We ate at a restaurant that was recommended online for their yakisoba. While it was better than Floridian restaurants, it still did not have the kick that it has when made in Japan. We browsed the shops for a bit and picked up some small items.
The next morning we decided that we would spend most of the day in Golden Gate Park. We walked a bit until we found the bus stop that would take us west. We past a building that I had spotted in the distance the night before. It had the top of a church but the body of something very different. A google search says that it is a Catholic Cathedral. I've never seen anything like it.
In the gardens, our first stop was at the Conservatory of Flowers. While not very large, I really enjoyed their variety of flowers. There were much more exotic plants than I am used to seeing, including one carnivorous plant that attracts flies and then traps them inside.
We walked west toward the Academy of Sciences, which had an area with a very cool fountain, with a bird on top.
Next up was the much anticipated Japanese Tea Garden. The entrance was beautiful and the price for entry was steep. We had an adequate, but overpriced lunch and then we walked the gardens. What I didn't expect was just how small the gardens were. They were minuscule. I was very disappointed. On the way out, we passed a very exaggerated and unrealistic bridge, which Stephanie climbed to the top of.
We continued our journey west and found that the park has many extremely different looking areas. There is much more variety than what I remember of Central Park in New York. We even passed a fishing club.
We passed an area that was advertised as having bison. There was a decently large sized field for them, but when we were by, they were all cooped up in what I imagine is the feeding area. We could barely see them.
At the very northwest end of the park was a large and beautiful windmill. Then we saw the ocean, which was the first time I'd seen the pacific ocean with my own eyes, unless I happened to have seen in when I was in LA when I was six, which is doubtful. Also, from a plane doesn't count.
It was about 4 PM and we decided to hop on over to the Golden Gate Bridge before the sun had completely gone down. Now, I am not one to normally travel just to see a bridge, but we had been walking all day and we just figured that it was something to do to finish the day.
Google showed an easy set of bus routes to get there. Unfortunately, the third bus was very, very late. We had to wait over twenty minutes when it should have been under 5. One cool thing about the buses in San Francisco is that if you use your metro card within a few minutes of your last bus use, it won't charge you any more. We ended up taking a total of 5 buses, including our way back afterward, and it only cost $2.50 each.
We arrived just as the sun was nearing all the way down. We hopped back onto the bus and left for dinner in Japantown.
This time, we went to a highly rated restaurant for Ramen. The menu on google was very, very off, and the curry rice bowl that I had planned to add to the meal, was mysteriously absent from the current menu. The prices had also risen. We had to go on a waitlist using a tablet, and then were sat at a long table with 3 other couples, each across from their partner, down the table. There wasn't any conversation between each individual set, however. I ordered the spicy miso ramen, set to mild spice, since I prefer miso ramen and spicy is all they had. Stephanie had the vegan ramen. Although spicier than I'd like it, this broth was the closest to Japan's ramen that I have tasted in the US. Even Stephanie's vegan ramen was quite good.
Tomorrow(which is actually today, since I am writing this in the morning) we go downtown.
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