Big Disney trip!! June.09

o.k Disney world...

never been there before so i dig up all the book i can find - i finished 5 books before we left home - this is my way to prepare, i like travel book, i like to kill my time with it and i like to collect them - just wish they are little cheaper...

we book everything with AAA - i think you will get extra discount than regular travel agency since AAA sponsor lots of part of Disney

pick up our stuff from AAA office i hold my booklet and my older one hold "princess book"(Disney brasher) and she doesn't let go of it for long long time....

after long day in air we were finally in Orlando, we got there very late 11pm - easy peasy for us, it is only 8pm CA time

we get on Disney express A.K.A mickey mouse bus - all the Disney resort have shuttle from Orlando airport, they move your bag (but if you get there after 10pm, you have to pick up the luggage yourself, your Disney package comes with color luggage tag which let Disney people know where that bag below) about 30 min ride we are at Disney Coronado spring hotel(moderate level)

hotel is huge!!! i mean really really big so if you are not lucky you might have to walk bit for shuttle bus, make sure you mention when you check in "i would like the room close to bus station.." they have 4 bus station in side of this hotel, 2 swimming pool(the main one is huge, and far), cafeteria...this is how big is the hotel...

important tip - if you don't have car in FL order your grocery before your trip start - water, diaper, baby food etc... from local grocery they will deliver to your hotel and when you check in they will wait for you and store for you in refrigerator!! this will save lots of water money in the park!!

room was quite small and very out dated - it was feels like motel than hotel but i guess we are paying for location...bath tub wasn't clean and we order bed rail and it take.......forever to get there and local time 2am!!!

another tip: as soon as you book the Disney world than call their dining number and make reservation for restaurant especially if you have meal plan -most of popular one book up by 6 month in advance

we had 1st breakfast reservation at grand Floridian hotel - breakfast with character like marry poppins, pooh etc...10am Fl time, it is 7am CA time!!!OMG my kids are normally not wake at this time...we had very sleepy breakfast and went back to room and took a nap so we started our magic kingdom at 2pm...have you heard anyone who enter at 2 pm?=)

we like Disney world magic hours - not like Disneyland, disney world magic hour is after park closed so we stay till 2am - before you leave check the park schedules, they will tell you which park will have extra park hour and plan your day according to that, extra magic hour is only works for people who stay in disney and swan, they will check your room key when you get on ride

Hollywood park was second day - had really good show, our favorite was beauty and the beast - all the show line is long so make sure you be there 30 min before to enter and if you want to good seat be there 1 1/2 hour before show start

Epcot :this was more for adult than kids there's so much to see and learn about other culture, and you can meet people from other country - Disney have program that allow college students from all around the world and work in the park for 3 months so make sure check employee's name tag that shows where they came from and ask about there country, we had so much fun chat with employee and learn so much from them

animal kingdom: this is smaller park and only park don't have closing show - all the loud sounds will scare animal

it was peaceful and quite park with lots ans lots of tree, make sure you get fast pass for safari when you enter the park and you can be on their block party(which is parade) check with guest service if they have spot they will put you on!!

all the Disney park have baby service for changing diaper and have tiny potty for kids but lots of them are hidden

magic kingdom: end of main st. on your left side

Hollywood:right after entrance and your left side

Epcot: before the lagoon and very left side - this was really hidden

animal kingdom: st to the safari between the tree, this was more hidden than any other park due to the tree, but if you timing well you can stay under air condition (waiting for block party) and come out enjoy the parade(parade pass right in front of baby center)

downtown disney: this place is huge, and have biggest disney store in the world - if you stay in side of disney they send your shopping bag to your hotel, you just need to pick it up in hotel gift shop - shopping was very enjoyable when you don't need carry anything

i can keep go on about this trip...if you have more question please feel free to ask me

i am more than happy to share with you

we finally went to Walt Disney World

i wish this place is little closer to us but as you know that will not stop us....maybe their price will

we are hoping ,wishing, praying, and saving for our next trip to Disney world....

until than bye bye mickey!!

