San Francisco was my first introduction and entry point to the United States more than twenty years ago. We booked our tickets with Philippine Airlines as it had a good deal at that time to fly from Malaysia to San Francisco with free accommodation in Manila as we had to transit and fly the next day.The flight was long with a couple hours of transit in Honolulu. Little Monkey seemed to have no problem traveling those long hours on the plane. Our final destination was the Midwest but we stayed in San Francisco to check it out.

We stayed in a medium range hotel close to Union Square. I was excited to check out the city so I went out by myself while Second and Little Monkeys stayed at the hotel trying to rest after that long flight. I wandered around and was enjoying the sights when I came across a lively Street and noticed people were having a good time just drinking and sitting along the pavement. I saw a woman with blood on her nose and face, so I approached her to ask if she needed help. The response shocked me - she smashed a bottle in front of me and shouted "f... you!" I was so scared that I ran back to our hotel and told Second Monkey about it and she just laughed. That wasn't what I expected to see in a country like the USA.

We went around the next day and it was so beautiful. We took the cable car ride, wandered around Fisherman's Wharf, enjoyed the Golden Gate Bridge, and went sightseeing at Union Square. So where had I been last night? I was told later that I might have wandered down to Mission Street.

San Francisco was lovely, and since then, we have visited it many times, most recently with Little Monkey.