Ian's American Journey

My Final Days

2007-07-25T02:36:00.000-07:00

I spent my final two days in America back in La Jolla. Compared to Miami weather, San Diego was very cool and comfortable. The city blessed my last days with more sunny skies, as usual.

In the afternoon after arrival, Kevin (Korean American) and I chilled out at La Jolla Cove one last time, having magical In-N-Out burger for the last time too. I'll be missing this place.

That night, I saw my volunteer host family again, and had some great conversation over delicious dinner at a sushi restaurant (not very well-known but incredible - Sushi Ota).

The next day, after loading all my belongings into Jeremy's (Korean American) car, a group of us hung out at La Jolla Shores Beach to have lunch.

After seeing the last of amazing La Jolla,

Jeremy and I headed north towards Los Angeles, where my flight was scheduled to depart late that night. On the way, we indulged, road-trippin style, by having Jack-in-the-box followed by Krispy Kreme donuts. Mm mmm.

After stopping over at Tahiti briefly,

my arrival back at Auckland was very interesting, as the New Zealand accent sounded like a really weird dialect of English.

It took at least a few days to wipe the reverse culture shock away, and with it, the climate shock of winter as well. Seeing family and friends back at home (Rotorua) and back at university (Auckland) were great. I still have the occasional American accent inadvertently thrown into conversations, and my road and shop names are confused at times too. It's kinda cool to be back as it is time to move on, but it's gonna take a little while to alleviate this enduring California-sickness. There are too many good memories for this to be an easy thing to do.

America exceeded my expectations in many ways, and surprised me in many ways too. Without a doubt, I'm happy with what the past six months have taught me. The amazing people that I met will never be forgotten. All the little things while studying at UCSD as an I-Houser won't ever be either. I'll always be a strong believer of the fact that traveling makes one wiser, and with great enthusiasm, will continue what I have started - exploring the world!

Miami, the Little Cuba

2007-07-24T03:32:00.000-07:00

Getting from A to B has never been so hectic. In this case, Dulles International Airport (near D.C) to Miami International Airport. Basically, flight delays due to thunderstorms clouded all hopes of reaching Orlando in time to catch my flight from Orlando to Miami. After spending a memorable night in Orlando Airport, I had to fly to Fort Lauderdale and then shuttle it to Miami.

Finally arriving and driving into Miami, I could not physically avert my eyes from the beautiful views. Scenes from my young video-gaming days (namely Grand Theft Auto: Vice City) flashed multiple times, except this time it was reality.

That morning, the heat was unbearable. Lunch was awesome, as there was a very affordable and conveniently located cafe right next to the hostel where I stayed. The Spanish influence here in South Florida definitely sprung out, in the form of quality quesadillas and a crazy volume of nachos served before the main dish.

Seeing that I got a good few minutes of decent sleep the night before, I decided to capture the mindset of a nocturnal animal for a day, napping during the warmest hours surrounding midday. It was late afternoon and still sticky as ever when I ventured out to Miami Beach. My first encounter with locals came with two girls in bikinis asking me "Do you like our outfits?" Whoa.

Ocean Drive, stretching down the coast of Miami, convinced me with its Art Deco hotels.

Colourful mopeds were trendy means of transport,

and I saw an unbelievable amount of foreign people in the area ranging from Hispanic/Latino to Jamaican to French, but hardly any Asians. I witnessed long and novel tools that were used to pick out coconuts from tall trees, and beach volleyball galore.

I saw on my map a neighbourhood called Sunset Islands, but unfortunately it was a residential area with rich private property concealing all possible regions for public use. So instead, I walked over to Maurice Gibb Memorial Park, where I could see the famous Miami skyline through dusk (CSI: Miami styles).

As the day drew to a close, I realized that I had heard more Spanish spoken around me than English, a phenomenon experienced for the first time since Tijuana.

Lincoln Road nightlife was action-packed, with smartly-dressed people swarming this entertainment and shopping area.

I woke up at 6:00am the next morning to catch the sunrise (since I was on the East Coast).

Immediately afterwards, I tripped quite a distance by bus to pick up my bag from Miami International Airport (finally!) which had been camping in who-knows-where for the previous few days. After cleaning the shower-gel explosion aftermath that was the sticky interior of my just-arrived bag, I had the long-awaited shower that I truly deserved. Fresh clothes have never felt so damn good.

Later that day, I went to Little Havana to explore this suburban region that Miami is so famous for. This neighbourhood, and the city by and large, has had a huge Cuban population since the rise of power of Fidel Castro and the subsequent emigration of Cubans. Little Havana was almost entirely Spanish-speaking, and here I had a shot of Cuban Coffee.

Miami was upgrading by the hour, with newer and taller apartment buildings near the water.

I ended up spending the rest of the day's hours hiding under the shelter of Bayside Shopping Centre, because of seemingly endless thunderstorms that ravaged downtown late that afternoon. I envisioned the possibility of deja vu occuring the next morning for my flight from Miami back to San Diego.

Heading back across the bridge from West to East Miami, there was a very interesting character on the bus right next to me. I'm not sure if he was brainwashed or not, but he basically suddenly rose from his seat (inducing an irregular heartbeat), slid to the front of the bus, and started pretending he was Prince in front of stage. This was for a good ten minutes, with no-one else on the bus saying a word. Only muffled giggles facing the bus windows were seen and heard. To be honest he seemed a bit talented, but I am certain his sanity was questionable.

I had Johnny Rockets for dinner that night, to have the classic American burger. The nightlife was very colourful and showy, with almost all pedestrians dressed sharply in their going-out clothes.

Miami was my final city, and two aspects of it stood out - the beach-life, and the nightlife. It was sticky and humid even at midnight, so I was literally walking into every other shop to be rewarded by the A/C. I don't think Miami is a place where I'd wanna live, largely because of the climate. I left with the image of Miami as the "party central" city of America. It is likely that in the future, after the age of 21, I'll find myself back there for a proper vacation!

Washington D.C, the Capital

2007-07-21T02:01:00.000-07:00

Arriving at the capital in the evening, I noticed that something was different. Washington D.C's buildings were not tall at all. There were no skyscrapers in sight! Later I would find out that there used to be a law that stated that no building could be taller than the dome of the Capitol on Capitol Hill. This obviously seemed to have an effect on Washington D.C's skyline.

The next morning, the heat was unbearable. Walking down the National Mall, I saw many well-known Smithsonian Museums.

I took shelter by going to the National Air and Space Museum.

This museum had the real Apollo 11 command module (the one that carried Neil Armstrong to the moon) and the real Wright flyer (the first flight by the Wright Brothers), among many other interesting displays. This was the most visited museum in the world!

I met Min later that day and we started exploring in the outdoor sauna.

We saw the Capitol,

with its gleaming white dome, and also the US Supreme Court.

then proceeded down Pennsylvania Ave...

to arguably the most famous address in the world, the White House. Around this area, while taking nosy peeks here and there, I could see glimpses of the nation's very important people - all suited up despite such a steaming hot day.

Ford's Theatre is where President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

The Washington Monument is the white obelisk iconic of Washington D.C, made predominantly of stone. What was interesting about this monument was the observation that it had on it, a tan line. This was because of a halt in its construction. I had never seen so many American flags in one location before!

The World War II Memorial was meaningful, too.

While walking around Tidal Basin in order to get to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, we literally went off the path and through the sprinklers instead. Soaked socks were the way to go on a day like this, since a lot of the body's heat is lost through the feet.

The Franklin Roosevelt Memorial was next,

followed by the Korean War Memorial,

and then the Lincoln Memorial.

The Lincoln Memorial, with great views of the reflecting pool and the Washington Monument, is the famous location of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech.

After seeing the Vietnam War Memorial as well,

we headed over to see the famous Watergate Complex (site of burglary that led to President Nixon's Watergate Scandal).

We met up with Rachel (American) and Patrick (Hong Kong) later on that night to have dinner and to see the illuminated Washington D.C at night.

The next morning, I took the subway to the Pentagon, where all I did was see one of the five huge walls. No photos were allowed here. I felt like I didn't belong here, as people with army uniforms roamed the vicinity. I then went on to visit Arlington National Cemetery, which is the best known cemetery in the United States. John F Kennedy's grave here is lit by an eternal flame.

I then reached Dulles International Airport in order to catch a flight that was scheduled to leave Washington D.C for Miami in the early afternoon. Scheduled is the key word here.

Overall, I enjoyed Washington D.C. The capital was clean and pleasant, with patriotism displayed as expected with numerous memorials commemorating history-defining wars and important presidents of America! I didn't first-hand experience or observe the incredible rich-poor contrast that is supposed to plague this city, mainly because I didn't get the chance to visit the more ghetto areas of D.C.

Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love

2007-07-20T20:11:00.000-07:00

Taking the overnight bus from Boston, I reached Philadelphia the next morning. The local train system then took me to Roslyn, which was a little town/neighbourhood off the main city of Philly, where Mohit's aunt's place was, where I would later stay the night. After dropping off my bags and having some breakfast, Mohit, Jose (Spanish guy from I-House) and I started exploring the city that was USA's first capital.

The first place we went to was the so-called "Rocky Steps". In the famous boxing movie, Rocky, there is a montage of training scenes pinnacling in a running scene where Rocky himself (fueled by raw eggs at dawn) sprints up a flight of stairs (which is the front steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art) with the accompaniment of the famous Rocky soundtrack. Me being me reenacted this (although not nearly as motivating or dramatic), and so did a lot of visitors present at the time.

After this, we walked to the west of Philadelphia to see the University of Pennsylvania, another one of the Ivy Leagues (also competing with UCSD as one of the nation's strongest bioengineering schools). UPenn in my opinion had the most beautiful campus buildings I had ever seen.

The day was very muggy, and so we were craving fruit smoothie real bad throughout the walk back to downtown Philly. With this refreshing drink straight from the streets, we also had the one and only Philadelphia Cheese Steak...where else but here! This is basically an American Hot Dog, minus the sausage and add the beef. Beautiful stuff.

Philadelphia, like Boston, contains many national historic sites and of these, we saw USA's first hospital (Pennsylvania Hospital),

USA's first bank,

and of course, Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed.

