If you're going to San Francsico...

...be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.

In Dolores Park, with the San Francisco skyline behind me

So I'm in San Francisco, and have been for a week now so time for an update.

I got in on Thursday, after a 2 hour delay on my flight from Vegas. I was surprised that the security on a domestic flight seemed even more stringent than coming in to LA, but the flight was largely uneventful.

Got to my friend Phil's place, who I know from school, and we made a nice meal and drank some New Zealand wine. It was pretty cool.Phil has just moved to San Francisco, and lives in a gorgeous 18th floor apartment in the central city with beautiful views. He hasn't got much furniture yet, but he bought an airbed for me to sleep on.

Hanging out with Phil

I had a chilled couple of days with him. I wandered down to Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, which is the tourist wharf with shops and buskers, and a whole bunch of sea lions relaxing on the docks. It was pretty cool, and there was even a Left handed store which I thought was pretty cool.

The next day was Saturday, and so he left early to go buy a bed with his girlfriend (he has also been sleeping on an air bed) and when we came back it was off to IKEA for some more furniture shopping. I've never been to IKEA before. It is a huge furniture store which hasn't quite made it to New Zealand yet (although I think Auckland is getting one soon) which specialises in furniture for small places. The cool thing about IKEA is that it set up its furniture into different rooms so you wander around the different rooms. I took photos in all of "my rooms" sleeping on the bed, hanging out in my reading room, taking a shower. It was good fun, I couldn't believe that no one else was doing it (I guess they were all actually buying furniture).

Sitting in my library at IKEA

When you buy something, you then go to this huge warehouse where you pick up the kitset for your item. It was pretty cool. After that, Phil took me and Stef (his girlfriend) to the MIssion district for a burrito. The burritos here are amazing! Then we wandered down the streets looking at some of the street art! It is incredible in this area.

Cool street art in the Mission Disctrict

Sunday, I headed slightly out of San Fran (40 minute train away but only $4 to get there) to a small place called Pinole, where a friend of mine, Brian lives. Brian cooked us dinner and we had an awesome night catching up. He lives with his brother Sean, who is also a really nice guy. I was only going to stay until Wed, but as staying with another friend fell through, he said I could stay until Friday. It's great to see him again, and it's been really relaxed staying here. As he and his brother are moving towns to one 4 hours south, in two weeks, he has a lot of packing to do. So I have been heading into the city, and sightseeing to give him space and time to do this.

Me and Brian with the giant tub of yoghurt and giant wine glasses (one full bottle in these glasses)

Monday was Memorial Day (I guess our equivalent of ANZAC Day as it is tribute to the war veterans). It was a public holiday. I rang a friend of mine, Andie who I know from back home, and she said "Come over, we're having a BBQ". So I did. Brian had stuff to do, so I left him to his packing, and went and spent an awesome day, hanging out with some cool people, catching up with Andie and generally enjoying the sunshine and wine that was to offer.

Hanging out with Andie on Memorial Day

Tuesday I went to a thrift store. It was amazing, with the book section about 20 bookcases full of almost brand new titles for about $1.50 each. I bought two (although I could have bought a LOT more). One for me, and one as a present for Brian.

Yesterday I went to Alcatraz which was amazing! The audio tour that was included in the tour was just fantastic and added a real spooky feel to the place.

Locked up in Alcatraz!

I also went to a couchsurfing meetup in the evening which was very cool, and I got to meet some wicked people.

I have a few more days left in the city. Today, I'm hanging out with Brian, then tomorrow I head back into the city in a hostel for my last couple of days. I've meeting up with a few couchsurfing people, and on Sunday or Monday a couple of us are hiring a car so we can get up the Pacific Coast to Portland and then Seattle.

San Francisco is my favourite city of the three I've been to so far. If I was ever to live in America, it would definitely, without a doubt be the place that I would live. It has a chilled out vibe, and some parts really remind me of Melbourne, or even Wellington.