The moon is an early riser

The moon peeking out from behind this tree in Balboa Park

Star Trek Exhibition

Lucky for me there was a Star Trek exhibition going on at the San Diego Air & Space Museum in Balboa Park!

Here's the entrance, check the cool posters. And that's a SR-71 Blackbird on the right. Inside, there was a whole timeline of Star Trek, TNG, Deep Space 9, Voyager and Enterprise. Also had some cool replicas of sets, props and uniforms.


Although the price of admission was $26, it was worth it just for this picture: Captain Wong of the USS Enterprise! Um, where's my crew??


Scotty, beam me down to the restroom!


Can't wait for the new Star Trek prequel movie directed by J.J. Abrams coming out this summer. It looks great! Checkout the trailer here!

Balboa Park

For those who have an afternoon to kill in San Diego and don't want to goto the beach, I would highly recommend Balboa Park. One of the largest urban parks in America, Balboa Park is home to many mid-size museums, lovely gardens, performing arts venues and the famous San Diego Zoo. Try to go on a tuesday as there is free entry to 2 or 3 museums on that day. I went to the photography, art and aerospace museum (more on that later).

The park is filled with spectacular greenery such as this ginormous Ent tree that was looking after the garden. There was also a Japanese garden but I didn't go in.


I spend a good 5min marveling at this monster tree.


Here's another giant that some local schoolkids are learning about. Look at the size of those roots!


The Grinch hiding behind one of the theaters getting ready for his evening show.


Free entry to all to the botanical gardens. It's housed in this interesting building at the end of the lilly pond.


The garden itself is not very big but there are interesting specimens such as carnivorous plants and plants that give of strange smells.


I spend most of the day there wondering around and even took a nice nap on the lawn.

Kim Qi

Seen on a highway in San Diego, the driver was not Korean, not Asian

Racine & Laramie - old school tobacconist

I visited San Diego's Old Town one afternoon - its basically a recreation of what a town would have looked like back in the 1800s. There are a bunch of houses & stores surrounding a town square / commons all renovated in the old style.

I generally don't like very touristy places and Old Town was no exception - too much blatant souvenir selling and too many tourists. However there was one gem to be found and that was Racine & Laramie, an old style tabacco shop.


Racine & Laramine was apparently San Diego's very first tobacco shop. Today it's one of the most interesting shops in Old Town.


Here is the old school entrance, complete with native Indian statue to greet visitors.


Inside is a plethora of antique or antique style tobacco products & accessories like lighters, cigarette cases, pipes, zippos, cigars, posters, etc. I really like the old school atmosphere of the place. As you can see things were just strewn everywhere on those wooden counters & display cases.


Here the very knowledgeable grey-haired salesman is debating the intricacies of an antique pipe with an equally well-informed, white-haired customer.


Some cigars on display. There was also a separate room for the fine cigars...no Cubans though.


The entire store with the wooden panelling and old-style furnishings made me think I was in a time warp. If you are a tabacco enthusiast or like old fashioned things, this just might be worth coming to Old Town for.

Lunch at Georges

Went to a classy restaurant overlooking the sea the other day. It's called Georges at the Cove located in La Jolla. There is a proper restaurant on ground level which is very $$$. So we had lunch at the Ocean View Terrace on the roof, which is much more affordable and just as good (same chef).


Here's my fish taco, seafood with a Mexican flavor, a favorite with San Diegans. It was tasty, crispy and light. They also came with red and green taco chips, very festive!


Here's Chris' shrimp kabab, it was pretty good as well.


Jumbos by the sea.

Exploring an aircraft carrier

The USS Midway has a long and decorated history. It was first launched in 1945, was involved in the Vietnam war, Desert Storm and was the first carrier group to be stationed in Japan. It was finally retired from active service in 1992.

Today it functions as a museum at Broadway Pier in downtown San Diego. The entrance fee is $17 which includes a great audio tour. There were also a number of past crew members employed as museum guides on the ship. It was particularly fascinating talking with them. I don't think there's any other actual aircraft carrier museum in the world....highly recommended!


