The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (more vacation stuffs)

Yes, I am a Harry Potter fan... but not so much of a fan that I'm enraged that I did not get my Pottermore welcome email yet (I'm just a little bit disappointed). But all that aside, The Wizard World of Harry Potter was ridiculously amazing. When I first heard that we would be visiting Islands of Adventure while in Florida, I knew that TWWoHP was the first place I wanted to visit...
What can I say about it? Words do little to describe the atmosphere. They played HP music as you walked through Hogsmeade, and Hogwarts Castle (which was a ride) was beautifully crafted... so much so that it only felt like we waited 30minutes (and not 1hour and 20minutes) to enjoy the ride. The Hogwarts express was very majestic, and I just wanted to hop on and have it take me away to wizarding school :P

What I found hilarious was how they revamped the old unicorn ride to make it the "Flight of the Hippogriff" and the Dueling Dragons ride was redesigned to be the "Dragon Challenge" between the Chinese Fireball and a Hungarian Horntail... oh Universal Studios, way to use existing rides to save money on having to build new Harry Potter themed ones.

One of the things I knew I had to try while at TWWoHP was the Butterbeer. I've come across so many recipes for it online that I really wanted to try the real thing before I ever attempted to make my own. I bought it at the Three Broomsticks, and chose the frozen one of the cold. It was amazing! Sort of like a slightly fizzy, caramel, ginger ale-y slushy with a creamy foam on top... the description makes it sound awful I know, but it was heavenly (and just typing about it is making me want one right now!)

And of course no trip to TWWoHP is complete without buying some sweets. I have terrible sweet-tooth and that coupled with my love for Harry Potter meant that of course I would have to buy a chocolate frog (even though they were $10!!!). I really bought it for the wizard card that was inside and then when I opened it and found Helga Hufflepuff I was rather disappointed and started eating the solid hunk of frog-shaped chocolate because I really wanted Godric Gryffindor. Somehow my sister convinced my dad to buy her one too... but she got Rowena Ravenclaw :( Anywho... I'll leave you to drool over pictures of sweets :P If I have time I'll probably finish up my vacation-related posts with some pictures of the cruise!!

Oh where has the summer gone? Fun ol' Picture Show

I'm sitting here trying to think about where exactly my summer has disappeared to. For some reason, it seemed as though the 2 months of freedom flew by at lightening speed, and now I'm hitting the books and working on assignments. I decided to rummage through a bunch of photos that I'd taken over the course of the summer, and, this may sound crazy but, it already brings back memories of fun in the sun. So, here are just a couple pictures that remind me of the great times of summer 2008.

Hanging out in Cali; Disneyland and Six-flags

PNE fun... rides, candied apples and mini donuts



Downtown at Yuk Yuks, and the best Durian Milkshake in Chinatown :)

Travelling to Whistler Village with Jacques... don't let your dog drive :P


Hiking through Lost Lake, and being confused by crazy signs

Treating ourselves to Rocky Mountain ice cream, eating straight from the tub!

Driving down to Oregon... but having to leave Jacques at the kennel :( Look at him trying to fly away!

Checking in to Embassy Suites in time for their Manager's Special... free alcoholic beverages and appetizers! Ooo... mushroom antipasto and sweet bread with balsamic vinegar

Going Outlet shopping in the tax-free state, and treating myself to a Rocky Mountain Caramel Apple! Of course, I had to stop by Le Gourmet Chef and take a look around

Late-night chinese take-out from Panda Express... I still prefer Manchu Wok better :P

Complimentary, hot-breakfast... complete with made-to-order omelets. Yum!

"If you build it, they will come"... somehow, us Asians always manage to seek-out the Asian Supermarkets in town. This Vietnamese market had loads of mooncakes on sale (of course we bought some... tax free remember!), and even bubble tea powder!!! And look at all the rice cakes *drool*

Being gangsta at Denny's... yup, the waitress thought we were strange but whatevs

Heading to the Night Market to indulge in more asian goodies. Stationary, stuffies and of course FOOD!

Albeit, I did way more this summer than just travel around from place-to-place and stuff myself full of their food and buy up all of their merchandise. I worked at KFC (and yes, I've tried the veggie burger... tastes like fish), did 12hr shifts at the hospital, hung out in Vancouver, walked the dog, ran 10k four times a week, cooked, partied, hung out with the sisters, watched a butt-load of HK films, went to the movies, dined in/dined out... and of course tried to sleep.

Whistler Summer '08

So it's two years until the Winter Olympics are held in Whislter... that doesn't matter, Whistler's still a great place to hang out and have fun with the family. Actually, I think my family was thinking that we'd best head up to Whistler well before the large crowds decide they're going to change the entire "scene" up there.

