Enjoyed waffles with icecream for breakky before packing up our stuff and checking out of our wonderful loft! We loaded up the car and then left it in the hotel garage whilst we went off to the upper village to rent a bike! Initially Di was rather hesitant about riding cos the weather didn’t look too crash hot and it had drizzled already that morning but I thought we might as well just go ahead and do it!
We got the trail map out and were soon cruising our way along the Lost Lake Trail, which led us not surprisingly to Lost Lake! We rode around part of it before following the map guide towards Green Lake. We enjoyed some downhill runs, being careful not to skid on the gravel. This is when we then got lost! Somehow the map fell out of my back pocket and we took a wrong turn and basically couldn’t find Green Lake! Then it started to drizzle!
We promptly followed my navigational instincts and took a random trail that I thought looked like it was heading back to the village. Di really enjoyed this trail as it led us alongside the river up and down along a narrow dirt path! We eventually found our way back to a main road and we decided to return the bikes after riding for just an hour.
We then said bye to Whistler, vowing to return one day in winter to ski/snowboard! We drove south (very slowly due to roadworks upgrading the Sea to Sky highway in preparation for the 2010 Vancouver winter Olympics) and headed for the Capilano suspension bridge! This bridge apparently runs through the forest canopy but we decided not to do it cos it costs CND 30 per person!!! Having done a similar bridge in Malaysia for RM 6 or something like that, we decided instead to go to the Vancouver Aquarium!
We drove south over the Lion’s Gate bridge to Stanley Park where the aquarium is situated and got there around 2pm. There were still plenty of people about! We checked out the tropical fish tanks, a butterfly/slough enclosure, and some cute baby tortoises! Then we grabbed a burger at the aquarium café before hearing a talk about the Beluga whales, which are their star attractions. Qila, the mother whale gave birth to a baby girl just 8 days ago so they were very excited about that! We heard about the birth and how Qila’s own mother Aurora helped teach her how to nurse her baby calf! Then we headed to the viewing area below to watch Qila nurse her baby! Our visit to the aquarium was rounded out by a visit to the dolphin enclosure where 3 dolphins performed some cool tricks for us, and then the sea otter tank where 2 sea otters playfully swam around!
It was around 5pm when we left the aquarium and drove east towards Burnaby. We called Di’s dad’s friend Mun Kong and met up with him at a golf club in Burnaby. Then he drove us in his car to Coquitlam to have Japanese food for dinner! He was really really friendly and we enjoyed chatting with him over dinner! The food itself was great! Fresh seafood here makes for great sushi/sashimi!
After dinner we headed back to Ray and Soo’s place! We played with Ethan and Evelyn a bit before they were put to bed and then we showed Ray and Soo our wedding photos before enjoying some of their freshly baked muffins for supper! Time for bed - the penultimate night of our honeymoon!!!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Day out in Whistler!
Got up early to get some breakky from downstairs before the tour group staying at our hotel took it all! Di was kind enough to get it whilst I struggled to get up! It wasn’t bad! Freshly made waffles, pastries, juice, and tea!
After breakky we set off to the visitor centre intent on buying our tickets up to Blackcomb mountain! When we got there the lady showed us the live web cam feed of the mountain and it didn’t look too inviting! Dark clouds, wind, and freezing temperatures made us think twice about going up! We returned to our hotel and after seeing the sun poke its head out intermittently, we decided what the heck, let’s do it!
Putting on 3 layers each, we got our tickets and walked up to the upper village to catch the chairlift up Blackcomb mountain! We first took the Wizard Express to a midstation platform before catching the Solar Express lift to Rendevous. On the way up we were fortunate enough to spot a native black bear! It looked like a cub!
The higher up we went, the colder it got! Some people were actually skiing and snowboarding and making their way to the top of the mountain. We caught a shuttle bus to the 7th Heaven Lift and headed for the summit! Up here it was freezing man!!! Without proper winter gear, my hands and face were numb, and my anklet socks weren’t cutting it!
Up the top we had splendid views of Whistler valley and there was significantly more snow up here than at the bottom of the hill. We took refuge in Horstman’s Hut and enjoyed a hearty bowl of minestrone soup! Then it was time to go back down as it started to snow!
Going down was even colder! The wind seemed to be blowing straight at us and it seemed to take forever to reach the bottom! On the way back down we spotted 2 more bears! Di was so happy!
Back at the bottom, we checked out Spicy Sports bicycle rentals before deciding to rent them tomorrow cos it looked like it was gonna rain. Instead we grabbed lunch at KFC to satisfy our craving! Mmm mmm!
After lunch it was already 3pm and we headed back to our hotel to rest a bit before going out to the cinema next door to see Kung Fu Panda! It was awesome!!! Really funny and great cinematography!
Dinner was home cooked fish and chips with leftover salad and chicken kebab from yesterday night! Time to sleep…right after our A & W root beer float! Yeah!
After breakky we set off to the visitor centre intent on buying our tickets up to Blackcomb mountain! When we got there the lady showed us the live web cam feed of the mountain and it didn’t look too inviting! Dark clouds, wind, and freezing temperatures made us think twice about going up! We returned to our hotel and after seeing the sun poke its head out intermittently, we decided what the heck, let’s do it!
Putting on 3 layers each, we got our tickets and walked up to the upper village to catch the chairlift up Blackcomb mountain! We first took the Wizard Express to a midstation platform before catching the Solar Express lift to Rendevous. On the way up we were fortunate enough to spot a native black bear! It looked like a cub!
The higher up we went, the colder it got! Some people were actually skiing and snowboarding and making their way to the top of the mountain. We caught a shuttle bus to the 7th Heaven Lift and headed for the summit! Up here it was freezing man!!! Without proper winter gear, my hands and face were numb, and my anklet socks weren’t cutting it!
Up the top we had splendid views of Whistler valley and there was significantly more snow up here than at the bottom of the hill. We took refuge in Horstman’s Hut and enjoyed a hearty bowl of minestrone soup! Then it was time to go back down as it started to snow!
Going down was even colder! The wind seemed to be blowing straight at us and it seemed to take forever to reach the bottom! On the way back down we spotted 2 more bears! Di was so happy!
Back at the bottom, we checked out Spicy Sports bicycle rentals before deciding to rent them tomorrow cos it looked like it was gonna rain. Instead we grabbed lunch at KFC to satisfy our craving! Mmm mmm!
After lunch it was already 3pm and we headed back to our hotel to rest a bit before going out to the cinema next door to see Kung Fu Panda! It was awesome!!! Really funny and great cinematography!
Dinner was home cooked fish and chips with leftover salad and chicken kebab from yesterday night! Time to sleep…right after our A & W root beer float! Yeah!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Vancouver to Whistler!
Today was just one of those spontaneity days where we didn’t really accomplish too much. We need these days sometimes and I enjoy it because it doesn’t feel like there’s a schedule to keep to.
We woke to the Sun family having breakfast but both Ben and I were still so sleepy. Not sure why as we had at least 8 hours sleep. We managed to get out of the house by 10am to pick up our rental car at Metrotown. Following which we went to the Canadian Superstore to pick up some snacks, toothbrushes and water. I wish we had a store like that in Australia. There a dispensers of M&M’s, lollies, pasta and lentils. I misjudged the M&M dispenser as I ended up with about 600 grams of M&M’s. Ben made me ditch about half the bag. Cruel man I married.
We headed off for an early lunch of sushi, teriyaki chicken and tempura in the foodcourt. The noodles which accompanied the teriyaki chicken was more like spaghetti than noodles. Funny that. In Italy we ate spaghetti which seemed like egg noodles, and in Canada we ate Japanese which seemed like spaghetti.
Finally we headed off for Whistler. We were planning to stop by Shannon Falls on the way but we weren’t sure where to stop and we inadvertently passed the falls even after stopping at the right place. We headed on to Whistler as we could stop by on the way back to Burnaby.
We arrived at our hotel (Whistler Village Inn & Suites) and had to wait for our room to be cleaned. We overheard the receptionist say to her co-worker ‘we’ll need to put them in the loft’ and both of us knowing that this was a better room with a fully equipped kitchen hoped that they were talking about us!
After waiting for our room to be tidied the moment of truth came. We got the loft! Both of us were so happy! This meant we could cook our own dinner! When you’ve been traveling for 3 months, cooking for yourself is a luxury!
We went for a walk around the village which was beautiful. There are also some summer sales of winter clothes that we looked into. We planned for the next day and picked up some groceries for our feast.
The hotel has a BBQ which we used to cook our steak and chicken kebabs. I think we got over excited as we ended up with way too much food. But ah, such is the luxury of cooking for yourself!
We woke to the Sun family having breakfast but both Ben and I were still so sleepy. Not sure why as we had at least 8 hours sleep. We managed to get out of the house by 10am to pick up our rental car at Metrotown. Following which we went to the Canadian Superstore to pick up some snacks, toothbrushes and water. I wish we had a store like that in Australia. There a dispensers of M&M’s, lollies, pasta and lentils. I misjudged the M&M dispenser as I ended up with about 600 grams of M&M’s. Ben made me ditch about half the bag. Cruel man I married.
