Here is my super-post for January! Max got me a new digital camera for Christmas so I hope to make the best use out of its advanced pictures by taking more pictures of our day-to-day as well as getting into the more recreational hobby of taking pictures in general. Of course, the subject I am most likely going to practice on is Lulu:
Here is Lulu with a strong grip around Tofu on our way home from Rosanna's Christmas dinner:
New Years' Eve
We spent New Years' Eve in Temecula with Marcela and Mason at their new house. We kicked off the night with a Prix Fixe dinner at Baily's in Old Town Temecula.
We had the center table in the Rotunda room -- it was a little awkward because we were the youngest people there. The median age in the room had to be around 55. Oh, and we were the only Asians. =)
*Note: I am still getting the hang of using the camera in different settings so as you can see, experimenting in a restaurant is not the best setting to get a consistent shot.
After dinner, we hung out at M&M's house to watch various New Years' Eve countdowns on TV while enjoying a bottle of wine.
Lulu chose to stay near the fireplace for most of the night.
The next day we went to South Coast Winery for brunch. Unfortunately we woke up too late so we had to settle for lunch instead.
Las Vegas
The next weekend, Max and I went to Las Vegas with Marcela and Mason to make use of their free room offer at the Monte Carlo. I have to say it had to be my most enjoyable Vegas trip ever -- great food, great entertainment and even better company.
We saw the Phantom Spectacular at the Venetian -- I'd seen the production at the OCPAC but this one was much, much better. First of all it was shorter, so that was nice. There was never a dull moment or pause. Secondly, the more permanent stage allowed for fancier effects like the falling chandelier (which fell a few rows behind us) and some crazy pyrotechnics. All in all it was an amazing show, one of my favorites musically.
The next day we hit up Bellagio for some shopping and browsing... they had the cutest display in the atrium for the Lunar New Year. This foliage scene of a panda family was my favorite:
We headed over to the Jean Philippe Patisserie to hunt down my favorite cheese sticks but I was disappointed to find that they don't carry them anymore. We were, however, pretty amazed by the chocolate sculptures they had rotating above the coffee shop for the Lunar New Year:
Then, of course, my favorite part of the trip was our dinner at Joe's Stone Crab. This is the one part of Vegas I always miss and crave. Their delicious stone crabs are always consistently sweet and refreshing.
We decided to share a bunch of appetizers and the oysters were better than expected too, we ended up doubling our order to a full dozen.
Fast forward to last Wednesday, Yona, Aai and I (hah, that sounds funny) spent the afternoon in Cerritos and had a quick meal at Tea Station. I go there way too much.
Yona's Birthday
Last Saturday, we celebrated Yona's birthday by going to dimsum in LA. After lunch, we headed back to my place for cake where Yona opened her birthday present.
Aai was more enthusiastic about the present than Yona was.
Her interest was short-lived. 2 second later she was on the couch, stressed over the poor picture quality of her digital camera.
After the excitement over taking pictures with the TV box, we wound down with some chocolate cheesecake from Amandine's.
We ended the afternoon with a few rounds of Wii Sports, as we all kicked John's butt in tennis and boxing.
The Weekend
On Sunday Max and I hit up the farmer's market for some flowers and fresh vegetables.
Later that night we put the fresh strawberries to good use by making crepes using the crepe mix Rosanna got me for Christmas.
It took a couple of tries but I started getting pretty good on the crepe machine. Though without the correct tools, the crepes came out a little thicker than I would have liked.
Nevertheless they turned out pretty darn good.
Here is Joanna enjoying her creation:
Here is Lulu with a strong grip around Tofu on our way home from Rosanna's Christmas dinner:
New Years' Eve
We spent New Years' Eve in Temecula with Marcela and Mason at their new house. We kicked off the night with a Prix Fixe dinner at Baily's in Old Town Temecula.
We had the center table in the Rotunda room -- it was a little awkward because we were the youngest people there. The median age in the room had to be around 55. Oh, and we were the only Asians. =)
*Note: I am still getting the hang of using the camera in different settings so as you can see, experimenting in a restaurant is not the best setting to get a consistent shot.
After dinner, we hung out at M&M's house to watch various New Years' Eve countdowns on TV while enjoying a bottle of wine.
Lulu chose to stay near the fireplace for most of the night.
The next day we went to South Coast Winery for brunch. Unfortunately we woke up too late so we had to settle for lunch instead.
Las Vegas
The next weekend, Max and I went to Las Vegas with Marcela and Mason to make use of their free room offer at the Monte Carlo. I have to say it had to be my most enjoyable Vegas trip ever -- great food, great entertainment and even better company.
We saw the Phantom Spectacular at the Venetian -- I'd seen the production at the OCPAC but this one was much, much better. First of all it was shorter, so that was nice. There was never a dull moment or pause. Secondly, the more permanent stage allowed for fancier effects like the falling chandelier (which fell a few rows behind us) and some crazy pyrotechnics. All in all it was an amazing show, one of my favorites musically.
The next day we hit up Bellagio for some shopping and browsing... they had the cutest display in the atrium for the Lunar New Year. This foliage scene of a panda family was my favorite:
We headed over to the Jean Philippe Patisserie to hunt down my favorite cheese sticks but I was disappointed to find that they don't carry them anymore. We were, however, pretty amazed by the chocolate sculptures they had rotating above the coffee shop for the Lunar New Year:
Then, of course, my favorite part of the trip was our dinner at Joe's Stone Crab. This is the one part of Vegas I always miss and crave. Their delicious stone crabs are always consistently sweet and refreshing.
We decided to share a bunch of appetizers and the oysters were better than expected too, we ended up doubling our order to a full dozen.
Fast forward to last Wednesday, Yona, Aai and I (hah, that sounds funny) spent the afternoon in Cerritos and had a quick meal at Tea Station. I go there way too much.
Yona's Birthday
Last Saturday, we celebrated Yona's birthday by going to dimsum in LA. After lunch, we headed back to my place for cake where Yona opened her birthday present.
Aai was more enthusiastic about the present than Yona was.
Her interest was short-lived. 2 second later she was on the couch, stressed over the poor picture quality of her digital camera.
After the excitement over taking pictures with the TV box, we wound down with some chocolate cheesecake from Amandine's.
We ended the afternoon with a few rounds of Wii Sports, as we all kicked John's butt in tennis and boxing.
The Weekend
On Sunday Max and I hit up the farmer's market for some flowers and fresh vegetables.
Later that night we put the fresh strawberries to good use by making crepes using the crepe mix Rosanna got me for Christmas.
It took a couple of tries but I started getting pretty good on the crepe machine. Though without the correct tools, the crepes came out a little thicker than I would have liked.
Nevertheless they turned out pretty darn good.
Here is Joanna enjoying her creation:
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