Carmel

April15, 2012

 
This was taken at some point on the 17 Mile Drive.

We drove on to Carmel-by-the-sea, a very quaint town that totally captivated me the first time I went there, in 1988.  My friend CY was living there then.










The sand on the beach is very white but not as fine as the sand on our tropical beaches.








When I saw this house on my first trip to Carmel, I thought it was so English and that London would be just like that.

Carmel is one of the most quaintest towns you'll ever visit, anywhere, and it is worth a day's stay at least. From Carmel, you can drive south to Big Sur (beautiful coastal scenery, you see it in movies) and to a  San Luis Abispo, a town we enjoyed ourselves in on our previous trip.


Clint Eastwood was the mayor of Carmel in the 80s and Hog's Breath Inn was his pub/restaurant.

We were in Carmel for only about 2 hours and the shops were closing by the time we got there. I found Carmel rather too tidy and perfect this time (my third time) but the shops are really worth a visit because most of them are stuffed with cute and unusual trinkets and bric-a-brac. I bought a pair of artichoke salad hands and I wish I bought the chess set where the pieces were cats versus dogs, different breeds of dogs. You should've seen their serious faces.

We had to rush back to Saratoga to have dinner with FC and K's boys and their DIL-to-be. Dinner was at Fu Lam Mun in Mt View. The food was great but I've lost all the photos.



K's older boys work in Facebook (one's a post grad from Harvard and the other from Stanford) so after dinner, we were invited for a tour of FB's new building and headquarters. This was taken at the entrance to the 'campus'. I call it campus because the buildings reminded me of college. I can't post any photos here and we were not allowed to take photos inside except for the vending machines. It was a thrill and privilege to see for ourselves how the office of the most powerful social tool is like and I can tell you that FB's office is awesome. There were vending machines everywhere with all kinds of drinks and snacks, from beef jerky to chips to energy  bars, all free. There were also vending machines for computer parts and other stuff that my kids use such as headphones and other cool stuff. There were machines for computer games, there were kitchens and restaurants which serve excellent food, from western to Japanese. Tables and chairs were set in the garden between the rows of buildings and there was a large bbq area and I'm told they often have parties there. The walls were written or painted with slogans (have to ask my daughter; can't remember some of the famous quotes) and the vibe was youthful, energetic, innovative, liberal, collegiate and--what's the word for that right now kind of feel? Ah yes, happening. It felt very happening, like the whole world is at its mercy feet  thumb and I couldn't help but be aware that I was in a place that has a powerful influence on the world (think Arab Spring). Which one of you who owns an FB account doesn't check FB at least twice a day?