Well that's it! The end of my 2009 backpacking trip! (On a side note, I know it took me a long time to finally get this all done, but I'm not getting paid to blog right?!) It was filled with many ups and downs - I'd like to think mostly ups - but I wouldn't change the way anything happened....I believe it all happens for a reason. For now, my world travelling is done, while I figure out my future, and more importantly, try to set up the right career so that I can have money for more backpacking haha! The costs were heavy, but I'm really glad I did this trip and would recommend any fresh undergraduate to do the same. A lot of people call it a "gap year" (even though most people travel for only a couple of months) but I don't see it that way, because while it might seem like I was taking time off from my "regular" life, I was still learning a lot and making new experiences. Plus, I wish I had the money to have done a full year hahaha. There's a handful of people that helped me make this trip happen, especially my mom, and I'll always be very grateful for their help. I know how few get a chance to do something like this, and I'll always appreciate the opportunity I got. It's true what they say about these trips - I really did find out more about myself, though I still feel pretty lost...but then again, how many people actually completely find their way, right? Mystery is what makes life fun to live!
And with that said, I can't wait to go on my next backpacking trip! I have something big planned for my next one, but I know it will take a lot of time and effort to get the funds for it. I'll probably do a much shorter one just to hold me over until I can do the next big one. For the time being, it's "the end"...but you can bet I'll be back out there as soon as I can afford it! So until next time, to all the other backpackers out there, bon voyage!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
The perfect finish
For my last day in the Bay Area, my aunt and uncle had something really nice planned for me: a trip out to the 17-Mile Drive near the town of Monterey, a scenic drive that passes through Pacific Grove, Del Monte Forest, and Pebble Beach (home to the world famous Pebble Beach Golf Course). It was quite a drive too, about 1.5 hour south (by driving) of where they lived.
During the car ride down. If you look closely, you can see the reflective pads I mentioned in an earlier post sitting between the painted lines, and if you look at the centre or sides of the highway, there's no streetlights!
Approaching Monterey, overlooking Monterey Bay.
Now on the scenic 17-Mile Drive route; parts of the drive passed through some pretty dense forest.
At the first scenic stop of the route. There was already a group there staring into the trees when we got there, and it turned out they spotted a falcon perched on a branch, hidden among the pine needles. Can you spot it in the second photo?
Here's some help if you couldn't find it (it was just as hard spotting it in person).
Back on the road, passing through more dense forest.
At The Inn at Spanish Bay, next to the Spanish Bay Resort Golf Course...man, rich people really know how to live eh? Hahaha. And wouldn't you know it, shortly after reading the caution sign (last photo; it says "Golfers in play. Watch for golf balls."), a golf ball came flying by haha. I've borrowed some photos from my uncle for this post as well.
Next, we stopped off along the shore at a stop where there were some picnic benches. We were going to have a picnic-style lunch, along the scenic California coast - I couldn't possibly have come up with a more perfect last lunch for my trip.
Enjoying our lunch: tomato basil bread, sliced ham, salad with smoked salmon, and blueberries for dessert! I really like the plastic covering my aunt and uncle brought for the picnic table - it looks like the typical picnic blanket, but it has the convenience of a plastic cover, so that all the trash can be easily wrapped up and tossed out at the end!
Despite the very grey skies (that only seemed to appear in this area), there were quite a few surfers out in the water!
Oooo...wipeout!
We had plenty of seagulls watching us enjoy our lunch, as well as a few passersby hahaha.
Enjoying the scenery at the beach a bit more before continuing on the 17-Mile Drive route.
Just as we were leaving, a huge flock of birds came out of nowhere and started flying around in one area above the water.
Enjoying the scenery at the next scenic stop. There were some really powerful waves here. I particularly like the photo of the trees shaped from the constant strong winds along the coast (4th photo).
Passing by some golfers. It must be nice playing right next to the Pacific Ocean.
On 17-Mile Drive.
