The Fish House

A residential house that looks like a fish in Berkeley.

Kite Festival - Cesar Chavez Park

Address: Cesar Chavez Park,11 Spinnaker Wy, Berkeley, CA

Went to the annual Kite Festival held at Cesar Chavez Park near Berkeley Marnia today. Parking was limited and it looked pretty crowded when we get there so we parked close to Aquatic Park and hiked over the 1-80 pedestrian bridge to Cesar Chevaz Park. The featuring kites were huge. My favorite is the cat that chases after a fish which chases after a penguin. Unfortunately my camera ran out of memory so I was only able to take 2 very short video clips.

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Entrance to the park.


Lots of cool kites!


A closer look.


My favorite cat and dog kites.

Berkeley Rose Garden

Address: 1200 Euclid Ave , Berkeley, CA

What a gorgeous day to take a walk in the Berkeley Rose Garden. It is a municipal garden built in a canyon. The garden is designed like an amphitheater with rows and rows of colorful roses. Some are more fragrant than the other and some have very interesting shapes and colors. It's a great place to relax and to appreciate nature. Needless to say it's also a very romantic place to be with your significant other.

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Temple, Space Center and Resort

Address:

Mormon Temple: 4770 Lincoln Ave, Oakland, CA

Chabot Space & Science Center: 10000 Skyline Blvd. - Oakland, CA

Claremont Spa & Resort: 41 Tunnel Rd, Berkeley, CA

Visited Oakland Mormon Temple today. We've seen it shines at night in the middle of the Oakland Hill for years and have always been curious about it. The temple is quite a big structure with an impressive garden as well as view of Oakland. It's quite smoggy today so didn't take any pic of Oakland from there. Saw a sign for Chabot Space Center on the way to the Temple so we went further up the hill to see the space center as well. We didn't go inside but figure it would be a great place for kids. The observatory is free for public access on Fridays and Saturdays from 7:30pm - 10:30pm. We will come back again to view the stars some day. Ended our day touring Claremont Spa and Resort -- the big white building on Berkeley Hill which you can easily spot from afar. Could be a good place for wedding reception.

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Oakland Mormon Temple

Chabot Space and Science Center

Sundail at the entrace of Chabot Space and Science Center

Observatory at Chabot Space and Science Center

Claremont Spa and Resort

Berkeley Aquatic Park

Address: 80 Bolivar Drive, at the foot of Bancroft Way, Berkeley

As you ride on I-80 between Emeryville and Berkeley, you'll notice something like a lake along the freeway. After 10 years of living in its neighborhood, I just came to know that the "lake" is called Berkeley Aquatic Park. There is an I-80 Pedestrian/Bike bridge which spans across the I-80 freeway and links the Berkeley Aquatic Park with the EastShore Bay trail. Aquatic Park doesn't look appealing from the freeway but it's quite a tranquil place inside the park. The bike path inside the park is winding but flat. Perfect for me. We rode from Aquatic Park crossing I-80 via the ped/bike bridge to Emeryville then back to Aquatic Park and biked around the park. A total of about 16 miles.

Duckling swimming in the Aquatic Park with I-80 Pedestrian bridge as backdrop.

View of Aquatic Park from the I-80 Ped Bridge.

On I-80 Ped Bridge.

View of I-80 from the bridge.

Oracle building (used to be Siebel) at the end of the Eastshore bike path in Emeryville.

Emeryville waterfront with some wacky looking work of art.

Berkeley Pier

Address: at the very end of University Ave (towards the bay), Berkeley, CA

It's super hot in San Francisco today -- 97 degrees!!! It's almost unheard of in SF. Glad that I decided to work in the office instead of telecommuting from home otherwise I'll be like being baked in oven.

We took a break from the heat by walking down Berkeley Pier after dinner. The original Berkeley Pier is about 3000 3.5 miles long but most of it is broken and the remaining walkable section is about 3000 feet long. You'll be in the middle of the SF Bay when you hit the end of the of the pier. It offers great view of San Francisco. It's a great place for fishing too. I've seen people caught sting rays, crabs, catfish, flounder there.

Berkeley Pier with Golden Gate Bridge as back drop.

Walking down the pier.

Concrete table with water taps for people to clean their catch-of-the-day.

History of Berkeley Pier

View of eastern span of SF-Oakland Bay Bridge, Yerba Buena Island and San Francisco from Berkeley Pier.

Sun Set