Naming yourself an oxymoron is a cute way to generate a catchphrase. It happens to work a lot better for an actual cute game than a has-been gambling town.
Sui and I happened upon the latter sometime last week (and we beat the former this week) when we went back to the snowy slopes to make another run at winter sporting. We both started anew with snowboarding last year, and this year Sui wanted give skiing a chance ().
She pretty much gave up after 2 hours of floundering with four waxy, slippery snow sticks.
I am a tentative home owner.
“Tentative”, as I’m not yet sitting in my new shack of a condo, looking out at the faux waterfall and enjoying the audio cacophony of SFO flights above. Seems like all I’m doing nowadays is waiting and stressing out about waiting; I see why they build a lot of padding into the entire home purchasing process. Of course, when the elements gather, there’s a 2-3 hour flurry as agents and brokers scramble to save the deal, all poetically puncutuated by fifty copies of my signature.
Zeon and Sam dragged us this past Saturday to Mama’s in San Francisco, one of the best places for breakfast and brunch around the Bay Area and in retrospect worth visiting despite the long line and drizzly weather.
The rest of the day was spent at the Exploratorium, a kid-friendly science exhibit showcasing rudimentary physics and biology; our highlight was a romp through the Tactile Dome, an obstacle course shrouded in complete darkness which actually takes a little effort to navigate through (not recommended is ramming your face into the walls). More pictures found here.
Oh Vegas. With your enticing buffets, topless shows, scandalous gambling, and blinding lights…
It had been a while since we checked out Las Vegas; last time, one Zeon-organized trip took us mid-summer, mid-desert, to a place where free public entertainment compensated for limited college funds. Since I was in between jobs and Sui was on winter break, we figured it was about time for a return trip.
Sadly, when you don’t gamble or go clubbing, Vegas is a lot less interesting. Despite the diverse entertainment, having a jolly time in Vegas ultimately means spending money at the slots, in the bars, or around the malls; we opted to spend cash on shows and food instead. This is a quick account of some of the interesting venues we dropped by, just in case anybody wants to check them out.
And for those more visually-inclined, some pictures of the trip. ()
The abundance of carny games and people at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk was slightly disappointing, so our entourage headed along scenic Highway I, meandering our way along the Californian coast, enjoying great views of the ocean and for for those of us sensitive to winding roads, motion sickness.
Following a coworker’s recommendation, we stopped at an unmarked area off the highway, where a slanting trail lead downwards to a cozy patch of sand and rocks isolated from the rest of the world. Panther Beach, as it is known, was a picturesque location; rocky cliffs shelter its beauty from tourist eyes, lapping waves erase yesterday’s footprints, and September winds add an encouraging chill:
It was a big deal this summer at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk; the radio blared about its 100th year anniversary along with the enticing possibility of $1 rides when purchasing cans of Sprite on the weekdays. Since I’ve never been to Santa Cruz, Jeff, in the course of 20+ e-mails, kindly arranged a trip down to the land of excessive sunshine.
One of the first things I noticed upon arrival was the lack of a beach. Well, there may have been a beach, but the view on the road alongside the boardwalk was simply vacation houses and concrete walls, although they may have been trying to build anticipation of the tourist trap. Getting out of the car and shrugging on a backpack holding beach-appropriate gear, I came upon this at the entrance:
