Work-wise, there were a lot of going-ons as we celebrated our 9th anniversary in May. We co-organised a two-day event which involved a colouring contest, cultural dances, fashion show and a beauty pageant.
With all the happenings, I decided that it’s time for a nice, long relaxing holiday, where I could be worry-free with no one to depend on me.
And because I’ve been to the eastern part of the States in 2005, I thought that visiting the Western sector should be good as I’ve always wanted to see Disneyland and Hollywood. Moreover, I’ve been wanting to meet with my good friend, Eric whom I’ve never met before.
I planned to go during autumn season and decided somewhere towards the mid of September is the best time to go as it is during the off-peak season. I called up many travel agencies but found that most of the tours are in October, during the Raya festive season. It was difficult to get leave because my colleagues would be on leave for the celebration.
After much searching (and almost giving up), I got a contact from Steve Yap, who gave me the phone number of the travel agency which he used for his tour to America only the year before. I called America Asia and spoke to Terrence, who to my great delight, informed me that the departure dates are every Wednesday, regardless on whether there are enough people or not.
I wanted to go to so many places in such a short time. I couldn’t take a longer leave and had to make do with a 10-day (inclusive of arrival date) tour. The remaining 7 days were spent with Aunty Shirley Goh, someone we knew for more than 20 years, who stays at the bay area.
I decided to view this hurricane tour as a “preview” to my next (and hopefully longer) trip there.
I managed to convince Eunice to accompany me on this trip and she agreed. Until now, she “blames” me for her non-purchase of a good convection oven.
Eunice fell ill just 2 days before we were due to leave for the States. Her throat was sore and she felt weak. I told her to drink lots of water, which she did, but it was too late. Her throat was infected and she started coughing even when we left Malaysia.
What was worse was the fact that we could not bring any water during the flight and Eunice had to trouble the air stewardess so many times for water. The air stewardess finally asked us if we have empty bottles that she could fill. And we did.
We arrived at Los Angeles International Airport at about 12.30pm and waited for someone to pick us up. He was a little late and I got worried and called the travel agency.
The ride to the hotel, Best Western Montebello, was about 20-30 minutes and we “forced” ourselves to sleep from 3pm – 5.30pm.
Day 1 (September 20, 2006)
We got to see Beverly Hills – at night! Then he brought us up a hill and stopped at a very lonely spot and asked us to “look up”. We didn’t see anything at first because his window glass was tinted. We rolled down the window and saw the famous “HOLLYWOOD” sign, which by then, was not lit because it was after 1am. We were a little disappointed but glad in a way that we got to see the well-known sign so close.
We took a few pictures of the “valley” but it was blur – I didn’t bring my tripod with me.
We finally made it back to our hotel at 2am.
Day 2 (September 21, 2006)
The travel agency made arrangements to pick us up at 8.15am. It was the very first day of our tour and we didn’t know if they would really pick us up from our hotel. We waited at the lobby and occasionally had to look out of the hotel driveway in case we missed the bus. We breathed a sigh of relief when we saw the other Malaysian guy whom we recognized from the day before at the airport.
The bus had to pick up people from other (better-looking) hotels before stopping at the travel agency’s office in Monterey Park. There, other people going to Disneyland hopped onto our bus.
Alex, our tour guide, was also Malaysian. He could speak many languages and dialects. As far as I could tell, he spoke English, Mandarin, Cantonese and a little Malay. He was from Selangor and went over to the States more than 14 years ago. He still sounded like a Malaysian, though.
When he found out that there were 3 Malaysians on board, he gave us a little special treatment – especially when we went around the park, looking lost. He also spoke English for the benefit of Eunice and me as most of the people on the bus were Mandarin-speaking.
There was a group of elderly Taiwanese who made lots of noise. They seemed to enjoy every aspect of the tour and joked a lot with Alex, who was ever ready with a quick, witty reply. Of course we couldn’t understand them but nevertheless, the short one-hour drive to Disneyland was lively because of them.
