... so good to find a little Mexico in LA

Olvera Street in LA, near Chinatown is full of Mexican resturants and shops/stalls selling everything Mexican (food, trinkets).

Olvera Street is in the oldest part of Downtown Los Angeles, California, and is part of the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument. Many Latinos refer to it as "La Placita Olvera." Since 1911 it was described as Sonora Town.

Having started as a short lane, Wine Street, it was extended and renamed in honor of Agustín Olvera, a prominent local judge, in 1877. There are 27 historic buildings lining Olvera Street, including the Avila Adobe, the Pelanconi House and the Sepulveda House. In 1930, it was converted to a colorful Mexican marketplace. It is also the setting for Mexican-style music and dancing and holiday celebrations, such as Cinco de Mayo.

... so good to discover some hidden gems in LA

Right in the middle of LA, Hollywood area is the La Brea Tar Pits musuem. But what is interesting is that it is also the site of a working archaeological dig!

The fossils are from pre-ice age about 50,000 years ago. Apparently when the tar was extracted to pave the streets of San Francisco, they discovered the tooth of the Saber tooth cat and that led to discovering 3 million other fossils. In recent times in an effort to span the museum's parking during the excavation for a basement carpark, they stumbled upon another huge fossil collection that may contain up to another 3 million fossils.  

... so good to tick off another of the items on my bucket list - The Grand Canyon

One of the natural wonders of the world - the Grand Canyon is really spectacular! We flew from Vegas to the South Rim on a small 21 seater plane; transferred to a helicopter - flew into the canyon and then coached to the Bright Angel lodge look out point. 

The flight took us over the Hoover Dam and a great view of the whole canyon. The chopper ride took us close the walls of the canyon. The red and orange hues of the canyon is just beyond words. It was also amazing that the greenery on top of the canyon and steep drop into the Colorado river. 

God's creation is marvelous!

... so good to finally play the Course at Yale

So finally after 4 years, I got on to the Course at Yale with Ken and Dave (Squash Head Coach)! The course is a traditional course with lots of large greens, tall trees lining the fairways and lots of natural terrain.

Enjoyed the game a lot especially the signature par-3 #9 hole. 150 yard from an elevated tee box to a gigantic green that was about 1,000 sq ft big.

Score? Didn't keep score - just enjoying the course, the company and the experience. Life is great!

... so good to attend Ken's commencement as a family

The whole gang (Connie, Jonathan, Andrea and I) made the long trip to Yale, New Haven to attend Ken's commencement. It was a long weekend starting from Saturday climaxing on Monday at Berkley College where Ken received his diploma. 

It is Jon and Andrea's first visit to Yale and the 'Hogwart' like campus like the Berkley dining hall below.

... So good to be at Ken's Senior Graduate Dinner

This week the whole family is in New Haven for Ken's commencement. It seemed only like yesterday that we were stepping into Yale for the first time. It is a clique but time has flown by so quickly. 

We had the squash seniors dinner last night and each of the seniors gave their reflections of the 4 years together. Coach Dave Talbott acknowledged the seniors for their achievements on and off the courts. The class have had 4 good years - two Ivy League titles, two national finals, being the team that broke Trinity's 252 match winning streak. But more so were the bonds of friendship that has been fostered over that time with the team mates and even the families. It has indeed been a great 4 years for the bunch of boys young men.

Ken shared on his meeting with Gareth in Seattle and his first experiences at Yale - falling asleep whilst playing video games because of jet  lag, the captain struggling with the 3 internationals and their peculiar accents, the introduction to beer pong, the first fitness training. Recalling the incident in his first national finals and the various key matches in the four years of college squash. It has been an eventful but enriching journey. And as they leave the (relatively) safe enclave of New Haven and Yale to venture into the big new world of New York, we are filled with mixed emotions  of gratitude, pride, apprehension and excitement. Life has been great!

... so good to have another golf toy!

Went to the Isetan golf sale and got myself another golf toy! The GolfBuddy Voice is a GPS that would give you the distance via a nice lady voice!

The device would not lower my score but it was fun to take it out for a spin yesterday. Doesn't help my swing per se but knowing the exact distance gave me the confidence to just swing through. The score didn't improve but the enjoyment level was up!

Always nice to get a new toy!