We headed off for an early lunch of sushi, teriyaki chicken and tempura in the foodcourt. The noodles which accompanied the teriyaki chicken was more like spaghetti than noodles. Funny that. In Italy we ate spaghetti which seemed like egg noodles, and in Canada we ate Japanese which seemed like spaghetti.
Finally we headed off for Whistler. We were planning to stop by Shannon Falls on the way but we weren’t sure where to stop and we inadvertently passed the falls even after stopping at the right place. We headed on to Whistler as we could stop by on the way back to Burnaby.
We arrived at our hotel (Whistler Village Inn & Suites) and had to wait for our room to be cleaned. We overheard the receptionist say to her co-worker ‘we’ll need to put them in the loft’ and both of us knowing that this was a better room with a fully equipped kitchen hoped that they were talking about us!
After waiting for our room to be tidied the moment of truth came. We got the loft! Both of us were so happy! This meant we could cook our own dinner! When you’ve been traveling for 3 months, cooking for yourself is a luxury!
We went for a walk around the village which was beautiful. There are also some summer sales of winter clothes that we looked into. We planned for the next day and picked up some groceries for our feast.
The hotel has a BBQ which we used to cook our steak and chicken kebabs. I think we got over excited as we ended up with way too much food. But ah, such is the luxury of cooking for yourself!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Day out in Vancouver!
Enjoyed a bit of a sleep-in cos Evelyn was still asleep! When we were all up and ready, we crammed into Ray and Soo’s camry and off we went! We drove to Granville Island, about a 15 min drive away. This arty place isn’t really an island but is located under the Granville Bridge by the water! It’s kinda like Paddington back home - with upmarket markets, craft and clothes stores.
We found a parking quickly and after getting Ethan and Evelyn into their strollers we were off! We checked out the markets and some of the craft stores before finding a spot outside on the pier to have lunch! We bought some pot pies from this renowned place for pies and enjoyed the warm Canadian sun! As we ate our clam chowder and pacific salmon pies, we enjoyed street actors doing acrobatics and stunts!
Ethan was servicing us by chasing the seagulls away from the wharf. It was quite comical watching Ethan wave his green stick for bubble making while running after the seagulls. After lunch we took a short walk around the area and picked up an ice-cream.
We boarded a cute boat and sailed around along the river with Soo and Ray as our tour guide. It’s was a mixed scene along the way. There was a concrete factory, a large array of apartment buildings, the science centre and water side entertainment. Ethan was looking a little tired on this trip and he ended up falling asleep in his pram! Gee I miss being a kid!
We had a look around at the shops but this area was really for the tourist, and the people who like arts and crafts and are willing to pay for it. Ben and I have never been such people, so we just admired.
Next stop was Stanley Park. There was a bit of traffic going through Downtown but once we got there we were rewarded with a mini train ride. It goes through the forest and loops around a bit so you have good viewings of the fake moose, bear and birds. It was nice and Ethan loved it. I couldn’t help thinking of my own Ethan who loves trains!
We then walked along to the water and found a bridge which looks exactly like the golden gate bridge, only green. We then crossed over to the other side where we saw the huge cruise liners just before they took off for Alaska. We were on the way to the Totem poles which were replicas made and placed in the park. According to the sign board the animals that were often on these poles were the Eagle (as the king of the sky), Whale (king of the sea), the Wolf (king of the land) and the frog which symbolized the link between land and sea. These totem poles were traditionally made to reflect their dreamtime stories. It was made clear that they were not worshiped or idolized.
Ethan was full of energy at this stage and practically ran all the way back to the car. His Dad had to chase after him and slow him down!
We headed back to the Sun’s place and got Indian take out for dinner. The rest of the evening was filled with research for what we were going to do in Whistler over the next few days.
We found a parking quickly and after getting Ethan and Evelyn into their strollers we were off! We checked out the markets and some of the craft stores before finding a spot outside on the pier to have lunch! We bought some pot pies from this renowned place for pies and enjoyed the warm Canadian sun! As we ate our clam chowder and pacific salmon pies, we enjoyed street actors doing acrobatics and stunts!
Ethan was servicing us by chasing the seagulls away from the wharf. It was quite comical watching Ethan wave his green stick for bubble making while running after the seagulls. After lunch we took a short walk around the area and picked up an ice-cream.
We boarded a cute boat and sailed around along the river with Soo and Ray as our tour guide. It’s was a mixed scene along the way. There was a concrete factory, a large array of apartment buildings, the science centre and water side entertainment. Ethan was looking a little tired on this trip and he ended up falling asleep in his pram! Gee I miss being a kid!
We had a look around at the shops but this area was really for the tourist, and the people who like arts and crafts and are willing to pay for it. Ben and I have never been such people, so we just admired.
Next stop was Stanley Park. There was a bit of traffic going through Downtown but once we got there we were rewarded with a mini train ride. It goes through the forest and loops around a bit so you have good viewings of the fake moose, bear and birds. It was nice and Ethan loved it. I couldn’t help thinking of my own Ethan who loves trains!
We then walked along to the water and found a bridge which looks exactly like the golden gate bridge, only green. We then crossed over to the other side where we saw the huge cruise liners just before they took off for Alaska. We were on the way to the Totem poles which were replicas made and placed in the park. According to the sign board the animals that were often on these poles were the Eagle (as the king of the sky), Whale (king of the sea), the Wolf (king of the land) and the frog which symbolized the link between land and sea. These totem poles were traditionally made to reflect their dreamtime stories. It was made clear that they were not worshiped or idolized.
Ethan was full of energy at this stage and practically ran all the way back to the car. His Dad had to chase after him and slow him down!
We headed back to the Sun’s place and got Indian take out for dinner. The rest of the evening was filled with research for what we were going to do in Whistler over the next few days.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Happy Birthday Ethan!
Got up around 10:30am but everyone else was already awake in preparation for Ethan’s 3rd birthday party! His birthday was actually on 30th May but because he was sick and many of his friends were going away, they decided to have it today.
It turned out to be a nice day for a party! Around 11am guests started arriving! We met some of Soo’s friends and their cute kids! The theme for the party was bubbles and Soo had set up bowls of bubble solution and got the kids to blow bubbles! They loved it! They also had a mini jumping castle going, which the kids loved!
Over the next hour about another 10-15 kids arrived! They were the kids of Ethan’s playgroup, Sunday school, and preschool. Ray and I went to pick up some pizza for lunch and the birthday cake. In the meantime, Sandra, one of Soo’s friends, was leading the kids in song and dance! Then it was time to cut the cake and for Ethan to open his presents! It was nice being involved with family life again and a glimpse into what life with kids will be like one day! What the parents kept telling us time and time again was to enjoy our life without kids as much as possible cos when they come, even though they’re a joy, they’re a handful too!
The party finished around 2pm and we helped clean up! Boy was there a lot to clean up! Plates, cups, balloons, food and drink! In the afternoon we had a rest before Ray took us out to Burnaby mountain to admire the view of Vancouver and its surrounding landscape! We admired the beauty of the snow capped mountains in the backdrop and cityscape against the afternoon sun!
We returned home and soon Ray’s parents arrived for dinner! They brought some dishes along and Soo jeje cooked some stir fried long beans. It was really really nice chatting with Mr and Mrs Sun! They were really lovely and we enjoyed chatting about our travels and differences between Canada and Australia.
After dinner we played with Ethan and Evelyn until they had to go to sleep. Both enjoyed the toy we had bought them from San Fran! Once asleep we enjoyed some port and dessert wine before watching 300! Night!
It turned out to be a nice day for a party! Around 11am guests started arriving! We met some of Soo’s friends and their cute kids! The theme for the party was bubbles and Soo had set up bowls of bubble solution and got the kids to blow bubbles! They loved it! They also had a mini jumping castle going, which the kids loved!
Over the next hour about another 10-15 kids arrived! They were the kids of Ethan’s playgroup, Sunday school, and preschool. Ray and I went to pick up some pizza for lunch and the birthday cake. In the meantime, Sandra, one of Soo’s friends, was leading the kids in song and dance! Then it was time to cut the cake and for Ethan to open his presents! It was nice being involved with family life again and a glimpse into what life with kids will be like one day! What the parents kept telling us time and time again was to enjoy our life without kids as much as possible cos when they come, even though they’re a joy, they’re a handful too!
The party finished around 2pm and we helped clean up! Boy was there a lot to clean up! Plates, cups, balloons, food and drink! In the afternoon we had a rest before Ray took us out to Burnaby mountain to admire the view of Vancouver and its surrounding landscape! We admired the beauty of the snow capped mountains in the backdrop and cityscape against the afternoon sun!
We returned home and soon Ray’s parents arrived for dinner! They brought some dishes along and Soo jeje cooked some stir fried long beans. It was really really nice chatting with Mr and Mrs Sun! They were really lovely and we enjoyed chatting about our travels and differences between Canada and Australia.
After dinner we played with Ethan and Evelyn until they had to go to sleep. Both enjoyed the toy we had bought them from San Fran! Once asleep we enjoyed some port and dessert wine before watching 300! Night!
Friday, June 13, 2008
San Francisco to Vancouver!
Today we travelled from San Francisco to Vancouver! After breakky we walked six blocks down to Market St to do some last minute shopping before returning to the hotel and finishing up our packing!
We had lunch in the Chinese restaurant next to the hotel. It was quite good! We had salt and pepper squid and stir fried eggplant with rice and soup for USD 11 all up!
