Chippa-Dee Doo Da

* X-Mas Trip

* 12.23.04: Apparently the mother of all snowstorm was heading toward us and had landed. Luckily, we left for Cali in the afternoon and our plane did not get delayed; however, we still arrived in the night. I just realized how much taking an airplane is such a waste of time. It seriously takes 12 hours of your life - waiting for 2 hours after checking in, security, boarding; the most uncomfortable chairs that do no justice even with their padded pillows; and gosh the turbulence; and my sister's complaints of her "headaches" and wanting to puke every 10 minutes. I think the only accomplishment was reading Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven. I looked like an idiot crying on the plane from the third person and on. But it is definitely a book to pick up and read. For those skeptics out there, it is not the supernatural, spiritual, religious mumbo jumbo you read. Rather, if you read closely, you pick up life lessons, which I feel comes down to the fact that everything happens for a reason.

* 12.24.04: San diego in the day is much different from SD in the night. Taking my first steps out of the condo, you can see palm trees everywhere. The grass surrounding the "resort" are also filled with Birds of Paradise (They look like a bird) and other flowers shaped like cauliflowers. The plants are delightful. Although hard to describe, the trunks of the trees split like branches at the base so that it looks like there are many trees in one tree. Neat, huh? I also learned as we went shopping that there are no roofs for their shopping roofs because it HARDLY ever rains in the desert land of SD. Most amazing is the fact that when I say there are NO sales, there are no sales. Later exploration of the La Jolla Beaches - the scenery on the boardwalk was beautiful - was followed by afternoon coffee and dessert in The Living Room, a small shop that overlooked the beaches on the mountain. I think the highlight of my night was eating at Roponggi, an asian fusian restaurant: oyster shooters, unagi maki, calamari, mahi mahi, shrimp wok noodles, to name a few. These people living here seriously are living the life. I hope to one day capture the dream of living this lavish lifestyle...

* 12.25.04: It was my sissy's b-day and her first christmas spent as a wife with her new husband. We had the biggest meal you can eat: mexican bean dip with tacos, garden salad, peas/corns, roasted ham decorated with pineapples, mash potatoes, deliciously seasoned salmon, lemon cake and apple pie topped with vanilla ice cream - all mind you, hand cooked by my sister and me partially for the apple pie. The day was filled with tanning in the afternoon and also the opportunity to see the Rock River - absolutely beautiful. We ended up watching Dodgeball and the House of Flying Daggers. The former I can only describe as hilarious, and the latter an amazing movie - plot and cinematography were both very well done. I definitely give it a 5 stars out of 5.

* 12.26.04: Shopping in the morning, again, no sales. And then...family. We end up going to another asian fusion restaurant called Japengo - oh yum.

* 12.27.04: Apparently SD's Sea World is a major attraction. I learned how to tell the difference between sea lions, seals, and walruses. I saw Moray Eels in the Forbidden Reef, which are the most disgusting creatures ever. Arriving late at the dolphin show, WA had the most brilliant idea of sitting the soak zone because really, we cannot get that wet right? WRONG. Even with a jacket covering me, I was soaked all over - those fish tails are deadly weapons. Oh we learned our lesson and sat at the back watching the Shamu show. On the plus side, I got a new Roxy sweater to change into.

* 12.28.04: Family day at my sissy's condo. Read Shopaholic and Sister by Sophie Kinsella, but I'm on a cliff hanger because we had to leave for Pho, then the airport. Waited an hour to be checked in, only to discover that our flight was delayed. Back to sissy's condo. Watched Open Waters. Up at 4:30 am.

* 12.29.04: Home to the unexpected 0 degree "warm" weather.

So it was really fun. Different environment, different life, different mindset.

posted by miss.chip @ 14:27