Welcome back! We’ll be stepping away from automotive content in this post and we’ll be covering my trip to San Francisco (or SF). Come along and read about my nuanced experience being a tourist, tour guide, and time traveler. With my travels, I’m accompanied by my wife, Patricia. Also, I bring along my beloved Fuji X-T2 camera with a Fujinon XF 18-55mm lens attached and snap away at what the city of SF has to offer.

Fall in Denver, Colorado has been really nice so far. It’s been a warm fall season but in the last week of October, the temperature has drop significantly to an average of 35 degrees Fahrenheit. The leaves have almost completely fallen from the trees and are rustling across the streets and sidewalks of Denver. The part I hate about fall is how short the season is because it’s my favorite season of all time. For the fashionable part of me, I’m happy because I get to layer my clothes. I have something to wear for both the chilly mornings/evenings and the warm afternoons. You can call it adaptability or versatility, to be real, I just want to utilize the clothes in my closet. I love seeing the trees’ leaves change color, dressing up in layers, and enjoying the dynamic weather. Despite the short duration of the season, it makes me appreciate fall even more. It’s a transitional period for nature to restart it’s cycle. As someone who’s spent most of my life thus far being a student, fall is usually when the grinding season starts. I’d come back from summer to hit the books, study for midterms, save up money for a summer vacation, and fixate on gaining skills and knowledge. You go through the cold winters and bloom in the spring with all this experience and knowledge you gained. Nature just reminds you to take your time. As I grow older, materialistic stuff doesn’t matter as it did when I was in my early 20’s. Even though the world is rough and has its struggles, you just have to be resilient like the trees, the flowers, and the animals that have prospered thus far.

Well, I couldn’t let go of fall yet because my wife, Patricia, and I traveled to California. About a 3-hour flight from Denver International Airport (or DIA), we landed in San Francisco International Airport (or SFO). From what I noticed, the trees were just starting to shed its leaves and change colors. As a fall-season lover, I was content. I felt spoiled to experience the radiating sun rays in sunny California. We landed in San Francisco (or SF) because Patricia had work-related opportunities there. While she would work, I would spend time walking around SF. Side note: if you’re a Bay Area native, you best not call it “San Fran”!

SF is such a dynamic city and I’ve always been drawn to the metropolis. The reason I’m drawn to SF is because I got to spend a couple days there when I was about 10 years old. My uncle, or sentimentally my ninong, (or godfather in Filipino culture), had a work trip in SF and was allowed by his employer to have his family nearby. My mom asked me if I wanted to go to SF with my uncle and his family so I said “yeah, sure”. So for about 3 days, I would go on an adventure with my ninang (or godfather in Filipino culture) pushing around a baby stroller with my little cousin strapped in. I had no clue where I went but these vivid images are still burned in my brain.

Present-me was unconsciously trying to visit these places in-person on this trip to relive that time when I was younger. Now that I’m older, I decided “I’m going wherever I f*cking want”. Either way, I wanted to have an adventure and take my trusty Fuji X-T2 with me to document anything that caught my eye. I know at the beginning of this post I said that we’re taking a slight step away from automotive content but there will be snippets of automobiles in this post!

Our first tourist stop was Pier 39 aka Fisherman’s Wharf! I’ve been here a couple of times with friends but this was Patricia’s first time here. I was hella excited to show her the sea lions because they’re so entertaining and their barks sound funny. It might have been the season or the time of the year but there were less sea lions that I’ve seen before. Thankfully, there were sea lions because that’s the main attraction at the pier. I would’ve looked like a fool in front of my wife if there weren’t! We observed them for about 10 minutes then decided to explore the rest of the pier just like any other tourist would.

Here’s Patricia holding a seagull in the palm of her hand. This photo is obviously modified using Photoshop.

We worked our way inland from the end of the pier so we stopped by various gift shops. We had dinner that composed of fried calamari, jambalaya, and clam chowder in a bread bowl. After we filled our stomachs, I guided us to the Biscoff Coffee Corner. Patricia ordered herself a hot Biscoff Latte.

It got really dark at 7:30 PM PST. It was time to call it a night. We requested a Uber/Lyft and waited at the entrance of the Fisherman’s Wharf. Installed at the entrance was this giant sea lion comprised of succulent plants. I think this is when Patricia shared “sea lions are my new favorite animal”. To me that sounds like it was a successful date. Mission accomplished!

