homeward bound...

Imminent departure,
back to homely pasture...

henceforth the following ends.
Driving experience, taking wrong turns.
Experimental cookings, with me as the sole critic.
Californian rain, running for shelter with waterproof windbreaker.
Shopping frenzy, particularly cheap American brands.
Pinot Noirs & Merlots, after every dinner.

and soon i will be back,
to homely places,
to familliar faces.

homeward bound, finally...


Chevrolet, the quintessential American car.
And i present to u, the Chevrolet Cobalt :)
Ok ok... rented car, not owned by me,
but it has gotten me hooked on driving *aargh bad drug*


A Decadent Bubble Bath.
oohhh nice... just soaking in the tub with bubbles :)


GRAPPLE!
"Looks like an apple. Tastes like a grape."
It is really damn delicious!


And the Pinot Noir, from Sonoma... quite fragrant & smooth :)


And there, one of my first self-cooked meal in Fremont.
Salad with mushrooms & baby carrots,
Beef steak with ground turkey,
Toasted bread with butter & cheese,
Merlot from Napa Valley,
And the lovely fresh milk... ahhh
Sounds like quite a lot rite? hehe good enough for me :)


When a local that i met on Mission Peak told me it was Salmon season, i simply had to make a salmon meal.
And tadaaaa... Salmon cooked with Butter & Garlic, and baby carrots as side dish.


And when i have too much spaghetti, pastrami & Pinot Noir in my fridge, this dish came to life...
Pastrami cubes spaghetti, with mushroom marinara & Pinot Noir sauce :p

PS: The author will like to stress that the meals cooked are only fit to be eaten by him. This is because he has very high tolerance of tasteless food, AND sometimes the meal that comes out does not have the intended flavour.

I believe i can fly...

i believe i can fly,
i believe i can touch the sky...

by R Kelly

And so there i was on an actual 4-seater plane,
turning the plane left, right, making U-turn,
the feeling is so darn cool...

and falling asleep becoz i slept so little the night before
hehe but i did enjoy the scenes while i was still awake :p
sky wasnt really clear, but oh well...


The Beechcraft C23 Sundowner.
Sat, taxied, and controlled... hehe piloted it just for a brief few minutes


And ladies and gentlemen, i know it is a very small picture... but can u see Homestead and the Lam Head offices?


And the U-shaped lake... cool?


The Bay Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz all in one shot...
but too bad the picture is too small and without nicer coloured shot.
*blames the weather* :p


Alcatraz with the Bay Bridge in the background.
The Bay Bridge connects Oakland to Treasure Island to San Francisco.
see how the bridge links up?


And the Golden Gate Bridge.

San Francisco, the city by the bay...

San Francisco, the city by the bay...

the city that gave us the quintessential Levi's,
the famous Ghirardelli Chocolate & super delicious See's Candies,
the infamous Alcatraz & the bright red Golden Gate Bridge...

Hope you dudes and dudettes enjoy the pictures,
brought to you by my eye... my camera i mean


The Golden Gate Bridge, an awesome trademark of San Francisco...


The Alcatraz... also known as The Rock.
A lonely rock just off the shores in the Pacific Ocean.
Used to be the most notorious prison that housed the most hardcore of prisoners.
But now it has turned into tourist attraction, allowing sua-ku tourist like me to step on The Rock


Boats berthing near Fisherman's Wharf, my numero uno favourite place in this city!
Mainly because of the great sea food, especially clam chowder :)


THE CLAM CHOWDER of Fisherman's Wharf!
Savoury & delectable! The oh so divine mouthwatering taste :)
For a feel of its size, see how it compares to my thumb...


The sea lions at Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf... mmm they are really brown & dirty, compared to the ones from Monterey Bay


Fresh Dungeness crabs at Fisherman's Wharf, being cooked... alive :p


USS Pampanito, a decomissioned submarine in a Naval Museum at Fisherman's Wharf.


A REAL sail ship, near Fisherman's Wharf.


Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt... at the "Ripley's Believe It or Not" Wax Museum, also at Fisherman's Wharf


Lombard Street. The world's crookedest street, AND i drove down this street WOOOHOOO!
There was actually a queue just to go down this street.


Now we bring our attention to the Golden Gate Park.
Little turtles on a big turtle... is there a fake turtle in this picture? :p


And this is where the Troll lives, beneath the bridge...


A unique waterfall in Golden Gate Park... can u see that there are actually 1 bigger waterfall & 2 smaller ones?


Another waterfall in this park... we actually went up to the top of this waterfall :)
i love climbing, ahem i mean walking, like a monkey.


Somewhere along the journey up the waterfall mentioned in the previous picture.

Almost 1am now (California time), better ZZZzzzzz....

Mission Peak, part II

And once again, the monkey went back to the wild.
hiking up this mountain, for some exercise & some fresh air,
And also to look for the elusive mountain bananas.


*pants pants*
a...l...m...o...s...t.......... t...h...e...r...e........


The other side of the mountain range. The 2 lakes at the background can now be seen, since the Spring sun has cleared the mist and melted the snow caps.


there goes a helicopter... really want to fly on one in future :)


A chipmunk! And his holey nest? Hmmm


Ooooh, a cow hoof print!


And is that the paw print of the mountain lion?
Did this lion eat up the cow above? *wonders wonders*
Too bad can't find any yeti foot prints... sigh

Stanford Univeristy, Palo Alto

Stanford University...
one of the top tertiary institutions in the world.
And there i am, walking around snapping photos
of blooming trees & flowers, quaint buildings & odd statues.


Hoover Tower, a trademark of Stanford University.


Can you believe this is part of Stanford? Really a quaint place...


A blooming tree in Spring, with nice purple leaves.


An an idiot beside an odd statue...