Pumpkins, Parking and Planets

Dim sum for breakafast! Hehe I feel like there is really and Asian food market in California. You can really get almost all those food you miss back home. The wait for the breakfast was torturous though. Me, John n Jay are so damn hungry and they made us wait for like 45 minutes! And obviously that leads to over ordering. Lol. But its yummy so its alright. Crazy them still went on to gobble down some yogurt after dim sum.
Headed off to a nursery again. Just to check out on house plants. The Halloween deco was so cute! The pumpkins are so radiantly coloured. They're really so perfect that they look fake. Lol. Guess these ppl really know how to grow their pumpkins.
Made an impromptu decision to drive up the hills to the Griffith Observatory. I wanted to visit that place at night as it is a planetarium. So I could see stars. But if I go at night, I will need to endure the 2 hours bus journey there. The stupid parking attendants closed up the parking spots upstairs when we arrived. So we had to park below the hill. The walk up to the top was totally daunting. The hot weather did not help either. And the worst part was, we saw more than 10 empty spots at the parking lot near the observatory. Argh!!!!! Thanks to my friend for enduring all these to take me there.

The observatory was newly renovated after the expansion in 2006. I was expecting a huge huge place with lots of exhibits. Sadly, it was much smaller than what I expected it to be. The exhibits are good. Small but sufficient. I was pretty attracted by the huge periodic table display with the real elements placed inside the box. The huge telescope was really amazing. Too bad it does not open until 7pm. Else I would have got the chance to peer through that powerful thing to find my wishing star. Lol
A good place to take beginners to understand the whole space, star and planet thing. The orange planet reminds me of pumpkin. Who know maybe pumpkin looks like that in Jupiter. Lol. I also had a little fun time with Mr. Einstein. I see him sitting there, all lonely so I decided to take a photo with him :p
The observatory is also a pretty good place for sightseeing. Situated at a hill up high in LA. One can see downtown LA on one side and the Hollywood sign on another. Killing 2 birds with one stone. 3 actually if you're interesting in astronomy stuff. I wonder why I never found out bout this place till now. 2 years after I first visited LA. *Smacks forehead* Gotta come back here at night in the future.
A series of my favourite shots of the day. Feels like a model man. Wooohoooo, I'm in Hollywood after all right!

Green is My Favourite Colour

The theme for today is green. Green is beautiful, lucky and wicked!

Just like every normal day in my LA life, i went shopping and gym. The only different is shopping is done at the nursery today and not the mall. The flowers there are so pretty. I am most attracted to this cactus plant that looks like a rose. Green and Beautiful.
The highlight of the day is actually me and my friend's decision to try out our luck in the Wicked Lottery front row tickets. We wanted to catch the show but the prices are way too steep. It cost like 90 dollars each for a good seat or 40 bucks for a seat so far behind that one can only see peanuts. The front row lottery tickets will cost only $25 dollars each. What a steal! We arrived there rather early so we decided to walk around Hollywood. I finally managed to get a shot of me and the Hollywood sign after my 3rd time here Haha.
Went back for the lottery and found out that there is only 13 pairs of ticket to be given out. Goodness, the number of people trying out for it is like more than 100. Since both of us are not really those than win lucky draws we were quite doubtful that we would get it. I was so excited as they guy started drawing the tics. He draw the first one winner and guess what? He announced my friend's name. We both could not believe it, my friend was like asking me did the person just called out his name. We did not jump up and down as they were too many ppl around. Must maintain image k. Lol. Now I'm convinced that green is my lucky colour.
Quickly walked down to the Highland Mall to have dinner. PCD was scheduled to perform there that night. The whole pink carpet and crowd there is so crazy. I did not stay to catch them perform as I did not wanna be late for my Wicked show.
The Pantages Theater is really beautiful. Architecture on the inside was simply classic and posh. It was so difficult to take pictures as there were too many ppl around.
Did not manage to take photos of me in the theater as it is apparently not allowed. I was happily snapping away when some usher yelled out 'No photography please'. Stopped right away as I do not wanna get thrown out of the theater. Especially when my friend warned that he will kill me if wasted that hard earned ticket. Lol. Here are some photos of the place before I hear that warning :p
Front row seats are simply great. They were like so close. I could even see their hand trembling. Best of all most of the solo singing was on my side. At times the performers were only 5 feet from me. Cool right. The story line was pretty refreshing too. It is actually about the witches of the Wizard of Oz. Its gave a totally new perspective of the story. I totally love the costume design. They are relevant, flamboyant, beautiful and green! No wonder they won awards for the costume. The songs are pleasant and wonderful so good that I wanna listen to them over and over again. I think I will need to search for those songs now. . The performance by the cast was simply marvelous. Totally blown away with the energetic dance and mesmerizing singing. You've gotta catch this magnificent show!

