Xmas Sushi Night

we spend our xmas at a friend's house making sushi. also did white elephant latter on and i got toilet cleaner... orz
the takoyaki was good...

Le crepe cafe

it's a new place that just opened for crepe. they got live music which is a plus. the food is a bit oily, but the taste is good. i would definitely come back for their dinner for 2 for $39, served everyday~

San Diego Xmas Trip

it's the 3rd time i attend my dad's company xmas trip. this year we went to San Diego for 2 days. we stayed at Paradise Point Resort and the place is beautiful. we didn't do anything on the 1st day except lunch at phil's bbq and had a buffet style dinner with prime rib at the resort.

the best i like about the trip is about the outdoor breakfast by the sea. i love the view and the place was lovely!
the next day we went to SD zoo. last time i was here was in 2005. i think the most fun part was the aerial tram ride. we also went on the bus tour that i didn't do last time. i think we actually got better views of the animals on the bus.

Chin ma Ya

3.5 ★★★ for the ambiance and the service
3.5 ★★★ for the food
$ 30 and below
we were going to daikuya ramen, but there were over 10 people waiting in line before us. so we end up going to chin ma ya which is fine with me because i also want to try it out. i like their tofu over the noodle. but i would suggest another place located on the 3rd floor inside the plaza. they have much better ramen imo.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Dinner at our new home.

Getty Center

tourist sight! visiting getter again after couple years, i didn't know getty has such a nice view.

C&O Trattoria

4 ★★★★ for the ambiance and the service
4 ★★★★ for the food
$$ 30~50
i love the out door seating! it's a good place for people watching and good food. i ordered the flat noodle with boneless beef short rib. thumps up!

Loreal Mascara

Free mascara from Loreal by winning a draw on their facebook page~ hehee~ lucky~

Halloween

John Williams theme night
party at a friend house. I dressed up as Bella in Harry Potter. but not really success. most people can't tell other than i am a witch.

Kaori

4 ★★★★ for the ambiance and the service
4 ★★★★ for the food
$$$ 50~100
we sat at the bar and had omakase style. the chef is young and what surprised me was the uni soup. it looks stylish, like a dish i would see in a French restaurant. but other than that, the omakae didn't impress me. i like the meal in little Tokyo a lot more.
oh no! where's my head.... lol

Happy 3rd Year

today is our 3rd year together. we stayed home and did some homemade cooking. white wine clam with salmon and scallop. i also got Moet from costco. lovely meal. ♥ ♥

CoCo's

new curry place opened in RH. i saw it often in taiwan but never tried it. i had the vegetable with cheese curry. good enough that'll make me come back for more. you can also add $1.5 for drink and small salad at lunch time. but i think curry house get bigger portion and choice.

King's Fish

4 ★★★★ for the ambiance and the service
4 ★★★★ for the food
$$$ 50~100
2nd company dinner this year! luv it every time when it comes to company dinner. we went to king's fish for seafood. i ordered the filet mignon w/ lobster tail. it was good, but i think TAPS has better entry. i love the NY steak from TAPS and TAPS also got better desserts. i also tried their nuts crushed halibut which i would recommend.

PH chang

expensive chinese restaurant. i ordered orange chicken and sea bass. i felt like i am eating at home when sitting at the table. i like both entries, but i don't like the price. it'll probably my last time eat here.

Chado tea room

4 ★★★★ for the ambiance and the service
3.5 ★★★★ for the food
$ $18 a person
i got deal online which cost us only $15 for the tea + $10 worth of tea to take home. we got 3 layered tea set and we got to pick any tea on the menu. i picked the darjeeling worder tea which is $9 oz. but the tea wasn't very strong b/c they didn't put tea leaf in the pot. when i ask for hot water on the 2nd run, it's just water~~ argh... i liked their sandwich better, but their scone was soso. we got to pick 3 kinds of tea to take home. i chose the earl grey and their house afternoon tea blend. we sat outside since the weather was lovely. we were there for almost 2 hours and went shopping around the Japanese village next to it.

Korean bbq

they have pig grills for bbq, how cute.

Moon cake

moon cake from company!

Floor Remodel

二樓原本是地毯. 我們什麼都自己來, 把他拆掉換木板.
先舖一層軟墊
快弄好囉~
本來客廳也想自己換, 不過光樓上一個人就弄了一個禮拜, 又費力. 如果不是做興趣, 建議大家還是花錢請別人吧. 客廳原本是不同顏色, 一半磁磚, 一半木板, 不是很好看.
蓋上木板果然空間感加大. 果然有錢好辦事, 客廳2天就弄好了!

Kitchen Remodel

sink大改造
這是原本舊舊的塑膠樣子. 邊邊有漏水
接下來就是把他拆掉, 剛開始用刮刀, 怎麼弄就是弄不下來, 然後用扁鑽敲進去, 四邊都敲, 一下就起來了. 拆水管也是一大工程.
然後把水管接好, 放上去, 粘好膠就好了. 網路上看教學好像很簡單就想自己試試看. 其實還滿累的. 要買一大堆工具, 每天慢慢弄了3天.
將將~~ 變不繡剛sink了~ 美吧~ babe辛苦了♥ ♥ ♥

Bobee

another Taiwanese restaurant opened in the area. we always give it a try for something new. i like their pork chop, but their side dish was kinda weird. they have Taiwanese entertainment channel showing on tv.

Kanpai & 神樂

4 ★★★★ for the ambiance and the service
4 ★★★★ for the food
$$ 30 and below
Tonkatsu from 神樂. i ordered the tomato sauce one. i think the original is better. they gave u sesame to make your own sauce at beginning. we also had ramam for lunch at Kanpai. it's pretty good, their combo comes with small raman, salad and a side rice.

