after my first impression of rhode island and risd, i felt that now i really needed to visit southern california and the two schools - sci-arc and cal poly in pomona. i scheduled a visit on may 2-3. so i left work early that tuesday to catch the evening flight to los angeles. it was a good flight...not very many people so i was sitting next to no one while cruising through the skymall magazine and watching an episode of entourage. (side note: they sell pretty much everything in skymall - from the ridiculous to the somewhat useful. i just love looking through the stuff people created and think would actually sell. a replica of voldemort's wand, anyone? how about plastic rocks to hide that awful tree stump in your backyard? a woman's affirmation quilt? anyone? bueller?) after i landed, i took the shuttle to the car rental place, and they gave me a pt cruiser. i have nothing against people who own pt cruisers, but i would never buy one myself. i used to think they were cool since they look like something out of batman's gotham city, but now i just think it's a car wanting to be an suv. it was huge and bulky. the only upside is that i was a little higher up on the road and can see farther down the perpetual california freeway traffic. (more on the driving experience later.)
so i got to the kawada hotel at around 10pm after getting lost for a short bit and accidentally getting onto a freeway entrance ramp. it was an ok hotel...clean room with a mini-fridge and sink. the tv remote didn't work, the vcr was ancient, and i had to pay 10 bucks for a full day's worth of internet, but that didn't matter as much since it was a two (2.5) star hotel and i paid only 70 a night. not too shabby considering i was actually downtown. i also had to pay for valet parking (15 a night) which is about the amount i would've paid if i parked in the lot across the street. hey, i felt like a v.i.p. as i wait for my car by the hotel entrance.
day one: visit cal poly pomona and sci-arc
i made an appointment at 10:30 am to meet with the grad admissions director at cal poly. i had to battle rush hour in the freeway with only the google map directions to guide me. it actually wasn't that bad. thank goodness i'm used to northern virginia/dc metro area rush hour. if i was a less experienced driver i would have pulled over and curled-up in a fetal position two seconds after getting on the 110 freeway. it was actually quite interesting to see bumper to bumper traffic moving at an average speed of 70mph. driving tip: the two right-most lanes are reserved for trucks so if you're merging on the freeway, watch out for trucks. i cringed when i saw this truck careening behind me as i floored the gas pedal. also, the left-most lane is reserved for people who drive at 95+ mph. i was on the left lane going +/- 80mph when i saw this beamer gaining up on me. i floored it, but the pt cruiser started making awful accelerating noises, so i had to get on the next right lane as soon as i possibly could while saying sorry over and over even though i knew that dude in the beamer is not going to hear me. i did get to the architecture department on time. the person i was meeting with didn't. i called him on his cellphone after waiting for 15 minutes in front of his office to confirm if he was still coming. he was and he showed up about 5 minutes later. (not a good first impression especially if you want to impress potential incoming students.) the program was ok; it does benefit from being part of a larger academic community. the location was more rural-suburbia - not really my thing. it was dirt cheap compared to risd. the students were really nice. the facilities were mediocre...actually a bit non-existent compared to the wood shops, metal shops, etc in risd. after the visit, i was already having second thoughts.
i made a tour appointment at 2pm at sci-arc so i had to drive back downtown after my meeting. there was no time to grab a quick lunch. although school was not in session, there were some people there making a huge metal model for a summer exhibit. the lady who gave me the tour knew a lot about the school. she even knew what some of the student projects were about. it was refreshing to see someone in the administrative part of the school to know a LOT about the students, their projects, the facilities, the program, the exhibitions and the professors. the tour was in-depth and since i was the only one, i asked many questions and she answered all of them in great detail. after that, i was sold. i really wanted to go to sci-arc! (don't tell anyone...but i think it was the fourteen foot long laser cutting bed that convinced me.) problem is i was only wait-listed. their offer of acceptance is still teetering precariously between "yes" and "no." i think i would be crushed if i didn't get in.