The view at the next scenic stop. Really gorgeous scenery - it kind of reminded me of NZ too! I guess I didn't have to fly out all the way to see what I saw hahaha (of course I'm joking).
Back on the road.
At the next scenic stop. This area reminded me even more of NZ. It was teemingly with wildlife: seals (all over the big rock off the coast; 5th photo), some squirrel-looking animals (2nd - 4th photos; I had some focusing issues on the 3rd photo), and plenty of different birds (the birds in the 1st photo, which I'm assuming to be crows, were so black that I can only show their details if I brighten the photo so that everything else is also whited out).
I think the top half of this sign pretty much says it all in terms of my style of travelling!
Back on the road. I wonder how expensive it must be to live here, since it's nothing but golf courses and incredible scenery, and the property themselves are quite private (you can see how far away from the road the house is). I forgot to mention that the entrances to the 17-Mile Drive are controlled...in other words, there's a fare (and a surprisingly hefty one) to get into the area that is part of the 17-Mile Drive.
At another scenic stop...there were a lot hahaha.
And back in the car.
This next stop was also gorgeous, but extremely windy. They must have had previous problems here with tourists, because this spot was fenced off from the beach below, which my aunt told me was a new addition since they had last been here.
At the next scenic stop, home to the "Lone Cypress" tree (1st photo). Supposedly, it's a pretty popular symbol of California - they've even built it its own stone wall (look closely at the 1st photo, it blends in well with the rock foundation), my guess is to protect it from vandalism. Like the previous stops, the scenery was breathtaking - I think the photos speak for themselves. It also suddenly got really sunny here, so I didn't always get the best balanced exposures.
Our last stop on the route was The Lodge at Pebble Beach, neighbouring the internationally known Pebble Beach Golf Links, which has regularly played home to the US Open. I wonder much those guys on the course paid to play there. I already said it before, but I need to say it again - rich people really know how to live hahaha. I found the level of extravagance to the point of almost being ridiculous...come on, it's only golf! I'm part of the camp that believes golf is only a rich person's game...that's right, it's not a sport hahaha.
After leaving the 17-Mile Drive, we stopped at the nearby Carmel-by-the-Sea so that I could get a look around the quaint little town, but not without a stop first at Carmel Beach. It was very serene overlooking Carmel Bay, with the sun starting to set and the clouds of varying contrast making a perfect background. Everyone on the beach was enjoying themselves - the perfect place to let all your worries melt away.
Walking along Ocean Ave., what seemed to be the "downtown" area of Carmel-by-the-Bay.
Before I went off exploring the town by myself (while my aunt and uncle did a little shopping), we stopped at the Carmel Bakery and Coffee Co. for a little snack. I was craving ice cream, so I had a scoop (they give big scoops too) of caramel pecan...but if I had known then what I know now about how popular their pastries are locally, I would've tried one of their pastries instead!
I think it's pretty obvious from the photos how the town perfectly fits the definition of quaint haha...there were some really interesting shops and buildings to look at.
I stopped inside a boutique candy shop and picked up a small bag of their store brand chocolate covered cherries - my favourite! Plus, it was one of the few things in the store that was relatively cheap (and it was still around $3 USD). Since it was from a boutique shop, I was hoping for relatively fresh cherries, or high-quality candied cherries at the very least, but I was so disappointed to find out they were actually cherry candy coated chocolate!
More views as I walked along Ocean Ave.
Carmel Plaza. Even this shopping plaza was had a quaint feeling to it!
The plaza had these cool imitation flame heaters! At least I think they were imitation flames...I didn't smell any butane around them. If they were imitation, they were the most realistic fake flames I've ever seen, and I have no clue how they managed such an illusion. If they were real, they looked so good that they looked like they could be fake haha...but I'm thinking it'd be a little dangerous having open flames like that? I spent a bit of time observing the flames hahaha...I'm leaning more towards very good imitations.
