"Guten Tag, Switzerland!" Part 2 (Luzern)

Rigi Kulm - "Queen of the Mountains" was our Day Two excursion in Luzern. Rigi is part of the Swiss Alps and is easily accessible by public transportation. We took about an hour long boat ride from Luzern station over the Luzern Lake to Vitznau. By the way, the lake is huge, and it sure doesn't surprise me that it's the 4th largest lake in the country!

The view from the boat was amazing! It felt really nice and relaxing to be surrounded by so much greenery!...and friendly birds!

Arriving into Vitznau, we immediately ride the railway to take us to the top of Rigi. I've never riden on such steep railway tracks! The occassional jerks whenever we were climbing steeper had everyone who was standing in the train (including me!) constantly moving around to keep balance! Although I was busy keeping myself up, I was also enjoying the amazing view! There were sheeps enoying the fresh greens, and some hikers who opt to walk to the top instead of taking the train!

6,000ft above sea level, we finally make it to the top! The Rigi gives you an awesome panoramic view of central Switzerland! After about an hour of taking in the view, we eat lunch at the cafe and decide to return to Luzern.

Not having the proper hiking gear, of course, we decide to take the railway back down! (Don't wanna take the train? Don't wanna hike down? Then paraglide! Believe me, we saw several people choosing this option! Of course, I'm sure they were professionals!) Steam train, anyone? -Yes! We chugged our way down to Weggis station and rode a cable car to take us further down to the boats. Taking the same boat route back, we wave goodbye to the "Queen" and finally arrive into Luzern!

Next Stop - "Goodbye Luzern, Hello Grindelwald!" Taking the panoramic train to Grindelwald, where we hike through the clouds, walk in the snow while feeling light-headed, and lots more!

Fish, Garlic and Danish Food!

Over the weekend, Danny and I took a short trip up to Monterey and Gilroy to enjoy the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Gilroy Garlic Festival. We left early Friday morning and took a funny way on the 5 freeway (don't ask! haha) to get to Monterey. It was our first time to the Aquarium, so we were both excited. We brought our own lunches that we enjoyed outside with the cool sea breeze!

Look at the sea lions lounging on the beach! At first I thought they were just rocks until I saw a small lil-something move and swim into the ocean!

Danny couldn't resist eating the swimming mackerel! Our highlight of the day was watching the cute sea otters bath themselves! They wash their cheeks with human-like circular motions!

For dinner we went to the Monterey Fish House...they have amazing food! Danny had halibut, and I had California white seabass which we both had almond encrusted -yum! Luckily, we were able to get a 5pm reservation, otherwise we would of had to wait until 8:30pm to get a seat!

The following morning we hit the Gilroy Garlic Festival to enjoy some stinkin' food! Just like last year, there were lots of visitors wanting to stink their breathes with garlic as much as we did!

We started the day by watching a demo of how to cook pepper steak sandwiches, then we got hungry and ate some key lime calamari. After scarfing down the calamari, we ordered a sausage sandwich with chicken stir-fry, scampi and mushrooms -of course, everything had garlic in it. It was fantastic! Then, saving the best for last we had roasted corn with garlic butter! Luckily, the nice boy gave me an extra corn for free which meant a whole corn for the each of us -score!

We had our share of garlic for the summer, so it was time to go home to Orange County! We didn't try the garlic ice cream, again, this year, but someday we will!

On our way back home, we decided to take the 101 freeway as we were hungry for a different scenery. The nothingness of the 5 would have driven us crazy! We thought that a good stop along the way into Solvang would be nice. It's been years since Danny and I went there, so we wanted to revisit it again =)

We ate at a small danish cafe, and enjoyed the music of the old man's accordion. I almost felt like I never left Vienna! Danny enjoyed a plate of schnitzel and I had danish sausage. After strolling the small danish village, we went back on the road and said "Good Night" to a fun and exciting weekend!