After lunch we brought our stuff down to the hotel lobby and checked out. We had 8 bags all together! Two suitcases, two big backpacks, two small backpacks, a small carry bag, and Di’s handbag! Just as we were heading out the door, our shuttle to the airport arrived!
The drive was really quick and we got to the airport around 1:30pm, at least 2hrs 40mins before our flight at 4:10pm. We had no problems going through security except that they are so strict here you have to take off your jacket and shoes even!
Our flight was delayed so we only left San Fran around 5:10pm. By the time we landed, got out of the airport and caught a taxi to Soo and Ray’s place in Burnaby, it was around 8pm! So all in all we travelled for 7hrs door to door!
We rocked up to their front door and rang the door bell. Ray opened the door and was somewhat surprised to see us! Soo joined him at the door and apparently she had thought we were coming tomorrow night! Oh well! We got all our luggage in and they made us feel really at home!
Ethan (3yrs old) and their newborn Evelyn (5 months) were both asleep but as we ate the instant noodles dinner Soo jeje whipped up for us, Evelyn awoke and we got to meet her. She’s soooooo cute!!! Very easy going happy little baby!
After dinner we had showers and set up our bed in their living room. Nitey nite!
We had lunch in the Chinese restaurant next to the hotel. It was quite good! We had salt and pepper squid and stir fried eggplant with rice and soup for USD 11 all up!
After lunch we brought our stuff down to the hotel lobby and checked out. We had 8 bags all together! Two suitcases, two big backpacks, two small backpacks, a small carry bag, and Di’s handbag! Just as we were heading out the door, our shuttle to the airport arrived!
The drive was really quick and we got to the airport around 1:30pm, at least 2hrs 40mins before our flight at 4:10pm. We had no problems going through security except that they are so strict here you have to take off your jacket and shoes even!
Our flight was delayed so we only left San Fran around 5:10pm. By the time we landed, got out of the airport and caught a taxi to Soo and Ray’s place in Burnaby, it was around 8pm! So all in all we travelled for 7hrs door to door!
We rocked up to their front door and rang the door bell. Ray opened the door and was somewhat surprised to see us! Soo joined him at the door and apparently she had thought we were coming tomorrow night! Oh well! We got all our luggage in and they made us feel really at home!
Ethan (3yrs old) and their newborn Evelyn (5 months) were both asleep but as we ate the instant noodles dinner Soo jeje whipped up for us, Evelyn awoke and we got to meet her. She’s soooooo cute!!! Very easy going happy little baby!
After dinner we had showers and set up our bed in their living room. Nitey nite!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Exploring San Fran!
First thing we did after our continental breakky was return our rental car to Budget on Howard St. Our least favourite parking attendant was somehow still on duty after being on yesterday evening. We didn’t tip him for bring the car 5m from where the car was parked!
We said goodbye to our trusty Chevrolet Cobalt at Budget and walked up to Market St. We bought 1 day unlimited Muni passports that allowed us travel on all of San Fran’s public transport for a reasonable USD 11. Then we hopped on a F Line street car to Fisherman’s wharf! For those wandering what an F line street car is, it’s basically like a Melbourne tram.
It was another beautiful day at Fisherman’s wharf and warm too! We got off outside the Boudin Bakery and headed to Pier 45 to check out the naval vessels there! Whilst Di browsed the Museum Mechanique (containing antique carnival game machines) I boarded the USS Panpamito, an old submarine from WWII! On board I got to see most of the submarine including the torpedo room, living quarters, galley, and control room!
Afterwards we walked around Fisherman’s wharf, past all the seafood restaurants selling clam and crab chowder! We then checked out Hyde St pier and some of the historic ships there. There were also these barrels with signboards teaching you how to tie various knots that the sailors used so we had fun learning new knots!
Next we grabbed icecream at a store called Ghirardelli - a Cookie Bottom Sundae! It was basically two scoops of vanilla icecream on top of a choc chip cookie with chocolate hot sauce on top! So rich so good!
Having finished seeing everything we wanted to see at Fisherman’s Wharf, we caught the famous San Fran cable car from Powell St to Union Square! Halfway up a hill the cable car stopped and the driver told us to get off! The power must’ve cut out or something. In not too long though we were back on the cable car! It was rather crowded and we were glad to get off at Union Square!
Here some promotion for World Harmony Day was happening so we checked that out before hitting the shops! We visited Niketown, Ninewest, and Macy’s before lunch! Managed to get some things on sale! Then we had lunch at an Indonesian restaurant advertised in our San Fran city guide! The place was funnily called ‘Indonesian Restaurant’ for lack of a better name! We had quite good lunch combos with beef rendang, some chicken dish, fried tofu, and another beef dish plus gado gado. All quite reasonable for USD 10 per person!
After lunch we walked back to our hotel to drop off the shopping before heading out again! We walked down to Market St past Civic Center and a bunch of hobos! Then we walked up Market St from the 7th street intersection checking out the shops! We didn’t really find much until we reached the Westfield. There we found mostly upmarket stores, not many with sales on. We kept on walking up Market St and checked out Marshalls and a toy store called Gregories before deciding to catch the Bart and bus no 19 back to our hotel.
Still feeling full from lunch, we opted to skip dinner and finish the fresh food we still had. We had bananas and root beer for dinner! And here we are watching Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark on our last night in a hotel! Nite!
We said goodbye to our trusty Chevrolet Cobalt at Budget and walked up to Market St. We bought 1 day unlimited Muni passports that allowed us travel on all of San Fran’s public transport for a reasonable USD 11. Then we hopped on a F Line street car to Fisherman’s wharf! For those wandering what an F line street car is, it’s basically like a Melbourne tram.
It was another beautiful day at Fisherman’s wharf and warm too! We got off outside the Boudin Bakery and headed to Pier 45 to check out the naval vessels there! Whilst Di browsed the Museum Mechanique (containing antique carnival game machines) I boarded the USS Panpamito, an old submarine from WWII! On board I got to see most of the submarine including the torpedo room, living quarters, galley, and control room!
Afterwards we walked around Fisherman’s wharf, past all the seafood restaurants selling clam and crab chowder! We then checked out Hyde St pier and some of the historic ships there. There were also these barrels with signboards teaching you how to tie various knots that the sailors used so we had fun learning new knots!
Next we grabbed icecream at a store called Ghirardelli - a Cookie Bottom Sundae! It was basically two scoops of vanilla icecream on top of a choc chip cookie with chocolate hot sauce on top! So rich so good!
Having finished seeing everything we wanted to see at Fisherman’s Wharf, we caught the famous San Fran cable car from Powell St to Union Square! Halfway up a hill the cable car stopped and the driver told us to get off! The power must’ve cut out or something. In not too long though we were back on the cable car! It was rather crowded and we were glad to get off at Union Square!
Here some promotion for World Harmony Day was happening so we checked that out before hitting the shops! We visited Niketown, Ninewest, and Macy’s before lunch! Managed to get some things on sale! Then we had lunch at an Indonesian restaurant advertised in our San Fran city guide! The place was funnily called ‘Indonesian Restaurant’ for lack of a better name! We had quite good lunch combos with beef rendang, some chicken dish, fried tofu, and another beef dish plus gado gado. All quite reasonable for USD 10 per person!
After lunch we walked back to our hotel to drop off the shopping before heading out again! We walked down to Market St past Civic Center and a bunch of hobos! Then we walked up Market St from the 7th street intersection checking out the shops! We didn’t really find much until we reached the Westfield. There we found mostly upmarket stores, not many with sales on. We kept on walking up Market St and checked out Marshalls and a toy store called Gregories before deciding to catch the Bart and bus no 19 back to our hotel.
Still feeling full from lunch, we opted to skip dinner and finish the fresh food we still had. We had bananas and root beer for dinner! And here we are watching Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark on our last night in a hotel! Nite!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Shopping in San Fran!
Today was shopping day! We drove 70 miles or so to the Gilroy Premium Factory Outlets! The drive took almost 1hr 30 mins as we drove south past the airport and San Jose. At the outlets we found 150 stores with all the big names! They were divided up into 4 blocks of shops and were so spread apart that at times we drove from shop to shop!
We were quite selective in the stores we visited. Some of the ones we checked out included Gap, Ninewest, Ecko, Banana Republic, DC, Fossil, Bass, and some random factory shoe stores. Managed to find some bargains during the 4 hours or so we spent there!
We grabbed lunch at a Chinese fast food place there, trying the Kung Pao chicken that seems so common at Chinese restaurants in America! Around 3:30pm we left the outlets and headed back to San Fran.
The plan was to return the car before Budget rental’s closing time of 5:30pm (earlier than our original return time of 11:15am tomorrow morning to save USD 15 in parking fees overnight again) but the traffic was so bad it took over 2 hours to get back to downtown San Fran and we ended up reaching Budget 5mins after closing time! Darn it!
Oh well! To make use of the car, we drove to Fisherman’s Wharf and found some street parking. Di was hungry so we had dinner at Bistro Boudin, a bakery famous for its sourdough and clam chowder! We ate in the restaurant section and had a window table overlooking the bay but after our meal of pepperoni sourdough pizza with a side of petite clam chowder in bread bowl, we left the restaurant to find that we could’ve gotten the exact same meal at the casual dining outlet downstairs for half the price! Double darn it! Oh well! You pay for nice views and nice toilets!
