Theme Park weekend!

We left for LA at 7am, got to Hollywood at about 8.30am. Just walked around, went to theHighland shopping mall of which you can see the famed 'Hollywood' sign from there. Also, made a quick stop at Graumann's Chinese Theatre. Some pics in front of Kodak Theater and El Capitan Theater before heading for Universal Studios.

As it was a rather chilly and drizzling day, there wasn't a very huge crowd at Universal Studios. Great, less waiting time for rides and shows. Probably also because it's the weekend before Christmas. Well, we went for most of the shows,and took all the rides - Jurassic Park and the Mummy, but sadly we missed the 45min Studio Tour, dang! Long story..hehe..

Santa King Kong

Looks better at night

Lets go to the lower level..

With the 3 sneaky penguins from Madagascar!

Good thing that beast isn't alive..eheh..in Jurassic Park

Outside the Mummy ride..up for another time?

With Spongebob..notice the smaller version??

Left the park at 6pm after exploring Universal Walk (even The Hulk at the Universal Cinema had a Christmas hat on!) and headed for Anaheim, where we checked into Holiday Inn Anaheim MainGate for the night. Took some time trying to find the restaurant we wanted to have dinner at, but somehow just couldn't find it, and gave up. Ended up having Marinara Spagetti from a nearby pizza place, walking distance from the hotel. Pretty good though :)

That's one mean looking Santa Hulk

Next day, after a good breakfast, we headed for Disneyland - the Happiest Place on Earth. Again, the weather was similiar to the previous day, and though it was a Sunday, there wasn't much of a crowd. Again, less waiting time for rides and shows. A highlight was that we spotted Diane Keaton (The First Wives Club, was a Caught the Christmas parade in the afternoon and had a couple of churros (yum!). A new ride for me this timearound was the Pirates of the Carribean which is a definite must go! Also the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters. You get into a buggy, and start shooting at aliens etc to earn points. Was I beaten so badly by Wani :P hahha..but it was really fun!

Where do we start?

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad anyone?

It's a Small World - I like this ride :)

Santa, I've been a good girl this year, so I want a ....

One of the many floats at the Christmas Parade

Chip & Dale *ring a bell? ;)

Mickey tree..nice!

Nice pic with Mr. Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse, with Sleeping Beauty's Castle in view

We left the park at 6pm+, found Ma's Islamic Restaurant and had a good dinner, before heading home at about 8.30pm. Got back to San Diego at 10.30pm. Fun weekend in LA :)

Good Luck Crystal!

We had a small farewell happy hour at El Torito for Crystal. Just a couple of people but it was fun with chit chat, laughter, margarita's and good food. She's a dear colleague who has left our division for greener pastures within Sony. Ever since I got to the US, she's been really helpful, we hung out together, for lunch, movies, parties etc. Well, we'll still hang out for sure :) All the best with the new job!

L to R : Lordita, Jeff, Jodai-san, me, Akiko, Wakai-san, Nagao-san, Crystal and Jon

Farewell at the office - yummy Persian food!

Land of blocks - Legoland!

Today's stop was Legoland. Got there at 9.30am, there weren't a whole lot of people as it was a week day. A nice big Lego Xmas tree greeted us as we walked in. Basically, it was a parent-kid park, as that's the sight we see throughout the park, as if we were the odd ones out. Nevertheless, had fun still. I played Lego very much when I was a kid, and then also Technic lego after that, so with a Legoland here in California, I thought I'd go, at least once :)

Sunny day, obviously..

Looks so real, doesn't it?

I'm just at awe at the things they built there with Lego blocks. Spongebob, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, dinosaurs,animals, characters from fairy tales..a whole lot more. Albert Einstein as well as Egyptian mummy's and tombs were also exquisitely built. One of the exhibits really gave me a scare. In the Arctic cave (after the simulation ride), when I walked pass, all of a sudden a huge polar bear came darting out and gave a roar (if only you saw the expression on my face, someone surely did and still laughs till this day :P)

Exquisite!

That polar bear!

Pirates ahoy!

We're in the lock up's yet we're happy?? haha..

