It was exactly 4 days before Christmas when my Papa scored last-minute tickets to LA. Instant holiday!
I was very good on the airplane. Seasoned flyer!
We spent our Christmas with my Mama's relatives in Anaheim again. They are such a fun bunch so it's always a great idea to spend the holidays with them.
We left Florida in the afternoon of the 23rd but, due to some delays in our layover in Atlanta, we arrived in California at 12:30am on the 24th. After a nice bowl of "welcome" goto, cooked especially by my Lola Paring (eheste, Tita Paring, as she wants me to call her) straight to bed we went.
DAY 2: CHRISTMAS EVE
We spent almost the whole day relaxing and bonding with our family. The night of the 24th, we went to church to catch the Carolfest before the Christmas mass. Later, back at home, they opened their gifts while I fell asleep on the couch, hehe. :)
I'm all conked out. It's waaaay past my bedtime!
My grands! l-r: (top) Lolo Joel, Lola Paring, Lolo Dan, Papa. (bottom) Lola Duvie, Lola Donna, and Mama.
My Lolo Dan.
Giving more than just love on Christmas day!
Our Noche buena! Starring Tita Paring's yummy Salmon plus Ham from Honeybaked, which we stole from my other Lola, Tita Dinah. :)
DAY 3: CHRISTMAS DAY
The next day, we drove to West Hollywood to visit Mama's other relatives, the Roques. We had lunch of yummy tinola, salad, and pastries!
I really love their home, they have a huge backyard with lots of birds and chickens, and citrus trees!
This is me swinging with my Uncles (Lola Donna's kids): Tito Darryl, Tito Dylan, and baby Tito JJ.
Group pic! Papa and Me, Lola Zeny, Mama, Tita Paring and my Tito JJ, the twins, and Lolo Jo.
Now we're off for some more chibugan (as if we're all still hungry after that wonderful lunch)! This time, we crashed the annual Dela Cruz Family Christmas party in Cerritos.
Actually, it was Tita Donna who's related to the Dela Cruz's through her Dad. But, we tagged along for the party anyway. More pinoy homecooked meals galore: pansit, lumpiang shanghai, ham, kaldereta, and a lot more!
Here's everyone with "Santa".
Still scared of Santa! (But an improvement, nonetheless.)
That evening, Papa met up with his friends at this Vietnamese noodle house at Garden Grove. Where was I? Sleeping in the car, hehe.
Papa with Tita Winnie and Tita Lynette.
After all the food that day, I think everyone gained more than a couple of holiday cheer and holiday pounds. :) That's the pinoy Christmas we came all the way here for. :)
DAY 4: PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA
Mama, Tita Paring, and Tita Donna spent the early morning at Target, targetting after Christmas sales. :)
As soon as they came back, Papa and I were already having a bibingka breakfast and was ready for our day trip to Palm Springs.
Our first stop, Morongo Casino and Resort at Cabazon, where Tita Donna and her family checked-in for the night.
Papa and me at the hotel entrance.
Papa played on the slots a little bit but did not have much luck. He's lucky in love kasi and you all know what they say about that!
Time for lunch!
Buffet! Busog, of course.
While Tita Donna and Tita Paring proceeded to the Outlet for some more sale shopping, Papa, Mama, and I went on our way to Palm Springs to try out the Aerial Tram.
Unfortunately, when we arrived at 5pm, it was already getting dark, not to mention, really cold!
A picture with the old tram car.
In 1998, the tramway was modernized and a newer version of the tram was installed - one that actually turned 360 degrees as it went up the mountain! Now, people riding the tram are able to get a view of the entire canyon without having to move away from where they are standing! Cool no?
Here's the mini version of the new tram.
And here I am queueing to get into the real thing. But not until I have my pic taken with the lovely tree at the waiting area.
Breathtaking view from the tram! Imagine what views we would have seen had we arrived here earlier!
