Getting around in California is easy—if you have a car! The freeway makes covering vast and wide areas quick and easy, but if you don’t have a car public transportation is quite challenging. It’s no wonder everybody drives in California! But I won’t let this minor issue hold me back!
This is part of a series
① ② ③ ④ ⑤ ⑥ ⑦
As I only have limited time after office, I didn’t want to waste my time waiting for the bus just to get around. Cabs may be convenient but they’re quite cost prohibitive. So I was left with two things I can consistently rely upon: my feet! They may not walk or run that fast, but they can take me anywhere—further than most people define as walking distance.
For my first week in California, I was able to get around within “walking distance” radius of my hotel and work place. That may not be much, but I did find some interesting items:
(when was the last time we had a two-storey mall?)
(price does not include tax yet)
There are also some sights that I fortunate enough to capture with my phone’s camera:
As for food, we’ll it’s definitely not a problem!
Fortunately, by Friday (which was coincidentally Valentine’s Day) I had some friends willing to drive us (those who don’t have cars) around so my range had widen by a huge margin. We spend the early part of Friday night shopping in Livermore followed by dinner in Walnut Creek with some of the best Thai food I’ve ever tasted!
I may be away from home and love ones during Valentine’s Day, but thankfully I didn’t spend it alone and had some wonderful distractions. 😀
Overall, my first week in California far exceeded my expectations. Knowing nobody when I arrived and having no car, I didn’t expect that I’d get this far!
* * *
Bay Area Chronicles
- The Trip to the Other Side of the World
- The First Weekend
- Getting Around
- San Francisco Quickie
- San Francisco Redux
- Berkeley, Walnut Creek, and My Last Week in California
- Way Back Home
