San Francisco is my second favourite city in the world (after New York City). Union Square being my third favourite place in the world (after Times Square and Central Park in New York City).

I’ve travelled to San Francisco three times now (November 2007, February 2009, May 2010) and I always make sure that I make a visit to Union Square. In fact, the first two times I travelled to San Francisco I made sure that we stayed in Union Square so I could soak up all that joyful shopping atmosphere. I absolutely love it.

The main reason why I fell in love with San Francisco so much is the people. They’re so laid back and friendly. Sometimes I wish I could live in this city!

Union Square is home to many stores (many of them designer). San Francisco Mall is not far, which I frequented often and is where Bloomingdales and Nordstrom is located. Macy’s is the main attraction here at Union Square all year round, having colourful windows. During Christmas, they have entertaining Christmas windows but is a compliment to the massive Christmas Tree that is put up in the centre of the Square. It is an absolute must to visit here during Christmas! It’s just too pretty!

I love shopping at Tiffany’s, Louis Vuitton, Coach, Macy’s, Bloomingdales, BCBG, Banana Republic, Nordstrom, Barney’s, Longchamp, Lacoste, and Victoria’s Secret (just to name a few).

At the top floor of Macy’s, is The Cheesecake Factory which has some of the best cheesecakes I’ve ever tasted. YUM! They also have a lookout where you can take a fabulous view of the Union Square. I took the below photo at this lookout. It was a stunning view!

I also love the Heart at Union Square.

Here’s me in 2007 with the Heart and my shopping bags!

Here’s me with the heart and shopping bags again in 2010! Hahaha.

I LOVE SAN FRANCISCO! I LOVE UNION SQUARE!

On the way back to NYC, I really wanted to go to Fifth Ave. It was too packed with people and traffic that we only could manage to go to Sak’s Fifth Ave although I wish we could’ve gone to a lot more stores like A&F and Henri Bendel.

Nevertheless, we still got to drive down Fifth Ave. It’s such a happyland for me. Pretty holiday lights, decorations and Christmas Windows. How could you not feel joyful?

This is what Sak’s looks like at this time of the year:

I didn’t get to look at the Christmas windows that Sak’s had to offer but I saw some of the mannequins dressed in hot red. Love.

We also managed to get a glimpse of the Rockefeller Tree. Yayyyyy.

Then Aunty Glenda & Uncle Jovin took me to eat Malaysian food. Yayyyy what a happy day. Here’s what I had (Har Mee). I was craving this since the morning so I was really excited when they asked if I wanted to eat Malaysian food. Haha.

James had Beef Rendang:

Then we all shared Ais Kachang.. Yum yum.

On the way back to New York from Atlantic City, we stopped by and had breakky at Denny’s, a typical American diner that serves breakfast all day long! Yummmm.

The food was gigantic, to the least! American diners are proof of why Americans are extremely obese!

These are the steak & eggs:

This is my Heartland Scramble (Pancakes, Omelet, Harshbrown & Bacon). I was shoving all my bacon on James’ plate.

Then after such a huge meal we knocked out.. hahaha.

The night of Boxing Day, we went to Caesers hotel. The tree looks so amazing!

Then we had dinner there. Was delicious as it looks! Below is duck, seafood bowl, beef chow fun and mango pudding. Yum yum yum.

The night of Christmas, James, his parents and I drove down to Atlantic City.

We spent a lot of time at the pool which was cool because it was really nice and warm in there and I could lounge around in a bikini, sipping on Mojitos. I loved this, because the warmth reminded me of Christmas at home in Australia!

James was trying to model a lot with his new Tiffany Atlas ring that I got him for Chrissy:

We also went later at night which was really really nice. I took a panorama:

James forgot his trunks, so we didn’t go swimming and just lounged around by the pool.. But I must say that we are still hawt.. Ha ha ha

The following photo is disappointingly blurry. I don’t have a steady hand :(

James said he looks like a stalker in that photo. Funny. Hahaha.

Thursday arvo (Christmas Eve), I made by way to Toronto City Airport and took a Porter Flight over to New Jersey. Had a lovely dinner at James’ brother’s place (Ryan & Kim) with his family.

Had lots and lots of yummy sushi (thanks to Kim’s family). Also filled my stomach with lots of delicious turkey, ham & cranberry sauce. Kim makes the most delicious ham and cranberry sauce!

