Magic Castle

A castle fit for a princess.
A castle filled with magic and mystique.
A castle high up in the hills.


This is the Magic Castle. High up in the Hollywood hills, this historic landmark is the favorite hangout to magicians all over the world. Outsiders need to garner an invite in order to just pay the $20 admission fee.


That on top of the pricey fancy meal can make for a steep night but it's rare for one to be able to have an opportunity to doll up in LA in places other than clubs and lounges. Watching magic shows is a refreshing change.

Don't we all look so ravishing? I think so too.


Here I am getting magic'd on. He later set my hand on fire. Just kidding (?)

Sad this blog has not been updated on as much as I'd like to. Been working regularly these days, making it hard to go out for a jaunt of sorts. However, next weekend, I will be visiting another magical place: New York City! Get ready for much updates then (though many may be about food... you don't mind, do you?)

Heading Home

I've been up since 4AM thanks to jetlag so I will update.

I'm back in California after having spent the past two weeks in Hong Kong and Beijing!

Hong Kong is such an amazing place. I remember when I first visited my cousins there; amidst the hustle bustle of street vendors selling shoes and egg balls, financial types shuffling to and from work, the winding roads wafting with the essence of traditional China, oldtown Great Britain and the one-of-a kind Hong Kong, I was set on making the city my permanent home. No matter what I did for a living, I wanted to be able to do it in the place where I can hop on the mini-bus and ride to Causeway Bay to do some shopping, or mingle with Stephen Chow in Volar, or drink high tea at 4 in the afternoon.

This time, the visit felt a lot different. Having graduated college for half a year now and getting a slower start on my career and life than I had anticipated (no full-time job, no marriage proposals, no investments in a home), I wasn't able to enjoy Hong Kong as just a vacation anymore. It was more of a wake up call, like, "hey, if you want to make it here, get your ass up and take action!"

The city is constantly moving and the people are constantly talking-about you. You're lucky if they're talking about you. Everyone wants to stand out, make something, make money. Money was never my first ambition but maybe it should be. I want to be able to support and give back to my family as soon as I can. I also want to do what I'm passionate about. I hope I can find a balance with the two wants.

My greatest fear is to have unfulfilled potential. I am dedicating this year to making sure that never happens.

Breaking Beijing Bread

This is the story about a torrid love affair.

A love affair between three girls.

And their beloved 16th floor. What is 16th floor, you ask?

16th floor is the heavenly executive level of the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Beijing, opened from 8-10, serving fine culinary delights that tickle the senses and jiggles the belly.

With a wink of its European-carpeted eye, 16th floor entranced the poor three girls, luring them in at all hours of the day to dine on the fine sweets and salties, including homemade macaroons, wine and cheese, and dim sum. Of note: cheese! for Janice, chips for Jessica and cookies for Irene. Our tastes are fairly simple.

It would have been a dream come true if not for one thing-

These were not the girls' only meals of the day. 16th floor was visited in between lunch and dinner trips to some of the most exquisite restaurants in the city.

Fake duckies and REAL seahorses from the red-lanterned Nineteen Forty Nine - The Hidden City.

Posers.

The real deal.

I dared nosh on a sea horse.

*I mention "wong" in the video, which is basically the inards- or guts - of most seafood you taste - particularly the crab. 'Tis yummO!

Some super-comforting steamed dumplings and pork noodle soup at ubiquitous Din Tai Fung. (I have never even tried the Arcadia one but I'm sure everything's more authentic in Asia.

Some smashing Peking duck and mouthwatering red bean rolls at the homey Xiao Wang's Home Restaurant.

Oh, to watch the our chins disappear and our love handles burst out was hard to bear but when would such culinary delights tickle our taste buds ever again? (With my foodie cravings, most likely sooner than you think.)

Only one restaurant was less than satisfactory this entire trip but even so, the dining experience was so unusual, so different that it garners a whole entry in it of itself. Until next time.

The Look of Brr...

What is Beijing like around December?

One word:

Cold.

Some more words:

Blistering, knife-cutting-through-your-skin, skull-blasting, can't-think-about-anything-but- making-a-run-for-the-sun coooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooold.

Like this picture. We were in a warm bus and the three of us ran out only to be pretty much stunned in the face with a blast of frozen air. It took a fair amount of energy to summon up the smiles for this shot. However in the world does the guard in the back stand like that through the entire day?

She may look warm but she is not.

On the first day, we ventured out to try and shop. Hah! What a joke that was. All us Hong Kongians and Los Angelesians accustomed to warmth couldn't stand 15 minutes out in the streets.

We sought the nearest warm shop to huddle in.