Practising my long exposure photography skills on a nearby flower bed while me and my uncle waited for my aunt to finish shopping. Pretty good for 1 second hand-held shots eh? And it didn't hurt that the flowers were so colourful.
Looking over my photos.
Wondering what to photograph next hahaha.
I was actually looking up at the tree hanging above the chairs. I like the silhouette the tree's branches and leaves made against the dusk sky, with some of the tiny decorative lights on the tree popping up here and there.
Ocean Ave. after the sun was almost completely set. Even almost in darkness, the town still had a quaint feeling to it haha.
After long day of sightseeing, we were back on the road for the long drive back, except they were headed north past Cupertino to a town near Oakland, where my aunt and uncle took me out for one last dinner at an Italian restaurant. We were originally considering The Cheesecake Factory after I had heard so many raves about the chain and had never actually been to one, but after finding out how long the wait was, we decided on the Italian restaurant, where the food was pretty decent. And then it was back to Cupertino for some packing and sleep, since I had an early flight out the next morning.
Before the sun was anywhere close to rising, we were back on the road, headed to the airport. It was a bittersweet feeling: I had a great time these last few weeks in the US and actually wanted to stay on the west coat a little longer but I was also looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. At the same time, I knew once I got home, my trip would be officially over.
I remembered seeing something about See's Candies on the Food Network show "Unwrapped" and that it was a regional specialty (they're based in SF), so when I saw the boxes of their peanut brittle at the gift shop, I had to get a box for myself! They're great by the way...I wish I had bought more than one box hahaha.
The flight back to NYC actually went pretty good. I was flying with Continental this time (no delays this time!), and though the service wasn't exactly the friendliest, at least they offered a "snack" on the 7 hour flight where United offered nothing. It actually turned out to be a downsized meal (as if in-flight meals could get any smaller haha) that was pretty decent all things considered: a hot sandwich, a small cup of fruit, and a small cookie dessert like they usually have with regular meals. But just in case it turned out to really be a snack, my aunt even packed a few things for me to eat!
When I got into Newark Airport, I had a 4.5 hour layover...yeah...I could've left, headed into Manhattan to pick up some souvenirs, and gotten back to the airport, without breaking much of a sweat haha. But of course, being on a budget, I hung around inside the airport. I should mention the airport has an unnecessarily confusing setup - in terminal A, there were multiple wings each with their own separate checkpoints (pretty much divided by airline), and the person at the check-in counter didn't bother telling me which one Air Canada flew out of, so I ended up going through the first checkpoint I saw and ending up in the wrong wing! Luckily the lines weren't that long, otherwise it would've been really annoying to have to go through the security check twice. I spent the rest of the time having dinner at the T.G.I. Friday's and watching the NFL divisional playoff game between the Chargers and the Jets. If I had known what would be coming next, I would've tried to find out if I could have switched to an earlier flight back to Toronto.
As you can seen from the photo above, my plane was set to depart at 8:30 pm...it was actually delayed by 10 minutes already at this point because we were supposed to leave at 8:20 pm. Even though I was flying with Air Canada, I used my Continental points to book the flight, so I'm going to blame this a bit on Continental even though they really had nothing to do with what would happen next hahaha. As luck would have it, I wouldn't get to fly home until after 11 pm! I'm sure it goes without saying that over 2.5 hours of delay (closer to 3 hours) after a long day of flying sucks, especially after such a long layover!
The last plane of my trip. With my luck with flying, it was actually a pretty befitting final flight; it was just one problem after another. First, the inbound flight was delayed, so we had to wait for it to come in, and then wait for them to service it after it finally came in. Then there was a problem with the plane - one of the lights on the tail didn't work anymore and it turns out it was against regulations to fly without all the outer lights working. So then they spent the next while trying to fix it (I honestly didn't know it was that hard to change a light), but after not being able to fix it for a long time they finally decided to change planes, which they really should have done after the first 15 - 30 minutes. After more waiting, they finally brought in the new plane - that's it sitting docked to the terminal in the photo, all alone with no one on board. But then more delay! They decided that they couldn't fly with the current crew because at this point it was overtime for them, so then they wanted to switch crews, and we spent even more time waiting for the next crew to scramble from wherever they were staying to get to the airport! Personally, I think they took their time trying to fix it on purpose just so they could do a crew switch, because the time they spent trying to fix the light was ridiculously long. And so by the time the next crew got to the airport and we finally took off, it was after 11. I know...I couldn't believe how stupid the events proceeded one after another! There's really no way you can make up a story like this hahaha.
