Something like a food court selling economic rice in Singapore. It was my 2nd day here and I'm already missing Singapore food. Shopping was ok. Was told that the 'Desert Premium Outlet' is one of the biggest premium outlets in America. It took me more than 2 hours drive from my hotel to reach. Shops in Premium Outlets sell mostly 'older stock' and if you are not particular, you could find a good bargain. Had 'Sizzler' for dinner and was really impressed by their huge spread of salad bar. The salad bar will be included when you order a set meal and although it was said to be a salad bar, it served chicken wings, spaghetti, tacos etc. I enjoyed the salad bar more than the actual course meal I had ordered. 

My rented 'steed' for my 4 days in Los Angeles.

Day 3: Went to Universal Studio Hollywood

From the hotel I stayed, Universal Studio was really close by. Grabbed an Uber and was there in less than 15 mins. I had been to Universal Studio in 3 different countries (Singapore, Japan (Osaka), Los Angeles). From my impression, the one is LA is one of the biggest (Singapore's being smallest among the three). Purchased 'Front of Line' pass but it was really not necessary as there are little queue for most of the rides (Maybe due to rain on that day). One thing the pass would be useful is that it entitles you to get on a ride to go behind the scene in the making of hollywood studio films. Easily could spend a full day in Universal Studio.

'Front of Line' pass in Universal Studio

Harry Potter theme park

'The Simpsons Ride'

Lot's of interesting shops outside of Universal Studio.

Day 4: Went to J. Paul Getty Museum

J. Paul Getty Museum is situated on a hill. I drove about an hour and have to park my car below the hill to take a mini tram to reach the museum. There is no admission fee to the museum but car parking cost US$15 (US$10 if park after 3pm). I do not frequent museums and did not have high expectation of this visit considering it was free entry. I was totally blown away and surprised at the scale and comprehensive collection of western arts. Reached there after lunch and stayed till the last minute before they closed for the day. Regretted not allocating more time for this. Managed to participate in one of the museum tours which explained how the museum was built and why certain decisions of building the museum was made. Very informative and I would highly recommend anyone join the tour.

Mini train up the hill to the museum

One of the art room in the museum. Permission was seek prior to taking this photo. 

Day 5: Returned car, flew to San Francisco

Returned the car at the Los Angeles airport (Most of the rental cars have drop off points near the airport and provide feeder bus services directly to each terminal). Took United Airlines to San Francisco. There are a total of 7 terminals in LA. Domestic flight from LA to San Francisco took less than 2 hours and generally, domestic flights in US are priced fairly reasonable (I paid less than US$200 for each flight). Arrived in San Francisco around noon time and checked in to Chancellor Hotel at Union Square. Location is fantastic. Room was a little small and although the hotel is old, it was very well maintained and very clean. The rooms does not have air conditioner and rely on a ceiling fan and window for ventilation. There are a lot of shopping and interesting things going on around the area where I stayed which is just across the Union Square. San Francisco is very accessible as compared to LA. Buildings are more close together and the city is well connected via buses, trams and subways.

My room at Chancellor Hotel, Union Square

Free daily newspapers

Night view of Union Square

Membership base bicycle rental station

Day 6: Went to Alcatraz prison, fishermen's wharf and Lombard street

Bought the 3 days city 'Muni passport' at US$32, which entitles you to take any tram rides in San Francisco. Didn't really utilise this much so I can't say I would recommend everyone to buy this. I have signed up online for the package tour of Alcatraz prison in advance. Initially planned to go Alcatraz, fisherman wharf and cycling at Golden Gate Bridge today as they are close to one another. But only managed to complete the first 2.  If you have time, I would suggest not to squeeze Golden Gate Bridge in so you could have the time to enjoy the first 2 at your own pace. Alternatively, you can just spend 5 mins at fisherman wharf, take a few photos and move on. I personally didn't find the fisherman wharf interesting but it's in-between the other 2 locations, and you will need to rent the bicycle at fisherman wharf anyway.

Decided to have McDonalds for dinner. The burgers are generally the same as what Singapore has except that they do not have McSpicy burger. They do have however, 'Buttermilk Crispy Chicken' which was very nice. That was probably one of their most expensive burgers, slightly more than US$6. It was the selection of condiments that was shocking. Singapore only have a few selections (chill, ketchup, curry, mayo etc). In the states, the list runs to more than 20 types. Buffalo source, mustard, hot mustard, honey mustard etc. All free for you to choose via a big touch screen panel. Impressive!

