Tag Archives: Reycel Reyes

Happy Birthday, Dad! – Las Vegas, NV

10/20/2011 – 8:55 PM

So my dad’s birthday (along with the photos in this post) was actually nearly two weeks ago, but I’ve only gotten to posting this now. Apologies (as well as for the lack of posts).

With that said, my dad’s birthday was on the 8th of October, and he decided he wanted to take a little mini trip to Las Vegas that weekend to celebrate. My aunts, grandma, cousin (Reycel), and the boy went with my parents and me.

These photos are from days two and three of our trip. Day (or rather, night) one was spent arriving in Vegas, checking into the hotel, feasting on a buffet, and walking the Strip.

We had a few photo ops at The Palazzo and The Venetian.

Can’t go to “Italy” without getting some gelato!

I couldn’t help but stop in front of the Givenchy display at Barney’s and drool.

Top – Forever 21, Shorts – (I forgot :p), Tights – Banana Republic, Boots – Sam Edelman, Bag – Marc by Marc Jacobs, Watch – Movado

The October Draconids were supposed to be at their peak on this evening, the 8th, so after dinner, we separated from the parentals and drove off, further into the desert to attempt to get a peek at the meteor shower.

Aside from successful seeing a few regular shooting stars and one humongous one (must have totally been part of the Draconids shower), one of the major highlights of my evening was seeing these signs everywhere along that narrow highway into the desert. Burro crossing! Next time, we are going to attempt to take one for ourselves… mayhaps.

Urban Outfitters ads, anyone? And yes, I did indeed change out of my boots into flats (Michael by Michael Kors) for our trek into the desert.

My takeaway from wandering the desert late into the night – Joshua trees are creepy at night.

The next day, before heading back home, we all stopped by the Ethel M Chocolate Factory and Botanical Cactus Gardens in Henderson, NV. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend stopping by. Not only do you get to take a gander at their chocolate factory and cactus garden (which is apparently one of the largest cactus gardens in the U.S.), but you also get a free chocolate sample at the end of the chocolate factory tour!

Seeing as it is currently the year of the rabbit (based on the Chinese zodiac) and I was born in the year of the rabbit, I found this Bunny Ears Cactus rather amusing.

All in all, a successful family trip filled with lots of food, photos, and gambling. Well, the older folks gambled quite a bit. Ironically, we were in Vegas, and this time I didn’t even touch a slot machine once.

Tags Cactus, Cactus Gardens, Draconids, Ethel M, Ethel M Chocolate Factory, Ethel M Chocolates, Family, Las Vegas, Marc by Marc Jacobs, October Draconids, Regina Reycel Reyes, Regina Reyes, Reycel Reyes, Sam Edelman, The Palazzo, The Venetian, YL | Comment (0)

Architecture Art Friends Museums Street Art

Downtown Los Angeles Landmarks

04/16/2011 – 11:40 PM

The weather was great, and I had been wanting to visit Angel’s Knoll, home of the bench on which Tom and Summer sit in (500) Days of Summer. Enter our quick tour of Downtown Los Angeles Landmarks.

Yes, our first stop was Angel’s Knoll. THE bench even has a plaque on the back indicating its the one used in the (500) Days of Summer movie!

The famous Angel’s Flight is not far from Angel’s Knoll. Across the street is the Grand Central Market. On the walk from Angel’s Knoll to Angel’s Flight, there was a little taco stand. Reycel and I were hungry for a snack, so we bought some food from there. We didn’t realize we were so close to Grand Central Market! We should have just bought food there. Oh, well.

I was so hungry, I started eating my burrito while crossing the street to get to Grand Central Market.

Continuing our trek through Downtown Los Angeles, we spotted many art installations in front of buildings.

We arrived at the Richard J. Riordan Central Library. I love the quote at the top of the building: “Books alone are liberal and free. They give to all who ask. They emancipate all who serve them faithfully.”

Across the street from the Central Library is Bunker Hill. We decided to go up the elevator and check out the buildings at the top.

The view from the balcony of the Citibank building looks pretty cool. I love how you can see all the architecture that makes up Downtown Los Angeles – both new and old.

I tried to be happy with the sun shining above me, but I just ended up making an angry face. ;]

We tried to go to the MOCA store, but it was unfortunately closed. I was very sad – we had just missed it by five minutes! The MOCA store on Grand Avenue closes at 6:30PM on Saturdays and Sundays.

It is very interesting what people consider art these days. Pictured above is an art installation just outside the MOCA store. Pictured on my face is what I thought of this particular art piece.

Just down the street from MOCA on Grand Avenue is the Walt Disney Concert Hall. I have never been inside this building, but I do hope to see a concert there someday soon.

Not pictured but part of our LA trek is Pershing Square and other random buildings we found along the way.

We finished up our Downtown Los Angeles trek pretty quickly and decided to head on over to Little Tokyo and see what the crowds were up to for the Art in the Streets preview night. We’ll have to visit Downtown L.A. again soon and do a more detailed tour of all the landmarks, most definitely!

