Mon 29 August: San Francisco to Sydney

Mon 29 August

Wake up early. Have 1 slice of home made bread with peanut butter.

Kaylene still wants to go back. Evan needs to pick up the others anyway, so he heads out with Kaylene and I. Drops me off 280 Metro Center Shopping Mall, (Junipero Serra Blvd, Colma, CA 94014, United States).  He takes Kaylene back to pick the others.

Walk into Old Navy, Nordstrom Rack, Marshalls, Bath and Body Works. Walk across to the Home Depot in search of Michaels, but can't see it, so head back, as I do, Evan has returned.  Apparently he has picked up the luggage, but the others want to spend the day in the city, and will meet us at the airport, instead of sitting around at his Uncle's place.

So it's just me and Evan.  So he drives to REI (1119 Industrial Rd #1b, San Carlos, CA 94070) so we can look for our backpacks.  We both end up buying 1 each - he pays on credit as he is a member.

By this time it's lunchtime, so we stop at In n Out Burger to have lunch.

Then we head back to Uncle's place as the car is loaded with luggage and gifts for the Puns as thank you.

I change into shorts as it is getting hot and a summer top. We then head over to the other Uncle's house where A.Cath is with A. Julie's. She's a lot more friendlier than A. Susan. have a drink and chat before we head out again. They are preparing a simply dinner.

 Looking back at the parking lot

 Hard taking a photo looking into the sun.

Decide to drive to Pacifica and checkout a lookout - which I saw on Mapsme.  Lookout doesn't turn out to be much - more of a trail to the lookout, but Evan decides to take me to some other lookout. Turns out to be  a Bunker Point - has this house sitting on rocks which have worn away next to Devils Slide Trail.

The Bunker

Anyway we walk up to the point and take photos and I spy what I think are whales out in the ocean.  Yep lots of them in the distance - puffs of water in the air. Some swim pretty close.  Evan only has his wide angle. Could do with the ship's binoculars right now.  Stand and watch the whales for quite a while.

See any whales?

Eventually we need to make a move and head back for dinner.  Dinner is Lup cheong rice with pork spare ribs and chinese mushrooms with choko, snake beans with beef.  U. Emmanuel, A. Julie, A. Cath, Evan and I, eventually joined by U. Isaiah.

After dinner it's time to load up our luggage again and get to the airport. The others have already arrived at the airport and are waiting for their bags.  Get to the airport, say our goodbyes. The others get their bags and are emptying their shopping into their bags.  Once all done, we head to check in.

Again we are all over the plane. Jenly, Janet and I are sitting together,  Evan and A. Cath are on the other side of the plane just a bit further back than us. The Khors are at the very back of the plane, so U. Jimmy actually scores a whole row of seats to lie in. The Chans are up the front - so don't really see where they are sitting.  Have the beef casserole for dinner. Watch the finish of "Captain America: Civil War". Then try and sleep.  Wake up and watch "A Hologram for the King". Have breakfast, but overcooked. Then watch "Rio" but don't get to finish it as we are about to land.

Get our luggage and then have to be checked - sniffer dog - but nothing to find so we are let out. Call Daz to pick us up.  All the rest get picked up before us. Shirley picks up her parents and also give Jenly a lift.

Ken comes with U. David to pick up the Seetos. So sad the holiday is over.

Eventually Darren arrives. In the process of opening the sliding door, Kaylene breaks the handle.

Sun 28 August: Premium Outlets at Livermore

Sun 28 August

Evan swings by to pick us up.  Janet, Lily and Mark stay in the city to shop and sight see.

Takes over an hour to get to the outlets via the Oakland Bridge.  By the time we get there it is 11.20pm. Arrange to meet back at 5pm.

Kaylene and I head into Starbucks as I'm hungry and need something to eat before hitting the shops. Buy drinks as well as food.

Find Evan and he's also hungry so we get a seat in the food court, they go off and buy Chipotle and then Evan also buys teriyaki chicken rice.

After eating we are ready to hit the shops.  Although we walk into shops we don't really buy anything.

I end up buying 2 tops from Old Navy and 1 from The Loft as well a new pair of shoes to replace my NB white walking shoes.  Kaylene and Evan don't buy anything.

The Khors get a new suitcase. Jenly buys some items, presents for the parents. But not as much shopping as we'd usually do.

Evan programs his GPS to skip tolls and it takes us on one big loop to get back, more than 1hr, closer to 2.

Drop the others off, load up some of our bags, so there is less to transport tomorrow.

Kaylene and I accompany him to the cousins dinner at Christabel and Tedman's place. Also in attendance is Josiah and Perie, Jonathan and his girlfriend and Grace and Paul and the two little girls, Emma and Juliette.

