As promised, though a little later than even I expected, I present to you the Yosemite Blog. After seeing a number of beautiful, wintry Ansel Adams photos, this trip to Yosemite presented quite a different, but in no way any less beautiful, vision than anticipated. The drier and warmer than usual winter led to moderate temperatures and a landscape dominated more by stone and trees than snow and ice. Check out the pictures of our (large) group trip to our country's first national park.
We, all 16 members of the group, met up in the park on Friday night where we moved into our heated (what a blessing) tent cabins. The next day, we strolled out for a nice early morning trailblaze hike up the Sierra Point abandoned trail. While many of us remained skeptical as we scrambled up a rock pile, we need only to turn around to be reminded of the beauty of the valley. The pic shows just a glimpse of what we saw, with Upper Yosemite falls to the left and North Dome on the right.
After a couple hours meandering up the mountain and much questioning of whether we had been following the right "trail", we finally made it to Sierra Point. Our reward for our journey: a breathtaking view of Liberty Cap, Nevada Falls and Vernal Falls. Wow.
The first of a number of group pics we took.
After scrambling down the "trail", and determining that we took a wrong turn when we started the hike that led to a much more difficult start than necessary, we snapped a triumphant group pic.
Outside the communal lodge, you could see the little patch of snow (practically the only shred of evidence of the "winter"). We spent the nights in that lodge mooching free wi-fi and playing board games.
Half Dome sans cables (though you wouldn't be able to see them in this view regardless). Pretty magnificent no matter what time/season.
Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls. A significantly greater amount of water pouring down than the last time I visited.
Feeling slightly more emboldened by our morning adventures, we climbed over some more rocks and got up close and personal with Lower Yosemite Falls (PARKOUR!).
The group and Lower Yosemite Falls.
A pinecone during golden hour. Taking pictures before sundown really does make them prettier.
Prior to this trip, we had heard about this phenomenon of Horsetail Falls at sunset during a weekend or two in February lighting up like a "firefall". The park rangers coned off an area where many, many cars parked and a horde of people gathered to watch this event happen. Unfortunately, due to the dearth of water for the water fall (and some minor cloud cover on the horizon), the view didn't really get any better than you can see above. DISAPPOINTED!!!
After a lot of walking around, it made us all very hungry. Well, it certainly made me hungry enough to order and eat all of this food: beef brisket, mashed potatoes, broccoli and a hearty black bean soup.
And for some evening refreshments, we tried this pouched wine purchased from the Yosemite general store. Named Climber, it comes from the vineyard of the family that owns and produces Clif Bars.
Day two began with a group hike up to Mirror Lake. Since we didn't get much direct sunlight on this particular trail, it felt extremely frigid. It still looked pretty though and once we got to the lake, we could look up at Half Dome.
The group pic in the shadows of Half Dome.
Why do they call it Mirror Lake? See above. Mount Watkins to the center left and Cloud's Rest hiding to the right. It doesn't get much prettier than this.
A bit more scrambling up boulders to setup this complex group pic. Trust me, it took a while...
Worth it? Well, I'll let you be the judge of that. I'm the one at the back right (outstretched arms).
On the way out of Yosemite Valley on the last day, we stopped at Tuolumne Grove. Being at a higher elevation, the signs of winter could be seen more prominently (as evidenced here in this pic at the parking lot). They even have to plow!
The roots of one of the fallen sequoias. You can crawl through the opening there at the center too.
Out you pop at the other end, where we took this group shot.
And last but not least, our final group shot at Tunnel Tree before climbing into the cars and beginning the drive home.
Thanks go out to everyone in the group who made for an enjoyable and exciting trip. Despite having so many people, we all got along pretty well and, as you can tell, did a lot together. Until next time...
Rolling onward into February. I'm going to do my best to see if I can't catch up on posts so that I'm not > 1 month behind on this...wish me luck.
Those of you who know me, know I work at Abbott. In recognition for something, I can't recall what to be honest, they had these cupcakes at the All-Company meeting featuring a depiction of our medical device, the Mitraclip, in frosting. A heart implant never tasted so good...