i really miss him

happy vacation

Bay area detour - SLO

last weekend all CA had one beautiful weather - which is gone now... so we pack our bag and went to san luis obispo a.k.a beach madness weekend

it is about 3.5 hours drive from us and this is mid point between LA and SF

1st stop (sat) pismo beach : it was really busy with people and dogs, pismo beach water is a lot warmer than what we used to and calmer than bay area, it was nice to have calm water so we can put kids in the waterfront and let them play with water

we stop at Splash cafe for their famous clam chowder - we always stop here when we pass by or stop by - their award winning chowder is sooo good (they even sell frozen one so you can go home and heat up) i love their fish taco and i think it was best fish taco - this place is must stop when you are in area



dinner at SLO down town - Thai palace right behind wood pit or it called fire pit(the famous b.b.q place - had dine here before and food was great of cause good b.b.q and great price - long line!!long~~line)

back to thai place, food was good - had fish and thin noodle, pineapple fried rice, tom yam soup, and chicken satay - girls love chicken satay and we love everything, place can get busy during dinner hours



we didn't stop by this time but there is 1st jamba juice, nothing special but it is 1st jamba



we stay at courtyard SLO i think this place is very new, i can smell "new" very roomy court yard best of all they had microwave in the room - we brought some snack/meal and we can heat up in the room - it was good for parents who have kids like us

room and hotel was clean have swimming pool and hot tub unfortunate we didn't have chance to use hot tub due to over crowded - hot tub will be nice after long day at beach

one complain about place...you can here everything from other room - i can here tv and door open and shut and tv again...

overall we like this place so we will be back for next month when we return from S.CA trip



sun. breakfast at room - trying to save money so we stay room and had breakfast



cayucas: on the way home we stop at cayucas, very small town full of charm quiter than pismo but i think it was busy consider how small their town is...wave was bigger than pismo and front part of beach have lots of stuff on sand

had lunch at duckie's - had fish taco, fish burger, and hot dog for kids was well price and my fish burger was good but not comes with fries - and we made mistake made to go and ate in the beach...had half burger and half sand...picnic doesn't work out well in the sand...

before we hit the road we stop at brown sugar cookie co. this place have best cookie (lots of magazine future this place) butter cookie(plain and coco) are superb and my favorite is honey cookie - crunch outside choowie inside and very honeyish...it will be sooooo good with warm tea...



took highway1 to home best scenic drive in CA - ocean view all the way pass cambria, San samon, herts castle, and big sur... can download this view, you have to see with your eyes - can be pretty long drive with kids and some people do drive crazy in this narrow and winy road!!!



stop for dinner at carmel had pizza/pasta place at barn shopping center where was entrance of carmel valley - food was o.k service was bad!! and had pricey tag...my experience of this barn yard shopping center restaurants(we dine all of restaurants but Japanese one) was bad food was all lower than average and everything is pricey - after all it is in carmel

after dinner it was just time for sunset at carmel beach 7:30ish

we catch the best sunset and nice way to finish our beach road trip....



it was really good beach trip...my girls had fun with sand (even few weeks back my older one hate sand...) we are totally CA family now....

and this is one of reason why we love to live in CA...can go to beach whenever we want to...

i will put some pictures tonight it is still in my camera...

happy vacation

Upper 70 degree

looks like we will have beautiful weekend head of us.....and i am thinking take our cute monsters to weekend getaway
any idea where to?

more blog from last year coming up soon
Las vegas, i am working on this one...
Disney world
etc...
so keep checking on =)

Happy vacation

Las Vegas, July

July in Las Vegas...really grace...is this your way to see America?

gee... it was hot!! i mean it is over 110 degree easily and with 2 kids...

this was .....

at least let me say interesting with kids

we stay in lake las vegas, Loews hotel (not the warehouse =) so we are far away from "strip"- crazy sin of vegas

as you know we have 2 toddler so we do not wanted stay in "strip" we want to be more relax vegas trip (we really don't want to feel any vegas) and bingo!!