The tram was crowded on our way up. Here's me between people's legs, hehe.
Brrrrr, it's cold up here!
You can't tell but Mama and I were shivering up to our bones, hehe! Oh well, that's what Palm Springs is known for - they have weird climate up here, very cool even when the rest of California is sweltering.
We should have brought our snowboards!
We didn't stay very long. Aside from the fact that it was super cold up there (not very agreeable to our Florida-temepered bodies), we had to start our drive to Las Vegas anyway.
We enjoyed our ride, goodbye, thanks!
Not so crowded anymore. By the way, we enjoyed the "five towers". What's that? Well, that's for all of you guys to find out! :)
Five hours later, we were checked in at Candlewood Suites in Las Vegas. Since this was just a stop-over on the way to our Grand Canyon adventure, we didn't really do any touristy things anymore. We just drove around for a while and, later on, slept early for our trip to Arizona.
DAY 5: GRAND CANYON, ARIZONA (PART 1)
After a quick breakfast at McDonalds, we started our 5 hour drive to the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, traffic was so heavy at the Hoover Dam area so our trip got so delayed.
A Sunny Welcome?
We arrived at the Grand Canyon South Rim at around 5pm. There's a $25 car entrance to the park which is valid for seven days. Sadly, darkness fell early here and we weren't able to take better pictures. Add to that, it was a freezy 16 degrees up here! Super brrrrr!
Awwww. The Yavapai Observation Point was just too dark and shadowy to completely appreciate what was right before us.
Same here at Mather Point. I guess we need better luck when we come back tomorrow.
Goodbye sun!
In the mood for some warm pasta and pizza. And hot chocolate.
Picture with Mama while waiting for our food.
After dinner, we drove to our hotel one-hour away from the Rim to Williams, Arizona. Knights Inn wasn't the best of accommodations but, all of the better hotels were fully booked. Besides, it was cheap. Really cheap, hehe. *pikit mata*
DAY 6: GRAND CANYON, ARIZONA (PART 2)
Good morning! It was a really beautiful day. Very sunny and definitely warmer than last night. Second time's the charm. :)
At 8am, we were one of the first people inside the park. :)
See what a little sunshine can do?
Ooooohhhhh!
Aaaaahhhhh!
Oooh and Ahhh!
More pictures of the Grand Canyon on my Papa's site, soon. :)
Even the pictures from my Mama's point and shoot turned out spectacular. :)
Our token family picture at the Grand Canyon. Kaya lang, nakakasilaw, hehe.
(Smelly) Cheese!
We took the scenic drive from Mather Point all the way to Desert View, stopping at Yaki Point, Grandview Point, Moran Point (closed, hehe), Lipan Point, and Navajo Point - all providing breathtaking views of the Canyon. Ganda!
At times when I was too tired to come down from the car, I still had vista views from our car's sunroof, hehe.
Our last stop at the South Rim was the Desert View Area, almost to the East Rim, also to see the famous landmark, the Watchtower.
A shot of the tower from below.
But first, a short stop at the trading post for some hot chocolate!
Now back to our kodakan business.
Papa taking advantage of the wonderful sunshine to take more pictures.
Me, too!
Going up?
On a bench with the tower as background.
View from the mezzanine.
Family pic thanks to Papa's tripod. :)
I'm pretty sure that in my former life, I was the model for this painting.
Holding on to the topmost steps.
Framed.
Resting back at ground level with Papa after climbing down the tower.
A little (fresh) snow action before leaving.
I love snow!!!
Next time, our next destination will be the Grand Canyon's West Rim so we (well maybe my Mama mostly) could try the New Skywalk of the Hualapai Tribe. Besides, it's much nearer to Las Vegas than the South Rim. Wheee, exciting!
On the way back, traffic was heavy at the Dam again. We think it's a small inconvenience since they were constructing a new highway across the Dam which should help ease future traffic there considerably.
