Friday, June 22, 2007

cities, cultures, people.

my summer trip is ending very soon. it's very fast and surreal. it has been one trip of seeing new things, exploring new cities. and it's amazing.

highlights of LA (continued)

- neighbourhoods of LA include santa monica, downtown LA, beverley hills, hollywood, rodeo drive shopping (or rather window shopping). i like santa monica. 'cos it reminds me of a less snobby OC. it's very young, hip, cool beachside town. the main shopping street, 3rd st, is filled with shops, restaurants and buskers.

- warner brothers studio tour. was amazing for a film and tv geek like me. we saw all the sets on the lot of WB for SO MANY movies and tv shows. primarily gilmore girls and west wing and spiderman (the upside-down kiss!) and ER and without a trace. now when i watch gilmore girls i'd be reminded that all the buildings are fake and all. plus we went into sookie's house and lorelai's house is just behind! and not to forget dosy's and luke's. we also saw the sound stages for ocean's 13, the former one for friends and many more. plus the WB museum had very cool props and costumes from all 5 harry potter movies (yes including the soon-to-be-released order of phoenix). jiejie i think you'd love this tour!

- disneyland. of course. we sat most of the "adult" rides, including the famed space mountain roller coaster twice. 'cos it was just such a thrilling ride, even better than the mummy ride at universal. we saw the usual disney parade and re-lived all my childhood memories of watching disney cartoons and movies.

- farmer's market on 3rd and fairfax. i first read about this farmer's market from corrinne may's blog. and it's a nice flea market! i bought quite a number of stuff 'cos they were either vintage or unique or just so nice. i love flea markets.

- roadtrip up north of LA to malibu and santa barbara. malibu is pretty quiet and small, despite how famous its name is. but santa barbara is just beautiful. another seaside town. but not ulu 'cos it's pretty upmarket and affluent, with all the usual shops and cafes. and i just love the vibe of this city. not to mention a lot of celebrities have homes here. no i didn't see any. but the view alone is enough. it has become one of my favorite cities now.

highlights from san francisco (so far)

- union square shopping. no i didn't buy a lot. but it's a great shopping paradise. =)

- neighbourhoods of SF, each with its distinctive architecture and character. explored financial district, chinatown, telegraph hill and coit tower, russian hill and the winding road, fisherman's wharf, nob hill, civic center and haight-ashbury. we took 2 days to cover all these places, which basically covers the entire SF, with the exception of a couple of neighbourhoods and the university.

- roadtrip down the pacific coast. was a beautiful drive. just miles and miles of unspoiled beaches. we stopped at several beaches to rest or eat. 2 major stops were santa cruz (where we met 2 NUS girls on the work and travel program, and how we met was standing in line for lemonade at the beachside theme park, overhearing each other's unique singapore accent) and monterey bay. santa cruz reminded me a lot of santa monica, while monterey is quieter like malibu, but bigger and less ulu. we saw sea lions playing around the dock, like at pier39 of fisherman's wharf. and the view along the bay is just too beautiful to be described. we saw the sunset before heading back to SF.

- biking the golden gate bridge. we rented bicycles and cycled from fisherman's wharf, along the bay, up the golen gate bridge, cross the bridge to the other side (marin county), heading to this small nice town called sausilto. very very pretty sights, we saw the whole day. but we are now all so tired from the biking, and our muscles are aching. but it was worth it. =)

tomorrow my last full day in SF. planned a yosemite national park tour. then on sunday we'll do some last minute shopping around union square, attend the gay pride parade before heading back to seattle.

oh noooo it's ending. means i'm heading home soon. miss you all a lot. =)

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