Vac Day X - Williams, AZ then back to Vegas

Monday - September 6th, 2010

Williams

I had a mission that day: to get laundry done. It has been my mission for the past couple of days as we've been traveling for almost a week and carrying six days' worth of dirty clothes. I am definitely not comfortable wearing dirty, wrinkled clothes and wandering around town, one that I'd like to explore and get to know -- don't want to mis-represent, you know? :)

The night before, I collected all the dirty clothes from everyone and stuffed my luggage with them so I could just rolled it to the laundry mat. When entering the town yesterday, we saw one laundry mat and right by the motel where we stayed, there was another one. Both not too far apart. I checked out the hours of operation at the door and it stated that they would be open at 6AM. Perfect, I thought.

Got up early so I could have a head start. I calculated, by the time I would be done with laundry, everyone else would have been ready to leave. As planned, I rolled my luggage to about a block away to the laundry mat. First thing I saw, the neon sign was not lit. Shit, just my luck. I checked the doors and they were still locked. I looked at my watch, it was already past 6AM. It was cold too, so I got my jacket out of the luggage and waited, hoping the owner would come soon.

Waited for about half an hour, warming myself up by doing some newly-acquired qi-gong moves. Angered, frustrated and disappointed, I thought there may be another laundry mat around. I thought of the one we saw coming in yesterday but couldn't determine where it was or which direction it was from where I was. I was wasting time anyways, so I thought I'd check out both direction, with my luck, I may not get any laundry done but at least I'll get to see the town.

So, rolling my luggage, I went down a few blocks, no laundry mat. I went back the way I came and a walked a few more blocks the other direction. Jackpot. There it was. I was concerned, because the door was closed. I prayed hard as I approached it, twisted the knob and it opened! Relieved, I went right in and searched for vending machine for soap. None! How to do laundry with no soap. Conveniently, there was a convenient shop right next to the laundry mat, so I thought maybe those folks run the laundry mat too. I went and check it out. Indeed, they carry all the laundry soaps in a conveniently packaged box for single use. I bought three boxes of soap and softener and asked for quarters to run the machines.

Excited that my luck has changed, I hurriedly go back to the laundry mat to make up for loss time. I split the laundry into two - one for undergarments and what not. The other, I put them into the bigger commercial washer so I don't have to do separate washes. Save money and time, so I thought. Put my change in and started both machines. The smaller ones started first and I could hear swooshing of water while the bigger washer didn't seem to do much. No water... thought that was weird. Then it started spinning. Wait, no water but it's spinning. That doesn't make any sense.

I waited to see and checked maybe there was something that I didn't press. Nothing, it works like any regular washer. Money in and lock the door and the machine starts. How in the world do you wash clothes with no water. Angered again, I went back to the convenient store and asked if they know who operated the laundry mat. The guy said he could take a look. He was puzzled and went back to the store to grab a bunch of keys. He checked some settings and puzzled still. He said it wasn't suppose to do that. I thought so. He unlocked the container to where the change dropped and gave me my money back. He says there's nothing he could do and that the machine would have to complete its cycle before the door could unlock. I was very frustrated with that. He says he could refund me for the soap too, I asked him to give me another two boxes.

Just my luck. Well, I finally got all the laundry done in half the time I thought it'd take so it was alright. I was happy I have clean clothes now. I folded all the clothes and put them in different bags to be given to Mom, Papa, Sien Ee, etc. Once I got back, everyone was ready to leave. I started packing my luggage and made sure I have everything in there. Sien Ee made breakfast, I've lugged some cup noodles with me and this was the only motel that has microwave! That I was thankful so we could finally consume and get rid of them.

We loaded all our stuff into the van and started to explore the small town by foot. It was almost 10AM so it warmed up quite quickly. 

After strolling the one way street of this town, I soon realized a theme that can be seen almost every corner. A lot of the properties have FOR SALE sign. The economy here must be bad. 

PCC and I parted with others and started to walk on our own. She read something about the train station so we headed that way.

