Just got back this weekend from hiking Half Dome in Yosemite.  On Friday I drove 4.5 hours to Merced where we were staying at the Vagabond Inn since everything else closer was already booked way in advance.  Got there at about 1AM and slept for 4.5 hours since we had to get up early for the hike.  Drove for 1.5 hours to get to Yosemite where we parked and took the shuttle bus to stop #16 Happy Isles which is where the trailhead is.  We didn't start the hike until about 9 which is a lot later than what I was expecting.  The total hike is about 17 miles with 4800 feet elevation gain at an altitude of 8,842 feet. 

The first part of the hike takes you to the bottom of Vernal Falls.

We accidentally took the John Muir trail going up which added an extra 1.5 miles to our hike.  Going down though we took the Mist trail which was fun and aptly named because you definitely get wet from all the waterfall's mist.  The two trails converge at the top of Nevada Falls.

From there you hike around to the other side of Half Dome.  There are some rock climbers who climb the face which is something I want to do one of these days.  We passed by the backpacker's camp where some people who choose to do the hike over more than one day can camp.

To get to the top you have to climb these steel cables for about a quarter mile that are at a 45 degree angle.  There are gloves that are left by the bottom of the cables that you can use to protect your hands.  It was really crowded and it was tough waiting while you're hanging onto the cables.  Also some parts are so steep that you have to literally pull yourself up the cables...very tiring on the arms.

We finally made it to the top at about 2:30pm.  Unfortunately, a thunderstorm had been heading our way and it was starting to look pretty dangerous as we could feel a few drops of rain and could hear the thunder rumbling.  Lightning hits Half Dome at least once a month and we had heard a story of how 2 backpackers got hit with lightning, started convulsing and fell over the edge.  So we took our pictures at the top and started down the cables.

The hike down wasn't as bad but it still took us a long time.  We got back to our car at around 8pm just before it started to get dark.  The total hike took us 11 hours.  We were starving by this time so we decided to grab a Chicken Pesto Supreme pizza at Degnan's Loft in Yosemite Village.  The pizza was pretty good but the service is very slow.  Got back to our hotel around 11:30pm and just crashed.

Today we slept in until noon and then I drove back to L.A.  I'm pretty sore now with a couple of annoying mosquito bites since we forgot to bring bug spray.  This was a great training hike for Mt. Whitney in August.

(Note:  the above pics were not taken by me...I stole them from someone else's website to give you an idea of what the hike is like.  I forgot my digital camera at home...doh.  We bought a disposable camera but I won't be able to post my pics until we get them developed and scanned.  Talk about old school...I feel really sorry for people without digital cameras)

Monday night we went to the Mor Bar in Santa Monica for some free salsa lessons.  It was a lot of fun...not to mention the dance instructor is really good and not too hard on the eyes.  I was getting nervous because he kept choosing me as his partner to teach the dance moves.  I was scared of embarassing myself by stepping on his toes or something, haha   I love the little private lounge area with the soft couches and pillows.

Yesterday went to see a free screening of Bewitched at the Chinese Mann in Hollywood.  It's a little corny but cute nevertheless.  I'd say this is a good blockbuster movie. 2.5/5 stars.

Tonight I'm supposed to go to Durty Nelly's in Costa Mesa for a comedy show.  Will update later on how it went.

We went clubbing at Club 740 on Friday night.   One of my friends was spinning that night so the music was awesome.  It’s actually a nice venue inside even though it’s in downtown LA.  Great afterhours club and I was having a great time until we had to leave early at 2:30pm because someone got too drunk.  While it’s fun to get your buzz going, at this age getting so wasted that you throw up in my car is not cool. 

Got home and was able to sleep for about an hour before I had to get up and drive out to the San Gabriel Mountains to do some canyoneering.  It was the first time I got to do a canyon since I took the ACA class.  The canyon that we ended up doing was Mary Jane and we were the second group ever to do it.  There were lots of fun rappels in some waterfalls and landing in pools of water.   I’ll post pics as soon as they’re emailed to me.  Later that night there was lots of food (hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken, beans, salad, etc.), lots of beer, and a raffle for some gear at the campfire.

