"Epic Adventure Day 1 Part 2 ~ Santa Monica, CA!"

Originally meant to be an evening stroll by the Santa Monica beach (which was on the way to Malibu), we ended up reaching there at night. Oh well, night also has it's own attractions!


The two places we targeted were the Third Street Promenade and the Santa Monica Pier. Check out the colourful neon lights in the street!




And the many man-made attractions: trees/plants shaped into dinosaur, spraying water, and a dolphin! Notice I became a camera man for my gf :-S

The street at night is a hive of activity, with loads of people walking around, having dinner, shopping and watching the street performers! There was also a cinema with a super long queue for tickets for The Dark Knight! (I still haven't watch yet...)




;)

A guy playing the piano and singing so emotionally. I was pretty impressed!

Then we head to the famous Santa Monica Pier and catch the sign board!


The pier turns into a carnival at night. It was already close to 1AM then, so we decided to call it a day...

Next: Crossing over to Nevada and Arizona!

"Not happy"

Petrol go up.
Food go up.
Even Star Wars basic figures also go up!
How to continue collecting??
So unhappy............. :(

"Epic Adventure Day 1 Part 1 ~ Malibu, CA!"

The Epic Adventure is split into 5 days, crossing the states of California, Nevada and Arizona.

Day 1: Malibu, Santa Monica
Day 2: Calico Ghost Town, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas
Day 3: Grand Canyon National Park
Day 4: San Francisco
Day 5: Yosemite National Park

The morning was a rush of last minute shopping in Plantation before returning the AVIS rental car (goodbye Pontiac Grand Prix *sob*) and checking in. In my hastiness, I left my fold-knife in the hand-carry luggage, so it was stopped at security... Sigh, goodbye fold-knife. Anyway, BL and Raymond were already at the gate, and it wasn't long before we boarded the plane to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

Reached LAX around 3.30PM, collected luggage, went to Budget to get a SUV big enough to bring the 4 of us around. We got a red Ford Escape, just nice to fit all our luggage. Check in at some hotel and off we go to our first destination: Malibu!


It's a 45 minute drive along the Pacific Coastal Highway....


but dammit.... jam pula! :-S


When I think of Malibu, I think of beaches... but the beaches here are quite different than in Miami. Here they have mountains and cliffs!






Once we cleared the jam area, the road is one heckuva drive! You have cliffs on your right and the Pacific Ocean on your left! I bet the point jutting out in the far left is our destination...


...which is Point Dume Natural Reserve!


Park our car, catch the superb sunset...


This place is so serene, so peaceful, and soooo COLD :-S Here we get a first glimpse of Point Dume...





Some trekking and stairs will bring you to the beach level...

And some amazing waves splashing against the rocks!


And to the view that makes all that super-cold wind worth it!



If this place looks familiar, it is! Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man's huge seaside mansion is located *on* Point Dume on the edge of this cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The home is computer generated, though, as no homes are literally on the actual cliff.

Malibu is also the home of the super rich and famous. Check out this house!

Could it be Brad Pitt's house?? Hahaha... :P

Next: Santa Monica!

"A new look for Star Wars!"

Finally 26/7 has arrived, which is the launch date for the new Star Wars line: The Clone Wars! And I finally got the two MAJOR stuff that I've been waiting soooo long...


Two massive boxes!

26/7 is the official launch date for Clone Wars... all stores have a "Do Not Open" before that...

And here they are!



The All Terrain Tactical Enforcer (AT-TE) and the Big Millenium Falcon (BMF)! Woo-hoo!!

You can guess the bill this time would go sky-high


RM1310.62!!

AT-TE costs RM449.90, BMF costs 749.90 :D

More detailed pics coming but for now, it feels great to be a fan! :)

"Life in.... Penang"

Landed safely in Penang last night at around 8pm. I hardly recall what happened during the 10 hour stopover at Hong Kong. So tired, lack of sleep and jetlag.....

