Birthday Weekend in Iceland

With 2017 being so drastically strange and different, what better place to go on spend my birthday than in the land of contrasts. With its rough, black lava rocks peeking beneath the plush, white layer of snow, we see contrasting elements juxtaposed everywhere. It is, after all, the land of fire and ice. 

Labor Day Weekend in Los Angeles - DTLA

Yet another weekend devoted to art and food, this time DTLA. 

Weekend in Portland

For the long President's Day weekend, I visited Portland, to eat and enjoy some Oregon fresh air.

Here are some favorites...

Christmas in Lake Tahoe

I'm so lucky to live close to Lake Tahoe, where it's beautiful year-round. This Christmas, my family rented a cabin where we enjoyed the snow with the kids. 

Bangkok, Kanchanaburi, Ayutthaya

Thailand is one of those countries where everyone should go to. It offers something for everyone; for instance, within the capital city of Bangkok itself, there is a bustling city full of nightlife, shopping at Siam Center, riding tuk tuks, and sampling street food, while quietly scattered throughout the city are historical temples, built so elaborately for past kings.

Climbing Half Dome, Yosemite

This week marks the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. To commemorate, I took a trip to Yosemite and hiked 16 miles to summit Half Dome.

Lake Tahoe

I took advantage of the post-Memorial Day weekend to go up to Lake Tahoe and explore the trails for the first time. The trail I chose was Rubicon Trail, which seemed the most picturesque because you would have views of Emerald Bay throughout most of the hike. For a 8 mile hike, it's hard to be bored. At one point, we were hiking through a woodsy area where a fellow hiker pointed out that he saw two bears walking by the trail. We didn't see it ourselves, but since it's Tahoe, bears are always scoping out foods near campsites.

Scenes from San Diego

Transformation of Greece

Elizabeth Gilbert once wrote a letter to her former lover about letting things fall apart. In Italy, she observed the Augusteum in Rome and reflected that "ruin is a gift, ruin is the road to transformation." And as I walked through Greece on my own journey, seeing the giant, gorgeous, ancient ruins with my own eyes, I wondered how many times will I get to be rebuilt as well.

Washington, DC

My trip to DC was short but memorable (hence the very late post!). Besides the historical landmarks and plethora of museums, the district is full of diverse, smart people and delicious food for every palette. Within my short trip, I only had amazing French (Bistrot Du Coin in Dupont Circle), Vietnamese (Rice Paper in Eden Center), Indian (Rasika, Penn Quarter), Ethiopian (Meskerem, Adams Morgan), and of course.. cupcakes (Baked & Wired in Georgetown). Maybe it's impossible to find bad food here?

My brother and I having lunch in Dupont Circle after touring the White House.

These kids were wearing matching vests... it was even more adorable when they all held hands as they walked towards the Washington Monument.

Perplexed but in awe of LL Cool J in the National Portrait Gallery. The pop-culture nerd in me even found Stephen Colbert's portrait(s) by the restrooms.

The 9/11 exhibit is one of the most beautiful, touching tributes in the Newseum. I've never seen a viewing room more full when a mini documentary was being shown.

Georgetown is so pretty during sunset. We walked along the canal after dinner and on our way to dessert.

The three days I stayed were filled with so much eating and learning in such a short distance of each other; I'm certain I've found my happy place.

Carey Mulligan in NYC

Carey Mulligan as a New Yorker is one of the cutest things you'll see today. Watch as she tries everything from Uber to street performers to SoulCycle...

Yosemite

A couple of weeks ago, my friends and I rented a cabin in the woods by the Yosemite Valley so we could do two days of hiking. We were hit with unexpected weather: cloudiness and snow on the first day, and then a complete turnaround with warm and sunny weather the next. But with the backdrop of the Yosemite Valley, seeing with the myriad of weather conditions allowed us to appreciate the valley in all of its form and beauty.

Images featuring Vernal Falls / Mirror Lake / Half Dome 
Lodging from airbnb

Afternoon in Brooklyn

One of my favorite places to do in New York is take a stroll across the Brooklyn Bridge to spend the rest of the day in Brooklyn Heights. You can easily get lost in the mixture of everything: cars rushing underneath, tourists scrambling to take pictures of every angle of the bridge, and the epic geometry that instantly takes over you as you make your way towards the center. But even through all of that, you turn around and get a scenic view of Manhattan from afar, and everything quiets down once you reach DUMBO. 

From there, walk along the promenade to get a greater view of downtown Manhattan. Maybe treat yourself to the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, a cute little boat-house right beside the bridge. I had dinner down the street at Grimaldi's - where the pizzas were delicately topped with fresh basil, sun-dried tomatoes, and ricotta cheese, then cooked in a coal-bricked oven. 

Once the sun set, I took the last ferry back to Manhattan, carrying my leftover pizza.

Marin Headlands / Cataract Falls

Last weekend, my friends and I drove an hour up North of San Francisco to go hiking in Marin county. The hiking trail is called Cataract Falls and it was one of the most difficult hikes to date. Most of the way up was through man-made wooden staircases, but seeing the waterfalls and the diverse scenery made the trek bearable and definitely worth it.

We got lost mid-way in the hike and somehow missed a turn. But it led us out of the woods and into the view on top of the headlands. Pictures could barely do it justice, but the weather was so perfect, we stared at the Bay Bridge and the city sky line while feasting on our snacks.