Mahangin sa labas! (at Twin Peaks)

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Twin Peaks are two of the tallest hills in San Francisco, which makes them the place to go to see the views of city and of the East Bay. When we got there, the wind was already strong but that didn't stop us from enjoying the view. It's not everyday that we see San Francisco from the top of a mountain, after all.


Tita Vicky wanted to stay at the Christmas Tree Point (where people can park their cars a few feet below the North Peak) but we wanted to see the view from the top. We walked up the short but steep flight of steps, huffing and puffing because we weren't used to the elevation (and we just polished off delicious noodle soup at Joy Hing). 


We got greeted by strong gusts of wind... so strong that it felt like it was pushing us over to the other side of the mountain. Anyway, I was quite surprised that the hill is sandy soil. It almost seemed like a tall sand dune!


The day was not clear enough to take a spectacular shot of the city. But still, we could see how crowded downtown SF is. 

Tall skyscrapers point to the sky, the most prominent of which is the Salesforce Tower, which is just a few blocks away from the UC Berkeley Extension building. To the right is the shorter but also aesthetically appealing 181 Fremont (the third tallest building in the city). To the far left sits the Transamerica Pyramid, currently the city's second tallest building, and my landmark of where Chinatown is situated. The skyline is broken by a gap created by Market Street, which runs from Embarcadero all the way to Twin Peaks. The pride flag marks the Castro District, which already seems like it's worlds away from the downtown area because the buildings are smaller. 


We enjoyed the view a lot but we couldn't stay for long because the sun was about to set, the wind was chilling us, and we still wanted to visit the Golden Gate Bridge.

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The view of the city and the soil we walked on in Twin Peaks got me thinking: isn't San Francisco sitting in a tectonically active region and has soil types that are prone to liquefaction (turn into quicksand when shaken violently)? So why do city planners approve skyscrapers that could actually topple during an earthquake? Have they forgotten that the city was virtually flattened during the 1906 earthquake? And with the soft soil, there would be buildings that could start leaning like the bell tower of Pisa.

... Then I came across news about the already leaning Millennium Tower.

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