stayed in davis. packed stuffs. slept. picked fatimah up at the airport (by bus)
day 2
off to lake tahoe early in the morning by train, then bus (at around 8+am). reached tahoe at noon. walked to the hotel and ate lunch at ihop on the way. went to the lake to watched the sunset. ended up the weather was too cold, so we went back to the hotel after eating dinner at mcd.
day 3
it was snowing. went to the lake to watch sunrise. ended up we were facing the wrong direction and the sky was cloudy, so we couldn't see anything. decided to go back to the hotel but stopped to play/take pictures at the playground. went on the slide and hurt my backbone because it was too slippery. my worst fall ever. couldn't breath at first. thanks to iqra' for helping me up and supporting me so that i wouldn't fall again. were planning to go skiing/snowboarding at first, but due to my condition, i stayed at the hotel with fatimah (fatimah had to finished her 20pages assignment). watched tv the whole day. snow was pretty but i couldn't enjoy it that much. owh. they built a snowman and a baby snowman. and as their imagination got warmed up, they built a snow toilet. haha
day 4
checked out from the hotel. went to the bus station. waited for the bus for 7 hours. then after countless phonecalls, the amtrak person said that the bus was cancelled (although before that they said the bus would come). ended up having to stay for another night. booked a 2-queen beds hotel room and fit 8 people in there.
day 5
checked out from the hotel. waited for the bus. thanked God the bus was there. when we asked the bus driver about the cancelled bus, he shockingly said, "the bus wasn't cancelled. i was here. with a different bus." damn it. how were we supposed to know that it's the amtrak bus if there's no sign telling that?! but anyway, reached davis at dinner time. had dinner. did laundry. packed a lil bit. then went to sleep.
day 6
woke up. picked up the rented car. did some groceries shopping. and drove the freshmen to the bank, then the amtrak station. did a last minute packing. then off to san francisco. went to an indian restaurant for dinner. was approached by two muslim brothers. apparently, they were sorta wanting us to be their wives. they gave us their contact numbers. hahah. traumatized for a moment. then went to pier 39 and walked around. met up with ube for a while. drove on the croockedest street.
day 7
went to alcatraz island. was a great tour. beautiful view. ate some cheap seafood. drove on the golden gate bridge. went back to the hotel to rest.
day 8
Palace of fine arts
we started our day at around 9 am. drove to palace of fine arts. i actually don't know why they call it 'palace of fine arts', but wutever. it looks like an ancient building, with ponds and statues. the scenery was beautiful. it was a nice sunny day. pigeons were everywhere. after taking some pictures of the pigeons, i remembered that i had a packet of crackers in my handbag, so i decided to give it to the pigeons. turned out the pigeons were very friendly, so they flew and landed on me. it was quite an experience. kinda love this place. after almost freezing in the cold air, we went off to the famous lombard street
Ghirardelli square
Ghirardelli square has always been my favorite place. the view is nice and the chocolate is good. and of course, the free chocolate sample is the best. hehe. we walked around the Ghirardelli square, took pictures and bought a cup of hot chocolate. and we accidentally bumped into yoong. hoho. anyway, after about 1 hour here, we went off to Japan town.
Japan town is one of my favorite places too. i like the atmosphere and the decoration. also the things that they have here. we took our pictures at one of the picture machine. since the machine is imported from japan, all the instructions was in japanese! thank God i know some japanese, so that really helped us. the pictures turned out to be quite good, but we are still confused where the rest of the pictures go. but anyway, we decided to make a scrap book of our roadtrip! btw, of course, my main reason for coming to japan town was to get the crepe! so i bought myself an egg melt crepe and fatimah bought a mixed fruit with whipped cream and ice-cream crepe. after eating we decided to go to Sausalito. so we headed to the parking space, but as soon as we stepped out of the mall, we saw a demonstration on the traditional way of making mochi. it was interesting and fun. we took some pictures. and after it was over, they gave each of us 2 mochi and they were good :)
Golden gate park
we drove to the Golden gate park without knowing exactly where to go. but well, we managed to find the japanese tea garden, but we didn't go in because we only had about 45 minutes before the closing time. so we decided to go again next time when affan and his mom come to california. so we just drove around and took pictures. then, we went off to City hall.
