Address: 1070 Lombard Street, San Francisco, CA 94109
(The portion of Lombard Street between Jones Street & Hyde Street)
You may wonder why we made it a point to see a street. Well, it's because the street was so crooked and yet, exuded beauty with well-maintained flower beds and red brick pavement, not to mention the marvelous stately houses located along it! Why wasn't the road straight? Well, a straight road down the 27 degree slope was considered too dangerous for both drivers and pedestrians and hence, the road was designed to be curvy with eight turns in just one block.
We reached this crooked street around 10 am and luckily, managed to find a parking near the top of the hill! There is also a cable car stop near near the top, so that's a great transportation option if you don't want to drive.
Uncle waited at the top for us while we walked down the hill. The best spot to take photo is at the bottom of the slope, where you can see how crooked this street really is.
Some people do challenge themselves by driving down this one-way windy road with 8 tight turns. We just walked down though :D
The people who stay along this portion of the street must be pretty decent drivers to be able to drive there every single day! And their cars must have great brake system. I do wonder where and how they park!
While the walk down was leisurely, the return trip back up the stairs wasn't so great. We had to pause a number of times to catch our breath!
Back at the top of the hill - successfully managed to convince Uncle to take selfie with us :D
These are the tracks for cable car at the top of the hill. It was such a beautiful day with clear blue sky. You can even see Alcatraz Island / Prison from here.
A short history - Alcatraz Island was first utilized as a military prison since 1861 due to its isolation from the outside world by the strong, treacherous water currents. From 1934 till its closure in 1963, Alcatraz served as a federal prison, to house the most notorious criminals. Today, this infamous island is managed by the National Park Service, and is open to public to enjoy its scenery as well as marine and animal life.
Costco
Around 11am, we headed for Costco from Lombard Street. Mister needed to get his daily vitamins and we both wanted to buy some snacks to munch on during our West Coast trip which would cover Seattle, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Whenever I'm in a foreign country, I made it a point to visit their supermarket as it is fascinating to check out each place's famous local snacks.
Costco is known for hercrazy saver deals. So how did they do it? They are very selective about the merchandise they carry. While the variety is much less than other typical supermarket, Costco makes sure that their goods are popular and selling faster than an average supermarket item, thereby reducing storage cost. In addition, they buy and sell in bulk to secure quantity discount. Last but not least, Costco reduces cost to ensure lower prices by embracing a warehouse model - selling goods directly from shipping pallets, rather than from display shelves.
Mode of Payment: Cash, Check, Debit Card, but only American Express Credit Card
In-house Brand: Kirkland
Annual Membership Fees
You need a membership card to shop at Costco. Alternatively, you can tag along with a friend who has a membership or ask your member friend to help you buy a Costco gift card. If your purchases exceed the value on the card, you can cover the difference with cash. Currently, the membership figure stands at a whooping 81 million!
Costco reduces cost to ensure lower prices by embracing a warehouse model - selling goods directly from shipping pallets, rather than from display shelves.
I checked - those were real flowers, sporting vibrant colors. Each bouquet on the lower shelf must have had at least 30 stalks and it just cost USD 9.99! So cheap!
You know what else was cheaper? ALCOHOL! Including wine. The prices here were such a bargain, even compared to the duty free shopping at the Changi Airport in Singapore.
After shopping for about an hour, we left Costco around 12:30 pm as my friend was going to pick me up from Uncle's place at 1 pm. Her family migrated to the States since we were 13 years old and we were 26 now, so it had been 13 years since I last met her. To say I was excited would be an understatement :D Our visit to the Fisherman's Wharf / Pier 39 would be in the next post!
Adios!
xoxo
Miss N
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