At night, lights of pinkish hue were flashed onto the building, giving it a glow which seemed to make the castle stand out in the dark night.
THE RIDES
It’s a small, small world
What we saw inside the building were small figurines and although it was nothing to shout about, it was quite entertaining the way everything was lit and moving about.
Alice in Wonderland
Once we got inside, we felt like Alice in Wonderland. Vivid scenes from the Disney cartoon show came alive around us. We saw the Mad Hatter running past, crying “I’m late, I’m late!” and the cards singing “We’re painting the roses red” before the queen came barging in, realised what had happened, and shouted, “Off with their heads!”
The ride was short but definitely worth repeating for the “flying” experience.
Inside most of the buildings were empty. Goofy’s house, which was just next to Daisy’s, was the most fun as there was an enclosed area with thousands of small balls for children to play with.
We only managed to take a picture with Pluto and Minnie Mouse as all the other characters were resting before the parade. We were told that most of the characters were there until 4pm.
The drive to San Diego took 2 hours. We paid $20 for a bay cruise which we felt was a little disappointing because all we saw were ships and more large oil tankers. Our cruise guide educated us on the many different kinds of ships that comes into the port. We even got to see a navy seal speed boat.
We only arrived at Sea World at 2pm and were told we had to leave by 5pm. It was a SHORT time but we managed to see some historic and live exhibits, as well as California sea lions, sting rays, penguins, polar bears, and so much more.
We went to the Dolphin Discovery show and were amazed by how they were trained to entertain.
There was a family from Australia who were part of the show. We didn’t know that until the lady, who was from Sea World, Brisbane, “accidentally” fell into the water and came up with a dolphin under her. It was part of the show.
Shamu, the killer whale was the highlight of the day. The theme “Believe” held a deep meaning for one of the trainers. When he was young, he saw the tail of a killer whale in the distant sea and believed that one day he would get close to one. He did.
Around his neck he wore a pendant shaped like the tail of the killer whale. To remind himself that dreams sometimes do come true…. if we only believe.
Our pick-up time was once again at 7.15am. When we got to Monterey Park, we had to change buses. Our tour guide was a really well-dressed man who reminds me of the rich businessmen in Malaysia. Slightly stocky, well built with an air of authority about him.
We stopped at Tangers, a factory outlet before arriving at London Bridge in the afternoon and saw the original bridge from London. There was really nothing much to do there except walk around, enjoy the scenery and take pictures.
We arrived at Laughlin in the evening and stayed at Edgewater. We were amazed when we looked out of our hotel room window. We were in a place where there were 2 hotels (I think) side by side and plenty of parking lots. Elsewhere, there was nothing except flat land. It seemed like this is just a stopover for people who want to gamble. This hotel certainly had a LOT of jackpot machines where women (and men) could sit the whole day trying their luck.
Exhausted from the long hours on the bus ride, we stayed in the hotel room most of the time. I think this was the only time we felt so relaxed as there was nothing much to do at night except gamble and we had better sense than to want only kiss our money goodbye.
We left for the southern rim of the Grand Canyon early the next morning. The ride was pleasant, yet boring. We slept most of the trip and arrived at the Grand Canyon late morning. We were told (before getting off the bus) that the temperature was 54ºF, something I didn’t anticipate as I thought it would be warm. It was a good thing I had a light jacket with me but I didn’t bother to change my sandals into shoes. Big mistake!
We saw one man wearing only a thin t-shirt and pants and pitied him as he was bound to be cold. I think none of us expected it to be this chilly. But nevertheless, I LOVED the weather.
We only had about an hour to walk and covered a short distance because we kept stopping for pictures.
We tried to find the tree that Steve and Camilia were photographed with but failed. We finally decided to take pictures near a tree just to show Camilia that we too were capable of posing with flora.After the Grand Canyon, we continued on our long journey. There was nothing much to see so once again, we slept.
Our night tour, which cost us $20.00, began at 6pm. That only gave us half an hour to drop our luggage in our room and quickly refreshed ourselves. We brought along muffins which we had bought at a gas station because there simply wasn’t any time scheduled for dinner.
