Monday, December 6, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Vegas Again
Elmer and I went on a short trip to Las Vegas, mainly to try out Raku and to get away before Elmer started his new job at Kaiser.
We arrived very late in the evening/early morning at Planet Hollywood, and since they were all booked we were given a complimentary upgrade to a large suite. There was a huge living room with a pool table and foosball table. We even had a view of The Strip.
I guess we're spoiled because the Planet Hollywood suite felt gross and dirty, so the next morning we headed to The Wynn to gamble all our money away!
The highlight of the trip, at least for me, was the uni at Raku. AMAZING.
We arrived very late in the evening/early morning at Planet Hollywood, and since they were all booked we were given a complimentary upgrade to a large suite. There was a huge living room with a pool table and foosball table. We even had a view of The Strip.
I guess we're spoiled because the Planet Hollywood suite felt gross and dirty, so the next morning we headed to The Wynn to gamble all our money away!
The highlight of the trip, at least for me, was the uni at Raku. AMAZING.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
JM @ HB
Brian, once again, kindly treated me to John Mayer's concert at the Hollywood Bowl. We got awesome seats and it was a great way to celebrate my birthday!
Set List
Wind Cries Mary (w/Brad Mehldau)
Can't Find My Way Home (w/Brad Mehldau)
Going To California > Stop This Train (w/Brad Mehldau)
Bittersweet Symphony (w/Brad Mehldau)
Chest Fever > Vultures
Clarity
Why Georgia
Ain't No Sunshine
Perfectly Lonely
I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)
Heartbreak Warfare
Gravity
Who Says
Waiting on the World to Change
Do You Know Me
Half of My Heart > Don't Stop Believing
Encore
Edge of Desire
Set List
Wind Cries Mary (w/Brad Mehldau)
Can't Find My Way Home (w/Brad Mehldau)
Going To California > Stop This Train (w/Brad Mehldau)
Bittersweet Symphony (w/Brad Mehldau)
Chest Fever > Vultures
Clarity
Why Georgia
Ain't No Sunshine
Perfectly Lonely
I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)
Heartbreak Warfare
Gravity
Who Says
Waiting on the World to Change
Do You Know Me
Half of My Heart > Don't Stop Believing
Encore
Edge of Desire
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
UCLA
Elmer and I, along with a few TMMC UCLA alumni took a little trip to the UCLA campus and Westwood to reminisce.
This is where we met, Sunset Dorms, Canyon Point, A1, in the study lounge!
Last stop, Diddy Riese! This was the first visit that I actually ordered their ice cream cookie sandwich.
This is where we met, Sunset Dorms, Canyon Point, A1, in the study lounge!
Last stop, Diddy Riese! This was the first visit that I actually ordered their ice cream cookie sandwich.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Diversion
Work has been pretty slow lately, so I decided to take a few days off and accept Brian's invitation to join him and Angie on their Vegas trip.
We stopped at Baker for a little break. This was my first time stopping here, ever, on the countless trips to Vegas I've taken!
This was also my first time taking a pic of the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. Horrible shot from inside a moving car!
We stayed at the Wynn, like Elmer and I did last summer.
We watched the "new and improved" volcano show at The Mirage.
Brian and Angie were super excited to visit the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop, made famous from the History Channel's show Pawn Stars. Even though they were filming in the store that day, it was kind of a bust. It was super crowded, but we did get a glimpse of Rick.
Hot Shot was our favorite slot machine game. Brian and Angie won quite a bit of $$ from the machines, so much so that Brian treated us to watch Cirque du Soleil's LOVE.
I have to say that LOVE was disappointing. So many people had told me that it was amazing. I wish they had told me the complete truth, which was that it was just a bunch of dancing. I was expecting classic Cirque acrobatics, but that was absent from the show. The music was amazing, of course! Love the Beatles!
A highlight of the trip was finding a Thai restaurant off the Strip with amazing Pad See Ew (sp?), Thai iced tea, great customer service, and great prices! I think the Pad See Ew was $6.75 and the Thai iced tea was $1.75. Now I have a go-to spot for food the next time I'm in Vegas.
Alas, can't beat the cotton candy at Treasure Island!
