We were at the hotel lobby by 6:30 am. Only a dozen of us were proceeding to Hearst Castle, the rest of the group who were with us to Yosemite would be going to Grand Canyon and Las Vegas for three more tour days. Good luck to them. Three more days of listening to Chinese language.
We rode another bus, this time driven by a Taiwanese guy named Edward, who loves the Philippines so much he goes every year. He only has kind words for our country most especially the diving sites. He’s a bus driver in America, but a licensed DIVER in Asia. He particularly likes Mindoro where he said he has stayed for a month.
Mark is our new tour guide and just like Perry, he loves to forget the fact that there are more non-Chinese speaking tourists in the bus. We endured another hours and hours of he, talking in Chinese. He’s such a nice guy though, except I wished he spoke more of English.
From Fresno, we drove for two hours then stopped for breakfast at McDonald’s.
I had 3 small pieces of …oh my God, I am having mental block…
Len and I each ordered Hot Premium Chocolate drink. I was disappointed when I found out after we paid that a cup cost almost $3.
I was disappointed again with its taste. It had no taste. Walang lasang tsokolate. I brought my cup back to the counter and complained to the store manager who’s a Latino. He repaired my drink by putting more chocolate syrup. It helped a little but it made myddrink too sweet so I ended up not liking it either. I tell you, go to Jollibee and order their cup of choco, see if you would like it. I did!
This McDo branch has a very nice decor and motiff, parang 50s. I give this a 100% approval rating.
After our quick breakfast, we drove for two more hours past valleys and meadows.
We saw several vineyards and wineries. I was irritated because our tour guide kept on giving the information in Chinese. He kept talking for hours, with one or two sentences in English, then the rest would be in Chinese. I was growing impatient because I had no clue where we were. I would be able to appreciate more the beautiful sceneries around me by knowing where and what those were.
I did not want to be rude but I was already pissed, I stood up while we were cruising…
Me—– Escuse me, where are we?
Mark— Wait, let me finish…. ching chang chwa, shami,,./////antsekkhnla;mgaljtmlrmgv.s.,g;rk,
hay naku, wala ring epek.
After half hour of his litany in Chinese, I stood up again,
Me—– Mark, Excuse me, what place is this?
Mark— This is ___________, let me finish I was going to tell you….. ching chang chwa chikayrheia fldjncfbiqwyucnx;. jdfjfmxnaynhkc vchcxncnskf hfntxcmlxkcsk co cmghxnzkmnj bm hnvjc,mm ,nmxcn j
I give up!
We passed by a stretch of quaint retail shops. I did not find out kung saang city yun so I could someday go visit.
Sayang, if only the tour operators counted that there were more Indians in our tour group, they would be kind enough to speak more in English.
We finally reached the coast.
Mark—– That’s the coast, and 30 more minutes we will reach the Hearst Castle. Ching Chang Chwa siomai mami lome bolabola siopao chicken feet, kua pao, green mango with sago, faking duck, ching chang chwa.
At long last, long live the King
Mark bought us tickets for the 11 + am guided tour inside the castle. This is included in the tour package that we paid to Lassen Tours.
The Hearst Castle Visitor Information center has restrooms, fastfood and retail shops with beautiful merchandises that are not pocket friendly.
Hearst Castle has their own buses that ferry visitors into the estate’s grounds. You can’t bring your own vehicle inside the vast estate.
The castle is still a long ride up from the visitor center.
You can see vast tracts of land originally belonging to William Hearst but now owned and preserved by the city.
A tall guy was waiting under the sun at the Castle’s doorsteps when our bus arrived.
When you are planning for a visit here, take note that you have to climb hundreds of steps.
Are you ready? Let’s go inside…
