siri My Family's Here! 4/5 : San Francisco & the return home

pertama-tamanya (wujudkah perkataan ni) :
SERATUS LIMA gambar.
ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE pics.
kalau komputer anda give up halfway, saya mohon maaf awal-awal.
saya memang tak consider connection kat tempat lain selain sini.
haha. sori sori.

23 November, Ahad :

Papa ngan Mama ada tanya,
"boleh ponteng ke esok? ke nak balik ari ni?"
saya tak jawab apa-apa pun (obviously lah nak ponteng kan hoho), but pagi tu Papa bagitau yang dah extend stay kat hotel tu for one more night WHEEHOO XD

hey, breakfast.


apekah Athif tengah buat?


ring ring ring ring ring ring ring ring
bananaphone~
lagu ni wujud, ada kat YouTube, serius.


yes, DON'T.

agenda ari ni : tempat Mythbusters, as per Wafiq's request, and Golden Gate Bridge.

yes, you read right -- Mythbusters.
memula search alamat untuk tempat Mythbusters tu, and since Wafiq tau the name of the place, maka ia memudahkan kerja pencarian.
this part is dedicated to Wafiq, and other Mythbusters fan.

nah, pegi antar fanmail/email kat diorang.
(takpe ke letak alamat camni kat sini? suka ati je)

kitorang pun carik laa the place.
carik punya carik punya carik, then kitorang sampai kat tempat yang diarahkan oleh Google Maps, tapi ia kelihatan agak meragukan, sebab :

it looked like this.
apekah tempat rundown ni boleh jadi tempat cerita se-best Mythbusters tu buat rakaman or whatever...?


tapi check depan building tu, real lah ni M5 Industries.


siap ada notis ni lagi depan pintu.
konfem, nilah tempat ko, Wafiq.


acting as Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman =3
myth : the readers can stand the poyo-ness of these two people.
verdict : myth BUSTED.


for some reason, i forgot the other two terms.
'plausible' je yang boleh pikir time tu. haha.


myth : Nadia can be a retard anytime she feels like it.
verdict : *as shown above*


cuba pecah masuk gudang ni.
but of course, being the super-people they are, they could've put a 67-code passnumber, who knows.

/end Mythbuster hype, hoho.

lepas dah puas amek gambar kat situ, kitorang round-round jalan-jalan.

i like the buildings here, very pretty.


i want a house like this.
at least see how it looks like inside.

initially Papa taknak drive kat Golden Gate Bridge, but after being ruled out by the majority, so we got to go across that fames red bridge.
lupalah kenapa nama dia 'Golden' walhal dia kaler merah...ah, wait (baru lepas check Wiki) : apparently, Golden Gate tu nama servis feri yang beroperasi kat situ sebelum jambatan tu dibina.

the famous red bridge, one of its part.
(dude, you're an engineering student, and you dunno what this part's called?!)

kejap je lintas jambatan tu, around 5 minutes.
then kitorang berenti kat this one tourist spot, memang dibuat khas untuk tourists stop and amek gambar sume. susah gle dapat parking.
but the view of the bridge tak dapat yang cantik dari situ, but heck.

SF skyline.


sesape yang tengok video untuk birthday Wafiq, this picture should be familiar. hee.


another pic.


a sailor looking over SF.
tempat ni sebenarnya dibuat semacam memorial untuk tentera/navy/marine/etc. yang terkorban or something. i don't really know, but that's the gist of it.

pastu pusing balik.
first encounter ngan tol kat sini, hebatlah.
parking somewhere kat Fisherman's Wharf, then jalan-jalan.

everything that he wears here, minus the shoes, are/were all mine.
i still own the jacket and the tshirt, btw.


kali ni kitorang akan lalu BAWAH jambatan tersebut.
kat sinilah kitorang tunggu feri kitorang yang akan buat a sort of 'with voice' tour.


Red & White Ferry.
huh, how convenient is the name?

saya kata 'with voice' sebab, on this ferry, korang akan diberi a set of headphones and a receiver bersaiz walkman (i miss em stuff). dan sepanjang tour on this ferry, 'tour guide' korang, the receiver, akan berceritalah pasal apa je yang de teragak nak cerita, mainly pasal the history of the places yang kitorang lalu.
korang boleh pilih untuk dengar dalam beberapa bahasa selan English, including Japanese and Spanish.
saya tak dengar sangat sebenarnya to the guide, i was just enjoying the wind and looking at people and stuff.

me and Golden Gate.