City hall
the view was pretty. we took some pictures. decided to take a 'jumping' picture and i figured that my back is still hurting because of the fall when i was in tahoe. ouch. anyway, after about 15 minutes, we went to UN plaza.
UN plaza
the sun was setting when we were here. it was very beautiful. took some pictures. then realized that we had to go back to the car because we didn't put enough coins into the parking meter. i walked to the car first, leaving mas and fatimah behind. when mas and fatimah reached the car, they told me that the homeless there were 'harrassing' them when they walked pass-by them. uu scary. anyway, we decided to eat some duck at a halal thai restaurant, so we drove off to Bang san restaurant.
Bang san
searching for a parking space was hard. but we were lucky enough to get a parking space next to the restaurant. ordered myself a bbq duck. turned out duck has lots of fat and not that much meat. it taste just fine, but i wish it had more meat instead. anyway, there was a malaysian family in the restaurant but they were not friendly at all. not even a smile. o well, i guess they were tourists. anyway, after stuffing ourselves with all the food, we decided to walk around union square and do some shopping.
went to macy's. window shopped for a while. then fatimah wanted to go to the body shop, so i accompanied her there. tried a seaweed moisturizer and fell in love with it. ended up buying the starter kit which costs me $27. bye bye money. well, at least i think it's okay to try a new product. i need a set of facial care products anyway. anyway, at approximately 9pm, we decided to go back to the hotel to rest because we are going to the monterey the next day (which is today)
Day 9 (12/23/2007)
We headed to Monterey . The journey took about 3 hours. Monterey looked like a small town – not that many vehicles and everyone drove at approximately 35mph. We reached the hotel an hour early, so we decided to check the whale-watching place. Found out that we were a bit late for the last trip, so we just reserved a place for the 10am trip tomorrow. We walked around the area and took some pictures. Then, we checked in the hotel and rested in the hotel room. Mas and Fatimah slept for 2 hours while I was uploading pictures and updating this blog. Anyway, we went to bubba gum restaurant for dinner. Got myself a shrimp sandwich, Fatimah bought a fish sandwich and Mas bought a shrimp and garlic bread appetizer. The dinner was quite expensive as always (since it’s seafood). But well, the food was good and the restaurant was interesting. Apparently the restaurant has something to do with the Forrest Gump movie. I’m not really sure, but that’s what Mas told me. Anyway, after that we went to the Safeway and bought some bread and necessities for our journey. Then we went back to the hotel room and slept.
Day 10 (12/24/2007)
We started our day quite early thinking that we needed to head to the fisherman’s wharf early for the whale-watching trip. But suddenly Fatimah got a phone call telling that the trip was cancelled due to the windy weather. We were disappointed of course, but well, things happen. Anyway, Fatimah went back to sleep while me and Mas were busy chatting and surfing the internet. Then at about 10:30am, we checked out of the hotel and went to the fisherman’s wharf for a while to buy some souvenirs and clam chowder. After about 11:40, we headed south to LA. We used the freeway that goes along the coast area so that we could get a beautiful view of the ocean. It was worth it. We stopped several times to take some pictures. But of course, the road was very challenging. Lots of sharp turns and it was kinda hilly. Then we used the normal freeway – with lots of cars and nothing to see. There were quite a lot of cars on the road, possibly because it’s Christmas Eve. We reached Kak Mit’s place at around 7:10pm. Seven and a half hour drive – my longest drive ever. Well, I will need to drive at least eight hours from Vegas to Davis later. Huhu. Anyway, had a good dinner. Kak mit’s cooking is the best! J Tomorrow we plan to take the public transportation to go to Hollywood . So I need to sleep now.
p/s: owh almost forgot. When we were on the freeway, we found this one road. Its name was, Guadalupe. We laughed our ass off. Hahahah~!