After dinner we walked to Pier 39 and checked out the sea lions that have inhabited one of the docks. Then we checked out the retail arcade on the pier whilst waiting for sunset! Sunset over the bay was awesome but it was rather chilly so we headed back to the car straight after.
We wanted to visit Macy’s cos there was a one day sale on today but we couldn’t find parking so we ended up just heading back to our hotel! Night!
We were quite selective in the stores we visited. Some of the ones we checked out included Gap, Ninewest, Ecko, Banana Republic, DC, Fossil, Bass, and some random factory shoe stores. Managed to find some bargains during the 4 hours or so we spent there!
We grabbed lunch at a Chinese fast food place there, trying the Kung Pao chicken that seems so common at Chinese restaurants in America! Around 3:30pm we left the outlets and headed back to San Fran.
The plan was to return the car before Budget rental’s closing time of 5:30pm (earlier than our original return time of 11:15am tomorrow morning to save USD 15 in parking fees overnight again) but the traffic was so bad it took over 2 hours to get back to downtown San Fran and we ended up reaching Budget 5mins after closing time! Darn it!
Oh well! To make use of the car, we drove to Fisherman’s Wharf and found some street parking. Di was hungry so we had dinner at Bistro Boudin, a bakery famous for its sourdough and clam chowder! We ate in the restaurant section and had a window table overlooking the bay but after our meal of pepperoni sourdough pizza with a side of petite clam chowder in bread bowl, we left the restaurant to find that we could’ve gotten the exact same meal at the casual dining outlet downstairs for half the price! Double darn it! Oh well! You pay for nice views and nice toilets!
After dinner we walked to Pier 39 and checked out the sea lions that have inhabited one of the docks. Then we checked out the retail arcade on the pier whilst waiting for sunset! Sunset over the bay was awesome but it was rather chilly so we headed back to the car straight after.
We wanted to visit Macy’s cos there was a one day sale on today but we couldn’t find parking so we ended up just heading back to our hotel! Night!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Yosemite National Park to San Francisco!
Got up around 9am and packed up our stuff into the car before checking out and driving to nearby Mirror Lake. We parked in the stables car park and found the trailhead a few hundred feet away. We enjoyed the short walk along a paved flat pathway through the redwood forest. On either side cliffs towered above us and along side us a river with rapids rushed by! After 30mins we reached the Mirror Lake, so named cos of the beautiful reflections of the mountains in the water. We walked around a part of the lake and after taking some pics, headed back to the car.
Around 11am we set off for San Francisco, only 180miles or so away! We drove for an hour through national parkland before the landscape changed to dry grassland that reminded me of our countryside back home. At 1pm we stopped for lunch at the small town of Oakvale. We had 6 pieces of KFC and an A&W root beer float! Yum!!!
We continued our drive west and reached San Fran around 4pm and checked into our accommodation for the next 3 nights at Air Travel Hotel. The hotel was on a dodgy looking street, made apparent by numerous hobos and crazy ppl on the street and the fact that it was in the middle of Little Saigon. The hotel itself didn’t look too crash hot but inside we found a great recently renovated room on the 6th floor with a new bed, modern bathroom, plasma tv, and free wifi!
After unloading all our luggage, we set off to see some of San Fran’s sights! Using our GPS, we headed for Golden Gate park down the road. This huge park is kinda like San Fran’s equivalent of Sydney’s Centennial Park. Inside we visited the tranquil Japanese Tea Gardens before heading to the nearby Stow Lake and Strawberry Hill which afforded a view through the trees of San Fran’s hilly cityscape!
Next we drove to the foot of the famous Golden Gate bridge! We stopped at Fort Point to take pics of the bridge and bay but didn’t stay long due to the strong chilly wind!
Our last sight for the day was the crookedist street in America - Lombard St! This section of the street runs the length of one block down a steep hill with a 40 degree incline. It consists of a zigzagging road down the hill with nice gardens in the non road parts of the street and pedestrian steps on either side of the street! We parked in the parallel street and walked down the street before getting back in our car and driving down the street!
Next we headed to Chinatown to find some dinner! We parked near Grant Ave, the main street in Chinatown and looked for a restaurant packed with Chinese ppl! We found a reasonably priced one about halfway up the street and went in for some chicken chow mein and spicy eggplant! Mmm! Good food and good value!!!
Finally we headed back to our hotel around 9pm. We discovered that the parking under the hotel is contracted out to a valet parking service and that we had to pay USD 15 to park it for 12 hours overnight. What a rip!!! Ended up parking it there cos we couldn’t be bothered to search for street parking. The parking attendant was so obnoxious we couldn’t stand him! No tips for him!
Around 11am we set off for San Francisco, only 180miles or so away! We drove for an hour through national parkland before the landscape changed to dry grassland that reminded me of our countryside back home. At 1pm we stopped for lunch at the small town of Oakvale. We had 6 pieces of KFC and an A&W root beer float! Yum!!!
We continued our drive west and reached San Fran around 4pm and checked into our accommodation for the next 3 nights at Air Travel Hotel. The hotel was on a dodgy looking street, made apparent by numerous hobos and crazy ppl on the street and the fact that it was in the middle of Little Saigon. The hotel itself didn’t look too crash hot but inside we found a great recently renovated room on the 6th floor with a new bed, modern bathroom, plasma tv, and free wifi!
After unloading all our luggage, we set off to see some of San Fran’s sights! Using our GPS, we headed for Golden Gate park down the road. This huge park is kinda like San Fran’s equivalent of Sydney’s Centennial Park. Inside we visited the tranquil Japanese Tea Gardens before heading to the nearby Stow Lake and Strawberry Hill which afforded a view through the trees of San Fran’s hilly cityscape!
Next we drove to the foot of the famous Golden Gate bridge! We stopped at Fort Point to take pics of the bridge and bay but didn’t stay long due to the strong chilly wind!
Our last sight for the day was the crookedist street in America - Lombard St! This section of the street runs the length of one block down a steep hill with a 40 degree incline. It consists of a zigzagging road down the hill with nice gardens in the non road parts of the street and pedestrian steps on either side of the street! We parked in the parallel street and walked down the street before getting back in our car and driving down the street!
Next we headed to Chinatown to find some dinner! We parked near Grant Ave, the main street in Chinatown and looked for a restaurant packed with Chinese ppl! We found a reasonably priced one about halfway up the street and went in for some chicken chow mein and spicy eggplant! Mmm! Good food and good value!!!
Finally we headed back to our hotel around 9pm. We discovered that the parking under the hotel is contracted out to a valet parking service and that we had to pay USD 15 to park it for 12 hours overnight. What a rip!!! Ended up parking it there cos we couldn’t be bothered to search for street parking. The parking attendant was so obnoxious we couldn’t stand him! No tips for him!
Monday, June 9, 2008
Upper Yosemite Trail walk!
Didn’t have the best sleep last night thanks to some poms next door who arrived around 11pm or so and were so loud yakking and laughing away at the novelty of staying in a canvas tent! We set off around 9:30am after parking our car at Yosemite Lodge and walking to the start of the Upper Yosemite Falls walk nearby. Along the way we ate our prebought breakky - donut for Di and apple danish for me!
The Upper Yosemite Falls walk was a 3.5mile walk to the top and marked as ‘strenuous’ on the trail map we had. We soon found out just how strenuous it was! The walk to top took about 3hrs and basically consisted of zigzagging rocky terrain all UPHILL! We had frequent breaks in whatever shade we could find!
Halfway up we stopped at Columbia point to admire the view of Yosemite valley but we didn’t stop too long as the sun was bearing down on us! Further on we had had a view of the waterfall itself! We welcomed the sprays of water from the fall that the wind carried to us!
Around 12:40pm we finally reached the top of the falls! We checked out the overlook point and found a shady spot for lunch whilst we admired the view! Lunch was prebought egg and tuna sandwiches from the general store.
After spending an hour at the summit admiring the snow capped mountain range and the valley far far below, we headed back down. On the way we checked out the trail leading to Yosemite point, another mile away. We walked part of the trail to see the river from which the waterfall originates.
Then it was down baby down! It was heaps easier going down but it was still slow going in some parts due to slippery rocks and sand. Shade from the adjacent cliff face afforded us cool relief and consequently the journey down only took 2hours.
With weary and aching legs, we trudged back to the car and headed back to Curry Village around 4:30pm. I had a refreshing shower whilst Di had a cool swim. Then it was time for another buffet dinner, different menu tonight! We got in at opening time at 5:30pm and enjoyed a dinner of fish, pork loins, chicken parmisan, and rice and veges!
Afterwards Di had a shower and here we are, relaxing and enjoying our last evening in Yosemite - the highlight of the honeymoon according to Di so far! Night!
The Upper Yosemite Falls walk was a 3.5mile walk to the top and marked as ‘strenuous’ on the trail map we had. We soon found out just how strenuous it was! The walk to top took about 3hrs and basically consisted of zigzagging rocky terrain all UPHILL! We had frequent breaks in whatever shade we could find!
