Sailing pics taken with 35mm

Central Park, NYC & My Favourite Restaurants

I visited New York just before Christmas and although the city was awash with Christmas shoppers and business people, during the day Central Park was a picture of tranquility. I went for a run every day  I was there and each day stopped to take a photo at almost the same spot.

My trip was only a few days and mainly consisted of eating my way through the city so I thought I'd share a selection of my favourite places I ate while there. Although I tried a couple of places on my Travel To Do List (I would highly recommend breakfast at the Parker Meridien for a nice treat and delicious French toast!), 3rd Avenue in Midtown turned out to be my favourite place to hang out at night. My personal favourites were as follows:

Pie Face: We may have gone here every night after dinner for dessert...  (It was the holidays!). Their Lamingtons and mini apple pies are particularly delicious.

Blockhead's Burrito: Very laid back and more of a bar atmosphere than restaurant. I have to admit when I first stepped in it was because the restaurant I wanted to go to was booked for a party and I was slightly skeptical, but everything was very fresh and delicious! The portions are huge, but somehow it was so tasty I managed. Very wallet friendly and a good place to hang out after work.

Nana Sushi Lounge: I may be slightly biased seen as this was the first time I had tried dinosaur rolls (sushi restaurants where I'm from are not particularly adventurous) but everything I ate was delicious.

Los Angeles Trip

Santa Monica Beach 

Life is different in Los Angeles. Every other person you meet will be an aspiring actress or singer, usually with a day job as a waitress or cab driver. I spent most of my time in Malibu and Santa Monica and have to admit that L.A. is nothing like I expected it to be, but I loved it nonetheless.

This was my first trip to Los Angeles where I had complete control over what I wanted to do so I felt obligated to do all the perhaps cliched and touristy, but time-honored traditions, including dinner at the Ivy, shopping on Rodeo Drive and Melrose Avenue, visit the Kodak theatre, the Walk of Fame, the Viper Room, Santa Monica Pier and a lot of other things. Here are a few photos from my trip and some recommendations on where (and where not) to go.

The Ivy: I can't even remember what I ate, I think it might have been spaghetti. Essentially, it was nothing special. It was very cramped and you pay a lot for average food (although I am very spoiled when it comes to good food).

Rodeo & Melrose: Rodeo drive tends to be a little out of my price range, but Melrose is much more eclectic and affordable. Unfortunately my favorite store there Gas Bijoux closed down last year.

The view from Hollywood Hills

Hollywood & all the jazz: I've done a tour of Universal Studios before, so this time I went on a tour around the rest of Hollywood. From the Walk of Fame and Kodak Theatre to celebrity homes and a view of downtown and the Hollywood sign, it really went everywhere. I love going on tours, not because I'm particularly interested in celebrity homes but because it's a great way to see the city.
By a mile, the best place I ate was Geoffrey's in Malibu. It's an restaurant in Malibu with an ocean-view, a perfect place for lunch or breakfast. The food was delicious, healthy, and reasonably priced. Plus with the beautiful summer weather it's wonderful to sit out looking over the ocean and feeling the gentle breeze while you eat.

Cab drivers were by far the most interesting people I met while in L.A. One turned off the meter and took us on a tour of Santa Monica. I told another that I lived in China a few years back and he proceeded to tell me how the Chinese government was sending students to UCLA to learn to build weapons. I was not aware that such a class was offered there. Regardless, it made for some interesting commutes.

Photos of where the rich and famous come to pay thousands for a piece of leather & where the rest of us come to gawk ;)

Ten Days in Spain

I think I need to move to Spain because the whole country seems to operate on the same sleep schedule as me. Sitting out at restaurants and bars until one in the morning on a Tuesday night is how life should be.

2010 in Pictures

As a perfectionist, I always find it hard to say that a year was good,. A year is far too long an amount of time to be able to classify it as one thing. Parts were great, parts were utter rubbish, there were bits that made me laugh, bits that made me cry, bits I'll never forget, and bits I hope I don't remember.
I will say that 2010 was a year of change. Change is something I'm quite used to, but this is the first real year it's been change I've dealt with by myself. It's the first year I've gotten to do whatever I like and really just had myself to answer to. With that in mind, I'm happy with the choices I've made in this past year.
So without further rambling, here's a summary, in pictures, of where I went this year.

There was a little bit of England

And a lot of Scotland

Monaco

Santorini

Rome

Nice
And of course, I can't forget the beautiful west coast. Somewhere I still consider a bit like home.

There were also two weeks spent in Spain where I didn't take a single photo. You can just guess how lazy that holiday was.

So if I had to classify traveling in 2010, it would definitely go in the "good" category. Although there were no more regular family holidays, no more getting everything paid for, and we did get stranded in airports on a few occasions, I had fun, I got to choose where I wanted to go and do and I saw a lot of wonderful places.

Hopefully 2011 will bring lots of new adventures for all of us.
Thanks for reading!

West Coast is the Best Coast

I thought I would share a few pictures of the magical place that is the Pacific coast of Oregon, a place I occasionally call home ;).

Pretty amazing, huh?

Photos from Rome (part 2)

Please listen to this song while reading this post, as it was playing in my head most of the time I was in Rome (thanks to the Lizzie McGuire movie...yes, I should probably stop admitting that these terrible chick flicks made me want to go to some of the most wonderful places on earth).

These are the final noteworthy pictures from Rome.

Trevi Fountain

Roman Forum

Museum (...the type of which I have already forgotten)

We stayed at the Kame Hall which was in a good location, nice and clean, and since it's not a proper hotel, not too expensive. As I mentioned before, all the main attractions are within reasonable walking distance of each other...so if you find a hotel near one attraction, you won't be too far from the others. There were no restaurants for breakfast or lunch in the hotel, but since we were so close to pizzerias, cafes, and shops it really didn't matter.

I'm already trying to work out when I can afford to go back as it is a truly magical place.