They have a gift shop at the train station and also the penny souvenir. I'm collecting on Papa's behalf hehe PCC picked up some souvenir and while we were leaving, I saw this windbreaker jacket that looked nice and recalled that Mom wanted to get Papa one and they haven't gotten one for one reason or the other. The price was right and the colors/materials were nice. Had PCC appraised and she concurred. So that was my gift for Papa's birthday hehe forgot to take picture...

We were the last to get back at the motel as the others were waiting anxiously to leave for Vegas (you know how PCC can be when it comes to shopping hehe alright I'm guilty as well :)

Thankfully, this time around the driving duty are fairly assigned to the four younger adults hehe me and PCC on the way there, Florence and Vanitha on the way back. So, PCC and I took the very last row of the van and slept almost all the way back. I didn't realize how tired I was.

We reached Vegas around 5PM. PCC wanted to go to Hard Rock first for BoyKK's collection. I was getting tired of visiting so many Hard Rocks, or so it seemed... so I went to the bathroom to get away. Unfortunately, that was where I retrieved SY's email about Ah Ma's untimely death. It was devastating. I didn't know how to react to the news. I went out to Papa and tried to hold back my tears with my cracked voice I told Papa that Ah Ma is gone. Papa was calm and in turn told Mom of the grim news. I couldn't tell much from Mom's reaction. I couldn't hold myself back anymore so I stormed outside and burst into tears.

We left Hard Rock shortly after that and proceeded to checking in to our hotel that night at the MGM Grand. As soon as we got our keys to our rooms, we called a family meeting. All of our plans to the East Coast needs to be cancelled. We'd have to call the airlines to see if Papa, Mom and Sien Ee can get an earlier flight back and we'd have to get back to LA as soon as possible. Since MCC did all the booking, it was hard to get through customer service and MCC was in Bali at that time. We managed to get a hold of her and she said she'll take care of it when she gets back to Singapore. We made what seems to be a lot of calls that night.

We didn't get out of the hotel room until after 10PM. We were tired and hungry so we went down to grab dinner. A Chinese restaurant by the name of ChinChin at the NYNY Hotel was our choice. We took the opportunity to do a flash sight-seeing as Papa, Mom, and Sien Ee never really have the chance to see the city.

 Dinner was mediocre, perhaps even less than that... even though the reviews stated otherwise.

Papa was intrigued with all the gambling that was going on in the casino -- we watched this guy who seemed to be filthy rich, lost all his gambling chips on roulette. He has no strategy (what gambling game does?) and he just bet all over the table, hoping he'd hit it rich quick. Well, that didn't happen for him but just thrill of the game, I guess. 

At another table, this Filipino lady was lucky for a couple of rounds but she kept betting on the same number. With my knowledge on probability, she probably will not hit the same number again. And she lost all her chips... 

I told Papa, if want to gamble, best bet is the slot machines. The smaller the denomination, the longer you get to play. So, we tried on some slot machines. It was fun, but no jackpot. After an hour or so of getting to know the games, we met up with Mom, Sien Ee and PCC. We thought it'd be a good idea to see the whole strip and the easiest way to do this is by the monorail. It was close to midnight at that time but we went anyways. It was quiet and there were not too many people on it. We didn't get out of the monorail but Papa said the $15 that we paid to see most of the strip (from the backlot where the monorail passed) was worth it, because we wouldn't have been able to cover or to see most of the casinos/hotels by foot.

We got back to the hotel after 1AM and retired to bed from what seemed to be a long day...

Vac Day IX - A Wink at Vegas then Grand Canyon

Sunday - September 5th, 2010

Vegas then Grand Canyon

We arrived after 8PM the night before, but it took us as long as the duration of the flight to get our rental. Partly, I think it was due to a long weekend, so most vehicles were already rented out and it was a last minute deal as we tried different options on getting separate rentals for both groups. We did have a reservation for a vehicle fit for 12 people so, after an hour or haggling and analyzing what would be best for all of us, we settled for the original plan.