Halfway up we stopped at Columbia point to admire the view of Yosemite valley but we didn’t stop too long as the sun was bearing down on us! Further on we had had a view of the waterfall itself! We welcomed the sprays of water from the fall that the wind carried to us!
Around 12:40pm we finally reached the top of the falls! We checked out the overlook point and found a shady spot for lunch whilst we admired the view! Lunch was prebought egg and tuna sandwiches from the general store.
After spending an hour at the summit admiring the snow capped mountain range and the valley far far below, we headed back down. On the way we checked out the trail leading to Yosemite point, another mile away. We walked part of the trail to see the river from which the waterfall originates.
Then it was down baby down! It was heaps easier going down but it was still slow going in some parts due to slippery rocks and sand. Shade from the adjacent cliff face afforded us cool relief and consequently the journey down only took 2hours.
With weary and aching legs, we trudged back to the car and headed back to Curry Village around 4:30pm. I had a refreshing shower whilst Di had a cool swim. Then it was time for another buffet dinner, different menu tonight! We got in at opening time at 5:30pm and enjoyed a dinner of fish, pork loins, chicken parmisan, and rice and veges!
Afterwards Di had a shower and here we are, relaxing and enjoying our last evening in Yosemite - the highlight of the honeymoon according to Di so far! Night!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Las Vegas to Yosemite National Park!
We left Las Vegas around 9:30am after a quick stop at Albertsons to buy some more water! The drive to Yosemite National Park took about 6-7 hrs! We enjoyed listening to our only three CDs – Wicked Soundtrack, Snow Patrol Eyes Open, and Colbie Caillat’s Coco. Along the way the scenery changed from sparse desert to green forest with snow capped mountains in the background as we approached Yosemite!
Lunch was Burger King at a Chevron petrol station in a town called Tonomah. Along the way to Yosemite, we stopped by Mono lake to check out the scenery.
We entered Yosemite National Park around 4:30pm. The drive towards the entrance was spectacular as we passed through snow capped mountain passes with glacial lakes! There were plenty of photo stops along the way!!!
Once in the park we checked out the visitor centre and picked up a map of trails in the park. Then we continued our drive west through the park which took about an hour. We finally reached Curry Village around 7pm and checked in. Our accommodation for the next 2 nights is a canvas tent which is basically a hut with wooden frames and flooring but with a canvas roof and walls.
After unloading our gear we grabbed a buffet dinner at the village’s restaurant. It wasn’t bad for USD 12 per person and had soup, fish, pasta, rice, veges, and salad. Time to rest for a long walk tomorrow!
Lunch was Burger King at a Chevron petrol station in a town called Tonomah. Along the way to Yosemite, we stopped by Mono lake to check out the scenery.
We entered Yosemite National Park around 4:30pm. The drive towards the entrance was spectacular as we passed through snow capped mountain passes with glacial lakes! There were plenty of photo stops along the way!!!
Once in the park we checked out the visitor centre and picked up a map of trails in the park. Then we continued our drive west through the park which took about an hour. We finally reached Curry Village around 7pm and checked in. Our accommodation for the next 2 nights is a canvas tent which is basically a hut with wooden frames and flooring but with a canvas roof and walls.
After unloading our gear we grabbed a buffet dinner at the village’s restaurant. It wasn’t bad for USD 12 per person and had soup, fish, pasta, rice, veges, and salad. Time to rest for a long walk tomorrow!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Viva Las Vegas!
Viva Las Vegas baby! Today was our day to explore the famous Las Vegas Strip! We caught the free Sun Coast shuttle at 10am which dropped us off outside Bill’s Gambling Hall. It was another perfect day in the USA and although it was only mid morning, already it was boiling hot!
We crossed the road to check out our first casino for the day - Caesar’s Palace! This ancient roman themed casino had a forum, statues of Augustus Caesar and even the famous rape of the Sabines, lavishly decorated interior, and even a set of Spanish steps! Albeit the imitations weren’t anywhere near as good as the originals, one could not help but feel amazed at the amount of detail of the re-creation!
We checked out the Forum shops which housed all the luxury brands! Then we caught the free Lost City of Atlantis water fountain show at 11am! It told the story of the two children of the king of Atlantis were fighting over the throne to such a degree that the Gods decided to sink the city! It used fire, water, and animatronic effects!
Next we headed over to the Bellagio next door and walked by the famous water fountains. We caught a show around 11:30am with the fountains dancing in sync to some American song. It was amazing how some jets of water shot maybe 10 stories or more high into the sky!
We continued walking south along the Strip until we came to the New York New York casino. This casino recreated some streets of New York within the casino, and even Times Square! Outside there was a statue of liberty and a façade of the New York cityscape!
We didn’t spend long there and instead headed across the road to the MGM Grand to find some lunch! We ended up in the chain restaurant called the Rainforest Café. This jungle themed restaurant featured animatronic animals and lightning and thunder effects with waterfalls! We shared an entrée of buffalo wings and BBQ ribs - yum!
We headed off to the Dirk Arthur magic show at the Tropicana Hotel. We watched as Dirk made tigers, ligers (half lion, half tiger) and other wild cats appear on stage. It was pretty cool, although a little cheesy sometimes when Dirk stood at the front and smiled at the audience. The dancers were alright, but I noticed that they were sometimes out of time… But it was pretty cool and I still can’t figure out how he did a lot of his tricks!
We returned to the MGM grand after this to check out the lions in their artificial habitat within the casino. Our first thoughts were that it seemed kind of cruel that the lions be kept in such a small area. There were 2 men inside the habitat. One was throwing a ball and some other dumbbell looking object around for the male lion. Meanwhile the other was sitting on the ledge watching. Later on the lioness joined him and decided to lay next to him. For the sake of conscience though we were told that the lions have their own groomers, vet and keeper so we are to assume they’re well looked after. The enclosure was fairly spacious so I suppose it isn’t too bad that they’re in there.
Our next stop was M&M world where we were surrounded by M&M merchandise. On the 3rd floor there was a 3D movie where red lost his M on one of the craps tables in the casino! The rest of the movie was about him getting his M back. It was 3D and very cute. After dropping off into the coke store we headed for the northern side of the strip.
The Venetian is a huge casino with a canal running through it and its own gondola’s. We made our way through the streets until we arrived at St Mark’s square where there was a show of jesters and opera singers in Venetian costume. This was more than anything we saw in the real St Marks square! And, important to note, the Venice in the casino is much cleaner than the real Venice! No pigeons for a start!
However, the prices are similar, we found a shoe store that had a sale where shoes could be purchased for a humble $300!
The Wynn casino has a Lake of Dreams which is a light and fountain show. We headed over and found a nice viewing spot. To our dismay, due to daylight saving the show didn’t start until 8pm. We had reached our great viewpoint at 6:45pm! At 7:05pm when we had discovered that the show wasn’t happening until 8pm we left to catch the evening show of the Bellagio fountain. On the way, Ben picked up a fish burger meal from Macca’s.
After our pretty long walk we arrived at Bellagio only to discover that they weren’t running the show tonight! Due to high wind conditions! We felt pretty ripped off as we had missed 2 fountain shows!
We caught the shuttle back to our hotel and at the same time discovered our drive to Yosemite will be 7 hours! Got to sleep now!
Night!
We crossed the road to check out our first casino for the day - Caesar’s Palace! This ancient roman themed casino had a forum, statues of Augustus Caesar and even the famous rape of the Sabines, lavishly decorated interior, and even a set of Spanish steps! Albeit the imitations weren’t anywhere near as good as the originals, one could not help but feel amazed at the amount of detail of the re-creation!
We checked out the Forum shops which housed all the luxury brands! Then we caught the free Lost City of Atlantis water fountain show at 11am! It told the story of the two children of the king of Atlantis were fighting over the throne to such a degree that the Gods decided to sink the city! It used fire, water, and animatronic effects!
Next we headed over to the Bellagio next door and walked by the famous water fountains. We caught a show around 11:30am with the fountains dancing in sync to some American song. It was amazing how some jets of water shot maybe 10 stories or more high into the sky!
We continued walking south along the Strip until we came to the New York New York casino. This casino recreated some streets of New York within the casino, and even Times Square! Outside there was a statue of liberty and a façade of the New York cityscape!
We didn’t spend long there and instead headed across the road to the MGM Grand to find some lunch! We ended up in the chain restaurant called the Rainforest Café. This jungle themed restaurant featured animatronic animals and lightning and thunder effects with waterfalls! We shared an entrée of buffalo wings and BBQ ribs - yum!
We headed off to the Dirk Arthur magic show at the Tropicana Hotel. We watched as Dirk made tigers, ligers (half lion, half tiger) and other wild cats appear on stage. It was pretty cool, although a little cheesy sometimes when Dirk stood at the front and smiled at the audience. The dancers were alright, but I noticed that they were sometimes out of time… But it was pretty cool and I still can’t figure out how he did a lot of his tricks!
We returned to the MGM grand after this to check out the lions in their artificial habitat within the casino. Our first thoughts were that it seemed kind of cruel that the lions be kept in such a small area. There were 2 men inside the habitat. One was throwing a ball and some other dumbbell looking object around for the male lion. Meanwhile the other was sitting on the ledge watching. Later on the lioness joined him and decided to lay next to him. For the sake of conscience though we were told that the lions have their own groomers, vet and keeper so we are to assume they’re well looked after. The enclosure was fairly spacious so I suppose it isn’t too bad that they’re in there.
