April 2000 - San Francisco & Los Angeles
This is trip is very significant to me because this is the first trip I've ever forked over my own money to pay for the whole thing! I decided late in my 2A school term to pay a visit to my friends in California. I asked Rob to see if he wanted to come with me (it's always good to travel with a buddy!). He agreed so off we went!
We left a few days after exams were over. From what I remember, the flight wasn't too bad. We arrived in San Fran on a rainy saturday night. Jeff came to pick us up from the airport. I hadn't seen that guy since the summer we went to Taiwan, so it was so good seeing him again! We drove around town for a bit, then headed over to his place. I didn't get too see much because the combination of rainy weather and the lack of sunlight just made it almost impossible to see the city.
In the six days we were there, Rob and I had quite an adventure! We spent a lot of time with Jehnan, who, even though he had school, spent every day with us, showing us around San Fran (even though he didn't quite know where he was going... haha!). We took the bus everywhere! The transit system is really good there (they have like 3 different transit systems so you get to pick and choose!!). We went to Chinatown, Golden Gate National Park, the Golden Gate Bridge and did some shopping (I shopped mostly at The Gap.. so typical of me! haha).
Golden Gate National Park is beautiful.. and so big!! It's a perfect park for get togethers, bbq's or just a kewls place to sit down a read a book! We had to walk though the park to get to the bridge (or we could have taken the bus but we decided to take the scenic route!). Jehnan left us half way into the park because he had to go back to school to do something. So it was up to Rob and I to trust our navigational skills to find the bridge! When we got to the bridge, we went buck wild taking pictures. Then.. we went on the bridge. I really wanted to walk across this time. I was so sure we would walk across the whole thing... then I ran into this one problem... Rob was afraid of heights. I practically hulled his ass on the bridge! haha! We walked half way.. then he got too scared so we turned back. Sigh.. will I ever walk across the whole bridge?
On one of the days, Jehnan took us to see the Berkeley campus. All I can say is... WOW! it's gorgeous! Makes Waterloo look like a landfill site! haha! Rob and I spent the entire time ooh-ing and ahh-ing at everything Jehnan was showing us! We were very impressed! But still.. ugly mathie buildings are universal! hehe :)
We were supposed to go to Alcatraz on the sunday but we couldn't get tickets. They were all sold out! So instead Jeffie got us tickets for a tour around the bay. It was very very windy but it was so nice! We got to see the city from the bay (awesome view!!) and got a nice view of the bottom of the Golden Gate Bridge! After the Bay tour, we headed off to Fisherman's Wharf and had calm chowder in a sourdough bowl! I was stuffed after that! Then we headed over to the Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory and I bought this $20 dessert called "The Earthquake". It was so hard eating it cuz we were all full from the clam chowder but we finished most of it! I sorta know why they call it "The Earthquake"... the aftermath is quite disturbing!
Rob and I had so much fun in San Fran that we decided to stay an extra day! On our last day, we met up with Kenny (one of our Taiwan friends and a fellow Chem Eng-er)and did more shopping! That night we went to a pretty popular restaurant called "The Stinking Rose". It's a garlic restaurant! It was awesome!!.
That night, we left for L.A. We took an overnight bus. It was an awful bus ride! The guy I was sitting beside.. was a total bum and he was sleeping on his side so his butt took up half my seat! I didn't sleep at all!! We had to transfer buses in LA (we had to go to Riverside... that's where Maggie goes to school). The bus station in LA was sooooo ghetto!! And it was in the middle of an industrial area too! *shiver* hehe
We crashed at Maggie's place for the night. We met some of her school friends and she showed us around University of California, Riverdale campus. Her campus, too, made Waterloo look like a hole! haha! The next day, on the way to the airport, we stopped by Hollywood and walked along the walk of fame. There, we saw the stars of Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, Bruce Lee, etc. She then took us to Santa Monica where we walked along the boardwalk and watched these idoits on the beach bury each other, put bread crumbs on where their private parts would have been and watch birds peck at the pieces! haha! The it was off to the airport we went, where our journey ended.
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