like the location - it is next to man made lake and next door to Ritz LV

here is my review on tripadvisor:

stayed 7 nights in July 09
hotel was far from "strip" and that was the reason we picked this hotel - have 2 kids age under 2 so we don't want to show them las vegas craziness
we had comfortable stay - hotel was very quiet since it is out of strip, it is next to ritz carton LV , had great swimming pool and man made beach - very small one and water in the beach wasn't that clean looking... but loved the pool where we spend most of time
service was good, when we check in they give us toys and if you call house keeping they bring more for kids(no charge)
this hotel is best bet for family with young kids or dog - all the lowes welcome pet!!
they do have shuttle to local casino which was empty...no one was in that casino,

and do run shuttle to strip but only twice a day and if you take shuttle make sure you don't miss shuttle - it is really far
it is better to have car in here
overall we had fun in the swimming pool and great stay
not sure we go back - not just this hotel but i guess we are done with vegas...definitely not for the kids!!
oh if your main focus is in the strip, do not stay here =)

we did Hover dam tour by our own rental - it was easy and hot again!! it is about 40 min drive but we stay in line to get in the Hover dam park about 20 min, Hover dam was giant something you need to see before you die...maybe

for sure it is amazing site

drive through "strip" : i know i don't like "strip" but here is tip for parents, just drive through the strip, my all most 2 years old love love love the all the light.... it was WOW factor and don't need deal with weird stuff - if you timing right you can see bellagio water show in your car since traffic move super slow in this street(every 30 min)

Mandalay bay aquarium: you need to walk bit from Mandalay hotel (parking) not a big aquarium but there is tunnel, in my opinion you probably find better aquarium around your home town and better price

Lion king show: all age kids are welcome but you need to pay even your kids sit on your lab

food: there is lots and lots of choice in strip famous chef to cheap casino buffet

i want to mention something not in the strip

cupcakery: OMG!! the best cup cake i ever had...better than any other cupcake!!sooo good!! especially red velvet!! place is on the way to Henderson

lotus of Siam Thai: this restaurant is just off strip and every book mention this place and they were right, food was superb and so does line, you will have good 30 min or so line (parent, this place share parking lot with "adult club" not sure what they mean"adult club" but it is not a safe and kids friendly area) but food was really really good!! - even all taxi driver will know this place too

and of cause there is strip restaurants...

Las vegas was interesting with kids, i will not go back until they are over 21 (i don't think they want to go with me at that point) or get a good babysitter for few days (which we never have..)so it will be out of luck for us...

bye bye LV and no more LV

oh, mommy turn 27 during the trip...

Happy Vacation

Maui, hawaii

this is our spot!!or my spot!!

love, love, love hawaii - we go there at least 2times a year - make sure our island is o.k =)

and in my wildest dream...someday i will call hawaii home, o.k maybe vacation home - love to stay half of year there

well i think you got the idea i am a hawaii lover

this time we met up with my brother's family - including their 11 years old, 7years, and 3 years (and my 2 little crazy one)

i love how time change for us - like i said we are not early bird so when we go to hawaii, it is perfect we sleep in and it 's a still 8 am and my kids go to bed at 8pm - finally feels like "normal"

we stay westin kanapali villa and here is my review from tripadvisor:

we just came back from maui and this is a best place in maui - we been maui many many times and we found this is the place to stay
hotel have bus to everywhere(free) - lahaina, westin hotel which is right next to shopping mall, and sharaton hotel
somebody is always cleaning, even 2 am - really really clean hotel
if you travel with kids like us (we have a 2 years and a 9months old babies and this time we have 3 cousins with us -ages 11, 8 and 3 years old) you will love this hotel - kids club is worth to try($35) they do art project and feed fish...and lunch is including
close to anywhere and had wonderful service
we will go back!!

other maui lodging option: kapalua villa - love this place to but it is too far from lahaina which we love(i can see why some people don't like...) it is individual condo and manage by kanapali villa so depend on which unit you get you will have different experience but all of them comes with full house keeping service and shuttle to Ritz carton - can access to Ritz swiming pool, gym...you can even do pool side food service and charge to your room, this used to be my favorite before i found westin

hayatt :(believe there's only one hayatt in kanapali ) this is center of kanapali area - you can walk to shopping center, golf couse, other hotel... pretty ground but hotel is ageing at least last time we checked... have tons of different birds and few penguen so even if your not stay here worth to check it out for little kids - helpful tip, this one have island ergent center and this is only oine in this side of islnad it is good to know just in case

food: love, love hawaii food but can get pretty expensive

we did lots of take out last time so we spend less on food - you can pick up food and go to beach front or room

there is one place near star market between westin villa and kapalua(sorry can't recall the name) but all the locals's know this place and it is right next storage(infront of some time share..)...food was sooo goood we had lots of dinner there - japanese such as katsu, american (Italian) such as pasta, and their greatest fish and chip - best place in maui!! - no place for sitting(there is few bar stool and 2 outside table) this place is really for take out

