Farewell and Good Bye

it’s over, i am back home again with one eye smiling and another eye crying. but i guess that is how it should be.

i’d like to say thank you to all the people who made this experience so unforgettable and to all the people who made it possible for me to have this experience. darren, kun-huan and christina: thank you! and most importantly my parents for their great support.

no more posts for now. i’d like to close this blog with my last sun set in santa monica. boy do i already miss it …

Santa Monica

round trip final part 6

we left san francisco to go down the coast on highway one seeing a lot of beautiful scenery, santa cruz, monterey, santa barbara. finally in los angeles we spent a day at the universal studios and another day at the getty center. on monday i was in my lab again and the girls left la on wednesday.

THANK’S A LOT FOR COMING, I REALLY ENJOYED THE TIME WE HAD A LOT!!

“weida-schaun”	on highway 1	still on highway 1
santa barbara	grasshoppers?	looking up
universal studios	posing	shark attack
war of worlds	krusty land!	jurassic park
waterworld	terminator?

round trip part 5

we stayed in san francisco for four days, riding cable cars, visiting alcatraz, china town, the financial district, fishermans warf, horsing around …

cable car	cable car 2	waiting for the bus
San Francisco City Hall	they accept euros!!	present from sf
Transamerica Pyramid	china town	fishermans wharf
onk onk onk	alcatraz	creepy cells
sf from alcatraz	political statement on sidewalk	on the twin peaks

round trip part 4

after bodie we went to lake tahoe, where we stayed on night to continue our trip to sacramento. in sacramento we saw the state capitol, old town, … we had no luck, the governator was not there. they  say sometimes he meets austrian tourists. in return we had the best frozen yoghurt ever in sacramento.

the next day we set of to san francisco. this is also where i shot the large butt down there

lake tahoe	shadows: sacramento	california’s state capitol
governor’s office	sacramento’s old town	frozen yoghurt
chilling in sacramento	san francisco: alcatraz	shake that thing
golden gate bridge 1	golden gate bridge 2	streets of sf
police and doughnuts	horsing around	k+c on the gg bridge

round trip part 3

leaving las vegas we headed through the death valley. windy wheather, no water, no vegetation, sun, heat. i don’t know how anybody can stay there. we experienced a chilly 119 °F = 54 °C there, even breathing was hard.

after the death valley experience we ended up in a small town called bishop, where we visited the bristlecone pinewood forest and jumped into some indian hot water spring pools. the next day we headed to lee vining to visit the yosemite national park. after seeing the oldest trees in the world at the bristlecone pinewood forest we saw the fattest trees there. amazing again. after another night in lee vining we visited mono lake and bodie, an old western style village which is now a kind of museum to end up at lake tahoe.

it’s windy	death valley	snow @ 50°C?
oooold trees	hot springs	lake @ yosemite
yosemite	yosemite sunset	@ yosemite
huuuge trees	@ mono lake	mono lake
bodie	not our car	chilling in bodie

round trip part 2

after las vegas we went to zion national park. the next day it was grand canyon day followed by the legendary hover dam. we ended up in las vegas again, where the girls had to visit the manoloh blanik shop (sex and the city shoe designer, only 2 shops in the usa, ny and las vegas).

the landscape we saw during this part of our trip was amazing. streets running straight ahead for hundreds of miles, huge plains, massive mountains and wonderful canyons carved into the earth by the colorado river.

glen canyon dam	zion national park	zion national park ii
middle of nowhere	road to grand canyon	grand canyon
grand canyon ii	just a motel	@ hover dam
intake towers	new highway	back in vegas

round trip part 1

the last 3 weeks were amazing. karin, sabine and susanne came to visit me and we had an awesome time. it’s too much to cover in just one post, so i’ll just split it and start with part 1.

first they came to la to pick me up and hang out on the beach. then we took the greyhound bus to san diego. we spent 3 days there seeing the city, sea world and the san diego zoo. and because of the proximity we also went to mexico for dinner.

then took the airplane to las vegas and stayed there for a day. below you’ll find a selection of the photos we took. there are also a lot of stories to tell. you’re going to hear those when we / i are back

in santa monica	san diego	sea world
san diego zoo 1	san diego zoo 2	mexico
the mirage	the belagio	paris in las vegas
peak of decadence	las vegas skyline	the visitors

the last two weeks

the last two weekends i was at a bbq of our lab and at the los angeles zoo.

the bbq was a lot of fun. darren was there too with his fiancée and his son thomas. that little guy rocks, i had a hard time keeping up pace and my body was sore afterwards But it was fun, especially the rip stick (a kind of skate board)

the zoo was an amazing experience too. first and foremost the apes. i was thrilled by the gorillas, chimpanzees and the orangutans. the photos i took are not good at all, but the real life meeting with all of these animals was thrilling.

… and i saw my first celebrity here in la. they shot for “bones” in our street. i saw david boreanaz

bbq	darren, kohei and a football	thomas
the rip stick	la zoo	crocodile
zebra	lion	gorilla 1
gorilla 2	first star

ONE MORE THING: I’LL BE GONE NOW FOR 2 WEEK ON A TRIP THROUGH THE WESTERN STATES WITH KARIN, SABINE AND SUSANNE WHO VISIT ME FROM AUSTRIA. I DON’T KNOW IF I WILL HAVE TIME TO POST

cemetery, shopping, santa monica

last weekend i was at the hollywood forever cemetery and did some shopping at “farmers market and the grove” and at the beverly center. on sunday i was in santa monica. a wonderful sunset again.

hollywood forever cemetery	luxury cemetery	hollywood sign
live hard, die young	3rd street music	3rd street acrobats
the beach	santa monica pier	sunset 1
sunset 2	sunset 3	she’s gone
last light	ferris wheel

pasadena and the dark knight

26.7.2008 isabelle and me were in pasadena. we where at the norton simon museum, where they have a lot of very famous paintings. later we saw “wanted” at the century city amc. if you have not seen it yet, do not go and see it.

27.7.2008 kun-huan, christina, isabelle and me saw “the dark knight”. if you have not seen it yet, go and see it

pasadena – gold line	crowded apple store	norton simon museum
van gogh	caltech	jet propulsion lab
mountains are close	Los Angeles Temple (mormon)	westwood mann theatre
the dark knight	the crew