Santa Monica beach

Drove down to the beach. We were told by a friendly guy at our motel that it's cheaper parking on the left side of the pier, when you face the sea. But I was still a novice at left-hand drive, and making multiple U-turns along the highway next to the beach wasn't an attractive option, so we ended up paying USD 6 instead of USD 2 for parking.

The beach itself is a wide swathe of sand, probably about 400m from turf to surf - you can literally plonk yourself at a spot and not get bothered by anyone walking within 10m of you, if you wanted. Seagulls, though, follow different social rules.

Goodfeathers at Santa Monica beach

We walked along the beach up to Santa Monica pier, which houses an aquarium and an amusement park. Hand-in-hand, we strolled down to the tip of the pier, which was probably another 300m out over the water.

View of the beach from Santa Monica Pier

Unlike Bedok Jetty at East Coast, this area is not merely a resting place for skaters and cyclists. It's actually a place to commune with the ocean. Sure, there were a couple of guys fishing, but what struck me more was the cool, crisp ocean breeze and the warm sun on my face. We took a seat facing the Pacific Ocean and listened to the melodious crooning of a very talented busker by the name of Terry Prince. Terry was performing songs that he composed himself, and singing about love, beauty, appreciation, imagination - all nice and calming tunes, set off perfectly by the gentle lap of the waves beneath us. I looked out to the ocean, and was mesmerised by the dancing sunlight sparkling off the waters, creating a lighted path towards the wife and me. It was one of the most peaceful experiences in my life.

Tip of the Santa Monica Pier

We spoke to Terry as we were about to leave, and found that he had just finished a one-year contract performing at Harrah's at Las Vegas. Such a nice guy! Purchased his CD for USD 10 (eventually ripped it into iTunes, and iTunes did detect his CD info, btw) which was a little pricey, but probably worth it, because I don't think we will otherwise get a chance to listen to his music again.

After this delightful experience, we took another short walk along the beach, and eventually made our way back to the motel. Lovely day, lovely place. Lovely as a peacock!

Very Coo Pigeon

DC

written by  DanYilin on April 1, 2009 from Los Angeles, United States
from the travel blog: go.
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The item that really got my attention was the USD 49 offer (One way!) to the Bermuda Triangle.

Is that meant really to be a one way trip?

DC

written by  DanYilin on April 1, 2009 from Los Angeles, United States
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So we've decided to stop at 2...

... when it comes to IHOP pancakes, that is.

Breezing through the online menu the night before our breakfast visit to IHOP, I was resigned to settling for the Seniors Special. At 3 pancakes per portion, it was the smallest serving on the adult menu. Dan had already been seduced by the newest kid on the block - the Butterscotch Rocks pancakes - so there was no changing his mind. Plus, it's a well-known fact that men do not share their food due to some residual caveman tendencies residing in their genetic makeup.

But just as I was about to decide on the 3-stack portion for the Buttermilk pancakes (I decided against the Senior's Special cos I thought I would have to show my ID to prove that I was really 65 years old), I heard a meek "Baby... would you like to share the Butterscotch Rocks with me?" emitting from behind the menu sitting opposite me.

And I'm glad we did. Check out the monstrosity:

If Butterscotch Rocks can't rock your boat, I don't know what will.

1) Men do share their food.
2) Sharing is good.
3) Stop at two.

YL

written by  DanYilin on April 2, 2009 from Los Angeles, United States
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(1) Drool while riding a coaster. How can you NOT when you're dangling horizontally facedown on the Tatsu?

(2) Claw onto your other half with a death grip... with the very same hand you used to wipe the drool off your cheek.

(3) Take every opportunity to hone that unique signature Whimper-Sob-Scream combo war-cry on every ride.

(4) Starve yourself and refuse to eat anything until you've completed all the rides. Or at least the Maximum Thrill ones.

(5) Make a return trip to the park JUST to queue up for 2 hours to ride on the X2. Because it IS that awesome.

(6) Go on each ride a second time - just so that camera can capture a photo of you with your eyes OPEN this time. Search excitedly for the photo and then refuse to pay USD10 for it.

(7) Be clueless and pick a Maximum Thrill ride called the Goliath for your virgin Six Flags ride. Just cos it's located nearest to the park entrance. SUCKER.

