Showing posts with label trips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trips. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

When the man is away...

I go shopping!

Emmanuell was out of town (Thurs night thru Mon morn) visiting a friend.  Since he booked his trip, I've been contemplating on whether to go to SD.  What pushed me to make it a day trip and do the driving solo on Saturday?  It became an advanced retail therapy before I went to see my family the next day.  Yes, I felt like it was a needed trip down.  Also, my friend, O, who lives in SD tempted me w/ turon and my favorite dessert place.  Yes, she knows how to through to me!

I woke up at 6:45am Saturday morning (after going to bed past 1am) to get ready.  I left at about 7:40 and arrive at O's house in SD at 9:35.  We headed out to brunch at Goldilocks (same place we've been to a few times before).  Afterwards, O and I headed to an outlet to start some shopping.  I bought some heels for work, mascara, and stocked up on hand soaps and shower gels.
After doing some damage (our shopping bags from Bath & Body Works were a bit heavy hence it was double bagged), we decided to head out to get some dessert.  Yup, whenever I go down to SD, dessert is a must.  Once we devoured our delicious treats, we headed back to O's house to drop off the to-go desserts we ordered before going out to another mall.  We did some more shopping at VS.  I also bought a couple tops at a store I've never heard of (until now).  We decided to leave before doing more damage.  (Thanks O for dragging my butt out of there!!)  We went to Lolita's for dinner.  They've got some massive burritos!  We headed to O's house after dinner to chill and chat for a couple hours.  It started to get late (sadness!) and so I left at around 9:30 to drive back and got home at about midnight.

What a FUN day trip!  Thank you soo much O for spending the day with me eating and shopping!  No shopping for a while, haha.  Good times, good times. =)

Friday, January 7, 2011

Winter Closure 2010

What did I do during the 2 week holiday closure??

Day 1 - wedding dress shopping in BH and Northridge w/ sean and heather (boys did their own thing); kbbq dinner and bowling w/ my grade school friends
Day 2 - wedding dress shopping in Pasadena
Day 3 - stay home to do chores (and to avoid 3 straight days of driving in the pouring rain)
Day 4 - wedding dress shopping in Torrance, Glendale, and Pasadena; dinner date in Glendale
Day 5 - run errands, picked up little brother and his gf to go up to my sister's to pray
Day 6 - fly out in the am to go to the east coast [left home at 7:45am (pacific time) and got to philly between 8-9pm (eastern time)]
Day 7 - drive down to wilmington, nc
Day 8 - 11 - spent quality time w/ emmanuell's relatives for the holidays [good company, yummy food, and lots of love]
Day 12 - drove back to philly
Day 13 - kbbq lunch w/ shandy (expensive!), spent evening exploring the mall til dinner
Day 14 - breakfast/brunch w/ a few of emmanuell's friends; stayed in the rest of the day
Day 15 - left the house at 4:30am (eastern time) for early flight back home, got to LA at 1pm (pacific time); got ready to go up to see my sister; went to arcadia to meet up w/ my friends til after midnight
Day 16 - stayed home to clean and do chores 

overall, a busy break!

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Happy New Year!

What we did on New Year's 2011:
4:30am eastern time (1:30am pacific time) - go to PHL airport
1pm - at Burbank airport
1:40pm - get home to drop off luggage & shower
3:30pm - in Lancaster to spend time and have dinner w/ a few of my siblings and the kids
9:15pm - leave Lancaster
10:20pm - in Arcadia to meet up with some of my friends
12am - head home

up for 24+ hours!!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Some photos from our Hawai'i trip!

Pic after dinner...

Beautiful blue ocean 
 Plumeria, plumeria, plumeria!
 Anniversary dinner (after engagement photo session)!


A block away from our hotel


@ the Paul Mitchell Estates - good times =)

It rained at Sandy Beach

Spending our last day at Magic Island, where our photo session was held.

View of Diamond Head and Waikiki (on the right)


Thursday, October 14, 2010

Beautiful wedding!

We attended such a beautiful wedding in Hawai'i!  It was at the Paul Mitchell Estates.  The cool part?  They had to kick Kobe Bryant out for the wedding.  I will write more about the trip soon (hopefully this weekend)!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

tear

i miss hawai'i... and plumerias... and paul mitchell estates... =(

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Week of June 13th Highlight!

Back in April, I bought tix to PowerHouse 2010.  June 19th finally came.  It was an amazing performance!  Here's the lineup: 

Cali Swag District (opener)
Jason Derulo
B.o.B. & Bruno Mars
Baby Bash
Trey Songz
Drake
Ne-Yo
Snoop Dogg 

Here's the list of surprise performances/guests:
New Boyz
Oscar de la Hoya
Ron Artest
Derek Fisher
Diddy
Tyrese
Kobe Bryant
Warren G


It was an amazing concert!!!  There were some great highlights, too.  Diddy's surprise performances actually got me up from my seat.  Of course, Ne-Yo was another favorite.  It was exciting to see some of the Lakers.  I was surprised that the concert lasted a little over 5 hours.  There was a jumbotron that displayed texts/pics sent by the audience.  I sent one for my babe.  =)  Best concert yet.   

