Overseas Chinese Web Guide

Category: Travel

  • Año Nuevo State Park, Pescadero, CA

    Inspired by AAA’s Top Beach Towns for Summer article in the most recent issue of VIA Magazine, I headed out to Pescadero for the first time. I first stopped at Arcangeli Grocery Co..

    The original plan was to picnic at Año Nuevo State Park; however, since it was already close to lunch, we ate at the picnic tables behind Arcangeli. We enjoyed two loaves of still-warm artichoke garlic bread, cheese, ham and turkey, all purchased from Arcangeli. After a day of adventure, we only had a small corner of bread left.

    Pescadero is not a big town. In fact, all the dining establishments mentioned in the VIA Magazine article are all on the same block of the same street. So, you can easily walk around town and find what you like.

    After our lunch, we headed off to Año Nuevo. Summer is the off-season for the elephant seals, so it was not crowded at all.

    From the visitor center, the path to the South Point and North Point viewing stations is quite picturesque.

    Spotted some red berries along the way.

    Usually, I only see pine cones on the ground. Here, the pine cones are visible on the tree.

    After a short hike, we arrived at the J. Thomas Staging Area. Beyond this point, you need a permit, which can be obtained at the visitor center.

    The path out to the viewing stations can be a bit tiring, with plenty of energy spent walking on the sinking sand.

    Before the seals were visible, I could already hear them barking. However, at South Point, I only spotted a handful of seals. Most of them were snoozing under the warm sun.

    The bulk of the seals were at North Point.

    Perhaps, just enough to make the experience interesting. While most the seals were relaxing on the beach, a few of them were mixing it up on land:

    and in the water:

    On the way out, we stopped off at this secluded beach.

  • Washington Monument, Washington DC

    The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. is a marvelous sight. Visible on arrival to Reagan National Airport, the monument greets visitors arriving at the nation’s capitol.

    At night, the monument is well lit.

    In the early morning, I was able to catch the sun’s rays lighting up the side of the Washington Monument.

    Walking around the Washington Monument, I took this experimental shot with the monument backlit.

  • Giant Panda at the National Zoo

    The National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C. offers visitors an encounter with rare Giant Pandas.

    We reached the Giant Panda exhibit shortly past noon on a warm Washington afternoon and I was concerned. After all the talk about Giant Pandas, the warm weather had me worried that our good friends would be huddled out-of-sight in some cool den. And, looking around, I could not see a single Giant Panda.

    Inside the monitoring station, I could see a Giant Panda taking a nap at an indoor pen. Better than nothing, I thought.

    After exiting the station, I continued walking and spotted this Giant Panda getting ready for feeding time.

    The zookeeper offered the Giant Panda a brown bag of treats. In the lunch bag was bamboo shoots and frozen fruit.

    Giant Panda munching away on the bamboo shoot. Big smile!

    Giant Panda scratches that itch with the foot.

    Thankfully, the Giant Panda made an appearance and we all left happy.

    The National Zoo is a short walk from the Woodley Park-Zoo metro station.

  • Cherry Blossom Festival 2012

    2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the Cherry Blossom Festival. Although I visited Washington, D.C. before the average peak bloom date, all the cherry trees around the tidal basin–save one–had already bloomed due to the unseasonably warm temperatures. Fortunately, the cherry trees along the Potomac River, as well as a few around the city, were still at their grandest.

    I have some cherry trees in my yard, but they are not as gorgeous as the ones around the tidal basin.

    From afar, the blossoms appear as pink cotton balls.

    Up close, the blossoms are almost like pink carnations.

    A bus runs from the Jefferson Memorial to Hains Point, if you are interested in viewing the cherry blossoms along the Potomac River.

    I also found cherry blossoms at the United States Supreme Court.

    I may have missed the cherry blossoms around the tidal basin, but what remained in other locations was still absolutely beautiful. Simply gorgeous.

  • Canyon de Chelly, Chinle, Arizona

    After Monument Valley, I headed for Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Chinle, Arizona. I stayed at the Holiday Inn, which was not far from the Canyon de Chelly Visitor Center.

