Browse Category: outta here

Christmas Eve

For Christmas, we drove down to LA on Thursday (12/23) and as soon as we arrived in Buena Park, I headed over to Yorba Linda where the UCLA girls met up at Linda and Shaun’s house.  It was so fun to hang out with the babies.  Linda’s youngest son, Christian, was just smitten with Sandy’s little girl, Mia, and followed her around with her sippy cup all night. Later that night I picked up Jes and Jason and we met up with Dayantha and Huy at Shipmates.

On Chirstmas Eve, we met up with the family for a big lunch at Thai Nakorn.  We all got to catch up and opened a few presents.  Brother and Joy bought me a stick blender and Jes got a currency colostomy bag.  Awesome.  Thanks guys!

For dinner, we had a big dinner at Ten Ten complete with Peking Duck and salt and pepper pork.  Yum.  Jia had just arrived Christmas Eve morning so it was great to have the family back together again.

Monterey Weekend

We went to Monterey this past weekend and had a nice relaxing time.  We arrived pretty late on Friday night and were pleasantly surprised by the free upgrade to a full ocean view room.  The room was complete with binoculars for me to spy on the otters below.

On Saturday morning, I got up early and went for a run along the water.  The tide was really high and the waves were crashing on the shore.  Fun!

For the day, we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which was perfect for a gloomy, sprinkly day.  They had a new seahorse exhibit and a cool tank filled with little sea turtles!!  Oh joy!  This shrimp was staring right at me in one of the tanks as if he was waiting for me to take a photo of him.  I couldn’t resist.

By the end of the afternoon the sun came out and we actually got some blue sky.

We always seem to have fun in the gift shop even though we never buy anything.

Before dinner, I got a massage at the spa upstairs while Jes worked out in their gym.  For dinner, we went to a cute little French restaurant called Bistro Moulin.  We had the most amazing spinach gnocchi and my mussels with pommes frites were delicious.

The next day on our way home, we stopped at the outlets to shop for work clothes.  I made a killing that afternoon!

Here are the rest of the photos.

Cookie

I LOVE these cookies.  They’re crispy and sweet with a touch of cinnamon and great with my morning coffee.  The first time I had them was on a plane to Rome last year and asked for a couple extra to stash in my backpack for later.  I thought they only came in individual packs but then I was so delighted to find them at the grocery store next to our hotel in Paris!!!   I just HAD to buy a pack and I’m still enjoying them 2 months later.  Must.  Make.  Them.  Last.  *nomnomnom*

Mind the Gap

As some of you know, I LOVE maps and public transportation maps are just as cool.  On our trip to London, we spent a lot of time on the London Underground and the “Mind the Gap” announcements and reminders everywhere cracked me up.

So naturally, I was delighted to find this mug on our last day in the city.  It looks great next my NYC Subway mug.  I’ll have to post photos of that one soon.

My Weekend at Home

Last weekend I flew home to celebrate my 35th birthday with my brother and the rest of the family.  I hadn’t been home since end of January so it was long overdue and perfect timing since Jes was in NYC for work.  I took some extra days off so I had the flexibility to score the $39 one-way fares.  My flight to LA wasn’t until Saturday afternoon so I actually got to enjoy a warm, sunny day in SF.

In the afternoon, Ryan drove me to SFO (thanks, dude!) and I flew a quick hour and 10 mins to LAX where Brother and Joy picked me up.  They drove directly to Beverly Hills to take me to Paulette.  It’s a place selling French macarons and they were so yummy!  They were about to close to all they had was lemon, coconut, and violet cassis.  We all got one of each and sat down at the Starbucks across the street to enjoy them with a nice cup of coffee.

Before dinner, we walked around The Grove and got a quick drink at a bar down the street from the restaurant.  Dinner was at AOC and Ben and Tiffany joined us for a feast of French tapas.  My favorites were the bacon-wrapped dates and the peach salad with burrata.  I hadn’t been there in over 4 years and it was just as yummy as I had remembered.  When the server asked us if we wanted to see the dessert menu, we kindly declined because we were headed to MILK for dessert!

It was just a few blocks away and I was delighted by their selection of ice creams and other tasty treats.  I opted for the coffee toffee on a cone while the others had Nutella and a grasshopper, which is mint ice cream sandwiched between two pistachio macarons.

I also had to try the cajeta and corn ice cream, which was like cold corn soup with bits of caramel corn mixed in.  Yum yum!

On Sunday, it was unpleasantly hot in Southern CA.  I was up pretty early so my mom made me some Kanom Krok.  Yesh!!  Around 10:30, I met up with Patti at a Korean-owned French pastry place.  It was really cute and I picked up a few treats to take home.  Patti and I got caught up over coffee in a nice air-conditioned place.

For lunch, we made arrangements to meet up with Pish, Debbie, Katie, and their new baby Kyle.  He was just born the day after Jes’ birthday!  My parents were also there and brought along some friends.  Jonathan and Janelle also joined us and brought Noah and their new baby girl Naomie.  We stuffed ourselves silly with Thai food and it felt like Thanksgiving with the non-stop arrival of food to the table and all of us seated at a really long table.

