Rob tried to make a friend at the Great Barrier Reef…
The fish did not want to be his friend. 
Off to Uluru tomorrow. Not sure if we’ll have internet access there… I’ll check back when I can.
reef!
3
Tag Archives: vacation
koala!
FINALLY. A hotel with *free* internet access! So here I am with a quick pic I want to share…
Rob and I got to cuddle a koala in Kuranda yesterday. Amazing experience.
Off to snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef tomorrow!
vacation
Last week was so insane that I didn’t have time to write up a quick entry mentioning that I was headed off on my long-awaited vacation. Rob and I left for Manila on the 1st and now we’re in Melbourne! I’m in McDonald’s currently using their free wi-fi. Hehe. It’s been a fantastic vacation so far. I’ll post pics when we get back in 2 weeks and I’ll try to update here or on my Twitter when I can.
anniversary vacation
I FINALLY got approval for 3 weeks (!!!) of vacation from work in August.
So what am I planning to do with all that time off? Rob and I are taking an anniversary trip to the other side of the world — first stop is the Philippines to visit my grandma in Manila and then we’re off to Australia. We purchased our airline tickets as soon as I found out I could take the time off.
Here’s our plan:
Manila – 3 days
Melbourne – 3 days
Cairns – 6 days
Uluru – 2 days
Sydney – 5 days
YAYAYAYAYAY. SO exciting!
I know that airline charges have become ridiculous lately but can you believe that we saved almost $1,000 by booking 2 round trip tickets to Manila and Sydney from LAX when we’re only planning on flying one leg of each ticket (LAX to Manila then Sydney to LAX)?!? There is something seriously wrong with that pricing.
Now I’m off to research hotels… 
up
The lazy stick hit me again.
I’ve been preoccupied with watching Jon and Kate Plus 8 marathons (they are totally separated; how sad), catching up with the show Life that my cousin got me addicted to (like I NEED another show to add to my TV viewing schedule), rooting for the LAKERS, hanging out with visiting friends, and even summer vacation planning.
Speaking of vacations, I just remembered a (maybe?) funny story from a few weekends ago. So Rob and I are tentatively planning an overseas vacation for our first anniversary this summer. While we haven’t officially booked anything yet (waiting and waiting for my vacation to be approved), I figured that I should go ahead and update my passport since I changed my name. Plus, I couldn’t wait to change my passport photo. It is THE WORST picture ever. It was raining in SF the day I took it and I didn’t think to take off my big wool coat or the scarf around my neck for the picture. So I look all huge and bulky. Not a good look. Since I can renew my passport by mail, all I have to do is fill out the application with my new name, write a check for the fee, and send a couple of 2×2 photos. I took my new passport photos at a local mail center and they are EVEN WORSE than the previous ones. My eyes are half closed so I look like I am sleeping standing up. UGH UGH UGH. I was so tempted to take them again but I’m cheap and didn’t want to spend another $10. I’ll just have to live with it for the next 10 years. GREAT.
ANYWAY.
I went to see Up this past weekend. (spoilers?)
Continue reading
april update
Wrote this last night…
Yup, I’ve been neglecting the blog again. Sooo lazy. I went to Santa Barbara over the weekend to visit my cousin and I brought back a cold and sore throat (no, it is not the swine flu). We had a good weekend eating tons of food (yummy gumbo at Cajun Kitchen and amazing Crab Cakes Benedict at Sambo’s), walking up and down State Street, and running around the Santa Barbara Fair (no rides for me but I had funnel cake!!!). I took Amtrak, which was so easy! It’s been over 10 years since I’ve taken the train anywhere and I was seriously surprised at how CROWDED they are. On the way back to Orange County, there were no more seats so people were standing. Crazy! The trip was roughly 4 hours each way and the time passed really quickly. I brought my trusty MacBook and a few books and the ride was over before I knew it. I’ll definitely make the trip again.
Tonight is the Chuck season finale (haven’t watched it yet because I’m waiting for the Lakers to win the game against the Jazz). I am really, really hoping it’s not the series finale. So much so that Rob went to Subway today to buy a footlong sandwich in support of the Finale and Footlong campaign to SAVE Chuck. NBC, you better not cancel this show!!!
I finally downloaded some pics from the past few weeks — hopefully you don’t mind if I share? Click for bigger…
Let’s start with some pics of Diesel…
We bought Diesel this cute little “house” and put it in our “office” so that he could sleep in there during the day. What a cutie.
Rob was bored and thought it would be funny to put my Mickey ears on Diesel’s head. Diesel was obviously not pleased.
