[August 2024] Catch Up with Shiena & Kini

 

Hi angels, how are you today? I'm feeling a lot better and really looking forward to the weekend ‎٩(⸝⸝ᵕᴗᵕ⸝⸝)و*̣̩⋆̩*

When I got back from my LA trip I went for dinner with Shiena and Kini. We went to try this new restaurant that opened up called New Fuji. It has a retro diner feel to it and the food had really good reviews online!

We decided to share a bunch of dishes so we could try a little of everything.

The portions were a little smaller than we thought so we ended up ordering dessert too! This little crème brulée was so yummy.

I had a lot of fun catching up with them both because it had been a while since we saw each other. We took some quick pics together before parting ways (๑´>᎑<)~*

At this time I was really liking the closed droop look (top and bottom liner connect in the outer corner). I felt like it gave me consistently good results and was easily achievable if I was short on time because I didn't have to constantly check to see if the bottom liner was even for each eye.

It would take me a few months to grow bored of this but I think that's just because I get bored easily (╥ᆺ╥;)

Anyways that's all for this post, see you in the next one! ₊˚⊹♡

[August 2024] LA & Universal Studios (image heavy)

 

Hey angels, I hope you've been well! Work has been so busy for me and I haven't been feeling the best this last week. It's definitely flu season now so please make sure you take care of yourselves (๑-﹏-๑)

Today's post is going to be about my work trip last year! Every year I go to LA for my annual work conference and I always try to make time to see my friends. This time around my schedule was quite busy so I was pretty tired by the time I left to go home "( – ⌓ – ). 

I keep telling myself I need to budget a few extra days but it's hard because I need to stay in Santa Monica for work and the hotels are just so expensive there especially after currency conversion (つ╥﹏╥)つ

For this trip I really wanted to have cute summer nails so I went with this neon pink and green leopard design. I loved this set so much it felt 超ギャル ꉂ(˵˃ ᗜ ˂˵)

I had to work starting on Monday so I left and arrived on Sunday. My flight is only about ~3 hours so it's not a difficult trip for me.

My friend Glenn picked me up from the airport and surprised me with a custom made birthday cake! He was going to come up and visit us in Vancouver but the timing didn't work out so he wanted to make it up to me. 

This cake was delicious but way too much for the two of us so I brought it with me to work to share.

Little did I know it was also my director's birthday that week so we ended up having double cake in the office that week (ᵕ—ᴗ—)

I didn't want to do too much on Sunday night since I had to work the next day so we ordered some tacos. I've been wanting to try Trejo's for a long time and this meal did not disappoint. 

My favorite thing about LA has to be the Mexican food, it's totally unmatched!!

The work week itself was quite packed. We usually plan out our schedule months in advance and try to fit as many dinners and activities with our partners as possible. I always love seeing how they decorate the Activision office. This year it was Black Ops 6 themed and they had this cute corner with perk-a-cola machines.

At Treyarch they had this giant mural in the front and the cabinets had all sorts of awards and props on display.

Since I can't share much about the specifics of my work the rest of this post is going to be mostly food lol ( ꈍ◡ꈍ)

Our first dinner was at this beachside restaurant. I loved how we were close to the water but still had some privacy from this flower wall that was installed. You could still see out a bit but it felt nice to have some separation from everyone walking around outside.

All the food was extra yummy and we got to watch the sunset from our table!!

After dinner we took a little walk around Venice Beach and got ice cream. I never thought I was a beach person until I went to LA and then I realized we just don't have nice beaches here in Vancouver lol

The next dinner we had was at this place called SOL Mexican Cocina. I really didn't have any expectations for this meal because it was a chain restaurant in a strip mall but it was so good???? I was so shook.

We had to eat off this set menu because we had a really large party but all of the food was incredible, except for the desserts.

I got their shrimp chili relleno which is a dish I've never eaten before, but I have not been able to stop thinking about it since that day. It was so flavorful and comforting with just the right amount of spice. I truly think about eating this every day and I'm absolutely gutted I haven't found a place in my city that makes this dish the same way.

This churro dulce de leche dessert was just ok. I wasn't super crazy about it but I liked the ice cream a lot.

This rum ganache on the other hand was fucking nasty as hell and everyone was so shocked by how strong it was. It did not taste good and most people could only have one spoonful of it (｡•́︿•̀｡)

Dinner the next night was an absolute mess. The restaurant reservation we had got cancelled and we had to rebook one last minute. Unfortunately half the group was already traveling to the first restaurant when this was happening so there was a huge delay in everyone getting to the correct restaurant.

Once we figured it out it was all good though, we ended up at a place called Wabi on Rose in Venice Beach. I really enjoyed eating here, the restaurant was so aesthetic! 

(image from google)

It was a bit difficult to chat to everyone since we had such a large group but me and the few coworkers around me were kept entertained by the table behind us who appeared to be on a first date and it was NOT going well (∗´ര ᎑ ര`∗)

The food was tasty but portions are a bit small so we had to order a lot for everyone to share. It's definitely a more "upscale" priced place so I feel bad that date didn't go well, it's like a double whammy where you had a bad time AND you got robbed (╥﹏╥)

The next day was our beach episode!! We had wrapped up our work day a little early so we could spend some time at the beach before dinner. I did my hair and makeup for the beach since I wouldn't have enough time afterwards to get ready. Not sure why I curled my hair because that shit did not last at all in the humidity by the water ∘ ∘ ∘ ( °ヮ° ) ?

