CrystalPhuong.net is a Personal Style & Travel Blog based in Singapore, written by Crystal Phuong. The blog was nominated FOUR times in Top 10 Best Fashion Blogs in the annual Singapore Blog Award from 2012- 2015, voted as one of the Best Lifestyle Blogs in Singapore in 2013 by Hotelclub.com, and Best Travel Blogs in 2016 by Foodpanda.com. Crystal hopes to connect and inspire young women to lead a healthy and happy life. Be confident, be positive, and be kind.
On the last Friday in San Francisco, I finished my work early and took a chance to explore the other neighborhood before it went completely dark. Thanks Valentino for making these trendy yet comfortable boots, I was able to walk blocks after blocks without pain. By the time I needed to stop to catch my breath, I found myself standing in the middle of the Embarcadero at sunset. A perfect location at the perfect timing. Everything seemed to work so well in the end.
The Embarcadero has a wide pleasant sidewalk along the City's eastern shoreline, being a great place to walk, bike or skate. If you are in San Francisco, I would highly recommend you to go for a walk at this place, either in the morning to enjoy some fresh air or in the evening to experience San Francisco during rush hour.
I was there when the sun began to set and I was lucky to witness how San Francisco transformed in between day and night. The street started lightening up, blending in with the cotton candy sky, and creating such a colorful and sparkling picture. The temperature slowly dipped and the wind became less enjoyable at night. But it didn't bother me much as I was having a great time at a place that was full of energy and lights.
My last night in San Francisco couldn't be more magical, don't you think?
If you ask me when the best time is to visit San Francisco, my answer would be "The best time is when you are there". I mean it. Forget people 's recommendations that say you should go during Summer, Fall or Winter. Until you place your footstep on that land, nothing else matters. It wasn't my decision to pick the best time to visit San Francisco.
I was there on a mission, so whether it's sunny or stormy, I had to be there. It was Spring when I visited San Francisco. The weather was colder than I expected, but I loved it. I don't get to wear thigh high boots or trench coat in Singapore, so there was nothing to complain about.
Flowers were blossoming everywhere. The sun actually peeked out during the day to give us warmth and to brighten our day despite the strong and cold wind. But the best part of my entire trip was spending 8 hours in The Presidio of San Francisco every weekday to work.
When I posted a few photos of this place on my Instagram, my friends went crazy. When I told them this was where my company is, they thought I was kidding. I can't blame them because if I wasn't actually there, I would think the same way. But guess what, life is always full of surprises, you'll never know what will hit you.
As soon as the first relaxing night in San Francisco was over, I was sucked into the whirlpool of work the next day nonstop. There were training and meetings back to back, so much that whenever I looked at the watch, it was either time to go for lunch or to head home. I heard so much about how hard people in Silicon Valley work, but nothing was like what I imagined until I really worked there. Everyone was so focused, dynamic, energetic, and driven. It's hard not to feel motivated when I'm hanging around with people like that. Although, I'm a workaholic by nature, seeing everyone busy chasing their own goals makes me feel like I wasn't working hard enough at all.
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed my time in San Francisco, including the crispy weather of Spring, which helped to fight the jetlag and gave me the perfect chance to power up my fashion games: layering. I brought many basic pieces with me on this trip as they are so easy to style. I mean, we can never go wrong with a white turtle-neck top, a classic black trench coat and thigh high boots. The rest of what I was wearing were my treasures found in San Francisco.
I knew my wallet would be in trouble whenever I'm in the US, but this kind of trouble will surely make me happy.
I'm lucky enough to be able to witness so many beautiful sunsets in my life, but nothing is quite spectacular like the one at Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco. I was completely lost for words when I first saw the cotton candy sky blended beautifully with the yellow neon lights of the street, creating the most colorful picture ever.
That was my first impression of San Francisco.
I've been dreaming of visiting San Francisco for a long time and I thought it would take me a few more years to cross this city off my bucket list. Apparently, if something is meant to be, it will happen. My new career, which I mentioned in this blog post, brought me to San Francisco. Trust me, I can't say enough about how lucky and grateful I am.
Arriving in San Francisco on Sunday morning gave me an extra day to settle down and to see the city before starting work. Despite the 24hr-flight, I was full of energy and refreshed after I checked in. We went to Fisherman's Wharf for dinner and had a walk to explore the neighbourhood. Allow me to reserve some photos and information for the next travel blog. For now, here are some photos of me, walking along the street at Fisherman's Wharf and feeling incredibly thankful for being at this place.
My heart was so full of love and happiness. That's what San Francisco made me feel.
After a winter trip to Vietnam during Lunar New Year, I flew to a tropical paradise called Bali and spent a good few days there before heading to the US. No matter how many times I visit Bali, this place has no lack of surprises to please an avid traveler in me. Last time I was there, I went parasailing and ocean walking. It was incredible, and I thought nothing could top that. But I was wrong. Keep on reading and you'll know why I said that.
Landed in Singapore just in time to catch this flight to Bali. It was such an adrenaline rush running from one terminal to another, but that's what we'd do for the things we love, wouldn't we?
We stayed at The Royal Beach Seminyak hotel again, but instead of a deluxe room, we had a villa with a private pool to ourselves. The beginning of our wonderful trip started just like that.
Couldn't miss any sunset at the Seminyak beach whenever I'm back at this place.
Next morning, we woke up at 2 am to start our sunrise trekking at one of the most popular destinations in Bali: Mount Batur volcano. Mount Batur is still an active volcano, located at the center of two concentric calderas, north west of Mount Agung on the island of Bali, Indonesia. It stands at 1717 meters above sea level and it took us more than 3 hours to reach the top.
The 3-hour climb in the dark wasn't fun, to be honest, and I had to take many breaks in between to catch my breath. My legs were shaking so badly. But because I didn't give up, the reward for me at the end was pretty amazing.
Not every day I can have a photo of me standing above the clouds while watching the sunrise like that. A moment like this definitely is one of the most surreal memories in my life by far.
Clearly, this beautiful sunrise view on top of Mount Batur made the painful trekking at 2am so worth it. It's official the most beautiful photo in my travel diary.
My colorful and delicious reward for not giving up half way.
After volcano trekking, we headed to a Hotspring nearby called Toyadevasya. Its beauty blew my mind. I've never seen a Hotspring so beautiful like that. The weather in the morning was chilly enough for us to appreciate the warm water once we dip into that pool.
With a volcanic mountain as a backdrop, I wouldn't want anything else at that moment.
Then, we filled ourselves up with a delicious lunch at a local restaurant.
A stormy rain came as soon as we finished our swimming at the Hot Spring. If Luck wasn't by our side, we could have been walking on the slippery slope, being stranded in the middle of the mountain in a heavy rain. That would be a horrifying experience for us all.
Leaving the Hot Spring, our driver took us to Tegallalang Rice Terraces, one of the most popular places in Ubud. You'll expect nothing but a luscious green horizon that will please your eyes.
I could stand here and look at this view for hours. The only thing missing was a cup of green tea latte.
Back to my all time favorite, the beach. Seminyak beach is always so beautiful regardless at what time of the day. We still had a few places to visit before we called it our day at Seminyak beach, but I'll leave it to you to find out in this travel video, mostly shot and edited by yours truly. Please subscribe to my new Youtube channel if you haven't done so. Thank you so much for reading and watching! See you in the next travel + fashion post. It's about San Francisco, baby!
[name=Crystal Phuong]
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[description=Singapore Travel & Lifestyle Blogger, hoping to connect and inspire young women to lead a healthy and happy life]
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