4 hours flight to Hong Kong, 12 hours to LA and 45 minutes later, I was in San Diego. A beautiful place. Is my first time to the States and yes I was excited. Other than the dreaded long journey, it was a desired destination.
What surprised me most about San Diego was the people. They are extremely polite and friendly. I have heard of people saying that Americans are rude but it is hardly the case in San Diego. Everywhere I go, there are people who smiles and greets you. Even when you enter a simple convenience store, the workers greet you with "How are you". And as soon as you leave, they bid you a good day.
The roads are wide and clean and everyone abides to traffic rules. Police are on regular patrols and you will often hear police sirens. I was in this place call Downtown. At night the streets came to life with pubs and live bands. The ambience is most soothing which is unlike the jam packed scene you normally would see in our discos and pubs. It is a must to produce your identity card before entering the pub. Infact it is a must for you to produce your identity card whenever you use your credit cards to make purchase.
It is surprising to know that things are quite cheap here. You can have a fairly good meal with just $4 dollars. Branded stuffs are cheap, for example a Levi's 501 is sold at only $39.90 to $49.90. If you really look at dollar to dollar comparison, it is really cheap. For the Levi's jeans, even after conversion, it is still cheaper in the States. In the supermarkets you can get a Van Heusen shirt at just only $16.90 and it comes with a tie! But what I like most is the layout and setup of the whole town where the roads are wide, peaceful traffic and the buildings are quite scattered. Even in the city, it is peaceful. Despite the tall buildings being built in the city the development is such that it does not seem congested.
During my visit, I have had the opportunity to visit 2 prominent shopping area - Fashion Valley and Mission Valley. Fashion Valley is about 30 minutes drive from Downtown. As you travel towards Fashion Valley, you will notice more housing developments. Fashion Valley caters more for the high end market, thus the whole set up has the rich and classy feel. During this time of the year, the mall is already decorated with Christmas decor. Just like the movies, you can see little kids sitting on Santa's lap taking photos and yes the bogus Santa really look like Santa - he is all old with wrinkles and has the most gentle eyes. Makes me want to sit on his lap!
In Mission Valley, it caters more for the medium market. A lot of youngsters are seen hanging out in Mission Valley as there is a cinema in the locale. Here there is an amazing shop that sells Rock T-shirts with classic Rock groups such as Nirvana, Metallica, Sepultura etc. The shop also sell shirts that carries movies titles. It is a great affordable place to shop.
All in all, San Diego is really the place to be. I really do not mind staying there for a long time. :)
What surprised me most about San Diego was the people. They are extremely polite and friendly. I have heard of people saying that Americans are rude but it is hardly the case in San Diego. Everywhere I go, there are people who smiles and greets you. Even when you enter a simple convenience store, the workers greet you with "How are you". And as soon as you leave, they bid you a good day.
The roads are wide and clean and everyone abides to traffic rules. Police are on regular patrols and you will often hear police sirens. I was in this place call Downtown. At night the streets came to life with pubs and live bands. The ambience is most soothing which is unlike the jam packed scene you normally would see in our discos and pubs. It is a must to produce your identity card before entering the pub. Infact it is a must for you to produce your identity card whenever you use your credit cards to make purchase.
It is surprising to know that things are quite cheap here. You can have a fairly good meal with just $4 dollars. Branded stuffs are cheap, for example a Levi's 501 is sold at only $39.90 to $49.90. If you really look at dollar to dollar comparison, it is really cheap. For the Levi's jeans, even after conversion, it is still cheaper in the States. In the supermarkets you can get a Van Heusen shirt at just only $16.90 and it comes with a tie! But what I like most is the layout and setup of the whole town where the roads are wide, peaceful traffic and the buildings are quite scattered. Even in the city, it is peaceful. Despite the tall buildings being built in the city the development is such that it does not seem congested.
During my visit, I have had the opportunity to visit 2 prominent shopping area - Fashion Valley and Mission Valley. Fashion Valley is about 30 minutes drive from Downtown. As you travel towards Fashion Valley, you will notice more housing developments. Fashion Valley caters more for the high end market, thus the whole set up has the rich and classy feel. During this time of the year, the mall is already decorated with Christmas decor. Just like the movies, you can see little kids sitting on Santa's lap taking photos and yes the bogus Santa really look like Santa - he is all old with wrinkles and has the most gentle eyes. Makes me want to sit on his lap!
In Mission Valley, it caters more for the medium market. A lot of youngsters are seen hanging out in Mission Valley as there is a cinema in the locale. Here there is an amazing shop that sells Rock T-shirts with classic Rock groups such as Nirvana, Metallica, Sepultura etc. The shop also sell shirts that carries movies titles. It is a great affordable place to shop.
All in all, San Diego is really the place to be. I really do not mind staying there for a long time. :)