The three of us were incredibly sleep-deprived, and decided to take a nap in Washington Square in the middle of this physical trek through American history. The nap was gooood, but all of us were confused after getting up - "Where the heck in the world are we??" It was a very funny moment.

I'll add something else on this post that tells an account of what lengths I can take to keep my self-promises, although it may sound a bit ludicrous. I had sworn to myself, particularly after seeing "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle", that I must try those very own White Castle burgers in America. Stupidly, I had assumed that there were branches along the East Coast. I was very wrong that night in Roslyn. My destinations that remained were D.C and Miami, and these cities did not have it (neither did California of course). The nearest White Castle branch was back in New York City. With my options diminishing with each second, at 1am or so that morning, after a long discussion with Moh and Jose full of hilarity, I decided to do it. Mohit and Jose had flights the next day, but I had flexible bus tickets to work with, that I could exploit. At 4am, I took the local train back to Philly, then waited till dawn to take a dodgy but very cheap Chinese bus to NYC. With all my luggage I lumbered over to the Manhattan White Castle which did not exist -the website was outdated! So what do I do? Ask locals for the location of the nearest White Castle at...Harlem! Finally, I got there, and after all the effort to just get some burgers, it really seemed as enjoyable as the priceless eating scene that John Cho and Kal Penn flawlessly portrayed at the end of the movie. If only Mohit was there with me that morning, it would have been ridiculously funny. Trust me, these tiny burgers served in tiny pockets were worth it!

Boston, the Cradle of Liberty

2007-07-18T02:55:00.000-07:00

When I arrived past 1am, I was surprised to hear that the subway line closed at 12:30am. This came as a shock, since I had just come from New York City. Not only this, the guy who told me this pronounced the time as not "twelve thirty" but more like "twelve thoity". I realized that this must be the Boston, or "Boaarston", accent everyone was on about before I got here.

The area east of Boston, called Cambridge, was where I first went the next morning. This place is famous for its youthful vitality and for being the birthplace of higher education in America, housing two of the top universities in the world - Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). I took an unofficial tour of Harvard, or "Hahvahd" as they pronounced it. The institution is the oldest in the USA. The tour guides (who were Harvard students) were as eccentric and verbally literate as one could imagine, speaking almost like they came right out of a Shakespearean play. The buildings, especially ones in Harvard Square (the main quad of Harvard) were very old and prestigious. Since the tour was unofficial, we as the audience learned various inside secrets behind Harvard's long history.

There were many student-inclined shops lining Massachusetts Ave right next to Harvard, all the way down to MIT. MIT was also very nice, teeming with very scholarly students indeed. The Charles River separated Cambridge from main Boston, and it sure was a good sight.

I had hotdogs at Downtown Crossing in the Boston CBD, which honestly didn't feel like a CBD at all. Roads were cobbled, very narrow and cars didn't seem to exist. It felt like it was almost impossible to get run over by a vehicle. It was that safe. Boston also had this thing for donuts. I saw a Dunkin Donuts almost at every other intersection.

I then walked over to Boston Common and the Public Garden, which were both very nice.

After seeing this, I followed the Freedom Trail using my travel "bible"as a guide. The Freedom Trail follows historic landmarks along a route through Boston that symbolizes the path to America's independence. It started in Boston Common, and ended in Bunker Hill in Charlestown, which was across the Charles River. On the way, there were many historically important buildings with interesting architecture, including the Massachusetts State House, the site of the Boston Massacre, and Old North Church. The USS Constitution was also one of the stops, being probably the most famous vessels in the history of the US Navy.

A water taxi carried me back to Boston with good views and a fresh breeze to cool me off.

To end things at Boston, I had a light stroll down the Esplanada, which is an area/path right next to the Charles River through which runners, rollerbladers, cyclists and walkers kept fit. I could tell that this area was a popular exercise spot for Harvard and MIT students.

Personally, I loved Boston. Its student culture, serenity and friendliness made it my favourite city of them all.

New York City, the City That Never Sleeps

2007-07-17T04:11:00.000-07:00

The entry back into the States was smooth, getting into the border town of Buffalo, New York. The plan up to this stage was for the Greyhound bus to take me from Niagara Falls to Boston via a New York City stopover. What I realized that dawn during my stopover at the Port Authority Bus Terminal was that I could use that ticket to Boston after seeing New York, since I knew that some International Housers were here that weekend. Although the Port Authority toilets were nasty, I managed to look at least partially presentable for another big day in the travel scene. The moment I stepped out into the open, it was like nothing I'd experienced before. The time was morning rush hour on a Thursday, and the business people and cars seemed to have sardine fins. Up to this point, I had always over-estimated the distances shown on city road maps. However, my early failure at an attempt to squeeze through rush hour pedestrian traffic while walking the length of Central Park carrying my backpack and 30kg bag in order to reach Hostelling International just proved to me how much I under-estimated the size of the Big Apple.

I got a call from friends that they were on the ferry that was Liberty Island-bound. It was a clear day out there, and the ferry ride gave me great views of the Statue of Liberty, and the Manhattan skyline. Mohit apparently saw "the Hoff" during his previous visit here, but I wasn't so lucky. After seeing the famous gift of the French, we proceeded to Ellis Island, the once famous conduit for immigrants into the country.

The Wall Street Bull on the south side of Broadway had with it, many very interesting and socially censorable human poses with the photos of it taken. Yes, the bull is male, obviously.

The block where the World Trade Center once stood was amazing to see. I could imagine one of the world's tallest buildings (a duplicate of them for that matter) standing at that very spot. It was still hard to believe that what was in front of me was what remained of the colossal work of mankind.

Thinking of taking pictures around the World Financial Center, we saw guards standing firm outside all padded and suited up (including helmet), holding what were definitely sub-machine guns (what looked like M4A1s). We did not think of pointing our cameras after that.

Walking down Wall Street, we saw the New York Stock Exchange, and its smartly-dressed stockbrokers.

Going further east, we reached Brooklyn Bridge. This famous suspension bridge is iconic of New York. We walked across the bridge to downtown Brooklyn, when it started to rain.

That evening, spontaneity ruled and what I thought would be a get-together of 6 or so I-Housers became a reunion of over 12. They seemed to come in pairs, two by two. An unorganised, spontaneous reunion after a week, in NYC! We had great affordable dinner at Little Italy, and with that, a great time with a lot of laughs. I love surprises and randomness like this.

That night, I explored Times Square while the neon was in full swing. Bright lights complimented the yellow of the cabs that plagued the streets, and the atmosphere reminded me of Las Vegas. White horses carrying people in carriages, stalls selling various sketches and souvenirs on the footpaths, and flashly-dressed men and women on their way to a Broadway musical or Madison Square Garden were pieces of Times Square that I remember.

The next morning, Min and I each hired a bike to cycle around Central Park. I can admit that I mastered the taking-photos-while-cycling skill. The park was beautiful and huge. I hear that it is bigger than the Vatican City and Monaco.

We decided then to cycle out of the park and go into the famous black neighbourhood of Harlem. It was surprised at how peaceful the place seemed compared to my expectations. I did catch a glimpse of elementary school kids having a scrap, and yes, I saw some street ballers too.

Columbia University was just west of Harlem, and the campus was nice, matching its Ivy League reputation.

Later that afternoon, I went to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), which is world-famous, if not the world's best, modern art museum. Works included Vincent Van Gogh's "The Starry Night" and Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon".

Empire State Building was next, and I was on the deck in time for the sunset. Contrary to the Sears and the CN towers, the Empire States Building had an observatory deck outside. The wind chill led to only the bravest staying out there for lengthy periods of time. Jose (I-Houser from Spain) was in a t-shirt and shorts. His satisfaction from seeing the views came the quickest (unsurprisingly).

Getting up on the Sunday morning, we went to the American Museum of Natural History (again, the best in the world of its kind), which was more my type of museum (compared to MoMA that I didn't have much prior knowledge of). "The Night at the Museum" starring Ben Stiller was a film that was based on this very museum. The giant T-Rex that we expected at the entrance was replaced by two other dinosaur skeletons, but we did see many other movie characters, including "Dum-dum" (the Easter Island statue). The museums here in New York are gigantic, and to properly see them, I'm sure the average person will need a few days each. They are very well made, I must admit.

After having a cheap lunch at a Chinese buffet restaurant (very cheap), I went to my last place-to-see in New York City, which was the United Nations Headquarters. After taking some politics classes at UCSD, it was great timing and a great chance to take a tour. It was awesome to be right inside the actual Security Council Chamber and the General Assembly Hall.

Nearing dusk, I boarded the bus that would take me to Boston. I expected Boston to be very different to New York City, after hearing that it was so much more peaceful and relaxed. To be honest, I needed a little bit of that after the horn-beeping (literal and figurative) of the last few days.

The Niagara Falls, the World's Honeymoon Capital

2007-07-15T05:16:00.000-07:00

The Niagara Falls sits on the USA/Canada border and is divided into two parts - the American side and the Canadian side. Its beauty is unbelievable, made by the American Falls (in New York on the American side) and the Horseshoe Falls (in Ontario on the Canadian side). The volume of water that falls in incredible, and 90% of it is through the Horseshoe Falls. And just to sound nerdy and over-analytic, I'll also add the fact that the falls produce huge amounts of hydroelectric energy for the neighbouring states.

Reaching the main viewing platforms, I could see that tourists from all around the world had flocked here. The thunder of the falls could be heard from far, far away. The mist from the impact of the Horseshoe Falls was strong, and this effect in the late afternoon caused multiple rainbows to be seen at once (reminding me of the hike up Vernal Falls in Yosemite!).

The Maid of the Mist boat ride took people up the Niagara River very close to the impact point of the Horseshoe Falls. I put on my poncho, which was absolutely critical especially towards the halfway point of the ride, when the mist and wind combination became too much for the open eye. It was exciting, and later on I found out that it was the oldest tourist attraction in North America!

The Niagara Falls was amazing, and I was glad that I had seen nature at its best in amongst the many cities that I had planned to see in the period of two weeks.

Toronto, the World's Most Diverse City

2007-07-15T03:51:00.000-07:00

Since Toronto was only (only?) a 15 hour Greyhound bus ride from Chicago, I took this more financially manageable option as opposed to a short flight. Also, apart from saving me a night of accommodation, bus rides were more interesting since I got to have glimpses of different areas of the USA, such as Detroit, Michigan, where we stopped over for a few hours before crossing the USA/Canada border. Getting into Canada was sweet, with no problems at all.