The wall of the Geffen Contemporary featured street art by Blade. Outside of the museum, people were setting up another art installation. I have no idea who the artist is, but the slogan, “Desire. Obtain. Cherish.,” is pretty cool. There were free stickers too. I dig the giant spilled ice cream cone.

BeiBei was busy during the day and did not join our downtown trek. However, she did join us for dinner at Jazz Cat! She and I had been craving Jazz Cat/some type of shabu shabu all week!

I cannot wait to see the Art in the Streets exhibit. I regret not joining as a KCRW member so I could have had access to the preview night. I also want to plan another more-detailed Downtown Los Angeles trip. It’s all a matter of time, really, and unfortunately, free time is what I am lacking. Perhaps this L.A. trip will be postponed until the summer time, but Art in the Streets will definitely be happening in the latter part of May.

Tags (500) Days of Summer, Allan Chiou, Art, BeiBei Chen, Downtown LA, Downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Reycel Reyes, Street Art | Comment (0)

Movies Table Tennis

Reconnecting.

08/25/2009 – 3:51 AM

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but boy do I have a lot to post! My days have been filled with catching up with old friends that I don’t see very often. So, let’s begin.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Ryan Hsu & John Zhang were down in SoCal for John’s little sister’s birthday, so I went over the day of the little shindig. John’s house is in Diamond Bar, and I must say, it is huge! For dinner, we went to the Hong Kong Plaza in Rowland Heights. John’s cousin works at the Lollicup there so she knows a lot of the people who work at various restaurants and places at the plaza. I saw 臭豆腐 (stinky tofu), my favorite!, and I had to have it. Thanks to John’s cousin who has the hook-ups, I got some for free! Yum. I couldn’t resist taking a picture with the sign. Haha.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

BeiBei heard of this place called “Iron Grill” in Los Angeles that had a 1/2 off special on sushi, so we decided to check it out. It was great! We shared a “Love Boat.” and the total came out to only $28, split between the two of us! There was way too much sushi for both of us – we even had leftovers!

After sushi, we watched G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. It wasn’t too bad, actually. After the movie, we stopped by Phoenix Dessert to grab some quick desserts, headed back to BeiBei’s to down our desserts, then I went home. Tummy quite satisfied.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Paul and I watched The Time Traveler’s Wife. It was pretty good. I cried! T_T Haha. I had to ask Paul if he had a tissue. Afterwards, we ate at Del Taco. Mmm satisfying.

Paul’s in Boston now and heading to New York tomorrow for architecture school @ Columbia! How exciting! I hope he has a blast there. Can’t wait to hear all the crazy stories about his experiences.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Chinese school reunion! I had Korean BBQ with Pam, Christine, and Dorothy. We hadn’t all hung out in 4 years! (Ever since college). I’ve missed these girls. It was great hanging out with them. We had a lot of laughs, and as Pam said, my abs got a great workout! Hopefully I’ll be seeing more of them from now on since we’ve graduated and are all back in the area. Pam graduated from UCLA & Christine graduated from UCSD.

(Please ignore my fat arm :[)

Thursday was Christine’s 22nd birthday, so we got her a cake to celebrate! The restaurant also gave her that cute little green critter. We couldn’t quite figure out what it was. Haha. :p

Monday, August 17, 2009

Tiffiny was going back to Berkeley on Wednesday, so we had a little lunch date Monday prior to her departure. We ate at China Bistro near her area, El Monte. We also took Cue! pictures – those cutesy asian pictures that you take in a booth and draw on, but I haven’t been able to scan them. Once I get those scanned, I’ll post them up too!

Wedneday, August 19, 2009

Wong Fu Productions, David Choi, and Far*East Movement were having a meet and greet at the It’s A Grind in Cerritos, and my little cousin, Reycel, really wanted to go. So I took her! I really wish I smiled better in these pictures, though.

Reycel and I with Jsplif and Kevnish from Far*East Movement

Reycel and I with Phil, Wes, and Ted from Wong Fu Productions and David Choi

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Long Beach Table Tennis Club hosted their Summer 2009 Tournament. I helped out and participated in the under 1400 and under 1600 rated events, as well as the under 2800 doubles. My partner and I got 2nd in the doubles event! I almost advanced from my round robin group in the U1400; it came down to a tie-breaker for a 3-way tie! It was very tiring, but I had a lot of fun, and I think I played pretty well. Individually, I won three matches and lost three matches; two of the three games that I lost were played up to 5 games (so I lost 2-3), then the other one I lost 1-3.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

My dad, Reycel, and I went to the Beatles Festival, hosted by KEARTH 101 radio station, by the Queen Mary in Long Beach. It was pretty fun! Two groups of people brought their instruments and started jamming to Beatles songs. Crowds started forming around them, including us, and people were getting into the music. It was cool. Here’s a photo of my dad in front of the Beatles Rockband stage. Yes, that’s right; Rockband released a Beatles version of the game!

Isn’t he cute with his Beatles shirt? :p

So that’s what I’ve been up to lately, in addition to slowly putting away my clothes from my move from Berkeley, slowly cleaning my room, and watching and finishing the Taiwanese drama, Devil Beside You, starring Rainie Yang and Mike He.