San Diego - The exploration series of adventure, road trips, canyons, secret caves and food

San Diego, I first visited in 2007 as a short 3 day trip while I was in LA for a business trip (my previous blog post on that trip HERE).  Reading it, it made me even more sure that I fell in love with this city the very first time I visited 7 years ago!  La Jolla was the place I really really loved the very first time I visited and made me go "This city is awesome!" and that feeling still exists now that I re-visited San Diego.  The feeling of deja vu lingers everytime I visit some places I've been to 7 years ago, and then coming back to look at the photos I took in 2007, I realized I've been to more of the places I re-visited than I thought so, but the feeling now is not one of "Oh I've already done that" but more of "Wow, I love this still".  More of that later.  This post is about my exploration of San Diego in 2014/2015, a new found admiration and love for the city, a heightened sense of adventure, a great partner in crime for exploration and a deeper discovery of the city.  Afterall 15 days is 12 more than the 3 days I spent 7 years ago.  And this time, I also got to go on the Mexico road trip!

 

La Jolla stretch and Windansea Beach

La Jolla

 

You have not been to San Diego if you never ever visited La Jolla.  I mean it. Like for real. I'm not one to say that it's the best beach, but definitely it's the most known beach in San Diego.  Talk about San Diego and you talk about La Jolla.  La Jolla Cove as well.  The place where a lot of rich people live. But for sure, that area is beautiful.  It was on my top list when I visited in 2007 (remembered I rushed down to catch the sunset by the cove), and this time round, still had to visit.  And I've got more time to explore this time round, an entire day of walking along the beach, the tidepools and exploring with my partner in crime.  Weather was not a bitch either and I really really enjoyed the place.  It is also a good surfing spot, and I wished I had the opportunity to surf (and also be a better surfer)

 

 

La Jolla Cove

Seals lazing around

The Cove. I actually took the exact same photo back in 2007!!

 

Spent a couple hours also at Windansea Beach, just south of La Jolla Cove.  Loved it there as well, it has a lot of rock formations and jutting rocks on which you could sit and enjoy the ocean view, read a book and wait for the sunset.  That would be what I would do if I lived near such a place - drive out there in the afternoon, surf a little, and then prop myself on a rock and read and waste the day away.  Live the life.

Windansea Beach

I left my mark on the beach

 

Cabrillo National Monument and Tidepools

Tidepools

Small cave

Adventure boy getting excited

I visited the Cabrillo National monument in 2007, but never went to the Tidepools (no time for that) and damn that I didn't because the Tidepools were AWESOME and amazing! Why would Americans want to visit Australia when they have the Great Ocean Road right here in San Diego!  All the while looking at the coastal area, canyons and cliffs, I kept thinking about my time in Great Ocean Road - exactly the same!  We read about a great tip from the Internet and went in search of the secret cave at the tidepools - only accessible during low tide.  It was great that my partner in crime is as into adventure and doing crazy exploring (or even more so into) than me, makes it easier to jump off the cliff and walk into untreaded territories while others stay on paved path.  We went into caves, got washed by the tide and walked through slippery rocks along the coast where tides and waves rushed in every now and then.  Just when we thought we were not gonna find the secret cave (tide was not low enough), we found it, or rather my partner found it first.  I was busy taking pictures.  You heard it here and I'm exposing this secret cave to more people.  You would need to really walk along the coastal area (get down from the top!) and walk to the far far end, further than you think you can do.  Pass the flat plain of water, until you see an area of just rocks. And when you thought this is it, the entrance to the secret cave is staring right in your face.  It really is awesome! Nobody really got that far but if you do, it is worth it.  Enter the cave and you discover  a secluded beach (not so much a beach as it is laced with rocks) but you get the idea.  There are small openings to the ocean and I suppose you could actually kayak in from outside at low tide (just like what I experienced in Koh Mut in Thailand).  You really do discover new things every day! I absolutely loved it! And totally would go back again.  At low tide.

The secret cave

The secret cave

 

Potato Chip Rock

I'm sitting on top of the world looking down on creation...

 

So called because there is just a chip jutting out over the edge of the mountain, almost like you could break it but it's not that fragile.  The start of the hike is about an hour out of San Diego (Mt Woodson Trail) close to Ramona.  The hike up was via a service road, for vehicles up to either fix the antennas or service).  Wasn't a difficult hike and the view was amazing, with loads of gigantic boulders and rock formations and overlooking the mountain ranges in far view.  The morning wasn't the greatest of morning as it started to rain halfway through and we had to seek shelter under a rock, but after that it was a quick hike up to find the potato chip!  Was freezing cold though but once you get up there, everything was worth it.  Getting up to the chip is not for the faint hearted but standing up there, you really feel like you're on top of the world and looking down at the view - no words could describe it.  Literally because of the cold as well.  I wanted to stay as long as possible, but the cold was a little unbearable and there was a line of people waiting.  Definitely have to do this man! Go crazy when standing at the edge of the chip. It really is amazing!  Hike up and down took only about 2H or slightly longer.

