Sunny Day at the Peaks

Woke up today to an extremely clear sky. What could be more sensible than to snap great shots of the city from those great photo spots right? Started off the day with a walk around Dolores Park. Ever since John introduced me to this spot, I have been coming back here everytime I'm in the city. Could never get enough of the magnificent view from this spot.
The journey to the second view point at the Twin Peaks sure took a lot of effort. This includes walking 10 blocks in the wrong direction to Vivian's place to getting lost in the city for not bringing a long a gps. Was it worth all the trouble? I'll let the pictures do the talking.
Ended the day at the Golden Gate Park. Supposed to check out the California Academy of Sciences but we got the free day mixed up. Oh well, more cam whoring then :-p

Chinatown again!

Took the chance to catch up wif Zoie today. She commented that I seem to be perpetually in the US. I certainly wish this is true. But it is kinda true that I've been spending all my holidays here. Uncle Sam sure need to thank me for patronizing this economy so much.

Manage to sneak in her college to put our heavy bags in the locker before heading out to town. Went all the way up to the rooftop of Macy's to catch a bird eye's view of Union Square. Before this I thought one has to dine at Cheesecake Factory in order to dine here. *Smacks head*

Our random walk ended up in Chinatown thanks to our cravings for bubble tea aka. bouba. Glad that we did this as we stumbled upon an extremely impressive mural of the star spangled banner. Don't you think the shot is extremely cool?

Off to the lighthouse....

Decided to head out of town for a little bus riding and book reading day. Took the Bart and then 2 different buses to arrive at Montara. The place is extremely foggy that day. I could totally picture such a setting for The Famous Five adventure series. Since my arrival is way before the check-in time, I quickly ran to the edge of the cliff and jump down to the sea for a quick refreshing swim. Alright that is a lie. Lol. All I did was sat and enjoy the wonderful sound of the waves hitting the rocks along with the very mysterious look of the fog engulfing the Californian coast.
The lighthouse however was kinda disappointing as it was ten thousand times smaller then I thought it would be. I somehow felt like I am thrown into a retirement home as all other occupants were way past 50. It was still a great experience as I get to listen to well embellished stories of their younger days.
Note: Buy your own food at the Linda Mar transit center before heading here. Else you would be walking 20 over minutes in the dark to get food from the nearest grocery store.

I *heart* the Bay

Woke up early morning to the wonderful view of they bay from our hotel room. Totally *heart* the Hyatt at Embarcadero. Feels like I could sit all day and people watch from the balcony but the sight of the vibrancy at the ferry building tempted me to get downstairs to explore the place a little.
The place is tastefully restored with lots of interesting shops that sells mostly specialty food items. From mushrooms and wine to cookies and kitchenware. This is definitely a upper class housewives paradise. Got our lunch from a classic Italian place. Was totally spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing the meat for my sandwich. Ended up choosing a Toscano that is dry like hell. Argh! Gotta expand my knowledge on this sausages man. Hmmmph
Took a walk along the Embarcadero before retreating to the hotel room to enjoy the wonderful night view of the bay from our hotel room. Blissful......

Flower Power!

Alright the title sure suggest that famous intersection of the hippy part of the town. But no, that is not where I'm heading to on this wonderful Sunday morning. It is actually off to see real flowers. To the conservatory? Nah, we're heading to the often overlooked SF Botanical Gardens. The stroll at this part of the city never fail to freshen me up :-)

Did you know that Memoirs of a Geisha was filmed here? Yes, right here in the SF backyard. This time with Thang as the Geisha though. Lol.

Dear Genki,

Officially declaring that Genki has a hold of my heart. When asked of where I wanna go for food, I could only see the one and only crepe, Crepe, CREPE!!!!! We drove all the way to Richmond just to satisfy out taste buds. Ok , more like mine. But man, the guys ate as much as I did ok. Lol.
Well just in case u wanna check it out: Genki Crepe. Don't say I didn't warn you, it is very addictive. Yum yummmm

Warm Welcome to the Bay City

Arrived at my most beloved city on earth after more than 20 hours up in the air. Still suffering from the aftershock of not being able to get the job after sacrificing a wonderful thanksgiving weekend down in LA. *Grinds teeth* The anger quickly disappeared when I met my friends. Am extremely excited as we're gonna be visiting their new nest!Their wonderful house is situated up high on a hill that overlooks South SF, with the most serene and peaceful surroundings. *Envious* I could totally picture myself sitting out at the balcony, sipping my favorite ginger milk tea, watching the magnificent view of the sun setting in the background.