I didn’t take any photos of what Kim made but it was DELICIOUS. I only have sushi photos for some reason. I think I was too consumed by trying to get all the food in my mouth and down my belly that I didn’t even think to take photos.

There was also mini bite sized sushis for little Tyler. Cute!

On Labour Day weekend of ’09, I flew down to New Jersey. I flew with Porter Airlines, and with their airport being located at Spadina/Bathurst, I could just walk there after work! I had time to go home, shower, pack and simply walk there. In fact, it took me only 15 minutes to walk there and check in! Totally awesome.

Plus, Toronto City Airport is extremely efficient, clean and comfortable. There are a tonne of lounge space available and there’s less rush of people. It only houses Porter Airlines, so it’s really easy too. So much less stressful! Plus, it’s so nice to be able to fly down and back in a weekend.

We drove around a lot. After reviewing my photos I realise that I have so many photos of Tyler (James’ nephew). Probably about half taken by me and half taken by him.

We drove all the way to Maryland where I bought cheap Nike shoes. We also went to a place called Frenchtown and I had some very nice ice cream.

We had lots of nice food. Aunty Glenda cooked a lot Filipino food. They also took me to a place where we ate lots and lots of crabs (but then I got lots and lots of mozzie bites). We also went rafting. Then we also had Korean BBQ. I always eat too much when I’m there.

I didn’t get a chance to visit NYC at all, but I did see it from an outlook from New Jersey over the Hudson River. Pretty. It’s so nice to be able to fly down and back in a weekend.

Tyler playing in the playground across from his house. Was a really nice day to take lots of great photos of him. The colours turned out really nice.

We drove all the way down to Maryland both Saturday and on Sunday. Was so tiring (just being a passenger).

Lots and lots of green grass. So nice to see as opposed to Australia’s dry land.

Me in the car, outside the Nike factory outlet. Had super cheap shoes!

Tyler loves driving cars, especially the BMW. Haha.

Delaware River (where we went rafting)

Introducing… Butterballs. What a cute rabbit. There was a festival going on in Frenchtown.

James & Ryan

Ryan & Tyler. Tyler loves Thomas the Tank Engine. He has this with him everywhere he goes.

Birthday Cake icecream! This is the besttttttttt. Love it. Yum yum yum.

Me, outside the Hudson river (NYC Skyline in the background)

James & I

Tyler Beckham, again.

Mother & son

Aunty Glenda & Uncle Jovin

More photos:

New Jersey Flickr Set
172 Photos

So lately I’ve been raving on and on about my last trip to NYC. I was there for not even 24 hours but it was totally amazing (to the least).

Yes, I had to take days off work to go there and work extra hours to make it up. Yes, the flight was horrendously expensive for an overnight flight. Yes, my credit card number got stolen in the process of purchasing the ticket. Yes, I had to deal with horrible customer service. Yes, I spent 10 hours straight travelling to get there…… But it was so worth it.

Nothing makes you want something more than not having it for long enough.

The aerial view I got on my flight was incredible. It was still perfectly bright at 6:00pm and I got to see everything. I saw Brooklyn. Downtown Manhattan. Midtown. Uptown. The Rockefeller Centre. Empire State. The U.N. building. Tudor City. Central Park. Statue of Liberty. Staten Island. The Staten Island Ferry. Tonnes of taxis caught in gridlock.

I don’t even know when my love for NYC began. If I had to guess it’d be from the tv show Friends which was my ultimate all time favourite for years and years. Then maybe everything else didn’t just add to that love, but compounded on it.

Thank you to all the people who said that I’ve inspired them in my pursuit of my dreams to achieve their own. I hope we all continue on with even MORE determination and thus have every success and happiness in our lives. If I could only say one thing to all of you then that would be that we must stop predicting our futures and start creating them! If you want something for yourself, then set it in your heart to achieve it and actually do it! But most importantly – don’t ever give in to defeat. Ever!

Everything depends on what is in our hearts. If we decide to ourselves that something is impossible, then, consistent with our minds in thinking so, even something that is possible for us will become impossible. On the other hand, if we have the confidence that we can definitely do something, then we are already one step closer to achieving it in reality. – Daisaku Ikeda

Oh sweet New York. Soon I will have you.