Our 2nd Wedding Anniversary – July 2009

Ray and I started off celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary by waking up very early in the morning and going to our building rooftop to enjoy the view. We established a little tradition that on our anniversary, we would watch the sunrise, get some coffee and and just savor the moment. This year, we went to our rooftop; last year, we went to Atlantic Station in Atlanta.

Later on that evening, we dined at Tavern on the Green.  It is located on the Upper West Side of NYC in Central Park and has been a landmark restaurant since 1934.  The ambiance was very romantic and the food was delicious.

Ray looked so handsome in his suit…

Lamb Chops…

Yummy dessert… key lime pie.

Huney got me some beautiful flowers… I love flowers. 🙂

Another great memory that we shared. It feels like it was just yesterday when we said our vows on the boat in the Bay Area and here we are, two years later, still feeling our marital bliss.

Hawaii April 2009

Our good friend, Jimmy Chang and his wife, Kat, got married in Hawaii in April. Ray and I wouldn’t miss that opportunity to attend the wedding as well as visit family and friends back home. The wedding was absolutely beautiful and Jimmy and Kat were a stunning couple. We were also able to see some friends from college at the wedding and it was a nice reunion.

During our 10-day trip, we were able to do a bunch of things, including spending some precious time with my parents and my popo (grandma). We had really good food, starting from eating Pok’e (raw fish with seasonings) for breakfast, to dim sum for lunch, to eating at Roy’s for dinner. Of course, these were on different days, but every meal throughout the trip was savored.

Shave Ice at Waiola’s was a must! We had the azuki bean, mochi balls, with condensed milk shave ice bowl.  Holy moly!!! We also went to the local institution, Zippy’s a couple of times. You haven’t been to Hawaii without going to Zippy’s. Zippy’s is a franchise in Hawaii that has all sorts of local food, ranging from its infamous chili to its plate lunches (always two scoops rice, one scoop macaroni salad).

Ray and I even spent a day on the Big Island, also named Hawaii. It was a short flight from Honolulu. We took a tour from HIlo to Kona and visited the volcano park and other various sites on the island. Ray was such a fun traveling partner. How can you not laugh when he does silly things such as the picture below?

Back on the island of O’ahu, we spent some time with my grandma popo and drove around a lot to do sightseeing. We went to do a little snorkeling one afternoon at Hanauma Bay but my snorkels were broken, so only Ray was able to explore in the water and find some interesting creatures.

During one of nights cruising around, we stopped at Kahala Mall to buy some things at Whole Foods. A few doors down, there was a smashing party going on and we walked over to see what was going on. There were cameras everywhere outside the door, as if people were waiting for some celebrity to come in and out of the joint. As it turns out, it was a party that included guests from the TV show, “Lost”, which was filmed on the islands.  Ray couldn’t resist the temptation and waited along with other bystanders.  His patience paid off, when Ben, from the show, came out for some fresh air.

The trip was great. Ten days were too little to do what we wanted and we hope to go back again soon. It was a nice little break from New York and everything in Hawaii was very laid back.

Move to NYC March 2009

LIttle did I know that we would end up living in Times Square for the next year. This apartment was the most convenient one I could find closest to Ray’s work. With the long hours he had to endure, at least his commute to work would end up to be a 10-minute walk from home. Plus, it was one of the few that allowed 2 dogs.

One of our main concerns of living in Times Square was whether our dogs Pok’e and Cappy would adjust well. There were very little areas of green and they had to deal with doing their business on the street sidewalks. But thank goodness, our dogs cooperated and adapted quickly to their new temporary home and surroundings.  In fact, they somewhat embraced it and enjoyed all the different scents they got to smell on the busy streets of Times Square.

They even found their new favorite hangout spot in the apartment…

Valentine’s Day 2009

Ray started his new assignment in New York City back in January and had been traveling back and forth to Atlanta on the weekends. He stayed at the Dream Hotel in Midtown and made it his temporary home. In February around Valentine’s Day, I visited him in New York and we spent several days in the city. We had a blast. Valentine’s Day weekend in New York City was very romantic. We did a lot of touristy things but it was so much fun. During the day, we walked around Central Park and actually rode the horse carriage!

Later that night, we had dinner at a little cozy French Bistro called Tout Va Bien not far from the hotel. Pretty yummy food. Their bouillabaise was the first I’ve had in New York. Ray liked their escargot.

During one of the weekdays, we went to see the “Today’s Show”. We watch it every morning and it was pretty cool to be there seeing the hosts in person. We saw Meredith Viera, Al Roker and Ann Curry. Ray shook Al’s hand and he was star struck. 🙂 Also, a close-up of Meredith…

Of course, a visit to New York City wouldn’t be complete without spending some time in Times Square. Although Ray and I have been to New York many times, we still act like it’s our first time there, taking pictures like other tourists. And as silly as we are, a little visit to the mega 3-story Toy’s R Us store turned us back into little kids and we ended up engaging ourselves in a foam sword fighting battle. Yes, it’s a little embarrassing to be around us, or to claim to know us…

It was definitely a fun-filled trip. After that visit, Ray resumed back to work and I went back to Atlanta to plan our move to New York for the next year. I started to look for an apartment for us and would come back to NYC a few weeks later.

Christmas 2008 and New Year’s 2009 with the Peng Family

Mr. and Mrs. Peng and Eugene came to Atlanta to spend Christmas and New Year’s with us.  We were so excited to have them over.  It is always fun to spend this holiday with them.  Eugene, for as long as I’ve known him, would facilitate the gift-opening process. He would hand the gifts over to the recipient and kept taking turns until all the gifts under the tree were gone.  We would always have lots of laughs.  Our dogs, of course, were always a part of this as well. They always got treats and toys.

After Christmas, we headed down to Florida. First stop… Orlando!

Here is Ray on one of the rides… shooting the bad guys.

We also did the whole South Beach scene…

Had some great pizza at Pizza Rustica…

To the Everglades…. that alligator was really close. No… we didn’t zoom that much.

We even witnessed a standoff between an egret and an alligator. We didn’t see the result of this, but it couldn’t have been pretty…

We ended the trip with celebrating Mrs. Peng’s birthday. On New Year’s Eve, we went to a Japanese buffet… pretty good!

We headed back to Atlanta the following day and spent some time there before Mr., Mrs. Peng and Eugene left to go back to Boston.  We had fun there too. We went to Georgia Tech and played some football, went to the Chinatown and had some good Chinese food.  And of course, not to mention, we experienced Eugene’s driving skills… yeap, that would be him at the steering wheel. Boy, he’s all grown up!

It was sad to see them leave, but we look forward to next time!