| Panda Holiday 2001 |


Thank You

Bob and Doris Lum

Two people whose unstinting generosity helped fulfil my dream of seeing Hua Mei in person.

Other Stuff

Words

I carried an Alphasmart 2000 (which I call my AS2K) with me to write my holiday journal. This is an ultra-light, battery-operated word processor with 128kb of memory that auto-saves your text as you type. To upload, you connect the machine via a cable to the keyboard port of either a PC or Mac, open your favourite word processing software, press the "send" key, and the words from the Alphasmart are then uploaded to the computer, the words appearing like magic on the screen. After returning to LA, I received a most pleasant surprise from the Alphasmart webmaster, Richard, who'd written to tell me I was the April 2001 winner of their site's monthly contest. The prize? A brand new Alphasmart 3000. I've been using the AS2K since March 1998, and the AS3K makes a most welcome gift indeed!

Images

Bob used a Sony Mavica digital camera with an awesome 14x zoom focus. I used an Olympus autofocus zoom (a baby camera compared to the Mavica) that I'd borrowed from my niece, as well as an Aiptek PenCam 2, a digital camera purchased while on this holiday.

Lodging

Transport

Contrary to popular misconception, there is accessible and reliable mass transit in both Los Angeles and San Diego. There is also Amtrak and its Pacific Surfliner service which connected these two cities.

Los Angeles Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority - Lots of info on trains and buses that serve Los Angeles.

Metro Red Line - Liberty Hotel, where I stayed, was near (very near!) the Hollywood/Highland stop. From there, I was able to take a train to Union Station stop to take the Pacific Surfliner South to Santa Ana.

San DiegoTransit Rider - Lots of info on mass transit in San Diego.

Official San Diego MTS site - I used this site to get bus info between various places that I wanted to visit in San Diego, but eventually did not need to use the info because Bob and Doris took care of much of my San Diego transport needs.

San Diego Trolley - When I asked Bruce (a friend from my days at UCSD) what bus to take to campus, he asked where I was staying. When I told him at Hotel Circle South, he said to go to the Fashion Valley Transit Center and take a 41. I later discovered the trolley also runs through FV Transit Center and that I could take the trolley to the Santa Fe Depot to take the Pacific Surfliner North to Los Angeles.

Other Places Visited

University of California, San Diego

I had gone to grad school in UCSD during the 1989/90 year. Eleven years after leaving, I returned during this holiday to visit and found, to my pleasant surprise, that I was still remembered (whether affectionately or otherwise). I had been a little apprehensive of how I would be received, but Bea Velasco, the Undergrad Coordinator, gave me a really warm welcome that removed all doubt. Doris had earlier asked how come I chose UCSD and I said it was because they gave me a full scholarship, it was simple as that. When Bob and Doris saw the warm welcome I received when I showed my face at the Communications Department, they commented that I must have been quite a trouble-maker during my year there. They were right! But the grad student enrolment in those days was small - less than 10 per year - so it wasn't difficult to be remembered. To my surprise, I enjoyed my visit more than I thought, and in fact, visited two more times before the end of my San Diego trip. Besides Bea, Jamie and Liz also made me glad I visited. I also said hello to Dee Dee Halleck, Robert Horwitz, Department Chair Carol Padden, Olga Vásquez, Jennifer Troutner, and Bruce Jones who later told me where to take the bus to campus for another day's visit.

Sun Precautions Store

I have lupus and I had found out about the Solumbra Sun Protective Clothing on the Net and that they have a store in La Jolla. So when we were in San Diego, Bob took me to the store to have a look at their merchandise. I bought a pair of gloves and a pair of shirt sleeves. Doris bought a foldable hat and Bob a long sleeved shirt.

Links

Copyright Notice

Unless otherwise noted on their respective pages, all pictures on this Panda Holiday 2001 web site belong to Bob Lum, USA and Chet Chin, Malaysia. The pictures are here for you to enjoy,and you are welcome to download them for your own viewing pleasure on your home PC, but not for any form of commercial exploitation. If you want to use any of the panda pictures on your web site, please display the pictures as they are, complete with the photographer's name, and please provide a link back to my site!

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