tomorrow will be my last day at san diego state, effectively ending my exchange program in san diego, california. this sunday, i will be leaving california for chicago, new york, washington dc, philadelphia, toronto, ottawa, montreal, boston and new york in an 18 day whirlwind tour.
i feel…. conflicted. about leaving..
and just before i leave san diego… bad luck seems to be haunting me.
it is only where i look back at another’s journey do i realise that i will indeed miss san diego sorely.
all that is familiar to me now; the trolley, the commons, the weather, the hills, the beach.
i think i might even cry.
for more pictures look at my facebook account. but here is a sample of what i did during spring break (a tad late eh)
for spring break we visited san francisco, yosemite, napa valley, humboldt red woods, oregon sand dunes, portland, seattle, vancouver. for this break, it was more cultural and nature appreciation more then anything else, with the number of parks and natural attraction we visited.
san francisco has to be my favourite city in america so far. clean, bustling but yet with plenty of character. you can just feel its warmth and soul in when you enter the city. lay your eyes on the golden gate bridge, or better yet, cycle on it during sunset (like we did) to truly get the entire package. add in eating garlic fries and garlic crab in fisherman’s wharf, taking the cable car, visiting the museums and watching the sea lions in pier 39. absolutely beautiful.
the plane that looks like a club: virgin air. you really wonder what goes through richard branson’s mind when he comes up with ideas for his businesses.
san francisco. it is a lovely city with plenty of soul (as i have mentioned 1000x times before)
look familiar? i saw the actual painting; personal values, in the SF Museum of Modern Art. the museum was an awesome experience with pieces from picasso, duchamp, among others.
alcatraz, also known as the rock, was a maximum security prison located off san fran. the tours within the cell blocks were mostly memorable for me and the audio tour would make bree proud.
the SF trolley, though outdated in this day and age, still functions perfectly well and its a thrill to ride it, especially hanging on its handlebars as it glides down the hill.
the golden gate bridge in all its splendor.
the bridal veil falls in yosemite.
driving pass the redwoods just makes you gasp in awe. you ask God why did he plan to make this giant trees. the only reason i can really think of is so that i can see them during spring break.
this is the landmark of seattle, the space needle. built for the world fair where it hit seattle in the 1950s, it stands as a symbol of the future which it now exists in.
we saw a few bridges along the trip (including a drawbridge!) and this is yet another famous bridge. this is the lions gate bridge in vancouver, british columbia, canada and its green coat just stands out beautifully at night.
it seems singapore is in a tizzy over swine flu. friends, parents, ntu, parents, the government and did i mention parents? have been sending out media report over media report, email after email and call after call warning us to 1) wear a mask whereever we go 2) stay away from crowded areas 3) don’t eat pork. you know it is really serious when ntu sends you an email offering to immediately transfer our current academic transcripts back home if you want to fly back this moment.
in san diego, at the front lines of this pandemic, everything is OK. yes you heard it from me folks.everything is OK. there are no cdc officers walking the streets wearing bio hazard suits. no zombie pigs chewing human brains. the city is not infected with fatigue laden, coughing and wheezing biological dangerous organisms. in fact, if you wore a mask walking around, people would probably think you were a terrorist. while it is true that arnold has declared a state of medical emergency in california (due to the cases here thus far), it thus not mean it is time to panic. our san diegan friend says he only did that for more flexiblity if the need ever arises.
it is also impractical to stay away from crowded areas. what am i going do on exchange? hide in my home till my time in US is up? san diego state is teeming with 33,000 other individuals. i can run but i can’t hide from every single one.
so everybody back home relax. i understand your concern and i thank you for it. now excuse me while i go eat my pork chop.
san francisco, yosemite, eureka, eugene, portland, seattle, vancouver
san diego zoo, san diego wild animal park
santa monica, los angeles, hollywood
it all seems like a daze, the time that has gone by. soon we will be leaving this quaint little city of san diego.
spring break, we headed up the north west. san francisco was beautiful; with the everlasting golden gate bridge as a backdrop. yosemite and its towering mountain valleys. we had a small mishap near crescent city. we stopped for barely 4 hours in portland, but yet i fell in love with the city. seattle and the first starbucks in the world. vancouver, where we had the good fortune to eat at a top class restaurant and visit stanley park. and then back to san diego.
the singapore zoo is said to be modelled after the san diego zoo and i can see clearly why. san diego’s wild animal park is a brilliant concept by the san diego zoo, bringing a part of africa to america.