(8) Sit out on the spinning non-coaster rides. Cos it's these seemingly harmless rides that make you really REALLY sick.

(9) Beg your partner to please please pleeeeaaase help scratch that itch on your elbow - you can't reach certain parts of your body while being strapped in a harness.

(10) Fervently wish that all your friends and family could be here with you breathing in the happy gas and having loads of fun together.

View of the coasters from the parking lot - can't wait!!

People loading up on the Tatsu.

The point where we realised that we're not going on just another ordinary coaster...

The lame ride that made me feel sick.

The universal sign for "Stop the ride, please. I need to throw up... NOW!"

X2 - the most awesome coaster there ever was!

Riders going off while lying down baaaaackwaards! See ya later guys!

Riders cheering as they're being hauled up the track backwards.

Superman zips through the skies just to come say hi!

Scream your lungs out!!! Yeahh!

And onwards to conquer the rest of the Six Flags parks within this season!

YL

It all started off with the Case of the Expired Shower Gel. I have absolutely no idea why it would occur to me to check the expiry date for shower gel of all things. It's not like you can eat it or drizzle it over your ice-cream sundae. My mind works in strange ways sometimes.

So into Ralph's we went in search of shower gel with a more desirable life expectancy. We're moseying down the aisles when all of the sudden we're mesmerized by a large glass object illuminated in a heavenly silvery aura and I swear we could hear a chorus of angelic voices whispering "draw near, oh Chosen Ones.. draw near..." Eyes glazed over, we approached in a trance, lifted our chins... and stood in awe before AN ENTIRE FREEZER FILLED TO THE BRIM WITH BEN & JERRY'S ICE-CREAM!!

Member's price: 2 pints for $6. We hurried over to the cashier to ask what it would take to become a worthy member of Ralph's, wondering how much of the store we would have to buy up to do so. Membership was FREE. It was a no-brainer. We signed up on the spot and were given spanking new plastic. Oooooh!

Oh wait, why are we in this hypermart again? Ahhh yesss, the shower gel. The challenge was in finding a scent that both of us liked:

DC: Let's get this - one bottle in 'Aquamarine' and one in 'Pacific Fresh'.

YL (sniffing cautiously): This one smells like chlorine!

DC: Okaaay, how about the other one?

YL (inhaling): Smells like a swimming pool. How about this? Citrus is unisex right?

DC (snuffing shower gel): Errr. Smells like dishwashing liquid. Hey look - 'Oat & Honey'. I could do with oat and honey!

YL: Okay, settled. Let's go.

DC (wrinkles nose): Wait wait! It smells FLORAL! I don't want to smell like a sissy!!

YL: Fine! You choose. Just don't make me smell like a man.

DC: How about we both smell like freshly-washed dishes?

YL: So... citrus? Er... okaay.

DC: Great! DONE! Let's go pick out our ice-cream.

Agreeing on ice-cream flavours was a significantly easier task. 2-For-1 deals are marriage-savers.

Life on the road is good when you can have ice-cream for lunch! (Thanks Yean Pin for the neat Benetton travel utensils kit - we've put the spoon to good use already!)

Americone Dream - vanilla ice-cream with fudge-covered waffle cone bits and caramel swirls. Yummsss.

Cinnamon Buns - caramel ice-cream with cinnamon streusal swirls and bits of cinnamon bun dough. Doh!

We also picked up some cheese crackers before leaving Ralph's. I couldn't decide on one type of cheese flavour so was psyched to find this box with a mix of 2 cheesy flavours! Since it was 2 boxes for $6, I picked up another duo-mix box and wandered off happy that I didn't have to make a choice. I'm a Libra - life is easier when you don't have to choose between all these wonderful options that the world offers you on a silver platter.

My favourite snack of the moment - and I've OD-ed on it less than halfway through the first box.

Unfortunately, my stomach decided at 4am that night that two pints of ice-cream and half a box of duo-cheese crackers were not its idea of fresh American produce. And it just HAD to go about protesting on our first night in a hostel without an en suite bathroom (see blog entry below on our lodging in Cambria.) Getting to the toilet was akin to completing an obstacle course twice over - climb over sleeping husband, fumble with door knob, tiptoe on creaking floorboards through dorm, fumble with second door knob, scurry down corridor, fumble with third door knob and practically leap into the bathroom. Then do it all over again in reverse.