Friday, April 9, 2010

east coast trip to moving to ER to farewell

These last few weeks have been super busy - too many things going on.  On 3/19, I got my braces OFF!  It took a while, but it was worth it!  It was a busy day that day cuz it was also one of my best friend's going away dinner and my babe's friend, terri, was visiting.  The dinner was great.  Afterwards, we headed out to West LA to meet up w/ the boy's gang.  We just hung out and chatted til around midnight before heading home. 

A few days after that, we headed off to the east coast to visit his dad.  We took a day's trip to Brooklyn to visit his aunt.  Her cooking was AMAZING!  She was right about how great her cooking is.  I remember that she mentioned how delicious her cooking was during a "bonding" moment when we first met last summer.  I concur.  We flew back on Sunday morning and started packing when we got home.  Why?  Three days later, we moved.  It was a long day particularly because I was stressed w/ work and stayed at work til about 7pm the previous night having only eaten one meal the entire day.  Same goes for the move-in day.  Aside from eating a few Chips Ahoy! Peanut Butter Chunk cookies, we had only eaten one meal as well - dinner at Saladang.  Very tiring, I must say.  For the next couple days, we moved the small stuff from my storage and from the old apt.  Robert and Florence helped (our first guests!).  On Saturday, we moved my big stuff from storage.  It only took two trips.  Robert and Florence were available to help on that day, too.  There were only two trips, yet it took hours!  It was pretty busy since Odessa came up from SD for a final get together w/ Kel (plus 'Diva').  After the move and after Robert and Florence left (I'm soo glad they offered to help!), the five of us headed to Scoops to try some interesting-flavored ice cream.  I picked lavender honey and red bean.  I wish the move didn't take that long since we had guests, but I guess we're not like the pros who pack and move ten times faster than us.  Even though we briefly hung out, it was really nice getting together in the short amount of time we had.  

On Sunday, we went to get groceries for Qing Ming.  After all the shopping, we picked David and Chanelle up and headed to the AV.  The weather was windy and gloomy, and Sue hinted why that may be.  We had TONS of food, including two roasted pigs - 40 lbs and 17 lbs.  That meant lots and lots of leftovers.  I think we took home less than 2 lbs out of the 57lbs.  We just finished nearly half of it for a few meals in the last couple days.  Gulp, still more to go.  

Fast forward to Tuesday.  So my stomach (since before Qing Ming) was feeling weird but I thought I was either hungry/stuffed.  After getting home Tuesday night, I started to get sharp pains in my stomach.  I thought it was just gas cuz someone told me that that causes sharp pains.  Emmanuell ran to Ralphs to get me some medicine.  I took a couple.  Result - more sharp pains.  I hardly slept that night due to the intensity of the pains jolting me left and right.  At about 2am, I wounded up on the couch hoping that sitting up would help.  Nope, nada!  My babe woke up at around 6 to find me huddled on the couch w/ my arms wrapped around my stomach.  He took me to ER over at Kaiser.  Luckily there were just a couple ppl there besides us.  After checking in and the routine blood pressure and health questionnaire (if I smoke, when was my last menstrual period, etc.), the nurse grabbed a wheelchair and wheeled me to the emergency room.  I entered the room thinking "this is the same room as the time when Ang and Odessa dragged me to the hospital after I got hit by a car walking home!"  (Yes, that really happened.)  First, the urine test came back negative.  The doctor decided to hook up the whole IV thing and inject me w/ some morphine.  Emmanuell held my right hand as we watched the nurse poke the needle into my left arm.  She took some blood for some lab tests then watched her set up the IV bag and inject the meds through the IV line.  As we waited for the blood test results, I observed the room I was in - the IV bag dripping and traveling through the line and into me, the monitors, the buttons on the wall.  It felt like a long wait for the results.  The doctor returned and announced that the blood test results were negative and that I would then go for an ultrasound.  I drank my pitcher of water then they rolled me to the ultrasound room as my babe looked manly w/ my BR purse, hehe.  The ultrasound took a while.  My bladder wanted to burst.  They couldn't locate my ovaries.  After some further searching for ovaries, still no luck.  Eventually he let me get up to go pee, hoping that I would be able to hold some of it for more ultrasound pictures.  Nope, I couldn't hold any of it any longer.  I returned w/ an empty bladder.  Shoot, then they FOUND my ovaries!  So after that was over, they rolled me back to my room to wait for the results.  By then we were nearly falling asleep.  The doctor came back to tell us that they found a cyst on my left ovary.  The cyst leaked, causing the sharp pains.  Time at home w/ some meds will be needed for my recovery.  WHEW!  No surgery needed for this one!  After waiting for an hour to get a prescription and doctor's note to be excused from work, I got discharged!  We left the hospital at about 1pm, went to Porto's to get some food, then headed home to rest.  My sweetheart did some stuff (I assume he watched anime) as I napped.  During the time I was in ER, I texted most of my siblings and a couple close friends informing them of what was going on.  Every time I felt worse or when I got scared, I turned and my honey was there by my side.  THANK YOU BABY FOR BEING THERE THROUGH IT ALL.  I LOVE YOU!!!  <3

Even though I was drained and weak from the 5+ hrs in ER, it did NOT stop me from seeing one of my best friends one last time before she headed off to the peace corps.  We headed to Culver City to meet up w/ Kelly and some of her other friends @ Father's Office to enjoy one final dinner and take one last photo together.  ("Our last pic together til your wedding" - Kelly)  I'm gonna really miss Kelly... well, I already do.  I'm glad she accepted to be part of my big day... til we meet again.