Movie night

outdoor movie night~ 武侠~ funny

Harry Potter

Movie at arclight. it all ends!! finally the last episode after 10 years~ we saw article in book says that arclight allows alcohol in the movie and that's why we visit here. but not really, there's a bar next to it, but you can't bring it into the seating. what a disappointment.

il chianti

4 ★★★★ for the ambiance and the service
4 ★★★★ for the food
$$ 30 and below
i went for their lunch set menu. there's only 3 options for the set menu and all comes with appetizer, soup, dessert and drink. i like how they made their appetizer into small bits and looks lovely. the lunch menu is a great value, but their regular menu seems to be much better tasting IMO. nevertheless, i love the ambiance after all.

Bonfire & Grunion

we went for bonfire at the cabrillo beach. the beach is beautiful and very romantic with the full moon. we were planning to catch grunion that day as well, but we waited the whole night and no sign of it. too bad~

LA夜景

we decided to go for night view after the dinner. we started driving anywhere looking at the map on GPS and head into Hollywood mountain. as we go up the hill, luckily we saw a viewing area within the residential. There were couple of people there already watching over the hill. it's was sunset by the time we arrived and i love the view!! very romantic and pretty.

七夕情人晚餐

4.5 ★★★★ for the ambiance and the service
3.5 ★★★ for the food
$$$ 50~100
Dinner at Gonpachi. love the ambiance! the place is actually a lot small than it looks on the website. i imaged it as a big castle w/ a big garden. they also got 2nd floor seating area which is cool! i got the kabuki 5 course set for $45. it comes with starter, sashimi, skewers from the grill, cold soba, and dessert. babe got the gopachi course which is pretty much the same but with extra main course included. food presentation was nice and it all tasted good. i am kinda surprised this place is famous for their soba b/c it's not the best i've had and i can't really tell what's so special about it. but I love their dessert! i just wish they could change thing up in their courses. it's kinda boring to get same thing on different course.

Il Buco

4 ★★★★ for the ambiance and the service
4 ★★★★ for the food
$$ 30~50
obviously i came here for the ink squid risotto. love it! it tastes great with a splash of lemon! the lemon is the secret weapon and makes it so much better. the service was really nice and made us felt welcome. i think it's worth a drive for the risotto. i don't know any where else can i find it.

Jazz cat

yeah~ they got blue ribbon cheese pork chop! love it love it! i've been looking for it for a while. to be honest, it tasted like veal parmesan. i latter found tea bar also have cheese pork too.

Transformer

i love Bumblebeei!!! he is so cute!! i also like Shia LaBeouf! i think he is a pretty good actor! but they change the girl from Megan Fox to Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. to be honest, i forget most of the story in part 1 & 2. #3 is pretty good too and i don't felt it's long at all. they could retouch more on the ending. i always felt the ending is kinda weak. and they didn't get any new weapon this time... i wanna some new member, not old Sentinel~

4 season tea room

4 ★★★★ for the ambiance and the service
3 ★★★ for the food
$22 per person
貴婦day~~ sat. afternoon tea is totally for girl's talk w/ gossip~ i got the coupon online which only cost me $16 for the tea. the house was lovely. the room decor and tea set is very pretty. we had the sandwich w/ scone. i think overall the sandwich is ok. girls don't really come here for the food, but for the ambiance. we chatted for almost 3hrs at the tea room. lol~ good thing the owner didn't throw us out. the place wasn't really packed, mostly were mid-age women.

The Clubhouse

4 ★★★★ for the ambiance and the service
4 ★★★★ for the food
$25.99 per person
i miss brunch buffet, so we researched online and found the clubhouse. it's almost like castaway! they got variety of food including oyster, prime ribs, crab legs, and chocolate fondue!! compare w/ other buffets in LA, i think it's pretty cheap! they also got live jazz band! lovely!

Savannah Chop

4 ★★★★ for the ambiance and the service
4 ★★★★ for the food
$$ 30~50
perfect 10 menu! love it! good food for good price. they also have truffle fries, but i like the one in vegas a lot better. i ordered the pork entry and it's quite unique. the place seems to be for elderly. I guess we were there too early for the dinner. i saw a lot grandma and grandpa sitting next to us.

Mission San Juan

beautiful place. San Juan is the largest mission in the CA. the place make me felt i am in Rome! $8 entry w/ $1 off coupon. i am glad the place wasn't crowded w/ full of tourist. there's also a shopping district. We looked around and visited the san juan amtrack station which is right next to it w/in walking distance.

Onion Head

another new restaurant opened around the area. we checked on yelp review before coming here and we didn't expect too much. i had bacon with mushroom spaghetti and i like it. they also have Kaya Toast. I saw it on TV before and always want to try it. it suppose to be coconut with milk cream butter, but it tasted like orange jam to me. i never had kaya toast before, but it doesn't tasted like what i saw on tv. :S

Shakespeare Festival @ Griffin Park

free event happening this month. we checked out the festival on Sat. and it was a fun experience. we also checked out the old LA zoo which was right next to it. the zoo was kinda spooky, so i just stayed outside and took pictures. the stage was small but you get good view anywhere you sit. a lot people were having picnic, and we were smart enough to bring our blanket, snacks and drinks as well. :p the show starts at 7pm and runs until 10pm i believe. we didn't finish watching the show since it's getting kinda dark, so we left during the intermission.

Phoenix

last day of the trip. we decided to stay here only b/c it's closer to drive back on our last day. there weren't very much to see here. we were planning to visit the Mystery house and called to check the hour in the morning and found out it actually not open. omg... another bad example when you don't get prepared... since we got no choice, we end up visiting the heritage square at downtown and drove around the area. we left around noon and stopped by palm spring for our early dinner.