It was huge, a Ford E350, will showcase it in a little bit. Florence had the privilege to try it out first, facing with minor challenges even before leaving the parking lot, like releasing the brake hehe

After quite late dinner which we had at Panda Express -- Chinese Fast Food, we checked in at Tuscany Casino, small by Vegas standard and was pleasantly surprised by the sheer size of their rooms. After spending three full nights in a small hole with three other adults, that was a very nice change. It even came with its own kitchenette along with a small round dining table, sofa set and even a desk. That's luxurious compared to our accommodation in SF.

Didn't even manage to "break-in" the room also... such a waste.

Apologize for the crappy picture -- lack of light does that :)

Alright, enough bashing that inn in SF. We didn't really get to enjoy our stay at the Tuscany as we headed out a little after 7AM. It was my turn to test out the big wheels. I've never driven nor carried so many passengers in my life. Being liable for many lives was kind of scary. But, this van drives great. Maneuvering was effortless. Initial plan was to head to Quiznos for breakfast, but they were not open yet. So we opted for Jack in the Box which was open and nearby.

After our quite hearty fast food breakfast, we all got back into the van and here starts our supposedly 5 hour journey to Grand Canyon South Rim. About 30mins into our journey...

Hoover Dam... on the way to Grand Canyon.

Spectacular feat of engineering. Nuff said. Too dam dry and hot :)

Everything was so dry even my lips were so badly chapped. Oh, this is where I wished Papa "Happy Birthday" hehe

This dam lies between two states, Nevada and Arizona...

Here's how the others cope with the hotness and dryness of this environment we call desert -- notice the hand gesture of Sean Ee and Mom's face on the first pic!

Yea! That's the van I drove :D Conveniently serves as a shield from the scorching sun

Papa so adventurous he climbed down the wall (look closely in the first picture above) and crossed the road to take this marvelous picture:

Papa seriously need to lose that backpack

Back on the road, much of nothingness mostly.

And this would be one trip with many pit-stops with most of the old folks needed constant bathroom breaks. Papa said even he was getting affected haha PCC and I take turns to drive. We stopped for lunch at A&W in Saligman, AZ (of all places, not that we have that many options)... and it's been a long while since I last dined at this restaurant hehe ordered a Giant Float, but... forgot to take a picture of it! Dam.

The scenery has changed quite a bit as we ascend to higher elevation. I believe about 5000+ft. Seligman also lies on the the historic Route 66.

When it was PCC's turn to drive, I took the opportunity to take a nap. When I woke up... we pulled over for another pit-stop. Not sure what town it was, but we were definitely getting closer. There were a couple of shops and there were a couple of tables laid in front of those shops selling souvenirs made from the local Indian tribe. Mostly jewelries and ceramics, I really like their vase but they were overpriced.

As we were heading back out on the road, PCC pointed at the mailboxes. I guess that's the amount of people who live in the surrounding areas.

Not too long after our stop, we finally arrived at the park after 4PM. Admission fee is $25, valid for 7 days! It's a shame we weren't going to fully utilize the pass. After sitting in the car for hours, everyone was ready to get out and see the majestic canyons. It was dry, windy and the sun was bright and sunny.

Papa and Mom seemed anxious so they walked ahead of us. We stopped and took some pictures.

There was a little detour as they have construction, so we followed the path and anxiously scan for the grandeur of canyons. Then out of nowhere, as I looked to my right, there they were. My jaw dropped. All I could muttered was "oh my god... wow". It was humbling and so sudden. It took me a while to absorb the sheer magnificence of this place. I even forgot to take pictures. Everywhere you look, at any angle was a great view. It was simply awesome.

Pictures do zero justice.

Everyone sort of went at their own pace and got separated from the group and I ventured off on my own as well. The canyons are so massive and even in person, they looked as if they were big posters plastered across the screen. There were a couple of times, I tried to capture some pictures closer to the edge and I'm not really afraid of heights but boy when I was getting close to the edge, I could feel my legs trembling.