Izakaya : (once again 99% sure about this place name...sorry for my bad memory this is what happenned when you have kids=) it is in lahaina, they share parking lot with big market and starbucks and place is infront of market but super small - do take out only(don't even have single table) katsu was good and all the fried food was good - they only open till 4pm

Aloha plate: best maui ocean view, inexpensive and good food - it is not fancy at all, they serve food in the paper plate and they have super cheapy plastic table but trust me view is good!! especially sunset time and whale season - you can see sunset or whale while your dining and suprisingly have full bar=)

Diner(sorry again no name, place is right next to westin on left side...between kanapali and westin villa, there is only 1center and it's there...)have wonderful pancake for breakfast their coconut syrup is must try on, and this place have lunch box for hana trip, have to call day a head

in lahaina, have lots of fancy resturant - lots of thems are ocean view but check local coupon book for coupon, you can always find coupons for lahaina resturant

when you're in hawaii check the big time share(DO NOT do timeshare tour at MEXICO...they are big fat liars) such as westin, marriott - their 90 minute presantaion is really 90 min., no pushing sales which i hate to death, and their cash gift is good!! (or spa for mom or dinner cruise for whole family,etc...) - and if you happen to purchase marriott, don't forget my name Grace!!(since we are owner of marriott we can gifted too=)

oh, don't forget to take sugar train - it is nothing special but it is something to do with kids, i remember when i was a kid this train used to go sugar cane area but now it goes between houses and mall parking lot - sad!!

and stop by at kapalua airport for superb view, it is small airport with look out view

and aquarium...since our kids are sooo young to go snokling, this is best way to see fish

there is "cultural center" i thought it was wasting of money, bunch of trees - coffee bean, pineapple, coconut...trust me it wasn't good

you can't go wrong in island, just slow down and enjoy!!

mahalo and aloha

Happy Vacation

Disneyland - Nov.2009

when it comes to Disneyland...I am the unofficial guide to Disneyland!!

we are hard core Disney family, we go down at least 3 times per year - should I get season pass?

when we go to Disney, we like to stay bit away from Disney because :

1.cheaper than around Disney area - in my opinion, if your not staying at Disney resort your basically paying for great location motel... so for me, same amount of money and rather stay "real hotel" and you can easily find the deal

this time we paid $350 for 2 night including 2day park hopper for two and we only used our one day portion of ticket and sold the other half for $100 (and had Marriott coupons for $50) you do the math

oh, we stay at Marriott Fullerton

but this option is only good for family with kids who don't mind skip the nap - our kids are on really different schedule than "normal kids" my 2years old a.k.a "bun bun" wake up when most of 2 years old goes to nap... and stay up till late at night, and my 1 years old a.k.a "tiny" wake up little earlier than bunbun and when she really tired she can crush on my arms(it is nice except my sore arms) so this works for us

2.you can find better lodging - once again you are paying for location - I want lay down in comfortable bed after all day at park

food: you have to try Korean food when you in Anaheim area, go to Garden grove -freeway 22 off at brookhurst st. you will have tons of choice and if you pick any random restaurant i can grantee will be great or at least better than average

if your not a big fan of Asian food...stay in downtown Disney area but Rainforest and ESPN zone can get crazy waiting

inside of park : we love to do character breakfast - this is my insider tip!! all the pictures with character line is long and you might need to stay in the line over and over again depends on how many character your kids adore but if you do character breakfast, while you eating all the characters will come to you - only 1 drew back...your kids might get too exiting and will not eat their food

this was our 1st time in Nov.(tiny's year b-day celebration) after they put on Christmas light on park - it is the amazing thing i ever seen, make sure you stay up late after firework you will get surprise gift from mickey - let me just say... Anaheim do get snow!! (it will be extra precious if your kids never saw snow before...)

happy Vacation

Tokyo, Japan - Oct.2009

This was challenged since beginning...12 hours of flight? what was I thinking?





we watched movie, play game, color, eat a meal, walk around inside of airplane...we are still up in the air...