 

Cowles Mountain

 

The highest point in San Diego at 486m.  This is easily accessible by public transport (the nearest bustop is serviced by 115, but do check the schedule as it doesn't run as often on weekends) I started my hike at the trail entrance by Navajo and Golfcrest road.  The hike up is only 2.4KM, and is well paved and marked and visited by PLENTY of hikers and runners.  It is an easy hike/walk that took me 30mins to get to the top.  From there, you get a really great bird's eye view of San Diego and the Lake.  Because it was such a short hike, I took another walk to the opposite peak - Pyles Peak.  That's about a 40min walk from Cowles, and not at all difficult.  The only difficulty is when I got to somewhere near Pyles Peak (or so I thought), there was no post to indicate direction and plenty of crossroads to choose from.  I picked the short cut - an uphill hike up to the top instead of the roundabout hike.  Which I kinda assumed would take me up to Pyles Peak.  I did eventually arrive at the top, which yes I assumed to be Pyles Peak cos there was no other peak.  No signpost as well. But well that should be it cos the trail ended there.  So I made it.  All in all it took slightly more than 2H to get all the way to Pyles Peak and back to Cowles Mountain and down to catch the bus back.  It's an easy hike within the city limits that I would recommend if you want to do some hiking and a workout.

 

Anza-Borrego Springs Desert State Park

What can I say about this place - I love love love it and couldn't bear to leave it! So much to explore!  I had actually googled about this place before we actually decided to go and was already amazed and intrigued by this park and the opportunity to camp there but I also knew we didn't have the time to do so much.  But on the last full day we had, we decided to go hiking and my partner in crime googled and found "SLOT CANYON" located in Borrego Springs.  Hell yeah! One look at the picture and hearing CANYON I immediately said YES! We are all SLOT CANYON Bitches.  Who would say no to exploring slot canyons? Tidepools or slot canyon? Slot canyon! Hike down to water-less waterfall or slot canyon? Slot canyon! So it was unanimous.

Snow capped (bits) mountain along the way

How amazing is this view

 

The drive there was long, like 3H long.  I was not the driver so I can't complain, but it really was a long long drive.  I'm sorry to the driver, my partner in crime, really am.  Who had to concentrate on the drive while I marvelled at the fantastic drive through the mountain ranges, valleys and canyons that went on and on and on.  The snow spotted mountains from the week before.  I couldn't close my eyes when met with such beauty and nature.  Makes me feel like I'm only a small insignificant being on earth, surrounded by such marvelous nature.  Growing up in the city, living in the city my entire live, I'm a nature freak, I love nature and can never get tired of seeing such picturesque portrait in front of me. EVER.  Cities are great, I don't contradict that.  But nature makes me happy, relaxed and free.  I want to climb that mountain, camp that desert, slide through those canyons.  And I know that I was being selfish to my partner who was driving in silence as I just immersed myself in the beauty.  I should have been a better passenger, but I was distracted by the sights. 

 

The drive was worth it, not only because of the sights along the way but for the slot canyon we came for.  The place is HUGE! You don't need a four wheel drive to get to the start of Buttes Pass, we did it in his old BMW and it was fine.  But I read that for exploring the entire Borrego Spring desert park, a 4-wheeler is recommended to reach some other viewpoints.

Overview of the canyon

Slotting starts!

 

Back to the slot canyons.  Once you park, just jump right into the action! Weaving through the slot canyons was fun!  Of course, it may not be as majestic as the one in Utah, but it was still a lot of fun.  We got there after 3pm, so there weren't a lot of people visiting (and in winter sun sets close to 5pm so most people were done for the day).  Which made exploring even more fun!  The slots started wider, then it got narrower and narrower and the fun begins!  The monkey was climbing up and down up and down the rocks, there are the things I would do when I'm alone on a trip exploring.  At one point, we got up to the top of a rock balanced at the top of an opening!

Exploring

Too in awe of the surroundings

The partner in crime is a happy boy

 

After the first section ended, we went further around to explore, where no others ventured. Found small caves, uphills and rocks and waterfall edges.  Got high up and waited for the most amazing sunset ever!  The yellow and the pink blanketed the sky.  And that was when we finally decided to head back to our car for the long drive back.  After the exhilaration, the drive back was suddenly solemn and cold.  And on the way back to San Diego, do stop by Julian for the best apple pie (Julian is famous for its apple pie).  And it was really great!  Driving back through the winding mountain roads may not be the favourite for many, but the speed demon that is the driver really wanted to race and it was fun for a bit before I got a little queasy (snacked too quickly on Cheese-it).  The night was littered with stars shining bright and an awesome moon.

