I went to San Francisco!
Last weekend, I took an awesome trip to SF with my mom and her friend Laurie. Our goal: go see Wicked~!☆ I've been looking forward to this since last year, when I found out that Wicked would be coming back to SF. I first saw it in my sophomore year of high school, but....the trip wasn't that fun. I was on a cramped bus with nobody to talk to, had to get up at o dark thirty to go, almost got lost, and couldn't enjoy shopping or anything like that. So this time was bound to be 100x more awesome! The show was on Sunday, but we spent the night Saturday so we wouldn't have to rush to get there. (And yeah, Sunday was Father's Day, but it was an accident that we got tickets on that day. ._.;;; We're doing Father's Day next Sunday, so it's all okay!)
WARNING~! Super image heavy! I already cut down a lot, but I still took a ton of pictures. So...if your computer can handle it, click the cut to see more of my pictures and stuff.
We left around 9 to meet up with Laurie, and she drove us there. We got there at around 11, and hotel check-in wasn't until 3, so we wasted time at this giant Macy's by Union Square. Place was massive!
We had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Wanting to save room for dinner, we had a light lunch. I had a really good grilled cheese sandwhich. Yum.
Just a picture of the inside. I like the decor, and it's like the one at the mall here. Except you know...being on the 8th floor of a department store.
The view of Union Square from the 7th floor. Usually, heights make me feel really nervous, but I was too into looking at the landscape that I didn't care! We parked in the confusing underground maze under Union Square.
Another shot from the 7th story. That one on next to Saks Fifth Avenue is a Tiffany's but....That can't all be Tiffany's can it?! That's an awful lot of stuff! I didn't go in to see if it was...;;;
Mom and I walked across the street to Borders (You can see it on the left in the last picture.) because she wanted to buy some CD's for the car ride back. We also bought more cute Owl stationary and stuff for her, too.
Big heart~♥ A lot of people were going up and posing with it, so I'm lucky I got a picture of it alone without someone humping it.
My mom and Laurie at Union Square. They both had to check my camera to make sure it was a flattering picture, lol.
My mom booked a room at the "Kabuki Hotel" in Japantown. It was really nice and high quality!
Outside the lobby was a traditional garden + koi pond and you could wander around if you wanted to.
A shot of the lobby. The overall design was a little hokey and overdone, but my mom thought I'd really enjoy something "Japanesey," so I'm not going to complain. It's probably one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in. I had a brush with a "celebrity" here at the hotel, too. If you've seen Grease, the guy I met was Jeff Conaway, who played Kenickie. He was there for his girlfriend's high school reunion She was so much younger than him. He was a little out-there, but still nice. My mom thought he was a country western singer or something. xD
This is our room! The beds were nice and fluffy, but...I didn't end up sleeping in them. Mom and Laurie were snoring crazy loud and I couldn't sleep at all, so I went and slept in the tub. xD I read on some hetalia cosplay/convention report about someone sleeping in the tub because there was no more room anywhere else, and they said it was comfortable. It was a soaking tub with a nice curved back and was pretty comfortable to be honest. + I could close the door to the bathroom, so it was like having my own room! Score!
One cool point about the hotel was that it had direct access to the Japantown mall from the lobby. Here's a picture of the peace plaza. There was some kind of festival going on, but I'm not really sure what it was.
I wandered down to the manga floor at Kinokuniya (Yep, they separated it from the normal stuff) to look for the two published Hetalia comics. Wow, that was embarrassing. I could not find them to save my life (They're arranged by publisher, then name, and Hetalia is published by some tiny, no-name publisher.) I didn't really want to ask for help, since a lot of people judge Hetalia fans, and I finally found it right up front. *facepalm* They only had one copy of each volume! Lucky!
Right next to the downstairs Kino, there was some store selling burned copies of Japanese TV shows and dramas. They had a whole section for Arashi shows (That they had burned themselves) and last season's dramas. Just download them!
Upstairs Kino. I wanted to take more pictures, but pretty much all the stores in the mall had "No pictures EVER!!" signs, so I had to be discreet.
Bananas. Idk, just bananas. If they had the scary "Elite Banana" face I might have bought them, but I found them funny regardless.
My most "daring" picture, since the idol magazines are right by the register with the cashiers watching. But I mean, look at that cover! Tackey's chompers + Nishikido Ryo's "Imma bite yoo!" smile = Pure terror. I had to take a picture.
When I went up to buy a CD and some Johnny's Magazines, I saw that they were selling these kimono for your pets. They were so cute! xD I thought about getting one for Mackenzie, but $50 was a little too much for something my cat would absolutely loathe. Plus, she might be a little too chub for it. The cashier saw me looking at them and asked if I was going to buy it and who for, and I showed her a picture of my cat on my phone. Then we chatted together about our cats, lol.
