Back from the trip. It was definitely well deserved time off on my part after taking spring and summer Chemistry courses. I left for Southern California early (5AM) on Saturday the 20th of August (a day after my chem final). I was barely awake when I reached the airport with Tuyet and my little brother.
The trip started off pretty shaky as well when we got to US Customs. Every other time we have traveled together Tuyet has come to the Customs desk with me to see the Customs officer. This time he asked if we were related and we said "no, just boyfriend and girlfriend", then he rudely sent her back to wait where another prick Customs Officer ordered her over to his desk and asked question she couldn't answer (such as what is the address of your bf's mother), he really shook up Tuyet and it made me super angry.
Back to my guy. He was a super prick. He asked if I was bringing any food and I told him I was bringing Vietnamese Subs. He asked what was in them, and I said beef, ham, veggies. He then yelled at me and said "You can't bring beef! Either go back and eat them or throw them away!" So obviously I can't eat them there because my flight leaves in less than 45 minutes, so I look around looking for a trash can to throw them away. But there were none in plain view ,I'm guessing so people can't throw illegal stuff in the garbage before they get to the customs desk, and meanwhile the jerkoff is yelling "NOW!", "DO IT NOW!", "HURRY UP AND THROW THEM AWAY". I look at him and said calmly "well I would throw them away if I could find a garbage can". He motions at me to give him the subs and he holds them high over his trash can and lets them drop with a huge "thud!" in his garbage can, then hands over our passports. I then told him in my most calm voice "You have a
terrific rest of the day", which completely threw his guard off and he responds with a "uhhh thank you, you too".
Really do they have to be such big pricks? Do you need to yell at me? Are you bitter because you are a customs officer? Do you think yelling will throw off potential terrorists? Perhaps you should re-think your people-people skills over. Too bad there is no "comment card" I can fill out to file a complaint that would be sweet. Perhaps I should video tape my next encounter with these pricks. Is this how you welcome people into your country? I might be a colored boy going traveling but don't treat me like a dog. Asshole.
Anyways with that done, the trip went well for most parts. I had a few more spats with my Mom than usual, but they were all resolved so its all good. I'm too lazy to describe in detail what I did every day so for those of you reading my blog you'll just have to settle for point form.
1st Week- Ran errands with my Mom, drove her all around So Cal
- Went to Ontario Mills Outlet Mall for some shopping.
- Went to my favourite store, Fry's Electronics
- Went to see my parents new home they are building in Riverside, it was 40 degrees Celsius outside! The house is being built by KB Homes, which are the builders who build all the houses on the Sunday show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition". It's a 4800 sq ft home, and its gorgeous! It should be done by the time I come down again for Christmas, I can't wait!!
- Made a trip to Portos in Glendale to get some amazing bakery treats! I have never had a cheese/guava strudel like that in my life! Plus their meat pies and croissants were to die for! It was our first trip to this place and definitely will be a regular visit for each upcoming trip to SoCal, because I want to try one of their famous sandwiches!
- Went to Disneyland, it was great times. My brother was really gung-ho on going on more roller coasters this time. So we hit up Space Mountain, The Matterhorn, Indian Jones and Splash Mountain. Splash Mountain was the scariest by far with an 80 foot drop at the end!
- Went to San Jose to visit my Grandma Friday Morning. We stayed there till Monday morning.
- While there we did all the touristy things we could, so we went to San Francisco to Fisherman's Wharf to eat Seafood. We found this great street vendor where we had a fresh 3-4lb crab done up on the spot, and you just stand up and eat it beside their cart, pretty neat! It was so delicious! Tuyet and I finished one to ourselves! My Mom and brother had calamari and fries which wasn't as good though (because it was under the heat lamp a little too long. It was a great experience overall and recommend it to anyone who likes seafood and is in San Francisco because the guy who worked the cart was really outgoing and kept us entertained and laughing through our entire meal. After that we went to see the "most curved road in the world" which was on the top of the hill on Lombard Street, and then we went to Coit tower afterwards.
- Went to see the movie Red Eye with Tuyet and my brother at our favourite movie theatre down in San Jose, where they have free re-fill popcorn with no extra for added butter! Mmmmmm fattening, but oh so good.
2nd Week- Did a bit more shopping when we came back. Went to places in Costa Mesa and such. I wanted to get a le tigre shirt but didn't have time to come back and pick one up,
boourns.