Toronto is Canada's largest city and is known to be the world's most diverse city, with half of its ethnic makeup originating from outside of Canada. Not only that, it is also considered one of the world's safest cities to live in, too. The morning when I arrived, it was very interesting to see people who were getting to work. Asians, Caucasians, Africans, Indians, Europeans, Persians, and I also even heard an Aussie guy! From the get-go with my bags lugged around my torso heading towards my destination by foot (Hostelling International), I saw Toronto embodying an image that I would confirm by the late afternoon - the world in a city.

I first strolled through a few parks that beautifyed the city, then walked through the University of Toronto.

The CN Tower (Canada's National Tower) is the tallest structure in the world, towering at 553 metres, used mainly for radio and tourism purposes. This tower also had glass floors for people to go crazy on. From the observatory deck, many of Toronto's interesting features could be pinpointed, including the stretch of Yonge Street, which is controversially known as the longest street in the world (almost 1900 km!).

It rained later that day, but after that stopped, the marina/pier area was nice to have a rest at, seeing the views of Lake Ontario.

Toronto's new city hall looked to me like one of those fighting vehicles on Star Wars, so I also stopped by here and chilled out for a bit.

Canada spelt according to the British English language. For example, the sports arena next to the CN Tower was the Rogers Centre, not the Rogers Center.

Also, I saw lots of French translations wherever there was something written in public. I tried to pick out the differences in accents between American and Canadian too through the course of the day. One word that seems to stand out is the word..."out". Canadians say "er-oot".

The next morning, I went through Eaton Centre, one of the largest shopping malls in Canada, and had breakfast there before continuing to the Greyhound bus station.

That morning's weather was very blue. The CN tower shone and literally glittered during my bus ride out of the city. It proved to me how much weather can affect a city's lasting impression. Apparently not obvious to me yesterday, the sun and the blue sky made Toronto look absolutely gorgeous.

That morning bus ride took me around Lake Ontario, to...the Niagara Falls!

Chicago, the Windy City

2007-07-15T02:26:00.000-07:00

Having no time to write and put up photos during my intense travel schedule, I am writing this in the comfort of my new room in O'Rorke Hall, in Auckland. So, there were eight main points that I traveled to during the 16 or so days, starting with Chicago!

Instead of going directly to the East Coast of the US as first planned, I changed my mind and decided to add Chicago as one of my stops, instead of simply flying over it. Chicago is the third largest city in the US, and is located near Lake Michigan, one of the Great Lakes. I thought that going to a non-coastal US city like Chicago would be a different experience.

First up, in the morning I took a walk down Michigan Avenue and then towards the lake to Navy Pier. On the way there were some interesting points, such as the shallow pool on the city side of Millennium Park which... cooled people down, to keep things simple. The day was scorching hot, so walking through the shallow pool with bare feet seemed like a good idea, until I saw that the average age of the people actually using it was around 8 (with parents of toddlers raising that average).

Navy Pier used to be a shipping facility, but is now more like an entertainment center both for tourists and locals. What used to be a training base for the US Navy now has on it a McDonald's Ferris Wheel (one of the largest ones in the USA), justifying its popularity.

Views of the Chicago skyline from Navy Pier were nice, such as this one. The cool looking building that stands out is the Hancock Observatory.

I then strolled into Millennium Park again and saw some very weirdly shaped stuctures, such as the Petrillo Music Shell (its unique construction perhaps serves to maximise sound transmission efficiency?) and "the Bean" (I am not sure what its function is...maybe just to be shiny and look cool). On my way out of the park, I met another guy that went to UCSD recognizing my shirt, both of us remaining loyal to our schools.

I headed further south towards where many museums were, where I had a nap under a tree near the Adler Planetarium (which was real good).

Buckingham Fountain is seen during the intro of the sitcom "Married with Children". This huge fountain would every hour, sprout a massive jet of water.

The next day, I spent the morning hours seeing the shops on "The Magnificent Mile", which is the northern part of Michigan Ave, briefly visited Northwestern University, and then went up the Sears Tower later on that afternoon.

The Sears Tower is one of the tallest buildings in the world with 110 stories! At the observatory deck, I could see the broader Chicago area including the suburbs, and could also trace the steps that I took over the past two days.

Chicago is nicknamed "the Windy City" and I could attest to that after my brief visit. Also, I noticed that there were not many Asians here at all, with African Americans making up most of Chicago's population. Personally though I enjoyed Chicago, partly since it was very new-looking in terms of infrastructure. This is mainly due to the famous Chicago Fire of 1871 that once wreaked havoc in the downtown area.

Next up...Toronto!

San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum, San Diego Zoo, Wild Animal Park

2007-06-14T19:24:00.000-07:00

Whoa, a trio of famous San Diego attractions crammed into one entry! Having less than two weeks left to explore this gorgeous region and even with final exams looming, I decided to embark on seeing all three of these well-known touristy places. I had again fell victim to yes, you could call it procrastination.

The USS Midway is an aircraft carrier that served the military since World War II, particularly in the Vietnam War, now used as a naval aviation museum. After hearing that San Diego was famous for its military activity and naval base, this museum was a must-see for me. Mohit and I went to see some amazing aircraft on the flight deck, ones that all had significant missions during the many wars that arose post-WWII. It was also interesting to tour inside and see the captain's rooms, where the crew ate, how weapons were transported around the carrier, etc.

Delving into nature and conservation, I decided to see one of the most famous zoos in the world. Hearing many extreme opinions about the San Diego Zoo, I was having mixed imaginations about the place. I do admit, that when I travel by myself, I have this greed that breeds my determination to see all the main stuff at a tourist attraction. Getting to the zoo with only 2 and a half hours left till closing time, I was doing one of two things most of the time - being stationary (meaning that I am either observing, reading or pausing for a shot), or power-walking (like a man on a mission). Also, what I realized was that you had to be lucky or be knowledgeable in order to see in particular the animals that slept for most of the day. The Siberian Tiger, African Lion and Brown Bear for example were nowhere to be seen in their "zoo home". They were probably sleeping under shade where they were secluded from view. I was still impressed with how many species there were altogether at the zoo, and also how educational such a trip could be (if one had more time).

If the animals at the zoo weren't riveting enough, I was still self-urged to see Wild Animal Park. A few days ago, I decided to go there to spend the afternoon. The day was gorgeous, and the park was intended to look and feel much like the real environment of wild animals. It did a good job in fulfilling that intention.

This is the last of my entries, before I go on my trip that will draw a rough ellipse around the United States of America! The plan - Chicago, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D.C, Miami, then back to San Diego!

Yosemite!

2007-05-30T15:35:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-05-23T15:06:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-05-13T21:46:00.000-07:00

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.

Los Angeles!

2007-05-02T23:49:00.000-07:00

During the past two days, I truly and finally got to experience Los Angeles for what the glamorous city is famous for. Early in the morning, we caught a long bus ride to Oceanside, where the Metrolink train took us up the coast into downtown LA. I was surprised by the ease of public transport use around the city. Train systems contained many loopholes for free trips from A to B, and there were many, many bus routes that intertwined the district (although these buses were jam packed, especially with the lower class).

Associated with Hollywood is the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard, where we walked along first. Its name is ridden with glamour, justified by its footpath of a seemingly endless stretch of stars. We passed by Mann's Chinese Theatre (star's autographs are set in concrete here), El Capitan (where many world premieres of animated movies are shown), The Guinness World of Records Museum, and the Kodak Theatre (the home of the Oscars). Hooters was the chosen place for lunch. Basically, Hooters is famous for female waitresses wearing tight spandex. They are employed according to their looks. Although I predicted that food would not be their forte, I found my sandwich delicious.

We then headed out to UCLA for a roundabout walk, where the architecture of some buildings were magnificent! Their sculpture garden was impressive too. The campus overall was beautiful. We then walked along Wilshire Street in the heart of LA's Koreatown to look for a nice restaurant to eat (Korean of course!). I miss mum's home cooking so much (that's a shout out)!

After dinner, we had a taste of what Chinatown had to offer, had a good long stare at how the Walt Disney Concert Hall would have been built (crazy architecture), and entered downtown. There were many high-rise buildings as you would imagine, but I found San Francisco's were more impressive. After a minor glitch in navigating towards the nearest bus stop, we found ourselves caught in a very awkward situation. Three big homeless guys approached us, and they were looking for the same bus stop. I was not 100% sure about the way that I was going, but I was leading the pack, with the homeless guys following me. These big African-American guys were exhausted and hungry, yelling various profanities along the way. I was hoping (like never before) that I was right! Counting my lucky stars, we all ended up on the same bus unscathed. The bus took us to Santa Monica, where we stayed the night at Hostelling International.

Early the next morning, we ventured out into Santa Monica beach, where countless people were either running, walking, rollerblading or cycling. This beach is famous for "Baywatch", the hit lifeguard TV series. Santa Monica Pier was a centre for fishing areas, shops, buskers and a mini-amusement park. Further down the coastline, Muscle Beach was at work. Arnold and many famous bodybuilders and athletes are known to have trained there.

Later that morning, I arrived at Staples Center in downtown LA. This was the home of the LA Lakers. I was here to see the fourth NBA playoff game between the LA Lakers and the Phoenix Suns. On the way in, I saw many "Bryant" basketball shirts flashing yellow, purple and white. From the distance, you would hear booing, which would sound closer and closer until an orange Phoenix Suns shirt passed through the crowd. Much like a Mexican wave. The atmosphere was great. Although my ticket was ridiculously expensive, I got a seat that was at the very top of the arena. Min and my Chilean roommate Andres came too, and we all enjoyed the live basketball (although we were too far away to see the trash talk, or the Laker girls). Celebrities tend to attend Lakers games, and I saw Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jack Nicholson, Jack Black and even Chris Tucker way down below (on the primo seats). It was a great game despite the loss to the Lakers.

Earlier tonight, there was a Russell Peters show right here at UCSD! Gutted after the early sell-out of the tickets, Esther and I decided to try and crash the show. By the time we got there, the show had finished and the seats were empty. Heading back towards I-House however, we saw him outside talking to a group of people! Then came my brief exchange of words. With Russell Peters!