Our next stop was M&M world where we were surrounded by M&M merchandise. On the 3rd floor there was a 3D movie where red lost his M on one of the craps tables in the casino! The rest of the movie was about him getting his M back. It was 3D and very cute. After dropping off into the coke store we headed for the northern side of the strip.
The Venetian is a huge casino with a canal running through it and its own gondola’s. We made our way through the streets until we arrived at St Mark’s square where there was a show of jesters and opera singers in Venetian costume. This was more than anything we saw in the real St Marks square! And, important to note, the Venice in the casino is much cleaner than the real Venice! No pigeons for a start!
However, the prices are similar, we found a shoe store that had a sale where shoes could be purchased for a humble $300!
The Wynn casino has a Lake of Dreams which is a light and fountain show. We headed over and found a nice viewing spot. To our dismay, due to daylight saving the show didn’t start until 8pm. We had reached our great viewpoint at 6:45pm! At 7:05pm when we had discovered that the show wasn’t happening until 8pm we left to catch the evening show of the Bellagio fountain. On the way, Ben picked up a fish burger meal from Macca’s.
After our pretty long walk we arrived at Bellagio only to discover that they weren’t running the show tonight! Due to high wind conditions! We felt pretty ripped off as we had missed 2 fountain shows!
We caught the shuttle back to our hotel and at the same time discovered our drive to Yosemite will be 7 hours! Got to sleep now!
Night!
Friday, June 6, 2008
Grand Canyon to Las Vegas!
After initially contemplating waking up at 4am to see the sun rise over the Grand Canyon, we realised we were way too buggered to do that and just woke up around 8:30am. It was another beautiful day with clear blue skies stretching for miles in every direction! We packed the car, checked out and drove into the village centre.
After parking in carpark D, we walked towards the Grand Canyon’s South rim! We caught our first glimpse of it at the start of the Bright Angel Trail. Boy it was something to see! It very much reminded me of the look out at the three sisters in the Blue Mountains back home but the canyon has much sparser vegetation. The terrain was more colourful than I imagined with hues of red, orange, and green!
We started walking down the Bright Angel Trail into the canyon itself but when we started encountering mule dung and when we realised that views along this trail would be similar most of the way, we turned back. Instead we did the hermit road trail! This lead westward from the village along the top of the south rim. We enjoyed fantastic vantage points from 4-5 look out points1 We spotted eagles, squirrels, and the Colorado river running through the canyon!
Initially Di wasn’t terribly impressed with the magnitude of the canyon but at Maricopa point we got a glimpse of a larger part of the canyon and her impression changed! It really was a humbling experience to stand atop the canyon that runs about 273 river miles long, 10 miles wide, and 1 mile deep!
At Hopi point we caught the free shuttle bus back to the village. All in all we walked around 4-5km and it was already starting to get boiling hot under the Arizonian sun! Once back at the village we returned to our car and headed to the other side of the canyon!
We drove 23 miles to a place called Desert View which is the site of a watchtower built by Mary somebody in the 1900s. After checking out the view from the ground, we climbed the watchtower’s 4 or so levels! At each level of the circular tower there were viewing windows providing 360 degree views of the canyon and surrounds!
After appreciating the view, we left and drove the 23 miles back to the Grand Canyon village. Then we grabbed some lunch (quesalladas) at a café in Tusayan before saying farewell to one of the natural wonders of the world as we set off for Las Vegas!
The drive took around 4 hrs 30 mins and again consisted of driving along basically 4 very long and dead straight highways! Along the way we stopped to have a quick look at Hoover Dam.
Around 7pm we entered the outskirts of Las Vegas! From a distance we could make out the high rise casinos of the famous Strip shrouded in a haze! We headed to our accommodation for the next 2 night at Suncoast Casino and Hotel! The carpark was full and the first thing we saw when we entered the hotel was the gaming floor! Somehow we found the hotel registration desk tucked away in some corner and checked in. For the 5 minutes we spent in the ‘lobby’, when we got to our room we already stank of cigarette smoke!
Our room turned out to be a spacious (non-smoking thankfully!) room even larger than our one in Phuket, with a plasma tv, huge bathroom with 2 sinks, fridge, and couch. Di was so happy! After a long day I was rather buggered so we went down to the car to get our bags and then went to one of the hotel’s restaurants for dinner.
We had Mexican once again! This time we had a chicken fajita salad and a beef torsillada. We also tried their margherita! Once again we ended up with way too much food! Our waitress was nice enough to provide us with some takeaway boxes though!
After dinner we planned our day for tomorrow! Man I’m wasted! Time to sleep!
After parking in carpark D, we walked towards the Grand Canyon’s South rim! We caught our first glimpse of it at the start of the Bright Angel Trail. Boy it was something to see! It very much reminded me of the look out at the three sisters in the Blue Mountains back home but the canyon has much sparser vegetation. The terrain was more colourful than I imagined with hues of red, orange, and green!
We started walking down the Bright Angel Trail into the canyon itself but when we started encountering mule dung and when we realised that views along this trail would be similar most of the way, we turned back. Instead we did the hermit road trail! This lead westward from the village along the top of the south rim. We enjoyed fantastic vantage points from 4-5 look out points1 We spotted eagles, squirrels, and the Colorado river running through the canyon!
Initially Di wasn’t terribly impressed with the magnitude of the canyon but at Maricopa point we got a glimpse of a larger part of the canyon and her impression changed! It really was a humbling experience to stand atop the canyon that runs about 273 river miles long, 10 miles wide, and 1 mile deep!
At Hopi point we caught the free shuttle bus back to the village. All in all we walked around 4-5km and it was already starting to get boiling hot under the Arizonian sun! Once back at the village we returned to our car and headed to the other side of the canyon!
We drove 23 miles to a place called Desert View which is the site of a watchtower built by Mary somebody in the 1900s. After checking out the view from the ground, we climbed the watchtower’s 4 or so levels! At each level of the circular tower there were viewing windows providing 360 degree views of the canyon and surrounds!
After appreciating the view, we left and drove the 23 miles back to the Grand Canyon village. Then we grabbed some lunch (quesalladas) at a café in Tusayan before saying farewell to one of the natural wonders of the world as we set off for Las Vegas!
The drive took around 4 hrs 30 mins and again consisted of driving along basically 4 very long and dead straight highways! Along the way we stopped to have a quick look at Hoover Dam.
Around 7pm we entered the outskirts of Las Vegas! From a distance we could make out the high rise casinos of the famous Strip shrouded in a haze! We headed to our accommodation for the next 2 night at Suncoast Casino and Hotel! The carpark was full and the first thing we saw when we entered the hotel was the gaming floor! Somehow we found the hotel registration desk tucked away in some corner and checked in. For the 5 minutes we spent in the ‘lobby’, when we got to our room we already stank of cigarette smoke!
Our room turned out to be a spacious (non-smoking thankfully!) room even larger than our one in Phuket, with a plasma tv, huge bathroom with 2 sinks, fridge, and couch. Di was so happy! After a long day I was rather buggered so we went down to the car to get our bags and then went to one of the hotel’s restaurants for dinner.
We had Mexican once again! This time we had a chicken fajita salad and a beef torsillada. We also tried their margherita! Once again we ended up with way too much food! Our waitress was nice enough to provide us with some takeaway boxes though!
After dinner we planned our day for tomorrow! Man I’m wasted! Time to sleep!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
LA to Grand Canyon!
Today was a driving day from LA to the Grand Canyon! We said farewell to Dilys and the kids and then left to have breakky with Boon Piou at a pancake place called IHop. For USD 5.99 I got 2 strawberry pancakes, 2 eggs, 2 sausages, and a hash brown! There was so much we couldn’t finish our plate!
After breakky we said farewell to Boon Piou and plugged Grand Canyon into our GPS! We also plugged in an outlet store Boon Piou had recommended in a town called Cabazon. It took around 2hours to reach Cabazon and not long after leaving LA the landscape had already become desert like! At Cabazon we found the Desert Hills Premium Factory Outlet with around 100 genuine factory outlet stores!!! It looked like all the big names were here but we put a time limit on our shopping given the amount of driving ahead of us!
In the 1hr 15mins we were there we only visited 2 stores! I got some jeans and a top at the Levis outlet and Di got 2 pairs of shoes at the Sketchers outlet.
We got back in the car and off again we went! I drove for an hour before filling up and continuing another 3 hours along desert highways! One thing about American highways - they’re long, flat and dead straight for the most part! Shortly after crossing the California/Arizona border we stopped for a rest stop and Di took over the driving.
We reached the town of Williams around 6:40pm and grabbed some dinner at Rod’s Steak House yeah! Di ordered prime ribs and I ordered ground sirloin steak. Both dishes came out different to what we expected! Di’s ribs weren’t ribs at all but a cut of slow cooked steak. Mine was like ground up meat ie a burger patty, albeit with quality steak meat! Oh well! Both were not bad anyhow!
After dinner we headed up highway 64 towards the Grand Canyon National Park! The sun had already set and it was starting to get dark! It seemed like many more cars were leaving the park than heading towards it! After an hour or so we reached the entrance (which was unmanned so we didn’t have to pay the entrance fee!) and headed to the Grand Canyon Village and our accommodation for the night at Yavapai Lodge.