Amazing sunset

Love the pink

 

Wished we had more time to explore the place, camp overnight to play around more, climb and hike the other awesome trails.  This is definitely the best place I've explored in California during my trip.  Absolutely loved it.

 

And others

So many adventures to explore but also so many good food to taste!  December is the whale migration season, so we went whale watching and were rewarded by 6 or 8 whales performing in front of us!  For only a price of $21, the 3H whale watching trip was great!

View from Mt Soledad

 

Went to Mt Soledad for the view of San Diego in the evening.  The view is actually quite awesome!

Balboa

I love weird dark art

 

As usual, Balboa park is also a must visit.  There are tons of museums there.  I went to the Natural History Museum (where the shows are included in the ticket price of $17).  And I sat through all 3 of them one after another.  I liked the museum as well.  The other I really liked was the SDAI Museum of the Living Artist.  They have works of current artists in San Diego and also other creative stuff (even by kids).  The art pieces they have are kind of modern art or even sculptures, creativity looms and I love those shit.  Different creative and interesting.  And the best thing - the lady gave me a student discount even though I told her I'm not a student, just because she thought I looked like a student and it was New year's eve. 

 

And also do take a walk along the Embarcadero - it really is a nice walk along the marina and for a beautiful sunset.

Iconic kiss. Too bad I didn't have anyone to do this with...

 

 

Oh did I say Food?  My fish tacos tour started on my first day in San Diego - where I had still the best fish tacos ever! Not even Mexico beat that fish tacos.  Oscars Mexican Seafood - remember this name.  The original is at North Pacific Beach, but they have other locations as well.  And mamma mia! My search of the best fish tacos started and ended there.  Still have not found one that beats this location!  We tried the tacos at South Beach Bar & Grill, they have a lot more fancy tacos (like the lobster tacos which was pretty good), but still I love Oscars!  Their taco shells and toppings just killed it.  And the amount of fish they put in their tacos - at about $5+ each, you get like huge chunks of fish!  What else - but CRABS!! We had crabs for like $7.99/lb and we cooked almost 2lbs of that shit and stuffed ourselves full on the first night!  Man, those crabs were sweet and delicious and cheap!  Crabs and fish tacos - I love them all!  And did I mention the wine, cheese and black truffle oil? And that thing called Bitching Sauce (only in San Diego)?  I'm already missing all these.. Oh San Diego, why do you have so many good stuff!

 

The best fish tacos from Oscars! Mahi Mahi with cabbages, avocado and salsa. I can still taste this now..

Crab legs! And so cheap! And we stuffed 2lbs of them into our stomachs

Huevos Rancheros - Mexican breakfast of eggs, rice and beans and cheese!!!!!

American breakfast at a diner's - HUGE! Eggs with vege and potatoes and toast and fruits.

 

Just as I've started the post with how much I loved San Diego when I first visited, I end this post with how much I still love the city after this visit.  Sure, maybe not for everyone, but who doesn't love a place where you have the ocean and mountains within reach?  And I heard you can even get to ski/snowboard close enough!  Oh and I got to sail! For the very first time, and it was so fun!  I love sailing, though in that racing context it was too intense for me, but I definitely love the feel to be out in the ocean, sailing through and being free with the wind. 

 

The only thing I regret was not getting to play more with the ocean.  To dive there would have been great and different.  To be able to surf would also be awesome.  Bummer.  I guess you can't do everything you wanted in a limited time period.  But I sure did a whole lot of stuff, courtesy of my partner in crime, who also was a great cook throughout, feeding me with calorie-laden but delicious food.  I never went hungry, yet I didn't gain weight with the amount of food I ate throughout the trip!  Apparently, I couldn't say the same for my dearest cook who complained about getting fat.  I do apologize, it was my fault.  I think I ate so much better there when I'm back home, but it was a good change, though not really sustainable for long.

Hiking up Mt Takao Japan

Aching for a short hike not far from Tokyo city? Mt Takao is the answer! Located in Hachioji, just less than 1 hour train ride from Tokyo, you get nature and a pretty good hike!
This website Takao-san tells it all, information you need to get to Mt Takao and start your hike!

Cheapest way from Tokyo is to take the Keio Line all the way to the end Takaosanguchi.  My travel from Shinjuku was about 45min 390Yen.

