California Dreaming

“All the roads are jammed…And the sky is grey…
I’ve been for a drive…On a summers day…
I’d be hot and sweat…
If I was in L.A…” – This is my version of “California Dreamin” after visiting California from 24th of May – 29th of May.
😛 Haha, but anyhow it was a fun trip over there.

If not because of my cousin, aunties and uncles were on a vacation trip over here, I wouldn’t made up my mind to take a flight over there to meet them. Actually they only extended their trip for 2 days. They were flying back on 26th morning. But since I was there, I wouldn’t want to waste my flight ticket just for a short 2 days trip. So, I decided to stay there longer, until 29th, which was 5 days in total. Well, this is my first and also the longest trip I had over here. A lot of stories and photos taken, but I am a bit lazy to post them up, hence I’ll only post up some main stuff. 😛

加州回來後，我學會了“夢見加州”這首歌。哈哈，其實我去加州的過去一個星期，也還蠻好玩啦。如果不是我的表姐還有舅舅、舅母們過來這裡遊玩，我也不會下定決心要過去見見他們，也順便走一趟。他們其實在這裡玩了快兩個星期了，所以我過去時，他們只在這裡多逗留兩天而已，就是二十四日到二十六日。過後我為了不想浪費飛機票，就自己多留了三天，總共是在加州待了五天，算是我在這裡的第一次旅行，也是最長的旅行了，而且還是一個人的！哈哈，有很多的故事和照片，不過我有點懶惰，所以就挑重點放上來吧。:P

第一天 First Day, 24th of May (Tuesday):
Took the morning 6.50am flight, from PDX all the way to LAX airport, reached there around 9.15am.
Then, I did the first embarrass thing: took the wrong shuttle to wrong car rental location, =.= wasted me like 20mins to take the shuttle back again and then only took the right one to pick up my car. =.=lll
Anyway, I finally made myself safe and sound to my cousin’s hotel location at Buena Park, CA. Met with them, then, at first I wanted to bring them go to the “Shi Ba La” Restaurant to try the “Shi Ba La Hotdog Rice”, which is highly recommended by my colleague. We went there, but they CLOSED on Tuesday! >.< So, end up we ate some Chinese food at the nearby restaurant.
Ok, fully re-charged, it’s time to GO. Our first destination is the Newport Beach. My cousin loves beach so much. In 2 days, we visited at least 3 beaches. Cool huh. haha. 🙂
After the nice beach walk, we went to the largest mall in California: “South Coast Plaza“. My cousin shopped a bag full of clothes. Is it cheap? I don’t think so, haha.

今天一大早就起身，要搭最早的飛機從波特蘭飛機場直飛加州國際機場，到那裡已經是九點十五分了。
才一下飛機，我就做了很失魂的事情：我竟然搭錯巴士，到了錯的地方去拿車，結果浪費了我二十多分鐘的時間，要搭回去機場，再搭正確的巴士到租車公司拿車。拿了車後，就直接駛往表姐的酒店去。還好最後我也安全抵達了，和他們會合後，就打算帶他們到同事介紹說好吃的店去吃香腸飯，結果是沒開！還有夠囧的，最後我們就到隔壁的餐廳點菜吃中餐。吃完後，我們就精神奕奕的開始往我們的第一個目標去：“新港海灘”。我表姐超愛海灘，她喜歡自然風景比較多吧，所以短短兩天我們去了三個海灘，厲害哦。哈哈，接下來我們就去了加州最大的購物中心逛一逛，還真的有夠大，我表姐也買了一整袋的衣服等，是不是很便宜？不覺得咯，嘻嘻，只是可能在馬來西亞和星加坡沒得買吧。

 

第二天 Second Day, 25th of May (Wednesday):
As planned earlier, we want to explore around San Diego. But my cousin loves beach. So, the first destination was the Santa Monica Pier, in Santa Monica, CA. The whole journey took us more than an hour. =.=lll It shouldn’t be that far, but because of the terrible traffic around California, especially L.A. We wasted too much time in the traffic jam. Then, we went all the way south to San Diego. On the way there, we went through PCH, which was really a very nice scenic highway. Anyway, being the second largest city in California, San Diego is a very special city that located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Our first stop in San Diego was the Mission Beach. Then, we proceeded to the Bazaar Del Mundo. Just a very special colourful shop, which we didn’t expect to be that small, haha. Next, we went to the Seaport Village, which is really a nice place to stroll around. We stayed there for like an hour+ then we proceeded to the Gaslamp Quarter. Well, we didn’t really stopped here for a walk because it’s a bit hard to find a parking. Lastly, we went to the Mission San Diego de Alcala. Well, this one is a church. One of the historical landmark of California, because it is the first church in California. But too bad the time we went there already too late, it was closed.