Two Weeks of Culture!

2007-04-27T17:17:00.000-07:00

The tragedy of the Virginia Tech shootings resonated around campus early last week, and I attended the candlelight vigil that was held on campus.

On a completely different note, Friday April 20th was a very happy day for lots of youth in North America. The 4/20 celebration was about the consumption (by inhalation) of cannabis (weed, kush, whatever you want to call it). It was a night that never fell short of laughs.

The day that followed was the second "American Pie" event of the year. With other UCSD students, we went to the US/Mexico border and took a tour, learning about the many border-crossing and militarization issues that were yet to be resolved. We also visited the Chicano Park Annual Celebration that was happening, and then did some volunteer work at a community centre where a UCSD newspaper (The Guardian) reporter took a candid shot, unbeknownst to me until the following weekday...whoa surprise, there I was.

On the Monday, along with some other members of the group, International Cares, and some Koreans from I-House, I went to a largely Mexican-American elementary school near the border to teach a classroom of kids about Korea and to show them Korean culture. After the class, I showed them some Taekwondo, which some youngsters loved a bit too much. It was cool being a primary school classroom teacher and a P.E teacher for a day (although it got a bit strenuous on the vocal cords).

On Wednesday, Mohit and I bought all the ingredients required to make ANZAC biscuits and hokey-pokey. We then baked (baked? baked!) the biscuits and made hokey-pokey ice-cream - delicious Kiwiana. Why? The next night (since the night coincided with ANZAC Day), us Kiwis of I-House (Alice, Mohit and me) gave a presentation about our New Zealand and served the delicious Kiwi dessert afterwards. During my section, I touched on some areas that greatly (and truthfully) favoured NZ over Australia in our trans-Tasman rivalry. This got an Aussie girl in the audience fired up a bit, who cursed out loud for all to hear, a well-known (false) dirty remark about NZers and sheep. What directly followed this was my final slide that stated that Australia had more sheep than New Zealand. Haha.

What a Weekend!

2007-04-16T23:42:00.000-07:00

A UCSD tradition that is common amongst students here is going to the Bear Garden, an event held twice per quarter on campus. What a weird event you ask? The smart idea will reveal itself when you think about the verbal ambiguity of the event name with our beloved alcoholic beverage. Basically, it is an excuse for students to wag Friday afternoon class and enjoy free food and beer. Free Domino's and Subway were generously given out to the students, who would play fun little games that had themes to do with bears. Examples are throwing bean bags through holes, throwing frisbees through slots and beer pong. If successful, prizes would be soft bear toys ranging in size depending on the difficulty of the games. I managed to win a yellow bear, which symbolised the Orient (inside joke).

Later that Friday afternoon, I attended the inaugural UCSD Bioengineering Day held at the School of Engineering. It was a great opportunity to listen to distinguished bioengineering leaders around the world. Company presentations were great too, as we indulged in the prospects of a bioengineering career in a variety of disciplines. I also realized from this event that there were a very large number of bioengineering firms and job opportunities in the San Diego area. I had never heard of some of these companies before, but their products were almost purely bioengineering-related - examples of some big guns are Edwards Lifesciences, Gore Medical and Abbott Vascular.

That night, we had another I-House trip to Tijuana, Mexico. The theme of the party at Balak was "Pink", so we were all in pretty/metro attire. It was another memorable night with lots of free drinks, lots of grinding (American style), and loud music that gave me buzzing ears for the hours that followed.

Early the next morning, there was a UCSD-hosted trip to Disneyland. Off to Anaheim we went, which was south of downtown LA. I spent the day with the I-House Koreans. Disneyland is the so-called "happiest place on Earth", "where dreams become reality", and so on and so forth. For the lucky kids I saw at the park, these descriptions of Disneyland were indeed true. Many of them looked absolutely delighted and incredibly happy. The park was divided into separate areas each carrying a theme, such as Mickey's Toontown, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. When compared with Six Flags Magic Mountain, the rides at Disneyland was not scary. However, the rides here each had a very meaningful theme or story to tell. Much of these could be associated with the famous Disney moments, that we have all secured in our memories since our good old childhood days. Fastpasses for high-demand rides helped a lot in saving valuable time. The park was nicely designed, with tram systems connecting the main park with the parking areas, and a monorail system that connected the park with the Disneyland hotels. The highlight of the day for me was the world-famous Disney parade, which marched down Main Street of Disneyland. The parade celebrated the most famous of the Disney films, such as Peter Pan, Pinocchio, The Little Mermaid, Alice in Wonderland, The Lion King and many more. Funny moment during the parade: "How come I didn't see Bugs Bunny?" Sadly for the many thousands of people there, the world-famous Disney fireworks show was cancelled due to prevailing winds at the time. Although we didn't see as much of Disneyland as I could have wished in the short space of ten hours, I had a lot of fun thinking back to my younger self for a day.

If Friday and Saturday weren't enough, I had two more events to come on the Sunday. The first was Sunday Supper, a quarterly I-House formal dinner event. Keynote speakers gave their words of wisdom, food of the highest quality was relished, and a slideshow brought back memories of spring break.

Fusion is the largest hip-hop dance competition in California, held this year at UCSD's RIMAC Arena. A crowd of 2500 were packed into this arena, and everyone surrounding us were real loud and into it. It was spectacular! Ten teams from all around California competed for what was glory of the highest level, and monstrous trophies. The routines were very long but very impressive. The crowd went mad with one performance where a kid (who seemed like 8 years old) came out onto the stage and busted out some flawless popping.

This remarkable event got me wanting to dance real bad afterwards, and brought my incredibly packed weekend to a close.

Old Town and Major League Baseball!

2007-04-10T15:26:00.000-07:00

Mohit, Esther and I spent Saturday afternoon at Old Town, San Diego. This is the place considered the "birthplace of California". Spanish settlers established the very first mission here, before a chain of missions were built up along the length of much of California. The preservation of many buildings, plus the culture and heritage that we saw was informative and interesting to see. We visited a sheriff museum, a synagogue, and various old-style houses where people were dressed just as they did many decades ago.

On Monday night, Mohit and I took the opportunity to see a Major League Baseball game - the San Diego Padres vs the San Francisco Giants. The game in terms of crowd was a good one - since many UCSD students are originally from the Bay Area (where San Francisco is). While the two of us who had never been to a baseball game nor even seen a full game on ESPN were neutrally just sitting there, the student crowd on either side of us were alternately screaming "Let's go Padres/Giants!!" relentlessly throughout the night. Drunken behaviour was present of course, the night ending with one really loud and obnoxious guy being soaked in a chick-thrown beer cup (although not silenced). The actual baseball itself was not the most exciting since it was a very low scoring game, despite the fact that Barry Bonds (of the SF Giants) was only 20 or so runs away from getting the record for the most runs in a career.

I learnt a lot about baseball that night, and also about how there were so many on-screen interactions with the crowd. These included live candid cams - where some people were completely oblivious, baseball trivia, games, jukeboxes, prizes, loudness meters, and even kiss cams - where one guy got denied real bad (that was the crowd's biggest laugh of the night). This sort of stuff kept everyone excited between innings. I had thought that a baseball game would seem to drag on after a while, but the three hour game went by very quickly with the Padres winning 1-0.

The coming weekend is going to be an awesome one, with another TJ night, a Disneyland trip and the biggest hip-hop dance competition in California - Fusion!

Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon!

2007-04-02T01:39:00.000-07:00

Arriving at LAX, I was picked up by Mojdeh and Paris (Persian Americans), along with Mohit. The vehicle that we were going to drive out of California with was a Jeep. It was a solid ride alright. We prepared all our gear at Paris's place in Palos Verdes, one of the rich beachside neighbourhoods in LA. Lots of water, Powerade and sandwiches were packed in the trunk. After having delicious Persian food as lunch, we left to pick up Esther (Chinese American) who was on her way back from a spring break at Catalina Island (off the LA coast). Our first destination? The self-proclaimed entertainment capital of the world, Las Vegas. Since it was late Friday afternoon, heavy traffic stretched a good distance out of LA towards Vegas.

After about five hours of driving, we knew Las Vegas, Nevada was visibly ahead, as hotels, casinos and huge billboards flashed before our eyes. We arrived at around 9pm, just as the city's lights were in full swing. After checking in at a very affordable inn considering the city's standards, we began the walk down "the Strip". The colossal monuments, fascinating lighting, and riveting atmosphere blew me away.

Traffic was crazy, to the extent that there were no crossings allowed at many large intersections. Escalators would take pedestrians up to a level which would stretch over the intersection. Each of the many hotels had an associated theme, with an impressive facade that must have cost millions to make. I couldn't help but imagine that power consumption in this area must be phenomenally excessive. As we walked, I noticed that carrying open vessels and drinking outdoors was legal in Las Vegas. Although the legal age for gambling is 21, we were permitted to walk through the casinos. The smell of cigarettes was unavoidable in these casinos and it remained on our clothes afterwards. It was interesting to see the contrast between the rich in limos and casinos, and the poor giving out cards and flyers on the streets. The disturbing part was that some of these poor were very young children and very old folk, many of Mexican descent, giving out advertisements for strippers and adult shows. Passing through themes such as "New York" and "Paris", we reached "Venice" to have dinner at the affordable Grand Lux Cafe, where I had a delicious IndoChinese dish, a waiter's favourite, and one of the best drinks I've had in my life, the "Island Cooler" (a blend of many fruits, squeezed and balanced to perfection). We had a good laugh at a hugh neon "Kimchi" sign that caught our eye. The night was still much alive until 3am, when we reached Luxor hotel, which was for me the most impressive themed hotel. The theme was "Egypt", where there was a replica of the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid. The pyramid at its apex beamed out light vertically up towards the stars.

