Carizo Plain

Two weeks ago was Spring Break and I had a blast, which was a surprise. On the first day of break I was bored out of my mind and so desperate for entertainment that I just started downloading random apps on my phone. Some of them were pretty cool (Pocket Mortys, Webtoon, Rain Sounds) and that's why I'm recommending them by putting them in parentheses.
Later throughout the week though, I got to go to the library with friends, the mall with friends, and Great America, where I had a great time.


Earlier in the week though, I went to Carizo Plain. We went there to see the crazy wildflower bloom

but unfortunately, didn't get to see it. For some reason, the flowering season was out of whack and even though we came at the time the flowers usually bloom, it was too late

But Carizo Plain without flowers is still a really cool place.

It feels like a desert since it's so barren and expansive. It's really flat, too, which makes it possible to see so far. It almost feels like Superflat mode on Minecraft.

The body of water over there is Soda Lake

I love clouds

Really shrubby land, and it feels dry

Things were going great, and we were about to head home when suddenly, we took a turn into a place we shouldn't have and got stuck in some deep mud.

an image I took from the side of the car

We were stuck there for about 4 hours... so I spent my time listening to music and lying down in the car. Fortunately it was relatively cool, with wind blowing occasionally. Unfortunately, there were lots and lots of bugs everywhere, including large groups of tiny ones crawling on the half-open window and the buzzing loud ones flying in and out. There were also crane flies, which are like daddy long legs that can fly.

Here, you can see the trail we made trying to make our way through that mud. The wheels were moving but the car wasn't :(

 We had also brought our bikes along for the trip so eventually we just abandoned ship and biked to the closest place that could aid us in rescue.

the crumbliness reminds me of brownies

 Not the best experience, but this place was totally cool.

In this image it almost looks like a beach but it really just felt more like a desert (it was neither).

Soda Lake in the evening

glare

In the below picture you can see a police car. We had to use a passersby's phone to call 911 since T-mobile didn't have connection. The police helped us get tow service.

This area was especially green.

Carizo Plain is a few hours away from home, so we finally got home around 12 or 1 AM, when we were originally supposed to get home by 7. I wasn't really that bummed out. It was an interesting experience.

Hope to post again soon!

Japantown

Oh man, things are getting stressful at school. In order to kill some time here are some pictures I've taken over the past month. I went to Japantown (in downtown San Jose) for lunch over the past weekend, so that was something. Great weather too, with cool wind and sun all around. The Japantown in San Jose apparently has strong historical roots, since many benches had short historical stories inscribed on them.

There were actually a number of Ukelele stores around town, so it must be a decent business

While walking around I noticed something. This painted-over electrical box had a red, one-eyed mustache man on its cover.

Later on, I saw the same image, but this time through the shop window of a pottery shop

After typing "one-eyed red japanese mustache man" on Google, I found out that this is a Daruma doll--commonly found in Japan as a token of good luck. It was really a coincidence that I took a picture of the electrical box (I thought it looked cool) and found it again later. To think: had I not taken that picture I wouldn't have known what a Daruma doll was.

Here's a look at a 4 way intersection in Japantown. As you can see, not really busy; no traffic lights, and only a few people out, even during the afternoon. I haven't been to Japan, but this image feels nothing like the kind of Asia I've lived in. 

According to Wikipedia, Tianmu, the place I lived in Taiwan (see my earlier posts) is also a Japantown. Not surprising given the fact that there was an international Japanese school right in the area, but I had no idea. Also this would explain why sometimes waiters/waitresses would try to speak to us in Japanese when they found out our Chinese was pretty bad.

This isn't my picture (it's also from Wikipedia), but check this out for a comparison of Japantown, San Jose and "Japantown" of Tianmu Plaza

I get some heavy nostalgia just from looking at this picture.

Alternatively, here are pictures of Tianmu that I took (they aren't too great)

My justification for the lopsided image: I wasn't able to look at pictures after I took a photo since it was so bright out. I just snapped a pic, heard that click noise, and moved on.

I'll be honest, there were some less flattering parts of Japantown (most notably the empty parking lot surrounded by a worn looking chain link fence) but I didn't take a picture. Maybe I should try to highlight these areas instead of hide them.

Until next time, later!