Traffic's a Bitch!

First of all, a million thanks to John for agreeing to drive all the way from Newport to Malibu. Second of all, screw the traffic on PCH. It was soooo excruciating. Stuck on PCH for 1.5 hours on a route that supposedly takes only 20 minutes! !(#*)@($&* Gotta blame Jay for getting the tix for the wrong day and time :p

Upon reaching the Getty parking lot, we were so relieved. Quickly went around to explore the place. The view of the ocean from the top is just beautiful. No wonder people pay millions to live in here.
The entrance to the villa looked absolutely marvellous. The whole roman architecture of the building seems so inviting. After taking some (a lot :p) of pictures, we finally headed inside the villa.
Started off the tour with a boring introduction video about the making of villa. Zzzzzzz.
Right after, we explored their antiquities collections. I couldn't believe that all these started from the craze of one man. One rich man, I should say. I wonder whether the man himself can remember everything that he collected.
Apparently, we were told that the exhibits were arranged according to themes.Greek and Roman, Gods and Goddesses and so on. But if you have zero knowledge on myths like me, everything will eventually look the same. Lol.
Although the antiquities failed to capture my interest, I would still recommend one to visit this place. (if you don't mind the traffic) Why? Because the gardens are really beautiful. The outer peristyle which is build to replicate the Villa dei Papiri is so breathtaking. Would totally want a garden like this in my mansion but with half the size. More land = more cleaning and maintenance. Haha.
Headed off for shopping at 3rd st and dinner at Ktown before retreating back to our hotel at Newport. Wonderful suite with tastefully decorated french bedroom doors. :D

Christmas is Here

Alright another backdated entry. I know I am supposed to be sightseeing and not shopping but the deals here are way too hard to miss. Furthermore, I totally luv the whole busy busy shopping atmosphere. Its like the whole world came out for last minute shopping.

As I stay only a few minutes from South Coast Plaza, the mall became my main bargain hunting arena. Lol. The stores were in a mess; Items on the floor, sizes all mixed up, supra long queue lines but the nice deco round the place lightens up the whole atmosphere. Its like for once I am not too bothered bout the crowded places. I’m almost enjoying the company of fellow shoppers. Lol. However, I do not enjoy it when my sizes are all snapped up!
Since I could not get everything I wanted from my main arena, I decided to move further down south. I’m glad I did as I got so many things I wanted at a super bargain price! Irvine Spectrum is really the place man. Hehe. Most importantly, they have a place open for dinner at Christmas eve. If not, we would have starved to death. Yes, almost every place closes on Christmas Eve down in OC to let ppl go home to spend time with their family. How sweet. So don’t say I didn’t warn you that the place is gonna look deserted on Christmas Day.
If you think that stayin in is the only option in Christmas Day, think again. There is always a place called pubs. Totally luved the deco. But I forgot to take pics of the place. Should’ve totally slapped myself for forgettin. Am totally gonna miss hanging out here in LA. Thanks for the wonderful company. I’ll be back, this I promise you my dreamland. Till we meet again, I’m gonna miss you so much.

I've Found That Christmas Feel

Being unsatisfied with the lights I saw at the LA lights festival and Downtown Disney, I did a lil more research on holiday events. I’m so glad I did! The Newport Beach Boat Parade was so fun. A fireworks display would have completed the experience. Too bad that its cancelled due to the rain.

The Newport Beach Boat Parade is actually OC’s answer to LA’s version at Marina Del Ray. I dunno which one comes first actually. I will need to check the other out in the future to see which is better. But for now, I am totally impressed by what I saw on Friday night.

Lucky for me, the journey down to Newport Beach was smooth. I left my bus schedule at home! Glad that strangers I met on the way are pretty helpful and nice. Chatted with ppl at every bus stop. Why can’t ppl be as warm back home? I stopped to a bus just to ask for direction at some point. The bus driver was even nice enough to drop me to the correct bus stop. Bet I would have been shouted at if the same thing happen back home. Gosh, I’m loving OC. (Do take note that inland OC is not as ‘perfect’ as south OC ok)

So I arrived at the Balboa Island round sunset time, 5pm. Still very early for the parade at 7-8pm. But the 3 hours went pass so fast. I was too busy admiring those Christmas decoration. Apparently, they have an annual contest for the most beautifully decorated home called Ring of Lights. I spent the next 3 hours ogling at the magnificently decorated million dollars home. I did not feel touristy at all as I spotted just as many locals snapping away. Totally wanna do that to my house in the near future. But almost all of these ppl owns a yatch, so think $$$$. Haha. So here are those photos for your inspiration, maybe we can try to be at least half as tastefully lit?

