Japantown, San Francisco

Japantown (??? Nihonmachi) in San Francisco is also known as Little Osaka, Funayville and J Town. It is the largest and oldest Japanese town in the United States and spans over six blocks on Post Street, between Laguna Street and Webster Street. The focal point of Japantown is the Japan Center, which opened in 1968 and is three Japanese-oriented shopping centres.

Peace Pagoda, Japantown

The other main focal point of Japantown is the Peace Pagoda (shown above), a five-tiered concrete stupa which was designed by a Japanese architect Yoshiro Taniguchi and was presented to San Francisco by the people of Osaka in Japan. It is located between Post and Geary St at Buchanan and is part of the Japan Center complex. Look how small I am compared to this Peace Pagoda! It’s absolutely massive.

Japantown is full of Japanese restaurants, supermarkets, indoor shopping malls, hotels, banks and other shops, including Kinokuniya.

I took my brother here for his birthday to treat him to lunch!

This was the first time I’ve ever had such good Japanese food before. It was so authentic and it was so much food! Mmmm.

Miyako

(Japantown, San Francisco, California)

1707 Buchanan St, San Francisco, California

The first two times I’ve visited San Francisco, I’ve wanted to check out the California Academy of Sciences but just hadn’t had the time. The Golden Gate Park is just lovely on its own, especially that it has its own Japanese Tea Garden which is so serene and beautiful, and I must mention that the Golden Gate Park is actually bigger in size than Central Park in New York City.

I had the great pleasure to finally visit this museum on my third visit to San Francisco and I was glad I did! There are just so many cool things to see here which makes your money worth while.

California Academy of Sciences Photos

One of the coolest things about this place is the planetarium - where we were taken into a journey through space from billions of years ago to our present day. It felt so real!! You really did feel like you were a star in space with the rounded screen. My mind was spinning.

My favourite things to see is animals. They’re just so adorable!

TURTLE EATING A LEAF = CUTE!

PENGUINS = MAJORLY CUTE!

A unique feature of this museum is the indoor rainforest!

The higher you go inside this dome, the more humid it was and the more interesting the animals got.

Plus I saw more butterflies!

If that’s not enough animals for you – you can go all the way downstairs to the aquarium!

White Aligator :)

If that’s not unique enough – you can go all the way to the top to see the living green roof on top! How environmental conscious!

You must must must see this museum! I really enjoyed it and I’m sure you will too :)

California Academy of Sciences
55 Music Concourse Drive
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA 94118
Mon-Fri 9:30-5pm, Sun 11-5pm
http://www.calacademy.org/

About the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge

Whenever I go to San Francisco I can’t help but marvel over the beauty of the Golden Gate Bridge. Being declared as one of the modern Wonders of the World and also one of the most beautiful and photographed bridge in the world, it is the most international recognised symbol of not only San Francisco but the United States.

When the bridge was built in 1937, it was the longest suspension bridge and it was to connect the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula to Marin County and spans over the opening of the San Francisco Bay in the Pacific Ocean.

The San Francisco bridge is pretty busy in terms of car traffic, but it is also busy with pedestrians – not only tourists, but frequent joggers and cyclists.

You can get a magnificent view of the whole city of San Francisco from the the bridge.

Peeking down below, it’s also nice to watch the waves hit the coast.

Because of the waves – there are also a lot of surfers!

And yachts!

San Francisco gate is a lovely area where I’m sure gets frequented by thousands of tourists a day.

From here you can peek through the binoculars.

From this side of the coast, you can get a good view of Alcatraz as well.

At the pier, there are many fishermen.

About Fort Point National Historic Site

At the bottom of the Golden Gate bridge, you can visit the Fort Point National Historic Site which is open for free 3 days a week (Friday through to Sunday 10am to 5pm) which became a National Historic Site on October 16th, 1970.

The fort was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1853 and 1861 to prevent entrance of any hostiles into San Francisco Bay and was designed to mount 126 massive cannon. The fort was occupied throughout the Civil War, but when more faster and more powerful rifled cannons were invented, brick forts such as Fort Point became obsolete.

The troops were withdrawn in 1889, and the last cannon was removed about 1900. The fort was then used for storage and training purposes for many years. The fort was then used as a base of operations for the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge between 1933 and 1937.

San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge & Fort Point National Historic Site Location

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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!