12 hours after we are in Narita airport, couldn't see my parent who supposed to pick us up....
now what? we don't speak Japanese(o.k i can do most restaurant and shopping in Japanese) and no yen(Japanese $) in our pocket....

somehow we made to hotel Nikko Tokyo bay, here is my review from tripadvisor:

we went there for one week and we liked the hotel - we travel with 2 adult and 2 babies(2 years and 10 months) staff are friendly like any Japanese hotel but they don't speak good English, sometime we had hard time communicate with them we need roll-away bed - they charged $80 per day,
looks like they had great pool and spa but they charged $30 per person on first day and $15 for second day - which i think too much, i think it should be free for guest and if you have kids like us, don't tell them we will do swimming - they are not allow person under 18, we had hard time explain to 2 years old...
room was really clean, i mean really clean - usually hotel didn't clean bath tub not very well, even nice hotel's tub have soap/water stain but this one was spotless every night
breakfast was good - didn't changed menu whole week but no complain, they had good Japanese style(soup, rice, fish...)and western style and really good coffee!!
location was little far from main Tokyo, you have to take monorail which is really clean and nice and it go through bridge so it was fun with kids but each way can be coast up to $4 and don't take a taxi, very expensive
good hotel for someone who don't want to be in the middle of Tokyo and if any one travel with kids - DO NOT bring stroller, we had hard time in subway, hotel door(we have double) getting around city, lots of place don't have elevator!!
oh, did i mention this place have free bus service to Disney!!

can't say enough how much fun we had...and i can't list all the restaurant we ate - it will go page after page...what can i say we love food

Tokyo Disney Sea : theme as port around the world, it divide to Mediterranean harbor, mysterious island, mermaid lagoon, Arabian coast,lost river delta, port discovery and American waterfront
it was unique since we don't have this one in the state, if you have kids worth to take time and stop by for day

Japan was very pricey memory for us
everything was so cute and wonderful but there is always expensive price tag come along with it...
it was completely different world and experience
i thanks god that he gave us wonderful opportunity to see other world

Happy vacation

Sedona & Grand caynon

This was our new years trip/ my husband's 36th birthday trip

and this is kind of place when you are in it don't feel much appreciate but after you back at home you feels like you did something out of bucket list....

it was amazing trip and haven to hiker - even it make us hike...we do not hike, i am the girl of don't get the point why you go up, you will be down anyway....

we are base on Hayatt pinon pointe and here is my review from tripadvisor:

we went there for week during new year holiday
room was nice and clean - we stayed 2 bed room condo, everything was nice - i guess i have to mention about view, our one bedroom part had no view like other people said... wall right in front of us, and studio was facing parking lot/ sedona rock...was not too bad but i want people to know this is time share, if you are not part of owner you will not get great view, if you really want great view, just pay more and you will get what you want
everything was great until 3rd day when people check in at up stair - you can hear everything!! water running, people walking, etc...had little hard time to put my kids in the bed (or keep them in the bed)because of sound from up unit - this was only bad thing about this hotel - that is why 3 and half star

and about pitch dark after 7pm - it is not hotel, it is whole sedona thing - so people complain about dark...just enjoy the star light

love the steam room, and hot tub, love the space and location

Food: we dine @ wild flower bakery for few breakfast and dinner - very clean and inexpensive way to dine, it was very similar to Panera bread at home, cozy fire place for cold Sedona weather, great breakfast especially i love their lemon pancake (not even big fan of lemon too) in the other hands i think their pasta was just o.k for dinner, taste blend... average cost about $10 with out drink - very clean, family friendly place

101 coffee pot omelet : i guess this is the place to stop at sedona, every morning this place full with line, place wasn't very clean - dirty high chair and not too clean cups - food was little above average, service was...diner service "honey, what can i get you?" kind of type, nothing really stand out but love that their history and atmosphere

pizza picazzo : love, love, love their pizza and anything was in the menu, food was soo good we didn't mind 45 min waiting line - this place doesn't take reservation so go early or late - love the salad, and appetiser(had bake Brie) and pizza was second best (first one is pizza my heart @capitolla beach, CA) average price with out drink $15(pizza and something) per person