ヴィーロック。
we rock.
curik tagline Reita.

on this ferry, kitorang jumpa an Indonesian family on vacation, the daughter blaja kat Houston kalo tak silap. they asked me to take their picture, haha.
and then ada this father-son pair, diorang sangat menarik. the father tu bercerita ngan selamba but it sounded true, in fact i think he's telling true stories, just with a bit of sarcasm and carelessness, to his small son, around Athif's age i guess. suka dengar cerita the father, it's fun.

ah, failed attempt to grab the bridge.


holding the bridge in place.


Mama with Golden Gate.


ah, part guide yang ni saya dengar.
bangunan tu, initially di-plan untuk dirobohkan untuk pembinaan Golden Gate, tapi sebab bangunan tu -- actually, a fort, cam A Famosa lah -- kira one of the historical places here, maka ia tak dirobohkan. instead, bahagian kat situ telah di-modify untuk menyesuaikan kedudukan fort tu dengan stability Golden Gate.
fort tu, in its time, adalah sangat strategik kedudukannya sebab ia terlindung dari pandangan mata pihak lawan. masa dulu laa.


did i mention somewhere that Athif is a wannabe rapper?


haro scary eyes.


ni Alcatraz dari pandangan lebih dekat.
kalo korang nak tour kat Alcatraz ni pun boleh, tapi tu pakej lainlah, i dunno how. sori~

lepas dah abes ferry ride, turun balik kat Pier...33, i guess? or Pier 35, lupalah.

tapi kat area nilah.
lolz Budin buat restoran kat sini.
sape kata orang Melayu tak maju kat negara asing? *haha*

then kitorang jalan kat the street and shops there.

lalu plak kat Ripley's Museum.
me, Azzad and Athif went in while Mama and Papa pergi jalan tengok mende lain.


randomly, ada animatronic prisoner kat depan kaunter yang panjat naik-turun tali tu.
i wonder for what reason.

Ripley's Museum, as you might as well know, ada himpunan mende-mende pelik tapi benar yang Mr Ripley dah jumpa sepanjang pencarian de. maka kami jumpa laa pelbagai perkara yang kelakar/scary/mind-boggling/downright weird/grotesque kat dalam tu.
sayangnya tak amek banyak gambar, sebab terlalu seronok tengok display.

feel the lightning with only 25 cents!!
(agaknyalah, tak try pun)


dinosaur made from car bumpers.
people have time to make stuff like that, eh.

there's this one place near the end of the museum, yang bertemakan natural disaster. kat situ ada part yang korang kena berdiri and push something or somewhat, tapi basically apa yang akan terjadi adalah, korang akan rasa GEMPA BUMI SECARA MENGEJUT waddefff--
serius terkejut gle takleh blahhh time tu, Athif dah laa freaked out by some earlier stuff, Azzad yang keras ati tu pun bleh rasa terkejut cam hape. huish hampeh btul.

kaleidoscope-ish mirrors!!


i'm not sure if this is referring to our Prophet SAW...

keluar Ripley's Museum tu, meet up again with Mama and Papa.
Mama cerita, kat depan satu kedai ni, ada sorang ni bawak sekor anjing, atas anjing tu ada kucing, then atas kucing tu ada tikus, berjalan. then bila orang tu nak masuk kedai, orang tu amek tikus tu masuk dalam poket de, kata kat anjing ngan kucing de "stay here" (or something like that lah), dan de pun masuk kedai tu. anjing ngan kucing tu pun duduk diam je lah kat situ.
Mama tak sempat amek gambar, but it was still an awesome thing.

then went for dinner kat Rainforest Cafe.

makaaan.

Athif telah merajuk kat sini sebab de nyer drink tak sebesar Azzad punya drink. haih budak kecik.
kat situ ada dessert bernama Volcano, dan kalo korang order mende tu, waiters/waitresses (in a group of 3 biasanya) akan bawak dessert tu ngan penuh bersemangat melaungkan "VOOOLCANOOO~" dari kitchen sampai ke meja customer tersebut. haha, gimik gimik.

abes makan, ni nak balik dah.
Athif dapat drink sebesar Azzad tu, in the end.


pergi bookstore kejap.


dunno what building this is, but it's cool-looking.

sampai hotel, buat kerja umah jap (yeah i brought Mr L along) kat lobby sebab signal wireless lagi kuat kat situ. was joined a bit later by Papa, Azzad and Athif.
then surf surf surf a bit, pastu balik bilik tido.

