Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Things I Learned in San Francisco

I'm back! Did you miss me? Don't answer if you didn't. Four days without a computer was extremely refreshing, and now I have blog material! Yay! There are lots of pictures ahead, so I promise this post isn't as long as it looks (though it's still kind of long).

Things I Learned in San Francisco: A Comprehensive List

1. The streets are narrow. I pictured them much wider in my head, but it totally works out because the jumping distance is that much easier for a ninja.

Tosh could totally clear that.

2. As is apparent from #1, I have a strange impulse to take pictures from the car. I got ridiculously excited just driving by things.
Look! A Building of no particular significance! IN San Francisco!

A trolley car thing! Just like the Rice-a-Roni commercial! It's REAL!

A random Private school in Pacific Heights! (Okay, this one is a little signicant because Tosh goes to a private school like this [but bigger] and it was PROOF my imagination was fairly accurate.)

Downtown! I'm Downtown! There's a lot of cars!

3. I freak out when I'm surrounded by manga. Like, FREAK OUT. I honestly had to restrain myself from squealing, and Kasie kept laughing at me.
Kid in a candy store face. "Am I in heaven? I think I might be." The Kinokuniya Bookstore was two-stories of Japanese books. I could have spent all day there (someday I will).

4. GPS does not work very well in Downtown San Francisco. The rest of the city? Not bad. Just Downtown.

Kasie's GPS had the voice of Homer Simpson, so it was like Homer was our tour guide. You need to keep that in mind because it makes everything funnier. It went like this Downtown:

"Turn right in 50 yards."

-Fifty yards go by-

Me: Uhhh, this is a one way street, we can't.

-Kasie drives straight because we have no choice-

-Homer freaks out, freezes, becomes entirely unhelpful-

"Turn around as soon as possible."

"Turn left."

"Turn right."

Kasie: Make up your mind, Homer!

Me: I think he might be drunk again....I know the Bay is to our left, just turn left as soon as you can.

Kasie: How do you know that?

Me: I'm a homing pigeon.

Kasie: Okay, if you say so.

(I was right, by the way. I totally kicked Homer's butt Downtown.)
5. There's a "Sekrit Beach" in San Francisco. Kasie's brother told us about it—that the locals go there instead of the more touristy one. Not only was it less crowded, but it had a waaaaaaay better view.
Hello, Sekrit Beach. I love you. You are beautiful.

Also, walking on the beach is some good exercise. Also also, I'm not in shape. Thank goodness I'm used to about 5k ft altitude; it gave me a slight edge at sea level.

6. Bangs and San Francisco don't mix.
What I'm Thinking in This Picture: Smile, even though you know your hair looks horrible. Also, why in there world are those two girls doing a photo shoot in bikinis when it's so dang cold out here? And their photographer is creepy...I hope that's not as shady as it looks.

What I'm Thinking While Taking This Picture: Dangit, why does Kasie still look cute? No fair.

7. Driving in San Francisco causes Kasie to randomly break into "air typing." An example letter follows:

Dear City of San Francisco:

You are very beautiful, but it's really hard to see those street lights on the corners. I know the cables prevent you from making lights more visible, so you can't blame me when I don't see them. Honk, yes. Blame? No way.

This also goes for stop signs.

Love,
Kasie
8. They aren't kidding when they say there's no parking. We spent about 30 mins trying to find a spot remotely close to this gelato shop—never happened. We gave up (don't worry we got some in Fresno).

9. Golden Gate Park is truly ideal for ninja training. Also, it's prettier than I remembered.
I don't know what makes this water so green, but it's awesome. And Tosh could easily climb that cypress tree behind me.

Do you see the ninjas in this picture? It's okay if you can't. For the most part, only ninjas can see other ninjas.

Some of you might know why I took this picture. Hopefully someday all of you will know.

10. Last but certainly not least, Nathan is the nicest, coolest agent ever in the history of all time. Okay, I already knew that, but it was still nice to meet him for reals! I know it might sound weird, but sometimes I still find it surreal that I really have an agent.
Eek! It's real! When did this become my life?