First, we went to Caesar’s Palace. There was a fountain with a few statues in it. Surprisingly, the show began with the statues disappearing from sight as they descended below the surface of the water. Three pillars rose to take their place; upon them were mechanical warriors.
The one in the middle turned out to be the father of the other two. This was his story: He was getting on in years, and needed to select the best possible person to take his place. So, as we watched the show, the siblings began to fight each other; one wielded ice while the other used fire!
It was very exciting. So exciting in fact that I had forgotten the ending and do not know who actually won!
We went to Rio next. We visited a casino with live shows to entertain patrons. Dancers filled the stage. There seemed to be plenty of energy but no theme to the dance presentation. Above us, carriages moved from one place to another, and this reminded me of Genting Highlands.
There were many people near it and we had to find a good spot to watch the eruption. We waited only about 5 minutes before the cascading water began to churn. Then a low rumble was heard from within.
The eruption went into high gear as vivid searing bright orange flames shot up about 100 feet above the water. They illuminated the night sky, even as we felt the temperature rise! Then several smaller explosions were heard (and felt) before the volcano ceased its eruptions.
Apparently, this volcanic showcase has been a Las Vegas signature event since the resort opened in 1989. The volcano, situated on three water-covered acres, is 54 feet high and circulates 119,000 gallons of water per minute.
The next stop was Bellagio. We stood on the 2nd level of one building, looking out into the man-made quarter mile long lake, but nothing happened. After waiting for 15 minutes, we were told that the “show” was cancelled that day. At that time, we didn’t know what we have missed but when I came back and checked the Internet, I found that it’s actually a fountain show, using a dramatic combination of music, water and light. The $40 million Bellagio Fountain show is equipped with 1,200nozzles and 4,500 lights.
Our last show was at downtown Las Vegas. We were give about 45 minutes to walk around. We automatically were drawn to Freemont Street where the whole street was enclosed under a large dome-like canopy that extends the length of more than 5 football fields.
Anyway, with 45 minutes to kill before the “show” began, we walked around and did some souvenir shopping. The whole area was lit and there were many people. Casinoes lined the brightly lit street and we saw some tourists taking pictures with “crowd-drawers”, who were in their costumes.
At our day-time tour guide’s suggestion, we opted to see “The Jubilee Show” at Balley’s which cost us a whooping $85.00. We really didn’t know what we were in for. According to the tour guide, this was like a broadway show and because we love broadway shows, we decided to see it.
We couldn’t bring in our cameras and had to leave them with someone at the counter.
The show began at 10.30pm and ended at 12.15am. We were shocked when we saw about a hundred ladies who were topless. Literally shocked!!! And most men around us had their eyes glued to the show!!
About halfway of the show, we got bored, even though the dancers were great and there were many props involved, which should actually cause the creative side of my brains to be on the alert. Maybe it was because of the long ride and the hectic schedule........ I just wanted to go back to the hotel and sleep.
There was even a ribbon dance where two people climbed up ribbons hanging from the ceiling and danced midair. That was really nice.
Apart from Samson and Delilah, there were other scenes such as sailors on a ship and …. I really can’t remember them all.
We were indeed relieved when the show came to an end. We walked a 45-minute walk back to our hotel. One would think that it would be quiet so late in the night but the whole place was lively. It seemed that the whole town was alive with people.
We arrived at our hotel at 1.15am, tired and sweaty. By the time we showered and got ready to go to bed, it was past 2am.
Day 6 (September 25, 2006)
We left the hotel at 8.30am. We went around “The Strip” and took many pictures. The whole area seemed a little deserted. I guess most of the high flying players were in the hotels, sleeping the day off, gathering strength for the night when they need more energy and concentration to try their luck at the casinos.
I wasn’t really feeling very good and didn’t utilize the time given for us to walk around. Moreover, we’ve been to certain parts of Las Vegas in 2005. We were one of the first few ones waiting at the bus simply because I didn’t feel like walking.