We Went to eat at all our favourite places down in SoCal. Such as:
- Noodle World in Alhambra for their awesome Shrimp Fried Rice and Thai spicy
Beef Salad!
- The Double Cheeseburger (or single cheeseburger) from In & Out Burger.
- Nem Nuong rolls from this place I forgot the name too.
- Banh Mi Lee's, which you get
REAL AUTHENTIC vietnamese subs that are made from
ACTUAL baguettes, vietnamese coldcuts and pate!!! Not that shit you can get from Banh Mi Thi Thi here in Calgary (who claim authenticity but really aren't, but that's a whole other rant for a whole other blog and thread, heh).
- Pho 79 for terrific Pho Dac Biet and Tra Da!
- Norms for their great deals on great meals! Here is an example of a great meal. T-Bone Steak (14 0z) cooked to perfection with your choice of potato (mashed, fries or baked) plus your choice of starter salad and your choice of homemade soup plus a loaf of garlic bread (1 foot long), and a brownie ice cream dessert. All for $9.99(that was there August special!). And they have specials similar to this for every month and available at any time of the day! It had a similar feeling to Denny's, but the food was a lot better.
- The Sizzler in San Jose. We go here when we are at my Grandma's It has become somewhat of a tradition. It is also a steakhouse.
There are many other places that I can't think of anymore but I spend most of my trips eating! And come back at least 10lbs heavier! But its just so good! hehe.
- We went to the beach on our second last day in SoCal, and we went to Newport State Beach. It's a lot nicer (cleanliness and not as busy) than most other public beaches
in SoCal and so its one of my favourites. I convinced Tuyet to come in the water with me and we had a lot of fun waiting for big waves to jump into. Tuyet was having so much fun nearing the end that she didn't even want to leave but rather wait for the next wave! haha what a cutie! We both got a tan that day since we forgot to put on sunblock before we went out in the ocean. But we didn't tan too much and it gave us a nice looking tan. Gosh I love the beach, and we are definitely investing in a beach umbrella for next summer so that my Mom can hide in the shade while we frolic in the water. Yes I said frolic, deal with it.
- Went down to San Diego and visited the U.S. Midway Aircraft Carrier and did the tour of it. It was pretty cool to be on an aircraft carrier and to see first hand how big it really is. Even cooler was seeing all the jets/helicopters that were on display as well. I left with a souvenir paper that was a reprint from a St. Louis paper of the day that the U.S. Declared war on Japan after the bombing of Pearl harbor. It's really cool looking through the pages to see what it was like in the 40's. It was funny to see Radio show listings instead of T.V. listings and Ads for cigarettes that claim they are healthy for you. Even the comic section was a blast to read since they were filled with war propaganda against the Germans. Also seeing ads for women's suits for $2.99 was neat. It definitely was a different world back then.
- Finally went to the bowling alley which is literally across the street from our place. We always notice how busy it (24 hour bowling!) is every trip and try to make time for a game or two but never get around to it. So this time we made time for it. I went with my Mom, Tuyet and Andrew but my mom didn't play though. When we went in we finally knew why it was so busy. It has an all night diner/cafe, and a bar with karaoke, plus it seemed like it had a program for kids to go to instead of hanging out in the streets. It wasn't too bad for 3 people at $32 for an hour (including shoe rental) for 10 pin bowling. My poor little brother had not played 10 pin before (only 10 pin) so was not used to the big bowling balls (get your mind out of the gutter!). So he didn't do well for the two games we played. I think he scored a 35 and 39 while tuyet had 69 and 85 (I think) and I had 87 and 135. It was a lot of fun and we will definitely have to bowl more often from now on.
That was my trip. Damn we did a lot of things in two weeks. And it doesn't even seem like a "vacation" but mind you we would go to sleep at 12AM evernight and wake up at about 10 or 11AM in the morning. We'd only had two meals a day because we'd wake up too late for breakfast everyday. But we made up for it by stuffing ourselves full of food on the subsequent meals.
Coming back from the trip sucks, cuz school starts in a week. I definitely like going down to SoCal in August as its not too hot like June or July and I think I will time my next trips for August from now on. However I don't think I will take spring and summer courses anymore and will just take 2 in spring if I need them. Anyways back to the grind soon, pictures of the trip are coming soon!
Pieces,
Alex.
