Big Sur has no Wi-Fi nor internet service providers. It was annoying and the lack of connectivity took some getting used to. I would remember this Big Sur trip as a memorable social media retreat.
Day 1 November 5
Two days after the Presidential election day, many states were still counting votes. I cared about the results and had election stress. Watching the news all the time did not get me the news faster, nor would it change any results. The true winner could well be the media as the election day dragged into the election week.
Carmel-by-the-sea is a 90-minute drive from home, through the highway 85, 17 and 1. It was a Thursday, and the place lacked the usual touristy feel. We had an outdoor lunch at an Italian restaurant. It served a scorching hot wild mushroom risotto that I had to wait some time before I could ingest the Arborio rice. The risotto was super creamy, mixed well with the mushroom, truffle and Parmigiano Reggiano; it was absolutely delicious. The portion was large and heavy with the cream, so we ended up enjoying the leftover in the next couple of days.
Big Sur is about a 40-minute drive from Carmel-by-the-sea on the winding highway 1. As we entered the Big Sur, we could smell the fresh redwood scent in the humid ocean air. Our cabin was a lovely cottage among the redwoods. It delighted us with its internal decor and made a super comfortable home. We explored a number of grocery stores in the 5-mile radius, there were basic supplies and household items, but little fresh produce nor meat. I used four quarters at a payphone to call our daughter who just got back from a trip in Cuenca, Educador. This was like going back a decade when we called each other by phone, rather than the messaging app.
We lit up some firewood outside of our cabin, had a super early dinner before retiring for the night.
The only thing that gave us updates about the election news was the poorly-received AM radio station on our car. Time has a different rhythm without the attention grabbing internet technology.
Day 2, November 6
After a home-made breakfast in the well equipped cabin kitchen, we went to the nearby Pfeiffer Beach, for its pacific ocean view and its purple-colored sand. There were few travellers in the early morning, we brought along our own beach chairs and enjoyed the whole Pacific Ocean View. The close-up ocean waves, the rhythmic wave sounds, the splashing attack of the waves to the rocks were such reminders of the power and greatness of the Pacific Ocean, and of the Nature. The strong winds from the Pacific stirred up the sand, it was a rough beach, we enjoyed the ocean with nothing between us and the ocean.
We continued driving south on Highway 1 and arrived at Nepenthe for an early out-door lunch. Sipping a spicy bloody Mary and an after-meal Coffee with Brandy, with a hard-to-beat ocean view, life was good amidst the pandemic.
We drove further south only to find the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park close to the public due to recent fire. Disappointed, we went for a short hike down to another Oceanfront and were rewarded with the scenic pampas grass blossoming over the hill.
On our way back to the cabin, we stopped by the Henry Miller library, it was an interesting detour.
We continued our early dinner and retired to bed much earlier than usual.
Day 3, November 7
After another home-made breakfast, we went for a hike. Just when we felt that there were less animals and birds chirping among the redwoods, we were lucky to see a deer and a fawn which seemed to be as curious about us as we were about them. We went for a 4-mile moderate hike up the Buzzard Roost Trail, through the redwoods and tackled the gradual elevation up the hill. It ended up with a rather mediocre view of the Pacific Ocean far in the distance. It was a good hike and the hikers were all disciplined about wearing masks and social distancing.
We had lunch at Carmel Crossroads, with an absolutely enjoyable outdoor scallop-fish-and-chip meal, as well as fresh oysters. Our spirits were lifted with the updates on the presidential election. On the way back to the cabin, we stopped to take pictures at the famous Bixby Bridge, we were far enough to see the grand view of the bridge above the rocky Pacific Ocean and the cliff above the water. My acrophobia was getting the better of me and left me in awe.
Back to the campgrounds, we shot some hoops and even had fun climbing the cargo net, only to find that we were no longer the age to get to its top.
We cooked T-bone steak and squash for dinner at the well equipped kitchen.
Day 4, November 8
Another short hike to the Pacific Ocean at the Andrew Molera State Park concluded our Big Sur trip. We stopped by Monterey for lunch, there was no crowd and it reminded us of the cold weather and the impact of the pandemic.
As we headed back to internet civilization, I made a pledge to not let my mobile phone take away that much of my time.
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A Complete History of China | History of China
100 episodes of Chinese history on YouTube
75 hours of Chinese history on Youtube make for great learning. In this 100-episode series, the first episode has attracted 1.4M views, while the last episode only earns 87K views. I highly recommend the series to anyone who wants to know more about the Chinese history. If you do not have time for the whole thing, there may be a few that could interest you.
Episode 12 Confucius
Episode 18 Qin unification of China
Episode 22 Glorious Han Dynasty
Episode 31 My most favorite person in Chinese history 諸葛亮
Episode 42 Among the best emperors 貞觀之治 in Chinese History
Episode 74 Marco Polo and China
Episode 91 Qing unification of China
Episode 93 Taxation in China
Episode 96 Opium War, every Hongkonger should watch
Episode 98 Sino-Japanese war
Episode 99 Revolution against Qing Dynasty
The Great Influenza
John M. Barry
The 1918 – 1920 Influenza killed tens of millions, and there was panic everywhere when very few were spared from its impact.
The Influenza happened at a time that US doctors were far less respected than their peers in Europe when Europe was consumed with the World War I. John chronicled the Great Influenza; and gave us a great account how some colossal figures transformed the US medical training and profession; and how the political climate profoundly affected the communication and the responses to the Pandemic.
It feels strange the book reads like the current Coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Is history repeating itself? We seem to be not any better in addressing the situation. Just like the Great Influenza, the political climate has overshadowed the medical judgement for a pandemic; just like the Great Influenza, the government cannot be trusted to put our health at the top priority; just like the Great Influenza, the politicians put blame on others regardless of evidence and is lack of.
This book tells you everything to know about the 1918 Pandemic and humbles us that we have yet to learn our lessons from it.
The Matchmakers: The new economics of multisided platforms
By David S. Evans
I recently joined a product development group with the goal to build an ecosystem for voice computing platforms. Building a multi-sided platform is among the hardest challenges. The book explains the different considerations for a multi-sided platform from a regular product business and raises good questions to increase the chance of a multi-sided platform.
This book would be useful to those who are in the position to lead the development of a multi-sided platform.
Good economics for hard times
By Abhijit v. Banerjee and Esther duflo
Written by the 2019 Nobel prize winners in economics, the book gave an in depth look on a fairly broad set of topics: the social impact of global trade , the inertia of people to move for the better life , the unequal impact of global trade, the appropriateness of government intervention, the bias of society towards economic growth, the challenge of class mobility, the argument for universal basic income, the importance of any social welfare program to keep people’s dignity and respect in mind.
The broad brush on these economics leaves me dazzled with the impression there is just so much to be done to better the society.
Little Fires everywhere
By Celeste Ng
The story portrays distinct characters in two families, with contrasting ways of living & drastic differences in their approaches to lives: the so-called fit-ins and the outcasts. It provokes thoughts on hard choices between choosing a poor biological mother and an adoption promising a better life; the hard choices between a comfortable life and an uncertain life following the passion; the fear of losing someone vs the actual loss of someone. The novel has since been adopted into an American drama TV series. I enjoyed this book.
oliviatamccue 
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