Thank You, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Germany!

(caught this glimpse for just a minute! I thought it was pretty cool!)

Our first stop was Prague, Czech Republic then we headed to Budapest, Hungary and our trip ended in Munich, Germany. Spending about 4-5 full days in each city gave us a good amount of time to see significant spots and take in the different cultures. It was an amazing trip and I cannot wait to share my experience with you all! Stay tuned and see ya soon!

I know I still have to continue blogging about my previous trip to Switzerland, Italy and Austria, but I will work on this trip first and then continue with the previous trip! I don't wanna delay posts for 2 trips!

E3 Expo 2010, Los Angeles

Yet again, Danny and I attended the E3 Expo! One disappointment was not seeing Activision there, but we still had fun! Check out just a few of the booths we visited!

Disney Interactive Studios

They had 3 Disney artists there creating artwork for those who waited in line!

Live Performance from an amazing painter!

If you are interested in seeing the painting come to life, check out this video & enjoy the music!

TRON!!! Disney is getting ready for the highly anticipated movie release this Fall!

Some cool controllers based on Tron

They had a few artworks displayed. This one is Mickey in all bugs!

I think Mickey reduced a little too much?! He has no body!

Square Enix

Hurry! I must play FF XIV now!!!

Fun Photos!

For Your Information : That is Danny in Pac-Man's mouth!

It was zombie killing time!

Bioshock 2 statues

Wonder how many legos it took to make Hagrid!

I have been SIMSized! With a green plumbob above my head, I'm a happy Sim!!

There seemed to be a really strong presence of music/dance orientated games such as DefJam Rapstar, glee Karaoke Revolution, Dance Central, Just Dance 2, Dance Masters, Rock Band 3, etc. There was also the introduction of the Playstation move, which is equivalent to the Nintendo Wii-mote.

Here's a glimpse of the Konami DefJam Rapstar

I think the highlight of my visit to E3 this year was to see and experience the Nintendo 3DS. It still amazes me how you can play your games, watch movies, and take pictures in 3D, and not need glasses to view it in 3D! Can't wait for the new handheld to come out, but scared to know how much it'll be!

Happy 2nd Wedding Anniversary!

We had a whirlwind first three weeks, and now that we are recovered, we are finally posting our 2nd anniversary! We'll keep this short and sweet and just share with you some of our favorite photos from our wedding! We've got more to share on our 3rd Anniversary! Thank you to our awesome photographers from Next Exit Photography!

I've always wanted to create a shadowbox from our wedding goodies, and I finally did it! Now I gotta figure out where to hang it....! Too bad I couldn't fit my dress and veil in there cuz it's taking up a lot of space in the closet!

Next Exit Photography link : http://www.nextexitphotography.com/ ...Love their work!

Narukawa-Lightvoet Wedding Fun!!

First of all, congratulations to the marriage of Chiaki & Tom! Danny and I couldn't be more happier for them, and it was wonderful to take part in their special day as the Matron of Honor and Groomsmen. Not only did we have the delight of seeing our two friends back in the OC, but we got to meet and become close with Chiaki's family! It was really great to see Chiaki and Tom's family come together and make unforgettable memories.

Apart from the wedding, we had an amazing time showing the family around to some "hot spots" of Southern California. So, not to bore you with too much text, here are some fun photos for you! It was extremely hard to narrow my choices down as there were tons of great photos!

Wedding : Family Portrait Photos on the Beach

Wedding : Ceremony at the Church

Wedding : Reception under the Fabulous California Sunshine

It was an honor singing for your First Dance!

Disneyland : Everyone Letting Loose Days After the Wedding!

Yup, Captain EO is back!!!

Hollywood/Santa Monica : Letting Loose Even More!

Coming to the End of an Amazing Week

I can't express enough how great it was to see all the families come together and

enjoy one another's company!

One of the amusing things to see when the families got together was watching the kids interact!

Boys : It's amazing how video games can bring two kids so close together =D

Girls : Even with the language barrier, they knew how to play and have fun with each other!

Winding down to the last day of Chiaki's family visit to the OC - drained but satisfied!

Friends Forever!

Chiaki and Tom, it was really great to see you guys and as I said in my speech, " it meant so much to us to stand up there with you and watch our closest friends get married today. You make things entertaining and exciting for us, and we’ll always cherish your friendship because we love you guys to pieces." Hope to see you soon!

* photos courtesy of Chiaki L. & Mutsumi N.

Dromo 1 Racing - Birthday Bash!

For my birthday this year, I wanted to do something that we could all enjoy. I had a number of activities in mind, but in the end I knew that Dromo 1 was the way to go! Located near Disneyland, Dromo 1 is an indoor kart racing experience that everyone must try!! You can challenge your friends on the 1000ft-long track riding in gas powered, custom built karts.

No racing experience is needed...as long as you are over 5ft tall and ready to race, you are qualified! In the beginning, we were shown a 10min briefing and taken to the gear room where we all suited up for action. We wore a racing suit, Arai full-face helmet, neck brace and gloves.

Luckily we had the track to ourselves (with no other small groups joining us), so we first ran the Qualify Race, which is six laps, and then we got gridded up, according to best lap time, for the main race. By the way, Danny got 1st place in qualifying! (And needless to say, I got last place, haha!)

The lights went green and we all raced the most competitive, adrenaline-rushing, fast 20+ laps in our 2010 lives!! I ended up placing last place (bummer!) and Danny would've placed 1st position, but something happened in the last 3 laps which unfortunately pushed him down to 2nd place, and put Ed into 1st place! Just like Formula 1 Racing, you never know what can happen on the tracks!! We had so much fun, I think we spent an hour talking about the race, and discussing how we can better our game for next time!

Reviewing my race, I think I was being too conservative in the beginning, worrying that I would spin out or topple over at the sharp turns, but towards the end of the race I realized that I could go much faster! Now that I know my limits, I am ready for Round Two to take that 1st position! (Below Photo : This is how it will be next time!)