Another great exhibit is the Miniland - places around the US, built on a 'mini' scale.There was Washington DC (White House, Lincoln Memorial etc), New York City (Rockefeller's Center, Times Square etc), New Orleans (with a moving Mardi Gras parade too!). We also took a cruise around the lake to see Sydney Harbour, Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal, Mt.Rushmore (the mountainwith the faces of 4 US presidents) etc. Another exhibit I liked was the one of which famous paintings, by Leonardo Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Andy Warhol etc were made out of Lego. How ever did they do it?

Washington DC - Miniland USA

NYC as the sun sets

Come join in the Mardi Gras celebrations!

Wani 'fighting' Darth Vader, with R2D2 at her side..hhaha

Your Majesty - Queen Elizabeth

With the famed 'Mona Lisa', lego style

I like this Christmas Tree :)

We left the park at about 5pm, already dark by then, with a bit of traffic on the way home. Fun day though..Back to work tomorrow..

On my off day...

Went to Coronado Island today. Took a walk on the beach in front of Hotel Del. Very good weathered day. chilly, but sunny.

Calm views at Coronado Beach

Part of the soldiers gruelling training? Run!

Then stopped at Heritage Park, an area behind Old Town thathas old Victorian houses. And then Old Town, to check out the museums, market and shops before heading for Jamilah Garden, in Convoy for a late lunch. Yum..

House on Wysteria Lane?

With my best friend, Wani

Colours of Fall..another week till Winter

Basically you drive around the 1.5mile horse race track that has about 350 lighted, animated holiday displays set up, with your car lights off. Entry is $13 (With $1.50 off from a Ralphs coupon) and you can take about 20min to complete the course. This yearly event boasts 600 cars on certain evenings.

We drove around 3 times I think, got a bit bored and headed home.

As we enter..

I like this one.

I'm off the next 2 days..yay!

Yay she's here!

I was counting the days till my best friend, Wani, would come visit. We've been friends for 12 years, going on 13. People always wonder how a Chinese girl can click very well with a Malay girl. We'll, we just do :)

I spent Saturday running errands, getting groceries and cleaning up the apartment. I went to pick her up at LAX on Sunday 10/Dec. Flight got in an hour earlier and I met her at Tom Bradley at about 1pm. Headed back to San Diego, about 2 hours drive and reached home at about almost 4pm. Cooked a simple dinner and just bummed around. Thus looking forward to the beginning of the 3 weeks of fun times :)

BDPS1 : Blu-ray Disc Player

Finally, our 'baby' is out in the market today! Dubbed the ultimate player and product of the future - Blu-ray Disc Player for high definition experience, our very own model BDPS1 has finally been launched in the market. Retailing at $999, offers a host of new high-definition entertainment possibilities. Featururing 1920 x 1080p output, the highest HD signal output currently available through a HDMI™ connection. If your HD-capable television does not have an HDMI connection, you can still get the Blu-ray experience - the 1080i analog output allows for HD-capable televisions without HDMI to enjoy Blu-ray Disc features.

The Blu-ray Disc format provides five times larger capacity than today's DVDs, with unprecedented storage capacity of 25 GB (single-layer) and 50 GB (dual-layer). Blu-ray Disc™ players will be fully backward compatible with current DVD formats, delivering entertainment content in full high-definition (HD) quality, under a secure environment made possible through the most advanced copyright protection technology.

Blu-ray Disc™ provides picture quality beyond anything available, with full capability 1080p/24 resolution in Blu-ray and Up to 40Mbps bit encoding - 5X current DVD. The theater quality "uncompressed" audio supports 8 channels of Liner PCM, Up to 32 streams of audio, interactive capability, seamless menus, integrated games, hi-def bonus and educational features. Java will allow for more dynamic, more sophisticated interactivity.Blu-ray Disc™ was created to match the accelerating growth in digital consumer electronics and computer technology. The platform supports the convergence of film, music, gaming and other computer entertainment in a single standard.

So, get rid of your HD DVD players and get this brand new Blu-ray Disc Player now! Hehe..

Shopping shopping..

Just got back from shopping at the Carlsbad Premium Mall, about 1/2hr away near Legoland. Got there at about 10am, shopped, had lunch, shopped some more till 4pm. Loads of bargains, so tempted to shop shop shop! My pocket hurts! Hahha..anyway, just got a casual jacket. Coach had 20-30% additional off the lowest tagged price. There was a long line waiting outside the store to go in, and a long line to pay at the cashier. People were buying purses and handbags left and right, Christmas gifts huh?

