Monterey Bay Aquarium

On a fine sunny day, we took a 2 hour drive to Monterey Bay (Home of the clam chowder) which boasts one of the largest aquariums in USA.

We arrived at around 12pm.. after driving through masses of artichoke and strawberry fields.. Our first aim of the day was to go to the aquarium and have a look inside.. I had been to the aquarium before, so I wasn't as excited as the rest of the group.

 Just look at the awesome blue skies behind me.. it was a nice warm sunny day as well.. 

This aquarium boasts a few tanks.. the best one would be the deep sea tank.. where they have Garoupa like.. a meter long I reckon.. and I'm not exaggerating.. maybe they use magnifying glass.. I don't know.. but it's HUGE.. and blue fin tuna.. and this crazy looking fish called the 'Sun Fish'.. go Google it.. you'll see what I mean by 'crazy looking'.

Just look at the blue ocean.. if you're wondering.. that's a Sun Fish and a Blue Fin Tuna in that picture... hahaha.. and that's me.. starring at the crazy looking fish..

They have a Jelly Fish tank.. which was so fascinating.. although I must say.. they're creepy.. but PrincessBling managed to take a few awesome pics of them.

Too bad Jelly Fish stings can kill a person.. that's enough to give me a phobia on them.. but they're great for eating! hahaha..

Say hello to Mr Seahorse here.. of course he's a fake!  I doubt Sea Horses come in this size..but I must say.. there are some pretty funky Sea Horses.. like the leaf ones..Just take a look at the picture.. can you believe that that is really a seahorse??

 Poor fellow.. I can imagine him thinking life sucks looking like that.. then again.. it's a good camouflage for predators.


And thus was my day at the aquarium.

 

Vegas Baby Yeah!!!!

So the saying goes "Whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas".. hahaha.. so I don't have much to tell here.. Just Kidding!

Had a great time in Vegas, as always.. it's one of the coolest places in the world.. but you wouldn't want to spend too long there.. We stayed at Planet Hollywood, which is connected to a huge casino an the Mile Long shopping mall.. yes.. it's literally a mile long of shops.

We got there in the afternoon and wasted no time at the casino.. You got to play big to win big I say.. After a fulfilling seafood buffet (which is only so-so in my opinion).. we hit the casino and I was down to my last dollar.. when I won a whooping USD$400!  I was UP!  Of course I took the money and ran.. would be silly to continue playing til there was nothing left right?

On the second day, we went to the North Outlet Mall, which was smaller than the South Outlet Mall which we were going on the third day.  Oh my gosh.. it was a shopping frenzy.. I ended up with two Steward Weitzmen shoes, one pair of Uggs, a pair of black pumps.. countless numbers of tops and dresses, and a brand new 32" suitcase from Samsonite.. haha.. yes.. with all my purchases, I needed a new suitcase.. not many people know this, but I have a total suitcase obsession.. I love buying time.

The third day was a leap day and we spent it in the South Outlet Mall.. before having a GREAT Steak dinner at The Strips.. this steakhouse was located in Planet Hollywood.. we were celebrating Phong's birthday.. yes.. he's born on a leap day.. Funny that.. since his father was the gynecologist.

After that, we headed down to the clubs where we continued to get pissed drunk on champagne.. let's just say I don't really remember what else happened that night.. but I remember dancing with PrincessBling on top of the chairs.. I just know I had awesome fun..what a great birthday... we were so drunk that I bumped into PrincessBling at the ice machine.. where she proceed to get ice to melt for drinking water.. ???.. I took her back to my room and gave her a bottle of water instead.. she woke up the next morning wondering why there was a bag of ice in the sink.. 

We went to watch 'O' Cirque Du Soleil on our last night.. now I've watched a few Cirque Du Soleil shows in my lifetime.. I must stay this is the most disappointing one.. there wasn't much acrobatics and I couldn't really tell what the storyline was.. I still say 'Ka' has got to be the best one yet..

After that was another night of gambling away.. then it's back to the hotel to pack.. and hopefully our luggage remains below 50 pounds!

And.. whatever ELSE that happened in Vegas.. will always stay in Vegas!  