Later that day, we went to the Cerritos Mall to cool off but it was so hot outside that the mall was just mildly cooler inside.  Did I mention how fancy that mall has gotten?!  It has a brand new Nordstrom and even an Apple Store!  Whut?!  We then went to Pish and Debbie’s new house in Irvine where we hung out and Katie showed off her pink room and closet full of cute dresses.  For dinner, we met up with the Suminos at Uoko.  The boys had played baseball all day in the heat so they were all tired and sweaty.  But that didn’t keep us from devouring a ton of sushi and guzzling ice cold Sapporo.  I went home with the biggest stomach ache.

On Monday, there was record-breaking heat with Downtown LA reaching 113 degrees!  Whut?!  In the morning, I had another one of my favorite treats called Sakoo Sai Moo.  My mom ordered a bunch before I arrived and they were so yummy.

I also met up with Sandy, Linda, her 1-year old Christian, and Shaun.  We had brunch and got caught up.  I was so relieved that it worked out.  Sandy didn’t have to go to work until 1:00 and Linda was working the night shift.  Around noon, I headed down to Orange County.  I had to get my teeth cleaned.  Pish made me an appointment and so I went.  His new hygienist is nice and I left there with no cavities!  Woohoo!

Afterward, I met up with Marie and we picked up the boys from school a little early so that we could take Cole to the doctor for his Kindergarten check-up and shots.  I got to hang out with Brandon in the waiting room and we had a good time playing with the ball maze and he got a little snack too.  It felt like old times…hanging out with Marie and the boys while she does her errands and daily things.

For dinner, we went to Lawry’s for our birthday prime rib and creamed corn.  Yum yum!  My mom and I shared a slice and Brother and I got the usual birthday cake and song from the servers.  It was a nice way to end the last 3 days of gluttony.  Check out the free cheesy digital photo they gave us at the restaurant.  Pretty funny.

The next morning, it was our birthdays and time for me to go back to SF.  On the way to the airport, we stopped at Brother’s new office to check it out and to give him a big birthday hug.  It’s right next to LAX so it was perfect.  We had enough time to hang out for a bit and then I was back on a plane to SFO.

By the way, I got a nice surprise in my suitcase.  I was putting my laptop into my suitcase after going through security and found a pink birthday card from my mom.  It was cool.  I think I still like surprises. 🙂  On top of that, as I was waiting to board, I got texts from Ryan and Michelle who made arrangements to pick me up from the airport.  Thanks Michelle!!!

So there you have it.  I had a great time in Cerritos and I’m so happy that everyone was around that weekend.  I loved meeting the new babies and catching up with my family and friends.  Trips like these make me miss home the most.  I moved to a great city where lots of my friends are but I also left a bunch of people behind too.  *sigh*  At least I know they’re only an hour and a half flight away.

Here are the photos from the weekend.

EuroTrip: London, Sept 7

On our last day of our EuroTrip, we had to say au revoir to Paris and take the train back to London.  As usual, it was a pleasant ride with a window view, the movie “Eurotrip” on my laptop, and macarons from Laduree.

We tried coconut, hazelnut, espresso, and pistachio.  My favorite was coconut and they all were so light and airy.  Too bad they got a little smushed in my bag.  Paired with a glass of red wine, it was a perfect snack.

When we arrived in Londo, the Tube station was utter chaos.  There was a strike that weekend and everyone (including the locals) were scrambling to find alternate routes.  We were lucky to have our hotel near an open station and a line that wasn’t disrupted.  We stayed at the brand new H10 Waterloo and it certainly did not disappoint.  It had all the latest technology including USB and HDMI ports in the wall and an espresso machine.  We also had a lovely view of Buckingham Palace and part of the London Eye.

We spent the day hanging out along the River Thames.  Lunch was at the top of the OXO Tower where I had sausage made of kangaroo and mushrooms.  The sky was so cool with big fluffy clouds leftover from the morning rain and there was a nice view from the restaurant.  After lunch, we took a walk and we saw all the different bridges along the way.

We made it all thew way down to the London Tower Bridge, walked across it, and then hopped on the ferry for a discounted rate because of the strike.  Jes even got a bottle of beer for the ride. How nice.

The captain of the boat gave us a little tour along the way and was pretty entertaining.

The ferry dropped us off at Big Ben, which was back at where we started and all we had to do was walk over the bridge to the London Eye.

We boarded our pod along with 5 other people and had plenty of room to move around.

It takes 30 minutes to make it all the way around and you get the most spectacular bird’s eye view of London.

Once we disembarked our pod, it was time to rush back to the hotel to change for dinner.  Because of the strike, we had to call a cab to take us to the restaurant.  We ate at Hibiscus, which was just around the corner from Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant.  We had the tasting menu and my favorite dish was a huge ravioli that contained a soft egg hidden inside.  It sat on black rice puree and had bits of black truffle on top.  For dessert, we were asked to taste it first and I thought it was butterscotch.  It turned out to be a mushroom tart!  Whut?!  Crazy.

Here are all the photos from our last day.