Look at the line!

I like those stars adorned above Santa's house.

Yesterday, went to Aunty Pam and Uncle Morse's house at about 9am and we all went to Macy's at Westfield UTC La Jolla mall. Most of the shops open at midnight or 6am and have great deals and discounts. Shopped till about 11.30am, manage to get a green hooded knitted sweater. Spend $25 and get $10 off, good deal :)

Then at noon dropped by BMW San Diego as Uncle Morse dropped off his X3 for servicing. They 4 service lanes where you park your car one after the next. There will be a consultant that will assist you with the paperwork etc. So just took a browse at the cars on sale (on show). Woohoo..wonder when I will be able to afford one...hehe..BMW merchandise is also on sale. They are so prompt and offer customized service..tip top! A loaner car (Toyota Camry) was given until the car is ready for collection. We went for dimsum at this chinese restaurant inside the Vinh Hung Vietnamese Market, which was formerly a movie theater. Not much crowd, good food and quite cheap too! Ate till about 2.30pm and headed home.

Will just be a bum at home tomorrow, well, have some work to do..mm..

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

It's Thanksgiving today! We have a 4 day (23-26 Nov) weekend which is great since US doesn't have a many holidays compared to Malaysia :P Nice to have a breather after the last few busy weeks..yay!

This is one of the major holidays here, where this annual holiday is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November is to give thanks one has at the close of the harvest season. Everyone will 'balik kampung' so this is one of the busiest travel period of the year and air tickets are quite expensive. I was planning to go to Seattle or New York, but it's been raining and also rather cold over there. Too bad...

Certain kinds of food are traditionally served at Thanksgiving meals. First and foremost, turkey is usually the featured item on any Thanksgiving feast table (so much so that Thanksgiving is sometimes referred to as "Turkey Day"). Stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, Indian corn as well as pumpkin pie are the commonly associated with Thanksgiving dinner.

On Thanksgiving Day, families and friends usually gather for a large meal or dinner. In NYC, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held annualy in Midtown Manhattan, featuring parade floats with specific themes, scenes from Broadway plays, large balloons of cartoon characters and TV personalities, and high school marching bands. The float that traditionally ends the Macy's Parade is the Santa Claus float. This float is a sign that the Christmas season has begun. American football is often a major part of Thanksgiving celebrations in the U.S.

The American winter holiday season (generally the Christmas shopping season in the U.S.) traditionally begins when Thanksgiving ends, on "Black Friday" (the day after Thanksgiving); this tradition has held forth since at least the 1930s. This is the biggest day of shopping of the year in the U.S., as measured by customer traffic, whereby some shops open from midnight or from wee hours of the morning, have special offers/deals/discounts up to 70% for limited hours. Finding parking at malls would be difficult, and the long lines waiting outside the store before it opens, waiting in the cold..mmm..but this is where you can find like $300 Toshiba laptops, $10 DVD players etc..prices drop rock bottom!

Anyway, I had a good night's sleep yesterday, woke up at 9 this morning, did some cleaning all around the apartment, and just got back from watching the movie 'Santa Clause 3'. A bit of holiday spirit ey?

Christmas already??

I went for some retail therapy today at Las Americas. Escape the crowd on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) of which shops will open from 12am onwards, with super discounts (up to 70% during special hours from midnight till 7am. Pretty good day as I managed to get a few good buys - bags, shirts, sweaters etc. Splurge..once in a while is ok right? Hehe..

Anyway, the huge tree is up. It's not even Thanksgiving yet (we'll, it's 23 Nov). Looking forward to the 4 day weekend (23-26 Nov) this week :D

It's only PS3! Come on..

PS3 was launched on 11/Nov in Japan and after 3 days, ~90K units were sold. It was launched in the US, Canada, Hong Kong and Taiwan on 17/Nov. Europe and Oceania will only see it 7/Mar 2007. Big competition with Nintendo Wii (just launched today 19/Nov) and Microsoft Xbox 360. In the US here, patrons waited in line at least 24hours outside of the stores. Some left empty handed. The launch was nothing short of incidents.

