Spring Break 2010: Days 3-5
After a whirlwind first two days, the three of us took a break in suburbia, namely Pleasanton and San Jose. We stayed with my aunt, uncle, and grandma (on my dad's side) in Pleasanton, and basically relaxed all day in suburbia. Pleasanton is exactly how it sounds...pleasant, quiet, spacious, and oh-so-SUBURB. My relatives live at the base of a hill where the houses get increasingly more and more expensive and expansive. We took my grandma's SUV out for a spin while I tried to play tour guide for Sonia and Cherilyn...basically it just ended up that I drove through a bunch of residential neighborhoods. I know I'm not really a city city girl, but living in a suburb when I'm older would definitely be a big change for me. I find that I frequently ask myself, would I be able to live in a suburb? I'm sure I'd make it work, I did love the Gilmore Girls ;)
The next day in San Jose was more relaxing and chilling in the 'burbs. We stayed at the home of a friend from Brown, even though she personally wasn't there, her parents were super welcoming. They took us out to Vietnamese food where of course I ordered a "#40 from Phonatic" which is essentially the thin rice noodles, grilled pork and shrimp, with the vegetables and fish sauce that you pour in--I feel like I've been brainwashed to despise Phonatic now because our host parents hated it so much. What I really enjoyed was the Vietnamese crepe "Banh Xeo" sooo good I definitely want to try them again sometime.
After a lazy afternoon hanging out in a Vietnamese shopping center, the three weary travelers said goodbye to suburbia and BARTed our way to the land of Berkeley. The transportation in the Bay Area is quite nice for the most part. Anyway, we were feeling kind of cheap and in the mood to walk and sightsee so once we left the station we decided to forgo the bus and walk the 0.7 of a mile up the hills to Berkeley's campus. For some reason this seemed like an okay idea until we realized that walking with luggage is much different than just walking in general. I am exaggerating though, because I was the smart one with the rolling luggage. Somehow I was able to condense my stuff into one carry on rolling bag and my school backpack, everything except my purse and my coat that I insisted on bringing with me. I was very impressed with myself, I must admit, because for a week long vacation with uncertainty of climate, I feel I packed pretty well :)
Berkeley was an adventure for sure, wandered around campus--we had dinner at Cafe Durant, cheapie Mexican food and cheap beers...and then decided for some reason to spend the night in a lounge, that just so happened to be in the subfree dorm, so everybody was really weirded out that a bunch of strangers were staying in a dorm. So basically, we felt uncomfortable, but it was a fun time anyway.
The next morning we hopped out of there as early as we could, and met up with Chuck again for a last day breakfast. Off to Vegas!
The next day in San Jose was more relaxing and chilling in the 'burbs. We stayed at the home of a friend from Brown, even though she personally wasn't there, her parents were super welcoming. They took us out to Vietnamese food where of course I ordered a "#40 from Phonatic" which is essentially the thin rice noodles, grilled pork and shrimp, with the vegetables and fish sauce that you pour in--I feel like I've been brainwashed to despise Phonatic now because our host parents hated it so much. What I really enjoyed was the Vietnamese crepe "Banh Xeo" sooo good I definitely want to try them again sometime.
After a lazy afternoon hanging out in a Vietnamese shopping center, the three weary travelers said goodbye to suburbia and BARTed our way to the land of Berkeley. The transportation in the Bay Area is quite nice for the most part. Anyway, we were feeling kind of cheap and in the mood to walk and sightsee so once we left the station we decided to forgo the bus and walk the 0.7 of a mile up the hills to Berkeley's campus. For some reason this seemed like an okay idea until we realized that walking with luggage is much different than just walking in general. I am exaggerating though, because I was the smart one with the rolling luggage. Somehow I was able to condense my stuff into one carry on rolling bag and my school backpack, everything except my purse and my coat that I insisted on bringing with me. I was very impressed with myself, I must admit, because for a week long vacation with uncertainty of climate, I feel I packed pretty well :)
Berkeley was an adventure for sure, wandered around campus--we had dinner at Cafe Durant, cheapie Mexican food and cheap beers...and then decided for some reason to spend the night in a lounge, that just so happened to be in the subfree dorm, so everybody was really weirded out that a bunch of strangers were staying in a dorm. So basically, we felt uncomfortable, but it was a fun time anyway.
The next morning we hopped out of there as early as we could, and met up with Chuck again for a last day breakfast. Off to Vegas!
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