    At the visitor center, I picked up a route map and headed off along the South Rim Drive. Since I had not been to Canyon de Chelly before, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I drove to Spider Rock, which is at the end of the South Rim Drive, and then stopped at as many overlooks on the way back as time permitted.

    The highlight of the South Rim Drive route is spotting all the dwellings on the face of the canyon walls.

    In the absence of binoculars, I just used the long-end of the zoom lens. To get a closer look, you need to take a guided tour in the canyon floor.

  • Monument Valley Tour

    During my stay in Monument Valley, I signed up for a scenic excursion with Monument Valley Safari. Our tour departed from the parking lot of The View Hotel.

    Now, this being my first visit to Monument Valley, I was not too sure what to except, outside of a view of the legendary mittens.

    Seeing the mittens in person is impressive enough. But, Monument Valley had even more to offer, such as a rock formation resembling an Indian face.

    The Three Sisters.

    I had opted for a sunset tour of Lower Monument Valley. During the winter, the sun sets quite early. It’s already heading down behind this rock formation.

    All sorts of arches and other natural formations in Monument Valley.

    Hail to the Big Chief!

    I had wondered whether spending a few hours looking at rock formations would get boring. The answer is no. The landscape was absolutely stunning, with each monument, butte or mesa different from each other. Monument Valley is one place that I wish I could have stayed longer.

  • Navigon iPhone GPS App Review

    People living in Silicon Valley are spoiled. With 3G data speeds, I’ve been able to rely on Google Maps for most trips outside the daily commute. However, as the Arizona trip approached, I knew that one lousy data connection and I was going to be lost. With that in mind, I purchased the Navigon GPS app for the iPhone.

    Fortunately, I did not wait until the last minute because downloading the app and its associated maps took a long, long time. Besides the map, there is an additional 194.8 MB of required files. I pretty much had to leave the iPhone alone and let it pull down maps overnight for all the states I was going to be traveling in–California, Nevada and Arizona. If you discover that you were missing maps, like I did, then pray that the hotel you are staying in offers a fast Wi-Fi connection. The Courtyard Page at Lake Powell really saved me when I discovered the night before I was heading out that I was missing the Utah map.

    For the most part, the Navigon app is somewhat straightforward. However, if you are accustomed to entering free-form addresses into Google, then Navigon’s approach of requiring the user to select a state, then a city, then a destination may feel archaic. I experienced a slight learning curve in terms of getting acclimated to the voice directions. Took a couple tries at first to get on the highway, but once I achieved that milestone, I didn’t experience any further problems. The issue was that I was not used to thinking in terms of feet, so I had some difficulty at first in gauging how far away the next turn was coming.

    At the Grand Canyon, the Navigon app was indispensable. Since the Grand Canyon Village does not have a traditional urban grid layout, figuring out which direction I was heading was not obvious, especially at night. The Navigon app took me from the highway to the hotel entrance without problems. The only hiccup I encountered was when heading out along the Desert View Drive. I always ended up at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center without the Navigon app telling me to turn right before the parking lot.

    Two other problems I encountered were entering GPS coordinates for The View Hotel in Monument Valley and finding a place to eat in Page, Arizona. To learn how to enter GPS coordinates, I had to depend on Google. Google told me that More > Coordinates would lead to the form for entering GPS coordinates. Not the Addresses or POI button, but the unintuitive More button. The POI button is for selecting a hotel or restaurant nearby or in a city. If the establishment is not in the Navigon database, you can perform a local search using Google. Using the local search option lead me to the wrong place while I was in Page, Arizona. If the Navigon app was integrated with Yelp or TripAdvisor, I would have like it even better.

    As it turned out, the Navigon app was absolutely indispensable. I’m not sure that I ever saw the 3G icon show up during the trek. I was mostly on EDGE, which is not much better than no connection at all. And, of course, don’t forget to bring a phone charger.