After checking in we drove our car round to the rooms themselves. Ours was a decent sized room with 2 queen sized beds and ensuite facilities! Not bad not bad! Nite!
After breakky we said farewell to Boon Piou and plugged Grand Canyon into our GPS! We also plugged in an outlet store Boon Piou had recommended in a town called Cabazon. It took around 2hours to reach Cabazon and not long after leaving LA the landscape had already become desert like! At Cabazon we found the Desert Hills Premium Factory Outlet with around 100 genuine factory outlet stores!!! It looked like all the big names were here but we put a time limit on our shopping given the amount of driving ahead of us!
In the 1hr 15mins we were there we only visited 2 stores! I got some jeans and a top at the Levis outlet and Di got 2 pairs of shoes at the Sketchers outlet.
We got back in the car and off again we went! I drove for an hour before filling up and continuing another 3 hours along desert highways! One thing about American highways - they’re long, flat and dead straight for the most part! Shortly after crossing the California/Arizona border we stopped for a rest stop and Di took over the driving.
We reached the town of Williams around 6:40pm and grabbed some dinner at Rod’s Steak House yeah! Di ordered prime ribs and I ordered ground sirloin steak. Both dishes came out different to what we expected! Di’s ribs weren’t ribs at all but a cut of slow cooked steak. Mine was like ground up meat ie a burger patty, albeit with quality steak meat! Oh well! Both were not bad anyhow!
After dinner we headed up highway 64 towards the Grand Canyon National Park! The sun had already set and it was starting to get dark! It seemed like many more cars were leaving the park than heading towards it! After an hour or so we reached the entrance (which was unmanned so we didn’t have to pay the entrance fee!) and headed to the Grand Canyon Village and our accommodation for the night at Yavapai Lodge.
After checking in we drove our car round to the rooms themselves. Ours was a decent sized room with 2 queen sized beds and ensuite facilities! Not bad not bad! Nite!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Rest day in LA!
Today was an errands day in LA! Got up late and first up drove our rental car to LAX airport to pick up our Budget rental car to take to San Fran. Then we drove both cars back to Lomita and returned the Enterprise rental car. This all took around 2hrs! Sp now we’re driving a black 2 door Chevrolet Cobalt. It’s got basic features but looks sporty!
We returned to Boon Piou’s place and Di did a load of washing/drying. In the meantime I went out again to get my hair cut and find some lunch to bring back. I looked up hair dressers in the GPS and finally got my hair cut at the 4th one I visited! The first one was non-existent, the second closed, and third fully booked when I visited. I ended up at a Korean place funnily enough but she was really good! Finally I have nice short spiky hair again!!!
Next I plugged Mexican food into the GPS and found a place called Enquitos Mos or something like that! Got two burritos and the guy even threw in a scoop of corn chips for free! Went back to Di’s cousin’s place and we thoroughly enjoyed our Mexican lunch!
After lunch we decided to check out the shopping scene in LA and found the South Bay Galleria in our GPS. This was about 8 miles away. We checked the directory but were kinda disappointed at the range of stores. They did have some major department stores like Macy’s and Mervyns but they didn’t have the general American brands like Levis, Fossil, or Timberland etc. We did some window shopping and picked up some baby clothes from Gap for some of Di’s friends expecting. Then we grabbed a HUGE old fashioned lemonade in the food court. It was seriously like a 1 litre cup!!!
We left around 5:30pm and stopped by Albertsons supermarket on the way home to pick up some groceries for our roadtrip starting tomorrow! We got back around 7:15pm and Boon Piou, Dilys, and the kids were all home. Dilys was feeling slightly ill with a headache so she was asleep and stayed home whilst we went out for dinner.
Boon Piou took us to that Malaysian place he had wanted to take us to on Monday night called Belacan Grill. It wasn’t bad! We had great satay for starters, then mains of hainanese chicken, curry beef, belacan kangkong and chow kway teow. The kids really loved the chicken! Natalie loved the curry beef! The chow kway teow wasn’t bad, but the other dishes weren’t quite up to par. It was quite reasonably priced though at around USD10 per dish and it was nice to have Malaysian food again!
We returned to Boon Piou’s place and Di did a load of washing/drying. In the meantime I went out again to get my hair cut and find some lunch to bring back. I looked up hair dressers in the GPS and finally got my hair cut at the 4th one I visited! The first one was non-existent, the second closed, and third fully booked when I visited. I ended up at a Korean place funnily enough but she was really good! Finally I have nice short spiky hair again!!!
Next I plugged Mexican food into the GPS and found a place called Enquitos Mos or something like that! Got two burritos and the guy even threw in a scoop of corn chips for free! Went back to Di’s cousin’s place and we thoroughly enjoyed our Mexican lunch!
After lunch we decided to check out the shopping scene in LA and found the South Bay Galleria in our GPS. This was about 8 miles away. We checked the directory but were kinda disappointed at the range of stores. They did have some major department stores like Macy’s and Mervyns but they didn’t have the general American brands like Levis, Fossil, or Timberland etc. We did some window shopping and picked up some baby clothes from Gap for some of Di’s friends expecting. Then we grabbed a HUGE old fashioned lemonade in the food court. It was seriously like a 1 litre cup!!!
We left around 5:30pm and stopped by Albertsons supermarket on the way home to pick up some groceries for our roadtrip starting tomorrow! We got back around 7:15pm and Boon Piou, Dilys, and the kids were all home. Dilys was feeling slightly ill with a headache so she was asleep and stayed home whilst we went out for dinner.
Boon Piou took us to that Malaysian place he had wanted to take us to on Monday night called Belacan Grill. It wasn’t bad! We had great satay for starters, then mains of hainanese chicken, curry beef, belacan kangkong and chow kway teow. The kids really loved the chicken! Natalie loved the curry beef! The chow kway teow wasn’t bad, but the other dishes weren’t quite up to par. It was quite reasonably priced though at around USD10 per dish and it was nice to have Malaysian food again!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Universal Studios!
Today we visited Universal Studios! We got there just after the studio’s opening time of 10am! We parked in the Curious George carpark and walked through the Universal Citywalk towards the park entrance! It reminded me very much of the Warner’s Bros Studios on the Gold Coast! There were quite a lot of people but it wasn’t exactly packed for a weekday.
First up we did the new Simpson’s Ride! We lined up for 30mins before finally reaching the front of the line! It was a motion simulator that took us on a rollercoaster and flying adventure over Springfield! Pretty good! Next we headed to the lower lot of the park and Di convinced me to go on the Jurassic Park ride! There was no line at this ride so we got straight in! This was a river style ride with an 84 foot waterfall drop at the end!
Next up we checked out the stage effects show which showed us some common visual, creature, and sound effects used. Then we checked out the Backdraft show which demonstrated how they did the fire scenes from the movie! The last thing we did before lunch was the Mummy ride! This was an indoor rollercoaster almost completely in the dark! It was short but pretty scary! Thankfully I didn’t feel sick afterwards!
We had lunch in the Jurassic café before heading back up to the upper lot to do the famous Universal Studio tour! Again we didn’t have to wait and we got straight on to a tram. They took us through the backlots which is apparently the largest in Hollywood. They showed us sets from the Fast and the Furious, Jaws, the Mummy, old western movie sets, and a huge outdoor blue screen used to film Evan Almighty. We also so Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives! Many of the sets had live action demonstrations eg the mechanical shark used in Jaws and the robots used to produce the stunts in the Fast and the Furious! We also saw the remains of a set that caught on fire just on Sunday!
After the 45 min tour we headed to the Waterworld live show! This was based on the movie Waterworld and the stage was a huge pool with much of the set from the movie. The show was really good! There was a storyline and lots of action with jet skis, powerboats, flying foxes, and even a huge boat plane!
Next up we saw the Terminator 3D show and then the cute animal actors show! Finally we caught the last session of the Shrek 4D show (the 4th D is the vibrating chair and air and water effects) before doing a spot of souvenir shopping before the studio closed at 6pm!
As we headed back to the carpark along the Citywalk, we decided to hang around and have dinner. Until then we filled the time by watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull! It wasn’t as good as the original 3 unfortunately! When the movie finished at 10pm, most of the restaurants had closed! We had initially planned to eat dinner at Hard Rock Café but it was only serving drinks by the time we made it there.
Instead we had to settle for Jack in the Box drive through on the way back to Di’s cousin’s place. A long day but we made the most it and really enjoyed Universal Studios! Nite!
First up we did the new Simpson’s Ride! We lined up for 30mins before finally reaching the front of the line! It was a motion simulator that took us on a rollercoaster and flying adventure over Springfield! Pretty good! Next we headed to the lower lot of the park and Di convinced me to go on the Jurassic Park ride! There was no line at this ride so we got straight in! This was a river style ride with an 84 foot waterfall drop at the end!
Next up we checked out the stage effects show which showed us some common visual, creature, and sound effects used. Then we checked out the Backdraft show which demonstrated how they did the fire scenes from the movie! The last thing we did before lunch was the Mummy ride! This was an indoor rollercoaster almost completely in the dark! It was short but pretty scary! Thankfully I didn’t feel sick afterwards!