Back on Easter, we went to a barbecue at my cousin’s house and were in charge of making dessert. We decided on cupcakes! We used regular Betty Crocker cupcake mix (both chocolate and yellow cake) and then made this strawberry frosting (mostly because it gave us an opportunity to use the awesome Kitchenaid mixer we received as a wedding gift). The frosting was A-MA-ZING. I changed the frosting ingredients to only include 1 stick of butter (2 sticks seemed waaayyy too much) and I used 4.5 tbsps of strawberry puree. The recipe says it’s enough for a dozen cupcakes but I used it for 2. Yummy.
And of course, a few weekends ago we went to Disneyland. Again.
We got to the park just shortly after the 8am opening and headed straight to Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters!
I beat Rob!
Rob went to Fantasia Gardens (the smoking area) and I wandered around the castle to find Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Awww.
Then we headed over to the Plaza Inn to have (all you can eat) breakfast with Minnie and her friends. I had a traditional breakfast of eggs, bacon/sausage, and potatoes along with some Mickey waffles and a variety of fruit. Also available were biscuits and gravy, tons of pastries, a huge assortment of cereal, and other items I’m sure I’m forgetting. SO GOOD. Plus, we got to meet…
Captain Hook just walked right up to our table, grabbed our camera and started taking random pictures… like this self-portrait of himself. What a character.
Minnie dropped by…
… and Tigger too! We also met/saw Eeyore, Max, White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, Alice and Rafiki. Definitely lots of fun.
When we finished up with breakfast, it was HOT HOT HOT. The weather had been pretty chilly the days prior and then the day we go to DL, it got up to 96 degrees. CRAZY. Anyway, CA Adventure opened at 10am so we made a beeline over there to ride Toy Story Mania. We arrived shortly after opening and the line was already at a 30 min wait. We figured this was the best it would get so we wait in line… only for the ride to BREAK DOWN about 10 mins before we got to the front. We decided to wait it out but after awhile, we were all instructed to get out of line. ARGH. It wasn’t meant to be on this trip again.
We decided to get out of the heat and hang out at the Animation Academy. This ended up being an AWESOME decision because…
… I met Sorceror Mickey! I’m upset the picture quality is crap, though. I will meet him again! And take a better picture.
It was almost time for the Laker game so we went over to the ESPN Zone at Downtown Disney to watch the first game of the series and also to wait for my best friend Robyn to join us. YAYAYAY.
The Lakers were up by 20 points at half time so when Robyn arrived, we headed over to Animation Academy again since she’s never been there before (!!!). We drew Minnie and mine was terrible as usual (Rob’s holding mine on top).
We headed over to Toy Story Mania to see if it was open again and found that the wait was 60+ mins. INSANE. Instead, we went back over to the Hollywood Pictures Backlot to ride Tower of Terror. The three of us are at the bottom right of the picture. I’m in the middle scared out of my mind (the constant drops feel never-ending), Robyn has her hands at her face to hold on to her glasses, and Rob’s egging on my screaming.
Back at Disneyland, we go on Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters twice in a row. The second time I think we found a Hidden Mickey on one of the maps visible in line.
Robyn beat Rob! And Rob was not pleased. Hehehe.
And finally, for our last ride of the day, we hit It’s a Small World. I haven’t been on this ride in YEARS. They recently made some changes and sprinkled Disney characters throughout the ride. I saw Alice, Aladdin, Jasmine, Pinocchio, Nemo, Ariel, Flounder, Woody, Jesse, Lilo, and Stitch. SO CUTE.
That’s it! We’ll have to schedule another trip before the summer heat sets in for good… YAY.
happy 2009
So it’s the last day of my holiday vacation. 
So sad. But before real life begins again, I have to share some vacation highlights!
1. Spending time with friends and family.
Christmas Eve is spent with my family — my cousin and his wife just bought a Wii so they asked us to bring our games so they could try them out. We brought Guitar Hero with us (with our one measly guitar) and my cousin pretty much spent the entire night playing it all by himself. Heh.
Christmas Day is spent with Rob’s family — his parents hosted lunch and there was a constant stream of relatives visiting all day. I was pretty much parked next to the food table. YUM. Rob watched the Lakers crush the Celtics.
Rob and I also hung out with friends — my best friends and I had a yummy dinner and annual gift exchange (where I received the Gossip Girl s1 DVDs and a gorgeous Paris picture book among other FABULOUS presents). And our friends Daniel and Carolyn hosted a potluck where we dined on healthy foods such as fried chicken, spam musubi, and korean bbq and played Rock Band 2 all night. Well, the guys did. I sang “Hungry Like the Wolf” and that was it. I suck at Rock Band.