Still, when it comes to food in the US, I think we could go on living the Americone Dream for awhile.

YL

written by  DanYilin on April 3, 2009 from Cambria, United States
from the travel blog: go.
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We stayed at a wonderfully cosy little place called the Bridge Street Inn. We had originally booked the last room available at $65 per night, which was above our budget, but we didn't want to be left room-less or pay exorbitant weekend prices for the mostly oceanfront hotels and decided to go with it. Later that day, the Inn called to inform us that another room had just been freed up and it would cost $54 instead. Aren't these people just lovely?! I mean, why would you bother to offer something cheaper when your guest had already agreed to pay for the more expensive room? But they bothered. And the gesture didn't go unappreciated.

Bridge Street Inn used to be an old Presbytarian Church, built in 1874. The owners bought it over in the 1990s and converted it into a hostel.

Bridge Street Inn - one of the hostels under the Hostelling International network.

Lovely blue and white colours of the inn.

Pots and pans for all to share!

The backyard for outdoor gatherings - when it's not so cold.

It has it's very own sandy beach for beach vollyball!

The cosy stone fireplace in the common lounge area provided a much welcomed source of warmth.

The house is dotted with eclectic furnishings from the owners' great-grandparents, like the old wooden Wilson tennis racket resting on the stairway. Carvings from Thailand and India, fabric from Nepal and dishes from Vietnam fill the remaining nooks and crannies, all amassed from the owners' backpacking trips to Southeast Asia.

Even the toilet seat covers were delightful! I wanna do this to my toilet at home now!

I explored all the bathrooms in the inn just to look at the interesting little knick knacks in there.

I thought this print titled "Doing the Inventory" was quite amusing. It was hanging in one of the bathrooms.

The Book Keeper - keeping up the books.

The owners are big on the sustainability drive and make many small contributions towards saving the earth in the way they run the hostel. Only biodegradable soaps are offered for guests' use. Laundry is line-dried - no dryers used. Guests are encouraged to bundle up in cold weather instead of turning on the heaters (sorry - we humans of tropical origin could not resist the charm of the heater.) Water recycling here is pretty innovative - the water used to wash your hands is channeled into the cistern and used to flush the toilet!

All the toilets have this strange little bowl sitting on the cistern lids...

... this is how it works to recycle water used from washing hands to flush the toilets afterwards. Not the other way round, mind you.

Our bedroom was a room within a room. It's located within a mixed dorm. The good thing is, the strange layout certainly seeks to promote interaction between strangers. There's no escaping talking to your neighbours when you have to squeeze past them in the tiny room 15 times a day.

Our room is a room within a room. The entrance is through a dorm with 3 beds.

The room can sleep 4 people - 2 on the double bed and another 2 on the bunks, but we had it all to ourselves. It was nicely furnished with quaint touches - a wooden ladder for a bedside shelf to place your belongings on, a stick with nails in it to hang your towels, etc. I thought it was lovely.

Our private room - 4 people fit well in it but it's only better when there's only the 2 of us!

It was nice chatting with fellow guests. Masami-san, a nice Hawaiian gentleman of Japanese descent living in Sacremento, gave us tips on what to see along the Pacific Coast Highway and recommended a lunch stop at the Nepenthe restaurant (see upcoming blog entry.) Another lady told us where we could see elephant seals on the beach along the way. People were from all over the world. A French guy and an American lady were exchanging reasons why the French didn't have a good impression of Americans and vice versa over breakfast. The best thing is - they both agreed that through traveling, they discovered that certain stereotypes don't hold water and the experience they had in each other's countries changed their perceptions for the better.

Hostels - where you meet people from all over the world.

Printed on a note stuck on the back of our bedroom door was this:

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness." - Mark Twain.

Need directions?

Now if everyone could just step out of their daily lives once in awhile to explore the universe beyond their doorstep, the world would be a better place.

YL

written by  DanYilin on April 3, 2009 from Cambria, United States
from the travel blog: go.
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Being on the road with Yi Lin is an interesting experience. It's obvious that we need each other to navigate these roads safely, so we really don't want to urinate each other off.