Speaking of tasting so good, I made scones. Again, delicious dried cranberries inside this time too.
The Punahou Alumni Association had a mixer event for Bay Area alums early in the month and invited all graduates of classes ending in -2 or -7. So, not wanting to miss out on free food and drink meeting up with old classmates and the like, I went. Not the greatest showing by '02 (only three of us total...I think maybe a bunch of others just didn't hear about the event?) but I got to meet a lot of cool people from other years and reminisce about home sweet home. Plus, I scored an orchid lei and 1GB Punahou Alumni USB drive!
I don't think I've shown a picture of these Five Finger shoes yet (purchased during my trip to HK/Shenzhen). Here, you can see them after a few weeks of use having been broken in through a couple runs and a handful of Crossfit sessions (at Prometheus Crossfit in Mt View). I liked the contrasting colors of the carpet and hardwood flooring at the Linden Tree Bookshop in Los Altos so I took this pic. Quite fetching.
Later that day, we made it up to San Francisco to see the 2012 Chinese New Year's parade along Market Street in Downtown. Even got Noelle & Josh to tag along for the fun! Year of the Dragon, as you can tell by the float.
Took this pic for Aunty Karen since she worked at Cathay. They actually had this float and a whole group of people walking with a Cathay banner preceding it.
On our way away from the parade (and also the crowds), we walked past the staging area for parade participants where we saw this dragon head just hanging out (near a neighborhood Subway..."Eat Fresh™") waiting for his turn to march down the street.
Down that same street, a whole line of folks stood with a really long lit up dragon waiting to march onward. Pretty impressive how many folks participated in the "dragon train". Pic courtesy of "Photosynth" and its panoramic ability.
And finally some homemade pizza! I made the dough from scratch and added BBQ sauce (from NZ), roast turkey, cheese and lots of fresh veggies (e.g. spinach, corn, peppers/capsicums). The thin crust paired really well with the meat, veggies & BBQ sauce. Nothing like a delicious homemade pizza!
So even though it'll be April in a day or two, I'm getting closer and closer to catching up with these photo blogs. Stay tuned for a good one next time as I present my triumphant return to Yosemite Valley! Until then...
Other than Monterey, I didn't really do anything hugely worthy of its own post in January. So as not to let a lot of individual pics fall through the cracks, I present to you, my loyal viewers, a hodge-podge of January events (in chronological order). Enjoy.
I played "telephone" pictionary for the first time, which yielded fun and hilarious results. The gist of the game being you start out by writing a word on a piece of paper and handing it to the person beside you. They have a limited time to draw a picture of the word on another piece of paper before passing it to the next person who then tries to guess the word and write it on another piece of paper. The drawing/guessing alternates around the circle until the stack of papers returns to the originator who then views the madness. Requires quite a bit of paper, but it works very well in a larger group setting where everyone gets to stay engaged in the game at all times. (P.S> I brought the 老婆餅 back from HKG).
One of the lions guarding the gates to Chinatown in San Francisco. Nick & I walked over there the week before CNY to check out the street fair.
So many vibrant colors on a very beautiful, clear day in SF.
After wandering around the streets of Chinatown for a bit, we got in line at the Golden Gate Bakery for one two dozen of these tasty buggers：蛋撻 (egg custard tarts)！ I'd say worth the (hour long) wait (particularly tasty when straight out of the oven I might add).
A deliciously fresh stir fry featuring many ingredients either purchased at the Moss Landing fresh produce store (on the way back from Monterey) or delivered in my monthly organic produce box. Super yummy!
Deryck keeps posting about his work related Angry Birds encounters. I got one of my own for Chinese New Year from a very generous co-worker! 多謝 and 恭喜發財！
Speaking of work, I got to take a trip out to Charlottesville, VA to visit the UVA Medical Center and watch a couple of Mitraclip cases. Great experience in a great town. I wish I had more time in the city so I could spend more time wandering and enjoying the sights. An example of the classical beauty can be seen above: the Rotunda designed by Thomas Jefferson himself.
