US help.

fzhfzh

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Uber/lyft/taxi is not cheap like Singapore price in US. Going for 10-20 miles will cost you around 30-40 dollars already, unless you use uber pool, but even that will be around 10-20 dollars.

SF is like the size of cbd area in Singapore, can get to most places in the city by Bart(sf’s mrt). LA is a lot bigger, unless you stick to downtown LA you need a car to go anywhere. Or you don’t mind splurging on uber.
 

daxiong88

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Definitely. If you don't have a car, LA's going to be a huge pain; you're going to be spending zillions on Lyfts because LA's public transport is a shambles.

Patryn's asking whether you're planning to stay in the city itself, or visit things around that city as well (for example: if you're in San Francisco, you might want to head up to the wineries in Napa, or the cute little village of Half Moon Bay, or the Apple campus store for some swag).

I am open to venturing out of SF city as long as the journey don't exceed two hours drive one way.

I presume I need to join day tours to visit them?
 

daxiong88

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Uber/lyft are part of public transport
How many days you plan on staying in the city?
Don’t really care what to do so long as bus or train gets you there?

Ya, was thinking of uber but I will still still stick mainly to bus and mrt

7 to 10 days. Hopefully the number of days are not too long?
 

daxiong88

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Uber/lyft/taxi is not cheap like Singapore price in US. Going for 10-20 miles will cost you around 30-40 dollars already, unless you use uber pool, but even that will be around 10-20 dollars.

SF is like the size of cbd area in Singapore, can get to most places in the city by Bart(sf’s mrt). LA is a lot bigger, unless you stick to downtown LA you need a car to go anywhere. Or you don’t mind splurging on uber.

Ah ic, I tot uber will be affordable. Thanks for the tip.

Looking at march or April next year travel. Hope it's a good month to go there.
 

fzhfzh

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I am open to venturing out of SF city as long as the journey don't exceed two hours drive one way.

I presume I need to join day tours to visit them?

For 2 hours drive, in the north there's sonoma wine county/napa, muir woods. In the south it's silicon valley with the tech companies in sunnyvale, mountainvale, menlo park, palo alto etc area, for sight seeing there's half moon bay, Mori point, etc the stretch along pacifica, a bit further down there's redwoods park and santa cruz.

For sonoma/napa, I'm not sure if it's ok to go now, because just recently there's a huge forest fire up north and a lot of place got burnt down.
 

Jataro

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Ah ic, I tot uber will be affordable. Thanks for the tip.

Looking at march or April next year travel. Hope it's a good month to go there.

Hi
I think Uber is affordable in US if you don't want drive from city to city like LA to LV.

In my US trip last December, I used Uber most of the time except once which I rented a car from SF to Stanford U. I cancelled all other car rentals after calculating that its cost less using uber and cab from airport to hotel (this I regretted due to poor service, longer route, etc).

That calculation doesn't include petrol & parking fees yet.

And the most ex I uber is US$116 from Magic Mountain to Disneyland Anaheim which is about 57km.
 

sCuzzZy

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urgent question and I'm not sure if anyone had make the same mistake as I did,

but my esta application has been rejected as my wife had clicked a wrong button during application. I have spoken to the US embassy in SG and was referred to a helpdesk in US. namely CBP, and they have advised that the selection cannot be rectified, and I would need to apply for a normal class B visa.

As my trip is scheduled on the 23rd of Dec, I would like to ask if anyone has experience in applying for a visa as a tourist and how long does the process take. I. e from making appointment at the US embassy, to processing time.

Would I be on time?

Any help/advise would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.
 

sendtolee

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urgent question and I'm not sure if anyone had make the same mistake as I did,

but my esta application has been rejected as my wife had clicked a wrong button during application. I have spoken to the US embassy in SG and was referred to a helpdesk in US. namely CBP, and they have advised that the selection cannot be rectified, and I would need to apply for a normal class B visa.

As my trip is scheduled on the 23rd of Dec, I would like to ask if anyone has experience in applying for a visa as a tourist and how long does the process take. I. e from making appointment at the US embassy, to processing time.

Would I be on time?

