Sunday 18th
Our last day in San Francisco. We originally headed to the Embarcadero Centre but ended up heading east instead.
We wanted to go to the Zoo, but it became apparent that a trip to the zoo was unlikely due to construction and repairs to the Muni.
We ended up heading to Japantown, via the San Francisco Town hall. As you might have guessed, Japantown is basically a Japanese version of Chinatown, a conglomerate of Japanese run businesses and architecture. It is not far from Golden Gate park and, again, we walked there from Union Square.
Town Hall | Riding the cable car
Japantown is dominated by a large pagoda which was erected to pay homage to the cessation of arms between the US and Japan at the end of World War II.
We enjoyed a lunch of authentic Japanese teppenyaki and a browse through some of the local shops before heading back to the hotel via Cable Car.
Toni points out the ‘Tenderloin’ district | Cable crossing
On our way back we ventured past San Francisco’s city hall which is a huge complex with golden trimming. The building sits on about four city blocks worth of real estate.
Upon our return to Union Square, we went to Macy’s to buy another suitcase and do some additional shopping.
The day got ahead of us and before we knew it, it was time for dinner. We headed to a place which had been recommended – Kulleto’s – which we had attempted to eat at previously.
The Peace Pagoda, Japantown
We enjoyed a first class meal (including Rob’s first taste of a Californian Zinfandel) before retiring to the hotel for an early night and packing.
We weren’t especially looking forward to a 3:30 AM wakeup call and a 6:30 AM flight to Los Angeles.