The next day, Patricia had her work duties and I had my SF to-do list. First thing I did was grab a breakfast burrito at the Il Canto Cafe (Yelp). A brisk 20 minute walk later, I ordered the Classic Bacon Avocado Chipotle breakfast burrito. In my opinion, it was one of the best breakfast burritos I ever had. Here in Colorado, we have Santiago’s and Good Times that are go-to chains for breakfast burritos but those places don’t compare. Il Canto Cafe famously grills their burritos so you get this crunch and it makes every bite hella satisfying. I would 5/5 recommend this place if you’re looking for a quick bite.

After devouring that burrito, I decided to make a pit stop at the Embarcadero Ferry Building. On this day, I didn’t know that the building would be filled with a marketplace. I found out the day after that there was a Senor Sisig and a Blue Bottle (Yelp) inside. Patricia and I ate there for brunch and our tummies were hella happy. Being a “Baydestrian”, I had to put wifey on. (Patricia’s from Colorado!) She ordered the Senor Sisig Burrito with pork and I ordered the Tosilog Burrito. After that, we got our caffeine fix from Blue Bottle. We thought our drinks were alright…

On the way to the Ferry Building, I walked past the four Embarcadero Centers which eventually led to the Embarcadero Plaza. Had to take a mirror selfie with the Ferry Building behind me!

I discovered this crazy fixture and thought something was odd when I approached it. According to my research, this is actually the Vaillancourt Fountain. In its current state, the fountain water stopped flowing due to technical difficulties (Regimbal, SFGATE).

I was training my eye to see different photo compositions. As a result, there was this small window provided by the vegetation. It allowed for the Ferry Building to be seen within this scope, if you will.

Again, here’s me experimenting with composition. This was taken with a stomach full of goodness provided by the folks at Senor Sisig.

This was the first time I’ve set foot on Pier 1 at the Embarcadero. I’ve never seen Treasure Island this close before. To add, the skies were clear and the weather was perfect. I was able to capture this cargo boat before it travels underneath the Bay Bridge and into the San Francisco Bay.

After that, I was going to make my trek towards the Coit Tower which is stooped upon the Telegraph Hill. The car enthusiast and Civic SI owner in me couldn’t resist. There was this clean 9th generation Honda Civic SI Coupe (FG4) with a suspension drop and HFP kit representing Washington state. “The Power of Dreams” is what allowed me to walk me all over SF. Thanks for the mantra Honda. Not funny? Ah, I’ll try again next time…

In my raw denim 21oz Unbranded selvedge jeans, I walked through the Levi’s Park before I got to the base of Telegraph Hill. A boost of inspiration came from a pair of vehicles parked at the start of what would be a moderate-vigorous hike. For you fitness people, my rate of perceived exhaustion (or RPE) would be a 6 out of 10. Before I ascended the Greenwich Steps (Google Maps), I snapped away at what would be considered relics of the past: a yellow Dodge Ram Van Sportsman and a red 4-door Datsun 510. I love how they’re unaltered and maintain their vintage charm compared to today’s cars with advancements in technology.

It was a peaceful hike despite being slightly physically demanding. I was overthinking a lot because I was this guy with a decently-sized camera, zoom lens attached, and in a quiet neighborhood. I was self conscious that I’d come off as a creepy “peeping Tom” disturbing the peace so I ascended the steps at a quick rate…

I got to a good stopping point and I was met with a 1st generation Toyota 4Runner. I have an extreme soft spot for retro Japanese trucks, especially Toyota’s. I ogled at this truck while I caught my breath and hydrated. The thirst was real for both a Toyota truck and some water…

Eventually, I came to my destination of the Coit Tower. I wasn’t too excited about the tower itself as I was more intrigued about the views atop the Telegraph Hill. I always thought these scenic viewers were cool. It was even cooler to see the SF Golden Gate in the background.

I didn’t spend too much time around Coit Tower because I had several other things on my to-do list.

It was a beautiful day out and I was lucky to capture all these!

One of my favorite shots I took in San Francisco. I was making my way to my next destination. I followed Google Maps and it led me to a road that takes you up to Coit Tower if you drove there. It wasn’t a busy street so I took advantage by getting in the middle of the road to capture this. I loved the view of the neighborhood nearby and how each block is organized. It’s aesthetically pleasing to say the least.

