California Wrap-Up

OK so this is going to be a kind of catch-up catch-all post on all the things from California that I didn't hit in any of my other previous posts.  It's going to be a little more wordy than usual, so apologies in advance.  I won't be offended if you just skim through and look at the pictures hahaha.



TED

Nope, we didn't attend a TED Talk; instead, I dragged TChu to see the movie Ted with me (talk about opposite end of the intellectual spectrum).  That's the movie with the drinking, smoking, and cursing teddy bear.  I know, right?  Awesome premise for a movie...  It's hilarious and seriously inappropriate.  Check out the trailer.  Verdict:  Watch it!

There's a lot of Asians at California universities



Universities

So I checked out UC Santa Barbara while I was staying in LA and UC Berkeley while I was staying in SF.  I didn't know much about UCSB so I didn't have any expectations really.  It was nice?  Ended up being a pretty chilled out stroll on a hot afternoon in SoCal.  Reminds me a bit of UBC.  I had higher expectations for Berkeley (ie, students protesting something or other), but it ended up being...  well, not much.  I guess the students that like to protest things take the summer off?  Verdict:  I'd pass.

I liked this tenderloin better

Tenderloin

The Tenderloin (the 'Loin) is the rough part of town.  I thought Mission St was bad, and then I accidentally wandered through the Tenderloin.  I'm just lucky my little stroll was in broad daylight and not late at night...  It's crazy to think that this area is so close to where most of the hotels are (including nice hotels and fancy chains).  Verdict:  Walk around the Tenderloin, not through it.

San Francisco Part IV

So if you look at my day summaries below, you'll notice that the days are becoming less packed and less rushed.  In case you were wondering, that's when I got caught up on my blogging and got some rest! 

Today in a nutshell:

• July 23, 2012 - Fisherman's Wharf & USS Pampanito, cable car
• July 24, 2012 - UC Berkeley, dinner in Santa Clara with Uncle Tony & Aunt Surina
• July 25, 2012 - Palace of Fine Arts, Coit Tower/Telegraph Hill, flight to London

 



Highlights:

• The Palace of Fine Arts is pretty neat.  It looks like one of those old Greek and Roman monuments, but it was actually created in the 20th century by a local architect.  However, the really cool feature about this is that it incorporates the surrounding vegetation into the structure.  However, it's not that easy to get to without a car.

oops ate half while I was waiting for the picture to be taken...  Guess I was hungry!



Lowlights:

• Fisherman's Wharf - I went because you're supposed to go to the big tourist traps in a city, but this place is a bit too touristy for me.  They sell all kinds of weird tourist things there (ie, Hawaii macadamia nuts and pearls, which I don't get because it's SF, not Hawaii) and it's crowded as hell.  I will say, however, that going on board the USS Pampanito (a retired sub that did a few patrols in the Pacific theatre during WWII) was pretty cool.  It's pretty close quarters in there, and it was one of the few times in my life that I didn't mind not being taller!
   

The view at night along the cable car route

Can't Miss:  Taking the cable car, I guess?  I had to wait 45 minutes to get on, and the thing moves really slowly but going up and down those hills is a pretty neat feeling.  Sometimes you feel like it won't make it up the hill and won't be able to stop on the way down, but it always seems to end up ok!



San Francisco Part III - The Weekend

Normally Pier 39 would be full of sea lions except that it's mating season.  So these are the unlucky few that don't get to take part in that.  I feel bad for these guys...

