Yosemite!

For the Memorial Day three day weekend (commemoration for US soldiers), a good bunch of I-Housers went for our last camping trip in America to Yosemite National Park. Located in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, this park is one of the best known wonders of the world, with some of the Earth’s most spectacular natural sights. This writer, painter and photographer’s paradise was made through millions of years of geological dynamics, and elegantly shaped by river and glacier flow. It is a wilderness of evergreen forests, lush green meadows, sheer granite walls, and magical waterfalls.

Leaving early Friday morning, the 25 of us fit into six different cars (owned and rented), all stocked up with tents, canned food, ingredients that made sandwiches, and plenty of water. It was an ideal road tripping atmosphere. The seven hour drive wasn’t enduring, as we evaded the rush hour traffic in LA. Stopping for lunch at (you guessed it) In and Out, we arrived at the cozy mountain town of Oakhurst late afternoon.

We tried our best to coordinate our trip with the other cars, which had all left at different times of day. After helping out a fellow car that caught a flat tire, we started the navigation process towards our reserved campsite. It was long and grueling, as the roads narrowed from marked to unmarked to one way to unpaved and structurally neglected. Sharp rocks and potholes that constituted pretty much the road winded us deeper into the wild, as the daylight gradually diminished upon us. Not to mention, cellphone service was dead in the entire area. Rangers, people on dirtbikes and miniscule road signs covered in dirt helped us reach our campsite finally at late dusk. We put up our tents and it wasn’t long until we hit our cold, hard beds, in anticipation of the next day.

We chose one of the busiest days in the calendar year to visit Yosemite, so parking our cars was not easy, even in the early hours of the day. In Yosemite Valley, where most of the famous sights were, we first hiked to Mirror Lake, where reflections of the granite cliffs from the calm lake surface were famous.


Mist trail was next, and this was a popular track that lay adjacent to and took us to the top of Vernal falls, soaking us subtly and softly with water vapor while striking us visually with its infinite number of rainbows. I will never forget this beautiful walk. Spring was when waterfalls were at their maximum flow and thus beauty, so we had picked the right time.

That night Esther, who was tired from driving, gave me permission to drive…in the United States! Yosemite was not really a place scattered with law enforcing police, so I did not turn this offer down. Without hesitation I took hold of the wheel and drove on the right hand side of the road in the left hand side of the car. Weird! I hugged the centerline, since my sense of car size to the right was uncertain. And of course since cars here have their windscreen wipers where their indicators should be (jeez), I inevitably hit the wipers a few times unnecessarily. Returning back to our very cheap campsite took 2 hours. There are always prices to pay for cheap prices. Some groups were already back, eating wild-made pasta, having s’mores by the campfire, and using the nearby stream as a chilly bin for our Bud Lights.

The next morning, we drove to Glacier Point, where the great Yosemite panorama was experienced. Situated almost a kilometer above the valley floor, most of the major features of Yosemite Valley was seen from this world famous viewpoint.

Half Dome, the symbol of Yosemite, was stunning from here.

We then embarked on the most strenuous hike of the weekend, up to the top of the highest waterfall in North America – Yosemite Falls. Reaching the top on a scorching day after a 5.5 kilometer climb, we drank a bit of much desired water from the river that preceded the falls (risking giardia, but it was worth it), before making the slippery descent (especially slippery for some people…ahem Saya). We also saw some wild deer, millipedes and giant ants during that hike.

After having sandwiches for pretty much three days, we indulged ourselves with some quality buffet Korean BBQ in LA's Koreatown on the way back.

This weekend, probably having been the final camping trip during my exchange, was (apart from the inaccessibility of the campsite, and missing out on a cool bear encounter) the best camping experience I’ve had in a long time, with the most gorgeous natural views I’ve ever seen (yep, prettier than even the Grand Canyon). I urge you all to go!

Sun God and Surfing!

The 25th annual Sun God festival happened last Friday. This is by far UCSD’s largest single social event (basically, cause=inebriation and effect=rowdiness). Drinking was commonplace from the morning, as some students went into class intoxicated, attempting to perform to their academic fullest. Throughout the day, there were various activities set up around campus to warm everyone up for the concert that was to come later on in the evening. Some of these included sumo wrestling (with the puffy suits), massive inflatable slides and obstacle courses, gladiator style battles and waterslides.

Hip hop dance teams performed and the UCSD pep band were in action, entertaining the already much internally entertained crowds. All under the watchful eyes of our Sun God (our most famous statue on campus). Fountains around campus were foamed out, and someone even kayaked down one of them.

Police patrolled around campus as expected, and one of them were attacked on our very own I-Walk! The day provided me with many surprises, including the handcuffing of two of my very own friends, sent to detox cells! The day of mingling crowds culminated with the nighttime concert of 17,000 people. Third Eye Blind rocked the stage earlier on in the evening, and later on in the night rapper T.I urged everyone to get crunk during his performance.

The next morning, I got up early to learn how to surf! Slipping into wetsuits to aid in warmth and buoyancy, I learnt the basic theory behind this sport, and then jumped into the harbour holding our large beginner foam boards. Saturday morning was just to get a feel for the board and basic techniques, before going into the beach on Sunday. The waves at Mission Beach were perfect for our learning surfer selves, as we shuffled our feet to avoid stingray bites and observed beautiful dolphins jumping into the incoming waves. Learning to stand was definitely not as easy as it looked, as many failed attempts got me bruised, battered and saline-filled. However, by the end of the morning, standing on the board for even only a few seconds as the wave carried me towards the shore was rewarding.