After almost two hours of nature therapy, I started heading back to the bathroom where we've parted ways earlier. I was surprised to see that most everyone has gathered. Florence's old folks gang asked if Sean Ee was with me, I told them no and that I was alone. They said she was nowhere to be found! Alarmed, PCC and I went to the Visitor's Center to look for her, and a few minutes later, I received a call from Vanitha saying that she was found. It wouldn't be fun if we have to report Sean Ee missing hehe

I really enjoyed the short time at Grand Canyon. This is definitely another place where I'll come back for an extended visit. There is the North Rim where it's only 10 miles away from the South Rim where we were but 215 miles by road! Imagine that. It would be a great experience to hike there or take a mule ride or go on the river trips. So many things to do and so much to see yet so little time.

It was getting dark by the time we exited the park. We did not stay within the immediate vicinity of the park but about an hour's drive away in a small town called Williams. I looked on my phone and they said there's a Thai restaurant in that small town so we decided to have that for dinner. Once we reached, we weren't able to locate that restaurant. I even tried calling but to no avail. We just assumed they went out of business because we walked up those street a couple times and don't see it. We were starving and settled for pizza place instead. We gave our orders and they said it will be 30mins...

While waiting, mom and Sean Ee went to the shops closeby to do a little shopping. Since it was Papa's birthday, I thought it'd be nice to give him a little surprise so I asked if they have any desserts, to my disappointment, they only have ice-creams and only in two flavors. What to do, just ordered them anyways and requested them that they bring it out when we're almost done with dinner.

I went up to the server and tell them to bring out the ice-cream in a little bit, but then with Papa's timing, while they were almost ready, he went to the bathroom pulak. So I asked if they can wait for Papa to come out and re-bring it back haha of course they complied. So once Papa came back out, I sort of signal to them again that they can start to bring the ice-cream out again. And I tried to act coy by looking at their menu, while opening the menu at its full stretch, it bumped onto PCC's water and knocked it off the table to Papa's direction and spilled onto his pants... oops... so Papa frantically wiped the water off his pants. Then out of nowhere, all the servers gathered with his ice-cream singing and clapping Happy Birthday for him haha

I left my camera in the van so thanks to PCC for capturing some of those moments. After they were done, Papa asked, how did they know it was his birthday kakaka

The ice-creams were pretty good and we all shared some.
Papa, Happy 60th birthday and many more to come!

Vac Day VIII - Sonoma, Golden Gate Bridge and Vegas

Saturday - September 4th, 2010
Sonoma

Final day in SF. We felt as if we've covered most of the 'must see' places in SF so we decided to drive up a little further to one of the widely known wine country, either Napa Valley or Sonoma. Since Sonoma is closer, that was an easy decision to make.

An hour later... We didn't really have a specific place to go to, so we just drove around and ended up at this place!

The grapes were aplenty! We couldn't resist but to pose and...

curi curi pluck a few to see how they taste like... 

bit sour and sweet!

All that goofing around sure builds up an appetite, so we need to find a place where we can sit and chow down decently. Discovered from my phone that city center was just a couple of miles away that comes with a park hah! So, we unloaded a bag of Russian pastries we bought yesterday and settled ourselves on a bench in  a shady spot at the park.

After refueling, we strolled around the park and snapped a few pictures. Discovered that Sonoma is a state historic park!

PCC wanted to try out Cheesecake Factory since the day she set foot on US soil (that and In-N-Out), so I teased her, she finally got her wish, however, just cheese without the cake here in Sonoma!

After all that walking around the park square in the hot sun (compared to foggy SF), we decided it was time to head back to SF so we could be at the airport on time. On a sunny day like this, we just had to cool ourselves down with some icy-goodness and behold this heavenly places below:

Hidden behind that fluffy tree, tucked away from preying eyes. Ice-cream were delicious, I had Cherry Garcia cone but it was just outrageously overpriced!

And this is the end result after consumption of Russian pastry and Ben & Jerry's goodies... oh, only affected these two, obviously hehe

Afternoon nappie

ZZZzzzZZZ

So, we weren't that thrilled with the foggy pictures of Golden Gate Bridge taken on our second day. And since we'd have to pass the gate again on our way to the airport (toll $6 south-bound), we might as well give it another shot, since we've heard the fog is more forgiving at the north-end. 

Remember how HOT and SUNNY it was in Sonoma that we peeled our cardigans and jackets off? 

Welcome back to San Francisco!

