I'm Couchsurfing (CS) at Kyle & Brianna's (K&B) place, a peaceful townhouse in Oakland. K&B are young, friendly, got-it-together albeit hippy-ish, couple a few years out of college. It was poker night the night prior, and I ended up making US$10 (patience pays off, I tell you)... I've earmarked this for a memory card money, as the 2GB card I purchased in Oz is (in hindsight btw) next to my PC (also in Oz!!!).
Now tell me this... am I right in thinking that some ingredients should be BANNED from breakfast cereals?!! B offers me breakfast, a choice of 3 flavours of cereal, being peanut-butter, cinnamon, and roadkill... well, perhaps not roadkill, but I can't remember the third choice, except it also was not a natural breakfast flavour.
Normally adventurous when eating foreign delicacies, I choose the least offensive... cinnamon. This, of course, is soaked in soy milk (I HATE SOY. uch, the taste!), but it seems to be ok-ish! I think I'll stick to my normal breakfast - a skinny flat white, one equal!
I'm tricked into buying a crap coffee at Cafe Dolce... it's NOT ITALIAN, despite the name (I ought to have known better, being in marketing!). And I found a Radioshack selling 2GB cards for US$17... the other spot I checked was the supermarket, which was selling them for US$70 (glad I asked a local where to go)!
K lent me his spare bike, and so I cycle through Golden Gate Park, before heading for the Pacific Ocean and the Golden Gate Bridge. This is how you should see the City by the Bay... they've designed it well for cyclists, even to the detriment of motorists (e.g there's a very wide bike track as you approach the Golden Gate Bridge that gives a great view of the banked-up traffic... easily could make another car lane).
Back to cycling... doesn't it feel good to do something healthy, whilst taking in the sights and sounds of a new travel destination? I of course counter that feeling with my snack food (snickers, Pringles!) choices!
At one point, I almost died... I was taking a picture of SF's Parliament House, when I noticed an African-American female druggo begging for money off a businessman. He declines, and so she lifts her top, and says something to the effect of "How 'bout seeing dese! Can i get a dollah!)... he rushes off! And I decide to do the same too, before she sees me... but too late! It's taking me some time to put away my camera, and she's approaching quickly! I shove the camera unpacked into my backpack, and try to escape... she calls to me, "HEY YOU, STOP!! STOP", but I've jumped on my bike, and trying to push the pedal down as I enter the road... BUT I miss, and she's now HERE, "STOP!!!" she yells, but I wobble onto the road...
... just as a car screeches to avoid me!
... I breathe once, twice, find the pedal and leave... I hear her in the background saying something like, "I was trying de wahn ya! <cough, phlegm spit!>"
I ought to thank her, but I am still a little scared of her breasts!!! So I peddle quickly once I get some balance happening.
Perhaps the highlight was cycling to the ferry at Sausoiito, which reminds me of Mosman back home in Sydney... lots of cafes and niche fashion and accessories shops that are way overpriced, but cute none-the-less. There's a million cyclists that board this ferry too, but they've designed the vessel with this in mind... plenty of bike racks. Grab some shots of the bridge, and Alcatraz, whilst listening to some soulful tunes on the ipod. Add to this that it's sunset, and this is the first real rest after cycling most of the day, and you have a very rewarding experience.