Szechuan restaurant: it is sedona version of P.F chang very fancy inside, food was pricey compare to other Chinese restaurant and didn't like the food - very greasy and very salty-we order mongolian beef, lemon chicken and fried rice, price comes to $65 OMG!! also food wasn't good so no one finished their food - i guess we got spoiled by wonderful CA Chinese food=)

hero's Japanese restaurant : was o.k - average roll with pricey price tag - some of roll was o.k some of them was very fishy - once again i have very high standard when it comes to asian especially Japanese and Korean cousin- yes, i am half Korean and half Japanese!! this place have wonderful view of snoopy rock!!

cowboy club : it is in middle of downtown right cross from pink jeep tour, western food and have kids menu - baby back rip was good, my husband had chicken and he said was good, have crayon and drawing pad for kids - easy to find this place coupon, just ask your hotel concierge desk or local "paper" average price with out drink $18 to $25

El Rincon mexicano : o.k food bad service....that's all i can say on this and cute location!!

out of place diner(might be wrong on the name but the this is not hard to find diner, look for UFO): good food surprisingly have good Greek food - the owner is Greek - interesting atmosphere

Grand Canyon tour : we did with Bob's tour, i believe they are the only company who allow the kids under 3 and he(bob) was nice enough to let our kids go free - it was only 3 family including us so it was nice and quiet tour, don't need drive to grand Canyon and our tour guide(Dave) was very experience with area and he like what he's doing - it is kind of plus when you meet a guide who doing their job because he love it not for the money(maybe second reason) they cover good amount of grand canyon area - i think if we drove our self (which was our first choice) we miss lots of this attraction of grand canyon- including lunch and shopping at indian reservation and i think we paid $300(i could be wrong with price but if i do it is not much off from this price)- again two kids were free also it was cheaper than pink jeep tour to grand canyon

trolley tour: this is cheapest way to see sedona but if you have car you can do yourself too, very commercial tour and lady who was driving the trolley was not very nice and had feeling she say same thing over and over even the joke...(i do not like this kind of tour, just aim to make money kind of tour...and course was bad, they go enchanted hotel parking lot...really, "tour"? any random tour book and your own car will do better)

red rock state park : great outdoor state park, very easy hike course - about 15 min super easy course anyone can do this hike, it was almost flat with beautiful nature, i believe they do any advance hike trail too so bring lots of water and good shoes

you will really appreciate mother nature in this place and make human being so small in front of these giant red rock...make me humble as human being

happy vacation

Vacation from 2010 & 2009

Los Cabos, mexico(feb.2010) : second time at cabo, i think cabo is cleanest mexico tourist city
marina(downtown) area is really clan and have great shopping mall also great restaurants such as Ruth Chris, Roy etc...
we did stay in Dream los cabos all inclusive, as come to pick hotel in mexico i like to stay in all inclusive so that way we don't have to worry about anything
and i was very happy with Dreams los cabos, we had one bed room suit which was clean and roomy with comfortable bed
swimming pool was lovely yet very deep for my two babies - age2 and 1, this time i travel without my husband(first time) so i had little hard time in the pool yet beautiful infinity pool over looking ocean - if someone who is not taller than 5'5 you will have hard time standing in this pool, there is kiddie pool but it is in the middle of restaurant...i don't know why they put pool like that we didn't even know till last day that was kiddie pool...

food..one of most inporthant thing in my life...and was good - usually all inclusive food was o.k or blow average but this time food was good!!

1.himatu-"japanese resturant " it was o.k since we are from CA and i am an asian i will give 2 and a half star for being trying to add asian restaurant=) food wasn't bad but it is not a place for sushi, 2. el patio - buffe restaurant, wasn't bad but wasn't too exerent either, o.k food better than other all inclusive 3. steak place(something grill)
love the food there everything was soo good steak was very good appetizer was awesome..love this one
didn't had chance to check two other restaurant since we have kids but had some food at the pool..most of them was good but have to agree with nacho was watery...

overall i think Cabo is great place for kids and family traveler but sometime people are smoking in the pool area or public which was hard to take in for me (personally) other than that it was lovely place!!

happy Vacation

Hello!!

Hi Friends!!

you are on my blog, so we are friends now=)

I am a mom of 2 beautiful girls - age 2 and 1!! yes, God bless me
and travel is my passion and life -and that's all our saving goes to...

I want to share my motherhood traveling experience with you guys - it is quite different than when was just me...
also I want to share all the information that we can share so if someone look at this, hope it will be helpful to plan their next trip as a family

Happy vacation!!
Travel mom