**Here's a picture of Andrea and I at the Treasure Island buffet, cotton candy in hand, back in 2006 during her bachelorette weekend.** Good times!
We stopped at Baker for a little break. This was my first time stopping here, ever, on the countless trips to Vegas I've taken!
This was also my first time taking a pic of the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. Horrible shot from inside a moving car!
We stayed at the Wynn, like Elmer and I did last summer.
We watched the "new and improved" volcano show at The Mirage.
Brian and Angie were super excited to visit the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop, made famous from the History Channel's show Pawn Stars. Even though they were filming in the store that day, it was kind of a bust. It was super crowded, but we did get a glimpse of Rick.
Hot Shot was our favorite slot machine game. Brian and Angie won quite a bit of $$ from the machines, so much so that Brian treated us to watch Cirque du Soleil's LOVE.
I have to say that LOVE was disappointing. So many people had told me that it was amazing. I wish they had told me the complete truth, which was that it was just a bunch of dancing. I was expecting classic Cirque acrobatics, but that was absent from the show. The music was amazing, of course! Love the Beatles!
A highlight of the trip was finding a Thai restaurant off the Strip with amazing Pad See Ew (sp?), Thai iced tea, great customer service, and great prices! I think the Pad See Ew was $6.75 and the Thai iced tea was $1.75. Now I have a go-to spot for food the next time I'm in Vegas.
Alas, can't beat the cotton candy at Treasure Island!
**Here's a picture of Andrea and I at the Treasure Island buffet, cotton candy in hand, back in 2006 during her bachelorette weekend.** Good times!
Friday, May 21, 2010
Kaisen!
I went to Kaisen again, for the fourth time, and for the second time with Iris. These photos remind me of how good the sushi is there. I must find some place closer!
99 cent seaweed salad
Amaebi-always sweet and crunchy
Salmon sushi is always excellent and fresh
Tuna sushi-I never really eat this, but it looked fresh so we thought we'd give it a try. It was fine. I prefer a spicy tuna roll!
Softshell crab hand roll. Surprisingly good. I'd get this again.
Spicy scallop hand roll. I must say that this wasn't so good. The scallop were void of any taste. I've had it before and the scallop were sweet.
Oysters were alright. Nice briny flavor. Not bad at $2.75 for 2.
Hamachi was good.
Salmon sashimi (can't get enough!), ika sashimi (yum!), and a blob of uni (yum again!). I got Iris hooked on uni!!!
Green tea ice cream for dessert. It was good, and only $1.25!
Now I can't wait to go to Ojiya in Chino Hills for our next sushi outing, plus Eclipse!
Friday, May 14, 2010
Food
I like to eat and I like to take pictures of food.
*clockwise from upper left* Cupcakes from Dots, homemade red velvet cupcakes, homemade brownie cupcakes
Filling for my California roll, uni nigiri, finished California rolls
Homemade cranberry orange, maple apple, and pumpkin muffins
*clockwise from upper left* Cupcakes from Dots, homemade red velvet cupcakes, homemade brownie cupcakes
Filling for my California roll, uni nigiri, finished California rolls
Homemade cranberry orange, maple apple, and pumpkin muffins
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Acupuncture
I've been experiencing shoulder, neck, and arm pain for the past two years or so, but I always attributed it to the car accident I had back in April 2002. The pain had been getting worse and more chronic, and I felt I needed to seek out some form of treatment. I looked into acupuncture, and boy has it done wonders for me! I'm no longer in constant pain, although my shoulder will ache when I see too many patients at work.
I realized that the pain was coming from my work, specifically the posture that I was adapting when doing refractions (which is clearer, one or two?). Besides acupuncture treatments, standing up while doing refractions has also helped a lot.
Who knew of the dangers of being an optometrist?!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Anniversary^4
Since we had just returned from our vacation in the Big Island, Elmer and I had a low key dinner at Kaisen Kaiten sushi bar in Costa Mesa. Although it's a revolving sushi bar, the quality of their ingredients is excellent and it's very affordable. Two pieces of salmon sushi or sashimi is only $1.75! What I really like is that you can order anything you want at any time by placing a check mark next to items that you want on this little paper menu, then you send the menu down the conveyor belt and the sushi chefs make your order!
