Monterey Bay Aquarium & Pinnacles National Monument

19th May - We went to one of the largest aquarium in the world, Monterey Bay Aquarium. Managed to get 2 guest passes from the Lab Manager, Tim Rust, a superbly nice guy. Though the aquarium is large, I still prefer the colorful tropical marine fishes. We had our lunch at Bubba Gump, 'supposedly' opened by Forest Gump after he promised his best friend, Bubba to open a shrimp resturant together. Everything there is related to the movie and shrimps.
20th May - We went to Pinnacles National Monument, the remains of an ancient volcano. Though the weather was hot, we were either sheltered by the rock formations created by faults or climbing under the Talus Caves. After a long hike up, we were rewarded with an awesome view of the Bear Gulch Reservoir.

At Work & At Home

16th May- Managed to activate everyone from Maxim's Applications Notebook Unit to take a group photo, of course with the help of my boss, Sean Gold, the third guy from the left. This was after the one of his weekly 2 hours meetings. After the picture, we drove down to a Japanese restaurant, Chocolate Chocolate Shushi, and it's the most expensive meal so far that I have taken in America. The work bench in the second picture is where I spend most of my days at, unless I am sorting out data at my cubicle.
Next is the picture of the bears I took. Note that there are 3 and the mother bear is behind the thin trees staring at me. Just today, 24th May, the newspaper just reported a man had been attacked badly by a sow bear while taking picture of her cub at Yellowstone. Grace jie immediately started scolding me again. It's time to get a better camera with 10x optical zoom!
Lastly, pictures of Floriana One-room Apartment with my roommates, James (left) and Justin (middle), the owner.

Yosemite National Park

12th-14th May - We set off for Yosemite Pines to camped in a yurt. We even went to an abandoned gold mine and panned for gold. We headed for Yosemite National Park the next day. The most beautiful place I have seen so far in California. Waterfalls, valleys of trees, rock mountains, glimpses of deers on along the road etc. Best of all, we got to see a mother bear and 2 cubs (though others said there were 3 cubs in total) when we on the road with other passers-by who probably spotted the bears crossing the road earlier on. Armed with my camera, I advanced towards the bears using my military movement, behind tree to tree, ignoring cries from James gor and Grace jie (though I really didn't hear them calling me). I went far in front of everyone and I was busy taking pictures of the cubs till I realized that the mother was staring at me just a few feet in front of my tree, behind some bushes. I quickly turned back. I was given earfuls later on in the car. Ha.

We climbed and hiked close to Yosemite, Nevada and Vernal Falls and took breath-taking pictures at Glacier Point, Half Dome, Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove of the Giant Sequoias. I even met Josie and Allan on our second day.

Earlier in the week, Grace jie's house was open for sale and I moved out into a hotel as my room was torn down to showcase. I was lucky enough to only stay for a few days, as I managed to find a affordable and convenient sublet to stay near Grace jie's place. I am now staying in a one bedroom apartment with a Filipino owner who uses the only bedroom, and I share the living room floor with a Chinese PhD engineer. They are all very nice. I even get to do morning excerise by fast-pace walking for about 40 mins to work. Hope the house sells soon for a good price.

I was also invited to my colleague's, Abishak, home for lunch where his wide, Nedu, who just arrived in the States this month, cooked up a feast of my favourite Indian traditional food, mesi roti, many delicious fillings, rice and milk. We exchanged views on Indian cultures of India and Singapore. Though I enjoyed myself, I lost my voice for the next few days. Not too use to such delicious meals yet.

Congratulations to my Dage and Dasao for their second child. Miss everyone back home especially Janelle and mum's cooking. Take good care.