asilomar state beach

today was a roadtrip on state route 1. i've always wanted to drive along this highway. i had high expectations.

rental car delay at hertz marriot, family arrived my home around noon. already a late start to the day.

stopped by super duper burgers for lunch, the one beside sephora studio and bryan's grocery on california st. it's more affluent and clean here. the demographic is different here. stopped by trader joe's for snacks and food while i ate my $20 8 oz. burger. the burgers were salty and dry.

first stop was pacifica state beach. i surfed here 2 years ago. i remember how cold the water was. my ears and head hurt from the cold winds. it was summer then. it's november and it's hotter now. it should be the opposite. couldn't find parking so i waited in the car for family to snap pictures.

the rest of the trip was driven by my sister while i worked on my homework. i had no internet access initially and i realized how dependent i am on the internet, i couldn't get anything done. i remember this challenge where someone could recreate an entire dashboard made by v0 with html and css. i probably will never reach that skill level, but that's okay.

the plan was to drive through 17 mile but it was already 16:50 by the time we reached monterey. the backup plan was to watch the sunset hidden behind the clouds at asilomar state beach. it was cold. people were surrounding small fires. i saw a woman just staring at the ocean. i wonder what she was thinking. lots of kids playing around. how are they not cold?

went to carmel by the sea, but it was already dark. lots of art galleries around. bought a pretzel sprinkled with a generous amount of salt for 3 bucks. went to a gift shop and i think i saw my professor with her sisters (i assume). what are the odds? this particular gift shop, at this minute, on this day? when the only reason i came here was because A told me to come here the day before in class. i find it hard not to act on a coincidence like that, i spent 20 minutes internally fighting with myself, whether i should say hi. i ended up deciding she wouldn't remember me anyways, and i wasn't sure if it was her. now i'll always wonder. it's haunting.

had korean food in monterey, found myself liking ramyeon. reminded me of this restaurant in malaysia where i had spicy ramyeon with cheese with my mom in a corner restaurant in a shopping mall. i have a lot of memories being with my mom in shopping malls eating food. i learned recently that if i'm an adult, i've spent 95% of my time with my parents. i need that statistics on a wall.

the drive home involved a lot of napping and generating notes from class lectures because i failed to pay attention in class. and talking to family. reached home at 11 p.m. slept at 1:30 a.m.

11/9/2024