Airplane Companion 3

So yes, I'm on another long haul flight back to good ol' Kuching.. that includes a 12 hour flight from San Francisco to Seoul, and then another 6 hour flight from Seoul to Singapore... a 12 hour layover and then an hour and 20 minutes back to Kuching.. with the time difference.. I'm going to lose a day!

The flight from San Francisco to Seoul was pretty uneventful.. it was one of the smoothest flights ever.  Was seated next to two Korean men who were pretty quiet and didn't hog the arm rest!  Only rant would be about the guy sitting behind me who kept 'kneading' the back of my chair.. whether it was rummaging through the pockets to find some stuff or perhaps his legs were too long and his knees were digging into the back of my chair.. either way, I didn't appreciate the 'lower back massage' for 12 hours.

When we reached Seoul, the two Korean men ended their journey and I was joined by another 2 ladies from Singapore I'm assuming.. Mother and daughter.  Daughter was pretty spoilt.. immediately reclining her chair and plugging in her mobile phone to the charger and proclaiming out loud 'I am a racist'.. not sure why she was saying that.. think it had something to do with her mum mentioning that the plane was on a stopover from San Francisco.. either way.. I was glad when I accidentally hit her over the head with my jacket when I was putting my bag up in the baggage compartment! hahahaha

Itchy hands and knees man also ended his journey in Korea.. only to be replaced by a small boy who talked at the top of his lungs and immediately started kicking the back of my seat.  When food came, I so kindly put my chair back in the upright position only to have him say loudly 'Mummy.. I can't see the TV.. the lady in front put her chair up!'.. Sheesh.. no gratitude.


Had trouble with my connecting flight to Kuching with MAS.. I bought a return ticket but cancelled the first leg to Singapore.. (I personally went to the ticket counter to cancel it before I left for San Francisco, and was told my second leg ticket was fine!)  So imagine my surprise when they told me that they couldn't check me in because my entire ticket was forfeited as I didn't fly the first leg.. WTF.. I CANCELLED the first leg.. I didn't 'not show up'.. but they were insistent that I buy a new ticket.. saying that it's a 'return ticket'.. not a point to point ticket.. gee.. I thought all they sell now is point to point ticket.. so I had to spend RM1k on a new LAST MINUTE TICKET to Kuching.. fine.. it was a business class ticket.. but it was only RM200 more expensive.  They even told me that there was time.. they would remove my luggage (it was checked through to Kuching from San Francisco) if I didn't buy a new ticket.. HOW RUDE!  So if I didn't have a ticket originally.. how on earth did my luggage get checked through to Kuching?
 

My New Toys!

So I splurged on a couple of new toys for myself while in the U. S. of A!  As I mentioned previously in my blog, I am a Chanel Fan.  And so people, yes.. I've saved and I've saved and I finally bought what I yearned for for so long..

Yes!  It's my very own Chanel Agenda book!!!  Isn't it absolutely gorgeous?  I've already scheduled all my appointments in it and I carry it absolutely everywhere I go.. (Okay.. so maybe I forgot it in the office yesterday..)  but I'm so in love.. glad I am able to save up to purchase it.

Another toy that I got myself was for my Ipad 2.  Those who knows me knows that I am a gadget freak.. I love IT.. I get every new Ipad that comes out.. So what about the newest Ipad that was just released?  Well, yes, I bought 4.. but I sold them all.. haha.. there was no point to upgrade to the new Ipad because there is not a stark difference to the previous Ipad.. when they come out with an Ipad 3, that's when I'll get it.

So what did I buy?

"What's that" I hear you all ask.. That.. is an Ipad holder ATTACHED with a bluetooth full keypad!  How awesome is that??? I can now type with ease on my Ipad.. the only thing is that sometimes I forget that there is no mouse attached and that it's touch screen!  hahahaha

So there you have it, my two splurges on myself while in the States.  Oh of course there are MORE purchases.. that will come in later blogs, when I've successfully unpacked.. haha..

But here's a hint.. Steward Weitzmen, Guess by Marchiano, Uggs..

Lake Tahoe! I just wanna Snowboard!