Day 11 (12/25/2007)
Today we went to the Hollywood blvd. The plan was to buy the Go LA Card, but the booth was closed, so we ended up walking along the Hollywood walk of fame. Since it was my second time there, I did not really take pictures that much, but I help Fatimah take pictures instead. We parked quite far from the Kodak theatre, and we walked till the end of the Hollywood walk of fame, so the journey back to the car was VERY tiring. After reaching the car, we vowed not to park there anymore. Huhu. Anyway, after that we went to the Long Beach . We were expecting to see a beach with the sand and the ocean and the people, but what we got were the long beach aquarium and Queen Mary ship. Since the sun was almost setting, we decided to find a beach so that we can see the sunset. With the help of Fatimah’s gps, we headed to the Manhattan Beach , but we were guided to a house instead of the beach (in other words: we were lost). Did not want to miss the sunset, we drove following the direction of the sunset, and somehow, we managed to find the beach. Hahah. We took some pictures and head back to the downtown LA when we realized that we were hungry. Decided to get something to eat at the Little Tokyo, but turned out all of the shops there were closed. So we headed to the Chinatown, but like little Tokyo , the shops were closed too. In the end, we decided to cook ourselves some rice and eggs at Kak Mit’s place.
Day 12 (12/26/2007)
Today we woke up pretty early (although we left the house quite late, at around 10:15am). We went back to the Hollywood Walk of Fame to get the go LA card. Then we headed to one of the place where we could see the Hollywood sign clearly. Took some pictures and we headed to the Rodeo Drive because Mas wanted to see all those branded shops that they have there. Then we found out that Rodeo Drive was actually at the Beverly Hills so we decided to drive around Beverly Hills to look at those big houses that they have there. Mas was our camerawoman of the day, so she was busy taking pictures of the houses. After getting lost among the houses, we decided to use the gps to go back to the downtown to get some food. We went to one of the halal restaurant called Aladin and bought some beriyani and fried rice. Since it was still early, we decided to go to the rose garden. Unfortunately the road to the rose garden was closed, and Mas was sleeping, so we decided to stop and see the mosque that we accidentally found on our way to the rose garden. Unfortunately (again) the mosque was closed. Since our gps is dying (Fatimah did not charge the gps last night), we decided to head back to the downtown and try to go to the Little Tokyo, hoping most of the shops were open. However, driving towards the downtown, we realized that Macy is very near to Kak Mit’s place, so we decided to park the car at Kak Mit’s place and walk to Macy instead. Well, the Macy was not at all great and we were quite disappointed, so we head back to the apartment, and here I am, typing this thing. Anyway, tomorrow we might go to the Universal Studios, so that would be fun J
p/s: while walking along the Rodeo Drive , we saw a very funny thing happened. There was a, should I say, grandma, was trying to make a right turn with her Mercedes. However there was an old man (but based on looks, the grandma was older) was crossing the street, and he was right in front of the grandma’s car. Then suddenly the grandma honked the man so that the man would walk faster. Then the man suddenly said to one of the pedestrian, “At 97, no wonder she’s in a hurry.” We could not help but laugh. Hahahaha!!
Day 13 (12/27/2007)
Today we went to the Universal Studios. We left the house at around 9:40 am, thinking the park would be opened at 10 am because that what was written in the guidebook. Anyway, there were a lot of cars going into the theme park and we were just hoping that we could get a parking space. We chose the general parking instead of the preferred parking because we didn’t want to pay extra $9 for a parking space, but who knew, we as soon as we entered the parking lot, we saw a car took off, so we instantaneously got ourselves a parking space. Then soon we figured that it was not at all far from the entrance to the theme park. How lucky was that? Anyway, since we bought the Go LA Card, we didn’t have to pay for the ticket to go into the park, so after gotten ourselves, the tickets, we went straight ahead through the main gate. Then we headed to the studio tours since it’s the main ride in the Universal Studios Hollywood. It’s still the same as it was when I went there 3 years ago, but they added a couple of new things here and there, such as the Too Fast Too Furious Tokyo Drift demo. And the houses built for the desperate housewives show is still my favorite.
Anyway, after that we headed to the mummy roller coaster. I was quite hesitated to get onto the ride because I my backbone was still hurting and I didn’t want it to get worsen because of the ride. However, I just lined up for it anyway, hoping that everything would be okay. Upon riding it, I pushed myself hard towards the seat so that my back wouldn’t move as much. Well, guess what? Somehow it worked. My backbone didn’t hurt that much, although lower part of the backbone hurt a little. Well, I survived.