The inside of the house is so comfy and cozy. Totally loved the extremely tall ceiling and the antique looking piano in the living room. I should start making more mooolah to get a place like this. On second thought, nah I'll just visit more often and enjoy my carefree life. Lol.
Oh can I mentioned that the dinner was great? The papaya salad made by Vince was very nice and the golden raspberry tasted like it is totally out of this world. My mouth is watering as I'm uploading the photo of it. Thanks to Vince n Thang for being such great host!
Fun fact: Vince claimed that papaya salad is not a Thai traditional food but Laos.

Magical Night at the Bowl

The long awaited 'Picnic at the Bowl' day has finally arrived. Couldn't believe that it took us this long to finally organize something this simple yet fun. The boys went to get food from Costco while us went to get even more food from Ralphs. Lol.

The drive to the Ventura lot was a breeze. Thank goodness no traffic this time. Free parking here but the shuttle to the bowl from here cost 4dollars each person. Definitely a better option than to get stuck at the bowl after the end of the show.

The intention to grab a picnic table did not materialize as we were too late. All tables seemed to be taken up even it is like 2.5 hours prior the show. Soon we decided to just head to our section and do our picnic there. Lucky us, there were nobody around our area. So we get to colonize the up to 4 rows of seats for our feast. Hehe. Taking a group photo is tiring, lost count the number of times we took and retook. And still, there is not a single perfect shot. Lol
We've got so many yummy food. Chicken wings, shrimp salad, shrimp cocktails , sandwiches, chips, brownies, wine, candy, peanuts, water, Gatorade, tea and wine! Could definitely open up a food kiosk with all those. Lol. It was such a fun experience gobbling down the food with the bowl and the Hollywood sign as the backdrop.
Gave away our pair of section K tickets to some couple who happened to be seated at our row. We wanted to sit together for the show even if that means getting push backwards 3 sections and not being able to see the performers without lookin at the screen. But oh well, its more fun to sit with friends. Gotten ourselves cushions for only 75cents as sitting on the hard bench for another 2 hours would definitely flatten our ass. :p
At 830pm, the show finally began. The orchestra kicked off the night with some famous tunes from old movies which I couldn't recognise at all. OMG! Then came Micheal Feinstein performing some huge hits from the great American songbook. Totally enjoyed the whole big band swing feel.

But the highlight of the night has got to be hearing Jewel sing live. Gosh, I have been a fan of hers since her first hit. The feeling of being able to hear this wonderful voice with the oh-so familiar tunes is more than satisfying, its satiating. *Sings* You were meant for me, and I was meant for yooouuuuuuuu.....
The show ended with impressive fireworks lighting up the bowl alongside the great music accompaniment from the Bowl Orchestra. Now, that is a perfect guys' night out but not with some clubbing after the show! Time for boogie wonderland.

Honk! Honk! Vrooooommmmmmm

Another day on the Miracle Mile museum row. This time it is to learn more about one of mankind's most ingenious invention: Automobiles. Took me an hour an a half to get here from Long Beach. No joke as it is actually a whopping 34 miles away! The sprawl is really bad here in LA. But when it comes to pandemic disease, I think it could be the safest city to be in. Spacesss, even virus would die traveling that far. Haha.

