Alcatraz by phone camera photos

Alcatraz Island is interesting to read about and makes for entertaining ghost hunting documents. Actually visiting is more of a novelty than an actual adventure. Allie and I went cuz we haven't been. It would be just a little funny having lived in the area and never seeing it.

This first photo was taken by Allie's phone camera. The tepee was put up by Native Americans who claimed the island as Indian Land for 19 months from 1969 to 1971. I'm not sure what the ruins above at the top of the cliff used to be. There is a lot of rubble left all over the island, with large sections closed off to the public. Some areas of the island appear to be a park of pills of down concrete structures, more than a famous prison or old fort.

This photo cover more area of the island from the lower level looking up to where the prison stands. It's an interesting shot that reveals the contrasts that make the island what it is.

Allie took this third photo with her phone. I believe this is cell block A. She wanted me to pose for it, though I'm not exactly sure why she needed me in the shot. hehe

A finally, this is the infamous solitary confinement cell #12 in cell block D. Some say #12 has a less than friendly ghost. I walked inside for a minute. I did get that feeling that I always get when "something" is present. I also stood in cell #10, and felt something there too, but the feeling wasn't too strong.

Overall, the place is a bit underwhelming. Allie and I did pass on the audio tour, so maybe that robbed us of some of the experience. :) It was interesting to see up close some of the artifacts that one hears about over the years. I saw the cells that were broken out of and the dummies used by the escapees to go undetected. They were crude, and even at night, I'm not sure how the guards where fooled. It almost makes me think that perhaps the whole story was never told.

I think I would have a lot of fun joining one of those night time ghost hunting shows at Alcatraz, if not for any other reason but to mess with the show's stars and crew. ::evil laugh::

SF Alcatraz

Allie and I took Friday off. She needed a day away from work, and I needed to take time off cuz I'm at my limit of vacation time at my job. We drove up to SF. For the first time, I visited Alcatraz. The visit was underwelming, but I'm glad we did it. It was fun and interesting. It was amazing just how small the prison was. The individual cells where amazingly tiny. Ick.

Getting wet in Capitola, CA

Here's Miriam about to get soaked up to her butt.

Capitola, CA

After many attempts and many negotiations of time, Miriam and I finally got to go on a get-away Friday. We headed to Capitola for the day. We started by having lunch on the waterfront at Margeritavilla (not the Jimmy Buffet one). Neither of us have been this portion of Capitola before. We didn't even know it was here. It's a very charming area with 4 million dollar waterfront condos. The day was perfect.
At lunch, these two young girls were sat at a table near us. We couldn't help but over hearing their conversation. I coulda swore they were filming the MTV show Laguna Beach right there! To break up the "fun", a pigeon flew in and demanded attention from the girls. The little blonde started feeding it tortilla chip crumbs right out of her hand. The moment got a bit tainted cuz them the other girl was trying to get her to take a picture of it, followed by Miriam trying to do the same too.
Afterwards, we relaxes on the small pier, then got some towels and relaxed on the beach. Of course, it wasn't long before she wanted to chase the crashing waves. Neither of us were dressed for such beach activities, and getting soaked meant staying soaked, which happened to here. I was a bit more cautious, but it didn't save my pant legs.
It was a very relaxing afternoon, but we had to get back. I'll definitely be coming back, maybe with Allie for an overnight stay at the $200 novelty hotel made to look like tiny Spanish villas.

I went hiking a couple of weekends ago with Allie, her friend Wendi and a couple of their friends up at Rancho San Antonio park. We hiked up an up and up and up. The day was hot, but fortunately, the heatwave that had been plaguing the Bay Area had already pasted, so it wasn't so bad. Did I mention we hiked up? There's some good trails at this park, where you hike up. Also some great views of the South Bay once you get up the hills. At one place, we could pick out the Shoreline Amphitheater, Moffett Field and the north end of Sunnyvale and Santa Clara. From our viewing angle, the whole region appeared to be covered with trees. After hiking up all those hills, we ended the hike going down hill through this one covered trail next to a stream with a lot of little quaint bridges.

Tidepooling

A couple of Saturdays ago, Allie and I meet up with some friends of hers at the Moss Beach Distillery for lunch, and a hike down to the Beach to wade through the tidepools. There was like 20 of us that showed up.
At the Distillery, Allie asked me to accompany her down to the restrooms. As I waited outside, she appearently heard laughing. It was the same sequence repeated. When she came out, she was asking if I had been laughing as a joke on her. Umm, no. So she was a little freaked out until she figured out that it was a recording meant to add a little playful fun to the experience of visiting the Blue Lady's haunt.
After lunch, we all embarked on a brief hike to the shore. Down there, we had fun just milling around the tidepools, finding little critters crawling around. There where a bunch of enemities like the one in the picture. We also found a bunch of sea snails and hermit crabs (in their own sea snail shells).
Afterwards we just all relaxed. The heatwave was in full effect back inland, so the shoreline was perfect for once. Usually, the Central and Northern California coasts are foggy, cloudy or just plan cold year around, but that day as perfect.

