If you missed Day 1, you can read about it here!
Day 2
My night’s sleep would have been better if I knew about the blackout curtain hiding from us. Because I didn’t, I was woken up by the sun shining through the sheer curtain around 7 or 8 AM. We stayed in bed until about 9 AM before we went down to the cafe in the lobby for a light breakfast.
Union Square / San Francisco Zoo / Japan Center
We finally made it outside of the lobby just after 11 AM. Within minutes, we arrived at Union Square.
Across from the Gap store was Powell Station. We went underground to take the L line of the Muni to the San Francisco Zoo. Pay attention when your train arrives at West Portal Station as it continues its journey above-ground in the middle of the city after!
Tip: Round-trip ticket costs the same as buying 2 x single trip tickets but I would recommend buying the round-trip ticket so you don’t need to purchase your return ticket on the train as there won’t be a station with a ticketing machine
The L line stopped right in front of the Zoo’s parking lot so it was only a short walk to the entrance. We went there on a Monday and there were plenty of parking spots and no line at the ticketing window.
Meeting the anteater & the sloth were definitely the highlights of this zoo visit ❤️
After we left the zoo, we spent a few minutes at the Ocean Beach that was only a short walk away. We went out of the parking lot, made a left turn and kept walking towards the ocean.
Since we only had a light breakfast, we were getting hungry by the time we were back downtown. We were craving udon noodle soup but by the time we found out about the highly-rated Marugame Udon, we were already miles away. We ended up eating at Muracci’s Japanese Curry & Grill in the Financial District which was again, unfortunately, nothing to write home about.
We returned to our hotel to rest for a little bit before heading back out with Japan Center as our destination. It took us just over 30 minutes and by the time we were there, we were ready for a light dinner or snack. We shared a Japanese dessert called Taiyaki with Matcha ice cream (our Japanese craving was not satisfied by the curry earlier).
We were both really impressed by this authentic Japanese mall and actually managed to buy souvenirs from a 2-floor stationary/bookstore called Kinokuniya. There was also a ramen restaurant inside of the mall with a long line but we were still full from the Taiyaki so we didn’t try it. For reference, it was called Marufuku Ramen.
By the time we were done with Japan Center, we were both tired from all the walking so we ordered a Lyft to bring us back to the hotel.
Continued reading – Day 3
