This Is How The Florida Vacation Went

Day 1 – Left for Florida. Flight was delayed by half an hour so we left about 11:30 pm PST. We arrived at the airport about 7 pm. A long wait in the airport especially when there’s an 8-year-old that’s easily bored.

Day 2 – Arrived in Orlando at about 9 am, local time. Took the shuttle to the car rental place, that took longer than necessary, but was in Universal Studios by noon. Went to a couple of rides and the Hogwarts Express. It rained. Got to the resort about 9’ish or more around 10 pm. The two men went to nearby Walmart to shop for supplies. They arrived and made a wonderful saltless (we forgot to put salt and pepper on the grocery list) chicken fajita.

Day 3 – Second day in Universal Studios. Got to take a lot of the rides and was in long lines for most of the day too. Those rollercoaster rides were too much for me, but I had to go on them. I just closed my eyes the entire time. Also went to a ride that soaked us from head to foot, which was good given the heat and humidity of the day.

Day 4 – a break from the theme park routine. Decided this was beach day. Drove 1 ½ hours to Cocoa Beach. Beautiful beach, warm water, wide sandy beach and not crowded. On the way back, stopped at a Venezuelan restaurant for dinner – we had arepas, tostones, fried yucca, empanadas, etc.

Day 5 – DisneyWorld day. Today is the only day we allotted for Magic Kingdom. And today happened to be the hottest and most humid day of the week. The heat was brutal. I nearly lost it. We did a few rides, went back to relive memories by going to Pirates of the Caribbean, It’s a Small World and Jungle Cruise. These rides are not magical anymore. Anyway, rain happened again, like each day this week at about the same time every day. Waited out the rain then resumed activities and watched the magical electrical parade and the fireworks at Cinderella’s castle. Left after the 9 pm fireworks, our friends stayed behind until the park closed.

Day 6 – Husband and I went back to Universal Studios to take the Transformer ride, because we didn’t do it on day 3. We also took the Hogwarts Express going the other way and did a bit of shopping. While we spent the day in Universal Studios our friends had another beach day. They drove to Daytona Beach and enjoyed sun, sea, and sand all day long.

Day 7 – Flight out is at 10 pm today. While our friends went to Universal Studios, the husband and I went for a drive to Tampa a little over an hour’s drive. Then we scouted out the food trucks and got some more Latin food before heading out to the airport. Husband got sick on Day 5 – he was coughing and was running a fever. On day 7, I got sick. Got home at 3 am.

COMMENTS: I enjoyed Orlando more than I expected and more than I enjoyed Miami. Although in Miami's defense, I was only in the city for 2 days and that is simply not enough time to taste and see the offerings of the city.

Cocoa Beach is quite nice too. The beach part is awesome, the main city is not so much. At least didn't get to see much. I would not rule out a return to Orlando with or without a visit to the theme parks.

One more vacation time on the list for 2016 and that's coming up in November (2 weeks) and I still don't know where we'll go. However, one thing is sure, we will stay stateside for this vacation. We are thinking of revisiting San Diego since it's nearly 10 years since we last visited it and now that I have reconnected with my college pal who lives in San Diego and who came to visit me in July I thought San Diego is a sure destination. Likewise, I am thinking of spending a few days in Sedona, long overdue. I've been planning on going back to Sedona since I fist visited it nearly 10 years ago also.

A little update

Checking in right before going to Disneyworld. Been here in Orlando for 3 days now, today is day #4 for this weeklong vacation. I understand I have not written here in nearly 2 months, which is really a shame. NOt that there are a lot of things that happened that's worth a post, although come to think of it, there definitely are a few stories I would love to share. But that's for another post.

We've been lucky for the most part with weather here. The heat is there but the low humidity makes the heat a lot easy to manage. Today however is different. The forecast calls for 87% humidity + 90+ heat, can you handle that? The question is can I handle that and I'll be going around Disneyworld.

See you later. I'm going to change my wardrobe into something that would make me cooler the whole day.

Got So Excited

I lost my mind at Michael’s yesterday. Ok let me back up!

I am preparing for a chocolate creation for the annual fundraiser that our church hosts in connection with the local high school’s art and music program. Every year, members of the church make something chocalatey for participants to sample. The fundraiser billed CHOCOLATE EXTRAVANZA is a chocolate buffet. I have always made truffles. I believe this would be the 5th year of the fundraiser and I am the reigning people’s choice champion in the truffle division (cake, cookie and bark are the other divisions). Because of this, there is more pressure for me to up my game with my chocolate creation.

