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The Americana is an Eyeful

Right across the street from the Glendale Galleria is the new addition of The Americana at Brand. This place is kinda outdoor shopping, kinda residential area but all an interesting eyeful.

Shops are downstairs while condos and apartments are upstairs. The architecture is stunning, and there’s a trolley system and a Bellagio-like fountain that does a smaller scale water show.

Here are a few pictures.

And here’s a short video clip of the water show.

If you’re ever in the area, you need to stop by and take a look around.

Vacation Blogging Brought to You By…

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While on my recent Socal vacation, I didn’t have access to a computer for blogging. Instead I updated Pulpconnection using a combination of mobile devices and various Internet services. Here’s a rundown.

iPhone (and built-in camera). My iPhone 3G was the primary device for getting online. I used its okay internal camera for posted pictures.

AT&T 3G Network. I must say that the AT&T 3G network worked well in Socal. Very, very few dead spots or times when I dropped to EDGE speeds. Only at the LAX airport did I have some serious 3G network slowdowns. Other than that, I preferred the 3G network even over WiFi. The free WiFi access at hotels were slow and always required a web login to initiate your session and subsequent logins to keep your session going.

WordPress for iPhone. Since Pulpconnection is now powered by WordPress, I relied on the app, WordPress for iPhone, to make significant blog posts. Though significant is relative since tapping out a lengthy post on the iPhone’s virtual keyboard isn’t the easiest thing to do.

One thing I hope the WordPress team fixes is the image handling of this iPhone app. It seems all images are added to the end of blog posts and can’t be placed within paragraphs of a post. That and sometimes the app’s UI would mess up and not display the necessary navigation buttons at the top. So I’d be stranded, not able to save my post. Fortunately, when leaving the app and coming back in, the app is able to restore my draft.

Tweetie, Twitter (with Twitpic), and Twitter Tools for WordPress. For all shorter blog posts, I used a bunch of stuff. Tweetie is my primary Twitter client on the iPhone. Combined with Twitter Tools for WordPress, tweets can automatically be converted to blog posts. I used this nifty function quite a bit.

Brightkite. To update my Socal location, I used Brightkite. The iPhone’s GPS would find my coordinates which I would check in using the Brightkite service. Brightkite integrates with Twitter and tweets my current location. And with Twitter Tools running, even these location based tweets are converted to blog posts.

So there you have it, my arsenal for mobile blogging without a computer. I will say that it wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but it wasn’t so difficult to stop me. To make this a more ideal setup would be incorporating an ultra portable netbook with a keyboard and USB port to retrieve higher quality pictures from digital cameras. Ahem, Apple?

Lots and Lots of Legos

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No duh, but Legoland has lots and lots of Legos. Not just in the park, but Legos that you can buy and take home with you.

Looks like a candy store.

Colorful Lego

Star Wars themed Legos.

Star Wars Legos

Slave I Lego

Vintage Lego people. I have the 1978 spaceman, both the white and red ones.

Vintage Lego

Had to pickup this Darth Vader Lego keychain.

Darth Vader Lego

Good Samaritan on the 405 South

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While driving to San Diego on the 405 South, there was a stalled van in the middle lane of the busy freeway. The passengers were pushing the van, trying to get to the shoulder lane and out of the way of speeding cars. Very, very dangerous.

But this Good Samaritan driving an Albertsons big rig helped out by throwing a huge roadbock. He stopped traffic in three lanes of a major freeway so that the van could safely (and more quickly) get to the side out of harms way for both themselves and all other drivers.

Truck Block

Good move truck 14033!

Anteaters Enjoy their Coffee

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The Anteaters of UC Irvine, the Home of Eater Nation, like their coffee. A full fledged Starbucks store has infiltrated the campus taking the spot of the school’s outside cafe.

UCI Starbucks

The school itself has gotten a facelift with major renovations of the exterior of the Student Center.

UCI Student Center

The inside of the Bookstore looks about the same though with lotta love for Team Edward.

UCI Bookstore Inside

Team Edward at UCI

And the UCI Medical Center by Disneyland also completed their new facility.

UCI Medical Center

Potato Heads at Disneyland

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Disneyland’s California Adventure has its share of Potato Heads in the park. Here’s a huge one outside of the Toy Story Mania ride.

Huge Potato Head

You can pickup the latest Star Wars spuds like Luke Frywalker, Yam Solo, Darth Mash, Spuda Fett, and Princess Tater.

Luke Frywalker

Darth Mash

Spuda Fett

And of course, you can stuff as many parts into a box at the Build Your Own Potato Head stand.

Build Your Own Potato Head

Stylin’ to a Lakers Game

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On the first day of our Southern California (Socal) vacation, I caught a Los Angeles Lakers basketball game. The Lakers played the Golden State Warriors, and I figured the game would be empty since the Warriors aren’t an NBA powerhouse. I was wrong. The attraction of Kobe, Pau, DFish, Odom, and Ariza brings the fans in!

But first, while in LA, the only way to go to a Lakers game is in style. Yes, we had limo service to and from the game thanks to Emilio.

Arriving at the Staples Center, the place was packed with people streaming in. There are shops and restaurants surrounding the area, adding to the overall buzz. The indoor fan store is huge with all kinds of Lakers gear including stuff for Jordan Farmar.

The pre-game video introduction is a production! Check out the introduction of the Lakers T.E.A.M.

During the game, there are all kinds of promotions and giveaways to keep fans excited and engaged. It was like being in a circus of nonstop entertainment.

Oh the game? The Lakers pulled out a victory after a close first half. The Warriors were really shooting well led by Monta Ellis and Kelenna Azubuike. I don’t know who Azubuike is, but you can’t leave him alone. He nailed open shots. In the second half, the Lakers defense picked up and slowed the Warriors game. Kobe had a quiet night with the entire team contributing. Pau Gasol had 21 points and 14 rebound ands Odom went for 16 and 12.

A fun NBA night where the game happens here!

Waikiki Bus Reserved Stall at the Airport

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Don’t know when this happened since I’m not a frequent traveler, but the Honolulu International Airport now has reserved stalls for shuttle buses right outside of Arrivals. And I mean right outside, front and center where the primo pickup spots are.

Waikiki Bus Reserved Stall

The reserved stalls are marked off, and the security guard shoos away any waiting vehicles and even travelers waiting for their ride. I guess this move is to help out tourists at the expense of kamainas.

UH Volleyball Onboard United

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Who’s that sitting in aisle seat 26H? Hey, that’s Mike Wilton! Ain’t he the Head Coach of UH Men’s volleyball? I don’t know the team so I can’t identify volleyball players, but there are several tall dudes on this United flight.

Update: Here’s a pic of the must-be volleyball dudes.

UH Men's Volleyball

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