After 5 straight days of the Neuroscience Meeting, my brain felt a bit drained and needed recharging. A short break was what I needed!
My first day of holiday was about shopping. The prices of many goods in the US are lower to start with (e.g. compared to Europe), and there's generally a greater variety to choose from. The freefalling greenback now makes it more affordable than ever to indulge a splurge in the US. Little wonder then I have spent about US$200 on books alone; a few of them were purchased during the conference where I could make use of special discounts.
An old friend of mine came to join me from Stanford (in the San Francisco Bay Area) that evening for a short break as well. The next day, we set off with a couple of other people from our hostel to the aircraft carrier USS Midway, which is now decommissioned, docked in the San Diego Bay and turned into a museum. Our first impression upon entering the hangar deck was that the Midway was rather different from other normal vessels. The hangar was so expansive that it felt like a big exhibition hall (and we joked that one could hold the next whatever conference on the Midway instead!) The whole vessel was so steady that we didn't feel being on the sea at all! After a tour through the different rooms in the hull, we went onto the deck, to be greeted by a series of military aircrafts which have served many of the military campaigns in the past. That was undoubtedly the climax of this visit. The aircrafts on display ranged from fighter jets to helicopters and supplies aircrafts, including the latest F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet. We also had a chance to climb into the cockpit of the T2 Buckeye Pilot Trainer plane, for a taste of what being a pilot is like!
The third day started with a come-back visit to Balboa Park with my friend. This extensive park is home to many museums, which would take at least a day to visit them all. We only had time for the museum for cars plus one other art museum. The greenhouse was an interesting place, as it housed a good variety of plants. Some of them would invite you for a good rub of their leaves between your fingers in return for some refreshing scents, while doing the same to the carnivorous plants would result in a very nasty surprise instead ...
Shortly after 14:30, we set off to Sunset Cliff on the other side of town, with the hope to enjoying the sunset while strolling along the shore. But we've taken more than an hour commuting and changing buses, and the sunset time in autumn is not really in our favour. By the time we've done a return stroll on the pier at the beach, there was only another 10 minutes before the sun called it a day. The pier was actually the longest in the US west coast. It was elevated 2 to 3 metres above sea level and stretched out quite far into the waters. It took us 7 to 8 minutes to complete the walk from the shore to the far end of the pier, so we thought the pier would have been roughly 400 to 500 metres long.
In the evening, we decided to make our first venture into Mexico and have a whirlwind tour of city of Tijuana at the border. For those of you familiar with Hong Kong and Shenzhen, Tijuana may remind you as some sort of a 'Shenzhen of San Diego'. After a trip lasting 40 minutes on the light rail (similar in time to that needed between the heart of Kowloon and Shenzhen) and crossing the border, we entered a world that seemed a bit more crazy and less orderly. Tijuana is a magnet for the wilder and younger American crowd who takes advantage of the lower drinking age in Mexico (18, compared to 21 in the USA). The Avenida de Revolución in the city centre was simply one big open-air rave party, as all the bars and discos pumped out strong beats as loud as their speakers would allow, inviting everyone in the street to party on! Another part of town was lined with one strip club after another, and who would have guessed that amidst the world of sleaziness stood - no joking - a church! A pretty convenient location, I must say ... My friend and I managed to have our first meal in Mexico in a restaurant in that area. I had a whole fried fish for just US$10, and the snacks that accompanied the main course were free. Dining is not the only thing cheap and cheerful in Tijuana; many Americans also like to come for the shopping because of the lower prices. No wonder everyone would get asked by the US Customs, 'Did you buy anything from Mexico?' whenever crossing the border the other way round.
