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….
We stopped by 85°C Bakery Cafe in Irvine for breakfast before hitting the road.
So many yummy bake goods!
These looked amazing, but I knew better than to substitute dessert for breakfast.
My first time at Sea World and my first time seeing a killer whale in real life!
Shamu is so adorable....
We rode this water ride...
...and got completely soaked! 🙁
Flamingos! This may have been my first time seeing them in real life, too.
The sea lion show! A sea lion dancing the tango.
Mariko with the sharks.
Cotton Candy!
Adorable penguins...
This polar bear was passed the fuck out. å¯æ–¹ãŒãŠã‚„ã˜è‡ã„ã—・・・。
You can't tell, but we're in a polar bear cave.
A beluga whale... they are so cute.
The three of us in the souvenir shop, posing with Shamu.
Mari and Shun with stuffed animals. Cute!!!
Arriving in La Jolla.
It was quite the gorgeous view!
Attempting to spell out "S.D." for San Diego... fail.
Ready to jump!
駿ã¡ã‚ƒã‚“ã€ã™ã”ã„ï¼He got a lot of air!
I'm pretty proud of this photo I took of Mariko on the cliff. Doesn't it look like epic?
The waters crashing below.
Such gorgeous blue waters and skies. I gotta admit, the mid-Atlantic beaches I'm used to don't even compare.
Lovely Mariko against beautiful La Jolla Cove.
Waves crashing onto the sand...
View of the beach from the other side.
Shun-chan pondering the meaning of life.
Taking a photo of Mariko taking a photo of Shun.
Sea lions splayed along the shore... so attractive.
Watching the sunset on the Pacific.
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. 🙂
