Las Vegas
9 - 10 May : The Gratitude Cafe
Jason Mraz Concert
Trippin'.
The word "gratitude" is defined as "the notion or feeling of being grateful or thankful." Secondarily, as "a quality of life". This is the part of our lives we're making the most improvement on and hope to continue to do so. It's trips like this, spontaneous and out of the blue, that we're grateful to have free rein and the the opportunity to carpe diem. Life's too short to be work consumed and tied down by financial constraints. Financial excuses such as "I can't afford it" only prevents us from great experiences. So we forgo that excuse, out the window, a long time ago. After all, what are credit cards for? Charge it to life!
Since we missed Jason Mraz at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, we weren't sure when, if at all, he would return to the Bay Area (He was scheduled to tour Europe for the next 3 months). Until, last minute, he announced he'll be playing in Vegas! So we booked it, simple as that. An opportunity out of town? Way ahead of you-- Yelp! What can I say, we like to eat. This was also a great time for us to play around with G's new Nikon D90. It's too bad I forgot the manual but we're learning as we go. I'm determine this summer to read up on it before we take a big trip so as to not miss out on capturing the moment.
Food. Ichiza is a quirky little joint off the Strip in Chinatown. Yelp this! Since my brother's a regular, he ordered for us which was great because we would have never thought to order yellowtail collar or cow liver or any other sort of "bizarre foods". All I have to say is,
"Andrew Zimmern, eat your heart out!" Best buffet on the Strip by far-- Spice Market. It's got everything and it's cheaper than your Bellagio's of the Strip. Another highlight of the trip for me in particular was getting a personal tour of Bouchon restaurant, where my brother is a Chef. You can say it's a proud moment for the older sister to see how much her younger brother has progressed and grown. To sum it up. Total gratification.
Sleeping: Mirage Hotel & Casino. Great budget hotel on the Strip for those spur of the moment trips to Vegas.
Eating: You haven't had Japanese until you've dined at Ichiza, 4355 Spring Mountain Rd, tel: 702 367 3151.
Ultimate Experience: Ever seen what it takes behind the scenes to put out a 5 star dining experience? You can if you ask for a tour of Bouchon restaurant inside the Venetian.
More Photos.
Pismo Beach
28 - 29 March : ATV & Anniversary
Weekend in SLO and ATVing in Pismo
Trippin'.
Flash back 5 years and let's take a walk down memory lane. It was 5 years ago to the day when G took me to a Chinese restaurant in Berkeley and requested the waiter to bring out his custom made fortune cookies at the end of our meal instead of dessert. After a nibble of the cookie, G reminded me to read my fortune. The fortune inside the cookie says, "Q, you are the greatest fortune anybody could have. Will you be my girlfriend?"
Flash forward 5 years later? I get wood (haha). Apparently the traditional gift to get for a 5 year anniversary is something made out of wood. Wooden carved out letters of a "G" and "Q" rolling on wheels like a choo choo train which he bought a year after we got together but somehow got 
"misplaced" in his mess of a closet and miraculously reappeared just in time for our 5 year.. coincidence?!
Food. Lunch was at the Firestone Grill, courtesy of Yelp, and it was finger- licking good. Of course when in SLO we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see the famous Madonna Inn. True to its reputation, this place is a cross between Alice in Wonderland and the color pink. Dinner at Marisol was less than mediocre. The Honeymoon Cafe is perfect for a light pick- me- upper breakfast and the Chai tea was mouth- watering good. We saved room for some cinnamon rolls drenched in cream cheese frostings at Old West Cinnamon Rolls.
We celebrated with a weekend getaway to SLO and Pismo Beach for some good ole' ATVing. 
ATV was a bit intimidating at first. And rightfully so because halfway through the dunes, I got stuck midway up a hill and on the verge of flipping over. G spent a good amount of time trying to get it unstuck. Distaster avoided and we had a blast! On our way back, we stopped in Morro Bay where G spent countless times taking pictures of, can you believe it, squirrels. Before heading home, we had some fish n' chips at Giovanni's. Avoid the oysters. Another memorable anniversary to put in the books.
Sleeping: Sandcastle Inn. Right on the beachfront and central downtown Pismo.
Eat This: The Splash Cafe
Not That: Madonna Inn's pink champagne cake.
Activity: BJ's ATV rental and accessories center. Make sure to bring either goggles or sunglasses as well as a scarf/ bandana to cover face.
More Photos.
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Costa Rica
11 - 22 January 2009 : Pura Vida en Costa Rica
SAN JOSE - LA FORTUNA - MONTEVERDE - QUEPOS - SAN JOSE
Day 1 The other San José
G here. This is my first, and could very be my last, blog. Reason being, dare I say, I traveled sans Q. A true reward of a workaholic, I've accrued one too many vacation days. So I booked with GAP Adventures, saves me the planning portion of the trip, and with time, convinced my partner in crime Remy to come with.. Boys trip!
San Jose, the main capital of Costa Rica. Ask most people, they will tell you don't waste your time here. And it's all true, there is not much to this city... I'll leave it at that.
La Fortuna, at the foot of Arenal Volcano, is an area chock-full of extreme activities. On our way up to the La Fortuna, we saw a family of monkeys swinging around in a tree. On Day 3, we went waterfall repelling. There isn't many other places in the world where you can do this activity, so we had to do it! It was awesome, we hiked down narrow rivers, jumped into canyons, and repelled down 200 ft waterfalls! I really wish they had a photographer there that day. Later that night, we had pizza and went up around La Arenal volcano to see some live lava. Once we saw small glimpses of lava flowing down the mountain, we headed down to Baldi springs to go down some waterslides and relax in lush cascading hot springs.
Day 4-5 Monteverde
Here we traveled by car, boat, and horseback! The horseback ride was 75 minutes too long if you ask me. Note to self next time I ride horses: Wear long pants! My legs were killing me from all the galloping. Monteverde is known for the ziplining and cloud forest reserves. Ziplining was amazing, it felt like one of the zip lines was a half mile long with expansive views of the Costa Rican rainforest. This is definitely one of the best places to zipline in the world. Our tour leader suggested visiting the Santa Helena Cloud Forest reserve because the main cloud forest reserve has gotten very packed and touristy. We observed hundreds of plant life species and rare exotic animals including the king of all birds in Costa Rica, Quetzal Resplendido. Last but not least, I have to mention the best Tapas restaurant I've ever been to... Chimera restaurant. They had awesome international tapas dishes at very reasonable prices. Check tripadvisor for more info.
Day 6-7 Quepos / Manuel Antonio National Park
The ocean water in Manuel Antonio was so warm, we stayed in the ocean catching waves with our boogie boards for 3 hours straight. Interacting with the local ticos in the ocean was great, those Spanish classes paid off! An awesome salsa club with guys trying to sell us "mota" right when we hit the front door. Quepos didn't have much to offer. Manuel Antonio Park has an exuberant wildlife and tons of monkeys!
Day 8 San José
A local bus took us back to San José in time to head out for one final night on the town. Shout out to Jubal and our entire group on the GAP trip! It was an amazing time and makes me thirst for South America.
More Photos.
View full gallery here.
