Viva Las Vegas!

My good friend from college BS invited E and I to Las Vegas. We left their home in Corona at around 4:30AM, and got there right in time for breakfast. After breakfast at IHOP, we went straight to Mandalay Bay for the Shark Reef Aquarium. Couldn't resist a photo by THE Wedding Chapel. We saw a couple of similar chapels when we drove through the strip, but this might be special because it's in the posh Mandalay Bay.

We had a late lunch at Applebee's where I had the Shrimp and Pomelo Salad, and I loved it. After lunch we checked in at our hotel, and wow, were we surprised. BS and wife SS went all out and booked us at the luxurious Wynn Hotel. E and I were so excited, and so grateful for their generosity. It was so hard to leave our hotel room, but we still had a lot to explore.

After enjoying our hotel room and resting for a few hours, we walked through the strip and it was really exciting! The lights, people all dressed up for parties or clubs, and the party atmosphere, it was all so glamorous!

Right in front of the Wynn

In front of the Bellagio where we watched the dancing fountains

Paris and Bally's hotels in the background

Inside the Venetian

We got back to the hotel at around 1AM and we were exhausted walking the 2 mile strip. The next morning, we went to Caesar's Palace and the Bellagio because we missed those the night before.

The grand entrance of the Bellagio


Buffet Brunch at the Bellagio Coffee Shop

We were very fortunate to have been invited by the S family. It was such a grand vacation, the generous and very gracious hosts didn't let us spend for anything, and we are truly very grateful. We will never forget this Las Vegas holiday, and will forever be thankful for good friends!

Other Southern California Highlights

We love Southern California primarily because we have family and friends there. But in addition, (window) shopping is great. We came at the right time, all stores were on sale, whether it was Ikea and South Coast Plaza (love this mall!All the designer boutiques were there, Chanel, Bottega, Tory Burch, Louis Vuitton...you name it, it's there -- it was really nice to LOOK around, yup, that was all we did, look around) in Costa Mesa, Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga or Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.

It was indeed great to have spent time with the T family (again) who were such thoughtful and generous hosts. We always look forward to time with them. I also caught up with high school good friend HF and friend from grade school MH.

Lunch at Ikea Costa Mesa with RT. Had the famous swedish meatballs.

Dinner with HF at Claim Jumper in South Coast Plaza

Dinner with MH at Kabuki in Victoria Gardens, Rancho Cucamonga

Bonding with the T family

Santa Monica and Long Beach

We were wonderfully suprised that even if it is not our first time in this part of the States, there is still so much more to discover. I loved everything about Santa Monica. The way they have developed their beaches with the walkways, the ferris wheel, the food and souvenir stalls, the restaurants, everything. Not to forget Third Street Promenade, which is now one of my favorite shopping malls. Two blouses from Zara at USD9.99 each. Jackpot! The Apple, H&M, Forever 21 stores were also nice.

Third Street Promenade

After Santa Monica, the T family brought us to Long Beach for dinner. We had dinner at Yard House, where we had that very spicy Tuna Sashimi Salad, pizza, pasta, giant onion rings, and others I don't remember now. We had a great time!!!

Revisiting Princeton

One of our biggest regrets from our US trip last year was that when we got to Princeton, it was already too dark to take nice pictures (read about Princeton last year and look at our dark photos here). E's cousin RC, our host on our last night in the East, so kindly brought us to Princeton for the second time. This time around, we took a lot of pictures because we absolutely love Princeton. My dream is to be able to stay in the university town and just watch people and time go by... while teaching or studying there!

Thawing at Panera

Chinese buffet dinner with E's cousin RC and wife MC

Visiting Friends by the Jersey Shore

E and I visited a good friend from high school, Dr. NN in Hazlet near the Jersey shore. It was a lovely and peaceful place. We spent the day with them, lunch at a dimsum place, a short trip to Best Buy so E can buy a wall charger for his iPod Touch and hanging at their house playing Wii and watching "Eagle Eye" on DVD. We had dinner at a very good Vietnamese restaurant near their place, loved the beef noodle soup and appetizers. We enjoyed time with his family very much.