We had lunch in the Jurassic café before heading back up to the upper lot to do the famous Universal Studio tour! Again we didn’t have to wait and we got straight on to a tram. They took us through the backlots which is apparently the largest in Hollywood. They showed us sets from the Fast and the Furious, Jaws, the Mummy, old western movie sets, and a huge outdoor blue screen used to film Evan Almighty. We also so Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives! Many of the sets had live action demonstrations eg the mechanical shark used in Jaws and the robots used to produce the stunts in the Fast and the Furious! We also saw the remains of a set that caught on fire just on Sunday!
After the 45 min tour we headed to the Waterworld live show! This was based on the movie Waterworld and the stage was a huge pool with much of the set from the movie. The show was really good! There was a storyline and lots of action with jet skis, powerboats, flying foxes, and even a huge boat plane!
Next up we saw the Terminator 3D show and then the cute animal actors show! Finally we caught the last session of the Shrek 4D show (the 4th D is the vibrating chair and air and water effects) before doing a spot of souvenir shopping before the studio closed at 6pm!
As we headed back to the carpark along the Citywalk, we decided to hang around and have dinner. Until then we filled the time by watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull! It wasn’t as good as the original 3 unfortunately! When the movie finished at 10pm, most of the restaurants had closed! We had initially planned to eat dinner at Hard Rock Café but it was only serving drinks by the time we made it there.
Instead we had to settle for Jack in the Box drive through on the way back to Di’s cousin’s place. A long day but we made the most it and really enjoyed Universal Studios! Nite!
Monday, June 2, 2008
Hey there Hollywood!
Today Boon Piou took the morning off to show us around Ranchos Palos Verdes! We visited Trumps National golf course before checking out some of the multimillion dollar mansions in Rolling Hills and Boon Piou’s dream home! Then it was off to Costcos to check out prices for a GPS!
Costcos is basically a huge warehouse that sells everything in bulk for cheap! You have to be a member to shop there. I think it costs around USD 30 per year. They didn’t stock the model we wanted though. Boon Piou got a call from work and had to rush off so he dropped us at Enterprise car rentals in Lomita. We got a Hyundai Sonata for about USD 55 per day and we were off!
Man it was weird driving on the left side of the car and right side of the road! Di had to constantly remind me which lane to drive in! I also had difficulty keeping the car in the middle of the lane and kept drifting to the right cos I’m used to right hand drive cars! We drove to Circuit City nearby and got a Garmin Nuvi 200W to use for our tour of California!
Next we drove to Santa Monica beach to grab some lunch and check out the Californian beach scene! We found free parking in Macy’s shopping centre and headed towards the water. Now finally we found a real beach like those back home! The beach had fine sand and stretched for miles! We headed to the famous Santa Monica pier and checked out the small carnival there and the Bubba Gump store before getting a taste of our first real American fast food!
Di got a cheeseburger and I got a fish fillet sandwich! Mmm so greasy! After lunch we went for a walk along the beach enjoying the warm Californian sun and watching people cycle and rollerblade along side us!
Mid afternoon we headed over to Beverly Hills and the famous Rodeo drive! We drove down the snazzy shopping strip with all the luxury brand names before turning into that street you always see in the movies of Beverly Hills lined with the tall palm trees!
Then we drove to nearby Hollywood! We parked under the Kodak Theatre and checked out the Hollywood walk of fame! We saw plenty of big names’ stars including those from the movie, tv, and music industries! Outside the Chinese theatre there were plenty of people checking out the hand and footprints of Hollywood’s famous in the sidewalk!
We left Hollywood around 6pm and headed back to Boon Piou’s place. It took almost an hour! Then we went for dinner! They wanted to take us to this Malaysian place for dinner but we went there and it was closed! So we went to a Japanese place instead called Hakone! We had sashimi and tempura/teriyaki combos - yum!
After dinner we watched some of Nigel’s soccer matches before playing Wii soccer! Nite!
Costcos is basically a huge warehouse that sells everything in bulk for cheap! You have to be a member to shop there. I think it costs around USD 30 per year. They didn’t stock the model we wanted though. Boon Piou got a call from work and had to rush off so he dropped us at Enterprise car rentals in Lomita. We got a Hyundai Sonata for about USD 55 per day and we were off!
Man it was weird driving on the left side of the car and right side of the road! Di had to constantly remind me which lane to drive in! I also had difficulty keeping the car in the middle of the lane and kept drifting to the right cos I’m used to right hand drive cars! We drove to Circuit City nearby and got a Garmin Nuvi 200W to use for our tour of California!
Next we drove to Santa Monica beach to grab some lunch and check out the Californian beach scene! We found free parking in Macy’s shopping centre and headed towards the water. Now finally we found a real beach like those back home! The beach had fine sand and stretched for miles! We headed to the famous Santa Monica pier and checked out the small carnival there and the Bubba Gump store before getting a taste of our first real American fast food!
Di got a cheeseburger and I got a fish fillet sandwich! Mmm so greasy! After lunch we went for a walk along the beach enjoying the warm Californian sun and watching people cycle and rollerblade along side us!
Mid afternoon we headed over to Beverly Hills and the famous Rodeo drive! We drove down the snazzy shopping strip with all the luxury brand names before turning into that street you always see in the movies of Beverly Hills lined with the tall palm trees!
Then we drove to nearby Hollywood! We parked under the Kodak Theatre and checked out the Hollywood walk of fame! We saw plenty of big names’ stars including those from the movie, tv, and music industries! Outside the Chinese theatre there were plenty of people checking out the hand and footprints of Hollywood’s famous in the sidewalk!
We left Hollywood around 6pm and headed back to Boon Piou’s place. It took almost an hour! Then we went for dinner! They wanted to take us to this Malaysian place for dinner but we went there and it was closed! So we went to a Japanese place instead called Hakone! We had sashimi and tempura/teriyaki combos - yum!
After dinner we watched some of Nigel’s soccer matches before playing Wii soccer! Nite!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
London to Los Angeles!
Slept in till 10am or so and enjoyed the chocolate croissants we had bought in France for breakky! Around 11 we said farewell to Paula and headed back to Dartford. We dropped Beng Kiet koko and Cheng Yee off at Dartford station before rushing back to Uncle Alex’s place so we could pack! We had an hour to pack and chow down a bowl of instant noodles before it was off to the airport!
Along the way we reflected upon what a great 5 weeks had been in Europe! Man the time went quick! People ask which city was the best but I really think it was all good, each city having its unique attractions!
We checked in on time around 2:30pm for our 4:15pm flight but turns out we were 1 of 25 ppl remaining to check in!!! It meant we didn’t get a window seat but we didn’t mind. Uncle Alex and Aunty Clem said farewell and we went through the departure gates!
Our flight left an hour late due to traffic at Heathrow but otherwise was quite good! Flight time was around 10 hrs 30mins to Los Angeles and we enjoyed watching Vantage Point, Cleaner, Definitely Maybe, and The Bucket List! The food was great once again! We had lamb curry with rice and banoffee pie for dinner and dessert, and chicken foccacia for the light meal.
We got to LA around 8pm local time but it didn’t take long to get our bags and get into the arrival hall! There Di’s cousin Boon Piou, his wife Dilys, and two kids Nigel and Natalie greeted us! We hadn’t met them before but they were super welcoming and hospitable! We loaded up their Honda Odyssey and they took us to Chilis for dinner! As we drove there from the airport we marveled at the lights and the busy multi lane highways of America’s second largest city! Dinner was great! The portions were huge and Di and I were glad we shared the plate of ribs and chicken we had ordered! I also got root beer - yum!
After dinner it was on to their place in Ranchos Palos Verdes! We got the grand tour of their huge single storey former ranch house! Finally we collapsed in bed, exhausted from our travels and the jet lag! Nite!
Along the way we reflected upon what a great 5 weeks had been in Europe! Man the time went quick! People ask which city was the best but I really think it was all good, each city having its unique attractions!
We checked in on time around 2:30pm for our 4:15pm flight but turns out we were 1 of 25 ppl remaining to check in!!! It meant we didn’t get a window seat but we didn’t mind. Uncle Alex and Aunty Clem said farewell and we went through the departure gates!
Our flight left an hour late due to traffic at Heathrow but otherwise was quite good! Flight time was around 10 hrs 30mins to Los Angeles and we enjoyed watching Vantage Point, Cleaner, Definitely Maybe, and The Bucket List! The food was great once again! We had lamb curry with rice and banoffee pie for dinner and dessert, and chicken foccacia for the light meal.
We got to LA around 8pm local time but it didn’t take long to get our bags and get into the arrival hall! There Di’s cousin Boon Piou, his wife Dilys, and two kids Nigel and Natalie greeted us! We hadn’t met them before but they were super welcoming and hospitable! We loaded up their Honda Odyssey and they took us to Chilis for dinner! As we drove there from the airport we marveled at the lights and the busy multi lane highways of America’s second largest city! Dinner was great! The portions were huge and Di and I were glad we shared the plate of ribs and chicken we had ordered! I also got root beer - yum!
After dinner it was on to their place in Ranchos Palos Verdes! We got the grand tour of their huge single storey former ranch house! Finally we collapsed in bed, exhausted from our travels and the jet lag! Nite!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