Finally back at Pearson Airport, waiting for the last GO bus of the night to take me home. I decided to end my trip the same way I had started it at the airport in HK, a self-portrait! I think my last photo of the trip turned out pretty good despite being very tired at this point hahaha.
And before I knew it, I was on the bus heading back to familiar territory. It was officially over after 7 great months of travel...time to get back to reality!
During the car ride down. If you look closely, you can see the reflective pads I mentioned in an earlier post sitting between the painted lines, and if you look at the centre or sides of the highway, there's no streetlights!
Approaching Monterey, overlooking Monterey Bay.
Now on the scenic 17-Mile Drive route; parts of the drive passed through some pretty dense forest.
At the first scenic stop of the route. There was already a group there staring into the trees when we got there, and it turned out they spotted a falcon perched on a branch, hidden among the pine needles. Can you spot it in the second photo?
Here's some help if you couldn't find it (it was just as hard spotting it in person).
Back on the road, passing through more dense forest.
At The Inn at Spanish Bay, next to the Spanish Bay Resort Golf Course...man, rich people really know how to live eh? Hahaha. And wouldn't you know it, shortly after reading the caution sign (last photo; it says "Golfers in play. Watch for golf balls."), a golf ball came flying by haha. I've borrowed some photos from my uncle for this post as well.
Next, we stopped off along the shore at a stop where there were some picnic benches. We were going to have a picnic-style lunch, along the scenic California coast - I couldn't possibly have come up with a more perfect last lunch for my trip.
Enjoying our lunch: tomato basil bread, sliced ham, salad with smoked salmon, and blueberries for dessert! I really like the plastic covering my aunt and uncle brought for the picnic table - it looks like the typical picnic blanket, but it has the convenience of a plastic cover, so that all the trash can be easily wrapped up and tossed out at the end!
Despite the very grey skies (that only seemed to appear in this area), there were quite a few surfers out in the water!
Oooo...wipeout!
We had plenty of seagulls watching us enjoy our lunch, as well as a few passersby hahaha.
Enjoying the scenery at the beach a bit more before continuing on the 17-Mile Drive route.
Just as we were leaving, a huge flock of birds came out of nowhere and started flying around in one area above the water.
Enjoying the scenery at the next scenic stop. There were some really powerful waves here. I particularly like the photo of the trees shaped from the constant strong winds along the coast (4th photo).
Passing by some golfers. It must be nice playing right next to the Pacific Ocean.
On 17-Mile Drive.
The view at the next scenic stop. Really gorgeous scenery - it kind of reminded me of NZ too! I guess I didn't have to fly out all the way to see what I saw hahaha (of course I'm joking).
Back on the road.
At the next scenic stop. This area reminded me even more of NZ. It was teemingly with wildlife: seals (all over the big rock off the coast; 5th photo), some squirrel-looking animals (2nd - 4th photos; I had some focusing issues on the 3rd photo), and plenty of different birds (the birds in the 1st photo, which I'm assuming to be crows, were so black that I can only show their details if I brighten the photo so that everything else is also whited out).
I think the top half of this sign pretty much says it all in terms of my style of travelling!
Back on the road. I wonder how expensive it must be to live here, since it's nothing but golf courses and incredible scenery, and the property themselves are quite private (you can see how far away from the road the house is). I forgot to mention that the entrances to the 17-Mile Drive are controlled...in other words, there's a fare (and a surprisingly hefty one) to get into the area that is part of the 17-Mile Drive.