Well, apparently this area pulls in the fogs like magnet. Temperature dipped and wind blew. Sure it's mysterious alright, but let in some rays!

Take photo first

In order to get closer to the gate, we'd have to cross the bridge with an underpass for pedestrians only. It was pretty neat to see the construction underneath it.

Under the bridge

The other side of the bridge:

Blue blue sky then fog?

This is a cute pic of Mom showcasing her newly bought jacket from previous night's rendezvous at their favorite store -- Target

Oh yah, jam right on the bridge, so we weren't going nowhere fast.
Snap snap snap...

After a while, the jam seems to loosen up a little and it only took us a few minutes to get over the 1.7mile stretch of suspension.

It was already way passed 2PM when we were done, our flight to Vegas is at 7PM which gives us plenty of time to roam around still... or so we thought until our GPS got confused and couldn't get us back right on track. We finally were able to manage by doing it the conventional way -- reading the posted signs as there were plenty showing us the right way to the airport.

Well, farewell red-colored-suspension bridge in a constant fog... for now. Definitely will be back when I can see you in vivid colors!

Blankets of fog embracing the green hills of San Francisco:

Reached the airport right on time after topping off gas for our rental at nearby Costco. Took the shuttle to the domestic terminal and get our boarding passes. Can't believe airlines these day charge you $25/check-in baggage. What a ripoff. Didn't do much at the airport until time to board the plane. Flight was uneventful as well and took less than an hour to get to Vegas. It was a little after 8PM when we reached there. Picked up our luggage and took another shuttle to get our rental car. This time around, our group merged with Florence's... so, a bigger form of transportation would be needed to accommodate 10 adults plus numerous luggage.

Welcome to Vegas!

Vac Day VII - Fort Point & Golden Gate Bridge, Palace of Fine Arts, Alamo Square, Castro etc.

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

It was chilly today, we proceeded to Fort Point after breakfast at the inn. It was so foggy, we couldn't see past 1/2 mile, maybe even less. What difference weather from previous day!

Upon reaching Fort Point, we could hear the foghorn every few seconds interval which sounded pretty eerie considering how old the fort was and the fog surrounding the entire area. It felt as if I was in a horror movie of some sort.

Cute hoh?

For some reason, we (more like I) spent quite an amount of time at the fort. I climbed all the way up to get a better view of the bridge. On my climb up, I bumped into one of the rangers on duty, which was scary because it was dark and he appeared out of nowhere. He was kind enough to shed some info about the fog and that the best time to visit SF when not foggy is end of September and throughout October! In the fog, he mentioned the bridge looked like a bridge to nowhere...

Almost about two hours later when we were about to leave, the fog looked like it was clearing up just a tad. We had few more places on schedule so we will be back later if time permits to take better picture of the bridge.

Next stop, just a few minutes away - Palace of Fine Arts and the Exploratorium

Well, we just hang outside the palace and absorbing the view and the sun rays. I believe there's a fee (isn't that always the case) to go inside.

With a view like this and well landscaped and maintained garden, what better time for...

Qi-Gong to fight travel stress right in front of the palace

Papa said very good 'chi'

Mom and her flowers before we headed for the next stop.

Temple Emanu-El is next:

For us, not much to see lah, but according to the guidebook ni hoh, it's a major landmark. It was inspired from the 6th century Santa Sophia in Istanbul. With its red-tiled dome, Emanu-El is a Californian architectural hybrid, combining the local Mission style with Byzantine ornament and Romanesque arcades. 

Right across the street from this temple lies St. John Presbyterian Church, guidebook has no entries on this church but thought the architecture was nice, so took a shot also, the stained glass was kind of cool also.

Here are more Victorian or interesting looking houses/buildings along the same block:

But the most famous Victorian houses of all and also open to the public for viewing is... Haas-Lilienthal.

According to guidebook - this exuberant Queen Anne style mansion was built in 1886 for the rich merchant William Haas. Alice Lilienthal, his daughter, lived there until 1972, when it was given to the Foundation for SF's Architectural Heritage. It is the only intact private home of the period that is now regularly open as a museum, and is complete with authentic furniture. A fine example of an upper-middle-class Victorian dwelling, the house has elaborate wooden gables, a circular corner tower and luxuriant ornamentation.