一連開了五天神經科學會議，腦汁消耗不少，之後放假幾天正好充充電！
放假第一天先去購物，美國不少貨品本身價錢已不貴（定價肯定比歐洲低），款式及選擇夠多，再加上美元貶值不止，實在太誘人，單是買書便已用了200美元左右——其中幾本是趁開會議有特價便特地入貨！
當晚有朋友從三藩市灣區的史丹福前來聖迭戈放假兩天，翌日我倆跟青年旅舍其他兩人一同前往參觀航空母艦中途島號，該戰艦現已退役，停泊在聖迭戈灣成為博物館，甫登艦時進入戰鬥機庫，已覺得跟平時上船不一樣，一則是機庫寬敞得可媲美大型展覽場地（我們打趣道，下次開甚麼甚麼會議都可考慮在中途島號舉行了！）二則戰艦四平八穩，跟在陸地上的感覺絲毫無別。我們在船艙各室走過一遍後，便到甲板參觀全程高潮所在——就是歷年來出入戰場的多款戰機，其中有最新款的F/A-18黃蜂戰機，另有多種直升機及補給軍機，還有T2型雙人座訓練機，機艙打開，讓人攀進去，一嘗當戰鬥機師的滋味！
第三天早上先是舊地重遊，跟我的朋友同往巴爾波亞公園（Balboa Park），公園不但佔地廣闊，而且也集合了不少博物館，我們祇有空到汽車博物館及美術館走一趟。公園內的溫室，種植了不少奇花異卉，例如用手指擦磨樹葉便釋出香薰的植物，和不同辛辣度的辣椒，但食人花則千萬眼看手勿動！
兩點半過後，我們坐車到聖迭戈另一端的日落崖（Sunset Cliff）海岸，本想沿着海岸一邊散步，一邊欣賞夕陽逐漸西下的景色，但是坐車、等車已花了個多小時，而且踏入秋天，日落時間又早，我們在海灘的碼頭走到盡頭再折返後，不消十多分鐘太陽便跟我們說再見！這個碼頭原來是美國西岸最長的，離海面兩、三米左右，由岸邊伸延得很遠很遠，走到盡頭要花上7至8分鐘，由此推想，碼頭大概有四、五百米長吧。
入夜後，我們決定勇闖墨西哥，到邊境的蒂華納（Tijuana）逛逛！把蒂華納形容為「聖迭戈的深圳」倒也貼切，不祇車程相若（從市中心坐輕鐵列車需時約40分鐘），而且一境之隔，氣氛截然不同，有點「三不管」及狂野的感覺，尤其是因為墨西哥飲酒年齡為18歲，比美國早三年，所以吸引到不少美國年輕人前去，蒂華納市中心的革命大道（Avenida de Revolución），活像一個大型露天狂野派對，全街的酒吧和的士高，鋪天蓋地式播放着狂列的音樂，彷彿呼召所有路人加入派對的行列！市中心的另一區，拐了幾個街角，盡是脫衣舞俱樂部，在一片聲色犬馬中，萬萬想不到竟有座教堂座落其中，真不知是相映成趣，還是對世態的一種諷刺了。我和朋友也是在這區其中一家餐室，用過我們在墨西哥的第一餐，我點了一整條煎炸魚，祇需10美元，而且佐飯小吃免費，便宜吧？蒂華納的低消費，是感引美國人的另一賣點，難怪回美國過關時，關員總會逐一詢問：「你在墨西哥有沒有買了甚麼？」
USS Midway 中途島號
Who will be our next food? 一擊即中——招！
More benign species for pleasure/sensation olfactory (top left), visual (top right) and culinary (left)!
My first day of holiday was about shopping. The prices of many goods in the US are lower to start with (e.g. compared to Europe), and there's generally a greater variety to choose from. The freefalling greenback now makes it more affordable than ever to indulge a splurge in the US. Little wonder then I have spent about US$200 on books alone; a few of them were purchased during the conference where I could make use of special discounts.
An old friend of mine came to join me from Stanford (in the San Francisco Bay Area) that evening for a short break as well. The next day, we set off with a couple of other people from our hostel to the aircraft carrier USS Midway, which is now decommissioned, docked in the San Diego Bay and turned into a museum. Our first impression upon entering the hangar deck was that the Midway was rather different from other normal vessels. The hangar was so expansive that it felt like a big exhibition hall (and we joked that one could hold the next whatever conference on the Midway instead!) The whole vessel was so steady that we didn't feel being on the sea at all! After a tour through the different rooms in the hull, we went onto the deck, to be greeted by a series of military aircrafts which have served many of the military campaigns in the past. That was undoubtedly the climax of this visit. The aircrafts on display ranged from fighter jets to helicopters and supplies aircrafts, including the latest F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet. We also had a chance to climb into the cockpit of the T2 Buckeye Pilot Trainer plane, for a taste of what being a pilot is like!