Evening at Hoover Dam. Mama missed seeing the "Phantom Las Vegas Spectacular" show because of you.
Yup, Mama was supposed to see that show with Tita Mel, one of our Carolina friends who too were visiting Las Vegas. Due to the traffic, they missed catching the 7pm show. Mama was sooo sad because she was looking forward to it very much.
Anyway, Mama and Tita Mel decided that we would just have lunch at Jollibee tomorrow. That was good enough for me! :D
Meanwhile, we arrived in Las Vegas in time to see the last two shows for the night at Fremont Street.
Welcome to Fremont Street.
Just in time!
Here are some of what we saw:
VIVA LAS VEGAS!
The music was quite loud so I got scared, but just a little bit.
After the show, we checked into Harrah's, our hotel for the night. It was a great hotel, nice and central and our room at the Mardi Gras tower was newly remodeled! Lots of bang for the buck. A big step up from Knights Inn, that's for sure. :)
I loved playing with these laser lights.
Because we were still all pumped up at 12:30 in the morning, we decided to take a walk on the strip.
And take pictures, of course!
Picturesque Paris.
Bellagio is really sooo beautiful. Too bad we missed the fountain show tonight.
Finally, at almost 2AM we called it a night. I'd like to tell you some more of what happened in Vegas but... as they say, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, hehe.
DAY 7: LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
Because we stayed up late, we woke up late. So, what's for lunch?
This bubuyog! :D
Here, we met Tita Mel, Tito Jess, and baby Gabby! We ate everything you could possibly eat in Jollibee: palabok, chickenjoy, spaghetti, yumburgers, pandan and sago shake, and even halo-halo! Yummmmmy! We really missed pinoy food, sobra!
I love my friend Gabby! It was great seeing them again. :)
Our last and final stop before heading back to LA was the Wynn Hotel and Casino because we weren't able to go there last time. Nice shops, hehe!
Theater-goer? Maybe next time.
You like my ferrari horse? :D
Unfortunately, Papa strained his ankle at the Grand Canyon and it got much worse because of the colder temperatures. So, instead of going around some more, we decided to start heading back to LA. Mama drove us back, of course. Anyway, we had a great day planned for tomorrow so I can't wait! :)
DAY 8: LEGOLAND at CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA
Today is my day! Thanks to Tita Donna, we were able to get a free entrance coupon to Legoland for me!
Since we were already in Anaheim, Legoland was only about an hour's drive away from us (and thirty minutes from San Diego) at Carlsbad, California. We've actually never been to San Diego so we hoped that we could still have time to visit the city.
A short stop to see the Pacific. Papa probably thinking deeply about all our gastos on this trip, hehe.
Our destination:
Paradise for two generations of Lego lovers.
Christmas tree Lego style!
My favorite part of Legoland was, hands-down, Explore Village.
Here's me at WaterWorks, an interactive water play area where I'm making music on the musical fountain.
Here I am trying out one of the many slides at Playtown!
This experience is as pretty as a picture!
I wish I had a house like this one, where I can build legos all day long!
Baby you can drive my car!
Making friends with this Lego police guy.
And this other Lego guy, too!
We also went to the Playhouse Theater to watch a Comedy for Kids show by master ventriloquist Kevin Johnson. He was really really funny and super impressive! His friends, Matilda and Clyde were hilarious!
After this, Mama and Papa went with me on the rides! Thankfully, the lines were not so long! :)
Mama and I on the Power Tower!
Papa and I on the Sky Patrol.
Here I am, on solo flight!
Since Volvo is a major Legoland sponsor, they had Lego versions of Volvo vehicles on display.
Like this XC90 which is my Mama's dream SUV.
They also had attractions with Volvo themes like the Volvo Junior Driving School which I tried.
Beep-beep! I'm an expert now.
Here's me racing ahead of the competition.
The day was almost over and we haven't explored half of the entire park because I was having so much fun! :)
Here's me on a firetuck with a friend.