Last week, I tested my recipe. While it was good, my friend who barely eats anything had three of my “truffles” and she said they were good. I knew they were good, but I felt they lacked some oomph in them. Consulting my husband on the recipe we decided to switch it from all chocolate flavor to lemon flavor (my winning truffle last year was a green tea truffle).

Shopping for ingredients was slated yesterday. Hubs called me at work to make arrangement to meet at Grocery Outlet after work. I came early and texted him that I would be gawking at all the beautiful things at Michael’s which is next door to the grocery store.

I picked up a set of coloring pencils (my first set needs replacement after I’ve colored so many mandalas and zentangles). On a whim I made a beeline to the food decorating section……………… and Oh Em Gee!!!!!!

Who knew there are all these utensils and devices to make chocolate creations easy breezy. The husband went straight to Michael’s and I showed him what he needed to make his creation. We bought a mold. And I had to contain myself from hyperventilating. I was so excited and I am already looking forward to making edibles for Christmas gift giving. I love you Michael’s.

Hello June!

No kidding, it is June. Yeah, before you take another breath, 2016 is outta here it seems.

When was the last time I was here on this blog? I cannot even remember as I type this post. I am drafting this while I have no access to the blog.

I want to share that I finally got to see an NBA game live in person when the hubs snagged a last minute tickets on the second game of the round one elimination round featuring the Houston Rockets vs the GS Warriors. I was at work when the hubs announced that we would be going to the game that night. As it turned out, a friend of ours were joining us too. What a fun night. The Warriors won naturally, although they did without their star MVP Steph Curry who was out on injury. I cannot believe the atmosphere at Oracle. Indeed it truly becomes a Roaracle with all the fans yelling and roaring at the top of their lungs, us included. Hubs lost his voice – a badge he carried proudly. Ticket prices were not as unreachable as we thought. Nowadays, we just have viewing parties at home.

What else? Oh I got my eyebrows done. Is that even news? It is for me. My eyebrows get groomed so rarely that when they do it is news. I do like the way the lady shaped my brows this time. So far this is the best eyebrow job I have done. I will go back to her next time, and hopefully not before I get a bush where eyebrows should be again.

Tomorrow I am going to participate in a walk/fundraiser for Pancreatic Cancer. I don’t know if you remember, my niece lost her battle to this dreadful disease last year and friends and family formed a team in her honor. This would be the first time the hubs and I are joining the family.

Also occupying my time is preparing for the church’s annual fundraiser, the Chocolate Extravaganza. This fundraiser has been mentioned here every year and if you will recall my entry GREEN TEA TRUFFLE won first place for truffle division peoples’ choice award. Having said that, the pressure will surely be on me this year. I cannot NOT do well in this division. I have already tried out my cake pops recipe and found out that I had to tweak the measurements a bit. I am hopeful that my entry this year will be received by tasters favorably again. I know one little boy that will keep an eye on my entry knowing that last year I won the whole thing.

Another thing, we took my nephew (ok great nephew) to the movies to see Jungle Book a few days ago. He is 6 years old and seemed okay to go without his folks. I am after all his aunt. We got him large popcorn and Vitamin water (no soda). We got there early and he ate his popcorn and drank his water and watched the previews. The minute the movie started, he had to go potty!

When I dropped him off, his mom asked how many time little A asked to go potty? OMG, apparently, he goes multiple times in the course of the movie. The trick here is the hubs took away his water when they came back from the bathroom so he didn’t drink anything at all during the movie. Wise move, hubs, veteran move.

That’s all folks!

Back From Cancun

Cancun is not for everyone. And not all who goes there are spring breakers boozing around the beach making a fool of themselves.

In my few trips to Cancun, I have just once seen a crazy nightlife and that was when we stayed in the heart of Hotel Zone, where the hotel/resort we stayed in was a stone’s throw away from Hard Rock Café bar. But the hotel zone is just a small part of Cancun. Sad though that many who visit Cancun only get to see that part.

In truth, Cancun has many resorts and beaches and other establishments that cater to families and nonparty goers who just like to lazy about in the sand sipping some fruity drink with a kick.

