Thanks to Site59.com, the home of last-minute getaway deals, I was able to schedule my first weekend
trip to LA to visit my girlfriend! I took off right after work Thursday afternoon, and despite the flight there being a total nightmare with a 3-hour delay, I was glad to finally see her again, and enjoy some quiet time with her over the course of our 3-day weekend together. After lunch at Noodle Planet and some taro-coconut boba tea, our Friday was spent mainly kicking back and relaxing at her apartment. Dinner, however, was a different story. Cafe Sierra, located in the Hilton at Universal City, featured an all-you-can-eat (Yeah baby!) prime rib & seafood buffet consisting of an endless supply of stuffed lobster tails, king crab legs and shrimp cocktails, sushi and sashimi or any kind of hand roll of your choice, shark fin soup, ginger-scallion crawfish, roast duck, and many other Asian or American goodies. Top that off with some delicious mango pudding, tiramisu, flan, and an ultra-rich chocolate cake with everything a la mode, and you’ve got yourself a very satisfied couple =9. We spent Saturday at the Aquarium of the Pacific at Long Beach, the highlight of which included a number of petting ponds with various sharks and skates for our groping pleasure 😉 We later joined Jeff and Thu for some noodles at a Chinese restaurant that is run by Koreans… an interesting concept. On Sunday, after a quick lunch at In-N-Out Burger (my first time in this Cali fast food franchise), we visited the beautiful Getty Center, a modernist architectural marvel sitting atop the Santa Monica Mountains overlooking the ominous haze of LA’s smog-filled horizon. The buildings were erected using a material called travertine, a beige-colored fossilized stone that reflects all that SoCal sunshine in a warm, cozy glow. We spent most of the afternoon lying on the grass near the central garden, listening to the nearby parents playing with their toddlers. We finally headed back to Westwood for some dinner at Olive Garden. I was so exhausted on my red-eye return flight that I never remembered taking off, landing, or when the passenger in the next seat even got on! I pretty much passed out once I buckled in and woke up when the seatbelt sign was turned off at the arrival gate Monday morning. Thinking back to this weekend still puts a smile on my face. Thanks for everything, Melody. I love you! (btw, the new thumbnails will link to larger versions of the photos)