Static Does Wonders to My Hair

Not that I would comment further on this, but the growing hair at the top look made me look like an anorexic pineapple or a freshly picked corn. My point is, I have no point.

So, I have ignored my blog's existence. At least I've been enjoying some travels of sort and a reunion ever since Thanksgiving. That is if you can call travelling the halfway point between LA and San Francisco (collectively called Central California) a real trip. When I visited my parents in LA an itinerary was already waiting for me. My mom, ever the organizer, takes to her obssession of the cliche'd yearly planner breakdown, with time increments. Good thing she's not acquainted with Outlook. Here's an idea of how I think it looked like...

Wednesday, November 23

8:00 Breakfast
8:30 Bath
9:00 Go to Reagan Library - go to west 91, go to west 405, then 115 west exit so and so, right to Presidential drive
Phone # 800-xxxxxxx address: blah blah blah. Ticket: $12
12:00 Lunch
2:00 Leave
2:30 To LA - to the Korean beauty parlor
5:45 Drive back
6:30 Dinner

(side note: I'm talking about trip around LA which you probably know by now you will need to move heaven and earth to get to a destination, now if it's a day before Thanksgiving, it's another story)

Alright, I'm exaggerating a little bit except for the Korean parlor and the Library. But she spared me a day and a car the day before as I spent the time lounging at the Cerritos library; enjoying the fine upholstery, the humongous aquarium, a seat by the fireplace and a membership-free computer access. A day at Legoland was scrapped because she overlooked my sister-in-law's arrival on a Friday, thereby dashing her hopes of a scheduled fulfillment and resigning on to do the near-customary holiday tradition of moshing with the sale-greedy crowd. Not that it's bad, I took advantage of the day myself by procuring a technological gadget before the magic hour of noon. It's just ironic, that people were terribly nasty on a Black Friday when they seemed so civil and so forgiving the night before. It may be a bout of sleeplessness that makes them cranky or it's the impaired Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde quality that we naturally possess. The holiday is merely the trigger.


The Ronald Reagan Library

What can I say, an ex-president was recently buried here, overlooking a scenic afternoon sun in the midst of a rattlesnake infested surrounding. The tourist-ic curiosity precedes the functionality of the place. The library is devoid of kids with backpacks or adults with research-laden faces (Ron's spirit floats nearby as you read your books). I am guilty of the curiosity part, of course. There is a lot of 80s memorabilia -- a souvenir slab of concrete from the Berlin Wall, an Airforce One and helicopter parked inside the museum, and material essences of a person who snuffed out a Cold War. There is a sense of drama to the place, even if Mr Reagan was buried recently, you can't help but be emotional when the sun sets between two mountains.

Believe me I have a picture of the Berlin Wall but this sign is too interesting to resist. © 2005



Cambria, CA

I reckon this as a place where no corporate identities run thru the city pipes, well, except for oil companies(whoo no Mcdonalds). I. Love. This. Place. With a population of 6,000++ the quaint coastal town sits between two tourist attractions --Hearst Castle and Santa Barbara/Morro Bay. It's main source of income are its inns by the beach, where we also stayed for the night. It's also strange that there seemed to be a bunch of real estate agents offering their services. Anyways, on a typical Saturday I would assume out-of-towners primary target is to visit The Castle at San Luis Obispo. Other than that Cambria on a weekend night exists to be a quiet town with no other form of public social entertainment except for a sports bar place and a restaurant that has a tv projector flashing animes on its neighbor's big white wall. It is a struggle to find a place to eat but when we discovered one it is a very cheap grill place where two steaks and four pork ribs is only ten bucks. Whoa, cows grazing nearby fields are not happy. If peace of mind means that you have to be shrouded in stars, then you found home.

They say you pay more for the view, so, we did. It will take us a while to go on a trip again. © 2005


Hearst Castle

Income generator of San Luis Obispo, this is a trippy place to visit only once in your lifetime. While one may be awed at the excesses of living a dream life during the Great Depression, it might be a tad overkill to be fed with the lifestyle again and again with a really big screen movie show at the National Geographic Theater. After all how will they market the features of the castle. Ah, here's an idea, The Hearst Castle -- the only castle you'll find in this side of the world...it sure beats the cost of going to England. It has decent toilets and pools!

Have you heard of a castle with a pool? © 2005


Solvang

This is a given outsiders' road stop if one ends up visiting in-between Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez counties. It is a mini-Dutch and Scandinavian town. Well, it's more windmills I can imagine. Nice architecture, although they have usual tourist stores...I love the Edelweiss Fairy store though, it's so girly, and has a princessy-repressive cuteness to it...And ja, I got my shot at tasting the Aabelskivver (a pseudo-donut hole with raspberry jam inside) and their Danish sausage. Ja! Just because I like saying it.

I just wished someone came in to this alley shop. It seemed so isolated. © 2005