Despite the cold, Beijing is sure quaint. This street, known as the outdoor silk street, has kept its traditional Chinese exterior but has all these little shops inside. We saw many a quirky things but these Chinese are smart (or stingy) and wouldn't let us photograph.

Cold.

So cold.

So cold the Christmas trees turned gray.

So coolness, I had really wanted to see snow this holiday season. We were hoping that Beijing would grant us our wishes but the entire we were there, we faced the unbearable cold but no snow!

That is...until the last day...

The whole city was blanketed with a light layer of white. Haha, "Federico" down there got a little happy writing in the snow.

Jessica and I are Californians so snow is not a regular occurrence for us. We were delighted!

Our cousin, Irene, not so much... (she's from Toronto)

The weather kept us from being outdoors the majority of the time so we had to resort to our most favorite (and most hated) hobby. What is it? I'll let you know at next post. (Which I hope will be updated at a much faster rate than I have been updating these past few weeks.)

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all enjoyed a lovely day where you gorged on food, gave thanks to the day baby Jesus was born, relaxed to the max and spent an insufferable amount of time with the loved ones. That's how my Christmas went, anyway. I guess my family didn't get my bulletin announcement of how I didn't want anything for Christmas. They went and bought me some lovely knicknacks and pattywacks, for which I'm really appreciative of, thanks! Nevertheless, my favorite Christmas gift would have to be this:

When I first saw it in its comatose state of propped to one side and lying in the storage room, I thought it was either a big screen TV or a robot. But as you can obviously see, this is a mahjong table. A top of the line mahjong table that shuffles and sorts the cards by itself. All you have to do is press a button. Excessive? Not for our family.

Our family love ourselves a little gambling. They can spend all week on the casino floor of Vegas (and have). My young sister has an annual pass to Morongo. And our favorite way to spend away a rainy afternoon would have to be playing mahjong. And because we have a large family with many members itching to get in on the game, we're not content with just one table. We play with two.

Even though I'm not the biggest gambler in my family, I love playing mahjong because it is the one event (other than eating) in which our entire family can interact and hang out together. Our entire family - the grandpas and grandmas, nieces and cousins. Around the mahjong table is where we can spend some quality time laughing and playing, sharing stories and trying to gyp each other off (in a fun, family-friendly way, of course). And the money? It makes no difference who wins or loses. Okay, so yea, my cousin, Irene wins far too much, she has to have cheated, but whatever. No biggie. I'm no sore loser. So she took 5 HK dollars from me the other day. Whatever. Jk. Irene wins fair and square and I just have to suck it up.

The other big thing our family does together is eat. Post to come shortly. Enjoy the holidays, y'all! I'll be spending the New Year in BEIJING! 好 好 玩！

Yea, We Hit That

That being the LA County Fair.
Thanks to KKuo's keen fiscal ways, we were able to score ourselves a night out on the town courtesy of some super-saving tickets purchased with a coupon from Von's.

We got our game on trying to toss a ring around the duckies. FAIL.
We devoured a juxtaposical frozen deep-fried banana. WIN.
We posed for silly pictures (KKuo wasn't really posing)

Highlight of the evening would definitely have to be riding Speed, the scariest roller coaster I have ever been on! And as a roller coaster connoisseur, I've gone through my share of loops and drops. We didn't get a picture on the ride since, well, the camera probably would have whipped off my face, smashed on the ground and broken into a million pieces but this shot of us in front of the ride will have to suffice.
Fairs are fun in all their hokey animal petting, fried-food eating, shaky ride riding ways. But they're definitely a semblance of summer and now that winter time has come, I'm ready to embrace all that the cold weather (which I looove) has to offer! Bring it!

Love/Hate LA

After a fantastic evening with Bon-Bon and the Winner, watching one of the silliest, perverse, random, British and uproariously hilarious Tony Award-winning musicals ever, Monty Python's Spamalot, I was walking out of the Ahmanson Theatre to my car, still humming the tunes to "Find Your Grail," when I stopped dead in my tracks to find an absolutely beautiful view of LA's finest nightline. I immediately took out my camera and snapped the shot above.

As much as I know my heart belongs in another location, another city, as much as I wish to be anywhere but here right now, I also know that God has placed me around southern California for a reason. I'm just a little anxious to find out what that reason is. Just a little.

Just something to make taking ballroom dancing classes, driving a minimum of an hour whenever I want to go anywhere worthwhile, overhearing pampered twenty-somethings complain that the apartment their parents bought for them at the luxurious Villas near the Miracle Mile is too small, and being the only person to long for an umbrella when the sun is beaming worthwhile.

That gorgeous view of Downtown LA helps.

Ephesians 5:15 - 17

"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."

2 Corinthians 4:17-18

"For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."