Later that morning, we left for the Grand Canyon. We briefly stopped by at the Hoover Dam on the way, but needed to get to the natural wonder of the world as quick as we could in order to do some decent hiking before dark. The five hour ride from Las Vegas took us into the Grand Canyon, Arizona.
The view was amazing at the platform. The rock formations carved out by the dynamics of the Colorado river over the many years was why this is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. We saw cars with license plates from all over the country - even Georgia, which is a state on the southeast of the US. We began hiking down the South Kaibab trail on the South rim of the Grand Canyon, which offered the best views. On the way down, I briefly talked to a guy who had gone all the way down to the bottom of the canyon and back up since the morning...with a broken leg! A variety of coloured rock layers and desert-like vegetation surrounded us. After stopping by at the "ooh-ahh" point, we reached the halfway point down the canyon (Skeleton Point, 3 miles down from the rim) with a feeling of accomplishment as the Colorado river was finally in sight. The California condor is supposed to be the most endangered bird of prey species on Earth. On our way back up to the rim, one of these rare condors, possessing a wingspan of up to 3 metres flew just a few feet past my head! I sure hoped our singing and shouting "U-C-S-D!" and "Whose house? I-House!" (and of course the resulting echo that reverberated far, far away) wasn't the reason why. I had not caught a glimpse of a rattlesnake nor a scorpion, but the condor experience made my day. We hiked up and reached the rim just as the sun completely set on us. At the top, we saw a night photographer with a flashlight attached to his head just on his way down. He was probably a photographer for National Geographic or similar...a sweet job that could be. Although we were too late to reach the bottom, the splendid panoramas made it more than fulfilling to have hiked halfway down.

My trainers were pretty much orange once once we got to the rim, due to the soft outer soil layer of the canyon. We had some typical Arizona-like food for dinner to reenergize ourselves from the hard day. A big, solid, protein rich steak did it for me that night.

We then roamed around in circles in our car for quite a while, attempting to find our campsite, before managing to finally turn on our spatial intelligence. We put up a large tent, made it comfy, and also made a campfire. The Grand Canyon's desert-like climate got very cold (below zero) at night. I experienced a traditional American campfire treat for dessert. "S'mores" (short for "some more"s) they were called. It was heated marshmallow and a piece of block chocolate sandwiched between two graham crackers. It was fun heating the marshmallows over the fire (skewered onto the end of a stick) just enough so that it didn't sizzle away and burn. This is me burning them (a diagrammatic example of how not to do it, lol).

It was delicious, and definitely made me crave s'more. There was a little bit of tension between the sexes as our (Mohit and my) bittersweet male attempt at a "scare tactic" that night, was followed by the failed female attempt at tipping over the tent while us dudes were still sleeping in the morning. We headed back to California that morning, saying goodbye to the geological showcase that I fell in love with. The drive back was a soothing reflection of the most full on week I've had in my life. So much seen, so much done, so much learned.

Back to San Francisco!

2007-03-29T12:33:00.000-07:00

The bus ride back from Lake Tahoe was an interesting experience, as many interesting people were on board. It really got me thinking about the lower class of people in the United States. I passed through Sacramento (the capital of California) and checked in at another Hostelling International for the night. This time though, I was in a room of 24 people. They were probably all like-minded tourists after a hard day, and it took a little bit of time falling asleep amongst the snoring symphony that was occurring. The next morning at the hostel, I met a person who had been living in various Hostelling Internationals around the country for the past 10 years, and also a group of South Koreans on a trip to America. This hostel was very reliable and housed a friendly atmosphere, with many groups from around the world (like a Scottish high school band and an English theatre group).

I left very early to make the most of the one day I had left to see the rest of San Francisco. SF is renowned for an incredibly efficient public transport system, making it very easy to travel from A to B. I took the very cheap BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) from SF to Berkeley, which was located inland across the San Francisco Bay. This train took me through an underwater railway system to the city of Berkeley, famous of course for the University of California, Berkeley. UCB is University of California's first campus and UC's highest ranked campus overall. Its reputation and prestige urged me to take a walk around the entire institution that morning. The buildings, monuments and gardens were all beautiful. The people I saw on campus looked and seemed very scholarly, and from who I saw, I could attest to the fact that hippie culture was quite prevalent. Both the campus and the city were very nice indeed.

Train and bus hopping never felt so good, as I efficiently found myself back in Fisherman's Wharf. I then took a one hour Golden Gate Bay Cruise which looped us under the Golden Gate Bridge, and around Alcatraz Island. The on-board narrative that was given through headphones was very informative. Alcatraz Island was the place that the US army established as a fort to guard the bay until it became a military prison, home to many world famous inmates such as Al Capone ("Scarface") and the Anglin Brothers.

After another scrumptious seafood lunch, I walked through the city until I reached Lombard Street. This street is famous for being the crookedest street in the world. Seeing cars drive down was entertaining (we actually drove down it too, on Sunday night). Cars go down at a max speed of 8 km/h! San Francisco was built on steep hills (extreme cases are pretty much 45 degrees), so the roads were way steeper than the hilly roads of Auckland.

I continued walking until I reached Japantown, which was not as culturally intense as Chinatown, but still consisted of many unique shops from Japan. There were also many Korean shops and restaurants that I could see, to the extent that it could almost be called a mini-Koreatown as well.

I reached the neighbourhood of Pacific Heights, where many fine Victorian houses lined the streets. Many films such as "Mrs Doubtfire" (a classic!) are known to have been filmed in this district. In fact, Robin Williams is known to have a house here, along with many other celebrities. The view at Alamo Square is very famous, as old-style Victorian houses are juxtaposed against the backdrop of downtown SF's modern-style skyline. These houses are known as Postcard Row, for obvious reasons. I just couldn't resist passing this place without taking a photograph of its marvellous panorama.

I keeped walking south, and stepped foot on Haight Street. This Haight community is home to an eclectic mix of individuals, and the most liberal and radical members of American society. The intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets is the famous "Summer of Love". Shops were all very colourful and deviant to the norm, and the whole place irradiated a sense of creativity and diversity.

I walked further, exiting the hippie community only to enter Castro, the world-famous gay and lesbian community. Interesting motifs were rainbow flags that marked the streets, and posters that advertised gay male revues. The southernmost point I reached was the intersection of Castro Street and 18th Street, which is the self-proclaimed "Gayest Four Corners of the World". In Castro, tight guy jeans and guys holding hands were not uncommon.

With so much to see in so little time, I fast-walked back north to reach Golden Gate Park late in the afternoon. This park got me excited as it is the largest man-made park in the world, but I was too late to gain entrance into some major gardens such as the Japanese Tea Garden or the Strybing Arboretum.

After catching the sunset at Ocean Beach (west coast of SF), I bussed to Chinatown for dinner, and checked out some interesting Chinese shops. Cool decorations, crazily expensive ornaments, and even weapons were all on display. I then went on to Union Square for a quick glance around, which is the city's largest shopping area. Hotels, restaurants, theatres, galleries were concentrated in this area (including a whole range of high-class clothes shops and the largest Macy's in the US).

I woke up early the next morning to reach Oakland airport in order to catch a flight which would take me to Los Angeles in time to meet up with some other friends. Carrying my backpack as carry-on and another medium-sized bag as check-in, it was a simple flight on Southwest airlines (it has the cheapest fares). It was a relaxing flight down. Sitting down on the comfy seats was rewarding, considering that I had fast-walked an aggregate of about 7 hours yesterday. In hindsight I realized, that I had needed to see everything that SF is famous for in order to be satisfied. With the same feeling of accomplishment came the epiphany that I am without a doubt, a greedy tourist.

Snowboarding at Lake Tahoe!

2007-03-28T23:59:00.000-07:00

After getting picked up by Toby, we went to Dublin, east of Palo Alto to pick up another friend, Morgane. There, we dropped Toby's old car off and loaded all the ski gear into the larger and more convenient typical soccer mom's-car - the Windstar. Picking up Caity, Amy and Nick from Lodi, and cramming every snow-related item into the trunk to the best of our abilities, we stopped by at Carl's Jr for a quick bite and then proceeded towards North Lake Tahoe.

On the way inland, and as we gained altitude, we saw the gradual increase in the amount of ice and snow around us. Then soon enough, it started snowing on us. Chains were put onto our Windstar's front wheels as the roads became icy. Snow patrol officers in fluorescent yellow were giving instructions while huge snow plows periodically eased the terrain for all the motorists' needs.

Foolproof maps guided us into Nevada and ultimately to Caity's cabin, where we arrived later that night. Interesting fact: You know you've crossed the border into Nevada just purely by seeing casinos and neon on the roadside. Caity's place was very nice indeed, with two storeys, two bathrooms and pretty much everything that defines comfortable living. Outside, wading through snow, throwing snowballs and slipping off balance were all great things to be doing again.

Lake Tahoe is a lake on the border between California and Nevada, which contains clear blue waters and boasts many ski resorts on the slopes of its periphery. The Winter Olympics have been held in one of these ski resorts (Alpine Meadows).

Early next morning, we drove with chains to Diamond Peak, one of the ski resorts. Since it had snowed the night before, conditions were perfect for snowboarding, as fresh and thick natural snow covered the slopes while the skies were empty of any precipitation. I strapped on my snowboarding gear and went for my beginner's lesson which was very sore but fun. Getting proficient at the heel side and toe side turns required not only skill, but persistence despite various inflictions of pain from falling on the chest or glutes. Once I had the "falling leaf" pattern slowly worked out, I tried the green slope (the next level up) but got severely punished.

Later that night we grocery shopped, ate Nick's dinner creation of pasta and salad, and chilled out in the warmth of the lounge. I relied on the seven hours sleep I had that night for the much needed growth and repair for the next day of boarding. I must admit though, that getting up the next morning was hard...physically. They were aches from narm.

I attacked the green slope once more, and after completing it with elegant "S patterns" without falling over, I felt like a complete different snowboarder. Something told me to conquer the blue slopes (the next level up) and so I did. However, crashing my pelvis and backwards rolling many times in the process. I felt that the cycle of risk-taking, crashing, getting up and crashing again was an integral part of my real-quick learning over my first two days of snowboarding. By the end of the two days the natural feeling of going down the slopes was awesome!

I was dropped off later that afternoon at Truckee (Californian town with a Wild West character and history as a lumber centre), where I took the Greyhound bus back to San Francisco. Although hard on the wallet, the experience of Tahoe gave me great views of the lake from the high chairlifts, and a newly found passion for snowboarding!

Coastal Road Trip to San Francisco!

