Lost in Joshua Tree with Scott (Dec 12, 2009)

The idea was to go on a hike, who knew he was gonna cross out a destination on my checklist.

Got up at 7am, loaded Sophia with some Justin Timberlake, stopped for half a dozen of doughnuts for breakfast, and headed south to Costa Mesa to meet up with the Scott. Left the OC at around 830am, doughnuts and coffee in hand. This is gonna be a wonderful day!

After about 3 hours of driving in the rain, hello Joshua Tree! You seem well and dry :( hopes of playing with mud in the desert dead in an instant. The wonderful thing about nature, there are never repeat experiences despite the repeat locations.

It's so easy to get lost. Bring a friend (preferably someone you can stand for many, many hours in case you get lost or a flash light), bring a map (even if it's gonna rain, MORE SO IF ITS GONNA RAIN!), bring food (nothing that will attract the coyotes please!).

Creatures of the desert. Pile of poop or lovers turned into stone?

Giant Palm Trees, beware!!!

How amazing was it?? Let's just say he's been there enough times to possibly have a good idea of the trails and such, but we still got lost. Hah. The 4 hour hike turned into an 8 hour one and we ended up with quite the exercise. On that note, the giant palm tree trail is a dead end..

Story:

With so much trust and confidence that the Scott knows what's going on, I walk into the wilderness with him without asking questions. The moment we realize that we were lost, all confidence is lost as well. Here's roughly how it went:

J: You hike a lot, don't you have a GPS?

S: Yeah, but I left it at home.

J: Why?

S: I thought it was gonna rain, I didn't want it to get wet.

J: What?

S: Sorry

J: Hmmm, how bout a map?

S: I left it at home, too.

J: Because you didn't want it to get wet?

S: (smiles in embarrassment) Yeah.

J: Don't they have any in the ranger station? Why didn't we get some, it'll prolly be cheap.

S: It's free.

My legs were sore all week from the walking.

Hiiiii..

So I'm back. I haven't been anywhere new since June in New York. But I will start writing again. And as promised it will be filled with as many addresses, phone numbers, and websites of all the awesomeness this planet has to offer.

I also may move, to Seattle. And I have my EIT. Yes I am some sort of geek. And I am still looking to kick off my career. But I do have a job that keeps me kicking.

xoxo

Tour Guides <--- bit of a rant...

I highly suggest not getting a tour guide, especially in when visiting cities. Exceptions would include a trip to the amazon and the like, or to a country that speaks a language which you or any of your companions do not speak. However conversational pocket size books on languages are always available in bookstores.

And how do I suggest you get around? There are many blogs like mine that talk about where to go and what to do. In addition to this, many of the cities and states have tourist information on their websites. Yes, the internet is such a wonderful thing! And in the event that you find spots that were not in your resources while you are there, well, you have just made your adventure super!

So what's wrong with tour guides? Nothing really. Except when they are family, they tend to take you to places they enjoy with the assumption that you will enjoy it too. That's about it.

End of Rant. :):(:):(

I Love You Man, Los Angeles, CA

Hands down "I Love You Man" is probably the funiest movie I've ever seen. Not only will it have you laughing every single second, it also is very nostalgic for me because of the very real Los Angeles scenery it presents. It gives you a very good preview of what I call uptown Los Angeles, Hollywood and the magnificent Venice Beach. 

My first few years in the United States was spent going to school in LA. Orange County has not been bad, but by far not one city in that I have been to is better. My top cities are Seattle and Tucson, still nothing beat LA!

I'm writing this for those who are wondering what raw and real Los Angeles looks like. Just off the top of my head, a few other good movies to check out are Training Day and Crank. 

I hope these movies would make you wanna visit. But one at a time please, tourist can be annoying ;)

local_visitor <---- annoying!

Seattle, WA (March 26 to 29, 2009)

It was the long and well awaited spring break. Possibly my last one before I start my "real" life. My mom and I flew out from LAX at 3pm, arrived in SEA at 730pm. Plane rides are getting expensive. (What a predictable thing to say...)

The first night wasn't very exciting, seeing as how I went with my mom and decided to stay at my cousin's house. Downtown Seattle, however, made up for all the boring that my mother was trying to be. Heh.

I drove down with the intention of seeing Black Mountain at Neumos, but decided against it as I sat in a little tavern just across the street, Comet Tavern. Found my way to the place thinking, this is just like downtown LA, except it feels a lot less scary! Picture time!

Pike Street at Downtown Seattle, where a lot if not most of all the fun happens! Haha. 

Mico de Noche.

Who's Playing? For how much? ;)

Comet Tavern Ceiling..

Fast Paced Action Packed

Pike's Public Market.

This is my second visit to Seattle. The next two days were tourist time for my mom. We went to the Space Needle. Beautiful Structure, nothing too crazy. Sunday morning was a drive north off the I5 to Snoqualmie Falls. I love waterfalls, so I was happy. 

Fly back was alright. Flight was delayed, but not too bad, unlike the delay from Kauai. That is a story for another day.