Palo Alto - First Weekend

So this first long weekend was surfing at Santa Cruz, and Stanford.

Now contrary to the UofT and UofWaterloo, Stanford does not look like a jail at all. Rather, it looks more like a resort. The main entrance to the school is that of a church, and just looks like one of those resorts you see on travel guides.

Also I might have realized why driving in the US seems so easy... haha.. I seem to be missing stop signs and going on the opposite side of one ways half the time... I think in the last 3 or 4 days, I've missed 3 or 4 stop signs on various occasions, and those weird US parking lots that go one way.. well, let's just say I found US parking lots extremely hard to park on every other row...
... Did I mention that US intersections (at least in Palo Alto) are VERY wide... when you see a yellow light and start crossing the intersection, the light turns red halfway... That was a scary moment... not because it turned red as I was going through, but because there was a cop car right behind me ....
... I guess its a blessing in disguise that the rental car will be gone by Friday... I will miss that corolla...so small.. so compact, can fit into the tiniest spaces possible..



Also went to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk... I guess this is where Monopoly got its most expensive property from... this place reminds me of the CNE. Very nice place with midways and arcades. To top it off, right next to it, was the beach... I can just imagine living here; nice weather everyday, drive an hour from my million dollar mansion to go surfing...

speaking of surfing... which is the main topic of this post. It was FUN!!! Though I wouldn't consider myself really surfing yet.. it was more: 1) get on the board, 2) forget to arch, 3) wipe out... 4) repeat steps 1 to 3...
So it was a bit tiring, and we actually drifted off VERY far away from where we started. Must have taken us 15 minutes or more to walk back to the original place. But nevertheless, it was fun.. the very very last time I went out to brave the waves, I was actually able to stand up! The hand waving sideways thing that you see in movies REALLY help!... remember that if you ever go surfing..

I did get hit a few times by the fin of the surfboard though.. me and my careless self... though I have to say that next time (since I am hoping to go once more), I hope I can get up more... and once my leg fully heals, I think I will be more comfortable doing that 'fast spring' step to get to that semi-plank position on the board... Supposedly, there's 4 basic steps to start surfing:
1) arch your back
2) spring up to this one knee in front, one leg back position (need to be fast)
3) slowly lean back and get up SLOW... making sure your feet are at the center of the board
4) Try to stay up as long as you can before wiping-out OR
If you actually know what you are doing, you should be starting to surf...

oh.. and btw, the water didnt' feel cold at all.. (at least with the wetsuit on)


I am still thinking of an efficient way to post up all the pics I am taking... any suggestions are very welcome... I am too lazy to rename the images, so I just need one where I can just dump a bunch of images ... quickly, and painlessly... stick a link on my blog to it.. then done... everyone can enjoy!

And I think I have made a discovery. .it seems that empty water bottles/plastic containers here can be traded in for money. Since I have got here, I have been taxed this CRV Fee, or deposit fee for every plastic container (24 of water, 2L cokes) I buy... I think I am on to something here... Will keep anyone who's reading posted...