A Short Walk in Filoli

Afternoon in a Japanese Garden

Entering the Hakone Garden

The bamboo garden

Even though I am not a bamboo expert, I can tell the bamboos are different from the ones I usually saw in Taiwan.

On the path to the tea garden.

Tea Waiting Pavilion

Inside the Tea Pavilion, my favorite spot in the whole garden.

My friend Andrea says this is very "crouch tiger, hidden dragon".

Can hardly wait to revisit the scene when the Japanese Maple leaves change color.

Fuji Knows Color

I know. I have way too many cameras. They are like the emperor's concubines, treasured by their master, but rarely see the light of the day. Since I feel guilty, once a while I will take a camera "out" for a walk. Today is the X100 day. In terms of technology, the Fuji X100 is now a museum piece, but in terms of color, the camera is second to none (to borrow Fuji's own advertisement). Nikon's color is never great (in a way, it's neutral, like someone with great feature but without makeup). Sony's color is almost a horror story, garish primary colors without any subtlety. But Fuji always gets the color right. No doubt they learned it from their film days.  

Passion Flower

The exotic passion flower is the bee's favorite.

The first time I saw a passion flower, I could hardly believe my eyes. It was no doubt one of the most exotic (and erotic) flowers I had ever seen. Not only that, the flower seemed to attract bees, a lot of them. On the flower, those bees just turned around the stamen again and again, trying to get as many pollens as possible, as if in trance. It was incredible. I made a mental note to bring my camera from home to take pictures, but I kept forgetting. Two days ago, I finally had enough. "Forget about your DSLR, just use your cell phone to take a photo, or you will never do it!" I told myself. I am glad I did.

Mission San Antonio de Padua

The landscape around Mission San Antonio somehow reminds me New Mexico.

This is the 1st Mission that I actually got lost on my way there and had to rely on my GPS.

The lady in the gift shop told me if I'd like to go hiking in this area, watched out for rattlesnakes.

Alas, the Mission is going through earthquake enforcement and is not very photogenic.

Is that a Catalonia flag?

Even D810 can't match the dynamic range of human eyes.

I was alone inside the chapel for almost an hour. The photos I shot were not good, but the moment was magical.

St. Anthony of Padua holding the infant Jesus.

Usually my photo session inside a Mission was rushed, but today I had all the time I needed.

A black cat in front of the gift shop. It's lunch time!

I spent half an hour photoing the black cat. It's hard.

Another cat of the Mission, taking a nap after lunch.

Fountain in the garden. Behind it is the retreat area. Visitors can stay the night in the Mission.

Driving through the Army Base. A police officer told me I couldn't take any photo with people or building in it.

What Didn't Kill You

Our super smart intern from Berkeley did a great job of creating a demo app using node.js. After he left, I was assigned to take over his work. I almost fainted when I saw the code. Everything grouped in giant javascripts. Javascript happened to be a language I never liked nor mastered (and I really hated the front-end stuff). The first two weeks almost killed me. I was slow as a snail. And I had to make up for the speed by working really long hours (gone were my weekend photo trips). I was not happy.  

Then, things started to improve on the 3rd week. My javascript skill was getting better. I felt more confident changing the code (and discovered lots of traps why things had to be done in a certain way). Today, the end of the 4th week, my code was deployed and immediately used by my boss. The transition was seamless. I was relieved and felt a bit proud of myself. The most important thing for me is, by achieving something I thought I couldn't do, I win my own respect. There is nothing sweeter than that! 

Plaza Hotel of San Juan Bautista

I had been contemplating about this plan for a while, but only made up my mind last week: I am going to visit all the California Missions (21 of them, to be precise) by the end of 2015. Consider it a personal quest.  

Mission Soledad

Compared to all the other Missions I have visited so far,  Mission Soledad is really in the middle of nowhere.

The founding father in the garden. This is the 13th founded California Mission.

Like most California Missions, this one is a rebuild.

A table with all California Missions! This is the 7th Missions I have visited.

Inside the chapel.

Someone came in to pray. I stayed away, not to interrupt her quiet moment.

In an old photo of the Mission, this painting was hanging next to the Madonna (where the cross is now).

No wonder it's called Our Lady of Sorrow.

Little statues in the gift shop.

On my way out, I had an urge to ring the bell.

A Walk Around Mountain View

The historical Rengstorff house of Mountain View (relocated to Shoreline Park).

Lovely mailbox in the Rengsdorff house. 

The windmill behind the Rengstorff house, the dynamic range of D810 is pretty impressive.

Dead tree in Shoreline Park.

On my way back, I noticed this "blue" house. I cannot but stop to take a photo. 

I want a house like this!!!