On our way back, we stopped by at Tangers, Barstow, the factory outlet, and bought more things.
We arrived at our hotel in LA at 6.15pm.
That night, Brian brought us around LA. We went to Hollywood Boulevard, a place where all the famous actors and actresses’ hand and foot prints (even LIP prints) were all over the floor. Grauman’s Chinese Theater is situated there
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, which is embedded with more than 2,000 five-pointed stars featuring the names of celebrities honoured by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for their contributions to the entertainment industry.
Day 7 (September 26, 2006)
We went on the Jurassic Park ride. I thought I was going to be very frightened by the dinosaurs. They had a habit of suddenly appearing out of no where in the movie. I was in for a surprise. The ride was quite mild.
Water World was one of the highlights of the place. There was a short action-packed show. The play of fire, water and sound were what made the whole show interesting.
There were some demonstrations on how movies were made. The above picture shows of how knives were used and blood flowed naturally. They even demonstrated how certain sounds were made.
We went down Wisteria Lane where Desperate Housewives was filmed. That was the one and only site that I actually recognized because I don’t really watch TV/movies a lot. 
We found spiderman alone! Didn’t even have to queue to get a pic with him.
There were about 8 persons in front of us when we wanted to take a picture with Shrek. It was certainly worth the wait.
Help! I’m being eaten by “Jaws”
Eunice says that Sponge Bob is popular but I haven't even seen "it" before.
Day 8 (September 27, 2006)
We left the tour agency’s head quarters at 9am and travelled 2 hours to Solvang, a quaint little village where Danish people occupy. The weather there was about 18C which was really perfect for us.
Both Eunice and I really love the buildings which reflect the area’s Danish architectural heritage. There was a windmill which made us feel as though we were vacationing in Europe.
We were given only 2 hours to have our lunch, do some sightseeing and of course, shopping. If you ask me, I could spend the whole day there and I’d still complain there’s not enough time.
We tried to make the best of time by buying some famous Danish cookies and eating them as we walk around. There was this charming little shop where we spent half an hour in there. We saw a lot of things that we liked. We were certain that Sharon would love to come to this place because there were a lot of knick-knacks.
Our Hearst Castle tour guide, Ted, did a great job explaining the history of the castle. At times, he would stop for a while to allow us to take pictures. We were warned, however, not to touch or step on certain parts of the concrete because they wanted to preserve its original state.
Once in the castle, we were told not to use flash photography, again, to preserve the antiquity of the things and furniture. We even had to be very careful not to step on certain parts of the wooden floor and were given strict instructions to follow a certain pathway.
Day 9 (September 28, 2006)
We spent a night in Fresno and were told to be at the lobby by 5am. Breakfast wasn't a concern because it was way too early to eat. We thought we could eat in the bus but about halfway of the journey, the roads were so winding and the pressure was building so much, it affected our ears. Eunice had it pretty bad because she was sick. She kept asking me if my ears hurt and I said no. I began to feel nauseous and thought that it was because of my empty stomach. Later I discovered that everybody in the bus felt the same way. I closed my eyes and tried not to think about the ride. I still felt nauseous and wondered if I would make a mess if I ever threw up.
We finally came to a stop at a Yosemite lookout point. As you can tell from my face in the picure, I looked sick. We were glad that we had fresh air to breath and a firm ground to stabilise our dizzy heads.
Yosemite is said to be one of the 10 most photographed places in the world. I don’t know how far this is true because we didn’t take many pictures here. It could be due to the rough ride, or perhaps the absence of the waterfall, I am not sure.
Many trees surrounded this place, making it chilly, about 65F (18C) but not windy, so I was able to tie my jacket around my waist. Many people had to wear their jackets and were rather surprised at our ability to take the cold. Well, I really LOVED the weather in Yosemite. The air was crisp and fresh.
Well, the weather got more chilly as we walked into the forest of trees and I had to wear my jacket.