Anudder weekend of fun :)

I enjoyed getting to spend an evening with Miriam out last Friday. We had dinner at Viva Sol in Mountain View, as we have so many times in the past. Cuz of the season, we didn’t get to dine outside though. Afterwards, we ended up a Zucca’s in downtown Mountain View and met several interesting characters. We met two owners of several other local establishments. They were very entertaining along with Zucca’s owners too, of course. Later, a regular showed up and started going on about how the U.S. is going to be beat by China. Kinda funny. He’s arguments were that of a drunk, and were a bit outdated. Anyways, Miriam and I eventually settled at a table with Zucca’s owners for awhile before calling it a night.
Allie and I meet up on Saturday to go over to her boss’s house for a wine tasting tour in the Livermore area. There was ten of us total. We had great fun at two wineries. I can’t remember the names of either of them right now, and prolly for good reason. hehe At the first place, we got a sampling of 8 wines. The winery was set in a relatively beautiful area, save for the growing city over the hill, and the trailer park at the bottom. The wine was good, but nothing that really impressed me. The second place was a smaller operation with organic fields. Are group was too big to keep in the serving area, so we eventually ended up at large a large table in the outdoors area. The afternoon waned to the likes of sheep jokes and playfully harassing the hostess (mostly with sheep jokes). This was prolly the best day I’ve had in quite some time.

Yesterday's business trip (no trouble with time)

For the first time in a long time, the pace of time seemed to allow me to hit my day’s schedule perfectly. Everything went smoothly yesterday. I had a business trip to a vendor convention. I got up early for my flight. I got to the airport on time, as usual. My wait was maybe about 1/2hr. The flight to Santa Ana passed by quickly enough. I passively watched the sun rise during our ascent, as I took in the beauty of its light play off of the thin layer of clouds just below us. I imaged what it would be like if we could walk on the clouds. I know it’s a bit silly, but the clouds looked like a large mattress floating over the ground. Taking off on a morning like this is my favorite daylight flight experience.
I got my car quickly from Hertz and made it to the convention center about 1 hour before the doors opened. The wait allowed me to explore the nearby Disneyland based Hilton, to make a few phone calls to friends and family, and to just relax in the morning sun at some tables set up outside in the front of the convention entrance.
The convention was huge, with thousands of vendor booths, all trying to get my attention. Some booths have cool gimmicks, aggressive promoters, flashy backdrops, demonstrations, examples, etc. A few had Booth Babes (relatively hot chicks). Many booths where plan, uninteresting or didn’t have a clear message as to the service offered by the vendor. I walked down every aisle, and talked to many vendors that I need now, or may have some interest in later. I was able to get through the whole place within 5 hours. There was like 10 really hot chicks in the whole place, and 8 of them where in working in booths.
I took one of my co-workers to the airport at around 3:30. I then headed off to find a nearby beach with restaurants. I don’t know the L.A./Orange County area well, but I do have a general sense of the area. I found Huntington Beach around 4:45 and settled down at the bar in Dunes. I was aware that I needed to take off by 6pm to give myself time to get to the airport, but I didn’t worry about it. I had a drink and a tasty battered fish taco as I passively watched the sun set over the Pacific horizon. This was exactly what I planned to restfully close my long day. After I finished dinner, I walked down the pier to watch the surfers. On the walk back, I stopped in a little shop to pick up a Huntington t-shirt (cuz that’s just what I do), then headed back to the car. I left the beach parking lot at exactly 6pm. Not bad considering I wasn’t trying to keep my schedule.
After dropping off the car, I made it to my gate at about 6:45. My flight was scheduled for boarding at 7:50, but another flight was heading back to San Jose earlier. I was able to get on the earlier flight.
Allie had planned to pick me up at 9:30. She left her phone off, so I had to get a hold of her through her brother, who called their dad’s cell in order to get through, cuz the house phone was busy. So, I did do a little waiting after the flight, but we left the airport around 9:25. Not too bad. Allie and I spent a little time at her place before I headed home.
Time wasn’t an issue for me yesterday. It’s been a long time since I had that feeling. Normally I watch the clock and see the minutes tick away like seconds. But yesterday moved as a pace that allowed me to get everything I wanted to without the worry or rush. Now, if only every day was like that.

Weekend

This last weekend have been pretty busy. I guess it's fitting. My cuzin and I hung out and saw Jarhead on Friday night. It's ok. There's a moral lesson in the movie somewhere, but it was lost to me. It feels like a docudrama with some funny bits. There's good acting and the story was interesting to a degree. However, it seemed to be missing something. Maybe it was made just for U.S. vets. Maybe they see sumfin in it that I'm not.
Anyways, we hung out on Saturday too. We ended up in SF with some friends of hers. There was couple of interesting places we hit up that I might return to. I can't remember the names of either, but I could find them again. :)
Today, I hung out for awhile with Jenn. We had a late lunch, hit up a play for go-cart racing and have a fun time hanging out. Right now, I'm catching up on chores I need to get done before my big Hong Kong trip in a few days. I'm excited.

Marine World

Last weekend, my closest friends and I set up for Marine World. I made sure I got on all the rides I wanted this time. Roar, Medusa, and Verticle Velocity for sure. Did tons of walking too. It's pretty much the same as last year though, so yeah.