24 November, Isnin :

I SKIPPED SCHOOL TODAY WITH MY PARENTS' PERMISSION.
beat that XD

so today barulah kitorang ber-journey balik.
hohoho.
we said goodbye to Homewood Suites (surprisingly Azzad tido tak lasak kat hotel ni) and we drove off, guna Pacific Coastal Highway. jalan ni untuk orang-orang yang nak menikmati keindahan alam tanpa kekangan masa (wah ayat).
kitorang ada stop at a couple of places, sebab memang along the road tu pemandangan cantek gle.

stop 1 : taktau nama, main berenti tepi jalan je.
it looks legal, since memang ada tempat berenti kat situ.

jauh sana, boleh nampak tebing yang teguh.
for me it looks like caramel pudding, haha.


the sea underneath.


THE SEEEA. lookit that.



-- so, i look more like my dad or my mom?
(apsal aku sengih sama je dalam dua-dua gambar?)


saya pun ikut turun jugak.
takdelah sampai bawah kat laut tu pun, just as far as Azzad (in white) went.


shot dari bawah.

then sambung perjalanan lagi.
and jumpa lagi tempat berenti.

stop 2 : some state park which i forgot its name.

good advice? i'll say yeah.


burung terbang!!
lama kot nak tunggu peluang amek gambar ni.
kena suruh budak dua orang tu lari kejar burung-burung tu.


see, mereka menurut arahan.


bahagian ni rasanya dipenuhi air at one time...
gilalah, kalau air pasang nanti, air naik camni -- serius gila!!


placing this little guy here, over there for a bit --


another good advice.

lama jugak kat sini sebenarnya, siap boleh kejar burung lagi apa sume.
then sambung perjalanan lagi.
to another stop.

stop 3 : Pigeon Point Lighthouse.
see, kali ni ingat nama, hohoho.
sebab ada gambar. cheater.

i've always wanted to go see a lighthouse up close!!
see, God hears your prayers and wishes.
kat sini ada hostel, so kalau korang nak stay over kat sini on the way to somewhere, you can.


the three...erm. sambung sendri.


another failed attempt to swallow stuff.
hahahaaa.


to the left of the lighthouse.


THE LIGHTHOUSE.
lighthouse ni tak functional lagi, ada bahagian yang dah chipped off somewhere, railing dah tercabut or something.


Mama dan the littlest child.


ada orang fishing kat situ.
and somewhere to the right of these rocks, ada more rocks, dan korang boleh nampak seals!!


gudang untuk hostel kat situ.


another shot from different angle.

then we said goodbye to the lighthouse.
for another stop, after a while of sleeping (haha).

stop 4 : Monterey Bay.
kat sini, dari peta yang orang kat tempat parking tu bagi, macam menarik.
kalau ada lagi satu hari yang free, pasti kitorang stay over kat sini kot.

dan, kami ke akuarium lagi XD


i think it's said that this aquarium is one of the best in the US or something.
memang pun, ada banyak bahagian, dan banyak benda nak tengok.
it's a HUGE place.


sea otter flying, uh diving, overhead!!


ada banner sempena this one event yang saya lupa apa.


BIG tanks.
i can run around here and people won't even mind.


I LIKE THIS TANK.
dalam de ada like a sort of seaweed and some marine life, nothing particularly interesting, tapi the SIZE of it is too AWESOME. you can make a small roller coaster run in there.


another girly coral 8D


ada bahagian untuk sea birds and stuff.
weirdly they don't fly overhead and into the area inside, or even outside.
sangat well-behaved.


uwah comel XDDD


more birds.


juga ada touch pool.
you can pick up and turn over anything as long as you do it in the pool.
kali ni saya tak sentuh apa-apa.


penguins!!


find me in here~


dalam ni ada macam-macam-macam (lolz triple hype) jenis jellyfish.
Athif was practically jumping in excitement kat entrance.

Mama ada bagitau, "tengok Athif tu elok-elok, dia tu kadang-kadang suka lari-lari, pastu lompat-lompat."
ingatkan part 'lompat-lompat' tu hanya sebagai hiperbola kepada 'lari-lari'.
tapi ari tu, memang saya nampak sendiri, Athif memang melompat-lompat in hyperness bila jumpa tempat yang dia suka.
mom knows best, eh.