She really, really doesn't want to drive, because she doesn't have the road confidence. But when push comes to shove, she will drive. Just that she will do whatever stools necessary to avoid taking the wheel.

When I first met her 5 years ago, she was telling me that she draws in by creating a partial vacuum at reading maps and navigating. Yet, during this trip, she has now successfully navigated within Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as our route in between. Pretty good, eh?

But that's not all, here are three additional roles she performs to be the perfect driver's companion:

1) Food - Ordered a meal at a drive-in? She hand-feeds the fries to me, passes me the drink whenever I ask for it, uwraps the burger and carefully places it in my free hand so that I can eat while I drive. When I have munched the burger down to the paper, she takes it back and unwraps it some more, then puts it back in my hand. We bought ice-cream and chocolate too. Hand-fed. All I had to do was to open my mouth!

2) Music - Sets up the FM transmitter and syncs it to the car radio and plugs a choice of 3 iPods. Chooses music that keeps the driver awake. Sings and dances along if necessary.

3) Sleep - When I am really too tired, she doesn't complain if I pull up at a scenic sight, lean back in the seat, and snore my donkey off. She may step out and snap a couple of shots (of the scenery) but otherwise, patiently waits in the car for the 15-30 minutes that I require to recharge.

I was chatting with my ex-yoga instructor just a couple of nights ago. She confessed that she just sleeps while her husband navigates with the GPS. Tsk, tsk. :)

So, I celebrate my good fortune with a song. Sung to the tune of Calcutta, by Doctor Bombay:

I am a lucky driverman in Cali-for-nia,
I drive my Mazda in Cali-for-nia,
Lucky, lucky, lucky in Cali-for-nia,
I am a luckydriverman-an-an!

DC

written by  DanYilin on April 4, 2009 from Cambria, United States
from the travel blog: go.
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Now that I've finally emerged from hibernation, I thought I'd do a quick update on what we've been up to in Cali before we leave the state. And also cos we promised to keep the folks at home posted - (waving) Hi Mum! Hi Dad!

We spent 2 days coasting the Pacific Coast Highway aka Hwy 1 from Los Angeles to San Francisco. A local told us that this was "the most beautiful highway in the world." Well, I don't know about "the world" (haven't seen that much of it yet) but so far in our short stay in the US - yes, it was a very enjoyable, scenic and beautiful drive (at least for the passenger.)

Marine vistas

Blue waves washing up on the shore and turning into a white lacey wedding train.

Rugged coast on one side. Rolling hills on the other. What a view!

Wildflowers out in full bloom!

The ocean merged seamlessly into the sky - so much so that you can't tell where the horizon is. If infinity could be captured, it would look like this:

The Big Blue Thing

And, as we learned from our visit to Universal Studios, movies are shot against a simple wooden board painted in varying shades of blue to portray an endless sea or skyscape.

Some friendly folks at the Bridge Street Inn in Cambria told us about the elephant seal colony on one of the beaches on our way up north - and true enough, there were hundreds of them spread out on the sands!

They're just lazy. Not dead.

They didn't look like elephant seals to me - where's that trademark trunk-like nuzzle? Still, it was incredibly amusing to watch a couple of them put in the incredulous effort to move themselves off the beach for a swim. Why don't they just roll sideways down to the water?

What a life!

Dan telling you exactly what the thinks of the seals.... phew!

Under The Broadwalk - we found this cute furry resident living there!

The nice Japanese-Hawaiian-American man whom we chatted with the night before recommended a cliff-top restaurant called "Nepenthe" for lunch. It was rather crowded when we got there with fellow roadtrippers, with many of them waiting to get a table with a view - which was pretty good. The food was even better cos we were starving. Obviously above our budget, so we shared - while enjoying our view of unsuspecting people sitting below a fearsome carving of some man-eating bird (or so we made it out to be.)

Sunny deck where diners eat side-by-side and soak in the view over lunch.

Sun-drenched steps for that post-lunch lounge-around time before hitting the road again.

This spot with the gorgeous view is the waiting area!

The Ambrosia Burger - the difference between a $16 and .89 cheeseburger.

Beware the perils of the coast or be eaten alive.