After that the mummy ride, we basically went to anything that we could see. We watched shrek, terminator 2, etc. And I didn’t know how, but I almost fell asleep when we were watching the shrek 3D. I was not sure how did I manage to be very sleepy at that time. Anyway, after going into most of the rides and realized that it was too cold to be outside, we decided to head back to kak mit’s place.
And who would expect, kak mit cooked some fried bihun. Yumyum.
p/s: somehow I feel lucky today. We got a good parking space just as soon after we entered the parking lot. Then when we reached a restaurant for lunch, we saw someone was leaving his seat, and miraculously no one reached for the table, so we booked the table for ourselves. Then, when lining up for the Jurassic Park ride, I said to mas that it would be nice if there was a vending machine that sells churros, and just as soon as I finished saying that sentence, someone came with a bag of churros, selling them to people who were lining up for the ride. O well, how lucky did I feel. I was actually thinking of giving myself a try for one of the games (you know..games like, ‘throw the ball into the net and I will give you a small teddy bear’) because (1) I have never won those kind of games before, and (2) those small teddy bears looked cute. But since I think it’s wrong to think that way, so I didn’t try those games. Well, I am glad I didn’t because I don’t need both the teddy bear and wasting $3 for such thing. Anyway, time for me to sleep! Tomorrow we’ll be moving to a hotel because kak mit’s family is coming. Till then, jya~
day 14 (12/28/2007)
went to Hollywood boulevard. Got into the Kodak theatre and a tour around the Hollywood . Also went into the wax museum and the guiness world record.
Day 15 (12/29/2007)
California adventure park!
================================================================ok...day 14 and 15 were kinda bit short. haha. anyway, allow me to summarize the rest of my road trip.
day 14 (12/28/2007)
we went to the hollywood. since we bought the 'Go LA' card, we tried to use the most of it. so we went into the wax theatre and the world guiness book record gallery. i'd say the new york's are so much better. the figures in the wax theatre really look like ordinary 'patung'.
and by the way, an advise if you are thinking of going to hollywood: take the tours. any tours, doesn't matter. because trust me, hollywood has nothing. there's only one road that is famous (it's where the kodak theatre is, and where the hollywood walk of fame is). you can only appreciate hollywood if you know the stories behind it. so seriously, take the tours.
day 15 (12/29/2007)
on this day, we went to california adventure park - for the second time (first for fatimah though). i wanted to ride on the big roller coaster that they have there, but to our surprise, it was stuck while we're on another ride (thank goodness we're not on that hahah). and the worst part was, they couldn't make the trains go down, so the people had to walk down the steps. it was scary. i bet some people had already cried-having to stuck at the highest peak of the roller coaster is not fun.
but anyway, the park hasn't change much since i went there 3 years ago. and i went to watch the alladin show again - my fav show ever. and i did record it in my webcam
day 16 (12/30/2007)
ok i seriously have forgotten what we did on this day. most probably we went to the aquarium of the bay and the queen mary cruise. it's not a heart-throbbing-omigod-i-love-this kinda feeling, but i think it's okay. lots of old people and children though. somehow we felt kinda out-of-place. hahah.
day 17 (12/31/2007)
we headed to las vegas on this day. the journey was seriously BORING. there was nothing on the road other than sand and shrubs. and there weren't that many vehicles on the road. i was driving most of the time at 130 mph and still sleepy. huhu. anyway, on the way, we found some interesting things. for example: a WATER THEME PARK (yup, in a middle of nowhere..but it's already abandoned i think), a ZZYZX road (yup, the name is zzyzx), and OUTLET STORES (yup, in a middle of nowhere). hahah.