EDIT:  I suck at golf.  I got a 115 yesterday...on a par 3 course   Happy bday to my mom!  She's going to Vietnam for 2 weeks.  I'm gonna miss her...and her cooking.  I will also be visiting the motherland, but not until November.  Congrats to my lil bro who will be graduating from high school this week!

Went to the Geisha House for dinner on Friday.  The food was just okay and a little pricey for what you get but the atmosphere is very trendy.  I tried the Geisha's Kiss which is one of their signature drinks with sake, lychee, chambourd, and champagne...which I thought might taste wierd but actually ended up tasting pretty good.

Afterwards we went to the Dresden to watch Marty and Elayne perform.  Immortalized by the movie Swingers, this is a Hollywood legend that is fun to experience at least once.  Great place to chill with some friends over some drinks. 

Our last stop of the night was the Good Luck Bar.  Decorated with an asian theme, this is a very fun spot to hang out and lounge on their couches.  Their drinks are a little on the sweet side though but they come with these cute dragon stirrers.

Saturday I spent trying to help the bf do some last minute moving and unpacking at his new place.  I...er I mean he...finally has a walkin closet and double sinks   Later that night we went over to one of his classmates place where they cooked us a wonderful dinner of fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, biscuits, and corn.  We were supposed to go watch Mr. and Mrs. Smith but the showing that we wanted was all sold out.  So instead we opted to go see High Tension.  Although there were a lot of suspenseful and gory scenes, the bad dubbing and twist ending kind of killed the movie.  1/5 stars.

Last night went to check out a Brazilian party at Harry O's in Manhattan Beach.  Tried the Brazilian drink Caipirinha which is pretty potent but tastes so good you don't even realize how strong it is.  Can't wait until we go to Brazil in December for the real thing.  The party was starting to wind down a little bit so we headed down to Hermosa Beach for Patrick Molloy's late night happy hour.

Last week was a busy week.  Tuesday I met up with a new friend at the Coffee Bean in Old Town Pasadena to chit chat over some lattes. 

The next night had dinner with my girls at the Canal Club in Venice.  I liked how they had Hawaiian shirts hanging from the ceiling with lights inside them as decorations.  I ordered the Bento box which was a great deal...comes with california roll (which I substituted with spicy tuna), vegetable spring rolls, soft tofu, miso soup, salad, and teriyaki salmon for only $15.  Afterwards, we stopped by Jame's Beach but it didn't look too happening on a Wednesday night so we left pretty early.

Thursday night I went over to one of Lanny's classmate's house in Monarch Beach for a winetasting/dinner party.  Their house was so nice...gorgeous views of the ocean...prices here are easily $1.5 million or more.  We tried 6 different bottles of wine with the best one being the 1970 Chateau D'Yquem Sauterne, a dessert wine, which usually scores a 100 points from Wine Spectator every year.  I could see why since it's about $600/bottle.  Their huge wine cellar had bottles dating to the 1920s.  We also had barbequed shish kabobs, chicken, and steak.  After dinner, we smoked some Monte Cristo cigars while soaking our feet in the hot tub.  It was an extremely enjoyable night except for the end when I got a little sick...my alcohol tolerance is so low now

On Friday I took a half day off from work to drive out to Kernville for a weekend of whitewater kayaking, hiking, rock climbing, and mountain biking.  After setting up camp we had dinner at El Jacalito, a mexican restaurant.  The shrimp, chicken, and beef fajitas were really delicious.  The rest of the night consisted of hanging out by the campfire and drinking.  Our whole group was able to finish off a whole keg that night.