Some pasaway boy turned these lego firemen's heads around. Literally.
Choo-choo!
I took this picture of Mama with the weird guy, his cooler, and his doggie.
One of the highlights of the park was Miniland USA, which are reproductions of seven areas of the United States, all constructed with 20 million LEGO bricks in 1:20 scale.
Simply amazing! All to the smallest detail!
I want to be a part of it...(New York City)
I left my heart...(San Francisco)
I ran out of songs, hehe. (Lego's Hollywood)
Beads anyone? (Mardi Gras at New Orleans)
The Mall at DC.
Dejavu, hehe. Mini-Las Vegas is their newest addition to this attraction.
Excalibur and Tropicana.
MGM and Treasure Island.
Paris and Mirage.
Luxor and even a Wedding Chapel!
Our last ride of the day was "The Dragon" at Castle Hill. Papa thought it was just a simple, leisurely ride inside the castle so he agreed to go. But actually it was a roller coaster in disguise, haha! Gotcha, Papa! It was really fun!
A firebreather guarding his treasure!
And of course, no holiday would be complete without a picture with Santa on his sleigh.
Ho-ho-ho! Merry Christmas!
A perfect end to our Legoland adventure. Cheers!
Since it was already dark, we had to postpone yet again our San Diego visit for another day. Instead, we drove back to Artesia and Papa and Mama dropped by Chowking to eat Halo-halo, hehe. Yes, in the 45 degree weather. :) Plus, they also took home an Ube Macapuno cake from Red Ribbon, which everyone in the house absolutely loved. :)
Don't you just love sweet endings? I do! :)
DAY 9: KNOTTS BERRY FARM at BUENA PARK CALIFORNIA
This time, thanks to my Tita Duvie who works at Knott's Berry Farm, we had three free adult admissions to the Theme Park. So this time, Tita Paring went with us. :)
Knott's Berry Farm has the distinction of being the first theme park in the US. As its name implies, yes, it actually started as a Berry Farm (made famous particularly by its boysenberries) and then it evolved into a famous chicken dinner restaurant. To give the restaurant guests something to do, Walter Knott built "Ghost Town" the first of the current six themed areas of the present park, and ultimately the first one in the country.
It was my and Papa's first time here, but Mama's second time (she first came here in 1996). According to her, nothing much has changed except for the newer roller coaster rides. Even her favorite ride in the whole Southern California was still here: Montezuma's Revenge! This coaster started it all for her, hehe.
One thing hasn't changed, Knott's is still a treasure trove of photo ops.
Welcome!
Like the true coaster addict my Mama is, she rode The Ghostrider all by herself. Here she is waving to us!
New girls in the old west.
Time for school!
My favorite area is Camp Snoopy! I rode as many rides as I could! :D
Papa and me having fun bumping other people's cars.
Here I am waiting in line to go on a roller coaster, too!
Weeeee!! Look Mama, no hands!
After that exciting ride, I just had to relax on the Grand Sierra Scenic Railroad.
Up up and away on the Flying Ace Balloon Race!
Don't be misled by this ride. The Charlie Brown Racer is one very very exciting ride!
Tito Dan, who also works at Knott's, got us yummy burgers and hotdogs for snacks. And Tita Paring bought me this gigantic Lucy Van Pelt lollipop! Yum!
Suddenly, it was time to go. Since it was New Year's Eve, the park was closing early to make way for a private New Year's party. No wonder there were busloads of people waiting outside the gate as we were leaving! They had the park, all to themselves! Swerte!
One last picture with under the Tree.
But, our day doesn't end yet! Again, we got invited to a New Year's eve get together in LA! This time it's with the Ocampos. Their family has been friends with our family for generations, but its my first time to meet them. :)
Every New Year's Eve, it has become their tradition here to have a small get together at Tita Tess' house. This is where we really had our fill of pinoy food for Media Noche. But actually, my fave were the desserts: sapin-sapin, putobumbong, pichi-pichi, suman, puto, kutsinta, ginataan bilo-bilo, and palitaw. Major carbo loading!
