Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Craig's Birthday Surprise!

In the previous post, I mentioned that I had a special birthday surprise waiting for Craig the upcoming weekend. Well I'm back and we had such a fantastic time! We did so much that I am going to have to split this post into three parts.

Because it was raining for 3 days last week, I felt really bad that we stayed indoors for his big 34, so I booked 3 nights at the Hotel Monaco in San Francisco, a fauxcation as the cheap and trendy would say. With a 30% yelp discount off an already reduced rate, it was steal! Let me tell ya, this hotel rocks! Not only is it one of the hippest hotels in SF but pet friendly too! Our room was very cozy. It was like staying in a mansion of a very wealthy friend. Small and intimate. The staff were very accommodating and nice. We even had a complimentary bottle of wine waiting for us which was a very nice touch...

Our cozy little room




Sitting area in the front area. Lots of cozy couches and a nice place to chill in front of the fire. It felt like being in your own living room.


Another sitting area


A grand marble staircase


Later that night we caught the muni on Market and went to the Castro. The Castro was lively on a Friday night. Lots of people on the streets, there was a nice buzz. People eating in cafes and restaurants, you can barely hear the din of live music outside the clubs, street musicians on every other block. As luck would have it, I even bumped into my friend from grammar school who I haven't seen in a very long time. We ended up eating in Sliders Diner, a hole in the wall burger place. We were happy just chilling with the locals and watching Wrestlemania. Craig liked it because it was a no bullshit place. You order, you find a table, and you stuff your face. There was no pretentious waiter breathing down our necks and asking us if everything is OK every 5 minutes which can be pretty annoying!

The F Castro! Oh how I miss an efficient public transportation system! Belfast can learn a thing or two from San Francisco!


Craig feeling at home...hehe


This pretty much sums up our first night. Stay tuned for more wacky adventures!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Oh how I miss an efficient public transportation system! Belfast can learn a thing or two from San Francisco!" LOL!! I lived in San Francisco for 2 years and was appalled at the public transportation system :) Is it actually worse in Belfast?
That hotel looks lovely.

Flippin' Yank said...

I am curious to know what is so apalling about the SF public transport system? I am San Franciscan born and bred and know this city like the back of my hand. I can guarantee that I can reach every corner of the city using BART or MUNI alone. I've never had any problems in my 36 years of existence. Are you sure we're talking about the same city here? :)

Belfast's transportation system is utter crap in my opinion. Belfast's layout isn't a grid system like SF which is probably why their transport system is difficult to efficiently plan. But it definitely needs improvement. I'll give them credit that the buses do run on time (most of the time).