Alright back to the museum, the best exhibit of the museum has got to be Streetscapes. It actually explains the whole evolution of the automotive culture with Socal as the example. It shows how LA evolved into all these traffic mess throughout the years. Thanks to the building of freeways.
Besides Streetscape, 'What were they thinking' was another interesting and funny exhibits. It displays all the 'ingenious' innovations of the past. From foldable doors and multiple windshield wipers to prevent accidents to air car that actually stirs up dust and spread them all over the city. Lol.
Hollywood Cars: Car from the movies. Of course they have famous Herbie. And the yellow one....yes its from Little Miss Sunshine.
Oh just one more gem. The skeleton bike. OMG! Its like sooooooo marvellous. Would totally keep this as a collection even if I couldn't ride it. Haha.

On Rodeo

Nothing much to brag about. Poor guy on a rich men shopping paradise = window shopping & photo taking.
Waiting for that day when things on this strip becomes affordable and cheap. Hopefully not because the good get cheaper. Lol. I wanna be rich!

Traffic's a Bitch!

First of all, a million thanks to John for agreeing to drive all the way from Newport to Malibu. Second of all, screw the traffic on PCH. It was soooo excruciating. Stuck on PCH for 1.5 hours on a route that supposedly takes only 20 minutes! !(#*)@($&* Gotta blame Jay for getting the tix for the wrong day and time :p

Upon reaching the Getty parking lot, we were so relieved. Quickly went around to explore the place. The view of the ocean from the top is just beautiful. No wonder people pay millions to live in here.
The entrance to the villa looked absolutely marvellous. The whole roman architecture of the building seems so inviting. After taking some (a lot :p) of pictures, we finally headed inside the villa.
Started off the tour with a boring introduction video about the making of villa. Zzzzzzz.
Right after, we explored their antiquities collections. I couldn't believe that all these started from the craze of one man. One rich man, I should say. I wonder whether the man himself can remember everything that he collected.
Apparently, we were told that the exhibits were arranged according to themes.Greek and Roman, Gods and Goddesses and so on. But if you have zero knowledge on myths like me, everything will eventually look the same. Lol.
Although the antiquities failed to capture my interest, I would still recommend one to visit this place. (if you don't mind the traffic) Why? Because the gardens are really beautiful. The outer peristyle which is build to replicate the Villa dei Papiri is so breathtaking. Would totally want a garden like this in my mansion but with half the size. More land = more cleaning and maintenance. Haha.
Headed off for shopping at 3rd st and dinner at Ktown before retreating back to our hotel at Newport. Wonderful suite with tastefully decorated french bedroom doors. :D

Exploring the Core

First stop Walt Disney Concert Hall. The awkwardly beautiful stainless steel architecture takes my breath away. I must admit that it is one of the most unique and pretty building that I have ever seen.
Once inside, the cleverly designed concert hall is beaming with natural light. Its like the whole place is fully illuminated by the sun. How smart, they saved so much energy that way. Got the chance to pose with the piano before being shooed away politely. Its ok, we got the photo we wanted. Lol.
I totally luv the simplistic way of using multi-colored chairs at the BP hall.
We were lucky to get to visit the main concert hall as they don't have a performance that day. Hehe. The grand organ was such a wow. With 600o thousands over pipes around it, I bet that instrument will sound heavenly.
Our intention to catch Spamalot did not materialize as they only offer discounted tickets for balcony seats. Decided to just carry on with our itinerary to catch the downtown skyline from the City Hall building, only to find out that it was closed on weekends. Never trust guides even if they are written by the city itself. Open 7 days a week my ass!
We ended up at Little Tokyo after wandering around the city. Had promotional frozen yogurt for only 2dollars each. Yummy. Feeling thirsty from the sweetness, we grabbed some bouba before continuing our expedition.
Next on the list is the Bradbury Building. Heard that it was in the set of some famous movies like Infernal Affair, Blade Runner and Pushing Daisies. Most recently, it was featured in the ending scene of 500 days of summer. Could totally understand why it was used in so many movies. The whole beauty of the renaissance era radiates from the building's interior. No wonder it is certified as a national historic landmark.
We stumbled upon the Grand Central Market on the way to meet our friends for lunch at CPK. Could not believe that there is still an old fashioned market place right smack in the middle of downtown. Right opposite it is the world's shortest railway, Angel's Flight. A quarter can get you across one downtown block on this line.
Alright time for lunch at CPK. Runnnnnnn.