2. Looking for (and finding!) an apartment.
Rob and I spent all day on the 26th and 27th driving around Orange County visiting various apartment communities. OMG. They were built by the same developer so after seeing 2 places, they all started to look exactly the same. Except for the kitchens. We barely cook at all but for some reason, the look of the kitchens really made a huge difference in how we felt about the apartments. We really liked 2 communities — Option #1 is a new-ish community (6 years) on the border of Tustin and Irvine and very close to a major retail shopping center and lots of “hustle and bustle.” Option #2 is a brand new community a few miles south close to the Irvine Spectrum but in a more quiet, less developed area. After visiting both locations a second time we went with Option #2. The rent was over a $100 less per month and we couldn’t pass up having a brand new apartment with granite kitchen countertops (sooo pretty). We still feel like we’re central to lots of stuff in the OC (South Coast Plaza!) so that’s good. We anticipate moving in sometime the last week of January. CRAZY!
3. Seeing Jorge Garcia (Hurley from Lost!) at South Coast Plaza. Rob spotted him going up an escalator while we were looking around in Crate and Barrel. I didn’t believe it was him at first but it totally was! I wanted to follow him but chickened out. 
4. I had Pinkberry!
I snagged a Pinkberry gift card from work (for some reason, a vendor thought it was a good idea to give out gift cards even though there is not a single Pinkberry in the Bay Area) and treated myself to a large. Oink oink. SO GOOD.
5. Going to CA Adventure and Disneyland!!!!!!!!!!
I’ve never been to DCA and it’s been about 5 years since my last trip to DL so I figured it was about time and I begged Rob to go with me. He agreed to 2 whole days! WOOT.
First day was spent at CA Adventure. A rundown of our day with some pics thrown in for good measure…
CLICK to see larger versions of the pics.
Grizzly River Run. Fun but I got SOAKED. ICK.
The Golden Gate Bridge!
Tower of Terror. OMG. I screamed and held on to Rob’s arm for dear life during the entire ride. Looking back the feeling of weightlessness is actually pretty cool.
Taking a quick shopping break and trying on the bride and groom Mickey ears!
Next up we went to the Animation Academy where we learned how to draw Donald Duck. This was definitely our favorite attraction of the trip! My drawing is on the left.
Walking around the Wharf (does not beat the real thing right here in the Bay Area)…
Soarin’ Over California. A simulator ride that takes advantage of scent in addition to sight and sound.
California Screamin’. Awesome wooden roller coaster. Probably my favorite ride at DCA.
Mulholland Madness. Fun little mini-coaster.
At the Hollywood Pictures Backlot, I found the cutest fountain. So here I am with my Sorceror Mickey ears taking a picture with the Sorceror Mickey fountain! I have no idea why I am smiling like that. Dork.
Monsters Inc. Cute kiddie ride that takes you through the movie.
And to close our day at DCA, we went back to the Animation Academy to draw Jack Skeleton. My drawing is on the right.
Last picture of the day – Mickey, the “C”, and me!
Some random comments:
– Wow, I am SO OLD. We were only at DCA from about 11am to 9pm but my feet were KILLING me. What happened?!?
– I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it but Rob smokes. And I honestly had no idea that there were smoking areas at DCA. So Rob would leave the park every once in awhile to handle his business. Then we happened upon a smoking area in the Condor Flats area across from Soarin’. Isn’t that crazy? The other one is in the Hollywood Pictures area near the Muppet Vision show. (At Disneyland, there’s a smoking area near Big Thunder Ranch and another at Fantasy Gardens, which I dubbed “Smokey Gardens.” )
Overall, I enjoyed DCA but I probably wouldn’t spend another whole day at this park alone… I’d definitely have to mix it up with some time at DL. Still tons of fun, though. I’m sure I’ll be back to draw some more characters at Animation Academy and ride Screamin’!
Our second day was spent at Disneyland. YAYAYAYAYAYAY. I seriously love this place. My face lights up and I get so happy here. *giddy* There was an INSANE amount of people at DL and we missed a lot of the “kiddie” rides due to long lines (and the fact that they don’t have Fast Passes) but we trudged through and still had a great time. Since it was DL day, I forced Rob out of bed at 6am(!) so we could be at the park by the 8am opening. That didn’t happen exactly as planned but we still arrived around 8:30am.
Matterhorn. Always a classic. One of my faves.
Splash Mountain. After agreeing not to ride any water rides (considering how wet we got after GRR the previous day), we still went on SM when we saw that the stand-by line was only 5 minutes. Well, we got UNBELIEVABLY DRENCHED. So soaked that I had to buy a t-shirt and sweatshirt to replace my dripping sweater. I wish I had a picture of us after the ride but I was preoccupied.