At another scenic stop...there were a lot hahaha.
And back in the car.
This next stop was also gorgeous, but extremely windy. They must have had previous problems here with tourists, because this spot was fenced off from the beach below, which my aunt told me was a new addition since they had last been here.
At the next scenic stop, home to the "Lone Cypress" tree (1st photo). Supposedly, it's a pretty popular symbol of California - they've even built it its own stone wall (look closely at the 1st photo, it blends in well with the rock foundation), my guess is to protect it from vandalism. Like the previous stops, the scenery was breathtaking - I think the photos speak for themselves. It also suddenly got really sunny here, so I didn't always get the best balanced exposures.
Our last stop on the route was The Lodge at Pebble Beach, neighbouring the internationally known Pebble Beach Golf Links, which has regularly played home to the US Open. I wonder much those guys on the course paid to play there. I already said it before, but I need to say it again - rich people really know how to live hahaha. I found the level of extravagance to the point of almost being ridiculous...come on, it's only golf! I'm part of the camp that believes golf is only a rich person's game...that's right, it's not a sport hahaha.
After leaving the 17-Mile Drive, we stopped at the nearby Carmel-by-the-Sea so that I could get a look around the quaint little town, but not without a stop first at Carmel Beach. It was very serene overlooking Carmel Bay, with the sun starting to set and the clouds of varying contrast making a perfect background. Everyone on the beach was enjoying themselves - the perfect place to let all your worries melt away.
Walking along Ocean Ave., what seemed to be the "downtown" area of Carmel-by-the-Bay.
Before I went off exploring the town by myself (while my aunt and uncle did a little shopping), we stopped at the Carmel Bakery and Coffee Co. for a little snack. I was craving ice cream, so I had a scoop (they give big scoops too) of caramel pecan...but if I had known then what I know now about how popular their pastries are locally, I would've tried one of their pastries instead!
I think it's pretty obvious from the photos how the town perfectly fits the definition of quaint haha...there were some really interesting shops and buildings to look at.
I stopped inside a boutique candy shop and picked up a small bag of their store brand chocolate covered cherries - my favourite! Plus, it was one of the few things in the store that was relatively cheap (and it was still around $3 USD). Since it was from a boutique shop, I was hoping for relatively fresh cherries, or high-quality candied cherries at the very least, but I was so disappointed to find out they were actually cherry candy coated chocolate!
More views as I walked along Ocean Ave.
Carmel Plaza. Even this shopping plaza was had a quaint feeling to it!
The plaza had these cool imitation flame heaters! At least I think they were imitation flames...I didn't smell any butane around them. If they were imitation, they were the most realistic fake flames I've ever seen, and I have no clue how they managed such an illusion. If they were real, they looked so good that they looked like they could be fake haha...but I'm thinking it'd be a little dangerous having open flames like that? I spent a bit of time observing the flames hahaha...I'm leaning more towards very good imitations.
Practising my long exposure photography skills on a nearby flower bed while me and my uncle waited for my aunt to finish shopping. Pretty good for 1 second hand-held shots eh? And it didn't hurt that the flowers were so colourful.
Looking over my photos.
Wondering what to photograph next hahaha.
I was actually looking up at the tree hanging above the chairs. I like the silhouette the tree's branches and leaves made against the dusk sky, with some of the tiny decorative lights on the tree popping up here and there.
Ocean Ave. after the sun was almost completely set. Even almost in darkness, the town still had a quaint feeling to it haha.
After long day of sightseeing, we were back on the road for the long drive back, except they were headed north past Cupertino to a town near Oakland, where my aunt and uncle took me out for one last dinner at an Italian restaurant. We were originally considering The Cheesecake Factory after I had heard so many raves about the chain and had never actually been to one, but after finding out how long the wait was, we decided on the Italian restaurant, where the food was pretty decent. And then it was back to Cupertino for some packing and sleep, since I had an early flight out the next morning.