Walking to the entrance, what a huge boat!


Chris as a hot seaman. How did they fit into those bunks???


These huge chains are attached to the carrier's anchor.


Engine room - imagine having to man this station...


Gotta keep the ship well oiled


Hilarious guide to the organizational structure of the Navy.


On the deck of the USS Midway.


Here is a model of an F-18 Hornet. By strange coincidence there was a tragic F18 crash in a San Diego neighborhood a day later.


Here is the bridge of the ship, too bad we didn't get a chance to go in as there wasn't enough time.


Finally we're at the bow of the ship. San Deigo is the largest Naval base on the west coast Those two ships on the other shore are both active aircraft carriers based in San Diego.


Here is the menu of what the crew ate everyday.

Living in San Diego

Ever wonder why San Diego is such a laid-back place? It's because of the 300+ days of sun and the gorgeous beaches. It is so laid back that it's common for people to goto work in their flip-flops and shorts! Wearing khakis & a collared shirt is considered dressed up. People even go surfing during their lunch hour! It's no wonder that people who live here never leave.


This is a great view of La Jolla shores, look at that sky!


Here is Matt & Amy's house. Its a cozy 3 bedroom, 2 floor house in a new suburb right next to a section of farmland. Sometimes we can see hot air balloons landing nearby!


There place is about 30min drive from downtown and is not far from the mall. I wouldn't mind living in this neighborhood!


Imagine surfing here every morning...this is like the exact opposite of Beijing...sigh....

News: Free WiFi in BJ by 2011

Interesting news from Danwei says that there will be free WiFi access throughout Beijing by 2011!!

Too bad, I probably will have moved back to Hong Kong by then.

San Diego - Food

The last time I was in the States was about 6 years ago, so I was looking forward to eating some good wholesome (fat) American food and real Mexican food this time around. Here are some pics of the food I had in day 1 & 2:


Ah, the breakfast burrito, a staple of the SoCal morning routine. Scrambled eggs, bacon, fried potato chunks and cheese wrapped in a warm, soft tortilla shell - the perfect start to the day! Don't forget to add the jalapeno hot sauce!


Breakfast was so filling that I didn't need to have lunch. So dinner was at Bamboo Hut - a Hawaiian joint. What's Hawaiian food? Creative sushi rolls, rice and lots of meat. This was pork and garlic rice.


Here's Amy's favorite spam sushi - everything tastes great with spam.


Some kind of fried sushi roll - not bad!


This small joint called El Pescador (means fisherman in Spanish) in La Jolla sells fish caught fresh everyday. I had fresh grilled seabass sandwich and clam chowder soup. The fish was very fresh, making the sandwich nice and light...the best sandwich I've have had in a long time!

I definitely have to visit this place again!

stay tuned for more food posts!

Union station, LA

Here's the inside of Union Station, LA, quite a nice and cozy train station. I was waiting for the LA - San Diego train.

Stopover in Tokyo airport

On the flight from HK to San Diego, I had 2hrs in Tokyo airport. Just enough time for lunch!


Hamburger steak set - Japanese love to eat a grilled hamburger patty with rice. I love it too, especially with the egg on top!


This must be the poshest looking airport smoking lounge in the world.

Great Wall - Mutianyu 长城－慕田峪

Last month my friend Christy visited Beijing and we went on a hike to the Mutianyu Great Wall 慕田峪. The Great Wall is split into many sections around northern China. Mutianyu is one of the most accessable, only about 2hrs north of Beijing. As this section is so easy to get to, it is also the most popular (other than Badaling section) and hence is very well maintained.


The Wall is nestled among the tress all wearing their fall colors.


A group of school boys on a field trip taking a break under the golden trees.


Watchtowers are spaced out along the wall. We hiked along 5 watch towers following the contour of the mountain. There were some steep sections but as the steps were so well maintained it was not difficult.


Christy taking on the Great Wall.


Looking out from a watchtower. As we went on a weekday not many tourists were there.


Me and Denis at the top of the watchtower.


Beautiful fall leaves.


Only 3:30pm and the moon is already out!