Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Balboa Park

Tuesday, July 12, 2011
The motivation to blog has plummeted 98% now I'm back home (and have been for a week already). Had to shut myself in a study room to actually do this because all my friends started blogging again lately so I thought I might as well update.



Spent the morning of the 2nd day in San Diego at the famous Balboa Park; home to a beautiful park, 14 different museums and linked to the San Diego Zoo.



Planned our trip accordingly to make sure its Free Day when we visit only to discover that Free Day applies only to SD residents. Unfair I tell you because does LA restrict them when it comes to our museums? No. So why the discrimination huh SD? *bitter



Waited 15 minutes to take the tram on the assumption that it tours the entire area....



Only to later realized that its simply a means of taking you from one parking lot/museum to another so you needn't walk far -__-



Open air concert hall with the largest and loudest outdoor pipe organ, something like that.



Space Musuem. I mean museum. I CAN NEVER GET THE SPELLING RIGHT. I've been using spellcheck to correct it for the past 10 minutes (not once did I get it right) and would probably still use it again later. Anyways, the outside of it since we cannot go in unless we pay.



You might say its reasonably priced, which it probably is, but when you times it by 6, nothing is ever reasonable anymore.



Where she lives with Austria or Prussia haha. Pic taken for the sole reason my thoughts immediately jumped to Hetalia. My mind. Its overtaken by it :\



Went for a stroll around the place after the disappointing 'tram ride'.



Place is ridiculously huge and beautiful!




So of course, picture time!!! :D


Daddy



2nd and 4th sis




☼ 四千金 ☼



Them again




Like nearly every other garden here in CA, it wouldn't be complete without a Botanical Garden.



Which I'm sure you all are sick of now, at least I am, you guys probably not so much since I never blogged about them haha, but really, enough already.



Botanical Garden is imo just another fancy word for plants you see all year long in Malaysia and don't really care to see again.



Plants like paku (fern?) and stuff which you chop down and burn without a moment hesitation to make space for your lovely tiled garage floor are 'oohed' and 'ahhed' here lols.



However, I give them credit for making something so usually ugly so beautiful. The arrangement of the plants and flowers here are impeccable. Never in my life did I ever think tropical plants could be pretty. How come our Malaysian government cannot manage a botanical garden huh? Such a waste of untapped natural resources hmph.



A lot of my friends here always trip over themselves complimenting the beauty of tropical rainforests and the likes on tv and how they wished California was like that and when watching it with them, I find myself quite breathless too until I remember why I liked California better. Silly people don't know that tropical rainforests come with humid weather and muddy grounds and endless irritating insects like mosquitoes, lizards, huge dragonflies and other crazy flying cockroach like monstrosities pfffft. They all think its like the lovely Cali weather plus the beautiful rainforest scenery. You wish.



I'll take boring grassy plains over tropical rainforests any day because I love my picnics darn it.



Although botanical gardens make for great photo backdrops. In my safari like summer dress coz I am going to the zoo later! Heh.

More flora pictures:


























Like I said, lovely backdrop ♥ 2nd sis looks like Dora the Explorer hahahaha. Even more so when she carries her backpack which is currently not in the pic.




Look! A video:


More for my viewing pleasure than yours unless you want to have a seizure because apparently I have very shaky hands -__- The only thing worth seeing is the floating rock somewhere on the 1:57 mark.



More intricately designed buildings. Is California just beautiful or what. So many pretty buildings *__*




I think a district-wide summer school excursion was held that day, which explains the crazy large different groups of kids dotting the place.



Told you I love my picnics. No worries about being swarmed with ants and worms and grasshoppers and goodness know what else again nor having your outfit muddied. SoCal weather ftw!



HAHAHAHA I LOVE THIS PIC. Because I won this $1 bet with my mom who adamantly state that he was a woman when we were afar and trying to figure out his gender. Although I knew it was a man immediately. I don't think I've heard of any female bagpiper before. She thought otherwise because his stance looked feminine. And so she dragged me up to him to prove her statement only to gape in disbelief upon reaching him. Pfft you don't argue with someone who is well-versed in the world of anime and asian boybands where the gender lines are blurred at times okay.



Ended our visit by going to the only art musuem museum that was free for the day. Some European art thingy. No pictures inside because its the unspoken rule which I have wisely learned since the Getty incident and now smirk self-righteously at the poor saps who didn't know better and got barked at by the guards ha!

Anyways, went to the San Diego Zoo in the afternoon which I shall blog about later :)

4 comments:

Christine said...

I love your outfit :O

hana said...

Aww thanks! Threw it into my luggage last minute coz I never wore it and thought I should at least get my money's worth only to realize it matched perfectly with the day's theme that morning XD

f said...

You've changed linkssss!! And omg your sisters have grown so much. Last I remember of them they were still kids! *feels old*

Looking good there, love the pics and all. Heard your dad finished what he was doing, send my congrats to him! Are you all returning to Msia anytime soon? (Sorry if this has been asked to death lol)

hana said...

haha yes I've changed linkssss.

And my sisters might have grown a lot to you all but they are still annoying little brats to me XD I didn't understand what you all were talking about until I looked through my old pics just now and damn, they really did grow. As long they remain shorter than me, I am happy hurhur.

As for the msia thing, I don't think its in my parents' plan to return unless God calls them to. My dad feels that his calling is here atm. I'm also sponsoring my family for their green card so its likely they're here to stay for good. Maybe. Nothing in life is ever certain after all ha.

That aside, I personally don't think my two youngest sisters can survive in Msia anymore. They have been Americanized a tad too much XD I still have to return to Malaysia every few years to renew personal documents and stuff though so yeah, I'll be going back next summer for a short visit :D I hope you and the rest would be there that time kays or its another 4 more years till my next visit :3