Before the sun was anywhere close to rising, we were back on the road, headed to the airport. It was a bittersweet feeling: I had a great time these last few weeks in the US and actually wanted to stay on the west coat a little longer but I was also looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. At the same time, I knew once I got home, my trip would be officially over.
I remembered seeing something about See's Candies on the Food Network show "Unwrapped" and that it was a regional specialty (they're based in SF), so when I saw the boxes of their peanut brittle at the gift shop, I had to get a box for myself! They're great by the way...I wish I had bought more than one box hahaha.
The flight back to NYC actually went pretty good. I was flying with Continental this time (no delays this time!), and though the service wasn't exactly the friendliest, at least they offered a "snack" on the 7 hour flight where United offered nothing. It actually turned out to be a downsized meal (as if in-flight meals could get any smaller haha) that was pretty decent all things considered: a hot sandwich, a small cup of fruit, and a small cookie dessert like they usually have with regular meals. But just in case it turned out to really be a snack, my aunt even packed a few things for me to eat!
When I got into Newark Airport, I had a 4.5 hour layover...yeah...I could've left, headed into Manhattan to pick up some souvenirs, and gotten back to the airport, without breaking much of a sweat haha. But of course, being on a budget, I hung around inside the airport. I should mention the airport has an unnecessarily confusing setup - in terminal A, there were multiple wings each with their own separate checkpoints (pretty much divided by airline), and the person at the check-in counter didn't bother telling me which one Air Canada flew out of, so I ended up going through the first checkpoint I saw and ending up in the wrong wing! Luckily the lines weren't that long, otherwise it would've been really annoying to have to go through the security check twice. I spent the rest of the time having dinner at the T.G.I. Friday's and watching the NFL divisional playoff game between the Chargers and the Jets. If I had known what would be coming next, I would've tried to find out if I could have switched to an earlier flight back to Toronto.
As you can seen from the photo above, my plane was set to depart at 8:30 pm...it was actually delayed by 10 minutes already at this point because we were supposed to leave at 8:20 pm. Even though I was flying with Air Canada, I used my Continental points to book the flight, so I'm going to blame this a bit on Continental even though they really had nothing to do with what would happen next hahaha. As luck would have it, I wouldn't get to fly home until after 11 pm! I'm sure it goes without saying that over 2.5 hours of delay (closer to 3 hours) after a long day of flying sucks, especially after such a long layover!
The last plane of my trip. With my luck with flying, it was actually a pretty befitting final flight; it was just one problem after another. First, the inbound flight was delayed, so we had to wait for it to come in, and then wait for them to service it after it finally came in. Then there was a problem with the plane - one of the lights on the tail didn't work anymore and it turns out it was against regulations to fly without all the outer lights working. So then they spent the next while trying to fix it (I honestly didn't know it was that hard to change a light), but after not being able to fix it for a long time they finally decided to change planes, which they really should have done after the first 15 - 30 minutes. After more waiting, they finally brought in the new plane - that's it sitting docked to the terminal in the photo, all alone with no one on board. But then more delay! They decided that they couldn't fly with the current crew because at this point it was overtime for them, so then they wanted to switch crews, and we spent even more time waiting for the next crew to scramble from wherever they were staying to get to the airport! Personally, I think they took their time trying to fix it on purpose just so they could do a crew switch, because the time they spent trying to fix the light was ridiculously long. And so by the time the next crew got to the airport and we finally took off, it was after 11. I know...I couldn't believe how stupid the events proceeded one after another! There's really no way you can make up a story like this hahaha.
Finally back at Pearson Airport, waiting for the last GO bus of the night to take me home. I decided to end my trip the same way I had started it at the airport in HK, a self-portrait! I think my last photo of the trip turned out pretty good despite being very tired at this point hahaha.
And before I knew it, I was on the bus heading back to familiar territory. It was officially over after 7 great months of travel...time to get back to reality!
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