2 hours north of san diego, lies the bustling city of LA. yet for all its glitz and glamour showcased in the television dramas we eagerly consumed, the city itself seems like an sea shell. beautiful and shiny on the outside, yet empty and lacking soul. santa monica on the other hand, was a beautiful beach city, uptown yet laidback.
and now i am at the end of it all, what will i bring home?
all these memories. hoping they will not fade like tears in the rain.
heading to san fran, oregon, seattle, vancouver!!! for the next 10 days. see you guys then!!
as per mentioned in the previous post, we rented a car over one weekend. taking full advantage of that rental, we drove up to six flags magic mountain!
we sat the revolution (first looping coaster in the world), viper (7 loops in one ride), tatsu (ride a coaster parallel to the ground), riddler’s revenge (standing up), dejavu (make an intelligent guess), scream (floorless design) and goliath (huge drop).
everyday is physics day at 6 flags. haha.
the dejavu is one sick ass ride. starting out, it hurls u backwards up a 90 degree angle, then propels you forward thorugh looping turns to ANOTHER 90 degree tower… where after you fall backwards, back where you came
behind us is the tatsu, a roller coaster where u are held by the waist and held parallel to the ground! think flying like a bird at 80 miles per hour.
riddler’s revenge is one of three DC themed rides in the park. it is world’s fastest standing up roller coaster, and also my favourite in the park
actually, the pictures don’t do it much justice you guys just gotta wait for me to come back from spring break to post the video up!
to be honest, after sitting 6 rides, i felt really motion sick. after the last ride, goliath (which had a 255 foot drop!) i really felt sick. but it is a testimony to the pure awesomeness of these rides. hang on for the video in 15 days or so 
when you have an xbox 360 in your home, you kind of lose the mood to blog (especially when you are trying to complete devil may cry 4 (which i finally did today!) – note to reader – blogger stopped blogging for a while to play guitar hero world tour.
i have been up to some things in san diego around the city just that i have (as usual) been rather lazy to blog. so before i had out to spring break (has it been that fast), let me recap over the last month.
mardi gras
i don’t feel like writing about mardi gras. i dont think any mardi gras can compare to the one in new orleans or brazil and i left a tad disappointed at san diego’s (which i had to pay 25 dollars to enter) mardi gras is the precusor to lent, where catholics fast for a period of 40 days before good friday (correct me if i am wrong) the idea is to have loads of fun before lent. there was a street parade downtown san diego but i just didn’t feel the spark in the event.
seaport village
off downtown, this quiant little place is akin to marina south (where extremely wealthy people park their yachts). but yet, due to the climate of san diego, you can lay down on the grass and have a picnic etc.
some sea bird…. thingy…
not seen in singapore
where they had awesome fudge!
seaworld
i didn’t know that shamu, seaworld’s famous whale, was a stage name given to all the killer whales in all the seaworlds. with that being say, sea world sadly too, left me underwhlemed. the shows featuring shamu were great, so did the one’s featuring a seal and a sealion (the walrus decided to misbehave during that show and escaped to the seating area!) but the park itself was sparse and disappointing. but one highlight was definetely being able to feed dolphins and pat them. dolphins, are extremely smart. unlike other animals who take longer to realise that you don’t have food anymore, dolphins will ignore you once you run out of feed. but still, i felt happy enough to be able to pat one of this incredible creatures. video to be up soon.
a rollercoaster in seaworld?
a shot of the rollercoast we secretly took at the photo booth. spot the singaporeans?
copied from underwater world??
could you say no to that face?
totally made my day
cool huh?
la jolla
san diego’s crown jewel is la jolla. nestled along rows of beautiful sea facing houses, where san diego’s rich and acclaimed call home is a place called children’s pool beach, where seals call as a haulout spot (its like a place where seals go if they want to chill out and slack). there hundreds of seals rest in the mid day sun, possibly after swimming after miles and miles (or not, maybe they are just lazy) the cost line along this beach is also beautiful, but don’t take my word for it! look at the pictures!
the day started when we rented a car and drove to la jolla. it was a chrysler gt cruiser.. good drive.
beats any view in sg
girl scout trying her best to sell us cookies
seals!
yes they ARE alive.
smart squirrel?
best burger place in san diego: hodad’s. if you can, gander a look at the menu.
i think san diegans have a thing for large onion rings.
wbc
the inaugural world baseball classic was held in 2006 with the finals being played in petco park in san diego. this year, the us hosted the wbc again, but the finals were shifted to dodger’s stadium in la. while petco park did not host the final this time, they did host the second round. even though baseball isn’t really the sport of my choice, it was just something you have to do when you are in US (unlike thad, wenxu, mad and jac, there isn’t a nba game close enough to justify going to – sure, LA Lakers are here but the prices are exorbitant – also-) i was fortunate enough to watch korea vs mexico though. to see the korean fans up close cheering Tae Han Min‘guk is awesome. also watching 3 home runs by the koreans was really lucky. sadly though, korea lost to japan in the finals.
this is petco park, home of the san diego padres, as well as host to the second round of the world baseball classic
mexican and korean fans are real wild.
can’t do without nachoes/hotdogs/drink at a baseball game
quick updates:
went to seaworld san diego
attended mardi gras and st pat’s day
went to las vegas
rented a car and tomorrow going to LA six flags (roller coaster heaven)
pictures and video to follow the coming week.
i love chips and six layer dip = refried beans, brown beans, onion sour cream, cheddar, guacamole and salsa.
six layer dip
pen for scale
mmm dip……