Apart from the Sequoia trees, Yosemite is actually known for it’s waterfalls but this is the dry season. There was NO waterfall in sight – which really was a great disappointment to us, although I knew before we came that it’s unlikely that I’d see one here at this time of the year. But still, I was hoping …..
Nevertheless, the whole place has this calm serenity that has the ability to lure you into its surroundings at any time of the day. It would be nice if I had the time, to sit under one of the gigantic trees and pass time, reading a John Grisham novel.
It was windy on the boat ride. I think it was about 16C that day. The strong gusts of wind made us reach for our jackets. At one point, I had my hood over my head to keep my hair from flying all over the place.
Can you believe that I didn’t know the popularity of Alcatraz until we went near the island and everybody went, “Ah! Alcatraz!!! The Rock” And I was like, “Duh! What’s so great about this place?” I was later told that it was a place where criminals were sent for imprisonment, made famous by the movie, “The Rock”.
There were many things to see at Pier 39. It’s basically a tourist spot. We didn’t really shop too much because of the lack of time.
Well, we did buy some souvenirs there but that’s about it. We wanted to go into every shop but there just wasn’t any time. While walking, we saw some succulent fruit and couldn’t resist taking some pictures of it.
We didn’t explore the Palace of Fine Arts thoroughly because we were intrigued by the monstrosity of the well-sculptured pillars that lined the place toward the single remaining dome, out of the eight identical structures that were originally constructed. We took many pictures as well as admired the beautifully crafted columns.
While we were in the bus, going from one place to another, I looked outside to admire the different buildings. I find it fascinating that in San Francisco the building emergency exits are in front of the buildings, which actually spoils the façade of the beautifully-architectured structure. But then again, it gives the whole area a character of its own.
Day 10 (September 29, 2006)
Of course at first we had to stop by at a coffee place, “Coffee to the People”- it keeps him going, he says. Nearby, there was this row of beautiful houses, which I really like.
We went into one shop where they sold second hand items of the 1960s. Mainly apparels and …. I can’t remember now. Anyway, we were looking at the clothes and saw that the waistline was so tiny. Who could fit into a dress with a 21” waistline?
I didn’t know that San Francisco was a hilly place. It was like as though you were driving towards the sky, or maybe up a cliff. It gave the city character, though. Good brakes are a MUST. Good drivers are secondary. Just kidding! Both are equally as important.
Cliff House
Brian brought us to another place where out tour agents wouldn’t normally bring us to – Cliff House. We enjoyed the sea breeze and took time to walk on the beach.
Lombard Street
We actually drove down Lombard Street, the most crooked street in the world. Brian took a movie clip with one hand while holding on to the steering wheel with the other. I wonder how he managed to multi-task. I was too busy taking pictures to worry about our safety.
Many cars go down this lane NOT because of convenience but just to experience the journey down. Hmm….. I wonder if the driving instructors there make this part of the driving route for their students?
It was said that this road was created for horses to go down at a slower pace. Makes sense.
For the fun of it (a
nd not exercise!), we walked up and down this street. We had to use the side stairway, of course.
Lombard Street is flanked by great looking houses on both sides. I wonder who lives there? It must be one of the most expensive places in San Francisco. We saw one house on sale and was tempted to call the number to find out how much that piece of property would cost. I don’t mind owning one of these houses but I can’t imagine living there. There’s absolutely no privacy at all. Every minute of the day you might look out of the window to a stranger’s face.
Cable Car Museum
We went to the Cable Car Museum. It was nothing much … just some facts about how it all started and what happens underneath the roads where the cars run on. It was a good learning experience, though.
Cable Car Experience
Cable car is better known to us a “trams”. Brian insisted that we have a cable car experience. So we got onto one. It costs $5.00 per person to get from one place to another, even if it was only the next stop, which, I think, is really expensive. But then again, I think it was worth it if I didn’t have to walk up a very steep hill in exchange for that.
The whole car looked old and dangerous, but it’s not. You just had to remember to hang on tight, both to the bars and your belongings. It was interesting to be up in front to see how the big, muscled driver used all his strength when he pulled the brakes on a steep hill down. I thank God for a burly man like him.