Early the next morning I tried whitewater kayaking for the first time.  The water flow right now is so rediculously high (about 6000 cfs at some points) that it was a little dangerous for beginners.  A couple of people died a few weeks ago from being swept down the river.  We did the Lickety Split run which is a class III.  My first run went pretty well but my second run I fell out and the kayak got stuck in some trees.  I was able to swim to shore and luckily after much effort we were able to retrieve the kayak.  But that was enough excitement for the day for me...I definitely want to go back when the water flow is a little more normal.  We stopped for lunch and then decided to do a 2 mile hike to Salmon Creek Falls in the afternoon for some rock climbing.  The hike is pretty strenuous with lots of scrambling.  We got there pretty late and with the climbs here being too hard (5.10 and up) we didn't get a chance to set up any topropes.  So I just did a little free climbing but stayed pretty low.  Back to the campfire for a dinner of salad, pasta, beans, and tri-tip...and of course more drinking.  We were entertained with fire dancing (poi) and belly dancing as well as the usual game of bottle walking.  Finished off another keg of beer.

The agenda for Sunday was a mountain bike ride.  Listed as one of California's 100 best trails...it's an intermediate ride with 16 miles of downhill mostly single track at 7,000 ft elevation.  I hadn't been on my bike for a year and a half so I was a little rusty.  I was doing pretty well so I got a little overconfident thinking I could do this pretty steep section.  Ended up eating it and now I have some battle scars on my left arm and knees to show off.  The last part of the ride was so much fun with great views of the lake and speeding down at 25 mph.  Got back and had lunch at the Pizza Barn before packing up and driving for 4 hours back to L.A.

Already missing my bf since he's going to be doing out of town rotations for the next 3 months.  Guess I just have to keep myself busy.

Memorial Day Weekend in Big Sur

We didn't leave LA until about 10:30pm Thursday night.  The good part was there was no traffic.  The bad part was that we started to run out of gas along a desolate stretch of PCH at about 2am.  We had about 30 miles to the nearest town of Gorda when my gas gauge light went off...driving in the dark on a one lane super curvy highway with so much mist that you could barely see 5 yards in front of you and not having any cell phone reception was a little scary.  Luckily we made it into Gorda but the gas station was closed and didn't open until 8 in the morning.  We were offered a room at the only hotel in town by a guy that seemed to materialize from nowhere but we figured it would be safer to just sleep in our car until the morning than to follow some stranger who could potentially be a psychotic axe murderer.

The next morning we got gas and were on our way up to Big Sur.  We didn't have any campground reservations since some of these people book these sites a year in advance and this was a relatively spur of the moment trip.  The plan was to stay at 1 of the 4 first come first served campsites.  We started to get a little worried, however, when the first 3 campsites were full.  Luckily, the last campsite, Bottcher's Gap, had a few empty spots.  This site was located in a beautiful redwood grove by a stream with the only negative factor being the 8 mile windy drive to get to it.  After setting up camp, I did a little hike close by to Turner Creek.  Then we decided to drive up to Carmel By The Sea, a cute little town filled with restaurants, art galleries, and shops.  Grabbed a cup of coffee and a croissant before taking a walk along Carmel Beach. 

Driving back south along PCH we stopped for some scenic pictures at Garrapata State Park.  Also got some great views of Rocky Creek Bridge and Bixby Creek Bridge.  We decided to stop by Pfeiffer Beach to relax and catch the gorgeous sunset.

Dinner was at the Big Sur Roadhouse where I ordered the BBQ chicken with a sangria.  Nice, casual restaurant with pretty good food.  After dinner, we stopped by the River Inn where they were playing some live music but it wasn't quite our scene.  Later that night we had a reservation to soak in the hot springs at the Esalen Institute.  The hot springs here are located on a cliff over the ocean and are only open to the public between 1am-3am (yes in the middle of the night).  Clothing is optional here and pretty much everyone was naked.  Since I forgot my bathing suit, I went au naturale   It was a pretty liberating experience.

On Saturday morning I got up early to do some hiking along the Skinner Ridge trail by our campsite.  Then we headed out to Point Lobos State Reserve.  We did a 0.6 mile hike to Sea Lion Point where we saw a lot of harbor seals, sea otters, and of course sea lions.  We also drove by Whaler's Cove to watch the kayakers and scuba divers.  Another area we went to that is popular with divers is Carmel River State Beach.  Our next stop was Andrew Molera State Park where we did a 2 mile hike to Molera Beach.

