Browse Month: May 2005

Monterey – Day 2

Sunday, Day Two, started out with a free breakfast at our hotel since Jes is now a Platinum Member at Marriott. Haha. I guess all that travelling does have its perks sometimes. At about 10:30, we met up at Monterey Bay Kayaks, put on some wetsuits and life vests, and cast off into the bay. It was a really cool experience. The water was nice…not to cold and rather calm. We saw lots of seals and sea lions hanging out on the rocks. I saw a couple otters too!! That was the part I was waiting for and luckily I saw some before I got seasick, which happened shortly after and during. Here is the gist of it: “Hey, it’s an otter!..hold on, gotta puke real quick….OK, that’s better.” Unfortunately, this went on for the rest of the trip and as the seasickness worsened so did my paddling, which made it all worse. At one point, I was throwing up the strawberries I ate at breakfast, paddling furiously, and going around in circles. Poor Jes had to come to my rescue and tow me back to shore. What a mess. Fortunately, I still enjoyed the experience and got to see an otter floating in the water. Mission Accomplished!
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Afterwards, we enjoyed some BBQ at a sidewalk fair near the hotel. Then we drove off to Carmel to hang out in the little artsy village that had a Coach Factory Store. It was a nice place to walk around and look at people. We also stopped to taste some Australian wine. There was a funny little beagel who was nice and rotund from being the official greeter of the winery. He has a neat little trick of getting up on his hind legs and begging until he gets a piece of your bread…clever little feller.

Monterey – Day 1

We went to Monterey for Memorial Day Weekend this year. Day One, Saturday, started out bright and early. Got on the road by 4:30 in the morning and luckily didn’t get pulled over. There were so many cops on patrol this weekend! We arrived in Monterey around 10, had breakfast, and met up with Bang and Vyl at the bike rental at noon. Our original plan was to rent bikes and ride them to a winery. It turned out that it was way too far and dangerous to ride there.
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So, Plan Two was renting a 4-person surrey. If you don’t know what a surrey is, imagine two side-by-side tandem bicycles welded together like a horsecart with a nice plastic cover to shade you from the elements. Nevermind the dangerous chain that can lop off a toe or the rickety seats that can throw you off at any time. Fortunately, the surrey was so much fun…in fact, it was quite hilarious. We had to try out best to pedal together, avoid running over small children, avoid the cars, and try not to fall out. We rode to the end of the bike path, which was only 2 miles away, and ate lunch there. We had a picnic at Lovers’ Beach where we illegally drank a really good bottle of Chardonnay that Vyl had been saving up and enjoyed the view. Good choice, Vyl!
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Later in the evening we drove to Chateau Julien where we tasted some so-so wine and some facial gymnastics performed by Vyl, the wine snob. We also had some meager pours but got a second helping of the Gewurtztraminer. Dinner was at Passionfish in Pacific Grove. My escolar was yummy and so was Jes’ duck. We also tried some more wine there, which was just the beginning of our own little “Sideways” experience this weekend. To be continued…

Woo hoo! Only $75 to go!

Just yesterday, my istockphoto account hit $25! It’s taken me about 6 months to get that far. I only need $75 more dollars in order to cash out! Haha. It’s going to take forever. Johnny got a head start and is up to at least $50 now. Boy, I’m not sure how I’m going to catch up and beat him. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some cool shots up in Monterey. I’m thinking the only way to catch up or at least be in contention is to get a camera with more megapixels (downloads of large files make more money).
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The debate between 35 mm cameras and digital cameras continues…
35 mm SLR pros: great print quality, versatile lenses, quick shutter speeds
35 mm SLR cons: big and bulky, more difficult to use for websites, photos are more difficult to share
compact digital pros: no waiting for film processing, photos are easy to share with friends, camera is usually smaller too
compact digital cons: prints still suck, shutter speed too slow, less creative options
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Now the other thing to consider is the digital SLR (particularly Nikon D70), which I’ve had my eye on for some time now. I’d get the ability to use my existing Nikon lenses, it has a faster shutter, and I’d have the convenience of digital photos. However, it’ll still be big and heavy and it’s still rather pricey. What’s a girl to do?!
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—We’re leaving for Monterey tomorrow morning before the birds even wake up. I’m looking forward to seeing the sea otters in the bay. Kayaking should be a hoot.

So long, fishie.

Back in our college days, around…1996, we bought a little fishie that was only 3 inches long. He was an arowana…one of those long fishies that people display in Chinese restaurants or in their doorway to fend off bad spirits. I remember the days when we would hand feed him bloodworms and check the water temperature religiously. Later, he grew up into a big fishie. We had to get a larger and larger tank for him as he got bigger over time. When Jes moved home after graduating from UCLA, we also had to move the fishie. He lived with Jes’ parents for a long time after that…until today. At about 9 years old, 2 feet long, and 3 inches thick, he is now floaty dead. Jes’ mom called me this afternoon with the bad news and sounded genuinely sad. She even said that she no longer wanted to have the tank in the hallway anymore. I suppose it’s just too sad for her. Bye fishie!
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On a lighter note…I did something kinda weird today. At 3:00, after my last meeting, I put on my running gear and headed out the door. Yup, I ran home. It was a very strange experience…I’ve never lived so close to work before! All I could think to myself was, “hey, this is pretty cool!” According to my GPS, the route I took was 3 miles long. Sweet.

Back to the Real World

Today is Jes’ first day at his new job. We still have only one car so he had to wake up early to drop me off before heading up to Costa Mesa. It felt like getting a kid ready for his first day of school…you know, butterflies, pep-talks, and sleepiness. I’m sure it was hard to be out there in the real world again after over 5 months of sitting at home. I had a hard enough time adjusting when I got my driver’s license reinstated. I hope it doesn’t suck. We’ll just have to see when he gets home today.

Better than “Revenge of the Sith”

Guess what?! Beakatude has just released the final cut of the 2004/05 Snow Season Slideshow!! Click here to download. I recommend that you save the file to your computer…it’s kinda big. Another thing, you might want to watch it at home with the speakers on. This slideshow is packed with dope sounds to get you in the snowy groove. Haha. We had a great snow season this year. If you missed it, hopefully this will throw you right into the action. Enjoy!!