The salmon, amaebi, and ika are amazing! The seaweed salad is also really good, and only 99 cents! I've gone here three times in the past month and will be going soon again! Hopefully I'll get more pictures of the food. I've been gobbling up all the food before I could take any photos!
The salmon, amaebi, and ika are amazing! The seaweed salad is also really good, and only 99 cents! I've gone here three times in the past month and will be going soon again! Hopefully I'll get more pictures of the food. I've been gobbling up all the food before I could take any photos!
John Mayer
Brian and I went to see John Mayer at the Staples Center for his Battle Studies tour. It was a great night!
Here he is playing "Gravity."
I wanted this super cute shirt, but I couldn't justify the $40 cost.
We will be seeing him, again, this summer at the Hollywood Bowl!
Here he is playing "Gravity."
I wanted this super cute shirt, but I couldn't justify the $40 cost.
We will be seeing him, again, this summer at the Hollywood Bowl!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
The Big Island
Elmer and I visited the Big Island of Hawaii to celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary. We both absolutely love Hawaii and were looking forward to a relaxing vacation. The last time we were in Hawaii (Lanai and Maui) was for our honeymoon!
One of our first stops (besides Costco!) was for shave ice. This little kiosk was so good that we came here three times over the week that we were on vacation.
Place of Refuge
South Point, the southernmost point of the United States. It was super windy!
Sea turtle at Punalu'u black sand beach
Kilauea Caldera at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Thurston lava tube
Devastation Trail, where a lava flow came through and destroyed all the vegetation.
This land is just a bit younger than we are!
Sea arch
Interesting lava formation
Glowing magma inside the caldera.
Rainbow Falls
Akaka Falls
Waipio Valley Lookout
Elmer was able to play a round of golf at Hapuna
The view from our "partial ocean view" room at Hapuna
The color of the ocean was beautiful. The pictures can't do it justice.
We were able to see many whales breaching off the coast from the beach and from our room balcony. This photo isn't great, but you can kind of make out the whale!
We are wearing heavy duty parkas, but we're still in Hawaii! We went on an excursion with Mauna Kea Summit Adventures. The stargazing was absolutely amazing. We've never seen so many stars in the sky before! We were even able to see the Milky Way belt.
At the summit for sunset. You can see some of the high-powered telescopes in the background. It was freezing. I got a little bit of altitude sickness, but recovered within minutes. Elmer didn't do too well, but he felt much better when we descended back down a bit for the stargazing.
We tried to take a picture of the night sky. Not a great photo, but you can see Orion's belt and Mars (the red dot), I think.
Sunset from our room
One of our first stops (besides Costco!) was for shave ice. This little kiosk was so good that we came here three times over the week that we were on vacation.
Place of Refuge
South Point, the southernmost point of the United States. It was super windy!
Sea turtle at Punalu'u black sand beach
Kilauea Caldera at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Thurston lava tube
Devastation Trail, where a lava flow came through and destroyed all the vegetation.
This land is just a bit younger than we are!
Sea arch
Interesting lava formation
Glowing magma inside the caldera.
Rainbow Falls
Akaka Falls
Waipio Valley Lookout
Elmer was able to play a round of golf at Hapuna
The view from our "partial ocean view" room at Hapuna
The color of the ocean was beautiful. The pictures can't do it justice.
We were able to see many whales breaching off the coast from the beach and from our room balcony. This photo isn't great, but you can kind of make out the whale!
We are wearing heavy duty parkas, but we're still in Hawaii! We went on an excursion with Mauna Kea Summit Adventures. The stargazing was absolutely amazing. We've never seen so many stars in the sky before! We were even able to see the Milky Way belt.
At the summit for sunset. You can see some of the high-powered telescopes in the background. It was freezing. I got a little bit of altitude sickness, but recovered within minutes. Elmer didn't do too well, but he felt much better when we descended back down a bit for the stargazing.
We tried to take a picture of the night sky. Not a great photo, but you can see Orion's belt and Mars (the red dot), I think.
Sunset from our room
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