TravelswithCharie

   Painted Ladies, Steiner Street and Hayes Palace of Fine Arts, 3601 Lyon Street   Balcutha on Hyde Street Pier Crooked Street (Lombard Street) Bay Bridge St. Mary’s Cathedral, 1111 Gough Street Yes, it’s easy to leave your heart in San Francisco. With the fog rolling in over the hills, the call of the foghorn, the chill in the air that makes you want to cuddle and the views over the bay, it’s not easy to let go. I left my heart in San Francisco High on a hill, it calls to me To be where little cable cars Climb halfway to the stars The morning fog may chill the air I don’t care My love waits there in San Francisco Above the blue and windy sea When I come home to you San Francisco Your golden sun will shine on me. I left my heart in San Francisco, Tony Bennett, Columbia Records For more information about San Francisco, visit  https://www.visitcalifornia.com/places-to-visit/san-francisco/ Or  https://sfgov.org/visitors ***** Images by TravelswithCharie

Earlier this year, I had an unscheduled visit to Singapore. With about 3 hours to explore the city, I decided to check out Chinatown which is a short walk from the Clarke Quay neighborhood where I was ensconced at the Novotel. It was a week before Chinese New Year, the Year of the Snake, so Chinatown was festooned with colorful lanterns and streamers to welcome the arrival of the lunar new year.  Painted Ladies The shophouses that line the streets of Chinatown were built in the style of the painted ladies (Victorian architecture painted in three or more colors) and restored in recent years. These buildings are painted predominantly in pastel and the windows are highlighted in darker hues providing a rich contrast of colors. Beef jerky Nowhere is food more celebrated than in Chinatown especially during the new year. I couldn’t help but stop and stare at these neatly arranged, paper thin beef jerkys and be satisfied with the come hither aroma that pervaded the air.

It was late evening when I arrived at Changi Airport in Singapore and all I wanted to do was go to the hotel and rest, rest, rest. I found the taxi line and waited for my turn to hail one. A young woman behind me asked me if I wanted to take the waiting black car on the parking lot and I told her I couldn’t because there were two people ahead of me. She argued with me that those people didn’t want the taxi so if I wasn’t interested, she would take it. That got me going to the waving and liveried driver. Sanctuary area at Changi Airport I had earlier asked the tourist information office what it would cost to travel by taxi from the airport to my hotel and they told me that it would be around $20 ( Singapore dollars). When we got to the hotel, I checked the meter and it was around $21.00. But to my surprise the driver charged me $34 which is $13 over the metered price. I asked him why and he showed me the chart for the surcharge. I was anticipating a surcharge for arrival after mid