Any help/advise would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

Instead of waiting for reply here, just go to the embassy to get it done unless you are not urgent about it.
 

Shiny Things

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For sonoma/napa, I'm not sure if it's ok to go now, because just recently there's a huge forest fire up north and a lot of place got burnt down.

Sonoma and Napa County are absolutely OK to visit. The fires were horrific, and a lot of people were made homeless, but the wineries and the sightseeing destinations are all open for business, and they want people to know that they're back on their feet and the 2017 vintages are all still good. So yes, you should absolutely go north and visit Napa/Sonoma.
 

fzhfzh

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Sonoma and Napa County are absolutely OK to visit. The fires were horrific, and a lot of people were made homeless, but the wineries and the sightseeing destinations are all open for business, and they want people to know that they're back on their feet and the 2017 vintages are all still good. So yes, you should absolutely go north and visit Napa/Sonoma.

Hmm I see. Was about to go there last weekend but coworker told me there's still some smoke there best not go for now.
 

daxiong88

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For 2 hours drive, in the north there's sonoma wine county/napa, muir woods. In the south it's silicon valley with the tech companies in sunnyvale, mountainvale, menlo park, palo alto etc area, for sight seeing there's half moon bay, Mori point, etc the stretch along pacifica, a bit further down there's redwoods park and santa cruz.

For sonoma/napa, I'm not sure if it's ok to go now, because just recently there's a huge forest fire up north and a lot of place got burnt down.

Thanks for the recommendations. We love nature.
 

5408854088

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Thanks for the recommendations. We love nature.
Can consider yosemite national park too. About 3 to 4 hours from san francisco. There are accommodations in the park if you would like. Alternatively, there are tours offering single or multiple day trips.
 

fzhfzh

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Can consider yosemite national park too. About 3 to 4 hours from san francisco. There are accommodations in the park if you would like. Alternatively, there are tours offering single or multiple day trips.

It’s more like 6 hours drive actually. If you don’t mind it’s very good place.
 

Shiny Things

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Thanks for the recommendations. We love nature.

Then you'll definitely want to spend more time in SF than LA, because LA is a concrete jungle.

Within two hours' drive of San Francisco, you've got:

* Muir Woods and Mount Tamalpais - huge redwood trees and great hiking;
* Napa & Sonoma - great scenery, great wines, and you can even rent a bike and ride around the wineries!
* Half Moon Bay - a cute little fishing town right on the ocean
* Santa Cruz - an amazing beach town with plenty of natural beauty

If you drive a little further, about two-and-a-half hours south from SF, you can get to Pinnacles National Park, which has fascinating caves and beautiful desert scenery.

My personal little hidden gem is Crystal Springs Reservoir, just off highway 280. There's a hiking trail along the lakeside, six miles each way (but you can easily halve it, or even just do a little stretch and then double back). It's calm, quiet, and the views across to the Santa Cruz Mountains are amazing.
 

fzhfzh

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Yeah LA is pretty boring. The food there is better though. Usually I go there on weekends just for some korean food at korean town to satisfy my gf’s cravings. But other than that nothing much to do unless you like amusement parks.
 

fzhfzh

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Then you'll definitely want to spend more time in SF than LA, because LA is a concrete jungle.

Within two hours' drive of San Francisco, you've got:

* Muir Woods and Mount Tamalpais - huge redwood trees and great hiking;
* Napa & Sonoma - great scenery, great wines, and you can even rent a bike and ride around the wineries!
* Half Moon Bay - a cute little fishing town right on the ocean
* Santa Cruz - an amazing beach town with plenty of natural beauty

If you drive a little further, about two-and-a-half hours south from SF, you can get to Pinnacles National Park, which has fascinating caves and beautiful desert scenery.

My personal little hidden gem is Crystal Springs Reservoir, just off highway 280. There's a hiking trail along the lakeside, six miles each way (but you can easily halve it, or even just do a little stretch and then double back). It's calm, quiet, and the views across to the Santa Cruz Mountains are amazing.

Yeah crystal springs is great. It’s 5 min drive from my house lol, drive pass it every day.
 
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