After Napa Valley, we continued our journey on to Lake Tahoe for 3 nights of freezing temperature!  Yes, we were on our way to go snowboarding!  For those who forgot, I caught the snowboarding bug in 2009 and would jump at any chance to go snowboarding.


We checked in to our 3 bedroom apartment, complete with fireplace and full fledge kitchen.  Then the kids went ice skating and we decided to have pizza and beer for dinner.. sigh.. forgot how big 'large' is in America.. should have stuck to 2 large pizzas rather than 3!


The next day, we went snowboarding.  The kids took skiing lessons and the older people took snowboarding lessons.  Boy was it fun.  The rest of the experienced snowboarders went off on our own before meeting up again for lunch.


I was snowboarding like a pro down the mountain!  I'm surprised that after a year's hiatus, I can still snowboard!  And this time, I found myself more confident on the slopes.  I had a bad fall last year and lost my confidence for awhile.  This time, there was no fear.  I was turning and skating and speeding.. what an adrenaline rush!


The next day.. it started snowing!  The kids were so excited because they have never seen snow before.

I decided not to snowboard and hung out with the kids and parents on the slopes.  PrincessBling and hubby ventured out in the snowstorm where they found the softest powder for snowboarding.  Come to think of it, wish I had gone out.. but I was lazy to go through the rental process again.


Snow is such a beautiful thing.. making everything it touches white.. it's so soft, so delicate.. it's awesome.

I love the snow.. I love snuggling in front of the warm fire place, toasting marshmallow and drinking hot chocolate (or drinking a nice vino or ice cold beer!)


It ended up snowing all day, much to all our delights.. dinner was Japanese (normal) and thus was the second day in Tahoe.


On our third day, we packed out stuff and headed back to San Francisco....

Hummer Trip

In order not to get caught drink driving, we hired a Hummer Limousine to take us around Napa Valley.  Boy was it a monster!

It sat all 9 of us comfortably, and could easily fit a few more people!  It was great being chauffeured around, without the worry of being caught drink driving!  So exciting that we were offered champagne the minute we climbed on board!


We stopped at Domaine Chandon and had lunch at their restaurant Etoille, which is a 1 Michelin Star restaurant!

Isn't the place just gorgeous?


I had the duck confit for lunch, which was absolutely lovely!

 Salmon... looks delicious!

We then went to Opus One winery, which sold great wines, but the year I wanted was out of stock, so I left empty handed.


We visited more and more winery before ending up in Safeway to buy groceries.. we were going to cook in our room for dinner..


Wait.. cook in a hotel room?  What nonsense is this?  Would you believe that when we stayed in Westin in Napa Valley, our suite came complete with a full kitchen and living/dining room??

It was a gorgeous hotel that made it feel more homey.. especially with home cook dinner of roast chicken and potatoes!

Here is where I think I left my Michael Kors trench that I just bought as well :(

Chef Morimoto in Napa Valley!!

If you've ever watched Iron Chef on TV, you will know Chef Morimoto.  He's the Japanese chef that seems to kick ass every time he is challenged!


Naturally, we HAD to try his restaurant in Napa Valley.  We made a booking for 6.30pm and walked from our hotel to his restaurant.  We arrived at 6.30pm on the dot!  Talk about great timing.. We were seated shortly.. (One thing about restaurants in America.. they won't seat you until your whole party has arrived!).. 


We were made very welcomed from the minute we sat down.  They created at 9 course meal for us, and had a special menu for the kids as well! (I reckon their food was way better than ours!) hahaha.. but our food was great!


First dish was raw tuna.. which I hesitated at.. since I don't touch raw food (bacteria and all that..) but I sucked it up and managed to down half my plate before giving up.  THAT.. is a good try for me already!  After encountering raw food on the first dish, I let the waiter know that I don't take raw food, and for him to change all raw food to cooked food for the rest of the 8 courses.. and boy were they so accommodating!

Second course was fish wrapped mushrooms which were fantastic.. portions were tiny and I was afraid that I would leave hungry.. yeah right.. haha.. 9 courses later.. I was so stuffed I couldn't finish the last two courses!