In a nutshell:

• Night of July 20, 2012 - Party at Slide
• July 21, 2012 - Brunch with the SF'ers, walk around Mission St, party some more at night
• July 22, 2012 - Pier 39, dinner with SF'ers

Tony admiring the art on Clarion Alley



Highlights:

• People in SF are really nice!  We made some new friends and had a great time eating, drinking, and partying with them.  A big thank you to Karen, Alice, and the Christinas for bringing us out and to Katie for putting us in touch with them!
• Mission Street is pretty cool.  It’s a bit more “urban” (ie, shady) than other parts of the city we’ve visited, but it has a lot of character and ethnic diversity.  There’s a lot of really interesting murals drawn on the sides of buildings and in alleys.  We definitely didn’t catch all of them, but the ones we did see were not like anything we have back home in Vancouver.
• I got a huge burrito from Taqueria Cancun on Mission St. (near 19^th or so).  I paid an extra $0.25 for a upsized burrito.  Couldn’t even come close to finishing it, but it was worth the extra quarter to get a burrito sized like my fist x 3.  And it was good too!  No wonder that place was Zagat rated.

That's a big-ass burrito

Lowlights:

• I think I'm a bit too big for slides.  There's a slide at the entrance of Slide and the ride down didn't go as smoothly as I would have expected hahaha!  Reminds me of the slide incident from a few weeks back with Kelven Ng...  I probably need to stop doing that kind of thing lol.

Can't Miss:  I'm going to go ahead and just say you gotta go to San Francisco.  This city is a can't-miss!



San Francisco - Part II

Hey somebody tell that douche to stop blocking my view!  oh...

Today in a nutshell:

• July 20, 2012 - Picked up rental car, drove down to Freemont for FB HQ tour, drove down to Monterey to see aquarium, and drove back to catch sunset at the Golden Gate Bridge.

This is Tony Chu.  Photographic proof that he's not an imaginary friend.



Highlights:

• Golden Gate Bridge – I recommend you go at sunset if you can.  It would have been romantic if I wasn’t there with Tony lol.
• Monterey Bay Aquarium – Not the biggest aquarium that I’ve ever been to (that would probably be the Osaka Aquarium which is home to a pair of whale sharks), but this one is very new and very nice.  Apparently they pipe in their seawater directly from the ocean.  Very well done, with lots of interesting exhibits and quite kid-friendly (many exhibits and activities tailored to children, a live show where a diver jumps in to feed the fish and talks to the audience through a live feed).
• Food – We ate lunch at Himawari in San Mateo, courtesy of Kelven Ng’s recommendation.  Dude, thanks for that!  I agree – best pork ramen I’ve ever had.  No picture because pork ramen always looks the same anyways, but anybody with a car should try to check this place out (as it’s a bit of a trek out from the city).
• Food 2 – Hah!  Bet you weren’t expecting a second food post!  Brenda’s French Soul Food serves New Orleans style “home cooking”.  We’re talking French onion soup, ribs, and the best fried chicken I’ve ever had in my life.  So good that Tchu dragged us back there for brunch a few days later so he could get it again.



It's a donut filled with crawfish.  Doesn't sound delicious, does it?  yeah...  it's not, lol

Lowlights:

• Traffic in California is just awful at rush hour…  SF is not as bad as LA, but still way worse than Vancouver.

 

Can't Miss:  Golden Gate Bridge at sunset is gorgeous.  I was tempted to say the Monterey Bay Aquarium is a can’t-miss, but it is a bit of a drive (about 1.5 hours, even worse with traffic).  But if you’ve got a car in SF, I highly recommend it.


How come the diver didn't jump into this tank too?



San Francisco - Part I

I was able to catch the sunset during the flight over to SF from LA.  This is going to be a good trip :)



Today in a nutshell:

• July 18, 2012 - Flight in from LA.
• July 19, 2012 - SFMOMA, California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park

Baby ostriches are cute.  Adult ostriches - not so much...