At the end of the road, they would manually turn the car around. Seemed so old-fashioned, but I guess it was something they are used to. Looked easy but they needed two strong man to turn the car around.
Market Street
We went to Market Street, which is the main shopping street. Shopping malls were in abundance. We didn’t have time to shop but we managed to go into one of the malls for a quick bite because we were getting hungry. We shared a fruit tart, which cost me $4.50, which I think is expensive because we can buy the same one here for RM3.00.
China Town
We only walked into Chinatown at almost 7pm. It was a little dark by then. The reason why we were there was because Brian wanted to take us to a Chinese restaurant. We had rice, chicken and some vegetable. The chicken was yummy but we were too full to finish everything. And I got to open my very first fortune cookie - something we'd only see on TV.
Day 11 (September 30, 2006)
Aunty Shirley had to go to work, so she asked Uncle Simon to take us to the Farmers Market in Sunnyvale. It was like a mini “pasar pagi”. There were many things to buy there …. yummy fruits, baked food, very fresh vegetables, hand made soaps, flowers, etc. There were a few cut fruits on a table for us to sample .. and we tried some. They were simply delicious.
After that, we went to the Apple headquarters but unfortunately it was closed because it was a Saturday. Nevertheless, we took some pictures to remind us of our visit there.
For lunch, we met with Aunty Shirley and had Chinese food, which was great.
Eric, my Skype friend, met us at 2pm at the restaurant. It was my first time meeting him and he really looked so different from the pictures he sent. He was wearing his sunglasses and I almost didn’t recognise him.
I’d always thought that I would get tongue tied when I finally see him face to face for the first time but when we met, it was like meeting an old friend.
He took us to Fremont Older where he sometimes ran. The whole place looked very dry. We walked for a while and it was tiring for me. Eric was used to running miles and miles, so it was not a problem to him. Eunice, on the other hand, walked a lot at the Lake Gardens in Seremban. Me … well, I get lazy all the time and due to the lack of exercise, that walk left me panting after them.
We walked all the way up to Hunter’s Point, where we got to see the city view of Fremont Older (Northwest).
After that, Eric brought us to yet another of his favourite running trails, The Los Gatos Creek Trail. We only got to see a small part of it.
We walked around Los Gatos and saw a mural nearby which looked interesting. It was under the Main Street in Los Gatos.
There was an over head bridge for people to cross to the other side of the road. Paintings painted by children lined the sides of the closed railings and some of them were pretty impressive.
Dinner was with Eric’s family, Rebecca, Amanda and Ashley, at Max’s. He has a really nice, pleasant family and I really liked the way they interact with one another. Ashley had many expressions and claimed that she was never too full for ice cream.
Day 12 (October 1, 2006)It was a Sunday and Aunty Shirley took us to her church. It was soooooo different from Agape. The lights were quite dim and due to the many days of frenzied tours, I was sleepy during the sermon and almost fell asleep. By that time, I caught the virus from Eunice and started coughing a lot in church.
After church, we went to Starbucks for a drink and then to a park where Aunty Shirley’s bank had a picnic. The park was spacious, with huge trees looming above us. It was a really good spot to have picnics and parties. Food was in abundance and we ate a lot. It was quite cold there, about 60F, I think.
After that, Aunty Shirley dropped us off at a mall where we did some shopping. We had a long list of things to buy. She came back in the evening to take us to yet another mall.
We met Uncle Simon at a restaurant in Santa Clara named Shan which served Indian cuisine. It was a good meal. Reminded us of Curry Leaf back home.
Day 13 (October 2, 2006)
Eric was on a one-week leave and took us to one or two malls to do our shopping. We held on to the very long list where we had to buy things requested by our friends and relatives. It was really tough looking for the things. Eric had to call Rebecca to see if we could get certain things like pepper grinder, jeans, instant mac &M cheese, etc at this or that mall.