We made more stops at stupendous vista points as we pushed northwards that day. What made the experience even more beautiful was seeing people from all around the world and all walks of life journey to this wonderful place. To do nothing more than to open their hearts to the ocean, their lungs to the fresh ocean air and their eyes to the beautiful hues of nature.

Everyone has a soft spot for a heavenly view - even the toughest-loooking people on the road.

YL

written by  DanYilin on April 5, 2009 from San Francisco, United States
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Dan and I love scuba-diving. We had picked up the hobby separately before we met, so it was an added bonus to discover that we could be life buddies as well as diving buddies. He taught me how to get started on underwater photography (and he still sweetly cleans and maintains my camera housing on most dive trips for me) and I educated him on identifying marine life beyond Red Fish, Yellow Fish and Anemone.

So exploring the aquarium in Monteray Bay together - said to be the best aquarium in the nation - was a delightful experience. Amazing sea-creatures, large tanks to ogle at, interesting exhibits and someone to share my excitement with. What more could I ask for.

The old warehouses along The Cannery - now housing shops and eateries.

Charming buildings by the sea at Monteray.

Sunny sidewalks and happy people.

Looking out across the bay.

Sunny days are here again.

The great ocean does not make distinctions between the big and the small.

Beautiful stingers.

Moongazing

Crystal necklace anyone?

The jellyfish is my favourite animal - not exactly a contender under the Top Ten most popular creatures I know, which would probably include the usual dogs, dolphins, giraffes, etc. I once did an exercise where we were suppose to imagine ourselves to be animals. Everyone else turned out to be something strong and powerful like a snake or lion or an eagle. I was rather alarmed when I opened my eyes and realised that I was being a jellyfish!!! I'm attracted by it's quiet beauty and graceful movements. And how one creature can encompass both the polar opposites of fragility and deadliness. Unlike lions, tigers, bears, cheetahs, sharks, etc. who portray power through their size, gait, roar or bite, the jelly doesn't bother to boast of such things. It swirls around in an ethereal dance in a distant world. It seems to be laughing merrily and whispering for you to draw near and join it in its weightless swim. It charms, mesmerises and hypnotises. Lovely.

Strange way to make a baby.

Pucker up!

And Bob's their name. Bob bob bob...

The small furry face of a Giant Otter.

Immerse yourself in a different world.

YL (The Jellyfish)

written by  DanYilin on April 6, 2009 from San Francisco, United States
from the travel blog: go.
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For those who don't already know, my husband is a Completist when it comes to any Mission. He MUST complete any series or games he starts: comic collections, Star Wars books, computer games (each game is played repeatedly until every single extra stage or side game or secret passage is explored and conquered.)

And so, the new Mission is to complete all the Maximum Thrill rides in all 15 of the Six Flags theme parks that our season pass gets us into. The theme park SOP now is to hurriedly park our car, hop onto the tram service that brings us right to the front gate, flash our season pass (ooohhh, the joy it brings!), study the park map quickly and make a beeline for all the Max Thrill rides. Only when we've finished them all, do we (1) eat (2) check out the Moderate Thrill (pfffft!!!) ones (3) go around snapping photos in the park.

As I'm less of a perfectionist, I consider an assignment completed once I've finished all the rides - except the spinning ones. The last I checked, I'm not a piece of dirty laundry that needs to be spun around in a washing machine. No spinny spinny things, thank you. Spinny makes Linny wanna puke in the binny.

So we've ticked off Assignment No.2 - Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo - on our checklist. Enjoy some pictures of the Max Thrill rides while we plan to conquer Assignment No.3, which we will report on back to you soon.

Heading east to Vallejo

When waiting to cross the toll gates, you DO NOT cheekily point to this lane and tell you wife that she should be in THAT lane. Grrrrr.

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom - more than just thrill rides.

Look Ma, I've finished building my coaster!

Kongquer the Kong!

You spin me round round baby right round.

The Hammerhead chews up its victims and spits their bones out.

ROARRRRRR!!! The all-wooden coaster.

Roaring down the track on the Roar

The most deceiving moderate thrill ride in the park.

This pic looks outta place here - just wanted to show how pretty the spring blossoms are!

Non-Spinny Linny

written by  DanYilin on April 7, 2009 from San Francisco, United States
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