I could probably go on longer, but I think we'll stop there! San Francisco was a blast, and I can't wait to go back. Kasie and I managed to do a lot in one day, but I'd love to have more time to really explore. Someday!

21 comments:

  1. Those are wonderful pictures. It all looks so exotic to me compared to the UK.

    Love the bridge with its head in the clouds. You look cooler than you think, too!

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  2. You look soooo cute in all your pictures! I love your smile!

    I am glad you had a good time in San Fran. And it's super exciting when you visit a city you've written about. It feels...real. Like, "Yes, there could be ninjas EVERYWHERE and I wouldn't even know."

    Also, I am jealous of that manga shop. Did you get anything?

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  3. Awesome pics. I'm glad you were able to go have such a good time!

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  4. EEE your pictures are so pretty! And the whole taking pictures from the car is cool. You get a fly on the wall view of what the trip was like vs standard vacation pose #5.

    Should I feel like a total nerd for knowing why the gps doesn't work in downtown? (the tall buildings mess with the signal gps pings off the satellite)

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  5. AWESOME!! I can't imagine how exciting it was for you to see all of Tosh's places -- I'm bursting with giggles, so you must've been REALLY bursting with giggles! SO COOL!!

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  6. Hehe, Fairy, and the UK looks cool and exotic to me!

    Elizabeth, I did get two manga (I wanted more, hehe). I got #4 in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and #1 in Vampire Knight. I'm already almost done with both (and I read two others on the trip too!).

    SM, actually that's good to know! Thanks:)

    Sara, I was pretty giggly. It was really cool.

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  7. "Just like the Rice-a-Roni commercial! It's REAL!"

    LOL!

    Looks like a fun trip! And you are TOO CUTE in that bookshop picture.

    Also, love the new navigation bar under the header. :) Very handy.

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  8. Heh, Kristan, you mean it WILL BE handy once I actually, like, put stuff in there.

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  9. It was sooooooooooo fun!!! Come back. :) Thanks for an awesome weekend. (And for your awesome homing pigeon skills that kept me from getting honked at more often than the five times I did get honked at.)

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  10. What an adorable post about a FABULOUS City! I'll be there in a few short weeks and I'll have to try and find that beach you were on. I think I know where it is as we've driven down that side of the Golden Gate before. SO cool to see it with the summer fog - never been in Summer before!

    Glad you had a great time! Thanks for sharing your trip ;-)

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  11. Wow! What great pics! It looks like you had a blast :)

    (btw, LOVE your outfit!)

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  12. But let me ask you this... did you, at any point, wear flowers in your hair?

    What fantastic pictures! Looks like a great time! I've been in Los Angeles for a few years now and haven't gotten the chance to check out San Fran. But you've inspired me. Glad to hear you had a fun trip!

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  13. How fun to get to experience SF with a friend! I dream of meeting my agent someday. It will be so amazing to meet the person who believes in my writing and shares my love for peanut butter, chili peppers (though not together!), and all things NPR.

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  14. drat. now i want to go to San Fransisco. last time I was there we only stayed long enough to have lunch and take pictures of Golden Gate. I'm glad you had fun. :D

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  15. I'm so glad you had such a great trip. It must be so fun to explore the places where you imagine your book.

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  16. Thanks for sharing!! My mom used to live about an hour outside San Fran....I so badly miss visiting the area!!

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  17. Ohh pretty, pretty pictures!! :D Thanks for sharing, Natalie! It looks like you had a fabulous time.

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  18. Looks like lots of fun! And I think I may have to make a trip there just for the store of Japanese books. You know, for research...yeah, that's it. :)

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  19. I was just in San Francisco and we had the exact same problem with our GPS! It couldn't figure out downtown at all.

    Your photos are awesome. I wish we'd gone to the sekrit beach. It looks so pretty.

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  20. Yay SF! Yay beaches and wind! Yay agents!

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  21. Natalie! I was just in San Fran too! Crazy small world! Um, you agent is a little bit hot...just saying. ;) So glad you had fun!

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