From the station, it is an easy walk to the start of the hike where the cable car station is.  There are 7 hiking trails within the mountain.  My choice was up with Inariyama route - this passes through the trees and forest - would have been a fantastic choice during the autumn leaves, when you will see trees with loads of red leaves lining the way up.  It was an easy hike up, and directions are easy to follow, all in all only 1 hour needed to get right to the top.

 At the top the view is pretty awesome!  From there, either take any of the other routes back down or if you have time and/or more adventurous, continue on to the other peaks or all the way to the very end Mt Jimba which would take about 5h.  I decided to carry on for another hour however turned back since I wasn't going to make the 5H hike to Mt Jimba.

Top of the mountain

I opted for Route 4 down which passes through a suspension bridge and connects to Route 1 all the way down (route 1 is all paved).  Of course for the less sporty, you can choose cable car up from base to half way.  The way to the top still needs to be hiked.

It's an easy hike for a weekend (there are loads of people and even small kids), and you wouldn't get lost!

Suzhou Taihu One-Day tour Up Piao Miao Peak

Suzhou, popularly known as the garden city, city of lakes etc etc (and of course they always say city full of pretty ladies - I would not comment on that).  So what to do over the weekend there? Ideas of visiting the Gardens, the Tiger Hill etc popped up, but in the end we decided to head for the 2nd highest peak in Suzhou - Piao Miao Peak at the Xishan National Park area, which is an island in the middle of TaiHu.  Although it is the 2nd highest peak, Piao Miao is only at 337m above sea level.  The manager and I wanted to do some adventure and sadly this was the most adventurous climb we could find...

 

The day started real bad - gloomy cloudy with light rain and drizzle, which made the going tough.  Took the subway all the way to the end of the tunnel, alighted at Mudu station and waited for taxi to take us all the way there.  The thing I dislike about travelling in China sometimes - public transport/coaches/buses are hard to get to reach these places of interests.  They are far out from the nearest public transport station (in this case about 30-40km away) and buses don't usually go there, or if they do, be prepared to take 3H to get there.  Taxis are hard to get, and you have to rely on private cars to drive you there where they usually quote exorbitant prices, in this case RMB130 for a one-way ride of about 45mins.  It is not much for sure, but I just get the feeling that that in itself is too high a price for the journey and definitely would not do it on my own. 

 

It being a rainy day, of course it was hard to get transport, and after 45mins we reached the foot of the so-called mountain and the driver had to wait for us as it would seem difficult for us to grab a return ride that day seeing how deserted it was. 

No 1 peak in TaiHu

The tea plantations

View from close to the top

 

Then the entrance fee - RMB60.  Yes another exorbitant amount for that small little mountain.  I hiked so many mountains in Korea for FREE and they were a lot higher and more scenic!  And they had to make us take a tourist bus within the compound for RMB20 each because as they said - the hike up is a very long walk - as if it is a crime to even think about walking up!  I have no idea where they get the idea from, but it is VERY common in China for places of attraction to have tourist buses to ferry you from point A to point B and EVERYONE takes them!  I would have much preferred to walk (same goes for the manager) but 1) we have a driver waiting 2) they seemed reluctant to tell us how to walk.  So we got the tickets and hopped on the bus which took us almost all the way up.  Small chat with the driver revealed the fact that the walk up the driveway was about 3KM and he too seemed reluctant to let anyone walk up (evidenced by the fact that NO ONE was walking) - apparently the buses go in a loop and will drop you off at one point and carry on.  Whatever.  So we got up to almost the peak and had to walk up about 500m of steps to the very top where due to the bad weather, everything was shrouded in mist. 

 

At that point, we discovered the hiking trail and decided to walk down instead of taking the bus.  It was a nice walk down, albeit slippery and I was in my running shoes - no traction whatsoever.  But we made it, all of 3KM downhill to the base, where we had to catch the bus again to bring us back to our starting point where our driver waited.

 

Not saying that it was totally a waste of time and money, the place was nice but would have been better if the weather cooperated a little and we would have been able to really see a lot more.  Also, then we wouldn't have had to pay the driver to wait which would have given us time to really walk up the mountain and leisurely walk down instead of taking that stupid bus.  Sure I complain about having to pay the entrance fee, but that is sooo common in China, and I do pay them to visit places of attraction and I'm not saying I regret visiting the place, I just don't get why they are charging so much and for every single place!  I would still have gone to Piao Miao (but maybe not on my own) but I guess I'm trying to think why the you have to pay entrance fee for every place including gardens and parks!  If it's UNESCO i get it, but this is apparently very obviously NOT UNESCO.  Like those parks in Shanghai, even those obscure ones charge you RMB5 per entry, it's not much but it's a park! 

 

That being said, I'm still glad I went, at least I could say I've been to Piao Miao, not many tourists go there I suppose, most heading to Tiger Hill or the gardens within the city premise.