2016 May. Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
From San Luis Obispo, we headed straight to Sequoia National Parks via Visalia and Three Rivers. The drive was several hours, but you will get to see varying terrain and farmland which are quite scenic along the way.
2016 May. Point Lobos. Pfeiffer Beach. McWay Falls. Hearst Castle.
Big Sur is the 90-mile stretch of rugged and awesomely gorgeous coastline located along the scenic Highway 1 between Carmel to the north and San Simeon (Hearst Castle) to the south. We started the day with Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, which has beautiful views and is definitely worth spending 2-3 hours exploring, especially hiking the entire loop along the north and south shore trails. You can either park your car in the reserve (entrance fee) or along Highway 1 (for free) if you intend to hike the whole coastal loop.
2016 May. Monterey. Carmel.
The first time I visited Monterey was 20 years ago after my freshman year. I was captivated then by the beautiful weather, gorgeous ocean view, and the aquarium’s collection. Glad to revisit as it was on along the way on my planned road trip. We randomly stopped by a seaside neighbourhood and Fort Ord Dunes State Park briefly along the way, and chanced upon beautiful flowers in bloom.
2016 May. Palo Alto. Mountain View. Cupertino. San Jose. Santa Cruz
Upon arrival at SFO after a long flight, we picked up our rental car and headed south to Palo Alto. Stanford campus looked so beautiful under the Californian sun. A lazy afternoon stroll rekindled the familiar warm and nice campus feeling in me that had faded away over the years, made me miss my alma mater Rice so much suddenly.
2016 May. USA. California Trip Itinerary.
It’s been a long time since I took a road trip in the US. The national parks are beautiful natural wonders and worth every visit. Having experienced Big Bend, Zion, Bryce, Arches, Grand Canyon and several other national parks during my college days, I was hooked ever since. For this 3-week trip, I decided to focus on California alone. The trip highlight is the famed California Highway 101 Great Ocean Drive, Napa Valley, Sequoia, and of cos Yosemite! I am attaching my actual trip itinerary as a planning reference, for those interested in making a similar road trip.
* * * * *
Day 1 – Arrival in SFO via Seoul + Palo Alto + Cupertino
Day 2 – San Jose + Santa Cruz
Day 3 – Monterey + Carmel 
Day 4 & 5 – Point Lobos, Big Sur, Pfeiffer Beach
Day 6 – Hearst Castle, St Louis Obispo
Day 7 & 8 – Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park
Day 9 to 13 – Yosemite National Park
Day 14 – Vallejo + Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
Day 15 & 16 – Napa + Sonoma
Day 17 – Russian River + Point Reyes
Day 18 – Marin County + Sausalito
Day 19 & 20 – San Francisco City
Day 21 – Livermore Outlet Shopping
Day 22 – Fight home via HK
* * * * *
I will elaborate on the trip details and share lots of beautiful pictures of my 3-week long California Road Trip my subsequent blogs. Stay tuned!
Click on link below to read next blog…
2014 Dec. Maldives. Baros.
Island-hopped to Baros Island from Coco Bodu Hithi, for second part of our vacation. What a world of difference! I would unreservedly recommend Baros Resort to everyone. Everything in Baros was so wonderful, impeccable service with great attention to details. Every staff here is extremely professional, competent and hospitable, going all the way out to make every guest feels special and well taken care off. The entire island, ocean views, coral reefs, marine life are so beautiful, great for diving and snorkelling.
2014 Dec. Maldives. Coco Bodu Hithi.
Maldives is such a gorgeous holiday destination! I have always dreamt of experiencing an out-of-this-world tropical isle beach resort at least once this lifetime. Heard so much about the crystal clear blue waters with beautiful corals and abundant marine life in Maldives, that I happily booked a cheap SQ ticket to Male before thinking where to stay. Only then I had a rude shock that beach resorts in Maldives are very veRY VERY expensive! Never expected it because so many friends and colleagues talked about how nice their Maldives vacation were. Wow they must all be damn rich, or had decided to heck it and splurge on their honeymoon! Please be advised upfront, the nice water villas where you can just jump right into the sea as seen on TV or magazines would cost you about S$1000/night on average! So the best advice is, bite your lips, book it, and quickly induce dementia on the costs.
Day 1 & 2 – Beachfront Villa
2015. Estonia. Tallinn.
It was a day trip from Helsinki. We took a cruise very early in the morning, and had an informative guided tour of the City of Tallinn.
2015 Dec. Finland. Saariselka.
Saariselka was a short bus ride from Rovaniemi. When we arrived at Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort, we were greeted by the resident Santa Claus! This guy is pretty good, came in complete package with nicely decorated house, a wife, reindeer on leash outside, and working elves. Far more convincing and superior than the rip off guy at Santa Claus Village gift shop that EU Holidays “brought us” to for photoshoot, who did not even wear proper matching pants and charged 20€ for a photo. Oh well, that’s “get real” commercial Christmas magic, ho ho ho. 果真是做戏得要做全套，赞！:)
Had a simple but nicely prepared 3-course set dinner provided for the group by the resort. A creamy vegetable soup, followed by fish main course, and completed with berry mousse dessert. I guess it is all about luck when it comes to hotel food, some can be so bad but some can offer such delightful surprise! Continue Reading
2015 Dec. Finland. Rovaniemi.
Flew in to Rovaniemi from Helsinki, and was greeted by the stunningly gorgeous white winter landscape. So cool and excited, I’m in Lapland, the Arctic Circle! I really want to see the aurora!
