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My birthday is coming up towards the end of this month, and my companion has decided to take me on a road trip down to Southern California (Los Angeles to be exact). We are going to drive my new station wagon (which I found out is also categorized as a “shooting-brake station wagon” in car/auto language) down to Los Angeles for an extended 3-day weekend & just relax. I’ve got my fingers crossed hoping that the weather will be warm enough for a no-sweater-necessary weekend getaway.
Ok, so from where we live (near San Francisco), Los Angeles doesn’t seem like such an exotic or very exciting place to “get away”, but it’s a place very familiar to us that we want to explore more of. Plus, it’s the most affordable option, since April seems to be one of the most expensive months out of the year to travel, & we just want to go there dang-nab-it. Oh yeah… Also, my husband wanted to do something special for my birthday while saving some money by driving instead of flying, since we’re traveling overseas at the end of the year…again. Yes, we’re going to Asia again. Our friends are getting married in Taiwan, so we will be there for 1 week. Then, we planned a 10-day layover in Japan to lower the cost of the plane tickets. (It was less expensive for us to book a flight with a layover rather than fly direct.)
I chose to head to Los Angeles for my birthday & try the local food scene over there. I live near San Francisco & practically go there every weekend, so I’ve pretty much plunged right into the whole foodie culture/movement. I’m not quite at the organic-everything, gluten-free, açai, kale veggie, foodie level… BUT… I have sort-of gotten into the whole locally-sourced, small-batch, seasonal ingredients menu, phase. I thought it would be cool to try out some local (& possibly hip, but not hipster) places to eat. I’m also on a quest to find some tasty pastries & non-Starbucks coffee while we’re there. For my birthday, my companion & I made reservations at a semi-swanky restaurant close to the hotel. (I’m staying at The Standard hotel in Downtown LA by the way.)
It’s only a 3-day trip, but I’m very much looking forward to it. I’ve decided to treat myself to a special manicure with nail art at my favorite Japanese nail salon (Marie Nails), & my companion is going to get his hair cut at a traditional-style old school barber shop (Baxter Finley Barber & Shop) which he read also serves whiskey & other alcoholic beverages to its customers. The birthday getaway trip is only a few short weeks away, but I’m already anticipating it with a child-like excitement. Cheers!
Yesterday was such a busy & packed day. It was one of the main days of my vacation where I had to take care of some urgent/serious family matters. By the time we got back to our hotel room later that night, both my travel companion & I were so exhausted that we fell asleep almost as soon as we changed out of our street clothes. We were opening some gifts given to us by my cousins & my uncle, & after moving all the stuff off our beds, we were watching some TV before getting ready for bed. Before we realized it, we were fast asleep. We were so tired, we didn’t even get to brush our teeth or anything like that. Sooooo… I didn’t get around to posting any entries yesterday. Oops. In the meantime, here are some photos of the gifts I received:
Limited Edition Mikimoto brand 2012 sterling silver photo frame
mosquito repellent
fish flavor soup base, in a dried powder package
variety pack of instant ramen
Finally, I will end this post with a picture from the hometown my dad’s family is from…YOKOHAMA (which is 45 minutes south of Tokyo by subway train):
Woo-Hoo! I’m back to writing regular entries on this blog again.
I just recently arrived in Tokyo, Japan (yesterday) with my husband. My traveling companion & I will be in Tokyo for one week before we jet off to China for another week. We had originally planned to use this vacation time as our fun time…but alas…we have some serious family matters to take care of while we are traveling, so this is going to be one heck of a ride folks!
The first thing I want to say is: HOW COME I’VE NEVER FLOWN ON ANA EVERY SINGLE TIME BEFORE NOW??! Every other time we have traveled to Tokyo, we’ve always flown via United Airlines. It’s not the worst airline we’ve ever flown on, but it’s at least the most basic to get us to our destination. Then, when we flew on ANA this time around, we were so blown away by how awesome the airline was! The service was great, our seats were comfortable & (with the help of our own noise-cancelling headphones) we had a relatively no-screaming-kids flight.
1. The seats were very comfortable with plenty of leg room, even for a 6 foot tall person. When the seats recline, only the bottom seat-cushion and back cushion slide down & forward…so the back rest doesn’t push backwards & obstruct the space of the person sitting behind you. Also, the headrest adjusts up & down for comfort.
2. There is a foot-rest for each seat! This really is a huge comfort plus…
3. Each seat has its own interactive TV screen, which you can watch various videos, movies &/or listen to music. There is also a USB connector, so you can plug in your MP3 player & listen to your own music. Also, the movie selection was really good. There were about 12 or so movies to choose from, so you don’t have to watch the same Disney channel kids movie on repeat while on a long flight. The only downside is you can’t adjust/swivel the TV screen, so if you want to prop your head to the side, you will get an annoying glare from the screen’s privacy coating.
4. Our in-flight meals didn’t taste like cardboard or mush. They actually tasted pretty decent. My husband was pleasantly surprised to find that ANA serves Suntory the Premium Malts beer on the flight…not just the usual Asahi or Sapporo. Also, did I mention there was a handy cup holder for your drinks?
5. One of the best moments of our flight…right after they served the first (& the main) meal, the flight attendants came around & served Häagen Dazs ice cream to all of us. As some of you may or may not know, Häagen Dazs is my all-time favorite brand of ice cream. Like. Ever.
That pretty much sums up our awesome in-flight experience. I’d love to post a blog entry each day about my goings-on in Tokyo while I’m here, but I think I’ll just stick to posting just the highlights… maybe a few highlights of each day. Until then, I’ll leave you with 2 random pictures for now.
Can you guess what brand of soda this is?? If you guessed SPRITE, then you’re correct!
The legendary vending machine(s) of Japan. This one dispenses both hot & cold drinks. Yes, I said HOT & COLD. The drinks marked in blue are cold. The drinks marked in red are hot…& yes, they do come out HOT, not lukewarm. Perfect for the chilly morning weather!
Rabbits & Foxes 
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