I left my heart in San Francisco. With reservations.

I arrived in San Francisco on a Thursday morning after a week-long vacation in Vancouver. I must admit, with some guilt, that, as much fun as it had been in VanCity, many thanks to my generous hosts, Apaule and Tita Lallie, I have really been looking forward to arriving in this city.

The weather forecast had promised temperatures of above 10 degrees Celsius for the next three days. That would have been such a relief after surviving days of temperatures below zero. But oh my, was I terribly mistaken! Had I known about that quote commonly attributed to Mark Twain that goes: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco," I wouldn't have expected so much. 

It was the wind that was the culprit. Every time it blew, the temperature seemed to go a notch lower. There I was shivering in my seat on the upper deck of the open-top tour bus as we drove across California's second most photographed icon - the Golden Gate Bridge. I forced myself to ignore the stiffness of my cold fingers. I had to capture that moment on video. After all, seeing this bridge and going across it were, in fact, two of the items in my must-do's in San Francisco checklist. 

San Francisco would have been my first glimpse of the United States of America - the fulfillment of my great American dream. But Apaule's cousin and his fiancée had graciously taken us for a day trip to Seattle the previous weekend. If I may use the analogy of relationships, hugot, 'ika nga: Seattle was the first boyfriend but San Francisco was the first true love.

The stuff of dreams

I've been dreaming of San Francisco ever since my friend Circe had visited that city herself. She just couldn't and wouldn't stop talking about how beautiful it is and the pictures she took did prove her claim. Circe thinks I would fall, head over heels, in love with the city in the same way that she had.

Then along came ABS-CBN's teleserye, "On the Wings of Love" (OTWOL) set in, of course, San Francisco. I saw myself in one of the teleserye's protagonists, Leah Olivar - both of us, dreaming the same American dream.

You would have guessed that while I was in San Francisco, I went to virtually every place that Leah had visited - the Omni Hotel where she stayed during the choral competition that her choir had joined, St. Patrick's Church where she often prayed, and Fisherman's Wharf and Sausalito where she spent fun and fond moments with the love of her life, Clark. (Sausalito is actually another city located in Marin County, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge in the San Francisco Bay Area.)

Omni Hotel on California Street

 

St. Patrick Church on Mission and 4th Street

Boats at Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf

OTWOL moment at Sausalito

But of all the places featured in the teleserye, it is the Palace of Fine Arts that is my absolute favorite. Sans the fact that this was the setting of Leah's wedding proposal to Clark, the place is, by itself, both romantic and nostalgic.

As I looked at the Greek-Roman-influenced design of the structure, I could just imagine the grandiosity of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE), a world fair commemorating the opening of the Panama Canal in 1915. The Palace is the only building left standing at its original location. If this is what one exhibition palace at the fair had looked like, how majestic 11 of this would have been a hundred years ago!

The romance and nostalgia of Palace of Fine Arts

That day, my third (and last) one, in San Francisco, it finally hit me: "Good Lord, this is America. And I'm really, really, truly here!" I wanted to dance with joy right there and then in one secluded corner. However, I chose the less crazy option, that of grinning ear to ear as I walked around the lagoon, admiring every angle of the Palace.

On the wings of God's love

Circe, the certified OTWOL fan that she is, was well-aware that James Reid (Clark) and Nadine Lustre (Leah), their love team better known as JaDine, were arriving in San Francisco on the same day that I was. She had shared this bit of showbiz news to me, to which I had jokingly replied: "Sabi ni Apaule, mahal daw ako ng Diyos kasi di naman nagso-snow sa Vancouver pero nung Monday na nandun ako, nag-snow. Aba eh pag nakasalubong ko pa sa SFO Airport ang JaDine, mahal na talaga ako ni Lord!"

Well, I didn't bump into either one of them at the airport. But guess what? Mahal din talaga ako ni Lord.

My San Francisco-based friend (and former college roommate) Aisa had been giving me the tour of the city since Thursday afternoon. After the visit to Sausalito on Friday afternoon, we could easily have gotten off the Big Bus at the Palace of Fine Arts stop. However, I decided that I would just visit the Palace on my own the following Saturday morning since I did have a lot of time to do some more exploration of the city before my evening flight. 

What would otherwise have been a very insignificant choice made all the difference, though. Saturday morning at the Palace of Fine Arts, I ran into the two persons I was almost sure I would never see. 

The photo that broke my Instagram #trending

A lucky coincidence? I call it a blessing.

I could almost see the staunchly religious, the elitist and the cultured raising an eyebrow at my statement. They will probably consider me shallow. But, for me who, God knows, was never good at praying, any form of His affirmation and reminder is a blessing. That morning, God reminded me that He had - always has - my best interest at heart and that everything is a matter of timing, His timing. Those things I hardly expect - He will bless me with, unexpectedly. God knows how much I love getting pleasant surprises. And that is how He reaches out to me.  

Perhaps, it is the Golden Gate Bridge that the city of San Francisco is most famous for but it is the Palace of Fine Arts that will be most memorable to me. The Palace is where I will always remember that I am "flying high up on the wings of Love."

With reservations

Cars negotiating the crooked Lombard Street

I wasn't even out of San Francisco yet when Circe asked me the inevitable question: "So do you like San Fran? Kelangan 'yes' ang sagot. I don't take no for an answer. Sapilitan talaga. Hahaha." 

Quoting that now infamous Alma Moreno line, I answered: "Yes. With reservations."

I did find San Francisco to be a curious sort of city. It is a city distinguished by history and character - the Gold Rush of 1849 and the Great 1906 Earthquake and Firestorm that shaped its past, the Painted Ladies, those Victorian homes that stood as remnants of the Queen Anne era, the Summer of Love that defined the hippy culture of Haight-Ashbury, the moving historical monument that is its cable car system which, up to this day, makes use of a manual turnaround platform, the streets that could rival the ups and downs of a rollercoaster with the posh Lombard Street claiming to be the crookedest street in the world.

Fisherman's Wharf finds

Why, the Fisherman's Wharf alone is a haven of interesting finds - an old school arcade here, a merry-go-round there; sun-bathing sea lions at the pier; the finest clam chowder and freshest seafood in town. And certainly, no chocolate or ice cream lover should skip the world famous Ghirardelli ice cream sundae.

Undeniably, there is a lot to like about this city and I could understand why people "left [their] heart in San Francisco".

But San Francisco is what Sydney is/was to me - imperfect. For what I saw of San Francisco was not of a suitor who puts only his best foot forward. Instead, my first impressions of this city were glimpses of the homeless (and possibly, some druggies, too) as the airport shuttle van rode through the less glamorous districts of town on our way to Hotel Zephyr.

Still, there is one thing I am sure of. San Francisco is the love that will deserve a second chance.

"When I come home to you, San Francisco, your golden sun will shine for me."