  • The View Hotel, Monument Valley, Utah

    The View Hotel is located inside Monument Valley. The three floors of guest rooms are to the left. The lobby and restaurant are to the right.

    The View Hotel

    The View Hotel offers large, clean and comfortable rooms. The bathrooms are quite spacious as well. But, you don’t come to Monument Valley to spend all your time inside.

    As I opened the sliding door and stepped out into the private patio, I am greeted with an absolutely stunning view of the mittens. A wonderful hotel in a gorgeous location.

    Once the sun sets, don’t hit the sack too early or you will miss the glorious night sky filled with stars. Absolutely breathtaking.

    ISO 6400, 18mm, f/5.6, 30.0 seconds

    If I knew anything about night photography, I probably could have come up with a better photo. Actually, if I had brought a battery charger, I would not have been afraid to take a truly long exposure shot.

  • Glen Canyon Dam

    If you are visiting Page, Arizona, you must be here to see Antelope Canyon. The Horseshoe Bend would be a second choice, and Glen Canyon Dam would be the filler.

    The Dam is just minutes away from Page. Just cross the bridge…

    and you will find yourself at the Carl Hayden Visitor Center.

    The visitor center has a few exhibits.

    Like this dinosaur.

    Outside, you can get an unobstructed view of the dam.

    Free to visit, and much smaller than Hoover Dam. I wanted to attend a dam tour, but the last tour of the day was canceled.

  • Antelope Canyon

    Winter is supposed to be slow season. At the Courtyard Page at Lake Powell, that certainly seemed to be the case. We didn’t see too many other travelers and the hotel parking was pretty empty for the most part.

    To get to Antelope Canyon, we signed up for a tour with Antelope Canyon Tours. Their office is located along the main street in Downtown Page, and it was packed with tourists. So much for being the slow season. From their parking lot in Page, we boarded one of many pickups that headed to Antelope Canyon within the Navajo Nation.

    During the winter, the sunlight doesn’t directly strike the canyon floor. So, you will not be able to capture the beams of light photos that have made Antelope Canyon famous. Still, I considered the visit to Antelope Canyon to be one of the highlights of the trip because the spectrum of colors visible on the canyon walls from the reflected sunlight was absolutely breathtaking.

    Here’s the best photo from the excursion:

    ISO 800, 23mm, f/2, 1/6 second

    Shot handheld from a Fuji Finepix x100, this photo captured the full range of colors visible from the floor of the slot canyon. The remaining photos were from a Nikon DSLR.

    ISO 100, 29mm, f/9, 2.0 seconds

    ISO 6400, 46mm, f/4.5, 1/40 second

    ISO 100, 24mm, f/10, 3 seconds

    Lessons Learned From Antelope Canyon

    I departed from the Grand Canyon in the morning and headed to Page, Arizona. Since the turnoff for the Horseshoe Bend appeared before I entered Page, I stopped there first. I had no idea how large Page was, and did not want to back track unnecessarily.

    As it turns out, Page is a really small town. I should have saved the Horseshoe Bend excursion for later and proceeded directly to the Lower Antelope Canyon. Instead, the extended hike at the Horseshoe Bend took me outside the limited winter hours at Lower Antelope Canyon and I missed that opportunity!

    The entire purpose of visiting the Lower Antelope Canyon was to get some practice time before the camera. With that chance gone, the Upper Antelope Canyon tour became a one-shot deal the next morning.

    The biggest problem I had was focusing the camera at a dark canyon wall. In some locations, the camera had difficultly auto-focusing because of the lack of contrast. The tripod was also cumbersome, but essential. With slow shutter speeds, even at ISO 800+, I don’t think I could have shot handheld without encountering problems with camera shake. Framing and focusing is so much slower with a camera mounted on a tripod. I really could have used some practice on refining my work flow. Our tour guide was fairly tolerant, but he definitely wanted to keep the tour group together.

    ISO 100, 26mm, f/9, 2.5 seconds

    ISO 100, 18mm, f/9, 20.0 seconds