Like my last San Diego trip, this trip was planned almost entirely by Charles. Unlike the last trip, I met a lot of his friends this time during my various adventures around San Diego and Los Angeles. Although I am not antisocial, interacting with most people for long periods of time can make me tired, and so this trip was also about making sure I was paying attention to people and not zoning out too much. It was also my first real vacation since probably before high school. Since high school, I have always had my laptop during vacation and have been doing work of some type, whether it is school work, personal work, or research. This time I left my laptop behind and mostly disconnected myself from emails, skimming through only to look for important ones. It was refreshing and made me feel free.
Furthermore, I am prone to headaches and migraines and small triggers such as dehydration, overheating, hunger, and sleep deprivation can set them off. I'm essentially a plant in that way: small imbalances can mess with my entire system. This trip I was especially wary of this tendency and made sure to do things such as wearing a hat if I was going to be outside for a while, and actually drinking water for once.
Sunset @ Santa Monica Pier
Star Wars Cantina.
(L to R) me, Charles, Dalton, Ryan
Red, red hills at Point Loma
drawing studiously at the Getty
(L to R) Charles, Yuji. Irvine
Tuesday, 9/3: We visited Coronado Beach again and watched the sunset while devouring Pokkiritos. Then we went to Gaslamp and learned that the Lime scooters are now much more closely regulated. They have speed locks and go 3mph in congested areas... even at night when they aren't congested. As I was still under 21, the only place I could enter was Ghirardelli and we had wonderful icecream again. If I had found dark chocolate caramel, I probably would have bought a bunch.
Wednesday, 9/4: This was an LA day! We went and visited the Getty and I sketched some sculptures while watched by the security guard who probably wanted me to stop standing in the same spot for twenty minutes. Afterwards we headed to the Santa Monica Pier, which was set up a little like a small amusement park. It had a ferris wheel, concessions, and a beautiful view of the Sunset. We then headed to the Griffith Observatory for the well-known view of LA and the joy of winding around on dark roads and walking a mile from our parking spot.
Sunset @ Coronado
LA from the Getty
Santa Monica sign
Santa Monica pier
LA from the Griffith
Thursday, 9/5: We biked Hwy 101 with some of Charles' friends and nearly got a ticket. The view of the beach was beautiful, although the bike was unfamiliar and I confused myself with the gears. Afterwards, Vicki, Charles, and I got icecream sandwiches and cookes from Baked Bear. For whatever reason, I am thoroughly in love with those icecream sandwiches and determined to toast cookies at home in order to make my own icecream sandwiches. The three of us then bouldered at Vital Carlsbad and I worked on a few reds.
Friday, 9/6: My favorite day! I went to Disneyland with Charles, Dalton, and Ryan and we wandered around, guided by Ryan who goes there frequently. Ryan expertly planned fastpasses and the rides we should take, and we rode (Hyper)space Mountain three times. He told us a lot of interesting trivia and showed us some of the hidden Easter Eggs that I would have never known by myself. We also had a 9:15AM booking at the Star Wars Cantina and hung out there for half an hour, enamored by all the Star Wars detail. Dalton and I translated Aurebesh words every time we could and became oddly good at it. Yuji and Steff joined us later in the day, and we rode the Star Wars ride a second time with them. We stayed there from the time the park opened to the time it closed and had an excellent day. I had so much fun that I forgot to take photos with things :(
Cardiff Beach
Charles, Black Spires Marketplace
(L to R) me, Dalton, Steff, Yuji, Charles, Ryan
Ryan walking into the castle
Waiting for the Star Wars ride
Saturday, 9/7: We went to visit Point Loma lighthouse, since the last time I had visited, we had arrived just as the area closed. We were close enough to the border that my phone decided we were in Mexico as soon as we arrived. We went down to the tidepools (which were closed) and walked around a little bit before going back to the lighthouse itself. Later, we climbed for an hour at Vital Carlsbad before joining some of friends at Manna Korean BBQ, which had delicious food for a reasonable all-you-can-eat price. When Reese realized pineapple slices were available, he immediately asked for six, and told me how unfortunate it was that I was allergic. We played the sabacc card game, which Dalton had bought from Disneyland.
Sunday, 9/8: This was a super chill day. We went to swim at Moonlight beach, which I enjoyed even though I ended up drinking a good amount of the ocean. My most enjoyable time at the beach involved throwing myself at waves gleefully or diving under them and popping up after they had passed by. I didn't get to the bodysurfing stage that Charles was trying to teach me. We had lunch at Taco Stand, another one of my favorite food places near Carlsbad, and spent some time at Better Buzz, a cute coffee place in Encinitas. Afterwards, we wandered downtown Carlsbad for a bit and celebrated Charles' mother's birthday at the Italian restaurant Buca. Later at night we climbed at Vital Oceanside with Yuji.
Running around Carlsbad
drinking the ocean at Moonlight
Point Loma angst
"Life's better buzzed"
Real Carlsbad resident
Monday, 9/9: An Irvine day! Yuji attends UC-Irvine, and I had never been so Charles and I went and hung out at Irvine Spectrum Center for a little over an hour and ate lunch there. After Yuji finished his final, we all got coffee at the Lost Bean, which is apparently his favorite place near campus. We then went to Downtown Disney at night, explored the store (extremely thoroughly. I was disappointed I couldn't find a shirt I like). We also got icecream at Salt & Straw! I probably tasted 10+ flavors.
Scared of the creaky ferris wheel
(L to R) Yuji, Charles. Smile Often!
Old Town map
Chilling on the ferris wheel
tiny and cold
Tuesday 9/10: My last day in San Diego, Charles and I had lunch at Benihana. Then we went and visited Old Town and perused all the museums and little shops. Although it is not an authentic historical shop, my favorite place was Nibble Chocolate. There was delicious free chocolate to taste and we bought a refreshing, cool chocolate drink. We also stopped by Liberty Station for some coffee and in the hope that I could eat some food before my flight, but I realized that I had been mistiming my flight and we rushed to the airport after chugging our coffee. Since we had planned ahead and were mostly just visiting places around the airport, we arrived 8 minutes before boarding began and, by some feat of luck and an incredibly empty airport, I reached my gate 1 minute before boarding started. However, after boarding, the plane was delayed from take-off by 30-40 minutes due to scheduling issues at SeaTac and we sat on the runway another 40-50 minutes after landing due to the lack of available gates. I reached home around 2AM, still hungry and a little cranky because I can't find the book I was reading on the plane (Clash of Kings).