Haunted Mansion with the Nightmare Before Christmas overlay. Going on this ride totally made me want to see this movie.
After breakfast, we made our way over to DCA to go to the Animation Academy again! This time we drew Winnie the Pooh. My drawing is on the right.
Back at Disneyland sporting our Mickey tees!
Hanging out at the Star Trader store in Tomorrowland. One of my favorite stores because they have Star Wars themed merchandise. Heh.
Rob as Buzz Lightyear.
Me as Goofy.
Rob as Eeyore.
Me with an awesome R2D2 backpack I found.
It may be unbelievably crowded during the holidays but I just LOVE seeing all the decorations. Look how gorgeous Sleeping Beauty’s castle is!
Eating a pineapple dole whip. A MUST HAVE.
Indiana Jones Adventure. Not as crazy and fast as I remember but still a goodie. Thank goodness for Fast Pass — the stand-by line for this ride got up to 2 hours!
Pirates of the Caribbean. A good time to rest our tired feet. Also got to see the holiday decorations in New Orleans Square.
Space Mountain. MY MOST FAVORITE RIDE EVER. The Fast Passes for this ride ran out quickly or I would have tried to get another one so we could ride it a second time. It’s the BEST.
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. My first time on this ride! Rob’s score: 63,800. My score: 52,200.
The HUGE Disneyland Christmas tree in the middle of Main Street. We passed it because…
… we were on our way to DCA and the Animation Academy for a second time! This time we drew Minnie Mouse. My drawing is on the left.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Another oldie but goodie.
The castle all lit up!
And Small World too! I took this picture as we were waiting for the Fireworks Spectacular, which were pretty fantastic. I always love the music and the buildup to the Disney “snow” at the end.
Star Tours. Went on this ride because the line was only 10 minutes. It’s ok. I kinda think the video needs to be updated.
And finally, we end our day with another ride on the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. Rob’s score: 14,800. My score: 48,500. I WON!!!
And so ends a great day and a fantastic holiday vacation.
Back to real life tomorrow.
my october
The Starbucks red cups are back! WOOT. This signals the start of my ABSOLUTE favorite time of the year. I got my first red cup of the year today. My signature nonfat peppermint mocha. YUM.
So it doesn’t seem like it but I’m around. Just lazy. As per usual.
My “vote by mail” ballot for today’s election arrived yesterday. WHICH MEANS IT IS TOO LATE FOR ME TO DO ANYTHING WITH IT. Considering I live in Northern CA and am unable to fly down and turn it in to an LA County polling place today. You’d think they’d send the ballots out early enough to give the voter enough time to you know, MAIL IT BACK.
I know, I know. I’m disappointed in myself for not registering for my ballot earlier.
I just finished watching McCain’s concession and Obama’s acceptance speeches. WOW. I teared up a few times. It’s an amazing day and even though I did not participate, I’m glad I am here to witness it.
So I’ve been meaning to share pictures of some recent events so here goes…
October 18
Rob and I attended our friends’ Eric and Amy’s wedding at the Trump National Golf Club in Southern CA. It was a wonderful event! I definitely appreciate all the little details now that I’ve planned a wedding myself. Some of the gorgeousness…
The pretty, pretty placecards. Amy embossed the cards with a lovely brocade motif. The colors of the wedding were various shades of purple. So lovely.
Trump’s outdoor ceremony site boasts an amazing view of the Pacific Ocean. WOW. And look at all the purple yumminess! The rose petals along the aisle, the hydrangea balls hanging on the shepherd’s hooks, and the pashminas laid out on the chairs.
The gorgeous bride coming down the aisle…
They had my favorite Sprinkles cupcakes instead of a traditional cake. Terrible photo but YUMMY cupcakes.
A picture of the husband and me during cocktail hour. (It is still SO WEIRD to say “husband”). And yes, I wore that blue dress to yet another event this year.
October 26
Rob, Diesel and I were invited by our friends Shirley and Grantland to attend Farm Day with them at the Terra Firma Farm in Winters. It was a gorgeous day — perfect for the farm! Shirley prepared a picnic lunch for us (turkey sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs, chips) and the farm provided freshly squeezed juices to drink (the apple was particularly yummy).
Sitting on the picnic blanket waiting for treats.
Rob and Diesel enjoying the day in the sun.
Rob picking strawberries. They were SO GOOD.
As we were leaving, we walked past a large dog that kinda looked like a pitbull. He was tied to a tree with his owners nowhere around. When Rob and Diesel walked by him (I think it was a him), he jumped for Diesel and started biting his poor little face. Rob got in the middle and Grantland pulled the crazy dog away by his leash (luckily he was there because I didn’t know what to do and totally froze). After a few tense minutes, they got the dogs separated. Diesel was shaken and had a cut by his nose but he was his old self in no time. He’s a tough little guy.