Shopping and Dining in New York

Gadget-lover RL showed off his iPod Touch to E and E, without 2nd thoughts, was determined to get one for himself. On our 2nd day in New York, we were on a mission. We went straight to that grand Apple Store on 5th Avenue where E purchased his iPod Touch.

After a few hours of walking around, DL brought us to her favorite salad place chop't for lunch. The salad was so delicious, refreshing and surprisingly so filling.

That evening, DL and RL brought us to Dinosaur Bar B Que in Harlem (646 W 131st St.New York, NY 10027, Tel No. 212-694-1777). Loved everything that we ordered from the appetizer deviled eggs, to the buffalo wings, and of course, the ribs. Yummy, thanks for bringing us there DL and RL, and thanks for the treat, too!

For dessert, we bought Magnolia Bakery's (Uptown: 200 Columbus Avenue) famous cupcakes. Loved the icing on the cupcakes, I could easily eat two in one sitting...

New Year in New York 2

Have you heard of the saying that whatever you are doing on New Year's day will be what you will do in the coming new year. It seemed true for us, because on New Year's last year, we were also in New York! (Read about our New Year's Day last year here)

As before, we took the train from New Jersey (Metropark station) to NY Penn Station. We got to New York at about lunch time and we walked up from NY Penn to Times Square. It was so cold we couldn't feel our toes by the time we reached Times Square, so we had to thaw at Dean and Deluca where we met our gracious hosts and dear friends DL and husband RL. To welcome us, they treated us to Max Brenner chocolate drinks which were perfect for the freezing weather. Next stop was the Brooklyn Bridge Promenade where we saw the famous Brooklyn Bridge for the first time, and we had a great time taking pictures until it was too dark.

For dinner, we were so lucky to be invited to the L family's New Year's dinner in Manhattan, where RL's mom and sister cooked everything, and all the dishes were so delicious E and I helped ourselves to 3 servings! (yup, matagal nang nasira ang diet ko!)

Snow!

One of the reasons why we love going to the States in winter, walang ganito sa Pilipinas!

A Glimpse of New York

December 30, 2008. MS so kindly took us on a short trip to New York. Since we haven't gone to Chinatown, Battery Park and have not seen the Statue of Liberty on our previous trip to New York, that was precisely what we went to see. Although the original plan was to have lunch in Chinatown, parking was impossible that we ended up eating in Newark at this charming Portuguese restaurant. At least we managed to buy a dozen of that famous baked siopao (we wanted two dozens, but they ran out) from this popular dimsum place.

Pasalubong Shopping

December 29, 2008. Since MS (my cousin KS' wife) was off from work, we tagged along with her for grocery shopping. This was the best time to buy all the "bilins" so that we can fill up a balikbayan box before we leave New Jersey. We went to Costco for my parents' medicines and vitamins, chocolates, a year's supply of batteries in all sizes (yup, a lot cheaper there) and a lot of other things. I had to stop myself from buying additional bath and bed linen... we haven't used more that half of what we purchased last year. Next on the list was Wal-Mart for Hormel Chili con Carne (E's family's favorite snack) and cosmetics and toiletries that were mostly "bilins".

In the evening, we finally decided to buy the Roomba (been obsessing about it since last year)from Kohl's. Am really excited for it to finally arrive. We also went to Bridgewater Commons, the nearest mall to buy Bath and Body Works products for pasalubong and our own consumption. Luckily, BBW was already in the middle of its semi-annual sale. I bought my year's supply of home fragrance oils (I hope I got enough), hand sanitizers and liquid hand soaps. At day's end, we were able to fill up the Balikbayan Box.

Hoodies

I love hoodies, they help me look young and keep me really warm! So, in a span of 2 days, I have bought for myself 2 hoodies, one in purple/violet from Kohl's at USD12, and one in off-white from an H&M outlet for USD15. From then on, I knew I couldn't spend more than USD15 for a hoodie!