Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico
We headed to Mexico on Christmas Day and stayed until Sunday, December 28th. It was a less-than-3-hour flight but ended up waiting another 3 hours in the immigration line because they were short-staffed on Christmas Day. It was definitely not a good way to start a vacation.
We stayed in a small resort called Bel Air Collection Resort and Spa located in Nuevo Vallarta, which is a 25-minute drive from Puerto Vallarta. The hotel was right on the beach with an infinity pool overlooking the water. It was perfect for our little family and a kid who wanted to go the beach everyday. They served coffee every morning in the lobby from 6-8am and this was my alone time every morning.
We booked through Expedia and got a deluxe studio for only $125/night.
It had a kitchenette complete with dishes, microwave, stovetop (with pots), mini fridge, and sink. It was perfect for when KK would wake up in the morning starving. I brought instant oatmeal and instant rice porridge for this purpose.
There was a table and chairs for her to eat and color.
They also had a pull-out sofa bed that was perfect for her to sleep on. This is usually how I found her in the morning.
They also had a king-sized bed and a very clean bathroom with a huge tub. KK ended up sleeping in the big bed one of the nights.
We had breakfast at the hotel most mornings and they had a buffet of fresh fruit, chilaquiles, eggs, and beans. I thought it was actually pretty good.
The pool was nice and had lots of different levels and nooks to play in. KK loved the pool and we loved the view. Jes particularly enjoyed the swim-up bar. After a while, KK would say “let’s go get Dada some juice.” Haha.
In the afternoon, they would serve tea and cookies at the pool. That was a nice touch.
We took the bus into Puerto Vallarta one afternoon. It was a little sketchy considering there weren’t any marked bus stops and a local told us to just wave it down when you see it. That’s what we did and it picked us right up. We didn’t see much of PV since we got dropped off in a weird spot. We did, however, find a place to eat.
It was called Mi Pueblito and run by a very nice old lady that was just enamoured with KK.
The food was decent and the bathroom was super clean. We had enchiladas and taquitos.
We also stopped at a shopping plaza in Nuevo Vallarta where we got Starbucks, frozen yogurt, and had McDonald’s for dinner. 
We were curious and got a few unique items off the menu. They had “shaker fries”, which was basically fries, a paper bag, and a nacho cheese powder that you add and shake onto the fries. Jason said they were “meh”.
We also ordered these fried spicy cheese balls. They weren’t bad. The best item was the fried blackberry apple pie. Jes mom ordered it and devoured it so fast I couldn’t get a photo of it.
On one of the days, Jia and I went to the spa for pedicures. I had an hour-long pedicure and at one point had this coffee paste painted on my feet. Neato. Jes and I went to a timeshare presentation the day before and got $150 to spend and this is where we spent most of it. With the discount, we ended up having money left over after paying for both of our treatments.
The best part of the trip was seeing my little girl having such a good time. She woke up every morning wanting to go play in the sand and water. It took a very short time to warm up to the water both at the beach and the pool this time. 
It was nice to have a hotel that was just steps from the sand. We were surrounded by lots of mega resorts that had all-inclusive packages but I was pretty happy with our set-up.
Overall, it was great family vacation. The people were nice, I got to practice some of my Spanish, the food was just OK, and we had lots of time to just relax.
The grandparents got to play with KK and I got a little bit of time to do nothing. KK was a really good traveler and actually napped each day we were there. The time difference didn’t affect us much and the weather was really nice.
The only hiccup in the trip was probably at the end when I got to the airport and realized I had left my phone in the backseat of the taxi. Fortunately it was the same taxi that took us to dinner the night before and he was nice enough to bring it back to us at the airport 25 minutes later. Phew, that was a close one. I had taken most of our pictures with my phone on this trip! With that happy ending, I gotta say that we had a fun time in Mexico. Can’t wait for our next vacation with the other side of the family in Hawaii this coming March!!!
For the third year in a row, we went to Disneyland with the family. This is a fun tradition that just keeps getting better every year. I grew up going to Disneyland multiple times a year and both Brother and I worked there. Despite that, it never seems to get old and it seems even more fun now through the eyes of our kids.
As usual, we got up early and opened some presents. My brother had a giant photo of Koa printed on wood for my parents. Aaawww…we all still miss him.
Once we arrived at Disneyland, the tram, ticket line, and getting into Disney’s California Adventure were easy. Our first stop was to get a FastPass for the Elsa and Anna Meet and Greet.
Then we headed out to Cars Land for a fun ride on the racers. 
The single-rider line was empty so we all hopped on quickly and still ended up in the same cars together and racing against each other.
We shared a pretzel bread cone filled with chili, cheese, and Fritos (of course!).
She also was not a fan of Santa again. Oh well.
Both kids ate very well.
My mommy made me one of my favorite things to eat: Kanom Krok. It’s basically two different mixtures of coconut milk poured into a special cast iron pan topped with green onions. They come out hot and crispy on the outside and custard-like on the inside. It’s a combination of sweet and savory – similar to that of Thai coconut sticky rice.
I think I post these every time I’m home but this time I paid attention. Apparently, my mom just follows the instructions on the back of the rice flour package but it’s all in Thai.
So, I took notes and photos so that one day when I get one of her pans from her to take home with me, I can make them for myself. Yum yum!
We drove down to Cerritos today and the best part of the drive was seeing all the green grass everywhere. These past two weeks of rain really did something good for California. Our trip started at 9am with one big lunch stop and we arrived at the Magical House at 5pm. It was like a full work day!
I don’t remember the last time I took 2 weeks off work. Aside from maternity leave, I just started the longest vacation since I started my job here in the Bay Area. After such as hectic work week, I really earned my time off. Today was a nice relaxing day doing what we always do on Saturday – go to the Farmer’s Market for brunch. The rest of the day was at home. I even took a nap!! WHUT?!
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