Alcatraz Island (Day 5)

On an extremely foggy and cold day, I decided to take a tour of Alcatraz Island. It was one of the most educational and interesting tours I've ever been on. We were able to walk around the island and the penitentiary at our own pace, and I did my best to read every word on every wall, it was so fascinating that I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything! The audio-guided self tour through the penitentiary was only 45 minutes long, but I took about 2 hours to look at everything! It was so amazing to hear the stories of how these inmates lived on the island, and particularly of the two escape attempts that were made. The 'room' behind bars is so tiny, although it did remind me of my freshman dorm room. I was a bit disappointed when I first arrived on the island, because the fog was so thick that we couldn't see anything except what was right in front of us. But again, God came through and by early afternoon, the fog had dissipated, and the view of San Francisco from Alcatraz is breathtaking. Some of the inmates said it was like torture to go outside because they had such a beautiful view of a place that was only 1.5 miles away, and yet they could not reach it.

You're supposed to see water behind the building































That big hole in the wall was one of three prisoners' escape route, they dug them using spoons, which they made into drills, how crazy is that?! They got into a raft that they made from raincoats (if I remember correctly), and were never seen again. It's like Prison Break, except for real.





















The prisoners' recreation yard
















View from the island after the fog had dissipated
















View of the skyline from the island
















Amazing blue, huh?
















View of Alcatraz island as we were leaving on the boat for San Francisco
















As we got close to the city
















There are so many of these public toilets that you see on the streets, very convenient for those emergency nature calls. You have pay to use them though. I didn't go in to check it out.
















I walked around in Fisherman's Wharf, along the piers, this was one of the busier piers, with live music, shops and restaurants. It was beautiful and warm with the sun finally out!
















I ate a late lunch at In and Out, I had been looking forward to it for days! The burger was just as good as I remembered it the last time I was in Cali years ago. I passed through Ghirardelli Square, where they used to manufacture the chocolate, couldn't resist and ended up buying a package as a souvenir
















From Ghirardelli Square, I had to complete my trip with the most touristy thing in San Francisco, the cable car ride up and down the hills! I spent my last $5 on the cable car ride, and there was only standing room left, which I thought was perfect because it made the ride more 'authentic', like how people do it in the movies, hanging off the side of the car!





















View from the cable car at the top of a hill
















It was kind of a scary ride actually, cuz your feet can't completely fit on the step, and there are people sitting right behind you, so you don't want to be in their laps either. And when another cable car passes by in the other direction, you have to lean in to make sure you don't get hit!
































On the cable car ride, I met two new friends from Singapore! They're pilots for Singapore Airlines and had a couple of days to rest in San Francisco. Since I had a couple of hours before Jolly got off work, we ended up hanging out and grabbing a cup of coffee. It was so great to meet people from a country I've never been to! I learned a lot about the culture and life in Singapore, and the best part was, I got to ask them 2 questions I've always wanted to ask pilots. 1) once the plane is in the air, and the plane is in autopilot, what do you do? their answer - sudoko, newspaper and sleep, LOL, I hope they're only partly joking; 2) can you see turbulence before it happens? their answer - no. They speak English as fluently as we do, and Mandarin more fluently than I do, haha! It's fun meeting nice people when traveling!

After I got back to the East Bay, Jolly surprised me by taking me to Benihana, which I'd never been to. We found out after we read the menu that Benihana was founded in NY, haha, ironic huh? It was SO much fun watching the chef cook, the food smelled and tasted awesome, and the company was even better. I had such a wonderful time chatting and hanging out with my cousin on this trip (who is not 'technically' my cousin, which I sadly discovered this past weekend)!

Upon returning to NJ, I did some research on what it takes to become a flight attendant, inspired by the prospect of traveling worldwide via full-time employment. When I got to the list of manual labors (pushing the food cart which is 150 pounds, lifting things that are 50 pounds, being able to open the emergency exit door, which is also very heavy), I realized that I probably wasn't built for it, so that idea quickly was extinguished. I pulled a muscle a month ago carrying my suitcase, and I still haven't 100% recovered, haha!