A display of photographs in the basement describes the history of the building and reveals that this grandiose house was modest in comparison with some of the dozens of mansions destroyed in the great fire of 1906 :(

Lafayette Park is next on our list. According to guidebook, one of SF's prettiest hilltop gardens, Lafayette Park is a leafy green haven of pine and eucalyptus trees, although its present tranquility belies its turbulent history. Along with Alta Plaza and Alamo Square, the land was set aside in 1855 as city-owned space, but squatters and others, including a former City Attorney, laid claim to the land and built houses on it. The largest of the houses stood at the center of the hilltop... Weird, I walked along the perimeter of the park, didn't notice it also...

And the final stop for the day, one that I've been patiently awaiting for... Alamo Square or better known for the Six Sisters. If you still don't know what I'm referring to, just look at the pictures :)

If you counted seven, you are not wrong, it's just that the last building on the left is not the same as the other six on the right :)

According to guidebook - SF's most photographed row of colorful Victorian houses lines the eastern side of this sloping green square, which is some 225ft above the Civic Center, giving grand views of City Hall backed by the Financial District skyscrapers. The square was laid out at the same time as the pair of Pacific Heights squares, but it developed later and much more quickly, with speculators building large numbers of nearly identical houses.

The "Six Sisters" Queen Anne-style houses built in 1895 at 710-20 Steiner Street are good examples. They appear on many San Francisco postcards. So many grand old Victorian houses line the streets around Alamo Square that the area has been declared a historic district.

And here are almost all the other Victorian houses around the square:

Enough of Victorian houses yet?

Alright, next on our list was Civic Center lies the City Hall, Veterans Building, War Memorial Opera House, SF Ar Commission Gallery, Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, Asian Art Museum, SF New Main Library, United Nations Plaza and The Federal Building.

See Mom wanted to touch Buddha's hand for good luck...

Next stop: Castro Street -- According to guidebook, the hilly neighborhood around Castro St between Twin Peaks and the Mission District is the heart of SF's high profile gay and lesbian community. Focused on the intersection of Castro St and 18th St, the self-proclaimed "Gayest Four Corners of the World" emerged as a homosexual nexus during the 1970s. Gays of the Flower Power generation moved into this predominantly working-class district and began restoring Victorian houses and setting up such businesses as the bookstore A Different Light, at 489 Castro St. They also opened such gay bars as the Twin Peaks on the corner of Castro St and 17th St. Unlike earlier bars, where lesbians and gays hid in dark corners out of public view, the Twin Peaks installed large windows. Though the many shops and restaurants attract all kinds of people, the Castro's open homosexual identity has made it a place of pilgrimage for gays and lesbians. It symbolizes for this minority group a freedom not generally found in cities elsewhere. 

After we left this town, Mom said like didn't see any gay or lesbian people. Me and PCC , harrr got lah! So we start pointing out this gay couple hugging and kissing on the road side hhehee then she said mostly ang moh, not so many Asian, once again we pointed out got one Asian gay holding hands with his partner and pointed another older gay couple holding hands by the light kekeke

Finally, our last stop before dinner - Haight Ashbury St.

According to guidebook - Stretching from Buena Vista Park to the flat expanses of Golden Gate Park, in the 1880s Haight Ashbury was a place to escape to from the city center. It developed into a residential area, but between the 1920s and '60s changed dramatically from middle-class suburb to center of the "Flower Power" world, with a free clinic to treat hippies. It is now one of the liveliest and most unconventional places in SF, with an eclectic mix of people, excellent book and record stores and good cafes.

To conclude this post, here's our very own Flower Girl hehe

Parking in SF seems like they only permit you for one hour and a quarter only goes for 10mins, so you do the math for one hour. So we parked at one corner and split into two groups to venture off on our own. We met an hour later starving and ended up back in good ol' Chinatown to have some steaming hot food at a HK restaurant consisting of roasted duck and chicken, yam, one vege dish and I ordered porridge with pork innards YUM!