Seattle 2013

Next, I traveled to Seattle in March to reunite with JCC.  The last time I went to Seattle, this happened:

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I really love Seattle and had such a great time with great friends!  Sadly, someone got really sick and couldn’t partake in some of the activities, nevertheless she was such a selfless trooper!  What a great memory to share and I enjoyed every moment together as JECC.

When we arrived, we went straight to Salumi’s (thanks for the rec, Jason!).  We strategically planned our days so that we could try everything we wanted to and do everything that we wanted.  So, we picked up a sandwich form Salumi’s, then dropped off our luggage, and went to:

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Paseo!  I got a bag of coffee beans for MK at Caffe Vita, picked up some dessert from Pie, and headed over to:

Gas Work’s Park!  We ate our Paseo cuban sandwich, Salumi’s sandwich and meatballs, and pie from Pie.

The famous troll!  Also seen here (10 Things I Hate About You)

Unfortunately, it’s not salmon swimming season, so we didn’t get to see any fish swim by here.  But this is the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks or Ballard Locks.  How they engineered this is pretty fascinating.  Then you go downstairs and you’re supposed to be able to see schools of fish.

Destroysters, coined by CK.  Elliot’s Oyster House has the most amazing happy hour ever.  75cents per oyster and 25cents added every hour until 6pm.

This pie is not joking around.

We hiked the Rattlesnake Trail to the Rattlesnake Ledge.  We took photos for 45 minutes when we got to the ledge – I posted 4 photos, but I have a hundred of us doing funky poses.  Mostly Cat & CK being super hilarious and daring, and me crying from acrophobia (fear of heights).

We headed to Pike Place market for some fish air, walking around, etc.  Beecher’s handmade cheese was cheesetastic, Piroshky Piroshky was pir-aweshome, Steelhead has gravilicious poutine fries, and all the food sampling was satisfying!  We also stopped by the first Starbucks.

Gum alley, 2013

Space Needle, 2013

Old friends reuniting and new friends meeting.  What?  CK’s friend Carol lives in Seattle, so she took us to Brave Horse Tavern, which had an amazing selection of beer and such good food, and then to a gelato place (I forgot the name).

It had to be done.

Friday

There are lots of perks to working in Los Angeles, specifically Hollywood; so I was super excited this place just opened up!  I’ve been to the one in West Hollywood, and this location is walking distance from my work.

Here’s some links that I wanted to share:

Perfect idea for a picnic

Childhood in New York (via dailymuse)

Worst advice.  Ever.

Clip of Arrested Development (so excited for the new episodes coming on May 26!)

Jimmy Kimmel, you’re awesome:  Lie Witness News (people being excited about fake bands, lol)

Stretch your vocabulary! (via CupOfJo)

This is an old article, but I still think it’s cool.  Super mom bikes with six kids and no car.

Hawaii 2013

2013 has been amazing so far and I’ve been meaning to share my experiences, but I got super lazy.  So lazy that some Christmas presents I’ve received are still in the corner, in the bag.

I can’t believe it’s already end of April, and I’ve turned 26!  I’m embracing 26 and excited to see what God has in store for me this year.

Anyway, I’ll try to post up pictures from my traveling and not so much traveling that’s happened since January.  And I’ll start with Hawaii:

I went to Hawaii in February for the first time to celebrate two of my friends’ birthdays and it was so memorable!  We stayed in Maui for a week, but surprisingly, we had such a packed schedule.  There’s much to do in Maui!  Not so much after 9pm, but still.

Once we landed, we  had to try Maui’s version of Giovanni’s shrimp: Geste Shrimp.  It was intensely satisfying.  Funny enough, after we devoured our meal, I still craved Boiling Crab.

Hawaii has the best costco, ever!  We stacked on snacks and gifts/souvenirs for friends and family like crazed tourists.  “Made in Hawaii?  GOT IT.”  Also, they had a fresh poke station, and it was dang good.  Why you so cool, costco.

At 3 in the morning, we drove out to Haleakala National Park to catch the sunrise on top of the mountain.  We did not take everyone‘s warnings of low temperatures and windchill, or their advice to take lots of warm clothes.  I was thinking, it’s Hawaii, how cold can it be?  BAH!  SO COLD!  I’ve never felt so cold in my life and every time the wind passed through our blankets and make-shift tent we created, it was painful.  Nevertheless, we got to witness the beautiful sunrise; it was worth it.

Of course, obligatory beach photo.  Why is the middle so yellow.  Must be the sand; that’s how clear the water is.

Ululani’s Hawaiian Shaved Ice.  This place is pretty close to Ululani’s and located in Fullerton, CA.

The next day, we got up again at 5 in the morning, to take our adventure on the road: Road to Hana that is.  We realized we kept talking about “the road to Hana is hard, the road to Hana is blee, bloop, blah” and then didn’t realize what Hana even was.  It’s a small town in Maui, folks.  But it’s on the edge of the coastline and about a 2-hour drive through hills, mountains, and unpaved roads.  It was a little touch and go for a while, we didn’t think our car could handle all the unpaved roads, but it was the little engine that could.  Thank you again to the people who drove the treacherous roads!

We stopped by Waianapanapa State Park to visit Black Sand Beach.  It was so serene and beautiful.  Click the link to find out why it’s “black sand beach.”  The short version: volcanic rocks turned into sand.  We also got to visit the caves that were nearby.

We then got to hike the Pipiwai Trail to see the Waimoku Falls.  It’s a 400 feet waterfall and the waterfall was so impressive!  However, the trail was just as beautiful and peaceful.  We entered the Bamboo forest – literally thousands of bamboo trees.  One of the best hiking experiences ever.

Short story:  We saw this old grandpa hiking along the trail with us.  I even remember saying, “be careful” under my breath.  I got so afraid for the man.  But as we were hopping and crossing the streams, I fell.  In front of the grandpa.

I had to take a moment to regroup.

Then we made it in time for our Luau!  Woo~

The picture is super bright – I tried to fix the lighting since it looks like I photoshopped us into oblivion, but it’s the natural light!  We went snorkeling and swimming the next morning.  I can’t believe how many fish there were next to us and just hanging out.  Our other friend has all the swimming photos – looking forward to seeing those sometime soon, Julie!

The “Ryan Gosling” doppleganger photobombed our picture.  He was really cool, gave me lots of ginger soda since I was hullabaloo with seasickness.

Then we had a nice dinner to celebrate Julie & Annie’s birthday!  Woo, thank you for planning this trip and inviting us to celebrate with you guys! Janice took this candid photo of them.  #bffs.

Here’s all of us in our hotel lobby after the dinner.  Last time we’d all be together, since some of the other girls had different departure times.

The next morning (the morning we leave), we had to eat all of the food we bought from Costco.  This milk tea is only made in Hawaii, and it was really good.  Even with edamame and bananas.

What an amazing trip filled with beautiful people and memories.  Can’t wait to come back again!