Eric took us to his place in the afternoon and yes! I finally got to see his pleasant abode. When we chatted, he used to tell me about the things he did to his house and sent pictures of it. I got to see his 20’ X 40’ deck which overlooks the forest. It was a great size to host a small party.
There was a hot tub at the end of the deck (something like a Jacuzzi). It sits 5 people. When Eric first told me about it, I couldn’t believe that it was placed out in the open. Eric assured me that there was privacy as it was positioned at the back of his house, where it faced the forest.
As we walked around the compound of his 1.5 acre land, we saw a hammock. It tempted us to an afternoon siesta but of course we were too polite to even mention that.
This was the biggest trampoline I had ever seen in my life. It fits 5-6 people and looked like a fun place to be in. I wanted to jump in it but didn’t because Eric was already ahead of us, telling us about something else.
Ah!!!! Eric gave a small smile the moment he opened his garage door. In it was his beloved motorcycle. I climbed on top of it and posed for a few pictures. I was wearing his jacket (which was rather heavy) but didn’t wear his helmet for fear that I might not be recognized in the picture (just kidding!). Don’t I look like a REAL hot rider?
Eric promised to make me a cup of coffee when I eventually get to visit him. It was his sp
ecialty. So, here is Eric, looking to see if coffee was ready or not. The whole coffee making process took so long (about 7-10 minutes). Eunice thinks that she could make the 3-in-1 coffee many times over with that amount of time.
I can’t take coffee but I wanted to try it. When it was all ready, it looked like coffee from Starbucks, with the foam and all. Eric did a great job making coffee right down to the precise temperature (by using the temperature gauge). There was no sugar in it and yet it tasted good.
We had bagels (yummy!) at his place and then Eric dropped us at one of the supermarkets in Los Altos. I got a little sick (because coffee makes me sick) during the ride there but recovered fast.
We walked around Los Altos while waiting for 5.30pm to come, when we were supposed to meet Aunty Shirley at Wells Fargo, the bank she works at as a Bank Manager. There is story to the carriage and the horses. It was said that this bank used to transport money from one place to another using horses and carriages. Now I know why there were many outlaws raiding carriages like these – when I read historical non-fiction novels.
Day 14 (October 3, 2006)
It was really so good of Eric to spend his vacation leave with us and being our personal tour guide. I’m sure with the many hours spent with us, he could’ve accomplished a lot of chores around his house.
He brought us to Big Basin. Because of the weird name, we figured that there were basins of all shapes and sizes being displayed there. We were wrong, of course. It was a whole forest of redwood trees. Almost like an outdoor tree museum because some of the trees were labeled.
Big Basin is California’s oldest state park where redwood trees were found in abundance. People actually come here to camp, walk their dogs, exercise, etc. It was a little quiet when we were there. Eric said that during summer, the place will be crawling with people.
The air was crisp and quite chilly when we arrived (about 60F), mainly due to the lush greenery of the woods.
As we walked, we saw lots of tall trees. Some of them had a huge hole in their barks. Eric explained that when a tree dies, a ring of trees would surround the stump of that tree.
Pictures - Clockwise from Top left
Ha! Don’t you think Eric looked like a peacock? He was posing against the roots of a huge redwood tree which fell on January 26th, 1983.
This is an outdoor auditorium area. The benches certainly looked unique. They are all made of redwood tree barks.
The huge hole in the bark of one redwood tree.
Next, we went to Santa Cruz. The place was simply lovely. Many people come here to cycle, run or have a picnic. The sea water was soooo blue and it looked clean.We parked at a parking spot and started walking. It was a lovely day and even though the sun was shining, we didn’t really perspire.
We saw a light house and stopped to take a picture with it. Typical of a tourist!
Beach volleyball!!!! There were many courts on this beach. I would’ve loved to go down there and watch them play but I figured that we might not have time.
We arrived at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk after 40 minutes of walking. The place was empty because school semester had started and all the children were at school. Eric mentioned that during the summer holidays, this place would be full of people having fun.