After that we went to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park where we hiked 0.6 miles to an overlook facing McWay Falls, an 80 foot waterfall that drops directly onto the sandy beach.  The last stop of the day was at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park.  Here we did a 2 mile hike to Pfeiffer Falls via the Valley View trail.  Then we stayed for a sunset concert at the campfire center where we were entertained by banjos, harmonicas, fiddles, tambourines, and a slide show of Big Sur.  For dinner we went back to our campsite for some pasta and wine.

Sunday we went to Point Sur Lighthouse where we did a three hour, 1 mile hiking tour.  We learned a lot about the history behind its construction and had wonderful views of the coast.  Later we drove to Pacific Grove where we snorkeled at Lover's Point.  The visibility wasn't very good and it was extremely cold, even in our wetsuits.  Showered at Ventana campgrounds before heading back to our site for dinner.

We started driving back on Monday morning.  Stopped for a picnic snack at Sand Dollar Beach and for lunch at Ragged Point Inn.  On the way back we also decided to stop in Solvang to do some wine tasting.  Our first winery tasting room was at Presidio Winery where I didn't find anything too distinctive.  I ended up buying a bottle at Royal Oaks Winery that was a little sweeter than what I usually like.  The last winery we visited was Buttonwood Winery where there were a lot of good dry wines and a nice garden area to take a walk in.  Also bought a cheese danish at Olsen's Bakery...yummy!  Luckily traffic wasn't as bad as it could have been and we arrived back in LA at 8pm.

So didn't do anything this last weekend...ah it felt so good!  Managed to watch Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.  I thought this was the best out of the three recent ones but the original episodes IV-VI are still better in my opinion.

Spoiler alert:  If you haven't watched the movie yet and plan to...don't read the rest of this entry.  So my favorite part of the movie really is the love story between Padme and Anakin.  It's so ironic that one of the reasons Anakin turns to the dark side is so he can save Padme from this vision he has of her dying in childbirth.  But the reason that Padme dies is because he becomes evil and tries to kill her in his anger...in the end she dies because she can't live without him.  I think this type of love is really rare and mostly exists only in the movies.  I wonder how many of us are lucky enough to find it.

Anyways, I was stuck in 3 hours of traffic yesterday while on my way to a work dinner/meeting at Duke's in Malibu.  I guess the delicious food and beautiful sunset views partially made up for my wasted time but really...an accident taking down 4 lanes of the 405 during rush hour...how inconsiderate.

Tried to get back into rock climbing today.  It's been so long that I suck now.  Arms are too flabby...ugh. 

I'm kind of disappointed that Bo didn't win American Idol but I'm sure he'll get a record deal anyways.  Even though I tend not to follow current events too much I am a little concerned over Bush's new and possible future conservative judicial nominees for the nation's highest courts.  That could bring about decades of regression for women and gay rights *sigh*

Well on a more positive note, I'll be leaving for a camping trip up to Big Sur for the Memorial Day weekend tomorrow night.  See ya guys when I get back.

I'm a little sunburned from my weekend in Mammoth even though I put on sunblock.  There's still a lot of snow although it did get slushy in the afternoons.  This was my first time going so late in the season.  Usually I'm spoiled with too much powder.  Finally feel proficient carving down blacks now and even tried some double blacks too.  Tried keeping up with the skiers in the group and tired myself out.  Even did a couple of jumps in the park...definitely something I need to work on next season.

Got to check out the Hot Creek Geologic Site which are natural hot springs by Mammoth.  It was pretty cool.  The water is kind of dirty from the volcanic ash and mud but the hot water is extremely relaxing after a hard day of boarding.  The only wierd thing is that it's fed by a stream and so it would be hot followed by occasional cold currents of water.  There were tons of people most of whom brought coolers full of beer

Later on that night I cooked some linguine with clams for the potluck.  Way too much good food that unfortunately we couldn't finish all of it.  Then watched Hotel Rwanda...really sad movie based on a true story.  Overall, another fun filled Mammoth trip.