Happy New Year everyone!
Back at home, we continued the media noche with Pancit Palabok and Ube Halaya Tita Donna ordered from Luisa and Son. Even though we were really so full from our earlier dinner, we still had to have some of that pansit and purple cake (as I call it). It was just super yummy.
No fireworks exploded here, but I think our tummies almost did - from eating too much, hehe. What a way to welcome 2008!
Needless to say, it was a long time before we were able to finally go to bed. :)
DAY 10: THE ROSE PARADE at PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
The Tournament of Roses happens every year in Pasadena and we're so lucky to be here in CA for that. Since the actual Rose Parade was too early for us party people, Tita Paring suggested that we go instead to the post-parade exhibit where all the floats would be parked (along Sierra Madre Ave between Paloma and Sierra Madre Villa Ave, and Washington Ave. between Sierra Madre Blvd and Woodlyn Ave.) for the people to view (for an entrance fee of $7 per person). (Click HERE to watch the Rose Parade online.)
By the way, this year's Parade Grand Marshall is Emeril Lagasse. Bam!
After a quick lunch at Jollibee in Cerritos, off we went to see the floats.
Even the trash bins welcome you. :)
The whole barangay is here.
Each float's entire surface must be designed using a variety of flowers, seeds, bark, leaves and other natural materials. Truly, each float is a testament to creativity, pageantry, resourcefulness, and design!
China Airlines float.
Jammin' to the music.
Everyone's jammin' to the music!
Dodgers fans?
A huge pinata!
Fiesta!
Geronimo! (or his cousin)
Bear on a Bike. Cool!
Mama and me with Ronald McDonald's giant rose shoe. :)
Solar system!
Hot air balloons, Egyptians, and Sesame Street!
A dragon, and some Hawaiians on a canoe.
Valentine Swans and an RV full of animals.
The Spirit of Glendale with Papa.
Last one!
All that walking made us very hungry. Good thing, everyone was in the mood for some yummy sisig!
Newly opened in Artesia!
Even in a pinoy restaurant, I opted for my ever favorite Shrimp Tempura. Believe it or not, I finished two orders of it!
Everyone's happy after a feast of sisig, crispy pata, molo soup, bbq, sugba kinilaw, and sizzling pusit.
Loved this day! :)
DAY 11: DOWNTOWN DISNEY
For our last day in LA, Tita Donna took us on a stroll to Downtown Disney. But first, we had lunch at Chowking! :)
We were surprised to see the Valencias, family friends of ours who are based in Victorville, having lunch there too! The last time we saw them, was three years ago when they treated us out to dinner in Victorville.
Surprise! Tita Paring, Tita Donna, and Tito Darryl with Tito Pabling and Dra. Valencia.
Hmmm, what to order? Sigh, I am really going to miss the congee when I get back to FL.
After picking up Tito Dylan from his basketball practice, off we went to Downtown Disney.
Hey Mickey, here I come!
One final "Merry Christmas" before we go back home.
I wish I could take home all these huge presents!
Mama with Aunties.
Me with my Uncles.
A's in the family.
C is for The Clan.
Thank you LA. See ya real soon!
DAY 12: HOME
But not without baon!
Mamon, Ensaymada, Pandesal, and Taisan. Handcarried! That's how sabik we are.
Admittedly, it was a very very very tiring trip. We were driving long distances almost every day of our vacation. But, no complaints! We got to spend Christmas with our loved ones and got to see and experience new places.
Thank you, again, Tita Donna and Tito Joel for welcoming us into your home. Love you!
And so, from our tired (but happy!) little feet, Happy New Year everyone! May the new year bring you lots of love, prosperity, and experiences to last you for many more years thereafter. :)