Quotation #36

"Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

Howard Thurman was born on November 18, 1900
(American theologian, clergyman and activist. 1900-1981)

Quotation #35

“Some people run away from themselves by escaping into the crowd;

others run away from the crowd by escaping into themselves.”

~ Dr. Mardy Grothe, American psychologist and writer

The world was okay

Ever since I first read it from the book, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, I have been wanting to extract this story and put it here.

"One night a father was relaxing with his newspaper after a long day at the office. His son, who wanted to play, kept pestering him. Finally, fed up, the father ripped out a picture of the globe that was in the paper and tore it into a hundred tiny pieces. 'Here son, go ahead and try to put this back together,' he said, hoping that this would keep the little boy busy long enough for him to finish reading his paper. To his amazement, his son returned after only one minute with the globe perfectly back together. When the startled father asked how he achieved this feat, the son smiled gently and replied 'Dad, on the other side of the globe there was a picture of a person, and once I got the person together, the world was okay.'"

SF part 3

Day 7 - The drive along Highway 1 along the coast is really the highlight of the trip for me. Though the day started foggy and we went on the wrong highway, we managed to get back on track and enjoy the scenic ride. I am glad we made the drive out.

Introducing Margaret, the GPS. We needed her coz yours truly is bad with maps and directions

TT named her Sally, our transporter

Happy Halloween!

At the straw maze

Lunching in the fog

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

We are both suckers for roller coasters and there were only 2 of us right in front during our ride! I cant remember but I bet I was screaming my lungs off throughout the ride (even tho I must say this is a rather mild roller coaster).

Monterey bay

Day ended with another visit to Gilroy (since we have the car and the shopaholics in us can never be cured)

Day 8 - Drove around the city and making pit stops at the various attractions

Tom, the seagull, was leading the way

Palace of fine arts

Fort point

My fav of all the pics we took together

Up to twin peaks

Japanese food - I can never get enough

The painted ladies

Sunset in Sausalito

The connections back was crazy (SFO to Dallas to London to Zurich, followed by train to Basel). My connections companion was Sidney (a surprise gift from TT)

"It's an odd thing, but anyone who has disappeared is said to have been seen in San Francisco." ~ Oscar Wilde

SF part 2

The jetlag continues.. I have slept so much that I find it disgusting. Anyhow, here's a continuation of the trip.

Day 3 - Gilroy outlet mall

Didnt take many pics coz we spent the day at the outlet mall. Came across this truck which TT insisted she needs a pic with it. It's meant for Kay of course :P

This was also the day when the greyhound bus that was supposed to pick us in the evening got delayed by more than 2 hours and we sat there at the bus terminal feeling stranded and wondering how we could get back to the city. Thought all is over when the bus finally came but who knows, the bay bridge was closed and we need to take the bart from Oakland to SF. And only learnt from my bro the following day that Oakland is one of the US cities with the highest crime rates. Sometimes, ignorance is really bliss.

But I must say that taking the greyhound bus showed me another side of the country - the people who are less well off and who needs to rely on the (unreliable) public transport.

TT and her red truck

Day 4- Up late after a long night and the day was spent having a late lunch followed by shopping in union square.

My much awaited dim sum meal

The dim sum must haves

Served from a push cart

As expected we ordered too much

Stuffed in the end

TT still goin on strong

Day 5 - Afternoon in SFMoMa and more roaming in the city

Another much awaited meal - sushi

The F line was bringing us to where we want to go

Day 6 - Lombard St and Bridge walk

One seems to spot Alcatraz everywhere

Hanging on to the cable car is fun

We were wondering how it feels to live in a house where there's tourists constantly outside taking pictures?

TT was right, the brick wall makes a nice background for a pic

Showing off a house ready for halloween

Our food that day - American in the day and Chinese in the night

We were lucky to get good weather for the walk across the bridge