So, with all things set and ready to go, we piled into the van and were Whistler-bound...

The ride up started out smoothly; that was until we hit the are of HWY1 that was undergoing the "highway improvement program". With the Olympics only a year and a half away, the construction crews are working around the clock to fix up/widen the Sea-to-Sky Highway, but with all that construction going on, we were stuck in traffic for quite some time. Some parts of the Highway required staying to a max speed of 50km/hr... freakishly slow for the highway I tell ya. So, instead of the usual 2.5 hours to get up to Whistler, it took us 3.5 hours!! Oh well, at least we made it there... because just last week, there was a rockslide that completely blocked the Sea-to-Sky (the only route, aside from a 7hr detour, to Whistler).

Driving the Sea-to-Sky Highway

My dad in the back, being his silly ol' self... and my sisters

Beautiful forests and majestic mountains... ah, I love nature

Jacques looks ready to go... he's such a cutie :)

I was very psyched to go on this vacation in particular, because the hotel we were staying at allowed pets to stay as well. We stayed at the Hilton Whislter, and they even provided our puppy with his very own doggy-suitcase filled with treats and toys... how considerate :)

Up in Whistler it was beautiful. The weather was warm and not too dry, the pool-side was relaxing with very few roudy kids, and the hotel room was glam + spacious. I knew I would love it up here! Even if I don't spend all my time in the hotel, it's a nice place to crash :P

Honestly, in when you're in Whistler how can you possibly spend all your time couped up in the hotel room? My dad, who was feeling a little under the weather, decided to remain in the hotel room, watching the dog and the Olympics, while my sisters, my mom and I planned out all the fun activities to do.

One trail leads to another at this beautiful, dog-friendly park. The shuttle from Whistler Village takes you directly to this lake and runs every 15mins.

Most of the activities involved walking around the Whistler Village; this didn't bother me... I love to window shop and pretend I'm a tourist from some far away place... interested in Canadian apparell :P Walking through Whistler Village, it was easy to see that there were just as many restaurants as there were clothing/souvenier/sporting good stores. This made it a tough decision on where we would dine out... for the few nights were up in Whistler, I think we chose two great restaurants (reviews to come).

California '08 Picture Show (Part 2)

May 26, 2008

Awww... aren't we a happy looking bunch?!

Yeah! Pirates was opened this time :) ... sadly, I remember the ride being a lot more exciting as a child

Splash Mountain... always a good time. Boy did I get soaked!

Lunch-time: Spicy Beef Kabob from Bengal BBQ in Adventure Land

Onion Rings from Critter Country

Ham and Cheese BLT on Foccacia at Critter Country

Mmmm... Boudin Bakery Tour. Their sourdough samples are the best... I really enjoyed learning how sourdough is made, and I am now in search of the perfect sourdough recipe.

Late night candy-time on Disneyland's Mainstreet

May 27, 2008

I was really excited to go to Six-flags and was all ready to try every ride. But sadly, the bus came to pick us up late and we got to the park around 10:30am... aww, half the day was already gone :( To boot, the line ups were 3xs as long at Six-flags than at Disneyland. My friends and I waited in line for 90mins to ride the new X2 ride (totally worth it btw, but a serious time robber).

The line up for this one was about 1 hr, not bad for an amazing ride. I loved this one, it reverses you backwards until you are completely vertical, drops you and then takes you on a billion loops. Then, you climb up vertically and fall backwards, going back the way you came... explains why it's called Deja Vu!

The Riddler: You sit on something that looks like a bicycle seat, place your feet on the floor and have an overhead harness. It's kind of like you're squatting/standing on this ride. I could feel the blood rushing to my toes... weird

After a long day of thrill-seeking, we went back to the hotel for a late night dinner of Chinese take-out. Let me say that American Chinese take-out is 10xs worse than it's Canadian counterpart. Their wonton soup had only thin stringy noodles, chunks of pork and 3 pcs of bok choy. The chow mein was greasy, made with Shanghai noodles and a handful of bean sprouts. The only food to order from any Chinese place that starts with the name "Panda" (be it city, house, garden etc) would be egg rolls... which cannot possibly be made wrong.

May 28, 2008

Today we went on a Grand-Tour of Hollywood and the local hot-spots of Los Angeles. We started out at Olvera Street, passed Chinatown, drove and shopped through downtown LA, checked-out Grauman's Theater and the walk-of-fame, drove through Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive, stopped off at Venice Beach, the Farmer's Market and the Fisherman's Village at Marina Del Ray.

Shopping local on Olvera Street

In front of Grauman's preparations were underway for the premiere of Don't Mess with the Zohan. Some people said that they saw Adam Sandler, but I don't know if he was actually there.