July-August, 2013/ Palawan, Philippines, Vietnam & California

When Papi returned, it was time to fly to California to visit a few colleges and work our way up from San Diego to San Francisco.  We started in San Diego and picked up Jay, who was competing at Math Nationals, and we went to the Zoo, of course.   Surprisingly, the Lowry Park Zoo, here in Tampa, which does not get as much press, seems just as good.  We worked our way through LA and visited our friends the Michels, and then we did some surfing off of Santa Barbara and stopped at the Hearst Castle, which was an amazing throwback to the Gatsbyesque decadence and splendor.  We stopped in Monterrey on our way to San Francisco and did some kayaking and saw the great Aquarium there.

In San Francisco, we walked the streets, took the trolley cars around and even managed to see the teams preparing for the America’s Cup.  We saw Sareet’s cousin Chetna and her husband Prasad and enjoyed the great ethnic cuisine in San Francisco.  We can highly recommend both Yank Sing (http://www.yanksing.com/home.php) for dim sum and Vik’s Chaat Corner (http://vikschaatcorner.com/).   Walking up and down those streets are essential to work off the great food in the city.

Keep in Touch,

The Majumdars