Me in my scrubs in the UVA Medical Center. I had the distinct privilege of seeing a skilled and experienced doctor at work. Truly amazing, educational experience that helped to affirm the value of the work I do (indirectly).
After a long day in the cath lab, I hopped into a rental car and drove ~120 miles from Charlottesville, VA to Washington DC to see my good friend Ryan. We hadn't met up in almost four years when I first visited Costa Rica. Despite having a very short time to spend in our nation's capital (and spending none of it seeing all the sights that make it so famous), I had a blast listening to some live music and catching up with an old buddy. We even grabbed a "slice" (of pizza for those of you not familiar with the lingo) from the Italian Kitchen. Thanks for hanging out Ryan. Hopefully it won't be so many years between drinks next time.
The next morning, I drove on back to Charlottesville to start the long journey back to the West Coast. Here I am above the great state of Virginia in a twin-turbo prop Saab.
On the tarmac at IAD. First leg in the books and onward to the next.
On to a larger jet (B757) for the last flight back to SFO. Not sure where I'm flying over, but the deep blue sky blends so well with the golden hue of the clouds in the setting sun.
Darren came to town that very same weekend so I got to see two old friends in the span of a few short days. What a bonus. Darren's visit to the Bay Area prompted Brandon to whip up some delicious, fresh california roll (with organic avocado, japanese cucumbers and real crab meat).
That more or less covers the first full month of 2012. Hope everyone enjoyed their January too! Until next time.
Alright, so it took me ages to get through December's travels. Now on to January! At least I'm in the right year now...
Probably my first real activity of the new year since I spent the first few weeks of January adjusting to an increased workload and "vacation hangover" (so-to-speak). The weather forecast called for cold, wind and rain. If it's to be miserable, why not be somewhere interesting?
When we arrived in Monterey, the clouds parted and the sun came spilling down. What a gorgeous day it turned out to be (I heard later that things up north didn't look quite this nice).
The fake one and the real one. Can't recall the kind of crab, but I don't think it's one of the tasty kind.
Doing my best to capture the shadow of the passing shark. Such graceful creatures.
I see you! They had another tank next to this one with the same fish and darker sand, showing how this species of fish could camouflage itself to different environments.
They even had a tank to touch sea creatures. We braved the cold water and poked at a few of the various invertebrates including this starfish.
Moon jellyfish drifting peacefully through the tank. They really do an exceptional job of displaying these creatures and maximizing their beauty.
Sorry Mari, the 10ft long baby gray whale has got you beat...by a wee bit.
The only other time I've made it to the Monterey Aquarium, however many years ago, they hadn't finished setting up the "Secret Lives of Seahorses" exhibit. I'm glad to say I got to see it this time around. Our oceans are filled with such amazing and diverse creatures such as this cool leafy sea dragon.
After seeing all we cared to see in the aquarium, we decided to enjoy the last bits of the beautiful day by checking out the view at the Point Pinos Reservation.
A pic of me in the golden light of the setting sun. This pic may have definitely has been filtered in Instagram...
No better way to cap a long day of sightseeing than with a tasty meal. This time, we tried a well rated vegetarian place in Capitola called Dharmas. I'll be the first to admit that vegetarian places often tend not to provide very filling portions. Dharmas breaks that trend by offering massive portions that we couldn't even finish between the two of us (and our usually impressive appetites). Veggie summer rolls, lentil soup and a flavourful stroganoff w/ salad. All delicious and, other than the soup, all unfinished at the end of the meal. Oh well, I had enough for lunch the next day!
Lastly, we ventured back to the Pigeon Point Lighthouse for a quick peek in the evening. Can't really see the lighthouse in all its true glory in this pic, but it looked awesome in person.
Alrighty. Off to bed. Enjoy the pics and I'll do my best to post the next set in decent time. Cheerio!
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