I'm a Really Bad Shopper

Got up early to pack up and enjoy the free breakfast before I left the hostel. The pancake I made was yummy! Was a little worried initially as the guy before me had the whole thing flour batter stuck on the machine. I dunno how it happened as mine came out just fine. He was still cleaning even after I finished my breakfast. Haha.
Today's mission was to just try to buy some souvenir. Headed off to Fashion Valley Shopping district and came back empty handed. Not giving up, I tried the downtown Horton Plaza as well and guess what? I still end up empty handed. Argh I suck at shopping.

Rushed off to the train station to board my train back to Fullerton. Managed to catch a dance performance at the station. Entertaining.

I did not sleep on the train this time around as I wanted to see the scenery. Turns out that it was a wise idea as the view is really good. This impromptu trip certainly offered much more than I expected and the best thing is I know that I can take pics even when I travel alone! Hahahahah.

Where's my Sunny San Diego?

I woke up today only to see a pretty gloomy sky. One of those really few days that the sun does not shine here in San Diego. Instead of feeling bad about it, I was delighted. It means that I could head on to the beach and not get burnt!

On my way to the beach, I couldn't help but stop by the PETCO ballpark only 2 blocks from my hostel. It is surrounded by lots of high rise condo and hotel meaning you can actually watch the match live from home! I later learn that those building sprung up after the ballpark is build. Its part of the effort to gentrify the town. It really worked as I cannot really spot homeless people around. Just new fashionable loft apartments.
I ended up at the convention center and Gaslamp Quater after wandering aimlessly around town. Took a couple of pics round the place.

Finally headed off to the Coronado Island after a long long delay. Too distracted with the buildings downtown. Haha. The ride on the bus across the bridge was great. Manged to snap some nice pics. I sadly overshot the bus stop at the Coronado del Mar and ended up at the navy base miles away. Argh. Lucky the next bus in the opposite direction took only 10 minutes to come. Else I will kill myself.

The Coronado del Mar hotel is really post looking. Right next to the beach with white soft sands. Finally a beach that reminds me of those in Florida. There is like lots of tourist here. No, I did not ask them to help me with pics. I did all these pics with the help if my tripod, trashcans and a lot of rocks. Lol. Would love to stay in this hotel in the near future when I become a rich bastard. Haha.

I quickly crossed over to the other side of the Island to catch a glimpse of the sunset with the city syline as the background. It was a pretty decent but not marvellous sunset as the clouds has block the ray of sunlight. That means I did not get to see the golden city view. Sigh. Nevertheless, I had a great time chilling around the ferry landing area. Just sat down and enjoy my dinner while waiting for the sun to set.

Took more shots of the night scene of the city before rushing back to downtown. The walk to the bus stop was freaky as I took a small street with no lights at all. The houses along the street have all their lights off. Gosh! It was such a relieve when I finally reached the main street.

Upon reaching downtown, I say this huge concert taking place, some dance party called Monster Massive. Last night they barricaded another area for Beer Festival. This city really party hard man. Apparently Paul Van Dyk is here. But I have no greater regret than skipping the Janet Jackson concert that night. Really regret my dumb decision to pass it. She was performing in San Diego that night. Argh!

I ended up my night with a couple more shots of the city from the Convention Center and a walk around the very crowded and vibrant Gaslamp Quater. Its like a whole street of restaurants and bars with people al geared up to party the night away. Sadly, I did not join in the party as I was no in the mood after a tiring day of exploring. Someday I will come back to party, I promise!

The Most Last Minute Getaway Ever

Today I got kick out of the house. Technically, my friend's sis is coming over for the weekend after they got some cheap air ticket deals. Hence, I would need to make space for them to stayover. OMG! I booked all my tickets for the train and hostel at 9pm that night and I will leave on a 6am train the next day. Lucky me it was not a peak season so I still get good rates.

My friend dropped me at the station early morning just before work as LA has really bad public transport. This is like my 1st time taking an Amtrak after all this time in the US. Loved the roomy seats. Definitely better than taking a bus or plane (provided that the journey is not too long though). Did not really get to enjoy the scenery outside as piggy me quickly fell asleep on the train.
Upon reaching San Diego, I was surprised to see a lot of high rise residential apartments. I was expected only office building in the city. The colourful newly build downtown lofts buildings are so pretty! There are still a lot of apartments undergoing construction. Guess that's the cool new accommodation choice here and I totally love it.