"Guten Tag, Switzerland!" Part 1 (Luzern)

The beginning of my amazing European trip started in Luzern, Switzerland. Luzern, the most populous city in central Switzerland, is the 7th largest city in Switzerland and is one of the most popular tourist destination. We had 2 full days to take in the breathtaking mountains surrounding us, and time to stroll in-between the medival-looking structures.

First, we took the express railway from Zurich Airport to Luzern, and in about an hour we arrived at Bahnhof Station. Our hotel was conveniently located nearby the train station and our room had an amazing view of the Luzern Lake! Might I add here, Switzerland has an amazing railway system and makes it extremely easy to travel between cities. Following our stay in Luzern, going to Grindelwald in the Panoramic Train was very nice.

The town's most famous landmark is the Kapellbrucke ("Chapel Bridge"), the oldest wooden bridge in Europe, which stretches 670ft across the Reuss River. The Wasserturm (Water Tower) that adjoins the bridge used to serve as a prison, torture chamber, when the bridge was constructed in 1333 to help protect the city from attacks. All along the ceiling are 17th century paintings which depict events from Luzern's history.

Another noteworthy monument is the Lion Monument, designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen to commemorate the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution. The inscription below the dying lion lists the names of the officers, and the approx number of the soldiers who died and survived. The sculpture is 20ft high and 33ft long.

Here are shots of couple churches we visited along the way. (Jesuitenkirche & Hofkirche)

Next Stop : Rigi -a mountain in central Switzerland and part of the Swiss Alps; also known as the "Queen of the Mountains" Aprrox elevation of 5,900ft we took a ride over steep railway tracks and on cable car lines!

Willkommen!!

Coming back from my 16 day trip to Europe, I have lots to do for my blog! Although, first I will need to sort through 3000+ photos and choose ones to post on my blog. I have lots of fun and interesting photos to share with you, so hopefully you can find the time to watch my blog! Of course, in between my Europe posts, I will post about other stuff we are doing in Cali!

I visited several cities which include Switzerland (Luzern, Grindelwald), Italy (Venice) and Austria (Vienna). To share one quick photo will you, this is from Grindelwald, Switzerland at "Top of Europe" which is said to be the highest railway station in all of Europe -about 11,300ft high! As you can see, there was still snow and was about 32F. The train runs through 2 different mountains and took about 16 years to build the tunnel! I gotta admit, I was gettin' a bit light-headed from lack of oxygen - but I made it!

I will see you back in a bit with highlights from my trip. See ya soon!

Kayak Exploration, Seal Beach

We couldn't have asked for better weather on the day we decided to go kayaking! Last year we went kayaking in Newport Harbor, but this time we wanted to go somewhere new, but still close-by, and somewhere that has cleaner and better smelling waters! Luckily, our good friend Ed was able to provide us with the kayaks (thanks, Ed!), so we had no time restrictions.

We started our exploration at 11am and ended up being out there for close to 3 hours! Ed, being the expert kayaker, had to wait around for us to catch up a few times, but then again his kayak is much more advance and can go twice the speed with half the paddling! Lucky him!

Coming around to the last hour, I gotta admit I was gettin' tired and just wanted to chill in the kayak. As shown on the right, Danny was generous enough to tow my kayak for a short-time so I could enjoy the sun and take some pictures of the houses and boats surrounding us! Below are pictures of some of the boats that I photographed...and looking at all the different names was fun!

Here are also some duffy boats that I thought had cute names! And one day, Danny and I will be living in one of these houses on the harbor! Maybe the 3 story house?!?! haha

Overall, that was a great day and although Danny and I developed a very funky looking tan (haha!), it was all worth it and hopefully we can do some cave kayaking later in the summer!

June Dinners

Just wanted to show some dishes that I tried in June, and thankfully came out successful! Danny loved them all, and I am sure I'll be making more of these in the future. If you are curious, the dish names are listed below, starting clockwise from the top left:

* Stuffed Pork Chops

* Linguine with Shrimp and Lemon Oil (greens are arugula)

* Artichoke Ravioli with Creamy Tomato Sauce

* Bread Crumb Crusted Tilapia with Lemon Snap Peas

Let's see if I challenge myself to more new yummy dishes in July!!