There was this really cute bakery inside the mall. Unfortunately, I didn't buy anything there since I wasn't that hungry, but it was cute!
And what would a Japantown mall be without a Sanrio? I walked around and didn't really find anything I liked, but it did make me miss the Sanrio at the Galleria at home. Lol at the group of guys who were waiting around the entrance holding shopping bags and staring inside with a "Oh God why me" face.
This one's for you, Eunice! I saw this and made me think of when we met! =3 I hope you're feeling better! *hugs*
Another shot from the store above, "Japan video." They mostly had anime stuff, but they did have a few rows of bootleg drama sets. Seriously, who thought this would be a good cover for the boxset? (I hated "Strawberry on the Shortcake," btw. Awful drama.)
A shot of up Buchanan street. I wandered up there, but there wasn't really much but Korean restaurants and an origami store, so I wandered back, lol.
The mall was full of cute accessory shops like this one (lol, "NO PICTURES!!" sign in my picture. >_>). At a different shop, I bought a cute watch and Totoro purse for really cheap. W00t! I also bought a cute engrish-y bentou set that said, "Bitter and Milk: Lunch cafe. Maybe I am hungry!!" It was either that bentou, or the "Flying cats!!" one that had cat's flying through the air, hanging off of a tiny airplane (but the flying cats one was $25, which is a little much).
The next day, I wandered around the mall a little bit more, then we headed off for the Orpheum. After finding somewhere to park, we ate at this cute cafe for lunch. There were lots of little old ladies enjoying sandwiches and soup after getting out of church.
After lunch, we trekked 5 blocks to get to the Orpheum! I was so excited! Finally~! Sadly, the Sacramento-native wasn't playing Elphaba (the lead) at our performance, but the understudy was AMAZING~! It was like, "She's the understudy?!" The show was great, and I really missed seeing it (I was surprised at how much I had forgotten), and I totally cried at "For Good."
I took a quick shot of the stage before the ushers started wandering around with their "No Cameras!" sign I ran into this a lot during this trip, didn't I?. I didn't take any pictures or video of the performance (rude lol), I just wanted a picture of the stage!
After the show, we were stuck in SF gridlock for an hour or so, and didn't get home until 8 even though we left at 5. xD I had so much fun on this trip though, so much better than my last time seeing Wicked! Ah, my mom just said her friend at work is selling 3 Orchestra super close seats for tomorrow's show for $40! Who wants to go? xD
Hope this didn't kill your computer. xD It took forever to type up. Makes up for not really updating lately, right? Later, everyone!
WARNING~! Super image heavy! I already cut down a lot, but I still took a ton of pictures. So...if your computer can handle it, click the cut to see more of my pictures and stuff.
We left around 9 to meet up with Laurie, and she drove us there. We got there at around 11, and hotel check-in wasn't until 3, so we wasted time at this giant Macy's by Union Square. Place was massive!
We had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Wanting to save room for dinner, we had a light lunch. I had a really good grilled cheese sandwhich. Yum.
Just a picture of the inside. I like the decor, and it's like the one at the mall here. Except you know...being on the 8th floor of a department store.
The view of Union Square from the 7th floor. Usually, heights make me feel really nervous, but I was too into looking at the landscape that I didn't care! We parked in the confusing underground maze under Union Square.
Another shot from the 7th story. That one on next to Saks Fifth Avenue is a Tiffany's but....That can't all be Tiffany's can it?! That's an awful lot of stuff! I didn't go in to see if it was...;;;
Mom and I walked across the street to Borders (You can see it on the left in the last picture.) because she wanted to buy some CD's for the car ride back. We also bought more cute Owl stationary and stuff for her, too.
Big heart~♥ A lot of people were going up and posing with it, so I'm lucky I got a picture of it alone without someone humping it.
My mom and Laurie at Union Square. They both had to check my camera to make sure it was a flattering picture, lol.
My mom booked a room at the "Kabuki Hotel" in Japantown. It was really nice and high quality!
Outside the lobby was a traditional garden + koi pond and you could wander around if you wanted to.