The third day started with a come-back visit to Balboa Park with my friend. This extensive park is home to many museums, which would take at least a day to visit them all. We only had time for the museum for cars plus one other art museum. The greenhouse was an interesting place, as it housed a good variety of plants. Some of them would invite you for a good rub of their leaves between your fingers in return for some refreshing scents, while doing the same to the carnivorous plants would result in a very nasty surprise instead ...
Shortly after 14:30, we set off to Sunset Cliff on the other side of town, with the hope to enjoying the sunset while strolling along the shore. But we've taken more than an hour commuting and changing buses, and the sunset time in autumn is not really in our favour. By the time we've done a return stroll on the pier at the beach, there was only another 10 minutes before the sun called it a day. The pier was actually the longest in the US west coast. It was elevated 2 to 3 metres above sea level and stretched out quite far into the waters. It took us 7 to 8 minutes to complete the walk from the shore to the far end of the pier, so we thought the pier would have been roughly 400 to 500 metres long.
In the evening, we decided to make our first venture into Mexico and have a whirlwind tour of city of Tijuana at the border. For those of you familiar with Hong Kong and Shenzhen, Tijuana may remind you as some sort of a 'Shenzhen of San Diego'. After a trip lasting 40 minutes on the light rail (similar in time to that needed between the heart of Kowloon and Shenzhen) and crossing the border, we entered a world that seemed a bit more crazy and less orderly. Tijuana is a magnet for the wilder and younger American crowd who takes advantage of the lower drinking age in Mexico (18, compared to 21 in the USA). The Avenida de Revolución in the city centre was simply one big open-air rave party, as all the bars and discos pumped out strong beats as loud as their speakers would allow, inviting everyone in the street to party on! Another part of town was lined with one strip club after another, and who would have guessed that amidst the world of sleaziness stood - no joking - a church! A pretty convenient location, I must say ... My friend and I managed to have our first meal in Mexico in a restaurant in that area. I had a whole fried fish for just US$10, and the snacks that accompanied the main course were free. Dining is not the only thing cheap and cheerful in Tijuana; many Americans also like to come for the shopping because of the lower prices. No wonder everyone would get asked by the US Customs, 'Did you buy anything from Mexico?' whenever crossing the border the other way round.
一連開了五天神經科學會議，腦汁消耗不少，之後放假幾天正好充充電！
