Finally, time to catch my breath. Tthe past month has been a blur. I just came back from San Diego for the long weekend. This is my second time there, but I definitely feel like I saw/did much more this time around.

To begin with, I went kayaking. For the record, my form of exercise includes walking to work everyday and holding shopping bags. So clearly I was out of my element in the wild shores of La Jolla. To top it off, the day wasn’t even nice. It was overcast and COLD. Freezing cold. I couldn’t understand how people were walking around in their bikini’s! I still remember the first cold splash of wave crashing into me just when I got on the kayak. The actual kayaking is much more difficult than it looks in the videos and not half as cool. It is hard to navigate, tiring and naseating. I was seasick within 15 minutes. Our guide was also an environmentalist who made us help her pick up trash from the ocean and leave our shades by the beach (in case we drop it and add more to the pollution). I’m all for saving the environment, but that is not quite my idea of a holiday. The 7 caves themselves (the reason why we had to wear extremely uncool helmuts) were not that impressive. Their definition of a “tour” of it is apparently making a small semi circle into the cave circling the entrance- not quite how I imagined a tour of the cave to be. In the end I was so bad at it that our guide offered to pull us back to shore (I’m guessing she has better things to do than wait for me to struggle my way back). All in all though, it wasn’t a completely bad experience. At least I tried right?

As luck would have it, La Jolla was enclosed underneath this gloomy cloud all weekend (I hypothesized that it’s some erie haunted cloud). My perfectly planned out beach outfit was completely wasted! Though it did have the grace to go away briefly when we went to George’s by the Cove for a July 4th dinner. It was an annual private event on their terrace, where they had a set menu and an excellent view of the fireworks. We somehow stumbled upon it during our research, and I’m glad we did. Because while the food was not superb, the view certainly was. I’ve seen a LOT of fireworks in my life, some much grander than this one, but this one was one of the best experiences. I’ve never seen it so up close before! It was like right above us, like sparks raining down. It was also one of my most memorable 4th of July’s (it may also be because it’s my first in the US). I’ve never experienced so much patriotism than when the table next to me (dressed all in red, white and blue) started bursting out the american anthem.

Most people say that La Jolla is one of the most beautiful places in San Diego. But I beg to differ. I much prefer Coronado, more specifically the hotel del Coronado. We went there for dinner, but even though the sky was overcast that day and there were lots of teenagers and children running around making it feel like a camp ground, I still loved it. The view and the sand was beautiful. The villas lining the beach were heavenly. And the hotel was like a little village in itself, complete with shops, multiple restaurants, spa facilities and even their own ice cream shop! Obviously I’ve never been to an actual resort before! I imagine myself sitting there at the beach under an umbrella, reading a chick lit, while drinking a strawberry smoothie.

But alas, I had to give up that fantasy to go to the San Diego zoo, since I still haven’t been (I forgoed it last time I was here in favor of Six Flags LA). It was quite organized and impressive for a zoo, but I wasn’t too impressed since I didn’t actually see that many animals in action. They were all hiding from the heat. I did however adopted a polar bear from the store, which made the trip all worth it. It’s called Buffy- after Warren Buffet, not the vampire slayer.

Ps. For those of you who are thinking of visiting, besides hotel del Coronado, other worthy hotels in the area include: Grant Hyatt, the Ivy and the Omnihotel.

PPs. I do have a lot of fashion related concerns pent up in me. I just haven’t had time yet to get it out. This week should be a quiet week though, so stay tune!