Kind of a mix bag of stuff today. While uploading pictures taken today – LA Auto Show 2013 and evening pictures at Disneyland; I realized that I had never uploaded the pictures I took while in Santiago about a month ago. So, with that said, just a short little post about today and my most recent trip south of the equator.
So, on October 18, 2013; a Friday, I got the notification that I needed to be in Santiago Chile that following Monday for work. Frantically booking flights, hotels, car rental; I got it done and flew out Sunday afternoon, arriving Monday morning. I go to work that morning after checking into the hotel and showering. I pretty much work my ass off for the 4 days I’m scheduled to be there, and on the few times I had free time, I did some wandering in the city for areas I haven’t much explored on my previous trips. That one building is just about getting complete. The mountains still have a decent amount of snow, and folks are still bundled up as winter has just begun to go away. I’m still in t-shirt and shirts.
The architecture of the place interests me. I wander some of the side streets around the 6:00pm hours waiting for the restaurant that I have reservations for to open, they open at 8:00PM.
8:00PM rolls around and I get the tasting menu at the place. Not bad, there was maybe one or two dishes that I didn’t care for, but for all intents and purposes, damn good food.
Fast forward about a month to today, it’s the second day of the LA Auto Show. A group of us get up early to avoid the crowds, get a test drive in for a Subie XV; and wander the halls so Su-Eun can sit and look at potential replacements for her car that she really ought to be rid of sooner than later. Good news is she’s narrowed down 4 different cars from various auto makers. I like a few of the choices.
When the first pictures of the new 2015 WRX popped up, it looked weak and unappealing. In person, it doesn’t look half bad. I snapped a few picts.
Next up, a few pictures of the Mazda 3 that interested Su. I actually really like the styling and the interior. Its a shame we didn’t test drive a single of of the 4 she picked out; as I’m positive that would have narrowed down her choices immediately; but at least there are four picked, and it’ll be easy to eliminate them and find something “symmetrical” as well as functional/reliable.
A couple of dream cars for when I win the Lottery…
The WTF moment when wandering into the Smart Car. Those wings are actually part of the car, they’re not removable; seriously.
Oh look, Porsche is looking to get into the rich women market with their own 50k competitor into the small SUV category – called the Macan. Most folks going goo-goo over the thing were women, including the wife. We’re going to be seeing plenty of these on the street, time to buy some Porsche stock.
After the Auto Show, we hit up the Fish Market in downtown for some grilled fish, shrimp, scallops, fried seafood, and lobster bisque. Damn good, I miss coming to this place. We get home around 3 or so, and with plans that night to hit up Dland, the wife and I crash out for a less than 2 hour nap, then wake up, grab the camera gear, and head out to Dland. We finally get to dine on the often raved pork shank; yeah, damn good, and getting there early before they sell out is a good idea. Finishing, we start hitting up the popular spots for some photography. It’s a Small World, New Orleans Square, Haunted Mansion, Sleeping Beauty Castle, and Main Street are captured. We even hit up two rides, not including the train ride from Tomorrowland to New Orleans, or the Thor exhibit at the Innovations pavilion. A bloody long day, but pretty fun; and we got some decent pictures of out it all.
Next time we’re going to have to get more folks with annual passes to join up so we can have bigger group pictures.
The rest of the Santiago pictures.
The rest of the LA Auto Show and Disneyland Pictures