第二天的行程最主要就是要去“聖地亞哥”。不過還沒去之前，表姐提議要到“聖莫妮卡碼頭”去先。本來去那裡不需要很長時間的，但就是因為塞車，結果用了一個小時多的時間才到達，還真的很麻煩。接下來我們就直接往南部：“聖地亞哥”前進，經過“太平洋岸邊大道”，一路上風景真的很美，可惜都不能夠停下來拍照。聖地亞哥，是加州第二大的城市，位於很特別的太平洋岸邊。我們在聖地亞哥的第一站就是“使命海灘”。然後就到了一間很特別的小店，在接下來就是“海港村”，那裡的風景還真的很不錯，很適合去那裡散步，欣賞海景。過後，我們就去逛一下“瓦斯燈街區”。最後，還到了“聖地亞哥使命教會”去看一看所謂加州第一間的使命教會，可惜我們去到時已經太晚了，所以也只是在外面看看而已。

 

第三天 Third Day, 26th of May (Thursday):
My cousin they were leaving this morning. So, starting from today, I was alone in L.A. 🙂 A bit scary but still very excited. After sending off my cousin, I started my L.A. trip with the Hollywood sign first. Well, again I was terrified by the traffic in the city. >.< Then I was strolling around the downtown area, went to the China Town, and then the Hancock Park, (made me think of the movie “Hancock”), the La Brea Tar Pits, and then the Griffith Observatory. Out of these so many, I like the Griffith Observatory the most. Located out of the city, you’ll need to go through the Griffith Park before you reach there. Just before I went back to hotel, I visited the Venice Beach as well.

今天表姐他們要回去了，所以從今天開始就是我一個人自由行的時候了，哈哈。首先，我就去了“好萊塢”標誌的地方去，然後也順便去了“加州唐人街”，接下來就是“漢考克公園”，和它附近的“拉布雷亞瀝青坑”，然後再到“格里菲斯天文台”。那裡還真的蠻不錯，可以看到和學到很多不同的天文學知識，風景也很美。最後，回之前也去了“威尼斯海灘”。

 

第四天 Fourth Day, 27th of May (Friday):
Started getting sick of the traffic in L.A. Instead of visiting the ‘hot’ attractions in L.A. like disneyland, I decided to do something special and ‘challenging’: Drive all the way up north to “Yosemite National Park” early in the morning. That was a 6 hours+ drive. >.< Really tiring, but worth it! hahaha, enjoyed the scenic view all the way up. Though I got not much time over there, it was already enough for me to witness the greatness of nature. Over here you can enjoy the mountain breeze, chirping of the birds, splashes of water from the falls… What a nice place to relax and escape myself from the city. Too bad I can’t stay longer as I need to drive back to the hotel. Yea, another 6 hours+ drive. So, in total I drove 13 hours in a day, that was 2 times back and forth from Penang to KL. Thank God I am still in one piece. 😛

今天開始覺得加州的交通太麻煩了，有點厭倦的感覺。與其要塞車去參觀加州那些著名的景點，比如迪士尼樂園，我決定了要離開市區，直接開車往北部去：“約塞米蒂國家公園”。車程大概就要六個小時多，雖然有點累，但是卻是值得的，哈哈哈。一路上可以看到很多不同迷人的景色，從高速大道，一直到鄉間小路，再到森林小徑，一路的景色都不同。到了那裡，可以享受大山的微風，蟲鳥的鳴叫聲，還有壯觀的瀑布。。。這些都是城市所沒有的迷人特色，可惜我必須再回到城市的酒店去，所以也逗留不了多久。對，就是還要駕多六個小時回去。所以一天裡面，我總共開車開了十三個小時！哈哈，感謝神我還是完整無缺地回到來了，嘻嘻。

 

第五天 Fifth Day, 28th of May (Saturday):
Ok, last day of my trip over here. Don’t really want to travel much today. So, I chose the “Universal Studios Hollywood” for the day. You couldn’t imagine how many people over there. Really “people mountain people sea”. =.= But overall the visit was worth it. You can really see and experience a lot of high tech. movie stuff. After the visit, you should now know how the movie effects were made. I really like the ‘illusions’ that they created using motions and animations. Some can really confuse you whether they are real or fake. This is the power of motion and animation technology today.

第五天是最後一天了，我也不想駕車太多，所以就決定了只去一個地方：“環球影城”。那裡真的是人山人海，天氣也開始變得很熱！不過，這影城還真的蠻特別蠻好玩的，總算值得啦。在那裡你可以看到和體會到不同的高科技影音和動畫技術，真的讓人驚嘆連連。參觀過後，你應該就會有很多的“哦！原來是這樣做的啊。。” 我還蠻喜歡他們結合了高科技所製作出來的假象和錯覺，讓人有時還分不清是真是假，這就是今天動畫科技的厲害。

 

So, that’s all for my trip to California. I’ll update more photos once I am free. 😛
好啦，這就是我五天四夜的加州之旅，遲些如果有時間我才放上更多照片吧。:)