California Academy of Sciences

Address: 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

California Academy of Science is full of surprises...there are white alligators, Vietnamese moss frogs, dragon fish, ecological living roof top just to name a few. Free admission 3rd Wednesday of every month. That's a savings of $25.00 per admission. But you have to be there early. We were there at 10:00AM and it's so crowded already. Check out its site for more information: http://www.calacademy.org.

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The building is a sustainable architecture which utilizes natural light.

Mini frogs. How many do you see?

Living roof top -- using native plants as roofing material.

Giant cockroaches.

Vietnamese moss frogs - can you find them?

Seahorse decor.

White alligator. Look like it just finished lunch.

90-foot diameter rain forest dome.

Musee Mechanique

Address:Pier 45 Shed A at the end of Taylor Street,Fisherman's Wharf , San Francisco

A place where many tourists miss when they visit Fisherman's Wharf. Musee Mecanique is a place where you find rows and rows of antique arcade machines. A fun place to experience what kids did for fun in the past. Admission is free. Most machines cost 25 cents a game. It's free when someone else pay for the games and you just watch it :P. Really cool.

Address: de Young, Golden Gate Park, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, San Francisco, CA 94118

The top floor of de Young museum is a free observation deck which offers a panoramic view of San Francisco. There is also a wall-size satellite photo of San Francisco. After entering the front entrance of the museum, turn right then turn left by the wall. Walk pass the artsy wire ornaments turn left and take the elevator to the top floor.

Cable Car Museum

Address: 1201 Mason St , San Francisco, CA

Quite a noisy place but it's cool to see how cable car work, its history and the effort it takes to motorize them. You get to try ringing the cable car bell too! Admission to the museum is free. It's only 3 blocks away from China Town and Grace Cathedral.

Temple, Space Center and Resort

Address:

Mormon Temple: 4770 Lincoln Ave, Oakland, CA

Chabot Space & Science Center: 10000 Skyline Blvd. - Oakland, CA

Claremont Spa & Resort: 41 Tunnel Rd, Berkeley, CA

Visited Oakland Mormon Temple today. We've seen it shines at night in the middle of the Oakland Hill for years and have always been curious about it. The temple is quite a big structure with an impressive garden as well as view of Oakland. It's quite smoggy today so didn't take any pic of Oakland from there. Saw a sign for Chabot Space Center on the way to the Temple so we went further up the hill to see the space center as well. We didn't go inside but figure it would be a great place for kids. The observatory is free for public access on Fridays and Saturdays from 7:30pm - 10:30pm. We will come back again to view the stars some day. Ended our day touring Claremont Spa and Resort -- the big white building on Berkeley Hill which you can easily spot from afar. Could be a good place for wedding reception.

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Oakland Mormon Temple

Chabot Space and Science Center

Sundail at the entrace of Chabot Space and Science Center

Observatory at Chabot Space and Science Center

Claremont Spa and Resort