放假第一天先去購物，美國不少貨品本身價錢已不貴（定價肯定比歐洲低），款式及選擇夠多，再加上美元貶值不止，實在太誘人，單是買書便已用了200美元左右——其中幾本是趁開會議有特價便特地入貨！
當晚有朋友從三藩市灣區的史丹福前來聖迭戈放假兩天，翌日我倆跟青年旅舍其他兩人一同前往參觀航空母艦中途島號，該戰艦現已退役，停泊在聖迭戈灣成為博物館，甫登艦時進入戰鬥機庫，已覺得跟平時上船不一樣，一則是機庫寬敞得可媲美大型展覽場地（我們打趣道，下次開甚麼甚麼會議都可考慮在中途島號舉行了！）二則戰艦四平八穩，跟在陸地上的感覺絲毫無別。我們在船艙各室走過一遍後，便到甲板參觀全程高潮所在——就是歷年來出入戰場的多款戰機，其中有最新款的F/A-18黃蜂戰機，另有多種直升機及補給軍機，還有T2型雙人座訓練機，機艙打開，讓人攀進去，一嘗當戰鬥機師的滋味！
第三天早上先是舊地重遊，跟我的朋友同往巴爾波亞公園（Balboa Park），公園不但佔地廣闊，而且也集合了不少博物館，我們祇有空到汽車博物館及美術館走一趟。公園內的溫室，種植了不少奇花異卉，例如用手指擦磨樹葉便釋出香薰的植物，和不同辛辣度的辣椒，但食人花則千萬眼看手勿動！
兩點半過後，我們坐車到聖迭戈另一端的日落崖（Sunset Cliff）海岸，本想沿着海岸一邊散步，一邊欣賞夕陽逐漸西下的景色，但是坐車、等車已花了個多小時，而且踏入秋天，日落時間又早，我們在海灘的碼頭走到盡頭再折返後，不消十多分鐘太陽便跟我們說再見！這個碼頭原來是美國西岸最長的，離海面兩、三米左右，由岸邊伸延得很遠很遠，走到盡頭要花上7至8分鐘，由此推想，碼頭大概有四、五百米長吧。
入夜後，我們決定勇闖墨西哥，到邊境的蒂華納（Tijuana）逛逛！把蒂華納形容為「聖迭戈的深圳」倒也貼切，不祇車程相若（從市中心坐輕鐵列車需時約40分鐘），而且一境之隔，氣氛截然不同，有點「三不管」及狂野的感覺，尤其是因為墨西哥飲酒年齡為18歲，比美國早三年，所以吸引到不少美國年輕人前去，蒂華納市中心的革命大道（Avenida de Revolución），活像一個大型露天狂野派對，全街的酒吧和的士高，鋪天蓋地式播放着狂列的音樂，彷彿呼召所有路人加入派對的行列！市中心的另一區，拐了幾個街角，盡是脫衣舞俱樂部，在一片聲色犬馬中，萬萬想不到竟有座教堂座落其中，真不知是相映成趣，還是對世態的一種諷刺了。我和朋友也是在這區其中一家餐室，用過我們在墨西哥的第一餐，我點了一整條煎炸魚，祇需10美元，而且佐飯小吃免費，便宜吧？蒂華納的低消費，是感引美國人的另一賣點，難怪回美國過關時，關員總會逐一詢問：「你在墨西哥有沒有買了甚麼？」
USS Midway 中途島號
All the statistics that you want to know about this vessel
中途島號小統計
The vessel is huge! 戰艦真大！
The forecastle (meeting place) for everyone on board (left), and a typical dormitory for the lower ranks (right).
左：船員的聚會室、右：最低軍階人員的臥室
The engine room (left) and the command room (right)
左：引擎室、右：控制室
The generator room, actually below sea level 位於水平線下的機房
The deck and the control tower
甲板及控制室
Left: the F/A-18 Hornet; Right: warheads/missiles carried by one of the fighter jets
左：F/A-18型黃蜂戰機、右：戰機攜帶的導彈及彈頭
Left: inside the cockpit of the T2 Pilot Trainer; Right: a helicopter with bullets hanging outside!
左：T2型訓練機的駕駛室、右：直升機外掛了一排子彈
Ready to take off!
一切就緒，衝上雲霄
Aids to landing 輔助降落的器材
The view from the deck
甲板上的景色
The 'Welcome home' ceremony
完成執勤後的歡迎儀式
Balboa Park 巴爾波亞公園
Buildings with a Spanish colonial style 充滿西班牙殖民色彩的建築
The greenhouse
溫室
Who will be our next food? 一擊即中——招！
More benign species for pleasure/sensation olfactory (top left), visual (top right) and culinary (left)!
其他為人帶來嗅覺（左上）、視覺（右上）及味覺（左）享受的植物！
Sunset Cliff at Ocean Beach 住於汪洋海灘的日落崖
The pier 碼頭
Beachside by the cliff
The pier 碼頭
Beachside by the cliff
崖邊的海灘
Tijuana 蒂華納
Tijuana 蒂華納
蒂華納街景
Good food in a restaurant (left) and outside (right)
Good food in a restaurant (left) and outside (right)
食肆內（左）、外（右）的美食
Repentance - next door, please ...
懺悔請往隔鄰……
Last-ditch shopping (and hawking) before entering the US
臨進美國境前，最後的購物機會
Repentance - next door, please ...
懺悔請往隔鄰……
Last-ditch shopping (and hawking) before entering the US
臨進美國境前，最後的購物機會
Comments
哈!因為找寶是我最大興趣
所以你說美國買東西便宜,真的好吸引啊!
墨西哥物價比美國還要便宜，Tijuana有很多標榜廉價的藥房，看來美國人挺喜歡在那裡買藥物。
美國的電子產品、衣履及英文書比歐洲、加拿大、澳洲等先進地區都要便宜，祇比香港略貴，所以常從歐、澳、紐、加去美國的人，應先在居住國留意心頭好，然後在美國入貨！