The transportation system here is really good as well. Their trolley system that serves almost all the tourist attractions running every 15 minutes, even on weekends! Finally I do not need to wait like hours for transports on weekends. Good job MTS. There is so many transit officers at the stations making me wonder what's the purpose. But still it is good as that keeps the homeless away.

Headed straight to my hostel for check-in at 9 am. A little early but I had to try my luck. Did not wanna carry my luggage around the town. Guess what, I was lucky they got a place. Haha. Quickly wash up and rushed out to explore the city!

First stop was Balboa Park. It has always been on the top of my list when I was planning to visit San Diego a few months back. It is actually a park adjacent to the zoo with lots of museums. I am however, more interested in the architecture of the place rather than its intellectual offerings. Lol. It was such a hassle trying to get pictures of myself and the place. I need somebody to help me with pics. Haha. But you know, I don't give up easily, I went around scouting for potential photographers and when all else fails, I fall back to my timer and tripod. :p

After a tiring walk around the huge huge park, I took the trolley to the Old Town Historic Park. The place is just like in the olden days. Wild western style buildings with lots of exhibits and small free museums. If you're tight on budget, here is the place to go. There is also a lot of people dressed in olden days costume. Took the chance to take photos with them. They are employed by the park so no tipping needed. You can even ask them lots of question regarding the place and things to do. Nice!

Needed some buzz of the city after all those historic monument so I headed off straight to Seaport Village, a shopping place by the bay. Lots of specialty shops there. Interesting concept I must say. I also bumped into my previous roomie from W&T. What a coincidence. Apparently him and some guys and down in San Diego doing the pedicab work.

Since, I do not really have things to buy, I wander off to the Embacadero park for a relaxing stroll as I eat my sandwich. The park offers great view of the Coronado Island and downtown skyscrapers. I simply ended up sitting down and soaking up the atmosphere. The clear sky was a really magnificent setting to view the golden setting sun. The photos below is really inferior to the view of the sunset from the bay. You'll have to come here to see it for yourself.

1st Time at a County Fair

John and I visited the LA county fair today. It is their grand opening day and entry tix is only $1 dollar per person. What a steal! Normal rate is like 17 dollars per adult. Apparently it is also his first time to the fair after staying here for years.

The drive to the fair was horrendous. The traffic condition was so so bad especially on I-10. It took us like 2 hours to get there. Had to rush to the ticket booth to make sure we get in before 5pm as the rate will increase after that. Luckily, we made it.
We were greeted with the sight of a huge carnival ground upon entry. Was not really interested in the rides so we quickly walked pass that part. Next up on our itinerary was the hone and garden part. The flowers and deco are so beautiful. Some Hawaiian theme thing. Makes me wanna get my own outdoor garden too.
As it is already dinner time, we went around searching for food only to find that we were blocked by the parade from gg over to the side where the food is. Watched the parade a little but it was so boring. We saw ppl running across the street where there is no barricade and we followed :p herd instinct ok. Manage to get a Kawabanga corn dog. Super huge isn't it?
After satisfying our hunger, we did more exploring. Checked out the shopping part and the traditional California Heritage displays and someone broke something there too. Shall not elaborate too much on it. Lol.
The best part of the fair is actually the farm which is how the county fair started off in the early years, according to my friend. I get to see in real life the whole sheep judging contest that I watched in movies. Haha. The way they dress up themselves and the sheep are really cute!
Went around to see all the farm animals too. Touching and feeding the animals is really fun too. The smell of the place is really bad but the whole experience is worth it. Saw a really weird looking cow too. with huge huge horns. Poor them, it must be really tiring on the neck to have such big horns.
The part with all the Christmas trees and lightings really make me wanna spend the holiday season here. Hmmmm. Should I come back in Dec? :p
Ended our visit to the county fair with a final walk around the arcade. Guess what I found? Rides that is exactly similiar to those in the boardwalk. With a different name of course. But they are so much cleaner and newer. So happy that I dun need to operate these stuffs anymore. Haha.
That was a really incredible visit. Looking forward to more fun stuff in LA!

New Hairstyle

I got a haircut and I luv it. Woohoooo! The fried sweet potato with shrimp dish taste very good too.Luv the asymmetrical back :)