Third course was cawan-mushi which was great.. really smooth.. and there was Chef Morimoto's take on the fondue.. there was sushi (naturally) and kobe beef.. yum.. and ice cream at the end.  Overall, a great experience.

We finished 4 bottles of Sake with our dinner.. each Sake better than the one before.  In the end, I bought a bottle of Sake fit to be served to the Emperor!


The kids had duck confit fried rice, fish sticks and the best.. chicken pot pie with abalone!!!  So jealous! hahahaa

Disneyland Adventure Park - 27th February 2012

Our second day, we visited the Adventure Park which is opposite the main park which we went to the day before.  However, the day was freezing and threatening to rain.  We had breakfast at IHOP.. Yummy American breakfast!  Then we went to the park.. and guess what's the first thing we saw!

She was so sweet.. she blew me a kiss!  hahahaha


The great thing about this park was that they actually served alcohol.. And the best HUMONGOUS turkey drumstick!  That went terrific with beer!

What's that saying.. you shouldn't eat something that's bigger than your head?

We took a few rides.. One was called "Goofy's Fly School".. and guess who was standing there promoting his ride?

Looks like a normal roller coaster ride.. pretty tame.. no loops and all that hoo hah.. Nothing too scary.. YEAH RIGHT!!!!  It was a hell of a ride.. I almost peed in my pants!  The corner were sharp turns so it felt like the centripetal force was practically pushing you outwards.. The whole time I was just thinking.. my bro-in-law and I were both sitting on the right side of the car.. with a 6 year old and a 8 year old on the left side.. how unevenly balanced we were.. would we fly off the coaster??  Hellooo.. I learned about weight distribution in school!  Fortunately, all that prevailed were a few.. (fine.. all the way) screams of terror coming from yours truly..


We took another ride, where you sit in a chair and it slowly spins and centripetal force pulls you outwards.. that was pretty fun.. and then we sat the Ferris Wheel!

The Little Mermaid ride was rather tame.. and the bumper cars were like only 5 minutes long.. Then it started pouring.. so we stopped for a hot steaming bread bowl of clam chowder.. yummy.. but the rain was a total party pooper, so we called it a day and left.. didn't even wait for the water show!

Dinner was still a wash out.. so we had it in the hotel.. it's typical hotel food that you usually get in hotels all over the world..


But alas.. thus was my last day in Disneyland!

Disneyland - 26th February 2012

I am what they call a Disneyland Virgin.. Yes.. I have been on this earth for awhile now and I have never stepped foot in Disneyland.. Until today!

It was just as magical as I imagined.. it was majestic.. simply awesome.. Words cannot describe the emotions going through me.. it was like being a kid again and believing in Santa Claus.  I am not raving about the rides though.. they were a tad boring.. Then again, all the good rides had like huge lines.. and I didn't want to wait that long!  It was like standing in line for 45 minutes for a short ride!


Sat a couple of kiddie rides.. The haunted castle was NOT scary at all.. Pirates of the Caribbean was blah.. Although PrincessBling might attest to that!  I thought Universal Studio was way better in terms of exciting rides!

But here's what magical.. at 6.30pm.. the streets are cleared and they put on a Disney Parade!  I was so lost in my childhood that I almost cried when I saw the characters come out.. Mickey, Minney, Donald, Goofy.. Peter Pan, Disney Princesses.. They were all there!  The parade was simply beautiful..

And then at 8.45pm, The majestic Fireworks blasted off over Sleeping Beauty's castle.. it was called "Dreams come True" and had Julie Andrews as the voiceover... At one point during the fireworks, Tinkerbell flew across the sky in a superb bright lime green outfit.. it was simply awesome.


Left after the fireworks, with my souvenir of Tigger's Cup!  And my autograph book.. what's that?  Well, I had to get photos and signatures of characters that I found!  I found...

Tigger!

Egor!

Pooh Bear!

Wonder who I'll see tomorrow at Disneyland Adventure Park!!!  Oh yes, I took the Carousel today as well.. it was so much fun, remembering childhood times when we would sit the carousel in Singapore Zoo!