2007-03-26T20:26:00.000-07:00

In light of the fact that it was possible to make it from San Diego to San Francisco in one day (it's about an 11 hour drive up the slower coastal/scenic route), I got up very early the next morning at dawn. However, the night before was the end of finals night for Thomas Kim, the Korean-American guy who was actually going to be the one driving us up to San Francisco. The compromise between party, sleep and early drive delayed our travel start till after 10am. The other guy going up was Min Seo Ki, a Korean-Korean. We had take-out breakfast at the Cliffs, which is a cliff next to the beach with magnificent views where many UCSD students hang out during the middle of their classes.

With enough caffeine, and anticipation of the trip to come in our systems, we drove straight to our first destination...Orange County, with the windows down and music up. Weather was on our side that day, with good conversation and good songs...ideal! Thomas lived in Fullerton, which is in Orange County, south of downtown LA itself. On the way there we saw glimpses of Disneyland and Crystal Cathedral (the massive church that is broadcast on Channel One on Sundays).

After Thomas had everything packed and ready to go, we found out that the Interstate traffic wasn't as giving as we had hoped, so at Fullerton, we bought a tent to camp out for the night, somewhere south of San Fran. We then continued on our road trip along the Californian coast, where the beaches were beautiful and so was the land. We passed the city of Santa Barbara and stopped by for dinner at Buellton, a city in Santa Barbara County famous for the filming of the 2004 comedy road trip movie, "Sideways". We had dinner at AJ Spurs, a restaurant which gave out a very American vibe.

Next stop was at San Luis Obispo, where we unfortunately rested our eyes for a tad too long at a carpark. Getting to a campsite in time had become a mission (excuse the San Luis Obispo-related pun hehe), as we still had a decent drive ahead of us in order to reach the campsite. The art of speedy but safe night driving was impressive, as we managed to reach Salinas at around midnight. We chose to spend the night at Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway (funnily enough, it had a campsite), west of Salinas. It was freezing despite being inside the tent, the wind chill factor generously giving me 2 hours of sleep that night.

The next morning, we drove south down the coastline of Big Sur, known to have been called "the greatest meeting of land and sea in the world". I remember having had some trouble grasping for superlatives as I took in the amazing views of the mountains, cliffs and rocky coves while holding my camera at eye level. Something I noticed worthy of noting was that the land in NorCal (northern California) was much greener than that of SoCal, with cows on pastures. It often literally seemed like we were driving through New Zealand on the wrong side of the road.

We then drove back north through Monterey, the city famous for the largest aquarium in the US and Pebble Beach. We went further northeast back to Salinas, the agricultural centre known as the "salad bowl of the nation". Famously, it is also the birthplace of Nobel prize-winning author John Steinbeck, who set many of his naturalistic stories near the area ("Of Mice and Men" being one of them). Up the Interstate 101 we drove, towards our final destination many people have recommended as their favourite city in the US, San Francisco.

There was no time to visit Stanford University in Palo Alto, as we only had a few days to explore San Francisco. From the freeway (motorway in NZ English) I could see what Silicon Valley was famous for. Many big-name companies like Google, Intel and Microsoft were concentrated on this stretch of land between Palo Alto and San Jose, world famous as the centre of the computer industry.

Arriving at San Francisco's famous Fisherman's Wharf, we began the adventure of this much-loved city. Without doubt, we had seafood lunch at arrival, including clam chowder and sourdough bread - two things every tourist must have when in this city. Delicious. Fisherman's Wharf was the origin of SF's fishing industry, now given way for tourism as its main focus. Pier 39 felt like an outdoor mall, crowded with eager tourists and locals, having a collection of restaurants, shops and amusements, set against a backdrop of the bay. This place attracted tourists even more by having an area on the dock where Californian sea lions basked and barked. There were also horse rides with carriage wagons, steel robot men (like the one in "Road Trip"), clowns, spray paint artists and breakdance teams, all doing their part in contributing to the liveliness of the atmosphere. Walking down the street next to the piers, I saw the Wax Museum and Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum.

We couldn't leave SF without riding its cable cars, so we hopped on like any other eager tourist would. A central cable car powerhouse wound looped cables underground, generating the force that pulled the cable cars along the hilly streets of the metropolitan area. The cars were slow and shaky, but it was a cool experience riding a form of transport that originated in the 19th century. We went to Ghirardelli Square, once home to the world-famous chocolate factory, where we had an ice-cream called the Earthquake - 8 scoops of ice-cream with 8 toppings, all of choice. For those who know me... yeah, it was my cheat night alright.

Later that night we trekked Chinatown, where there were dragon lampposts, up-turned roofs, and glowing red lanterns. Road signs had a Chinese translation, and so did firms with English titles. Interesting fact: The Chinese are the largest ethnic group in San Francisco! There are many Chinese who speak absolutely no English who live in SF with no trouble. I scrutinised the alleyways and buildings of the area, hoping to remember some scenes from "Karate Kid" and "Indiana Jones" which were filmed here.

We also trekked Downtown SF, and saw the cool high-rise buildings that make SF the New York of the west coast. Most notable was the Transamerica Pyramid, a distinctive landmark with a unique design that is the tallest building of the city.

We stayed the night at Hostelling International for a decent $25 for accommodation and breakfast. I finally rewarded myself with some proper sleep, dropping into a deep state within seconds.

The next morning, we checked out and drove over the Golden Gate bridge. This famous symbol of SF is the most photographed bridge in the world, spanning 1.2 miles in length, having taken four years to build. This internationally orange suspension bridge was probably the climax in terms of the "ooh-aah"'s of San Francisco for me, and it sure was absolutely breathtaking!

We travelled south, had lunch at Quizno's Sub (sort of like Subway) in Palo Alto, where I was picked up by Toby (apartmentmate) to head east towards Nevada to Lake Tahoe!

Finals Week before Spring Break!

2007-03-23T20:43:00.000-07:00

Two gruelling three hour exams separated by half an hour, followed by a final three hour night exam ending at 10pm gave me a desperate need of some sort of reward at the conclusion of my first academic quarter at UCSD. One brief highlight during this week was going to the tip of Point Loma, where the views of San Diego's harbour and skyline were spectacular. This place is famous because it is apparently the very ground that Spanish explorer, Juan Cabrillo, stepped ashore onto American soil. The Cabrillo National Monument is one of the most famous in the US, a tribute to the beginning of the Spanish colonisation of the west coast of the country.

As another brief highlight, plus to get some much needed air, we had an attempt at a SoCal (Southern California) tradition called grunion running. Grunions, if you don't know (I'd thought it was just a funny word till this time) are the only type of fish that spawn on land, mothers wiggling themselves up the sandy beaches to lay eggs after a weird mating ritual with the father, who in turn injects the sperm. The eggs in the sand are thereby protected from predators until they hatch. This procreating phenomenon is commonly witnessed in warmer SoCal beach shores a few days after the full moon (after high tide), but unfortunately we failed to see a single one of these interesting fish at La Jolla Shores Beach.

This is what grunion running is supposed to look like:

Finals week ended not only with a condensed timetable of exams, but with farewell dinners and parties for those whose time had come to return to their home country. Sad but memorable times they were.

On Friday, the day after my final exam, some of us explored Coronado Island (an island off the coast of San Diego connected by a huge architecturally slick bridge to the mainland) at dusk. This island is famous for its beautiful sunsets, and one of San Diego's symbols - Hotel Del Coronado. This Victorian style hotel was built as a premier resort for the wealthy, being the largest all-wooden building in California. Many famous people throughout history such as Edison, Chaplin, Ruth, and many US Presidents have been known to have stayed here. This was also the location for the filming of many famous movies through history.

It was cool to chill out and take a stroll around downtown SD at night. Gaslamp quarter is the historic district of downtown, named after the iron gas lamps that line the streets. Since it was a Friday night, I took the opportunity to witness San Diego's vibrant nightlife. Hunger busting that night was taken care of at Buca di Beppo, which is a family-style Italian restaurant famous for interesting vintage pictures all around its walls.

Next destination? Road trip!

My 20th at Magic Mountain!

2007-03-13T21:09:00.000-07:00

I have officially shed my teen self. On the night of the 9th, a group of us I-Housers celebrated, yup, the ending of my teenage era and my entrance into the 3rd decade. Interesting presents were received, including a kiwifruit. My apartment was "booked" as usual with yet another Chilean party, so we got together in Mohit's town house (6 person) apartment (which has a foozball table and a perfect beer pong platform). It was a great night, where we foozballed, tried out some new and novel concoctions of the potent variety and busted out some karaoke (thanks to a portable karaoke machine). Memorable moment: When I least expected it, Chris, one of Moh's roomies, pinned me by the arms and by then I knew straight away what was coming. I saw the creamy blur come without hesitation at my direction, and me, being a good sport, took it well. That was the first official caking I've had, and it was a good one according to the satisfied spectators in the apartment. Soft and chocolatey too.

The night couldn't go for too long because the next morning, there was a UCSD college funded trip to Six Flags: Magic Mountain that coincided nicely with my actual birthday. Those going (many I-Housers) had to all get up at dawn to catch the early bus to northern LA. Magic Mountain is a theme park with 16 crazy rollercoasters, some being the best in the world. I caught up on some well-needed sleep on the bus ride up. As we approached Six Flags, we could see the high-rise, snakelike and colourful metal rails in the distance. I could hear the expected "Oh, my"s, "Oooh, aaah"s and even the "OMG, this is a big mistake coming here"s. It was a scorching hot day. Getting off the bus, we saw many thrill-seekers and adrenalin-junkies at the crowded entrance. Many of them seemed like high school students craving some serious speed.

We went on a good handful of rides considering the wait times, these being Viper, Goliath, Superman, Tatsu and Batman. Goliath was the tallest rollercoaster in the park, which teased us with an agonisingly slow ascent which gave way for the 255 foot (that's almost 80 metres guys!) near vertical drop into a subterranean tunnel! It was a very fast 3 minutes. Superman was a ride that we waited 2 hrs for, for a 20 second thrill ride. It accelerated us horizontally from 0 to 100 mph (160 kph) in six seconds, up a vertical ramp and back down again. Tatsu was the newest rollercoaster of them all (with the longest waiting line), and this awesome ride had us with arms and legs free, positioned horizontally so that the effect of flying was achieved. Four of us rode the very front of Tatsu, and I had a proper bet with Moh that I could go the whole ride with hands out in front, with no contact. Something I doubted myself many times whilst seeing the coaster corkscrew turn like mad and drop unbelievably fast over and over again during the wait, turned out to be something that will feed me well one evening in the near hungry future.

