coming home.

Home again to rain... My 9 day vacation ended with Eshwin picking me up from the airport and hanging out in Markham. Having lived in Little Tokyo for the duration of my trip, hanging out at a Starbucks in Markham and being surrounded by Asians made me feel like I was in Los Angeles still. As Esh drove me downtown, Toronto felt a little foreign to me, if only for that first few minutes. I guess it was the combination of the rain, the highways, and streets I haven't seen in a while.

I've realized that Los Angeles really doesn't have much to see and do. I kind of felt like we did it all and we really didn't need that 9 days of vacation to see L.A. We did Universal Studios, Hollywood, Santa Monica Beach, outlet mall shopping, the Grove and Culver City, and some drinking around town. In hindsight, I wish I would've driven out of the city itself to see the California redwoods and spend some time in San Francisco. A lot of time was spent stuck in traffic and getting lost because the freeways and road signs are so brutally designed.

Don't get me wrong, I still had an amazing time. Hanging out with old friends and meeting new ones was definitely worth this trip. Of all the things we did, I loved Santa Monica the best. The open space, the sand, the ocean, it was all so relaxing. Not to mention the building of Sandy Ho version 3.0. I wish I was ballerific enough to own a beach house by the ocean.

Aside from the sightseeing, I tried to be as diverse as possible with the food. I had a little bit of everything: bento box, Japanese curry, mochi and mochi ice cream, seafood enchiladas, In-'N-Out burgers, Cheesecake Factory, pasta, pho, and lots of beer... Well, not that much beer. Mainly due to the night of my arrival when the Welcoming Committee decided to haze me. It was a rough morning the next day... Oh the memories. Special thanks to Tessar, Yoskay, Scott, Yuta, Nimit, Rachel, Heren and Jason for the great hospitality and bitchin time!!


watch the L.A. experience >

Now back to the cold weather and routine life. Yes. New desk location, at least. I guess that's something to look forward to. Oh Toronto, how I've missed you...