Highlights:

• California Academy of Sciences - Wow...  just wow!  This is definitely better than anything we have back in Vancouver.  They've got an earthquake simulator, a walk-in rainforest with birds and butterflies flying all around you, a giant aquarium, and a green roof.  The green roof may not sound impressive, but it's super efficient (lowering energy costs) and it's pretty cool to see it above their rainforest area.
• Golden Gate Park - It's got a cool NYC's Central Park meets Vancouver's Stanley Park vibe going on.  There's big trees (like Stanley Park), it's got great views across the water (like Stanley Park), but it's got cool buildings and lots of common areas for people to hang out (like Central Park).
• Four letter word, starts with an "F".  No, not that one, I meant "Food".  I'd been told that SF had a good food scene, and it did not disappoint.  Their sushi is indeed as good as Vancouver's (which I never though I'd say about any place outside of Japan).  We went to a place called Kabuto.  Tried stingray (not particularly good as it's kind of like eating fish fins so there's not much meat, but interesting) and ate some aburi tuna toro uni fish roe sushi (similar to Miku roll).  Very good quality sushi, was very impressed!



Lowlights:

• SF Moma isn't really my scene I guess.  I enjoyed MOMA in NYC, but the SF one is more...  abstract art and less cool design stuff.  I dunno...  just not my cup of tea.

Can't Miss:  California Academy of Sciences and walking through Golden Gate Park



LA-LA Land - continued...



Sorry for my delay in posting.  I've been travelling with Tony Chu (aka the slave driver) so we've been walking/driving a lot and it's left me without much time to write.  But that's the TChu experience, and it's part of the fun (thanks Tony!).  So I'm hoping to catch up on a few posts today.

Today in a nutshell:

• July 17, 2012 - Getty Museum, Brea Tar Pits, outlet mall shopping at Camarillo Premium Outlets, downtown LA at night, Little Tokyo in LA.
• July 18, 2012 - Venice Beach boardwalk in Santa Barbara, flight to SF.

Highlights:

• Getty Museum - Amazing architecture, gorgeous garden, and all kinds of artwork.  Most of the photos in this post are from here.  I can't speak to the Getty Villa as we didn't go there, but I've been told to go to the Museum if you've only got time for one.  I'd consider this place to be a must-see!  Definitely something for everybody.  If you can't find anything you like there, I'd think there's something wrong with you, no offence.  :P
• Hanging out with an old friend - It was good catching up with Tony for sure.  I haven't seen this guy for a full year (July 2011) since I went off to HK for my secondment and he went to NYC for grad school at the School of Visual Arts.  You can check out some of his work here.  He always does have that special ability to make me feel like even more of an idiot than I usually do hahaha
• Food?  Again???  Father's office is a local bar/pub that opens at 5.  TChu and I arrived after the kitchen closed on the night of the 17th and ended up wandering around until 1 am trying to find dinner.  We came back the next day at 4:45 pm and there was a lineup already.  But it was totally worth it!  Guess that's why it's the top-rated burger in LA  :D



Lowlights:

• We went to In-N-Out Burger and we each got a double.  I thought it was pretty good, but later found out that you're supposed to order from the secret menu.  And me and TChu were wondering why this place was famous...

Can't Miss:  Did you even read my post above???  Go to Getty Museum already.  Geez...  :)

We wandered around downtown LA for about an hour before we found Little Tokyo.  It was a nice walk!

New Section:

I'm going to call this new section "Because Percy's an Idiot".  If you have any respect for me (or are easily offended) please stop reading at this point.  Thank you!  :D

Because Percy's an Idiot:



We just missed this exhibit.  Probably a good thing - I'd still be laughing now if we HAD caught it...

 

I realize that these are devils, but does it really take 8 of them to beat on an old man???  (saints may have special powers but still...)



I don't get it...

Oh wow he looks really tired.  I wonder why...

I got 99 problems but a...  Oh I see.  Nevermind...

It Begins!

What's that behind this tree?  Oh right, MORE TRAVELS TO COME  :D:D:D



It was so weird...  I packed my bags and left the house in such a rush that I didn't really get to think about the fact that I'd be away from home for almost 3 months.  Yeah, I was gone for 4 months last year, but 3 months of that was spent at the office (not that I didn't appreciate the experience!).  This year just seems...  different...

Today in a nutshell:

• July 16, 2012 - Flew from Vancouver to Los Angeles, rented a car (Mustang Convertible!) and drove around LA (Venice Beach & Griffith Observatory).