They have ordered 3 large pizzas and Josiah has made 2 different kinds of poke, as well as having some store bought sushi, bean sprouts, kimchi and home made salad.

So much food - they were expecting more of us or more cousins.

Nearing on 9.30pm and the kids are hyper - not ready for bed, so as Paul and Grace are leaving, we leave as well. Find out the next day, the kids are tired and don't want to get up for school.

Evan takes us back to U. Isaiah's place, as he's sure we can stay overnight. Seems he didn't check with his Uncle and Aunt. A. Susan doesn't seem happy at all - seems she thinks she is a bad host to not be able to offer us a room. Kaylene wants Evan to drive her back, but it's late. So much drama. Uncle takes out the air beds and sleeping bags for us. We sleep out in the lounge room, but I don't think any of us slept well that night.

Sat 27 August: Farmer's Market, Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate Bridge

Sat 27 August.

Evan has organised a sightseeing tour with Grace to show us San Francisco.

Taking 2 cars, Evan ferries the Khors, Janet, Lily, Mark, whilst Kaylene, Jenly and I travel with Grace and Paul.

They pick us up at Jones St and take us through Chinatown to the Ferry Building which houses the Farmer's Market.  Manage to find two parking spots on the street which is a short walk away. Metered parking, so pop coins in for at least 1hr. Walk to Pier 7 - which is a long boardwalk. Walk to the end and back.

Then walk to Pier 1, which is the Ferry Building, lots of stalls selling fresh fruits. I feel like a peach so I buy one to eat straight away. Lily buys some fruits as well. Further along are food stalls and food trucks.

Haven't had breakfast so we are hungry.  Eventually Janet buys some empanadas and Lily buys some steamed buns to tide us over. Time is running out so we head back to the car. They drop us off at Fisherman's Wharf, and head off to find parking. We walk some of the shops, but keep an eye out for them.

Not much time to look at the shops, the shop that sells clam chowder here is full with limited seating, so we head towards the bigger Boudin further along.  Get distracted by the seals.  They spend time looking here.

Finally get to Boudins and so while some got to order the food, others wait for a table to be free. All order the clam chowder in sour bread bowl. Hasn't changed - just as good.  Kaylene follows Grace and Paul to get her In n' Out burger with animal style fries - cheese and gravy. We are almost finished our soup by the time they get back - seems they also had to queue.

While the drivers go get the car we continue walking and arrange to be picked up around Ghiradelli Square.  Find them eventually after taking photos at the trolley car terminal.

From here they drive us to the Golden Gate Bridge - parking is non existent, so they drop us off at the Welcome Center. Eventually Evan manages to find parking in one of the lower parking lots.  Which is where we meet back up with Grace and Paul. In the mean time, we walk to the Battery Lancaster and take photos. Then walk down to the car park.  Some of us need a loo break, so they drive down to Fort Point where there isn't much of a queue to the toilets.

Then they take us to Lombard Street, past the Walt Disney Museum (sorry Kaylene, will have to visit this some other time). here they drop us off and say goodbye, as they need to attend a dinner.  Evan manages to find some parking, so we all walk down the crookedest street in San Francisco. Take photos at the bottom and then walk back up.

As the car can only fit 7, Janet takes the Khors to catch a trolley back. We follow Evan in the car and drive to the Palace of the Fine Arts, as Jenly wants to see it and the Chans have never been. It's late afternoon so no problems finding a parking spot.

Walk around and take photos before heading back to Jones Street. No parking outside, so we drop them off and go find parking. Lucky it's Sunday and parking is free.  Janet and the Khors still aren't back.  We eat leftovers from the other night. Evan and I head out after dinner for a walk to Union Square and Chinatown.

He is on the search of "darn tarts" but can't remember the place his grandma used to buy them from. Most of the shops are closing as it is coming up to 9pm. No lunch after walking around the block, so we head back.

Fri 26 August: Vancouver to San Francisco

Fri 26 August

Checkout of YWCA

Van comes to pick us up to take us to the airport.  Driver is very friendly and chats to us on the way.  Big tip for him as he helps with the luggage.

No problems with checkin - go through self check-in at immigration, then have to go through it again with officers. Have a friendly lady officer who is going through menopause - too much information - she is setting up her usb fan. No seat allocation until we get to the gates.

 Head inside and head to gates as usual. But on the way I stop and buy Tim Horton's our last chance to try. Get a chicken sandwich (burger) and salad for KC, with potato wedges. Eat this at the boarding gate.

Board. Uneventful flight. Arrive San Francisco and need to wait a while for our bags to get to the carousel.  Evan has arranged with the Pun's for pickup at the airport.