In this just concluded vacation, I was lucky to stay in the Hotel Zone, but far from the maddening crowd where I joined others in beachcombing. We visited the famous ecological theme park XCARET, which is about 1 to 1.5 hours drive. If you go to Cancun this is a must visit. For no particular reason did we not visit this park in previous visits, but since on this visit we had nothing on the calendar but relaxation by the beach, we thought it was time to see it. We were floored by the beauty of the park, the variety of activities to suit everyone’s tastes and physical capacities and fed the hunger in this culture vulture.

I must say, we are already thinking about our next visit which is in 2 years. Yah, we don’t want to do Cancun in a yearly basis, because after all there are so many beautiful places to explore and only so little time to do it. But, we’ll be back Cancun, just save the lounge chair on the beach for us.

Blah, blah

*****Here is another post that I found sitting in my draft folder.*****

My yard is looking a lot better now after working on it over the weekend. Weeds waist high sprouted after the El Nino blast of the winter. Only the upper half of my back fence was visible from the house that is how tall the grasses were. After two days of pulling weeds, we can see the neighbor’s house in the back again, LOL!

I am the youngest in the family and my folks were older when they had me. And because I was the youngest and the only girl in the family I was sorta kinda spoiled a bit. No chores for me. It did not help that I was a sickly child and have a mom who panics about my health a lot.

So now that I am a grown-up and have my own house to take care of, the thought of cleaning up the yard is difficult. My instinct is to hire someone to do the job. Heck we had done so in the past. We drove to Home Depot where the day laborers are situated.

This time around the husband was keen on us doing the job. We need the exercise to begin with, plus we can save the money for the future vacation.

However, weeding sound innocuous right? The morning after is the real test. My muscles are sore and achy and I had to do the weeding all over again on Sunday. Exhausted and achy but happy that we did the job ourselves. No way is the backyard job complete but the hardest part is done. We didn’t go anywhere this weekend, because it’s backyard day. Reward for achy muscles came in the form of a impromptu at home tapas happy hour. We scoured the cupboard and the refrigerator and came up with crackers, smoked salmon, olives, goat cheese and almonds and we had a couple of bottles of adult beverages just in time for the Warriors game on Sunday.

Back to the backyard woes, we are thinking of either cementing it or putting stones just so the weeds don’t grow anymore. A guy who does backyard jobs came to the house on Saturday and checked out the job and promised to give us a written job quote. Too many expenses when one has a house to maintain. I’m getting a head ache. But doing something now is better than waiting and waiting.

So blessed, don't be stressed.

Oh lordy, I need a vacation so badly that all I ever think of is a get-away. I’m so obsessed with some time off it’s pathetic. All my free time I spend surfing the net, looking at every deal they have on GroupOn, Travelzoo, and whathaveyou. Seriously. I’m even so excited about the upcoming R&R in Cancun. I normally don’t get excited about Cancun. I know I’m so spoiled. I got a wake-up call about how blessed I am when I was talking with friends of ours, another married couple, and we were planning something to do because her birthday and our anniversary are on consecutive days in late May. When she suggested something to do, we both told her that the date is no good since we already have plans (Cancun) and when she asked, we both shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal (well it wasn’t). That Cancun wasn’t a big deal, but of course to some IT IS a big deal because they haven’t been there. She jokingly said you both acted like your plan is to go to the grocery store and not Cancun. And she was right. Thinking about it that night, we might have been jaded by the fact that we could “easily” go there, whereas others may consider that a trip of a lifetime.

Have I been too spoilt with God’s blessings that I don’t appreciate every single blessing that I receive? Please let it not be. Please don’t let me be ungrateful.

In other news, how is Mother’s Day people? Did you spoil your moms or did you get spoiled. My mother is at an age where she no longer cares about what she says especially if she gets a gift that she doesn’t like she will tell you in your face when everyone else in the family is present. At her age, she is done pretending she adores (but doesn’t wear) all the sweaters we buy her. So I told all my brothers that Mom likes three things: take her to a buffet lunch, bring her flowers or flowering plants and give her gift card. The memo was also sent to all her grandchildren! I salute her for being frank. If you can’t be honest with your kids and family who could you be honest with? She wears her “grumpy old lady” role to the hilt.

We took her to the buffet, let her eat all the oysters and crabs and fish she can handle. Let her have some ice cream for dessert too. Let her live, we say. And this is another big blessing that I have, my mother lives a very full life and in her advanced age is able to fend for herself. My family and I may not see each other eye to eye (literally and figuratively) but the fact that we live within a 5-mile radius of each other is such a blessing.