I developed this fascination of scooters when I was down in SF. Patricia asked me on the first day we got to the Bay, “How come there’s no palm trees?” when she observed that there were no palm trees around. I didn’t notice any palm trees the first day either and when I saw this, I immediately thought about her. Combine the palm tree with my new fascination with scooters and boom: palm tree and scooter. My hope is that people can automatically associate this photo with SF because it seems like a stereotypical SF setting. If not then maybe I don’t know SF that well…

I was seeing doubles. 2 cones. 2 scooters.

All these scooters I found were located on the same street and block. That concludes my scooter fascination section…

Now if you’re wondering, I was making my way downtown. Walking fast, faces pass, and I’m boba-bound. Yup, I was making it a priority to grab boba on this trip. On the way there I passed through Chinatown. It was so vibrant in this portion of Chinatown.

To set the mood, this OG was playing the erhu which is a 2-stringed Chinese instrument.

It doesn’t get more California than seeing a retro VW Bus cruisin’ by.

I walked about 20 minutes from Coit Tower to the boba spot, Mountain Boba Tea (Yelp). It was average. I ordered the Brown Sugar Boba and killed it in about 10 minutes. My next spot was the Leica Store (Yelp). I got lost because it was down the street of Mountain Boba Tea and I was trying to rely on my instincts. My instincts failed me this time and I ended up looking for directions on my phone. I got to the Leica storefront and they made it hard to access. I thought I could easily walk in but there were instructions on the front door to follow and I couldn’t comprehend them. The security guard supervising the entrance just opened it from the inside and let me in haha.

I never knew about Leica cameras until I started watching street photography videos on YouTube during the COVID pandemic. Vuhlandes, Samuel L. Streetlife, and Paulie B. are a few photographers who have introduced me to the cameras. I don’t have much of an opinion on these cameras since I’ve never got my hands on them nor do I ever plan to. I’m content with my Fujifilm camera and I’m just not on that boat. I will say that the Leica cameras look beautiful and they produce amazing images.

After the Leica camera store, I arrived to SFMOMA. For how long I’ve been living in the Bay Area I never visited the museum. Our hotel was down the street so it would be my last stop on my SF to-do list that day. I spent a considerable amount of time in the Museum of Modern Arts. For those who have never been, I would recommend checking it out. There are 7 floors of exhibitions that you can walk through and interact with. After I checked in, I was unsure where to start so I instinctively walked to the red elevators and went to the top floor.

I didn’t know what to expect when I got inside the elevator; however, I soon discovered that the top floor or 7th level was dedicated to sports. I don’t really call myself a sports fanatic but I do appreciate sports. My favorite sport is basketball. Basketball is a sport I watched with my brothers whenever the Golden State Warriors were playing. I was not the athletic type because I was too clumsy and uncoordinated. I also wasn’t that competitive. The closest I got to playing basketball as a kid was shooting hoops in my backyard. My free throw was good but once you throw me on the court, expect me to hold the ball for 2 dribbles max before I pass it to someone or shoot an “air ball”. Call it naive, unconfident, or intimidated, my short stature was not going to make any attempts of being an All-Star. For you J. Cole fans, my story is that I was on the sideline. Anyways, I digress. I remind y’all to check it out!

This photo was shot inside an exhibition by Yayoi Kusama.

More old school Toyota truck love! This is the second one I’ve seen that day. Talk about seeing doubles…

To end the night, I wanted to take Patricia to the Ghirardelli Square after dinner. We had room for dessert and I was happy to take her here too. In summary, it was another successful date. We grabbed some Ghirardelli chocolates, took some cute pictures, walked around, and shopped at the LOLA storefront. She enjoyed it and I felt accomplished! It was both our first time visiting the square. The last time I went there, I had a sundae with some friends from high school but hadn’t had the chance to view the whole landmark.

This concludes my visit to SF, CA. We had a great time being tourists in SF. We saw some Waymo’s (self-driving cars), sea lions, homelessness, and cool buildings. We ate some delicious food and drank some dranks. It was overall a great time in the Bay. Patricia loved it so much that she would like us to move there one day. I’m honestly not opposed to it because SF is such a dope city.

Thanks for tuning into this post and I’ll keep in touch in the next one!