It was never this bad when I was a student; I kept my belongings simple and portable, consisting mostly of textbooks, a desk, a bed, a small television (later on) and a computer, everything fitting in a trip or two in the old family van. Nah, students didn’t have time for living room luxuries or kitchen utilities, which can be a plus given my landlords’ tendencies to create high turnover rates by jacking up rent.
After college, though, I had this yearning for perhaps a little more in the furnishing department: a sofa for sitting friends near the big-screen TV, a formal dining table for dinner parties, maybe a larger bookcase for all those novels I’ve never had a chance to read while in school, and probably an actual dresser to replace that plastic bag of underwear, a veteran of many spin cycles. Staying put for a few years also helped create that effect of lasting permanence, making stuff piling up just that much easier to accept.
Go figure, a week’s worth of southern Californian memoirs gone, floating down the river of time and memory into subconscious ether. After a week without Internet and two weeks of apartment relocation, I’ve lost the interest and the detailed memories of my trip to SoCal. I’ll try to write down what I can remember for future reference.
I would not wish my worst enemies (well, maybe) a job at Carlsbad attraction Legoland California; it’s a $50/head giant babysitting center which doubles as an excellent contraceptive for any couple wandering through its blocky estate. Beyond the Miniland recreations - admittedly, they were pretty cool, quite photogenic as evident by the amount of pictures I took solely of that area - there were kids of every variety, from screaming horrors to crying scooters and ice-cream-dripping connoisseurs. Fortunately, that evening saw Sui and I hit up a regional favorite Asian restaurant, Seafood Village () featuring Typhoon-Shelter-style crab; amazing stuff.
I’ve uploaded some pictures for your viewing pleasure; there’s a ton of pics I have to wade through in between sessions of packing and moving boxes, so it’s going to be a bit slow for a while. Oh, and to be clear, I’ve come back home for a while - these are events as transcribed from memory, embellished only as nostalgia allows.
Our journey started with indecision, as we try to decide whether to watch animals entertain us (Seaworld) or entertain ourselves by watching animals (San Diego Zoo). Pretty much everyone I talked to said to avoid Seaworld, though, and I’ve heard nice things about the “world famous” zoo and its surroundings, hence we braced ourselves for a day of wildlife ogling.
(Humans are so easily entertained; would monkeys would pay good money - uh, bananas - to be impressed with people milling around in a superficial “natural” environment?)
My poor car is adorned with the combined juices and innards of a thousand insects, most of which were probably wondering the reason why a 3500 lbs. hunk of metal would came from nowhere to smash into them at 85 mph. One’s train of thought tends to wonder when driving down I-5, quite possibly the most hideously boring highways in California, ensuring travel between northern and southern California will always be…sleepy…
Sui and I decided to take a few days off to do a bit of local sightseeing, visiting places we really should have before given our tenure in the state. My previous trips down to L.A. and San Diego have usually been functional in nature - a programming course, some conference, UCLA - but rarely have I had the chance to enjoy a bustling metropolis at a leisurely pace. I figured it’d be fun to visit places I want to see without the irritating fear of falling behind some arbitrary schedule so I would no longer be able to impress friends and family with the sheer number of famous places I stepped foot upon.
