What brought me back to SD this time? I’ve got my Mrs. to thank! My better half won a drawing on the last day of her conference in Palm Springs in Jan. ’09. The prize – how about a free pass to the 2010 conference?! I don’t know the exact price tag for attending a four-day conference which features vendor exhibits and seminars. I only know the price tag is quite hefty, well over a grand perhaps close to two. We figured the only real expense for me would be the round-trip airfare. Hotel stay in Palm Springs – free; my stay in San Diego – free, since I have a VIP room at my sister’s place.
This trip was significant in a few ways. It would be the first trip my wife and I took without our sons. Two very good friends of our had agreed to look after our boys while we were gone. Our sons would also spend two nights with our regular babysitter, actually a neighbor of ours, who lives a couple of streets away. Our sons have known the family for over three years now. Nevertheless, it was still a big step for our family. I wasn’t sure how my wife would cope with not having the kids around for several day. On the other hand, I was quite sure that our sons would embrace the sudden "freedom", 黑臉老爸不在家!
Just recently I got in touch with some old friends, friends from way, way back. I’d have to borrow another set of ten fingers to count how many years we go back. I guess I do owe both Classmates and Facebook a big "Thank you!". Thanks to these social websites, I found some long lost friends. Another significant part about this trip – reconnect with old friends. Before I forget, I also got in touch with a "reasonably" new friend, someone happens to live close to my old neighborhood in San Diego. Hey, meeting up with a few old pals and a new friend in the same afternoon, can’t beat that!
Believe it or not, the shuttle service picked us up at 4 am, our departure time wasn’t until 2 hours later! The drive to the airport was very easy as you could imagine, there was nearly no traffic at all. It was a relatively short wait at the terminal, after a couple of sips on the coffee, we were ready to board. My wife and I sat in different "zones" on the plane. She got her reservation through her company where as I got mine online. It was OK, she wouldn’t miss me that badly anyway. Our connecting flight was in Phoenix. By the time we got to the terminal in Phoenix after our mad dash, we were the last few passengers to board the plane.
After roughly an hour, we finally arrived in Palm Springs. It was a few ticks past 9 am as we headed to pick up our rental car. First up – Diamond Plaza in Rowland Heights, or "Little Taipei" as it is known to the locals. Why did we want to go to Diamond Plaza? – for the Taiwanese food of course! I can’t remember the last time I had good, authentic Taiwanese food. My wife and I hopped into the rental car, set up the GPS and off we drove. S. Cal is as hilly as I can remember. OK, the hills may not be as steep as Lombard Street up in Frisco. But for a couple of converted Hoosiers, the small mounds were enough to make us go "weeeeee" like a couple of big kids.
For those who still don’t own a GPS – GET ONE! It doesn’t matter how smart your cell phone is, it’s not a "real" GPS. In areas where you can lose signals, a GPS will still work (unless you are in a dense, woody area). Anyway, after about 30 minutes driving on the California desert highway, I regained my (mad) driving skills. The skills necessary to merge 5+ lanes in 10 seconds at 80+ miles per hour. It was almost like Indy 500 (OK, less than 1/2 the speed). In a few stretches, I found myself nearly bracing against the concrete divider. It’s how the Californians drive, especially in all major cities and suburbs. Despite a few congested areas which slowed us down, we covered the 90 mile drive in about 80 minutes.
The plaza itself isn’t all too big, about a dozen or so stores and a dozen restaurants. It was well past our normal lunch hour. There is a 3 hour time difference between Indy and LA. We browsed through a few stores, took at quick peek in the food court. We then walked past a few more stores on the second level before stopping by a bakery and a store that sells beef / pork jerky. We traced our steps back to the food court and picked one restaurant that had the most appealing dishes on the menu. A quick scan on the menu and we were ready to order.
The plate of cold-cuts was great, stinky tofu – not too stinky. How did I know it wasn’t stinky enough? My wife still talked to me after I finished the entire plate. The oyster noodle soup was good, I wish they’d put some intestines in it though. The oyster omelet somehow didn’t quite have the right texture, we still gobbled it up. Just look at the pictures below, will you?
A few simple dishes equaled a great lunch. We still had quite a bit of time before the hotel room would be ready. We decided to visit the "old" Little Taipei in Monterey Park and Arcadia areas. My friend Grace kindly gave me some info to our next destination. The drive was swift, since the two cities are only 22 miles apart. Unlike Diamond Plaza, we found the stores scattered in several shopping malls. Parking was a bit of a challenge as there weren’t many available spaces. We had to park about a block away from the mall that we wanted to visit.
please stay tuned for part II ……
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