cute snacks

courtesy of e-obento.com

quote of the day

POSITIVE QUOTE OF THE DAY
—————————–

Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they
are.

– Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990) American Publisher

manila, philippines

10:30pm Monday Night.

Hop on plane. Sit for 13 hours.

4:30am Wednesday Morning.

Arrive in Manila, Philippines. (Why is everyone up so early?) Find luggage and driver, fight traffic, and head to The Ascott Hotel in Makati, a popular shopping/restaurant district in Manila.

9am

No sleep yet. Check into hotel, check out the views, unpack, and head downstairs for a breakfast meeting. Won-ton soup for me, Congee for Lina. It’s a very eclectic, international breakfast menu with everything from potato pancakes to lasagna to raw fish. Split an omelet with tomato and mushroom.

11am

Hit the spa for a steam, body scrub and massage. Ahhhhh.

2pm

Check out the downstairs mall and all the Americanized stores. Hit CPK for lunch; split a field greens salad and a thin-thin-thin crust bar-b-q chicken pizza.

4pm

Nap.

6pm

Figure out what the heck is going on with the press shoot drama…Philippine hotels have regulations that only 4 people can be in a room at a time, so the 6 person crew isn’t allowed upstairs. Shoot canceled and rescheduled.

11pm-2am

Sleep.

2am-9am Thursday

Can’t sleep, so blog, write, post, download pictures, watch youtube, Facebook, asmallworld, and find out all about Filipino Project Runway and Yoga Trance Dance.

9am

Return downstairs for another eclectic breakfast.

2pm

Meet driver and find studio for the press shoot for where to PLAY Magazine. (An International Asian gaming magazine.) Sit in hair and makeup, get primped and joke around with photographer and assistants.

6pm

Head to the recording studio to start recording the audio book. 3 hours of sleep and an already long day is starting to take it’s toll.

1am

Pass out from exhaustion.

Friday

Actually accomplish 8 hours of sleep. Weather is great again, so head outside for a swim. Find a Korean restaurant for lunch, Kaya, then head back to the hotel for a facial. Spend the evening recording at M.Y.X Studios and finishing up the audio book.

Saturday

The typhoon in Honk Kong has changed out plans to visit, so we opt for morning in bed (Watching “Blue Lagoon”) and ordering room service. Shrimp cocktail, tomato soup, potato soup, chef salad, adobo, traditional Filipino stewed meat, soda, and 4 bottles of water (always a bottled water shortage in our room!) …it looks like we are feeding a small army.

3pm

Catch an impromptu one hour flight to Cebu. This could be one of the most beautiful places in the world. Pristine beaches, lush landscapes, and great food all on one small, quaint island. A popular weekend getaway for the city folk in Manila~ and now I can see why. Went to the Shangra-la Hotel for a drink and an appetizer, and had dinner (Cesar salad and roast chicken) at the exclusive Abaca before returning back to Manila.

Sunday

Last day in Manila! Lounge and watch Filipino TV and surf the internet. Take a hour and a half private Karate lesson @ 1pm. What a great workout! Grab a late lunch at the mall food court across the street. Rows and rows of different types of food! In the glass cases they have a WHOLE PIG and jumbo stuffed squid for 89 pesos(Approximately $2USD).  We opt for chicken skewers, barbecue chicken and rice. Head back to hotel to pick up the luggage and head back to the Airport!  Another successful trip! =)

sun valley, idaho

Just returned from a  magical 4 days in Sun Valley, Idaho.   It’s the perfect spot for the avid outdoorsman or anyone that enjoys nature; green, lush, and tranquil.  While I was there, I  hiked, biked(30 miles!),  iced skated, and fly fished like a champion. =)

I also managed to take in an ice skating show (with Olympic skater Sasha Cohen), a bar-b-q, Chinese takeout, Despardo’s for lunch, an awesome burger, and a local musical. Can’t wait for ski season!

the bucket list

I was surfing around online the other day searching for material for my Vision Book, and came across several sites for “Bucket Lists”. After the release of the movie in 2007, it seems that people are more open to the idea of setting goals for things that they would like to do before they “kick the bucket”. Another popular motivational list I discovered was “100 Things That Make you Happy”. (Check out sites like 43things.com and listofbests.com). The purpose of the list is to look at it whenever you are in a bad mood, and bounce back to your normal, cheery self. For those of you needed some ideas of what to jot down, feel free to borrow any of my partial list. =)

100 Things That Make Me Happy.

1.)Random acts of kindness.

2.) Helping others.

3.)The color white.

4.)SuperRoleModels.com

5.)Cute & cuddly animals.

6.)Dinner parties.

7.)Nature.

8.)Reading a good book.

9.)Writing.

10.)Travel.

11.)Happy people.

12.)Freedom.

13.)Friendly greetings.

14.)Exploring.

15.)Orchids.

16.)Life.

17.)Sunsets.

18.)Sunrises.

19.)Perfect weather.

20.)Trader Joe’s.

21.)Flying 1st class.

22.)Good karma.

23.)My car.

24.)True friends.

25.)Laughter.

26.)Shoes.

27.)Intelligence.

28.)LV.

29.)Taking pictures.

30.)Art.

31.)Movies in bed.

32.)Love.

33.)Asmallworld.net

34.)Rain.

35.)The secret.

36.)Family.

37.) Candlelight dinners.

38.)Goodnight kisses.

39.)Hugs.

40.)Butterflies.

41.)A good pen.

42.)Organizing.

43.)My blackberry.

44.)Pinkberry.

45.)Penguins

46.)Naps.

47.)Smell of vanilla.

48.)Sleeping in.

49.)Childhood memories.

50.)Angreylittleasiangirl.com

keeping it la!

Busy day!

Started off with a 10am tour of Paramount Studios for an upcoming article I am writing about Los Angeles travel…the tour guide, Abbey, was a doll and really knows her stuff.

Afterwards, took a 2 minute drive to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery for research for another article on “Haunted LA”. The Cemetery is actually quite beautiful and not creepy at all…more like a park with some gravestones here and there. Rumor has it that Rudolf Valentino still frequents his grave site and the lot at Paramount. Got to love LA!

Afterwards, heading West on Melrose for a lunch meeting at Fred Segal. This boutique is known for being a one stop shop for high end labels as well as a busy lunch place.  After a caprese salad, I headed to the athletic club in West Hollywood to get some sun and a quick workout before heading over to Eva Longoria’s new restaurant Beso. Our party of 8 had a little problem with LA traffic, and the whole group was finally present an hour and a half after our reservation time.  We ordered family style and got to taste a little of everything; tuna, flatbread, naan, steak tacos, prime rib, french fries, asparagus, and paella.  After dinner we took a quick walk to The Kress for French Tuesdays. After an hour of enjoying the rooftop ambiance, I had to call it a night. =)