My Favorite House. Its like I'm in Christmas Wonderland

The Theme of A Beary Christmas is so Fresh and Cute

Before I get to even finish checkin out the houses, the parade is about the begin. Having no idea where the route is, I just followed the crowd. Lol. The boat parade was fun. Especially those with Christmas songs playing and lively commentators. My personal Favorite was a small boat with coconut tree, the huge Christmas tree and a boat full of Candies! Photo qualities aren’t as good as the boats are moving fast. Sigh. But its all in my memories. (Actually I video them :p)

After that parade, I headed on to Fashion Island to shop. More like window shop cos I’m broke now. They closed those bus stops nearest to the parade, making me walk all the way uphill to PCH. Argh! But all those effort was well paid off as the deco there was very impressive. The huge Christmas tree is so errrrr humongous. Lol. And I get to take photo with Santa Claus! Call me kiddy, I don’t care. I’ve always wanted to do this. Haha.

Totally luv the holiday season. Not only everyone is in good mood but it is also very easy to get strangers to take photos for you. Now that I’ve found that Christmas feel, I wonder what would supersede this experience? NYC? That’ll have to be next year the earliest. Merry Christmas………Happy Holidays!!!

Baby Its Cold Outside

Yup, its cold cold weather here in LA. Rain rain rain. Couldn't believe it. The most rain they've ever got in a single day and I happened to be here. Though I'm stuck indoors it is alright as I get to chill and enjoy the weather. Hehe.

Been here for almost a week now. Went around shopping and eating. Lol. I really luv shoppin at costco. Why don't they have something like this back home? Its fun buying in bulk and having lots of room to push ur carts! No more banging into people. But it was quite crowded as compared to summetime. Looks like the recession is not that bad after all, judging from the number of shoppers I see.
Shoppin centers were very nicely decorated but too bad I forgot my camera. No worries, I will be going back to shop. Hehe. But I did manage to take photos with my favourite maple tree. Lol.
One of the Chritsmas highlight of the city is the LADPW lights festival. Its actually a display or Christmas lights along a mile of street. There is light display of places of interest like the Hollywood sign, Griffith Observatory, Stastue of Liberty, Golden Gate Bridge, etc. Luckily we decided to walk and not drive through. That helped us bypass the horrendous traffic jam. So remember, do not do the drive through! The walk in the cool weather with the display was really good though. If only I could do this more often.

The light display and decoration at Downtown Disney is definitely more impressive than the LADPW. Well, its commercial after all. Gave the me holiday mood right away. Why is Mickey and friends always this fun? Haha. Gotta visit the park itself in Christmas in the future.
Even the house near my friend's place is nicely decorated. Totally luved that snow globe and reindeer display. But I think the utilities bill will be just as appealing come January. Lol.
Meanwhile Happy Holidays........Christmas is coming. I'm so exicted!

Experiencing the OC

The next 2 days in OC was spent visiting beaches, eating at restaurants and shopping at the mall. Well, that's what the lifestyle of the rich and famous is about after all right.

To satisfy Mixue's craving for Vietnamese food, we went to Brodard twice. Simply because the first time we went was right after clubbin and ppl are still suffering from the alcohol effects. Lol. Second time was much better but we certainly did order too much food. Haha.

Checked out the Crystal Cathedral. A very famous and huge church with glass panels as the structure causing it to give great reflections of the whole surrounding. Very beautiful architecture indeed.

The process and the outcome!

Luv It!

Also spent our time around the very famous Laguna Beach. The beach is so much smaller than the one in Venice. But its compact shops and beach makes the whole places a little more vibrant then its counterpart. True enough what we seen in the TV series can be found here. We were not lucky enough to see famous ppl. Ok, we were too into taking photos and enjoying ourselves that we forgot to look harder. Lol

We also check out a couple of shoppin mall. Actually 3 altogether. Fashion Island near Newport was really posh with all designer brands but its landscaping is just as nice. Irvine Spectrum was impressive with the Morrocan design and African feel. But I still enjoy South Coast the best as it is entirely indoors and definitely with more familiar brands. Watched Dark Knight too. Did not really liked it as it was too complicated and .dark'.

Thanks to John for taking us around. Really helped make our trip around the OC a success!