Truffle Fries?  And a little touchpad device to play games on while we wait for the food to arrive?  Umami Burger, you're too good to me :D



Highlights:

• Driving - Me and TChu cruising the highway in Cali with the top down in our 'Stang blasting California Lovin' was pretty wicked!  OK I'll try to stop pretending like I know how to use slang now...  :P
• Lifestyle - Wow...  so this is what SoCal is like.  People here are so active, everybody we saw was playing beach volleyball/running/biking/rollerblading along the beach!  The beach lifestyle isn't for everybody but...  nevermind, it IS for everybody!  I was tempted to wake up early in the morning to go for a jog along the beach until I remembered that I don't wake up early and I don't jog.  And I don't usually do beaches (though I'd make an exception here).
• FOOD!!!  No surprise here.  We went to a burger joint called Unami Burger.  I got the truffle burger and paired that with truffle fries.  Hmmm maybe going for that jog wouldn't be such a bad idea after all!

Truffle Burger?  Of course!  Eating healthy can wait until tomorrow!

Lowlights:

• I booked a 6:15 am flight out from YVR.  For the love of God, somebody please stop me if I ever try to book a flight that early again!!!
• I wish I'd downloaded that Chantal Kreviazuk song (Leaving on a Jet Plane) because it kept playing in my head but I couldn't play it on my iphone hahaha

Can't Miss:  Griffith Observatory - Great views over LA from the park surrounding it, and if you go on any night except a Monday night (d'oh!) you can go in and see the stars.

Notes for next time:

Don't go to LA on a Monday because most museums are closed.  Clearly I planned this allllll out excellently.  Hmm that doesn't bode too well for the rest of my trip eh?  hahaha

umm...  no thanks, we're not going to be having that...

Okanagan - Canada Day Weekend 2012



Our view from the restaurant at Mission Hill - amazing!

 Driving to the Okanagan and going wine tasting is something that every Vancouverite should do at least once.  Good wine, good food, good views!  What's not to like???

Highlights:

• WINE!!!  Okanagan wines are really really good (and definitely good value for money).  Every winery had at least one wine that stood out for me.
• FOOD!!!  Yes...  OK I like to eat and drink.  But seriously, the food was really good.  Mission Hill, Burrowing Owl, and Quail's Gate were 1-2-3 in my books, and in my opinion should be considered to be among the top restaurants in the province.
• Driving - The speed limit for much of the highway between Vancouver and Kelowna is 110 km/h.  And the highway between Vancouver and Osoyoos is through a national park with winding roads and (relatively) few vehicles.  So if you enjoy driving, which I do, these are good fun.
• Gorgeous scenery - Yeah...  I'm not a great photographer.  Next time I'll bring somebody like
Kelven Ng to take some better shots.  But the drive up from Osoyoos to Kelowna was great for my passenger, who got to look out across the water.  And sitting at a restaurant looking out over the grape vines with the lake as the backdrop at sunset...  it's the good life for sure!

Lowlights:

• A lot of the wineries sell out of their most popular wines pretty early on in the year, so you don't even get to taste them when you're at their tasting rooms.  The ones that got away - Poplar Grove Cab Franc, Burrowing Owl Athene, Tinhorn Creek Syrah
• I probably spent a LOT more money than I thought I would have for a trip to the Okanagan (see Wine & Food under Trip highlights lol).

Can't Miss:  Mission Hill - take the Legacy Tour and eat at the restaurant.  Ask for occulus cherries (cherries soaked in their delicous but pricey Occulus wine for three years!)

Occulus cherry on a chocolate chip cookie...  YUM!!!  :D

 

Notes for next time:

Try staying at the Burrowing Owl Winery - Yes, they have their own guesthouse and it's gorgeous!  Plus, if you get drunk on their (fantastic!) wine, you can just stumble back to your room or hop into the pool :)

  

False advertising - this is still Mission Hill.  But they don't have a guest house there so stay at Burrowing Owl!