To pick up where I left off from Part I of our trip to Southern California, we drove down to San Diego from Irvine in the morning to go to Sea World San Diego! It was my first time at any sort of marine mammal park/oceanarium (I’ve never been to Sea World or Marine World before), so I felt like a little kid marveling at all these cool sea creatures that you don’t get to see at your regular aquarium. After Sea World, we drove over to gorgeous La Jolla Cove… it was so stunningly beautiful, I didn’t want to leave.

Once again, I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking….

85°C Bakery Cafe in Diamond Jamboree
We stopped by 85°C Bakery Cafe in Irvine for breakfast before hitting the road.

85°C Bakery Cafe
So many yummy bake goods!

yummy treats at 85°C Bakery Cafe
These looked amazing, but I knew better than to substitute dessert for breakfast.

My favorite shot!
My first time at Sea World and my first time seeing a killer whale in real life!

So adorable!
Shamu is so adorable....

water ride at Sea World
We rode this water ride...

Mariko and I, all wet!
...and got completely soaked! 🙁

They are so pretty!
Flamingos! This may have been my first time seeing them in real life, too.

the sea lion has a rose in its mouth!
The sea lion show! A sea lion dancing the tango.

Mariko with a shark stuffed animal
Mariko with the sharks.

Mariko enjoying her cotton candy
Cotton Candy!

so cute!
Adorable penguins...

PASSED OUT.
This polar bear was passed the fuck out. 寝方がおやじ臭いし・・・。

us in a polar bear cave
You can't tell, but we're in a polar bear cave.

They are so cute!
A beluga whale... they are so cute.

us with Shamu
The three of us in the souvenir shop, posing with Shamu.

cute!
Mari and Shun with stuffed animals. Cute!!!

arriving at La Jolla Cove
Arriving in La Jolla.

Mariko and I at the beach
It was quite the gorgeous view!

trying to spell out "SD"
Attempting to spell out "S.D." for San Diego... fail.

Shun and I ready to jump
Ready to jump!

Shun got a lot of air
駿ちゃん、すごい！He got a lot of air!

gorgeous view
I'm pretty proud of this photo I took of Mariko on the cliff. Doesn't it look like epic?

waves crashing below
The waters crashing below.

such a blue sea and sky
Such gorgeous blue waters and skies. I gotta admit, the mid-Atlantic beaches I'm used to don't even compare.

so cute!
Lovely Mariko against beautiful La Jolla Cove.

waves crashing against the shore
Waves crashing onto the sand...

people on the beach
View of the beach from the other side.

Shun admiring the view
Shun-chan pondering the meaning of life.

taking a photo of Mari taking a photo of Shun taking a photo
Taking a photo of Mariko taking a photo of Shun.

sea lions on the shore
Sea lions splayed along the shore... so attractive.

the girls
Watching the sunset on the Pacific.

Mariko and I silhouetted
Love you Mariko! ♥

That night, we drove to Mariko’s parents’ house in Torrance after a delicious Mexican seafood dinner. The next morning, Dan and company came to pick me up and we made the seven-hour long drive back up to the Bay Area. (It wasn’t too bad — I slept about 80% of the ride, and spent much of the remaining 20% munching on various snacks.)

The trip down to SoCal had been pretty last minute — I had only booked my flight down less than two weeks beforehand — but it was really fun to spend some time with old friends. I was glad that I got to see Shun-chan before he moved back to Japan (although we’re hoping he’ll be back Stateside soon), and I missed having some good girl talk time with Mari.  A huge thank you to Mariko for her hospitality and for driving us everywhere! Hopefully it won’t be too long before we get to see each other again. 🙂