anyway, since it was new year's eve, we went to where people always celebrate new year in vegas. the search for a parking space was hard, but we managed to find one near a housing area. and lucky we were, it was a free parking space (and ended up we were using the same parking space everytime we wanted to go there, like it was reserved for us or something haha). new year's eve in vegas was crazy. well, i bet it's the same whenever, but since vegas is a 'sin city', it was creepier. haha. people drank beer like crazy (each of them held a pitcher of beer for themselves). seriously, i don't know how many times they would need to go to the restroom. and of course, half-naked (or maybe 3/4 naked) pictures are everywhere. and to my surprise, there were quite a number of people brought the whole family along (including those children who don't even know ABC). seriously i think it's not appropriate. anyway, as the clock ticking and the night got darker (opps, vegas has lights everywhere haha), the people got crazier and we decided to go back to the hotel. as we were walking, we saw a big screen showing the new year's celebration in new york. just then we realized it was almost 9pm vegas time, so the new yorkers were just about to celebrate the coming of the new year. when the clock striked 9, we wished each other a happy new year and continued our journey back to the hotel. hahah
day 18 (1/1/2008)
we went out early to get ticket for the phantom of the opera show. and to our surprise (well, not really hehe), the city was dead. i mean really dead. i bet the people were having a hang-over after the party last night. haha. anyway, after getting the ticket, we went to the hoover dam. the traffic was really ( i mean REALLY) bad. a supposed-to-be-half-an-hour journey ended up becoming a one-and-a-half hour journey. hoover dam was pretty. well, there's nothing much actually, just that the dam is big (but the truth is, i don't know the size of other dams haha), and the view was nice. and yeay! i've stepped on the arizona land
.after going to hoover dam, we went back to vegas and went to watch the phantom of the opera show. IT WAS GREAT! seriously, if you're thinking of going to vegas, watch the show! you won't regret it! the ticket was quite expensive, but it was worth it.
and what do i think about vegas? well, to me, vegas is nothing. and it has nothing. it's just a desert, where people suddenly decided to build large and expensive casino hotels and tried to make like it has something. but really, it has nothing. well, i guess to someone who is rich and likes to gamble, vegas is heaven. but to me, it's just a sin city.
and just some notes about some interesting things that i've found in vegas: (1) there's a university there, yup, in the middle of those casinos and strip clubs..it's the university of nevada, las vegas; (2) the gas and food in vegas are cheap! and there're quite a number of halal restaurant there! whee~; (3) the city is dead during the day, especially in the morning (okay..not quite surprising heheh)
day 19 (1/2/2008)
we drove back to LA. the plan was actually to go straight back to davis, but i realized that i had left my external hard drive and the cable for my camera at the hotel in LA, so by hook or by crook, i had to get them back. so there we were, in the car, on the way back to LA. we spent a night there. and tried to get some rest.
owh yeah, something happened on this day actually. as fatimah was trying to get something from the trunk of the car, she accidentally left the key in the trunk. and the car was locked. of course, we didn't have any extra key, since it's a rented car. mas told me to call the customer service, and i did, although i was in doubt. then the person came and get the key back from the trunk. how did he do that? well, it's really like stealing a car. haha. now i know how to steal a car
anyway, i asked the person if we needed to pay them. then he said just sign the form and the insurance would take care of everything. i said "okay," although actually in my mind i was thinking, "i declined the insurance actually~~" haha. well, now i'm just waiting if they ever trace me back to ask to pay for the service
day 20 (1/3/2008)
we headed to davis on this day. an approximately 7 hours driving. my feet was shaking when i went out of the car. hoho
day 21(1/4/2008)
did nothing. affan and his mom was suppose to arrive on this day, but it was raining heavily, so their flight was delayed
day 22 (1/5/2008)
affan and his mom arrived. we picked them up from the airport. then went to the old sacramento and the city hall. nothing much. got ourselves some salt water toffee.
day 23 (1/6/2008)
went to san francisco today. went to all those places that we actually had gone earlier: sausalito, golden gate bridge, pier 39, etc. ate at bangsan halal thai restaurant - as always.
day 24 (1/7/2008)
school started. ok.. so that's not supposed to be day 24. it should have been day 1 of winter quarter huhu
so that's if for my winter break road trip. fatimah, affan and his mom went back on the 9th. i sent them off to the airport by myself, without getting lost. i am so proud of myself. haha. btw, sorry for the extra long post. now i know that procrastination is a sin. hehe
No comments:
Post a Comment