Airline Companion 2

Omg omg omg.. Today I embarked on a 3 week journey to the United States of America.. I am so so so excited.. Too excited that on the way to the airport, I realized that I had forgotten to bring my second handphone (the hated Iphone!) so we had to turn back home to fetch it...


So excited that somehow I left one credit card at home.. The one that I used to pay for all my tickets.. This time there was no time to go home to get it.. Luckily, the kind people at Silkair were nice enough to bypass the security check protocol and checked me in without any issues.. phew.. 


Naturally, I asked for a window seat and I got it.  Was seated next to a guy who immediately took the arm rest.. excuse me.. I got there first!  And I was seating in front of this big hairy man.. Yes, I noticed it when I turned around to peek at who it was that kept disturbing the crew members.. It wasn't that he was rude or anything.. Just loud.. Like screaming for the Straits Times.


I like Silkair.. their crew people are really nice.. And the plane itself was nice and clean and I find it more spacious.


Now hear my peeve.. Why is it that people turn on their mobile phone the minute the plane hits the tarmac?  Do they not understand that mobile phone signals might affect the navigational system?  I mean the announcement on EVERY single flight that I've been on stresses that.. and what is so important anyway?  Yes folks, it's the big hairy man.. Wasn't like he was getting any phone calls and SMS the minute he turned it on anyway.. Can't he live without his phone for more than one hour?


Cryptkeeper, you were right about the food though.. We had three halves of egg and mayo sandwich.. One bite reminded me why I don't eat egg yolk.. hahaha


The flight to Narita and then to Los Angeles was pretty smooth and eventless... Just the way I like it!  Quite turbulent to Los Angeles.. at one point I CLIMBED over my sister who was seating next to me to get to the lavatory.. Only to be told to turn back to my seat because the seatbelt sign is so and "It is VERY dangerous".. to be honest.. the flight at that point was smooth as can be!  Anyway, I climbed back over my sister, sat back down.. only to have the seatbelt sign turn off at that exact moment.. Grrreeeeaaatttttt....


Oh, and I am glad to report, no creepy happenings at the transit hotel.. Those who can't remember, the last time I was alone in a transit hotel was in 2009.  I opened my eyes in the dark to see faces smiling and waving at me.. Oh my gosh I freaked out and spent the rest of the night with the lights on and the television blaring.. To this day, I don't know what I saw.. but I am willing to accept that it's hallucinations from alcohol withdrawal :)


We visited Santa Monica where we tried the ring toss again, hoping for another fluke like in 2009 and win a huge doll.. no luck tonight.. think we used up the luck in 2009.  

At the entrance of the Theme Park at Santa Monica

That dang ring toss game!

We then had dinner at Boa restaurant, which had the highest rating on Google!  The food was superb.. Kinda reminds me of Morton style serving.

Bone in ribeye... Yummyyyyyy.. with roasted garlic too!

On the ride back, we were totally conned by stupid Syrian driver who took us the long route. . Now I might not be a native, but first thing I usually do is observe my surroundings.. and I recognized the turn that he deliberately missed.. USD$20 trip became USD$75.. Damn Bastard!

Monkeyrun Redbull Challenge

So the Spring Shopping Mall collaborated with Redbull and brought in a mini obstacle course to test our skills.. They had jump, swing and climb.. pretty easy?  Oh no no no....


My company joined a team building exercise with the staff of the Spring where ten teams of five competed for the fastest time to complete all the obstacles.  I was team leader of team 9, affectionately known as Team George the Monkey!  Our slogan was "watch out for that TREE!"... I know I know.. original.. 


Watching team 8 go before me sure made me more worried about my turn!  Everyone seems to be falling through the gaps in the jumping obstacle!!  Without fail, when it was my turn, I too fell.. I got a second chance though and made it through!  Only to fall at the swings.. There goes my last chance... But I was lucky enough to get a third chance.. And Dammit.. I fell at the swings again.  So that was my run.. Rather disappointed that I didn't finish the challenge.. But it was tons of fun.. I enjoyed myself heaps.. and I wasn't shy about it, unlike the rest of the people that were more reserved.


At the end of the day, my staff are closer... And that is the reward that I get from that.. Who cares that I practically threw out my back on my first fall?  It was worth it!