As expected, souvenirs and food were very expensive, but I tried Dippin' Dots which were tiny balls of ice-cream that were frozen on the outside. This amusement park favourite melted in the mouth and were beautiful, especially in the intense heat. Overall, Six Flags: Magic Mountain was a fun and exhilarating experience, living up to the stereotype of American theme parks without doubt. Once the adrenaline levels died down as we all boarded the bus again, drowsiness shot up and we succumbed to the remarkably heavy eyelids. It was a birthday like no other.

I have final exams next week, including two 3 hour exams on Tuesday separated by 30 minutes! The great reward on the other side though is Spring Break! The tentative plan is to road trip up the coast of California from San Diego via LA to San Francisco, explore this beautiful city and the Bay Area (seeing the sights like Golden Gate Bridge, Berkeley, Stanford), and then go skiing at picturesque, world-famous Lake Tahoe. If that's not enough, we are going to then road trip it from LA to Las Vegas for the Friday night and then venture into the Grand Canyon for the final weekend. All in 8 days!

Tijuana and Seaworld!

2007-02-18T22:16:00.000-08:00

Friday night was one to remember. We scored a deal with a limo bus which took a good 60 I-Housers across the USA/Mexico border to Tijuana, which is the border city (in Mexico) 20 minutes south of San Diego where the legal age for drinking is...yes you guessed it, 18! Our destination? A party at Balak club, which boasted a remarkably Sultan-palace-like facade, which hosted "College Fridays". Transport, unlimited drinks and cover were all taken care of with $25. The bartenders did expect tip for each drink though. Making the most of the new location, legit drinking status and free drinks, I had a night out which was truly one of the best I've had in a long, long time. We would sit down on a table and receive a drink we ordered a minute ago, and the waiters would ask whether we wanted more drinks. We would say "It's ok", but they would persist and say "You really sure?", and of course we would then say "Another Pina Colada and Corona please?" Free! Over and over again! So incredible it was, that the night shaped out to be one of the best I've ever had - on the tables, around the bar and on the dance floor.

When the announcement was made to return to the limo bus at the border, we had to get through border patrol officers, who checked our passports and documents to ensure that we could leave Mexico. One of my friends however was caught with an expired I-94, and was alone left stranded while the bus had to leave. Apparently he had photos taken and questions bombarded at him while under Mexican interrogation. Scary it would've been for him. Especially for the duration of 3 hours before finally getting "rescued".

Early the next morning, I had a dysfunctional left eardrum which was weird. Anyway, Seaworld was the big item on the agenda. Being one of the major attractions of San Diego, it lived up to its world-famous name, and more. The sea otter and dolphin show were very impressive, and the "Believe" show performed by Shamu (famous Seaworld killer whale) and the other killer whales was truly incredible. My eyes almost fell out when the drinks guys at Shamu Stadium were selling soft drinks for $8.99 each (NZ $13.50!). We went on an exhilarating (and refreshingly thirst-quenching) ride which got some us absolutely soaked, and saw a myriad of beautiful marine creatures (polar bears, penguins, beluga whales, walruses, and many more) throughout the day, some which I had never seen first-hand before. With time running out, we only managed to mission through half the marine park before the sun set over us.

Time ticked that night towards the Lunar New Year. We feasted on scrumptious Kimchi Jjigae, Sam-Gyup-Sal and Soju, played traditional Korean games (Go-Stop and Yut) which got the foreigners intrigued at the complexity (for them) of the simple (for us) games, and had a deep and meaningful Spin-the-Bottle truth game to finish off the night with few secrets left.

Tomorrow, since it is Presidents Day, some of us are thinking of going on a hike up gorgeous Stonewall Peak in Julian. And it's raining in San Diego tonight (which poses a greater danger of slips and falls)...which will make the hike more the memorable! Watch this space!

Spirit Week

2007-02-11T04:21:00.000-08:00

UCSD implements a six college system (Revelle, Muir, Marshall, Roosevelt, Warren and Sixth) where there can be intense rivalry between them, especially during Spirit Week. The past week at UCSD was Spirit Week, an annual spirit contest between the colleges where the colours of UCSD blue and gold were painted, draped and decorated all around campus. The week started off with Superbowl XLI, where a huge projected screen showed the Indianapolis Colts take out the title as champions of 2007. Various other college vs college competitions such as the Battle of the Bands took place throughout the week, climaxing at Spirit Night (Friday night) which included basketball games, a fireworks display and a school dance.

The UCSD Tritons men and women basketball teams were victorious in their home games which kicked off Spirit Night. The atmosphere in the UCSD arena was an experience that reflected college student life stereotyped in all those American teen movies we have seen. The arena was packed with enthusiastic fans dressed or completely painted in blue and gold, cheering the Tritons on throughout the entire match. Free throws were aided by the Tritons good luck finger gesture. A star Korean point guard (transferred from the UCLA bball team!) drove our team to victory. The cheerleaders came on throughout the match and for the halftime show, somersaulting and flipping their way into the limelight. Players trash talking on the court, smartly dressed coaches rallying their teams, and ally-oops during the game all matched and even surpassed my expectations.

An impressive fireworks display on the fields outside the arena was followed by the Geisel Dance. Sounds ironic doesn't it? Basically it was a dance party with a huge sound system, held right outside our Geisel library. Kinda crazy? Seeing that the library opens till late on Friday nights, it was very interesting to think about the students studying for midterms right across the wall at the time.

On a completely contrasting subject, there was a conference about sleep that I attended, held at the Salk Institute the past two days. Salk Institute is a biomedical research laboratory founded by Francis Crick (the guy who discovered the structure of DNA). It was interesting, but very intellectually challenging, hearing and taking in the discussions between research scientists specialising in such a little-known area which is so essential our lives.

An IRB Rugby Sevens tournament is currently being held here in San Diego over the weekend. I won't be able to make it to any of the games this time round, but I'm sure NZ will have it over Fiji this time!

A pretty shocking experience one night on my way back from grocery shopping: on the bus that took me back to UCSD, I overheard a brief conversation where this one man said that he'd been living on the streets for 25 years. I was wondering who's comforter (NZ: duvet) it was next to my feet! When it was time for him to get off the bus, the very old African American man got up, stumbled his way to the tattered comforter which I made way for, then collapsed headfirst onto the pavement where the bus stopped. Shocked I was, as the bus driver helped the old man. On the same bus, another man was psyching himself up seemingly for a confrontation with someone else for a girl. I could hear him talking to himself, making alpha male gestures and rehearsing self mantras. For normally such a mundane thing, it sure as heck was one memorable bus ride.

Balboa Park

2007-02-04T03:45:00.000-08:00

San Diego is world famous for many things, and amongst them are the arts. The city boasts the largest urban cultural park in the nation, Balboa Park. This park is truly massive, housing 15 major museums, as well as the world renowned San Diego Zoo. I spent the afternoon there today. With performers playing the didgeridoo, the harp and some clowns performing public shows, the park was a great place for families to enjoy. It seemed as if Balboa Park was quite the destination for a romantic date too (we saw more than enough couples making out).

We explored the Museum of Man, which contained exhibits relating to anthropology: giant stuffed Neanderthals, glazed mummies, fossils of early hominids, and gigantic Mayan statues just to name a few. There were also many stand-out monuments and gardens outside which failed to lose our attention. A whole afternoon was spent at the park, but we only got to see one museum and a tiny fraction of the park (that is how large the place is). We also saw a stunningly black Lamborghini and a shimmering white Hummer limousine. I'll certainly be coming back to this gorgeous place again.

Memorable moment: Toby, my roommate has a pet snake, called Jamal. He is a harmless ball python (he's awesome..the first snake I've held). Anyway, he normally feeds Jamal frozen lab mice every few weeks, but this time, decided to do a bit of a Steve Irwin and give a live mouse a go... to give Jamal a challenge, and to also YouTube it. So we go to a pet store and ask where their live "feeder" mice are. The counter lady says that the shop doesn't sell live "feeder" mice. We look around, and see a much more expensive $5 mouse running at its little wheel. We decide that it will be worth it. However, little do we know that the lady in charge of the cage keys is...yup that same lady. Toby: "Uhh...we were wanting to buy err...that mouse?" Lady: "You asked for feeder mice before." I could feel the awkwardness of the situation...and yeah, we ultimately leave without a mouse.

On Thursday night, we went down to Black's Beach, which is famous for its surfers, but notorious for its old nude men. It is a 5 minute walk from I-House. There was this monthly event at Black's called "Drum Circle" held at the night of the full moon. As a group representing I-House, we strolled down towards the beach, following the rhythmic beats of the drums as they gradually sounded louder. Students congregated around a campfire, dancing, singing, playing percussion instruments of all categories (trash cans included), and all just having a great time. There were stuntmen/women juggling sticks of fire, and the smell of pot was always there. A great night it was.

As for the midterms, they went ok. The exams were surprisingly informal, as we could start the test as soon as the lecturer handed the papers out to us in turn, and I was right next to the fellow student on the left and right of me with bags at my feet. One of the classes that I am taking, Biomechanics, is way beyond the equivalent of what we should be taking back at Auckland, as it assumes a decent level of knowledge in Continuum Mechanics (something we haven't even touched yet). The other is Principles of Bioinstrumentation Design, again, above our level. The other two classes are Systems Neurobiology and Tissue Engineering Seminar. I have noticed that some students here talk in a very smart fashion (going off in smart sounding tangents), and the majority have this different way of talking compared to many in NZ. This may seem academically intimidating at times, but something tells me that I may be able to cope better than I initially thought.

Oh, and one more thing to mention. It rained earlier this week. Drizzle. For the first time since I got here a month ago. People were taking photos, writing in their diaries and calling their parents ("OMG, it's actually... water falling from the sky!") lol.

San Pasqual Reservation

2007-01-27T03:37:00.000-08:00

Many UCSD international students joined forces today to volunteer at San Pasqual Reservation. It was both an educational and fun-filled day, as we learnt a great deal about the history of the Native American Indians. I was slightly disappointed with the fact that not much culture or art were on display (I was for a moment expecting to see teepees and feather hats).