1. It was about 3 a.m. when the two gunmen in Putnam, a town of about 9,000 residents innortheast Connecticut, confronted 15 to 20 people standing outside a Wal-Mart store and demanded money. When a patron resisted, he was shot.

2. About 30 miles away, another shopper was beaten and robbed of his new PlayStation 3 justminutes after he bought it at a store in Manchester. The shopper was surrounded by fivemen that beat him as he left the Shoppes at Buckland Hills with the new PlayStation.

3. In Sullivan, Indiana, a man was in critical condition after emergency surgery for a stab woundafter he and a friend tried to rob two men of consoles they waited 36 hours in line to buy.

4. Two men wearing black ski masks and sunglasses made off with five consoles after holdingtwo employees at gunpoint at an Englewood, Ohio, video game store Thursday night.

5. A Pennsylvania teenager was also robbed of his new PlayStation by a man who tapped on hiscar window with a handgun in Allentown.

6. In Lexington, Kentucky, someone fired BB pellets from a passing vehicle at people waitingoutside a Best Buy store.

7. Police fired a talcum powder ball at the ground outside a Target store in Henrico, Virginia, toget the attention of an unruly crowd of about 350 people who were waiting to buy one of theshop's eight consoles.

Come on...it's just a game console, $599, is it worth hurting others or taking people's life for it? Anyway, the product has been getting rave reviews, so hopefully sales goes through the roof.

Seaworld again :)

Made my 2nd trip to Seaworld this year, accompanying Ooi. We left at 9.30 and got then at 10am, just as the park opens. Weather was sunny, but chilly as it's in Mission Bay, by the ocean. 1st stop was the Dolphin feeding pool. This time I made sure my camera was out of the way as I get to pat the dolphin (my old digicam was killed by a dolphin in an incident last Apr!). Also took a peek at the 'Dine with Shamu' area and then headed for the tide pool to see the star fish, sea cucumber and anenomes.* I'll just be posting a whole lot more pics this time.

Was this the dolphin??

Keep em stars under water..always!

Checked out the Dolphin Discovery show at 11am, simply brilliant creatures! Then to the Manatee Rescue tanks and Shark Encounter. Stopped to see the seals and sea lion before watching the Risky Rescue show of which the main stars are the seals at 12pm. Entertaining tricks! Shows were usually 25-30min. Had a quick lunch at Calypso Cafe and caught the Pets Rule show at 1.30pm. Pets definitely rule! Went to Wild Arctic for the helicopter simulation ride and then saw beluga whales, walruses and polar bears lazing about. Disappointed that the Penguin Encounter is again closed (even when I came the first time 7 months ago!)

These bottlenose dolphins can jump sky high!

A manatee having lettuce for lunch

Sailor Seals

Walk with me...at the Dolphin Interaction

Typical American lunch - Chicken Tenders, French Fries, Corn Cob and Dinner Roll

Pets Rule stage

A white Beluga whale...serene...

Mr.Polar Bear lazing around

*Smooch! Walruses..adorable!

Highlight of the day was the new Shamu show 'Believe'. No choice but to seat in the 'Soak Zone' - first 16 rows of which you are bound to get wet. But a closer view and being nearer to the whales was worth it :) This new show was simply captivating, sensational, visually stunning that it transports your heart to the edge of wonder. It blends new killer whale behaviors with elaborate set pieces, music, choreography and state-of-the-art multimedia. I simply enjoyed it! And definitely got wet too, really wet from huge splashes of salt water!

Shamu up in the air

Just before we got wet..really wet..

Roar of applause for the star of the show

Note the fantastic stage and visuals

Cool!

See you again!

Me! Wet!

After the show at 3.30pm, waited in line for the R.L.Stine Haunted Lighthouse 4D show at 4.30pm. I didn't see this the last time I came, so it's a plus too. Scary? Not at all, funny, yes! By the time we got out at 5, it was already dark. Went to the Fresh Water Aquarium next door and lastly, pat bay rays at the Forbidden Reef before heading home at 6pm.

Tigerfish

Do you see their skeletons?? Eerie..

Fish traffic...hectic!

Bright Pink Flamingos

At the Forbidden Reef...

To pat Bat Rays

Definitely made my Seaworld Fun Card worth while (pay for 1 day and get the whole of 2006 off). Wouldn't mind going again :D