Best of 2009

Before bringing an end to another year, we'd like to look back at notable moments of 2009! A lot happened this year and it was hard to narrow down our choices! Danny and I hope that you had a great 2009!

JANUARY/FEBRUARY
We welcomed a new member to the family - Chappy! Our adorable pet turtle! She was really shy in the beginning, but she warmed up to us really quickly and we're glad to have her company in the living room, hehe.

MARCH/APRIL

Since we didn't launch our blog site til later, this will be the first time posting pictures of a Tokyo trip we took in April!

We had the chance to visit a hot springs in Hakone, which Danny really enjoyed! It started with a tour bus ride through Tokyo and to the Asahi Beer Factory. Danny and I aren't really the beer drinkers, but the fresh brew Asahi beer was tasting REALLY good!

Once we left the factory, it was off to the hot springs in Hakone. Hakone has been known for their numerous natural hot springs. Before heading into our lodge, we grabbed a quick lunch at a nearby soba place, and I think it was the best soba we had ever tasted!

Our lodge included an inside and outside hot springs and a delicious traditional Japanese-style dinner awaiting us after taking a nice dip in the water.

The following day we boarded back onto the tour bus, and just before arriving into Tokyo, it took us to an outlet mall where the view of Mt. Fuji was far more interesting than the shopping!

We had the most wonderful opportunity to attend our really good friend's wedding in Tokyo and I had the honor of singing at their reception! I've never felt my knees shake so much, but it was all worth it to see the couple tear up as they watched me perform =)

In honor of our attendance to their wedding, they were sweet enough to give us the piece of cake that they had cut out. Our waiter had informed us of this when the dessert was being passed out =)

MAY/JUNE

Probably two of the most busiest months of the year! ...Let's not forget that May is when we first started our blog, and we couldn't be happier to be able to share moments of our marriage life to friends all around the world!

My really good friend was staying in the OC for a few months, and we took a spontaneous trip to Vegas! That was a great trip, Chiaki!!

I took a trip to Europe (Switzerland, Italy, Austria) which I still have to finish blogging about!!

Danny and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary with a Anniversary cake! Yu-mmy!

JULY/AUGUST

Danny had an awesome camping trip to Sequioa National Park! He's been wanting to go for so long, and I'm really glad he had the chance this year. Probably next time I will join them on the nature trip!

It's become a yearly occurrence of us to visit the Gilroy Garlic Festival, but this year we stretched our trip just a tad and also visited Monterey Bay to see amazing fish, and also eat amazing fish (at a fish restaurant!)! Our drive back down to LA, we stopped by Solvang.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

Seeing Crown J perform at the Los Angeles Club Nokia was a new experience for me. I had a really great time taking photos of the performance and Danny did a wonderful job of maintaining the hyped-up atmosphere of the event.

Knott's Scary Farm was a blast!

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER

Not only did Danny and I go to Tokyo (again!), but we had the most awesome experience of visiting Loralee & Dan in Okinawa AND having them come along to the Tokyo visit.

*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~* SEE YOU ALL IN 2010 ! *~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

Okinawa-Tokyo Winter Trip (Tokyo, Sayonara)

The day that we all did not want coming...the end of our Okinawa-Tokyo trip =(

We all packed our luggage and headed out to the train station.

A short walk and we arrive to the train station. With our train tickets in hand, we head to the platform.

We wait for our train and wave one last goodbye!

Loralee and Dan, it was really great to see you and experience this entire trip with you guys! We had a really great time and hope that we can do another Japan trip soon! Leyna - hope that the next time you see us, you'll remember Auntie Ila & Uncle Danny!!

Okinawa - Tokyo Trip 2009

*~~~*~~~*~~~* THE END *~~~*~~~*~~~*

Okinawa-Tokyo Winter Trip (Tokyo Part 3.5-Sticky Picy)

One of our missions (just Loralee and me, haha) was to take a second round of Print Clubs (photo sticker booths) when in Tokyo. The first time Loralee came to Tokyo with me in 2006, we tried the very elaborate booths (the ones with a green screen, and even a wind machine!) and although our first batch of pictures were silly/weird, we quickly understood what to do and got some decent shots in.

We then decided to make it "the thing we do" whenever we are together in Japan =) This time the guys tried it out with us, and with our instructions, I think they came out pretty nice! haha

Curious to see our first round of Sticky Picy? Here they are... (Complete newbies haha!)

Next Stop : It came too soon...the end of our fantastic Tokyo trip!

Okinawa-Tokyo Winter Trip (Tokyo Part 3-The City!)

Day 3 of our Tokyo trip was a shopping day in Shinjuku. Since it was raining all day, we decided to stay there since all department stores are accessible through the wonderful underground walkway system. This was a good opportunity to get our shopping done early in the trip =)

Day 4 of our Tokyo trip was visting a lot of cities : Asakusa, Harajuku, and Shibuya. As if it never rained yesterday, the skies were really clear! Since it was Dan's first time to Tokyo, we wanted to make sure that he sees the most talked about areas.

Asakusa

The home of the famous Sensoji Temple, a Buddhist temple built in the 7th century. As we approach the temple, we come to the first of two large entrance gates. Displayed are the statues of the Shinto gods Fujin (god of wind) and Raijin (god of thunder & lightning). The center red lantern reads "Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate)", the name of this gate.

The "Nakamise" shopping street leads from Kaminarimon to the Sensoji Temple. This shopping street provides visitors with numerous traditional, local snacks and tourist souvenirs. Length of the street is approx 270 yards and has around 89 shops!

The five-story pagoda of Sensoji Temple.

"Horomon" (Treasure House Gate) the second entrance gate to the inner complex. Two identical statues on either side of the gate are the Nio (Guardian deity of the Buddha).

So, when I was living in Japan during my High School years, people have told me that you have a lucky train ticket when the ticket numbers read the same from left to right, and right to left (ex: 1221, 5445, 9119, etc). So, I felt kinda lucky when my ticket number was "6556".

Call me superstitious, but when we pulled our fortune at the temple later that day, we got the Best Fortune!! We were excited, although too bad I couldn't keep my train ticket, but at least I took a photo!

Harajuku

Widely known as the fashion capital for unique street fashion, it was relatively calm that night from the crazy-dressed! What caught our attention that night was Omotensando lite with thousands of Christmas lights along the street.

Shibuya

It wouldn't be a complete Tokyo trip without visiting Shibuya! We were mainly there to see the famous intersection in front of one of Tokyo's busiest railway stations. It's so amazing to see so many people in one area!

We were able to meet with our friends Chiaki & Tom and have dinner at a Hamburg Steak restaurant in Shibuya. Thanks for coming out to see us!

Next Stop : We took some Print Club pictures in Shibuya! The sticker pictures have been scanned and we're ready to share with you our wacky pictures!