Santa Barbara

Last weekend a bunch of us decided to make a trip to beautiful Santa Barbara, which is about 2 hours journey from Los Angeles, located along the coast. It was supposed to be a farewell get-together with one of our friends, who will be leaving us for good comes Sunday.

So initially there were around 12 of us on this trip. Somehow news travels fast in our circle and soon almost everyone that found out we were going on an excursion requested to tag along. So we ended up with 18-19 people..Even I loss count.

Anyways, we started out trip at 8 in the morning and headed for Solvang first. Solvang is a Dannish town about half an hour North of Santa Barbara. The European atmosphere of the tiny city made me yearn for a long-awaited vacation..

The weather was gloomy and chilly despite the sunny weather prediction as shown on the Weather Channel. That's why I never trust them. From my past experience, they have never been right everytime I looked to it for clues of weather forecast.



There were many windmills visible in proximity of Solvang. I think they do add a touch of genuity to the European town. Bakeries were everywhere to be seen as well in the area.



After lunch we decided to head for Santa Barbara as another group of friends have already arrived. Upon peeping the view of the beautiful ocean, I could feel the stress buried behind my shoulders melt away. I could almost breathe in the saltiness of the sea.

As it was peak season, the motel that we were staying at wasn't able to prepare our rooms in time, so we headed for the beach to checkout the sand and sun..okay..sorry no sun..



We saw several guyz playing beach volleyball and they seemed as if they were having a kick-ass time. My friend saw that they had an extra ball so he went ahead and borrowed it from them. They were nice enough to loan the ball to our delight.

So there we were playing beach volleyball on the sands of Santa Barbara. Frankly speaking, I haven't had the opportunity to play beach volleyball my entire life although I have to admit the thought has occured in my mind for who-knows-how-long.

However I felt as if I were playing air-ball initially as I failed to catch any chance that flew in my direction..haha ^_____^ It was kind of embaressing needless to say. Nevertheless I refused to give up and insisted that it was just a warm-up act. And so I improved along the way, determined not to be the laughing stock =p

After my team won the game, we moved on to other games. And my-my..it is a great exercise to tone the calf and thigh muscles to run about on the beach. But our hands suffered bruises from playing volleyball.

Taking our turns to shower was indeed a time-consuming chore. There were only 2 bathrooms while 16 of us waited in line. haha..



The next morning, we walked around the shoreline, soaking in the breath-taking sights that Santa Barbara has to offer. I think it'd be awesome if we lived closer to the beach, then we could relax at the beach whenever we feel that stress is taking a toll on our everyday lives. But then again, I guess if this luxury is available to us at our own leisure, we wouldn't appreciate it as much.

Great Concert

So this past weekend was a pretty hectic one. We left for Vegas early Saturday morning. I tried fairly hard to sneak in a nap on the way there but Vuitton kept nudging me therefore hindering me from drifting into never-never-land.

Upon arriving in Vegas, we went straight to Todai to nurse our growling stomach. They have the best green-tea red-bean mousse ever!

Anyways Eason Chan and George Lam's concert was a pretty successful one. We had VIP tickets so our seats were ALL the way to the front. The singers and dancers were practically a feet or two away from us. Did I say we had VIP tickets? ^____^

So there we were, sitting in front, amidst a bunch of aunties and uncles. Sometimes it baffles me that hearty fans have to sit all the way back while old-er fans get the best seats. Afterall, a concert's success depends largely on the artiste's interaction with the greater audience.

What's the point of talking to a group of people who appear to be dull and sleepy?! I honestly saw 3 uncles who were sitting next to each other falling off their shoulders while salivating all over themselves...Okay, maybe that's a little exaggerating, but really...

Okay so back to the concert. My girlfriend and I were the only ones waving our neon lights while the singer sang their hearts out. I got a great arm exercise though =) But Eason really does a very beautiful voice indeed. We were deeply mersmerized by his soulful tunes as well.

Halfway through the concert, George and his dancers started throwing out cute little teddy souvenirs. I was like a crazy woman waving my hands out. Okay, I didn't really want the teddy very much but I just thought it was kinda exciting to catch something. At least it's something different.

Fortunately, my efforts didn't go in vain. George threw the last teddy to me, a good throw at that too! hehe...

At the end of the concert, everyone was pretty high and throngs of people started crowding to the front of the stage, trying to shake hands with the singers. My friends and I took our chances as well and we got our turns. After getting what we wanted, we went back to our seats to enjoy the good atmosphere.

My girlfriend and I started doing a little dance while people were still crowding to the front. Eason saw us, pointed at us and did an imitation of us dancing. It was hilarious needless to say!

All in all, we had a wonderful time in Vegas. Our friend, Vuitton did an awesome job entertaining us to-and-fro during our entire trip =)

Vegas again baby!

It's been pretty quiet and boring these past few weeks. Nothing really major going on, well maybe just some little stuff. My camera has konked off recently for who-knows-what-reason. I've been trying to revive it to no avail.

It's kinda disheartening to see my baby in this condition. Hopefully the uncle that I brought it to will save it from darkness and save me from despair. I've been kinda frustrated as well without a camera with me to shoot all kinds of funny stuff, which is why my blog is suffering from picture deficiency.

It's Friday...again...How time just goes by. I'll be off to Vegas in about another 15 hours! Yup, hopping to Vegas again for another concert. My friend managed to nail VIP tickets to Eason Chan and George Lam's concert at Aladdin tomorrow night. Apparently our tickets are worth $600 per seat.

So that would allow us to sit in the second row, since we decided a little too last-minute. I was kidding with my friend that maybe we'll be sitting behind Sally Yap (George's wife). And we will poke her shoulder, asking her to scoot over because we can't really see Eason clearly...haha ^___^ okay, life is that boring..

Recently I got to know a new friend from Johor. He's pretty freaking hilarious. We went out for lunch last weekend. And he ordered Nasi Lomak as opposed to Nasi Lemak. Yeah..he does have difficulty pronouncing the right alphabet =p

After that, he exclaimed that our mutual friend's name--Louis sounded cool. 2 seconds of pondering later, he stated that he wanted to be known as Vuton then..haha...which is of course the worldly renowned brand, Louis Vuitton.

He'll be travelling to LV with us. My friends and I are worried that we would probably collapse of laughter before we even touch foot at The Strip =]

Why sky?

The weather in Los Angeles has been pretty weird of late. It rains for a bit, then the sun will peep through the cloudy sky. The next time you turn your ahead around, it'll be raining cats and dogs yet again.

It's so easy to fall sick under this circumstance. I have been in and out a lot as well as I have to go out on reporting tasks. In fact, my nose is itchy right now.

Life has been pretty sedentary this past month since my client left for Malaysia for a seminar. I have had the freedom to visit the gym everyday after work, go grocery-shopping, or simply lounge around in my room watching HK series.

I have to say it is very much relaxing to come home and rest my feet after a long day at work. At times when time permits, I'll play a few rounds of mahjong with some friends while catching up on each other's happenings.

Nevertheless beautiful nights never last. Got a nightmarish call from my client couple days ago requesting my service again. She wants me to edit another 20-minute introductory piece for her. I guess this will go on and on. But this will probably keep my wallet happy and pink =)