Fragmented Northern Adventures: A Stop at the Golden Gate Bridge

Just last March of 2015, I finally traveled to the other side of the world, where they say the grass is always greener and call it the land of milk and honey. Aboard Philippine Airlines in a 12-hour non-stop flight headed SFO International Airport, it was a little hard for a neurotic like me to relax as I was feeling anxious--happy, nervous, and excited. I admit, coming to USA used to be a distant dream, until last year when I was approved of a tourist VISA (which was something a first-time VISA applicant like me wouldn't expect). Whatever the feelings were, I knew deep down it was really excitement that dominated my system. I felt comfortable being in the plane after some time, PAL had every reason to make their passengers comfortable after all--great service from the staff, tasty meals and treats, and a collection of relatively new movies on their tv monitor. Soon as the plane touched down, excitement won me over. Very vividly, I recall the poker-face lady immigration officer who welcomed me with a series of questions at the port of entry--her questions were reasonable (so much for the US Immigration POE horror stories) and answering those came like a breeze. Soon as she stamped my visa and uttered the words --congratulations, welcome to the United States of America, I giddily exited the counter and smiled from ear to ear, then at the arrival area, awaited the warmest, sweetest welcome that made the 12-hour trip all worth it--a big hug from my mom.

Me and my momma at the San Francisco International Airport

First-Time High

Inexplicable. Unbelievable. Surreal. The feeling was just--wow. For someone who got used to seeing California only on television, movies and pictures, man it was a big deal getting there. The freeways, fast food joints, transportation system, the sunny-but-still-a-jacket kind of weather, even the smell (amoy Stateside, I swear!)--it so depicts America. I was truly amazed. Having a cool and comfortable weather made it all the more possible for me to suit up or dress up in any way I want.

Seeing San Francisco, California, reminded me so much of those wonderful calendar lay-outs from the '90s that showcased a lot of amazing US tourist spot photos. One of those was the iconic, Golden Gate Bridge. It was part of my itinerary nonetheless and a good family friend, tita Agnes along with her husband and daughter, took me and my mom out for a good ride around the area. Before heading there though, they decided to take us at Point Lobos Avenue--which I consider a prelude to the Golden Gate Bridge. The area basically gives you a good pan shot of the bridge.

Point Lobos Avenue with Mommy

It's a given, when you are a tourist who visits San Francisco, you MUST pass (either walk through, bike around or drive by) the Golden Gate Bridge and take pictures. A recurring thought came to mind though--why have they called it golden when the bridge was actually painted  red? Truth of the matter, neither was it red--it was a color they called international orange (which was often mistaken as red). According to some online trivia sites, the name was inspired from a remarkable Istanbul harbor, the Chrysoceras or Golden Horn (for more accurate info, feel free to wiki this lol).

At the Golden Gate Bridge

We visited the place on a Sunday, it was my second day in San Fo--Tito Noni was having a hard time parking around the area. Sure there were tons of tourists especially on that day and cars were racing around to get a parking space. One car even got ticketed by a traffic enforcer for parking at the pavement. Oh the things that people do to get a good view of the bridge and a photo at that.

Better and closer view of the Bridge

Consequently, as I was feasting my eyes with the exhilarating view, I was mentally crossing out a tourist spot off of my bucket list. Happiness unlocked.