Picture on the left - beautiful waters
Picture on the right - Some kind of palm. When Eric saw this, he exclaimed, “Look Rachel, palm trees, just like in Malaysia” to which I laughed and said that it looked more like a decorative tree than a normal palm.
Day 15 (October 4, 2006)
Aunty Shirley took a day off just to bring us around. She got Uncle Simon to drive us along Monterey Bay because she can’t drive for too long. I think it was a 2 hour journey to this place.
Sea Lion – California has many of these animals. And they do bark!
Starfish at the rocks of Monterey. If you look carefully, there are tiny crabs around it
Lots of nice looking rocks and trees landscape this area.
We stopped at Carmel and went into some of the shops. Outside one I saw this great looking map of USA using number plates. How creative!
Day 16 (October 5, 2006)
Santana Row is a very European-like place in Cupertino.
In the middle of two rows of shops, there was this patio area where there were open-space restaurants.
There was even a giant chess set there. Surrounding it were tables with printed squares and a pouch of chess set for the playing pleasure of anyone. I’m surprised the sets are still there!
Guess what? I got the keys to a great automatic car, Infiniti.And I got to drive it!!!! Four times, mind you! Uncle Simon sat beside me every time I drove. I drove to the shopping malls, drove back to his place and even drove on the freeway.
It was scary at first but I quickly got used to it. What I’m not used to was the fact that the road lines and dividers were slightly different. We could even go when the lights were red! And when we came to a cross junction with a stop sign on the road, we had to stop, even though there were no other cars around. If there was, then we’d have to see who came first. If we were there first, we could go first.
The home of Uncle Simon and Aunty Shirley at Cupertino, where we stayed for 7 days. They were very good hosts and very accomodating.
We had already gone past the gate at the airport and were at the waiting area when Eric called. He wanted to meet me before we leave. I was pleasantly surprised. It was a good thing the flight was delayed for two hours. I went out to meet with him and we had a good and long farewell talk. This picture was taken at the San Jose airport.We brought back 4 bags. Two of them weighed 50 pounds each, another weighed 40 pounds and the heaviest was 72.5 pounds. We were asked to take out one item so that it’s 70 pounds and we saved USD25. At first the grounds person thought we were flying via Air India which only allowed us to a 50 pound per bag policy. I explained that it was still under MAS. He made several phone calls and then, to our relief, he said that this flight, although it’s by Air India, still comes under MAS! Phew!!
Hao-Ming made plans to take us out of the airport when we arrive at LAX. We were worried because we only got to there at 8.30pm, two hours later than expected. And we had to check in at 10.40pm. We were afraid there might not be enough time for us to go out to eat but Hao-Ming was confident that he was able to bring us back in time.
We went to Hermosa Beach to have dinner. It was a really NICE dinner.
We got back to LAX at almost 11pm – I was really panicky by then. It was a good thing we checked our bags from San Jose airport straight to Kuala Lumpur. Because of that, we got to go to a shorter queue. When we got to the counter, we requested for seats near the window and away from the wings. The check-in officer told us firmly that we were not allowed to choose our seats. We were quite taken aback by the tone she used. When she passed us our boarding tickets, we were surprised to see that we got back the exact same seats when we flew into the US.
The flight was pleasant. We met an American lady from Kansas named Maggie. She reminded me of Alta, Ruth's mother. Eunice chatted a lot with this lady during the flight.
October 8, 2006
We arrived at KLIA at 12.30pm. Brought Maggie to Allson in Nilai and came back home, exhausted.
CONCLUSION
The tours were frenzied and too short. I would definitely want to visit the same places again, but not on a tour.
Thank God for good friends who helped "filled in the blanks". Hao-Ming, who brought us around LA at night. Brian, who took time off to bring us around LA and SF. Eric, who spent part of his vacation leave to take us shopping and sightseeing. Aunty Shirley and Uncle Simon, who provided us accomodation and brought us where we want to go.
This trip was memorable because of our friends, who made us feel so much at home.