There is that weird feeling right now... being back in Penang. It's familiar, yet, it seems like a dream. The usual routine that I do, hanging the clothes, driving the blue Wira... seems like me, yet doesn't feel like me. Odd.........

Anyway, the epic adventure was over in a flash. The places were really wonderful, with San Francisco being the top pick of them all. Would've loved to stay a few more days in Las Vegas, but the expenditure was already going way beyond limits!

Yes, managed to bring all the toys back safely and reassembled them back into their boxes. A bit of a scare when the Customs officer stopped me and asked me to push the luggage into the X-ray machine. But it turned out fine... ;)

Believe it or not, I'm having a hard time adjusting back to driving in Malaysia- I kept driving on the wrong side of the road!! And countless times I mistakenly used the wiper when I wanted to give a signal! Haha...

Ok, will post the Epic adventure once it gets sorted out. Plus: I bought a new camera!

"The Epic Adventure is about to begin!"

Said goodbyes in office...

Last minute shopping rush...

Couldn't find Indiana Wave 3 :(

Printed a lot of maps...

Bought a few cans of beer to celebrate ;)

It's time for the epic adventure!

Signing off, see you guys back in M'sia!

"Life in Plantation... "

*

work work....


last minute shopping....


Indiana Jones Wave 3....


travel plans....


Star Wars Clone Wars.....


souveniours......


no time no time.............

*

"Guys, I didn't send that message!"

If you happen to receive a Friendster message from "Leopard", please...

DO NOT click on the link!!!

I didn't send it. It's SPAM!

"Life in Plantation... More food!"

We raised the ante by going 8 stars in Chada Thai! :D



Now it looks fiery! I believe we're the first to order 8 stars ... and it's admittedly spicier... but not by much ;) As for the duck basil, it's very very delicious. The strong basil leaves combines well with the tender duck meat!

Then came Olive Garden... Italian... I ordered


Definitely one of the best meals I've had here! The spagetthi is so thickly aromatic with the cheese and herbs, stuffed with prawns, mussels, scallops, mushroom.......... phew~~ heavenly!

And when no free dinner on the weekends, I revert to something oriental

Chow mien.... doesn't really taste like Chinese food (it's too dry), but it *reminds* you of one! ;)

"Life in Plantation... The Last Month"

Finally we move into July, making it almost 2 months I'm here. The flight back to Penang has been confirmed and it is on 18th July. Of course, there's that little business of going for a big adventure! Anyhows, will be back in Penang on the 24th July and *probably* to work on 28th July ;)

These few weeks will be pretty hectic: 4th July is Independence Day, which means... shopping! sales! Yeah, Sis probably can't wait for her Coach handbag too :P

Gf decided to have a vacation here as well, so she's arriving on the 5th July. Yeah, join in the fun! But that also means going to Disney and Universal again.. omg.

I'm also looking to buy a new camera here. The aging Sony DSC-W1 has been giving some annoying problems lately, particularly when taking the blue skies. Check out the Everglades part 2 post and you'll see what I mean.

Last week, Olivera from Schaumburg decided to set her station over in the F2 Lab. She's originally from Yugoslavia. Heh, she's a funny one, cracking jokes out of nowhere and just plain lights up the place! Just that... umm... she probably talks too much! :P

Work wise, I can see they are trying to squeeze as much as possible from me in the last weeks. Small surprise. Well, we just do what we can, and inch closer to 18th July....

Packing my mini museum into the luggage is going to be a major headache. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have bought so many Indiana Jones figures here! :-S

Read Sharon's blog the other night. Sadly, her grandma passed away. That's life. Hope she's doing fine.

Anwar is being accused of sodomy. What crap. Anwar needs to be wary. I hope they can overthrow Paklala's goverment and bring down the fuel price soon!

Adrienne's back from Vancouver. Can't wait to see her pictures! Oh, and Sabrina was chatting with me this morning. Gosh I miss you guys.........

Ok, that's it for now. Later.