A shot of the lobby. The overall design was a little hokey and overdone, but my mom thought I'd really enjoy something "Japanesey," so I'm not going to complain. It's probably one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in. I had a brush with a "celebrity" here at the hotel, too. If you've seen Grease, the guy I met was Jeff Conaway, who played Kenickie. He was there for his girlfriend's high school reunion She was so much younger than him. He was a little out-there, but still nice. My mom thought he was a country western singer or something. xD
This is our room! The beds were nice and fluffy, but...I didn't end up sleeping in them. Mom and Laurie were snoring crazy loud and I couldn't sleep at all, so I went and slept in the tub. xD I read on some hetalia cosplay/convention report about someone sleeping in the tub because there was no more room anywhere else, and they said it was comfortable. It was a soaking tub with a nice curved back and was pretty comfortable to be honest. + I could close the door to the bathroom, so it was like having my own room! Score!
One cool point about the hotel was that it had direct access to the Japantown mall from the lobby. Here's a picture of the peace plaza. There was some kind of festival going on, but I'm not really sure what it was.
I wandered down to the manga floor at Kinokuniya (Yep, they separated it from the normal stuff) to look for the two published Hetalia comics. Wow, that was embarrassing. I could not find them to save my life (They're arranged by publisher, then name, and Hetalia is published by some tiny, no-name publisher.) I didn't really want to ask for help, since a lot of people judge Hetalia fans, and I finally found it right up front. *facepalm* They only had one copy of each volume! Lucky!
Right next to the downstairs Kino, there was some store selling burned copies of Japanese TV shows and dramas. They had a whole section for Arashi shows (That they had burned themselves) and last season's dramas. Just download them!
Upstairs Kino. I wanted to take more pictures, but pretty much all the stores in the mall had "No pictures EVER!!" signs, so I had to be discreet.
Bananas. Idk, just bananas. If they had the scary "Elite Banana" face I might have bought them, but I found them funny regardless.
My most "daring" picture, since the idol magazines are right by the register with the cashiers watching. But I mean, look at that cover! Tackey's chompers + Nishikido Ryo's "Imma bite yoo!" smile = Pure terror. I had to take a picture.
When I went up to buy a CD and some Johnny's Magazines, I saw that they were selling these kimono for your pets. They were so cute! xD I thought about getting one for Mackenzie, but $50 was a little too much for something my cat would absolutely loathe. Plus, she might be a little too chub for it. The cashier saw me looking at them and asked if I was going to buy it and who for, and I showed her a picture of my cat on my phone. Then we chatted together about our cats, lol.
There was this really cute bakery inside the mall. Unfortunately, I didn't buy anything there since I wasn't that hungry, but it was cute!
And what would a Japantown mall be without a Sanrio? I walked around and didn't really find anything I liked, but it did make me miss the Sanrio at the Galleria at home. Lol at the group of guys who were waiting around the entrance holding shopping bags and staring inside with a "Oh God why me" face.
This one's for you, Eunice! I saw this and made me think of when we met! =3 I hope you're feeling better! *hugs*
Another shot from the store above, "Japan video." They mostly had anime stuff, but they did have a few rows of bootleg drama sets. Seriously, who thought this would be a good cover for the boxset? (I hated "Strawberry on the Shortcake," btw. Awful drama.)
A shot of up Buchanan street. I wandered up there, but there wasn't really much but Korean restaurants and an origami store, so I wandered back, lol.
The mall was full of cute accessory shops like this one (lol, "NO PICTURES!!" sign in my picture. >_>). At a different shop, I bought a cute watch and Totoro purse for really cheap. W00t! I also bought a cute engrish-y bentou set that said, "Bitter and Milk: Lunch cafe. Maybe I am hungry!!" It was either that bentou, or the "Flying cats!!" one that had cat's flying through the air, hanging off of a tiny airplane (but the flying cats one was $25, which is a little much).
The next day, I wandered around the mall a little bit more, then we headed off for the Orpheum. After finding somewhere to park, we ate at this cute cafe for lunch. There were lots of little old ladies enjoying sandwiches and soup after getting out of church.
After lunch, we trekked 5 blocks to get to the Orpheum! I was so excited! Finally~! Sadly, the Sacramento-native wasn't playing Elphaba (the lead) at our performance, but the understudy was AMAZING~! It was like, "She's the understudy?!" The show was great, and I really missed seeing it (I was surprised at how much I had forgotten), and I totally cried at "For Good."
I took a quick shot of the stage before the ushers started wandering around with their "No Cameras!" sign I ran into this a lot during this trip, didn't I?. I didn't take any pictures or video of the performance (rude lol), I just wanted a picture of the stage!
After the show, we were stuck in SF gridlock for an hour or so, and didn't get home until 8 even though we left at 5. xD I had so much fun on this trip though, so much better than my last time seeing Wicked! Ah, my mom just said her friend at work is selling 3 Orchestra super close seats for tomorrow's show for $40! Who wants to go? xD
Hope this didn't kill your computer. xD It took forever to type up. Makes up for not really updating lately, right? Later, everyone!