The reservation is an area of land where the natives could live in with sovereign policies. This meant that they in essence had their "own government", having their own rights and ownership of buildings, property, water systems, etc. It was interesting to hear that they don't need to pay taxes either. A large casino was under construction in the reservation, which will be a potential source of income for many future residents of the area. I was surprised at how desert-like the community was, yet some households had slick cars (a Mustang was seen, I must point out).
We took part in a community project which resembled "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition", as we formed production lines, rolled wheelbarrows, shovelled woodchips, placed bricks, flattened out gravel, all on our way towards revamping a playground and re-creating a patio for one of the main buildings.

The coming week will have my first midterms. These are sort of like in-course tests of New Zealand, but since most classes have them (plus they are worth more), they are treated and dreaded almost like final exams. Pressure is on however, as I have realised that grades that I obtain here at UCSD may actually matter in the long run. With so much to see and do though, and time going by as fast as ever, I will have to become a master juggler.

Exploring La Jolla

2007-01-21T03:29:00.000-08:00

I took the chance to go to downtown La Jolla yesterday. The level of affluence in the town area reflected that of the residential areas, with numerous posh, high-class stores and expensive dining restaurants. With some effort, I managed to find an affordable cafe, where I had the best panini in my life hands down. Adjacent to town was Children's Pool near La Jolla Cove, where harbour seals enjoyed the warm sunshine, slowly worm-dancing their way from one position to the next. Pelicans perched on top of eroded rock, and squirrels raced their way across the asphalt of the parking area. One of the little furry creatures actually brushed against my leg during its daring move...a pleasant surprise it was, since I hadn't ever seen a squirrel before.
Next up was the Museum of Contemporary Arts, one of the many museums of San Diego. The exhibits were amazingly graphic at times, profoundly original as well, and although I admit that I was confused rather than enlightened by many of them, it was a new experience for sure. Interesting is the one word that will describe it best.

That night, we had a party at I-House themed "Blinded by the Lights". Sunnies intact, it required skill at times to weave through the densely packed host apartment with limited wavelengths of light seen. A fun night it was. Word on the street is that next week's party is "Australia Day"...interesting.

Martin Luther King Jr Weekend

2007-01-15T03:20:00.000-08:00

The past few days have been awesome. On Thursday night, I went out for a birthday dinner with some I-House people to The Cheesecake Factory. It is quite a famous restaurant branch near downtown San Diego. For those who know me quite well...yes, the name said all. I enjoyed what was probably the best cheesecake I've ever had: the Swiss Toblerone Almond cheesecake. It was divine. Friday night was taken care of at...TGI Fridays (where else?). It was another outing to remember...with a learnt lesson that big groups at most restaurants are charged tips. Quite oxymoronic, don't you think? Following the high calorie night, I went on the campus loop run the next morning. This is a running circuit around the UCSD campus which adds up to be 4 miles exactly (6.5 kms). It should be the perfect distance for quick cardio sessions.

Yesterday was a bittersweet day, as jubilance from a hard-fought victory in the fun soccer game between I-Housers (wow do some girls have skill here!) was subdued by the news that shocked most San Diegan football fans. The San Diego Chargers, who finished the regular season of the NFL with the best record, armed with one of the best running backs ever (LaDainian Tomlinson), narrowly lost to the New England Patriots in a playoff match.

Today was Martin Luther King Jr day, one of the public holidays of the United States, so most students bask in the freedom of the 3 day weekend. Some adventure-goers of I-House decided to go hiking. Out of many possible choices, we decided to tackle the trails of Torrey Pines State Reserve. The hike was more fun than strenuous though, as we compared the flora and fauna with that of New Zealand. Threats and warning signs of mountain lions and rattlesnakes excited us throughout the afternoon, and overall, the park gave us nice views of coastal rock formations and the calm seaside. From the summit, we could also see the world famous Torrey Pines Golf Course, where the 2007 Buick Open will be held in a few weeks time and also where the 2008 US Open will take place.

Settling In

2007-01-13T03:12:00.000-08:00

Whoa, the last week has been hectic. So many new names to remember, so many ways of the UCSD student to get used to, and so many decisions made in terms of settling in and getting involved with the happenings in and around campus. On Sunday, I moved into International House, one of the newest, savviest and most socially-adept hostels at UCSD. Together with two other NZers who have my back at I-House: Mohit, fellow bioengineer from Auckland and Alice, the most outgoing Kiwi girl you could imagine, we represent the land of the long white cloud. Bronwyn is another Kiwi girl who came in this quarter, living off-campus. International House residents are a great mix of friendly people. 50% of us are American and 50% are international. The perfect mix, in my opinion. The apartments are single-sex, and there are three main buildings - Kathmandu (where I stay), Cuzco and Asante. My roommates are: Toby (American), Dennis (American-Filipino) and Francesco (Chilean party-boy). There have been a few parties already at I-House so far (unsurprisingly one in our flat), and although it feels as though part of me is 16 again (the drinking age is 21 here), it is only a small barrier to having just as much fun (if you know what I mean).
Lectures began on Monday and the first week has just rocketed past. What I have noticed is that lectures are strikingly similar to those in Auckland, but since the quarterly system is implemented here, the lecture material goes very, very fast. People work unbelievably hard here too, as everyone does their readings and seems to be actively involved a lot more during discussions. UCSD is currently ranked as the 7th best public university in the States, 2nd best in bioengineering and 1st in neuroscience. Seeing that my major is bioengineering, and that I am also taking a neuro class, I better put my work hat on firmly before I start falling behind after a mere one week.

Because the campus is so damn big, skateboards, bikes and even scooters are quite the common means for expedited travel from location to location. Loyalty is a biggie here, as many people own a UCSD hoodie, use UCSD labelled folders, books and even mugs. I am always surprised by the next UCSD labelled item I find. For meals, I get to choose from a variety of cafes on campus, and I pay by using my pre-charged meal card. However, prices here (especially food) are more expensive than back at home.

Common and interesting linguistic disparities I have found so far are:

Litres of petrol (NZ) = Gallons of gas (US)
Paper (NZ) = Class (US)
Assignment (NZ) = Paper (US)...confusing!
"Shall we cruise?" (NZ) = "Shall we bounce?" (US)
"I'm up for it" (NZ) = "I'm down for it" (US)...funny that
Boot (NZ) = Trunk (US)
Queue (NZ) = Line (US)
Cutlery (NZ) = Silverware (US)
Pie (NZ) = Pie (US)...just the different kind

My personal favourite: I looked seemingly un-co as I literally repeated the word "rubbish bin" 5 times to someone before she understood it as "trash can". Haha to that. Not to mention, they don't have dairies here! (But they do have 7 Elevens).

My First Few Days

2007-01-06T02:50:00.000-08:00

I have spent the last few days getting all the nitty gritties sorted, also taking the opportunity to do a self-tour around campus. It is huge! Walking from one side of the campus to the other takes almost 30 minutes I must add. There are some cool looking buildings here too. The most notable must be the one on the heart of campus, the Geisel library, which sends forth the resonating chime every quarter hour. It's facade resembles that of a futuristic sci-fi spaceship, and it is named after Dr. Seuss (yes we all know who that is).

The past few days have been great in the sense that I have explored the campus, one of the many beaches, and learnt a heck of a lot about American culture through my host family. I've done lots of walking here, but it is such a common sight to see people of all ages, races and fitness level either cycling, running or walking around the neighbourhood. Notable things I have seen since I arrived that I must mention are: fit tanned ladies walking their overly groomed and neatly trimmed dogs, so many houses with large masts holding American flags, the fact that 90% of cars in La Jolla are post 2000 (I've seen a few state-of-the-art Mustangs, Corvettes, Porsches, Ferraris, Humvees already), some with little fluttering American flags (some even with Chargers flags), how most dinner conversation topics will inevitably lead to politics (coming from experience with host family), how conversationally driven and socially open people can be (as a consequence of the Freedom of Speech?). I truly am experiencing first-hand, the American stereotype...it's great though.

Touchdown

2007-01-04T02:45:00.000-08:00

I am finally here in Californ-I-A! All that hype and preparation has pinnacled and I am now doing this travel blog entry (that many ppl tend to do whilst traveling) for the first time. On the morning of Wednesday the 3rd of January, my Air Tahiti Nui jet, after stopping over at humid Tahiti, landed safely on the much anticipated soil that is none other than America.

Touching down at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), I had a delay at the port of entry before stepping out into the sea of local American faces and culture. One of the first things that caught my eye were the number of calories on the items of the cafe menu...shown like warning signs. Awkwardly shuffling through the same coloured notes was a memorable moment too. Catching a shuttle at LAX was a mission in itself, and at the end of it, I was overeager in my first tipping ever...giving the friendly driver 33% of the fare (the standard is 10-15%). I guess I'll eventually catch on, as I acclimatize with the culture here (just as long as I keep my NZ accent 100% genuine). It was an amazing feeling though, seeing the green signs of "Santa Monica Beach" and "Long Beach" as we drove down the freeway (the equivalent of the NZ "motorway"). At the Greyhound bus station, I boarded the bus that took me to San Diego, which is 2-3 hrs south of LA. I was picked up by my host family parent: conversational, helpful, and the possessor of the most noticeable laugh possible. The house that I stayed in had an elevated deck, flaunting the beautiful scenery of La Jolla.

The University of California, San Diego is located in La Jolla, which is an affluent neighbourhood of San Diego. Pronounced "La-Hoya", it is translated to "the Jewel" in Spanish. La Jolla is a seaside community north of downtown, and shows off some of the most expensive real estate of the USA. Commonly referred to as "America's finest city", clouds are seldom seen here in San Diego. The 2nd largest city in California (8th largest in the USA) is home to the largest naval military base in the world, so it is not uncommon to see and hear military jets flying overhead sending out white plumes into the clear blue skies. And guess what...the city of San Diego has the most PhDs per capita in the USA. There are honestly too many world-leading research institutions to name. With breathtaking oceanside views, parks and endless attractions, where I am now (in a nutshell) is smart, beautiful and rich (one might say that the only attribute it needs now is a good personality? I guess we'll have to find out...). I have officially fallen in love with this place...and it's only been a day!