Dancing in California's sunshine

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Spring break at Point Lobos

We spent our spring break at Point Lobos State Reserve!

Ok. Little Z's spring break. But the aunties were equally excited about going on an excursion down south. Ever since I saw the photos on my friend's Facebook, I knew we had to make a trip there, never mind the 2-hour drive.

As advised by the reviewers on Yelp (5 stars!), we reached there early to secure a lot within the park. It's a $10 parking fee + $2 for the map, but totally worth the money since we had a kid with us. Once parked, we had a simple picnic brunch at one of the benches before exploring the place.

Happy mommy!

Happy Z!

Since we parked at Weston Beach, we decided to do the lower half of the South Shore Trail. This stunning stretch of the Pacific coast is lined with coves of varying rock formations. Each cove is different from the next, and we went at a really slow pace because there were just too many pretty sights to 'wow' and 'wah' about.

A family having fun at one of the coves

Reminds one of a washing machine

A joystick to control the twirling speed?

I named this 'The Napping Puppy'

What I found most intriguing was actually the shape and texture of the rocks. Along the way, we saw a pockmarked rock, rocks that look like cardboard stacks, rocks that resemble tree trunks...

Beautiful pockmarks

Layers and layers of rocks atop one another

Looks like a giant bone from a mammal

Tree trunks, they are not. They are rocks!

Awesome pastel colours

I later discovered that Point Lobos has an amazing geological story that began 100 million years ago, when dinosaurs still roamed the earth. Forces of nature has brought these rocks all the way here from Northern Mexico, a thousand miles away. How mind-blowing!

(Shout out) "Hey, you are standing on Mexico!"

At the end of the road, we crossed a small car park and continued uphill on the Bird Island Trail. The trail would give us spectacular views of China Cove, where the famous blue-green seawater lies.

At this point, little Z was tired and hungry, and he wanted his fresh milk which we left in the car. But after a 'mini discussion' with his mom, he decided to soldier on with us.

For enduring hunger and jelly legs, he was rewarded with sights of cute baby seals lying in the sun. For the first time in his life, he also saw a real snakey-snake slithering off the trail.

China Cove... Makes you want to dive right in.

Hello, anyone in the cave?

To a place far and beyond

Birds and seals. Spot them?

Seals at China Cove Point Lobos State Reserve

Awwww... too cute...

Before leaving we decided to loop to Whalers Cove by car. The road was pretty narrow and it almost could not contain two-way traffic.

At Whalers Cove, we saw more seals and an otter with her baby! At first, we thought it was only one otter and we couldn't make out where the head was. After looking closer, we saw that it was actually a mother (or father?) with a baby otter lying on her tummy.

How adorable!

Otter at Whalers Cove Point Lobos State Reserve

Spot the baby otter

Whalers Cove

We left the park before 4pm, so that we could beat the afternoon traffic and return home by dinner time. There's still so much more to explore. In my opinion, Point Lobos is way better than 17-miles and Pacific Grove.

If anyone is planning to go to Monterey, I highly recommend a visit to Point Lobos.

This is a must-go, must-see place for locals and tourists alike.

It's Easter, already?

Right: "Say, why did our creators leave us here lying in the sun?"

Centre: "I don't know. I'm not complaining. This feels so good, so right."

Left (muffled): "Can... can someone help me. I can't really see. Where's my face?"

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Nails: there's a red stain!

Another quick home manicure. Instead of using the brush, I used a smooth facial cotton pad, swiped some red polish off the stick and dabbed it slowly on the nail.

It was easy creating the gradient effect - just dab heavier and with more polish towards the tip. Next time, I would even leave a little of the bottom untouched.

There are also some areas which I left the polish unblended on purpose. It creates sort of a contrast.

I looked like I just murdered someone while I was doing this. But it all looked cool after a quick clean-up.

And nope, the strawberry was not just a prop. It was my lunch. Yummy, yummy strawberry (stained nails).

Friday, April 11, 2014

Preparing for Palm Sunday

Lately, I've been trying to think of new ways to engage kids at church. As we move from the Old Testament to the New Testament, I find it harder to explain abstract concepts to kindergarteners and 1st graders.

What's redeemed? What's reborn? What's the big fuss about the birth of Jesus Christ, his life full of miracles and teaching, Palm Sunday, Crucifixion, Easter Sunday?

Sure, there are stories to be told. But what's the take-away for the kiddos. Most kids knew the stories by heart and more than half can answer our questions.

But does it mean anything to them?

I always feel a pang of sadness whenever I hear stories of how people "grew out" of their faith. Sunday School was but a thing of childhood, forced on them by their parents.

What happened in the midst of growing up? I thought that was the best time to experience God. You are entering the scariest phase in life where everything is changing. Nobody understands but He does.

Deep inside, I desperately hope that none of the kids will fall away. That they will retain whatever they learned in Sunday School, and use it wisely as they move into more challenging phases of their lives.

Faith is an individual's choice. And I hope they take it.

Back to my job as the channel.

For Palm Sunday, other than making a clothespin donkey and reminding the kids about Jesus' humility as king as he entered into Jerusalem, I want to bring up the significance of the palm leaves - a symbol of triumph and worship for the king.

Supposed to make these crosses with real palm leaves but have done a trial with ribbon and felt. Am also planning to prepare some strings for kids to wear the final product as a pendant.

While I was feeling a little panicky that I won't be able to find palm leaves in time, an email from a fellow teacher told me that he could check with a florist tomorrow morning.

See, God provides.

Hurray!

[Post-script: Here's what the final product looks like. It's made from half a leaflet (length-wise) and we could tie a string through the loop.]

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

An island of treasures

Lynn and AK are in town!

They arrived more than a week ago but there wasn't much action on our part, as I was tied down with some work and Panda had to cover for a colleague who was on vacation last week .

Over the weekend, fortunately, we managed to do more stuff. One of the highlights was heading over to the Treasure Island Flea Market, held every last weekend of the month. The view of SF city from Treasure Island was so beautiful. Buildings of different shapes and sizes standing at contrasting heights against a blue sky, framed in front by palm trees and a calm bay. We had the Bay Bridge to the left of us and the Golden Gate Bridge visible in a distance. Very refreshing, and totally worth the drive.

The selection of stalls was quite varied but we didn't purchase a lot as I found most of the products pricey. That said, one can always be in awe of the vendors' imagination - colourful terrariums hanging in glass balls, wind chime made from forks and spoons, pendants made from bottle caps, lamps made from wine bottles... All these amazing items housed in a two-storey building. Out in the open air market, where they sold mostly second hand furniture and other knick-knacks, we managed to get quite a few Timbuk2 bags at a bargain - $35 for a haversack! I didn't need one until I saw how cheap it was. Heh.

There was also a terrarium workshop, where ten bucks would get you a DIY terrarium, complete with cute little plastic dinosaurs. I joined the snaking queue but pulled out at the last minute since Panda said I won't be able to bring it back home at the end of the year. Bummer!

The food trucks were awesome, and our taste buds got a real treat. There were Bacon Bacon, Sam's Chowder Mobile, Harvey's Gourmet Mini Donuts, CurryUpNow and more... Some of the queues were really long and at one time, I overheard that you need to wait an hour and 45 minutes for Paul's Rustic Oven wood-fired pizza. Whut?!

I am probably regretting not trying the pizza since it smelled really good. That and not capturing the SF skyline before leaving. What was I thinking? Argh.

Maybe it's worth bringing my parents here when they visit in May. That is, if they come back in time from their short trip to Canada. We'll see.

Photos galore!