Muni Passport

Take the 'F' number tram to the ferry terminal to Alcatraz Prison

Price and ferry timing to Alcatraz Prison

Ferry to Alcatraz

Alcatraz Prison

Audio tour of Alcatraz Prison

One of the standard prison cell in Alcatraz

Alcatraz Prison

Lombard Street

McDonald's self ordering/payment machine

Day 7: Cycling to Golden Gate Bridge

It was Chinese New Year eve in the states. Decided to have some Chinese food and went for a Chinese steamboat called 'Mongolian Steamboat' for lunch. Food was good, price reasonable. Can't ask for a better Chinese steamboat in America. After lunch, it was straight out to cycle to the Golden Gate Bridge. Really was looking forward to this. There are options to rent normal, electrical and tandem bicycles. Most popular are the normal ones, probably as they are the cheapest. The bicycles are charged on hourly rates with a max ceiling cap. I opted for normal and regretted immediately after 10 mins into my ride. There are lots of slopes towards the Gate and I would recommend anyone to take the electrical type. The ride though, was amazing. Like what was recommended online, I rented the bicycle and cycled from fisherman wharf, across Golden Gate Bridge and took a ferry back. Do take note that the last ferry operates differently on weekdays and weekends. I went on a weekday and the last ferry was 7.10pm.

Mongolian Steamboat

Tram to take to Fisherman Wharf

Rented my bicycle from a shop called 'Blazing Saddles'. They have a rather big selection of bicycles and even a video briefing on points to take note when riding to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Golden Gate Bridge

Day 8: The NBA match: Golden State warriors vs LA Clippers

This was my main reason of coming to San Francisco. Ever since I was about 12 years old, I had always dreamed of watching a live NBA match. After holding on to this dream for more than 20 years, I had finally fulfilled that dream on this day. The match which I watched was between Golden State warriors and LA Clippers playing in the Oracle Arena. In total, my ticket costed me more than US$800 and I was only sitting on the 15th row from the front. Hell lot more expensive than I imagined but considering I had to fly more than 20 hours here, this could be a chance of a lifetime. It was well worth it in the end. Entry into the stadium starts 1 hour before game time, but I arrived 2hours 30mins in advance. Having watched NBA matches on TV for more than 20 years, watching a live game was very strange in many ways. Everything happened really fast, you need to keep looking up at the score board on the ceiling to know the score and timing of the game, no instant replay and, you will only be watching the game from one angle (Where you are seated). But the crowd will really get you into the game. The crowd will cheer with every shot, 3pt made, successful basket made. I'm sure that even if you are not a big fan of NBA, you will enjoy yourself. This was the biggest event in my whole US trip.

Mechanise shop selling home team apparels

Rooster year Chinese New Year Souvenir town for every audience

Day 9: Flight to Las Vegas

(To be continued)

Lesson learned

• It has been 5 years since the LA had rain. The rain which I was experiencing when I reached was rare. 
•  For drivers who are used to driving on the left (driver seat is on the right side of the car), America is opposite and you will encounter some challenges, especially in left turns and U-turns. In America, most of the road allows right turn even when the light is red.
• The law in US is not very strict in enforcing cars to have a number plate. There is this law for cars to have a number plate, but it is not uncommon to see cars without one. Shocking for me. 
• LA is a very 'spread out' city as compared to San Francsico which is more dense. 
• Tipping in restaurants is recommended to be between 15% - 20% and a lot of restaurants even have this pre-calculated for you in the bill
• When you buy things from shops, 10 cents will be charged for carriers.
• People in the service industries are really nice. I've been to a lot of countries, and I would rank America on top.
• LA is generally flat, but San Francisco has a lot of slopes. In a way making the city unique and interesting. 
• Most shops and restaurants close by 9pm. 
• For asians, the food serving in America is really huge. A couple can just make do with ordering one set for sharing most of the times. 
• Uber is a lot more popular than taxi in America. One of the reason is cost. I experimented this to compare and found that the price of taking taxi is more than double than calling Uber. Another reason is Uber's rating system ensures that drivers can be rated in Uber. In taxi, there is no such system to rate the drivers.