Sunday, November 29, 2009

What a month

december is right around the corner.  i can't wait!  this month has been quite a month.  you can be the judge of the smiley faces and the blah faces.  earlier in the month, emmanuell and i joined jeannie and jerry for the death valley camping trip.  it was really fun, except for the coyotes and the wind.  it was a nice short getaway from the city.  very much needed.  for a couple of wknds, i helped my sis w/ her business.  it was tiring, but it was nice hanging out w/ the kids.  sma organized an office-themed kickback, which was really fun.  i miss them a lot.  haven't seen them in a long time, so i'm really glad i was able to go since i missed out on the 'cuz john said so' dinner last night.  a couple wks ago, my coworker got divorced and a former coworker got married.  even tho there wasn't a fancy wedding nor a wedding gown, it was very nice and entertaining.  i'm soo happy for them!  =)

oh yea, the news i was waiting to hear for 2 wks came back w/ sad news.  i was really upset.  that evening, emmanuell took me out.  he surprised me w/ cupcakes then took me shopping in glendale.  he bought me an early xmas gift.  i can't wait to get it.  it's currently at the jewelers getting a couple diamonds fixed.  that's one thing i'm looking forward to (hopefully the end of this wk).  i'm glad he was there to cheer me up and lift my spirits.  it was def better than just staying in and letting me mope (he won't let me do that).  i love him. <3

this thanksgiving was the first time having a significant other there.  emmanuell and i spent the day w/ my family.  he got to help with the dinner preparations and just enjoy it w/ my family and me.  i hope he enjoyed all the dishes we had - 2 turkeys, 1 ham, 3 trays of candied yams, 2 trays of green bean casserole, a plate of green beans, a pot of home-made mashed potatoes, 2 huge costco pumpkin pies, 1 home-made apple pie, hawaiian bread rolls, corn, and gravy.  yes, there were tons of food for just a dozen ppl.  unfortunately i couldn't pack any leftovers since we were leaving to philly the next morning.  we got our butt up at 5am the black friday morning only to go to the airport.  thanks a bunch steven for getting up early and taking us to santa ana!  our first flight was full but the connection flight was close to empty, which was nice.  we got to philly at around 7ish eastern time.  not much going on here (in philly).  last night was my babe's 10 yr reunion, so i missed the ucla vs usc game (BOO!).  the bar was cool. i def felt young.  i felt like i was the only chinese there.  i kept turning my head to the tv hoping that the football game would be on.  instead, they had a short class of 1999 slideshow on repeat.  sigh... guess what killed the night... oh, and pete carroll has no class!

to be cont'd...

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

PO-TA-TO -- Ladies' surprise trip for the boys

8/15/09



so it all started on aug. 10th... jeannie wanted to plan something, so it became a surprise from us to jerry and emmanuell. i gave my babe a clue - potato. friday night during dinner:

me: so when we get to the destination, we'll need to sign something.
E: are we signing a waiver? (pause) are we bungee jumping?!?
me: (silence) what??
E: honey, ARE we bungee jumping?!? honey!!!
me: would i do something like that to you??
E: (without hesitation) YES.

hahaha. so came saturday morning. we woke up before 6am, showered, packed, and got ready. the first destination required that he be blindfolded. once we arrived to the first destination, i started to punch in the keypad to open the gate. shortly after that failed attempt to successfully open the gate, he asks "are we at jerry's?". BOOO, the keypad gave it away. i gave the OK for him to remove the blindfold. after we picked them up, we made a quick run to mcdonald's and headed to the next destination. after the 70+ miles, we arrived to our destination - the ventura harbor. that's when they realized where we were going and what we were doing - a hike in channel islands national park. we were going on a 5 mile potato harbor hike. when we arrived to the santa cruz island, we ate, took pics, and went on our hike. when we got to the overlook, our jaws dropped as we gazed at the beauty of the view. it was absolutely gorgeous and stunning. my babe wasn't pleased that i climbed on the edge of the cliff, heh, he wouldn't leave my side. we completed the hike w/ plenty of time to spare before our 4pm boat ride back. after climbing rocks to take pics, we got back to the boat and arrived back to ventura around 5. next destination - camarillo outlets! we bought hiking shoes (my first pair!) and clothes from BR. i can't wait to wear them! afterwards, we headed to van nuys to end the day w/ dinner. pho = yummmm. heh, the guys said that now it's their turn to plan a surprise for us. after dropping jeannie and jerry off, we headed home. soo glad that my babe enjoyed the whole day!