The weather wasn't as warm this time around so it wasn't as satisfying to be on the beach. I just spent most of my time chatting with my coworker under the umbrellas while everyone else played paddleball.

Her husband came around for a little bit and brought their dog Roo. She was such a sweet little baby. She wanted to stay with us so bad and when she was told no she started eating sand out of spite (ᵕ,,—ᴗ—,,)

After the beach I went back to the hotel room to touch up before going to dinner. As you can see my hair deflated horribly. I understand what "beach curls" are now (≖⩊≖)

I took a bunch of selfies while I waited to get picked up for dinner. I'm really bad at taking pictures on trips so I wanted to have at least some cute pics to post lol

We went to this restaurant called Cobi's. This was my first Michelin spot in LA and they serve Thai/Malaysian fusion food. I enjoyed this meal a lot it felt very adventurous but oddly familiar.

I really liked the restaurant decor too, it was such a fun and eclectic vibe.

The next day Glenn and I woke up early to go to Universal Studios! He wanted to take me as a surprise birthday present. Unfortunately for us it was the hottest day of the week so it was a really hard day trip for me, especially after a week of work. Though I was extremely tired I was still very excited to see Universal for the first time.

We got the power-up bands so we could make the most of our time in the Super Nintendo World part of the park.

We stopped by Springfield first to see all the Simpsons displays and buy some souvenirs. The park was just opening so a lot of the attractions weren't ready for public access yet.

It was so fun to see Springfield in real life. I loved watching the Simpsons growing up. I loved how they turned the Kwik-E-Mart into the gift store.

After that we headed to Super Nintendo World. I thought it was funny that as we were heading down the escalator to that part of the park you could just.... see the entirety of SNW cause it stuck out from the rest of the buildings so much ꉂ(˵˃ ᗜ ˂˵)

Even though we got here early it was already super crowded and most things already had a line.

We lined up and played some of the games outside before heading to the Mario Kart ride. Glenn bought us fast passes so we didn't have to line up for too long. This line in particular kept getting held up because the ride kept breaking. Every time we were going to walk away they announced that it was fixed again and this went on for like 40 minutes (ง ͠ಥ_ಥ)ง

The ride was really fun though and I enjoyed it a lot. It was so cool to see how much detail went into all the decorations and interactive spots.

Here's me being a tourist lol

We said goodbye to Mario and went over to check out the Harry Potter section of the park. I used to love Harry Potter growing up but as an adult I've definitely grown out of it and am disgusted by the way Joanne uses her platform to spew hateful vitriol. 

I don't want to support her in any way so I didn't buy anything here or take many photos to post.

We lined up to try one of the rides (Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey) because everyone said it was fun and since I don't like rollercoasters this was one of the only non-coaster options to try anyways.

To get to this ride you have to go into Hogwarts. There's a few fun displays but nothing too crazy on the inside. There's a part where Dumbledore talks to you and that's about all that's exciting here.

After the ride ends you exit through the gift store. It was fun to look around but I wasn't going to get anything.

At this point I was really suffering from the heat and exhaustion so we stopped by the Transformers area to get some ice cream and watch Bumblebee and Megatron take photos with fans. 

We walked around the kids area where they had buildings from various franchises stuck together. They had a Gru suit actor for the Despicable Me area and I was very uncomfortable with the way they looked because it wasn't like... an inflatable suit or something they straight up dressed someone up like Gru with a fake head and I hate it LOL

(image from google)

We checked out some more gift stores on the way out and passed by this display for Marilyn Monroe. I would've loved to see more of the park but at this point I was starting to feel very sick and needed to lie down.

By the time I got back to the hotel I was fully unwell so we ordered some bento boxes for dinner. After eating I immediately passed the fuck out ( ˶°ㅁ°) !!

The next day we went for afternoon tea with my friend Geoff, his friend, and his sister. We went to this place called Callisto Tea House in Pasadena and tried out their Gongfu tea service (basically a Chinese traditional tea ceremony). I really enjoyed this experience because the staff were really knowledgeable about their teas. We learned so much about the different teas we ordered, their origins, and the best brewing methods for bringing out their flavors. I had so much fun doing this and would love to experience it again one day!!

We stopped back at the hotel to freshen up before dinner but Glenn and I were so hungry we decided to pregame dinner with Coco Ichibanya ( ꈍ◡ꈍ)

This was a mistake because we ended up going to Trejo's Tacos for dinner and I was sooooo full by the end of the night "( – ⌓ – )

After dinner we headed back to the hotel and I had to finish packing because I was leaving the next day already!! I was so tired by the end of this trip but I was happy to have made so many wonderful memories with my friends. I am grateful that I got to experience all of this in one week.

If you made it all the way here thank you so much for reading!!! I felt like I went on this trip all over again just writing about it haha. I am powering through my busy season at work but I hope to find more time diligently work through my backlog in the next few weeks (૭ ｡•̀ ᵕ •́｡ )૭ 

Thanks for stopping by today and I'll catch you in the next one!! ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂)⸝♡