USA Day 14. Japancentre

Today was cloudy - the heatwave I've been enjoying is well and truly passing (I'm not sure how I'll handle the UK weather, if it's less than 20 I'm reaching for my jacket and scarf…). 

Today was certainly a mixed bag, aside from the weather it all started off pretty smoothly! I managed to make my way over to Japancentre (despite the map not actually showing it) and when I got there I was greeted by a street fair/thing! Turns out it's an annual event for the area to bring together and appreciate all the different culture in the surrounding area

It was just starting as I got there so I quickly glanced as a few of the stalls before deciding to head into Japancentre itself to look at the shops there for a bit 

Just outside the centre itself 

And this guy was just randomly walking around posing for photos!

Preparing the Korean style BBQ

Inside there were tons of different shops selling all sorts, but what I particularly liked was dotted around the place were little Japanese features

 I think my favourite bit was the name of this store (so childish but I think it's funny)

 and I picked up some Japanese chocolates to try (they were nice but nothing special)

 A random origami sign in the plaza!

 Obviously no market in Japancentre would be complete without a Bonsi tree stall!

 The BBQ was well under way when I went back out!

 And the rest of the market was starting to warm up too!

 I grabbed some mushroom dumplings and sat listening to the live Chinese music for a bit before heading back to explore some more of the stalls

 One of the stalls that I really loved (although it pulled on my heart strings) was the dog adoption one. Since it's based in the area they came our to encourage people to adopt rather than buy puppies, and to push their point they'd brought along a couple of dogs that were in need of a home! They popped little lei around the girls and palm-leave headbands around the boys! 

One even had a little sign saying 'adopt me' which melted me heart. It was adorable seeing the dogs pottering about all dressed up! I definitely wanted to take them all home with me

 After spending a while at the market I decided to head back to the centre, I took a different route back so I could walk through the park and despite the weather it was really pretty 

 Jackson Square

 You can just see the mission in the distance from the park!

 And the giant dome of downtown if you look in the opposite direction!

 It kinda went downhill after I crossed this street. I'd actually walked through this part of the city twice, possibly three times before, and although it was a little run down it was completely safe. I don't know if it was because it was a sunday or what, but today it really didn't feel safe. at all. 

Long story short, I ended up walking past about 20 homeless people who screamed and shouted at me. Just when I got away from them the next block presented another 20+ people hanging around the corner of a liquor store. 2 of the guys started fighting each other, and just further along a man started hitting his wife because she 'shouldn't talk to him like that'. It was really awful and the other side of the road was closed off so I didn't have much choice but to walk past. 

In the space of 10 minutes I was screamed at, spat at, and generally left feeling pretty shaken. 

 I went back to the hostel from there and kind of just retreated into my bed for a bit. Don't worry mum I'm fine! It was just a shock to wind up in that sort of neighbourhood. I made sure I did go out again the same day though. I just forced myself to go out for dinner - nothing fancy but it helped me not feel quite so shaken.

Thought I'd finish this with a picture from the evening when I went to the financial district to eat - it was a really beautiful spot right in the heart of the city and reminded me that I do actually really love San Francisco, I just had a bit of a bumpy afternoon!

USA Day 4. San Francisco Downtown

I finally got a decent nights sleep! I mean it was very hot, and pretty noisy, but it was a whole 9 hours! Considering I've been running on 3 or 4hrs the past 4 days, 9 felt like a miracle!

I love the hostel I'm staying in (despite the lift being terrifying to use) so today I decided to simply wander around the area surrounding the hostel and just explore Downtown with no real plan in mind - i.e. no looking at a map unless absolutely necessary and just enjoying the city 

Turns out I'm a lot closer to Union Square than reviews online led me to believe!

I loved walking around downtown as there was an amazing mix of old and new buildings with beautiful blue skies and gorgeous warm weather!

I might have got a bit excited about all the shops I saw. Walgreens isn't exactly the most exciting shop sign to show you, but I took about 20 photos of various shops, and this was the only shop I actually bought anything from! (I bought some Twinkies to try, and oh my goodness they are so sweet!)

Loved the bird art across the side of this building

This is around the point I got completely lost, and I'm still not 100% sure where this church is… Although I think it was called St Patrick's (possibly)

This was Yerba Buena Gardens and it was the perfect little slice of greenery and tranquil in the middle of the city (it also helped me to figure out I had somehow made my way south of Market Street)

Bloomingdales! There are several large department stores dotted around the centre and I got excited going into every single one!

I ended up finding my way back from South Market Street to the Cable Car line where I popped into Westfield (a Mall) and made my way to get some mexican food - since it's meant to be amazing in California, and I'm no expert but these veggie tacos were pretty amazing (although I might be biased as they were dripping in guacamole, which is a sure fire way to gain my love)

At the end of Powell Street. It's always packed as this is one of the places you can queue to get on the Cable Cars, but the line is always ridiculously long!

San Francisco Downtown is so pretty!

Ok, so I was a little lost again at this point, however I'm blaming that solely on this building. Surely it's not fair to have 'Saxs Fifth Avenue' on a street corner that isn't 5th Avenue, when there's a 5th Street two blocks away… Anyway this threw me off as I then thought I was heading in the wrong direction (I got avenue and street mixed up…)

The good bit about wandering with no real plan is I feel you get to appreciate the place more as you tend to notice the little things of the place rather than being focused on getting from A to B. 

a sample of the hills dotting the city. Downtown is relatively flat but I know I'm going to spend half my time here climbing hills!

I stopped for a Slurpee to refresh myself after walking for hours in the sun (this was a small!!!)

Another beautiful building I wandered past

I found another Walgreens (there's about 3 in a small area) and this one had a little frozen yoghurt section in the middle next to the fruit and veg!

I really do love the architecture of this city, particularly love the street lights!

Legendary Cable Car! They're always full so I'm biding my time before spending hours queuing up!

(Peach Green Tea Lemonade - it was yummy)

And I finished off my day by stopping off at a Starbucks. There are truly hundreds of Starbucks- I think I passed about 8 today alone. They're also a lot cheaper than back home so I just couldn't resist since this mamother concotion was about £2! It also made me feel like a local since it seems like American's aren't fully dressed unless they're sporting a Starbucks drink!