クラゲカゲショー
jelly-shadow show =D


IT'S SUCKING WHAT REMAINS OF AZZAD'S BRAINS OMG.


"uoooh it dived!!"


attack of the smaller jellies.


pretty jellies are pretty.


another angle.
somehow blue background works beautifully for jellyfish displays.

then me and Azzad terpisah dari Mama, Papa and Athif.
so we walked on our own.
and came to this huge-a$$ tank, yang ada banyak kombinasi hidupan laut.

this tank.
mula-mula sampai situ, takde tempat langsung nak tengok dekat-dekat.
then ada orang blah, bolehlah menyelit masuk. hoho.


feeding time.

masa feeding tu, this group of fishes naik laa ke surface, then suddenly a pair of hammerhead sharks (rasanya bukan hammerhead, but they looked like it) datang serang that group.
and for once, kitorang dapat tengok fish-eat-fish action in an aquarium, haha XD (sadist)

another one of my fav pic from our SF trip, yeah.


this is a sunfish.
it looks weird, eh.

lama kat situ, then sambung tengok mende lain.
then reunite ngan Mama, Papa and Athif.

with an otter statue.


ada rays' and skeets' touch pool jugak kat sini.
tapi rays kat sini pemalu/intimidated, diorang sume duduk tepi-tepi je, taknak ke arah orang ramai. uuuh.


ni sebenarnya photo spot untuk children (read : kids under 12 maybe), but then...so what.


comel? tak comel?


some sea otters here are named with Malay numbers!!
how cool is that?

in the end, sebab mengejar masa, dan perjalanan sebenarnya masih jauh, kitorang pun rushing lah keluar. banyak lagi nak cover sebenarnya, but it has to wait til next time.
all in all, paling kurang korang kena spend 4 hours kat sini. paling KURANG.

outside of the aquarium.


Athif...ko memang suka baring kat lantai kat Amerika ni kah?


depan akuarium.
nak carik tempat makan.


excuse the randomness.


random snap.


another random snap.
how grey can today be, eh.


memula ingat nak makan kat sini, but naaah.


berenti kat Nestle's Toll House.
cookies kat situ adalah HEAVENLY.
masuk-masuk kedai dah macam kena tarik, tetiba dah ada kat depan display cookies tu. huahaha.
oh, Papa tengah beli kopi btw.

last-last pegi makan kat KFC/Long John Silver's (ye ke).

ada jukebox!!
lama tak nampak mende ni 8D


closer look.

alright, now to head home (= Pomona), for real.
no more stops!!

Monterey Harbor pun ada Fisherman's Wharf de sendiri.
it's cold here, did i mention that?


dapat amek gambar sunset masa keluar dari Monterey.

then, an interesting thing happens right after Monterey.
a few minutes lepas Monterey, the boys lelap terus, which is amazing sebab biasanya Nadia akan tido dulu before diorang (yes, i have an automatic sleep switch kalo masuk kereta and other vehicles).
saya memang dah nak tido, tapi Mama tunjuk kat luar ada kawasan yang nampak cantik gle, macam dalam fairy tale, kat kaki gunung. tak sempat nak amek gambar. lepas je tempat tu, somehow kitorang macam masuk ke satu kawasan yang sangat asing.
Papa nak lalu tempat tu sebab nak cut across the valley, nak keluar dari PCH into the 'boring' highway (in my own terms lah). tapi jalan across tu, dari tempat ala fairy tale tadi, macam masuk horror story.
sangat gelap, jalan pun sempit je, sepanjang jalan tu rasanya ada 3-4 kereta je yang berselisih. memang spooky gle, and it lasted for like 2 hours or something. saya tido-bangun-tido, bila terbangun tu tengok luar, creepy gila. lampu jalan pun macam takde je, serius.
in the end, bila nampak cahaya civilization (haha) rasa lega sangat-sangat. berenti kat stesen minyak, beli air isi minyak apa sume.
then we continued on our way to Pomona.

balik Village kejap, amek baju barang apa sume, for i will still stay with my family lah.
checked in kat Best Western again (the same room too).
and i flopped to sleep.

berakhir sudah cerita pasal San Francisco.
syukur semua selamat sampai.

nantikan episod seterusnya~

/nadia yang malas nak packing barang untuk trip esok.