Wait outside the terminal at passenger pickup - finally 2 cars come, U. Isaiah and A. Susan. Luggage is loaded, but the can only take 7, so Lily, Evan and I wait for U. Emmanual to come pick us up.

Take us back to U. Isaiah's place, where dinner is being prepared for us all.

Two tables, so much food. Soup, rice with baked teriyaki salmon, beef with mango, duck with taro, squash with pork, choy, chicken drumsticks and for dessert we have mango ice cream with egg roll and fresh mango.

After dinner, Janet goes with Susan to buy milk at their local shop.  So we wait around, Once they get back, We pile into the 2 cars, Uncle driving one and Evan driving the other and head into San Francisco city.  Evan loses Uncle, but following gps we get to the AirBnB place around the same time.

Air BnB place is at 611 Jones Street. Doesn't look like much on the outside but is nice and big on the inside. Huge lounge, 1st bedroom "A" is for the Khors. Second bedroom "B" is Janet and mine with a connecting bathroom to the 3rd bedroom "C" which is allocated to the Chans. Jenly has the pull out sofa in the lounge, and shares the main bathroom with combined laundry. After the bedrooms is the dining room followed by the kitchen which is fully furnished. There is even a complimentary bottle of wine.

Thu 25 August: Vancouver, Stanley Park

Thu 25 August

Lily and Mark do their own thing, so the rest of us follow Jenly to the Victoria Chinese Restaurant for yum cha.

Because we're hungry, I think we over estimate and end up with too much food. Plus not knowing there serving sides.  We have the usual, har gow, siu mai, wu gock, fung jow, as well as white chicken feet, egg white scallop fried rice, shredded pork bean sprout fried noodle, prawn cheong fun, bbq pork buns and chicken sticky rice. I pay the bill Can$200 - my shout. Would be $25 per person.

Then walk down to the Harbourfront - and take photos with the Digital Whale. They also have a badminton exhibition on - so Jenly and A. Tracey have a quick hit. Before we start our walk around the harbour to Stanley Park.

Following the harbourside, we walk, and walk and walk. Eventually get to the totem poles. Have a rest, the others eat some more. Take photos of the totems, then continuing walking around the park.

On the way back, Janet, A. Cath, U. Jimmy and A. Tracey catch the bus back. Evan, Jenly, Kaylene and I continue walking back.

Stop at Starbucks to buy a drink and meet up with Lily and Mark who are heading back out to discover the harbourfront.

For dinner that night, Janet, U. Jimmy, A. Tracey and Jenly eat in, Janet buys some vegies to cook in the kitchen.  Lily and Mark have their own food which they buy at the chinese supermarket. Evan, A. Cath, Kaylene and I go to have Vietnamese. I have the bun thit nuong with nem nuong - nice.

Back to the YWCA, time to pack again

Wed 24 August: Port of Call Vancouver

Wed 24 August

The end of our cruise.

Early morning wake up to see the ship pull into Vancouver Harbour.

Breakfast of hash brown, sausage, poached egg in congee with trimmings.

After breakfast we disembark. Wheel our bags off. Go through customs and immigration - no problems. See someone about our pick up. They tell us to wait, they will let us know when it arrives.

Eventually driver turns up - oldish man - not very talkative or helpful. Mark, U. Jimmy and Evan end up loading the bags into the van - no tip for him.

Takes us to the YWCA - again no help with the bags. Janet talks to reception, arranges for us to leave our bags in storage as rooms aren't ready.

Head out to the Vancouver Lookout. Janet exchanges our voucher for tickets. Told we can come back anytime and get our hands stamped. Go up. Look around. Take photos.

After the Lookout, we head towards Gas Town - then Chinatown. Looking for toilets, Janet buys us tickets to go into the Chinese Gardens of the Sun Yat Sen Gardens.  Follow the guided tour of the gardens which gives an insight into the buildings and gardens.

Getting hungry, so we head to Chinatown looking for some place to eat.
Finally settle on Hon's House of Noodles (268 Keefer Street, Vancouver).

Almost most of us order the siu gow min, I have char siu with mine, and a passionfruit bubble tea. Not bad. Servings are substantial.

Saw a european family (father with 2 daughters) who ordered quite a few dishes, the noodle dish was large and the face on one of the daughters faces said it all..OMG. Not sure how the finished it, but they did.

After lunch walked back to the YWCA - got our bags and settled into our rooms. Evan, A. Cath, Jenly, Janet and I were in one big room with 5 beds and bathroom. Lily, Mark and Kaylene in another room and U. Jimmy and A. Tracey in one.

After resting, we head out to walk streets and end up at the Pacific Centre food court for dinner. I wasn't quite hungry so took food from the others.

After dinner we headed back to the Vancouver Lookout. Nice sunset from above. Stayed here for a while, before heading back to the YWCA and bed.