My review for Unleashed:  lots of great action but Jet Li's acting skills still leaves something to be desired.  There's a little more emotional twist to the plot than most of his usual movies though.  3/5 stars.

So got back last night from my weekend in Phoenix.  Flew over there for a friend's housewarming party.  Gosh housing is so much cheaper over there.  My friend got his 5 bedroom 2900 square feet house for $250K newly built.  Of course by the time they finished building it and he moved in it's already appreciated to $400K.  But for that same amount of money you'd get a shack here in LA. 

Saturday we went to an Israeli restaurant for lunch...very similar to most other mediteranean food.  Later we had authentic Indian food for the buffet dinner like Chicken Tikka Massala, fried dough balls, pita with hummus, naan, dried fennel seeds (good for digestion), and a lot of other stuff I don't remember the names of..  Since he's Indian I learned a lot about his culture and traditions which was really neat.  It's nice having friends of different ethnicities.  Like for instance when we were leaving his mother put a drop of yellow oil on the middle of my forehead and then gave me a gift. 

On Sunday we drove over to Tucson.  We visited the Sagauro National Park where there are huge cactus plants.  Hiked a short desert ecology trail and then a longer one mile hike. 

Afterwards we did a walking tour of the Colossal Cave.  Its a giant cave filled with stalagtites and stalagmites.  It was first discovered by Indians and later bandits used it to hide out.  Rumor has it that there was one bank robber who hid some gold there that was never found.

Overall it was a nice but short weekend.  I'll have to make it up to my mom since I wasn't here for Mother's Day.  I found out today that I got a big raise this year so woo hoo!  Also I'll be moving soon to our new lab at the corporate office where they have a massage chair and a big screen TV in the break room and their own gym (then I'll really have no excuse for not working out).  I might even get my own office. 

This next weekend I am planning to do some spring snowboarding up in Mammoth.  It'll be a cheap weekend (only $45 for lodging + food/gas) since it's free with the MVP season pass that I bought for next year.  Things just seem to be getting better and better

EDIT:  I just got back from seeing a screening of Kingdom of Heaven.  Typical big budget historical epic from Ridley Scott.  I thought it was good but I wasn't really expecting too much...besides Orlando Bloom is so cute, hehe.

Today's been a great day.  First I got my braces off...yay!  Unfortunately, I sound retarded because I haven't quite mastered learning how to talk with my retainers in.  Second, I got my free mini ipod in the mail.  No I didn't get it through www.freeipods.com since I couldn't get enough people to sign up for that.  I got it by opening a free checking account with Citibank.  Only problem is that I don't have any songs on it cuz I'm too lazy to download them.  Anyone willing to let me mooch songs off them?

Yesterday was my bf's birthday so I took him to Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills.  It's owned by Nobuyuki Matsuhisa who also owns Nobu New York.  We both got the omakase (which ranges from $80 to $120/person) which literally means, "chef I'm in your hands".  Basically you're trusting the chef since you're not going by a set menu.  I think there were about 8 courses total consisting of miso soup, caviar oyster, lobster ceviche, sashimi salad, sushi, toro steak, black cod with miso, and a dessert sampler (I really liked the mocha creme brulee and the banana eggroll).  Their plum wine was pretty good too.

I forgot to mention that I saw Carson Daly at Boardner's on Monday night.  It's an unpretentious dive bar so maybe that's why celebrities like to hang out here.  Also, I cooked for the bf on Sunday and made Sausage and Shrimp Jambalaya.  It turned out okay but the rice wasn't as soft as I would've liked.

Oh and here are some pics of the white water rafting weekend...enjoy!

view of Lake Isabella from our cabin

scrambling around on the rocks by the river

a relatively calm area a little before the sunset

group pic