so after thinking about the pro's and con's in my head all the way back to the hotel (which is a five-minute drive), i decided to take a short break and call my east coast friend to ask him about the legality of medical marijuana in california, and for some suggestions as to were to get my tourist self going the next day. (side note: i saw an ad for medical marijuana next to a plastic surgery ad in the weekly lifestyle paper. the ad said to call 1-800-GOT-KUSH for your medical needs. riiight!) he suggested a trip to the getty center (which i was already planning on doing) and head down to the beach (ie. pay homage to the mighty pacific) since it was only minutes away. after resting for a bit and freshening up, i toured downtown. first up was the walt disney concert hall. it was ok. typical frank gehry. i did wish i saw the actual concert space. then i walked three blocks to little tokyo! first i went into this japanese cafe that sold a delicious iced peach latte. soooo yummy and refreshing after a long day driving around downtown LA, pomona and back again. then i walked into a bookstore and bought a cellphone charm - a new sanrio pig character, and a notepad for anna's pig party. (i later found out i didn't need to buy her an actual gift but i gave it to her anyways. i already own waaaay too much stuff.) i was thinking of buying something for my brother who is on the same anything-japanese-is-awesome boat as i am, but i couldn't find anything weird enough or good enough to buy. then i went inside this ramen place which had a wall full of people who finished a whole bowl of the 7th heat level ramen in half an hour. mind you this bowl is huge - good for two generous servings of ramen. i ordered shoyu ramen with egg and pork slices, spice level 4. it was really good. i walked around a little longer and saw this japanese curry take-out place. i would have totally bought some if i wasn't already full. plus, it was already 6:45pm and they were closing at 7pm. so i went to the grocery store instead. i felt like i was transported to japan: the announcements were all in japanese; the tv was turned to nhk; and i believe most of the signs were in japanese, too. i got some cream puffs, cake (for dessert) and some chocolate covered macadamia nuts to take back home. then it was back to the hotel for a much needed mindless tv watching and cake. (btw, i didn't have a spoon so i had to improvise by tearing the plastic cup provided by the hotel diagonally in half. yeaaaah, if that wasn't mcgyver-like then i don't know what is.)
day two: the museum, the outdoor mall + the beach
so the next morning, i woke up at around 8am to check some work email (side note: received email from project manager saying "not emailed from compton." we had a running joke that i'd end up living somewhere in compton when i move out to california. i feel bad for the lady who got caught in the middle of this email exchange. she's probably wondering why the hell we care to put down where we email stuff from.); and get directions from the hotel to the getty center to the beaches in santa monica to the car rental place near LAX. then i walked over to the blue cube which was about three blocks from the hotel for some breakfast. tiny diner ran by a korean lady. they served pancakes for breakfast so it was all good. after breakfast, i checked out early and waited for my car to be driven around the corner. (seriously, valet parking makes you feel like v.i.p. even if you're driving a scratched up rental.) then it was off to the getty center using only my general map of the SoCal freeway system from the rental place and google maps directions written on hotel stationery. i got there at around 11am. i discovered that tim hawkinson still has an exhibit up, so that was a nice bonus. i went primarily for the architecture, so i wasn't at all disappointed that the place "overpowered" the artwork as some might say. i mean, the art was there and it has its own appeal and aesthetic. the architecture was there and could stand alone as its own piece of art. they are two separate entities, and maybe others think that they should complement each other. however, if richard meier meant for the getty center to be his work of art, then shouldn't it deserve to be recognized as such? so after taking a handful of pictures of the getty, enjoying coffee in the central courtyard, listening to the tim hawkinson sculpture make music, and cruising the gift shop for something awesome (nothing really), i got into my rental and motored off to the beach!
it was a gorgeous day for a ride so i didn't mind that i had to drive a little more on the PCH and around the beach to find a parking spot that's close to the santa monica pier. i walked down the pier not really knowing what to expect. there were pier vendors there. (i'm guessing that's what they're called since they're really not on a street.) i got my ice cream and inhaled the salt air. it's been forever since i went to the beach. it. was. amazing. if i wasn't in love with california by now, then this moment did it. it was around 4pm so i decided to go down the third street promenade which is a short walk from the pier. it's this famous outdoor mall that stretches five blocks (maybe more). there were a lot of food and shopping options. even though it's early, i decided to have dinner since i didn't want to eat airport food. so i walked into this greek cafe and ordered a greek burger. basically a burger with typical greek spices and feta cheese. i don't know if it was the salt air or the general feeling of happiness, but the food was good. after dinner, i had time to kill before i had to be at the airport, so i went back to the beach. this time i took my shoes off and walked on the beach. the sand between my toes. the water rushing in to cover my feet as i stood there and stared off into the horizon. (cheesy? maybe, but it was seriously one gorgeous sight.) it was indeed a very good day. too bad i still had to drop off my rental car, get lost on the way, take the shuttle to the airport, and get on the red-eye back to dulles.
then i decided to go to work three hours after i got back. everyone at work thought i was crazy for doing that. at lunch time, i was telling the story of how i fell in love with sci-arc package and california, and how worried i was that i didn't have a plan b. (note: at this point, my status at sci-arc was still "wait listed.") i didn't want to go to risd any longer nor have the desire to go to cal state poly in pomona. basically i was freaking out. and yes, by three o'clock i began to think my co-workers were right; i am crazy for going into work, so i had been advised to go home and take a nap. and i did. when i woke up to check email. there it was. in my inbox. in bold letters. my acceptance to sci-arc. then everything is right in the world.