On Monday, Al Gore came onto campus to give his famous seminar on global warming. Luckily for us, tickets were free since we were UCSD undergrads. Before his presentation outside the entrance, there were people offering up to $50 to see him! Despite the controversy that is always associated with former politicians advocating issues about the environment, I found him influential in making many good points. A bit of history - Al Gore gained a passion about global warming issues after being mentored by Dr Roger Revelle at Harvard (one of the founders of UCSD, famous for being one of the first scientists to study global warming). This connection with UCSD seemed to ramp up his charisma, and so too the audience.

Cinco de Mayo and Asia-Pacific Culture Night!

Cinco de Mayo is Spanish for "5th of May", and is celebrated largely in Mexico and in the US as it commemorates the victory of the Mexicans in a famous battle against French forces in the 16th century. I took this opportunity to go to Mexico during the day. Previous Mexican experiences had been limited to nighttime, so this day was the ideal time to capture some true Mexican culture and heritage. Esther, Tania (Esther's roomie), Janna (Dutch friend) crossed the border late afternoon into Tijuana. Tania mentioned that true Mexico was much further inland, hundreds of miles southeast from the touristy near-border cities like Tijuana and Rosarito. Crossing the border, the transition in terms of living conditions were profound. We were encountered by many young kids wanting loose change, and even my camera.

Walking deeper towards the city centre from the border, I saw Mexican flags at half mast, and taco shops almost every hundred metres or so. Local stalls privately selling Mexican souvenirs were within arm's reach of each other as we progressed further into the city. Some of the less well-off folk that couldn't afford to have a proper sales stands were selling hand-made items on the streets. Poverty played a huge role, as I spotted the differences between a developing and developed country. And this city was supposed to be too developed, therefore unrepresentative of a typical Mexico, due to its close proximity to the border and its reputation as a tourist city. As the sun sank into the horizon, the neon lights of Tijuana nightclubs flashed to generate attention. American hip-hop music from clubs was unusually blended in with locals speaking Spanish. We also saw what looked like a busker, with a donkey painted like a zebra to grab people's attention. Since bargaining was widely carried out here in Mexico, Janna attempted and succeeded in getting the better part of the price tag for her beloved poster. One of the highlights for me that night had to be the quality of the tacos! I had ten tacos in total, with an assortment of flavours such as carne asada (beef), pork, tripe, and even goat. Each taco was made step by step, starting from slashing a large chunk of heated meat, and we saw the local chefs professionally put together the beautiful stuff at light speed. A traditional Mexican drink, the horchata (rice milk with a blend of other ingredients including cinnamon), spoiled my taste buds, especially with the tacos. I loved it all. Three tacos were just one dollar, and so was a single horchata.

We then went into a club for a few drinks. What's worth mentioning was the way that the bartenders tricked us into spending more money. A two-for-one drinks deal sounded good, as we were going to have a drink each, but we weren't "obvious enough" and received two drinks each instead. After we enjoyed the first few sips of the drinks, along came the "tequila headbang" guy with the whistle. I'm not sure if you are aware of this, but I wasn't wary at the time. He would blow the whistle and make vigorous movements, force-feeding me shots of tequila, repeating it on Janna and then banging our heads together (hence the name). I thought it was fun and so I cooperated, playing along with what surely seemed like complimentary Mexican club tradition. After three shots, I strongly gestured that I had enough. Instead of moving onto the next table, the guy's facial expression changed from jubilant to straight, as he blurted out "Sixteen dollars". We were shocked by this, and with our self-esteem on the line, we managed to get the price down from $16 to $8 to $4 to $0. If that wasn't enough, another guy approached us offering to take a photo of us. We defected without hesitation. We finished the night with some more tacos and some churros (a Spanish-Mexican cinnamon-flavoured, tube-like doughnut).
On a different topic, yesterday was the much anticipated Asia-Pacific Culture Night. This International House event had the main purpose of bringing cultures together by showing Asian and Pacific culture in the form of traditional dishes, activities and performances. To show Korean culture, I put together an I-House Taekwondo demonstration, collaborating with the UCSD Taekwondo team. We showed "Goryeo", paddle kicking, sparring and board breaking. The Korean girls did "Buchaechum" (fan dance), the Japanese did the "Nanchu Soran Bushi" (fisherman's dance), and there were Indian dances as well as Filipino performances. A cultural fashion show was also very nice indeed. Food was diverse and delicious, and the decorations were great too.

Following this, some of us went to an A Cappella Show hosted by the UCSD Tritones (the Tritons is UCSD's symbol...so the Tri-tones....clever isn't it?). Thomas Kim (the friend I went to SF with during spring break) is a member of this group. A Cappella is a vocal performance without the accompaniment of instruments - in fact the voice and mouth substitutes for the instruments. For example, drumming is beatboxing. Different UC's from around California came to perform, and some of the ways in which they mimicked the real songs were amazing. This show really got us pumped and singing by the end.