Tag Archives: vacation

Food, New Experience, Sight Seeing, Travel

Exploring San Diego

By Stephanie Wicburg

While San Diego may be best known for its beaches or attractions such as Sea World, as a native, I know that there are several other less-known opportunities that anyone can enjoy. San Diego is probably best known for its beaches, including the beaches in La Jolla, Coronado, Oceanside, or Moonlight Beach, and in addition to the multitudes of beaches, you may have also heard of San Diego’s many feature attractions such as Sea World, the Safari Park, or Legoland.  What you may not have heard of, however, are many of the other features of my beautiful hometown.

If you are a nature enthusiast, there are several opportunities throughout various parts of San Diego.  For hiking, there are several locations around San Diego of varying length and difficulty, all with beautiful greenery.  Some of these locations include the Torrey Pines trail in Torrey Pines (known as a relatively easy hike with two trails approximately a mile each) and the multitude of hiking trails in Poway, a subcommunity of San Diego, specifically the Blue Sky Ecological Reserve (known for its native plants and wildlife, and is also a relatively easy hike).

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Alternatively, if you are more into the bar or club scene, the Gaslamp Quarter in downtown is a good place to go. With at least 16 clubs and restaurants there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy the beautiful atmosphere of the city.  On a side note to this interest though, if you are interested in a day-time version of this activity, San Diego is also well known for its vineyards, are there are plenty of opportunities to visit and attend wine tastings (I personally recommend the Bernardo Winery in Rancho Bernardo or any of the vineyards in the nearby area of Temecula).

Photo by Ted McGrath on Flickr

There is also the opportunity to see many parts of San Diego’s history in downtown in Little Italy or in many of the available historical sites such as the USS Midway, Balboa Park.  I highly recommend Balboa Park.  As the host to various exhibits throughout the year in its in-house museums (including San Diego’s Natural History Museum), and also some of the best gardens, Balboa Park is a wonderful place to spend a day exploring and enjoying the sunny warm weather typical for San Diego.

All in all, San Diego is a very diverse city, with much to offer anyone who is interested and I am proud to call it home. Happy traveling!

Featured image from NeedPix

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Travel

Adventures in Asia

By Ida Ibhari

When I first got the notification that I had been accepted for an internship in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for the summer, I was of course excited – but also a little apprehensive. Though my roots are in Iran, I had never traveled to East Asia, or Southeast Asia, before. Nor did I know much about the culture, or language, or even the food.

Several of my family members who had been on trips to Kuala Lumpur tried to tell me what to expect.

“We were walking on the road and it was so hot, and sunny,” my aunt explained. “Then, all of a sudden, buckets, really, buckets of rain started pouring down.”

So I made sure to pack an umbrella – an item that I never even had a need to own, living in drought-ridden Southern California. What I wasn’t prepared for, though, was the humidity. Living in California, I was used to heat, but I was also used to cooler, breezier night temperatures. I always heeded my mom’s advice, and always, always, brought a jacket for later on. So I was shocked when, upon getting to the international arrivals terminal at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, I walked outside at around 2 a.m. to be promptly greeted by sauna-like conditions. What?

The weather and I had constant battles. For some reason, I kept thinking that this could only be temporary, that perhaps this was a passing tropical storm, or some kind of lingering after-effect from a hurricane. I checked the weather everyday – fruitless, given that it didn’t really fluctuate much. And I kept bringing my jacket.

My landlord warned me that I needed to turn off the air conditioning when not at home. I resisted – getting home involved a sometimes cramped metro ride, followed by a mile-long walk home. I quickly learned that the laws of physics were very different in KL and walking a mile there somehow was a lot longer distance than a mile in Los Angeles. So, I wanted a cold, icy room every day.

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L.A. Life, Travel

Road Trippin’ Down the PCH

By Greg Lennon

After studying at USC for over a year and a half, I have exhausted almost all of Los Angeles’ tourist attractions.  I’ve hiked the Hollywood Sign, journeyed to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and been to Santa Monica Beach countless times.  This spring, after buying a new car, I thought I would take my new ride on an inaugural road trip.  The long weekend at the start of the semester was the perfect time.  So I rounded up a few friends, rolled down the top on my brand new (to me) Ford Mustang, and headed up the Pacific Coast Highway for the weekend.

Photo by Jeremy on Flickr

The Pacific Coast Highway, or PCH, is one of California’s most storied routes, offering some of the most beautiful views the state has to offer.  The highway runs along the California coast from its southernmost tip in Orange County, all the way to Mendocino County in Northern California.  Along the way, drivers can stop for gorgeous views of the California coastline, as well as various famed attractions like the Golden Gate Bridge, The Monterrey Bay Aquarium, and the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.

My friends and I started up the PCH late in the day on a Friday afternoon, so we were able to see the classic Malibu sunset as we sped up the highway.  Stopping in Malibu for dinner, we sampled an apparently world famous pizza parlor, then returned to the highway for what would be a long drive.  A couple hours later we arrived in Santa Barbara to fill up on gas and grab a snack.  Santa Barbara is known for its nightlife in the college town neighborhood of Isla Vista, as well as its storied downtown, where we stopped to rest.  After a quick fill up, we returned to the highway en route to our final destination of Big Sur.  As night fell on the PCH, the road grew extremely foggy, making the turns of the twisting highway that much more perilous.  Around midnight, we arrived at our campsite at Big Sur, directly adjacent to a small river, and surrounded on all sides by redwood forest.

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