E3 Expo 2009, Los Angeles

The true E3 Expo, world's premiere trade show of computer and video games, came back this year and Danny and I tried out a lot of games! The EA Booth was giving out a BMW M3 for the person who racked in the most points on a racing game, and although Danny gave it a shot it was a no-go. Oh well, maybe next year!! The Activision booth was H-U-G-E!!! Having special DJs perform (Cut Chemist pictured), and introducing Guitar Hero 5, it was by far the most happenin' area of the expo. Here are some pictures to give you a glimpse of the show. Danny and I simply felt like two kids playing games in an enormous arcade...and playing games for free!! Awesome!

Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach

Simply said, I've never been to this aquarium before so we thought of going today! (Plus, we had a 50% coupon, haha) The sharks were probably the best fishes to watch, look at the teeth on that thang! Worthy of a photo was the "sexy shrimp"...and, yes, that is its name! It's only about 5mm big and apparantly it gets its name from their "tail" waving back and forth as if they are dancing. And no joke, the tropical fish are feed broccoli and cabbage!

7 Years of Cute!

Danny and I had the opportunity to join our good friend's bbq picnic today, and she brought her adorable golden retriever, Chaffee! We've known Chaffee since he was a puppy and we love him A LOT! He's just the best dog ever. We couldn't go without posting new pics of him because he's just too cute! (I also wanted to share with you my fav pic of Chaffee when he was just a pup!) Thanks Helen for letting me post pictures of Chaffee! It was great seeing you & Chaffee!!

Anniversary Wedding Cake!

Today we received our free wedding anniversary cake. We have been waiting for this day for so long since we didn't get the chance to enjoy our own wedding cake on the day of! And oh-my-gosh, it's such a delicious cake! Just to share the yumminess with you, it's marble flavor with kalhua mocha filling wrapped in buttercream frosting...drool

Honeymoon in Moorea

Exactly one year from today Danny and I left for our honeymoon to Moorea, French Polynesia. It was an amazing trip and everything about it was unforgettable....the fresh fruits, the kind locals, the clear waters, and all the activities! Here's a peek at what we were up to...

We stayed in an overwater bungalow and every morning we went out to the balcony and watched/fed the tropical fish, any free time we had we would walk right into the water and snorkel, or explore the waters by hopping onto a kayak or canoe from our bungalow.

The room was very cozy and the glass floor panel was great. At night we even saw sharks! Apparantly, they feed at night so don't go into the waters when it gets dark!

The food was awesome! The fresh fruits were amazing and the french cooking influence didn't hurt either! Danny and I came across a boat that came back from catching Mahi Mahi.

We did tons of activities. ATVing, parasailing, jet-skiing, kayaking, canoing, AquaBlue, renting a dunebuggy to explore the island on our own, etc! I think our favorites were ATVing and AquaBlue. Going off-road on the ATV was exciting, and walking in the water and feeding the rays was a real rush! Overall, it was a great honeymoon and we hope to be able to visit there again...maybe on our 20th or 30th anniversary haha!

Anniversary with the Stars

For our wedding anniversary, we decided to take a trip to the newly renovated Griffith Observatory. Stars, or especially shooting stars holds a very important meaning to us both, and we can tell you why on August 12th!!

I also had a run in with Einstein, and we discussed energy! Then, for dinner we went to our favorite restaurant in West Hollywood where we occassionally see celebs (last time we saw Eva Longoria & Tony Parker), this time we saw someone, but can't remember his name! (Haha, we snuck a photo!) Can anyone recognize him from our lousy photo and help us with his name?!?!

Celebration of Paper!!

In light of our 1st year wedding anniversary, we have decided to start a blog! It will be a very casual area, simply keeping everyone updated with what we're up to. From time to time, we will also post images from our May 9, 2008 wedding and our awesome honeymoon in Moorea. We've gotta admit, this is our first time creating a blog, so bare with us! So, on that note, "Welcome, enjoy!"