Just today,
I officially enter the first week of holiday prior to the start of the Fall term, or quarter, whatever you call it.
Even Elda and I started making an unofficial list of places we intended to visit in our
"do nothing days". I mean, this is United States! Sure there are tons of interesting place nearby (not as far as Las Vegas or Los Angeles though. Arrrghhh how I really wanted to go there).
Anyway, two days ago, which is Saturday, Elda and I went out to do fulfill some basic necessities such as going to
a local networking company to complain about the
name's misspell written on Elda's bill. Peace of cake, but still can't be tolerated. Later, we went to the bank since Elda wanted to open an account. It took quite a while but the procedure went quick.
We still had plenty of time and I mentioned that Elda always wanted to go to the public library
in San Jose, and so did I. Therefore I came up with an idea about going to
San Jose public library. Through
Google map application in my device that has the same use to what's called GPS,
we quickly figured the directions to go there, and it turned out, we only needed to take one bus ride.
I was thrilled to spot some tall buildings just like the ones I saw back in
San Francisco.
San Jose is like the nearest and probably the second largest city located at the bay. But the situation is unexpectedly less crowded than in Frisco. What I thought I'd see bunch of people crossing the streets and boarding the "tram"
(yes, even San Jose has a tram, but too bad I didn't take a picture of it). It seems very weird to me.
There are some people passing by but compared to the amount of tall buildings surrounding it, it's not to my expectation.
Anyway, we strolled around still with the help of Google Map and the public library seemed too far from our drop off. The closest destinations would be
Museum of Art and
Museum of Technology.
Well this is interesting. Elda is very much into technology, since it's going to be part of her major, and I'm into art (we both are). So at first we were planning to visit Museum of Technology and Museum of Art later.
Museum of Art is the closest though.
What I can tell so far from my trip, San Jose is definitely a city with huge sense of art and history decorating every corner of it. I'm pretty sure it conceals much history yet to be revealed. The architecture and everything, they're just gorgeous. Definitely a city worth to explore more :)
Moving on, Elda and I were about to go inside the museum when we finally figured out from the official that
it had already closed. But we could already catch a glimpse of
the exhibit that featured blinking colorful lights from the entrance. It's just too bad that I didn't get to explore more of it. Perhaps next time. Bet the museum offered more than what we saw.
The museum's yard is worth to look as well though, with palm trees and a piano. Elda actually gathered her guts and went over to a lady with her daughter playing the instrument. She actually asked if the piano belonged to the lady and that whoever wanted to play it should pay her (it's like renting a piano, I guess). But then Elda went back and told me that t
he piano was free for anyone to play.Wow, they've never had this kind of free stuff on display on the streets of Jakarta. I'm pretty sure that if it really happened, the piano must have been taken away to be sold.
Just a personal opinion though.Near the museum was a huge historic-looking building and it turned out to be a
cathedral. Even the cross was (I think) made out of pure gold, as I could see it reflecting the sunlight.
Elda and I intended to take a closer look of the church and as we did so, we spotted bunch of men in suit walking to the church as well. Elda later asked if they would be preparing for an event or maybe a wedding, because if not then she wanted to go in and had a moment to pray.
Fortunately though, the men in the suit let her in and while I was waiting her to pray, I could see a glimpse of the hall inside the church.
It was...really...
huge...and spacious
I've never been to a cathedral before, even to the one in Jakarta.
But this experience is just so overwhelming. I knew that I wouldn't be able to go inside and pray because I'm not a catholic, but
I got this contemplation, religious, and historical vibe all mixed up in that place. This impression might be different when I visit St. Peter's Basilica some time in the future. :)
Free pianos were found later on in some other corners of the streets, and also
jazz musicians performing in a cafe. But something happened here:
my camera's battery is dead. Too bad I didn't even get the chance to take pictures of the jazz musicians nor the fountain.
Anyway, we spent the rest of the day just strolling around before going back to the bus stop to return to our apartment.
Near the bus stop was another piano on the sidewalk but the color was green. Elda and I played a few songs there. Well, actually
no need to feel shy or what because apparently no one's passing by to watch us. Haha.. if there were actually people looking at our performance, I would definitely run away. I'm a lame pianist, I'm telling you.
Well, the bus finally came on time and we headed to Cupertino, where we stopped by at Daiso to buy two containers.
You know, kitchen-ish stuff. :)
The night was getting colder and I guess that sort of ended our whole trip today. It's been an exhausting day but a great one, since we finished some of our basic necessities earlier and ended the day nicely with a perfect stroll in a perfect neighboring city.
San Jose definitely offered the vibe Cupertino doesn't offer. Cupertino definitely doesn't have any tall buildings or artistic looking buildings like the ones in San Jose. Well, I hope I will be able to visit this city in other times aside of San Francisco.
Ahem, guess who's been writing a loooong post tonight.
I think I've posted enough pictures yesterday so today is writing's turn. And now, I'm getting back to watching dramas at
MySoju.com.