October 31
Halloween!
But also Girls Weekend in LA with my best friends. We didn’t dress up but I wore purple cat ears. No picture, though, sorry. We spent the weekend eating, relaxing at Le Spa, shopping, watching Center Stage… it was great. AND I got to have Pinkberry! YAY.
Now I’m gearing up for a tough few weeks at work and looking forward to the holidays. I love this time of year.
kaua’i minimoon, part 2
Had a day off today. Woohoo for 4-day weekends!
Ok, here’s part 2 of my Kaua’i recap…
Thursday, 8/14
Did a whole lot of nothing. I think we were at the pool most of the day so no pictures… not even of food. We were supremely lazy.
But here’s a bonus pic of some roosters. They are EVERYWHERE in Kaua’i. And they crow at all hours of the day, not just in the morning. So annoying!
Friday, 8/15
This was the first day we had to wake up to the sound of an alarm clock. We made reservations to do a Na Pali coast tour and we had to be at the pier by 8:30am. So painful after days of sleeping in.
We were the last ones to board so we got stuck at the very front with no shade. This boat ride is the whole reason I got so sunburned. OH! And sitting in the front was incredibly bumpy. We felt every little dip and swell. At first it was fun (like being on an amusement park ride) but after a few hours, I started feeling nauseous. Rob kept making me drink water and carbonated lime soda, which helped. At least I didn’t get sick.
We saw dolphins!
Look how gorgeous the coast is!
Guh. Soooo pretty!
I also tried snorkeling for the first time (no pictures though — we don’t have an underwater camera). It took Rob awhile to coax me to get in the water (I am a terrible swimmer and was freaked out) but when I finally got in, I really enjoyed it. I wasn’t crazy about the water filling up in my ears, though.
I’m a wimp.
After the 5 hour boat trip, we had the most amazing shave ice at JoJo’s in Waimea. YUMMY. I wish it was closer to where we stayed (it’s on the southwest-ish side of the island and we stayed in the east) cause I could have eaten that every day. I had strawberry, Rob had liliko’i (passionfruit) and we both had haupia cream on top (haupia is like a coconut gelatin/pudding).
After a quick nap, we had dinner at Gaylord’s (this was our big, expensive dinner). No pictures, sorry — I was too lazy. I read about this restaurant on Fodor’s forums and it was recommended to us by family so we tried it. Honestly, I wasn’t that impressed. I had a seafood platter (scallops, fish, shrimp, and lobster) and while it was good, it really wasn’t worth the cost. Their lava flows were yummy though and the Banana Cream pie we had for dessert was solid.
Saturday, 8/16
Our last day in Kaua’i. Or so we thought.
Started out with a breakfast of malasadas. These are basically like donuts (no holes) covered with sugar. There’s a stand in front of K-Mart — they were fresh and soft and oh-so-yummy. Thumbs up. I can’t believe I forgot to take a picture of them — you can kinda see them in the very left of the pic.
kaua’i minimoon, part 1
I just realized that back in late 2006 when Rob and I went to Paris, I started a trip report and I never finished it. OOPS. And since I consider this blog a diary of sorts, I want to write about some of the highlights of our mini-moon in Kaua’i… with pictures, of course (that way, I don’t actually have to write very much )!
We didn’t do much but lay in the sun and eat (perfect vacation to me!) but we did explore the island a little so here goes…
Monday, 8/11
After breakfast at Kountry Kitchen (loco moco for Rob and strawberry and banana pancakes for me – forgot to take pictures), we went to… K-Mart and Wal-Mart. Here we are on our mini-moon and we go shopping?!? BWAH! We were actually looking for some flip flops we could trash, some cheap-o sneakers for me (we wanted to do an easy hike and I completely forgot to pack sneakers), and also HURRICANE POPCORN (only the best popcorn ever). It’s basically butter popcorn with seaweed flakes and rice crackers. Weird, I know but oh so good.
Lunch at Hamura’s Saimin. I had the wonton saimin. YUM. (Saimin is a noodle soup dish, similar to Japanese ramen).
After lunch, we visited Opaekaa Falls…
…Lydgate Beach Park (but we didn’t go in the water)…
…and the Sleeping Giant.
And we rounded out the day with drinks on the beach. I had a lava flow (pina colada with strawberry puree) and yes, it was alcoholic.
Tuesday, 8/12
Beach Day!
Started off with breakfast at Eggbert’s.
We shared eggs benedict (YUM), pancakes, and a side of spam.