SoCal Day 3: California Adventure

Would you believe that this was my first time at California Adventure? 20 years ago this park never existed nor was Downtown Disney. So this was a brand new experience for me!

First stop in California Adventure had to be the new addition to the park, Cars Land. Debuted in June 2012, I've heard the wait for any of the rides could take hours so I knew it had to be the first thing we do once the park opens.

We had reservations for Ariel's Grotto and the World of Color full-service prix fixe dinner at Wine Country Trattoria. If you didn't know already, I'm a huge Little Mermaid fan! Ariel's Grotto is a great place to bring anyone that loves Disney Princesses because it's a character dining experience. Each princess would stop by your table to greet you and there's an opportunity to take some photos with them. Once you enter the dining floor, you can have your photo taken with the very princess whose restaurant was named after.

The Aladdin show was fun to watch because of some of the genie's jokes were more up-to-date with today's audience. Stewart and Pattison's relationship couldn't work out there's no hope for the rest of us." some Kardashian and even "Gangnam Style".

World of Color was an awesome experience and very pretty. I can see why people rave about seeing it. It's one of the best night-time shows to watch.

That's the end for the LA/Disneyland trip! It was relatively a short vacation but a memorable one in my book. I am quietly excited for the next vacation whenever that will be~~~ and I hope it's Disney related LOL.

Finally a Little Mermaid ride * - * I rode this 3 times lol ♥

My name plaque that I got at Disneyland.

SoCal Day 2: Return to Disneyland

"It's Halloween at Disneyland where fairytales are turning dark,
From Main Street to Space Mountain, The wicked are taking over the park!
The wicked are taking over the park!!"

 

This was our belated anniversary trip that fell nicely on our monthiverary so it worked out. It's been 20 years since I last visited Disneyland. So many changes with the addition of California Adventure and Downtown Disney. I turned on my tourist mode once I stepped into the park and took pictures of almost everything I saw. More photos can be found over at my livejournal.

 

It's officially Halloween time at Disneyland! It's always been my dream to visit a Disney park on Halloween and Xmas. Disney characters were dressed up in their Halloween best and the villains were out to join in all the fun! We watched the night fireworks and Fantasmic with our 'Glow with the Show' Mickey ears because I wanted to become part of the show too! I was able to take alot of nice pics of Disney characters than my previous trip thanks to my awesome Pooky.

The Queen of Hearts

Duffy! They need to import Shellie May :3

*plays Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty I. Waltz in head*

The creepy hallway with the eerie green light. This scene always scared me as a kid with the eerie music >.<

Pooky was surprised to see a male character from a princess movie XD

AAAHH! So cute! Goofy scarecrow as a Halloween touch in Toontown.

Halloween Mickey!

Thank you Mickey for making this photo possible~<3  My favorite one of them all.

We have arrived at the Haunted Mansion transformed by Jack Skellington and his friends.

I realized that I never took proper pictures of Sleeping Beauty's castle.

 

Have a sweet day everyone!

Yumi



SoCal Day 1: Sweets Journey

I was crazy enough to spend the first day in SoCal eating solely sweets. First stop was Beverly Hills for some Sprinkles Ice Cream! A branch originally of Sprinkles Cupcakes, the first cupcake bakery ever. Sprinkles Ice Cream opened their doors a few months ago (May 2012) and I've been very excited to visit! The decor is similar to it's sister store with minimal color and simple but modern decor. They did not have strawberry that day (totally came on the wrong day) so I tried a vanilla ice cream instead with chocolate sprinkles. It's simple but I didn't want to overindulge because I have to save room for many more sweets!

The original Sprinkles Cupcakes.

Their new cupcakes ATM machine where you get can your cupcake without stepping into the shop.

I got my first taste of Sprinkles Ice Cream!

Next stop was IOTA Coffee & Bakery in Koreatown. We ordered a mille crêpe and a honey brick toast.

Bottega Louie was not far from K-town and it's one of the places I absolutely MUST stop by. When I stepped into the store it was like sweet heaven for my eyes with pretty colors and filled with desserts. I just wanted to try everything of each. I did get my box of macarons and stopped by Frances Bakery & Coffee for my second box of macarons. Then we went all the way to San Gabriel for Half & Half Tea House for some milk tea~ Or in my case, strawberry ice milk with pudding and honey boba.

Flavors: earl grey, rose, strawberry, passion fruit, raspberry chocolate, lemon grand cru, mandarin chocolate, vanilla, violet cassis and matcha.

They first opened their doors in 2007.

I'm in sweets heaven and I just want to try everything!!! ♥ Just like in Yumeiro Patissiere

Heading back to Anaheim and our last stop was Tebo Tebo Tea Lounge for their version of brick toast. There were a selection of different toasts you can get but I chose "Paris in a Box" only because of the name, strawberries and macaron I get with it. The condense milk was a nice touch and different from other brick toasts I've tried closer to home.

The day ended with my tummy full of sweets that could make one diabetic but we only get to do this once in a while so it won't kill us . A vacation for me is trying out the local food, being a tourist where I get to take pictures of everything I see, spending time with Pooky and making many kodak moments~

 

have a sweet day everyone,

Yumi

Liz Lisa in the USA~

LIZ LISA pop-up shop ♥ and Kylee's performance were the main highlight for me in this year's J-POP SUMMIT FESTIVAL. There were plenty of fashion shows and contests on saturday but I had other obligations to attend. For those who don't know, LIZ LISA is a Shibuya fashion brand loved by gyarus. Besides the LIZ LISA contest, Baby, the Stars Shine Bright had their own with a Alice in Wonderland inspired fashion contest called “The Very Merry Unbirthday Parade!"

Kylee signed the front jacket of the single and also the disc.

Alice inspired look.

The Red Queen inspired by Tim Burton's version.

And the White Rabbit.

LIZ LISA head designer, Aino Owada, was very sweet and helpful with my little shopping experience despite a bit of language barrier. If consumers spend $50 (including eyelash), free eyelash makeup by the shop staff will be done. If $100 is spent then you get a free makeover. Did I mention that fashion blogger Kim Dao was there too as a shop staff.

It did not take long for me to find the pop-up shop.

I was a happy camper!

Eyeshadow in brown #023 and blush in Coral Rose #011

Eyelet lace top and chiffon blouse. I have this weird thing about buying tops and rarely any bottoms.

Bridal Shower & More Weddings!

Congrats to Tammy & Minh!

I was honored to be part of their wedding and I have to say that the big day occured on the hottest day of the summer. I had to sleep early the night before to even get up at 1am for our 3am hair and makeup appointment. It was a hectic day but everything worked out well.

Santa Clara University Church where the ceremony will take place.

The wedding party.

 

Now that things with my friend's wedding are all wrapped up, it's now my other friend's turn!

My gift for the bride-to-be

Our mini tea party.

I love my berries!

We were all admiring the pretty bridal cake~

Pastel colored cakepops.

The bridal party

Congrats to Anthony & Linda!

I was asked to be Linda's bridesmaid for one of her biggest celebration, her wedding. We just had to be part of the craze and got to dance to PSY's "Gangnam Style" as our entrance music.

Experienced finger cramps here witht the cakepops...it was quite tedious!

The wedding party.

Here comes the bride all dressed in white~

"I Spy" game for our guests to play.

I liked how we each had our own personal vase for our bouquet.

The wedding cupcakes that I helped with.

A photo of me and Pooky. I was able to camouflage my sunburn! ( ~_ ^ )b

Our elementary/middle school/high school friends! The bride was MIA taking pictures with guests at the door.