Las Vegas 2023

Tuesday January 3rd - Thursday January 5th

We decided to fly out to Las Vegas, Nevada the first week of January to make the most of our Holiday vacation after our Portland, Oregon trip was cancelled by Southwest airlines due to weather and IT issues. It seems as if everyone else had the same idea, as prices for Las Vegas hotels and flights the first weekend of the new year were elevated. We chose to go Tuesday to Thursday where the prices were lower.

This trip would be a more relaxed, slow paced trip compared to previous Vegas trips where day/night clubs were involved. The primary goal of this particular visit was to eat good food and to visit Area 15’s Omega Mart. The photos below are in no particular order. All photos were taken with the Canon 6D + EF 24-70mm F2.8L and the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

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Catch

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>> Yelp Link

Located in ARIA resort, Catch is a trendy, asian-influenced seafood, sushi, and steak restaurant infamous for their beautiful entry ways and celebrity sightings. Stepping through the floral tunnel to enter the restaurant, you’re transported into a low-lit, moody restaurant full of patrons and the excited hum of dinner conversations.

Truffle Sashimi. I usually have an aversion to truffle sauces typically found in pasta sauces or fries, but the truffle sauce paired excellently with the light and buttery sashimi.

Other dishes below include the Hellfire Roll, Crunchy Rice Cake, Crispy Shrimp, Lobster Mac and Cheese, and the Hit Me Cake.

The Hit Me Cake was the perfect way to end the delicious meal. A klondike bar sits atop layers of chocolate cake, caramel/dulce de leche ice cream, and a brownie waiting to be drizzled with more chocolate sauce, and ultimately smashed open by the consumer. A fun finale.

Hattie B’s

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>> Yelp Link

Hattie B’s is an American chain restaurant that specializes in Nashville hot chicken. The restaurant is located in the Cosmopolitan resort food court next to the popular breakfast restaurant EggSlut. Hattie B’s was also at last year’s Coachella music festival as a food vendor. They offer bone-in pieces, chicken sandwiches, and chicken tenders at varying spice levels. Below is a 3 piece chicken tender with a side of fries and mac and cheese. The meal is definitely shareable if you are looking for a lighter meal.

Gordon Ramsay’s Fish and Chips

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>> Yelp Link

A fast-casual, order at the register type of eatery located next to the Linq. With a personality like Gordon Ramsay included in the name, this restaurant has a lot on the line to perform and taste as good as Gordon’s reputation. The menu is simple, serving boxes with choice of protein, fries, and sauces. The fish’s batter is light and not dripping in excess oil, fries perfectly crisp. There is limited seating inside and out of the shop, which can be difficult as there is always a line.

Omega Mart

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>> Yelp Link

Omega Mart is an immersive art experience created by Meow Wolf, located inside the events pavilion Area 15. The art installation’s backstory is based on sci-fy and strange inter-dimensional oddities that you can explore as you walk through the expansive areas. The entrance to the art installation is set up as a typical grocery store, but as you peer closer to the familiar items, you’ll notice that they are slightly off in a sort of unsettling way. Go through the freezer in a speakeasy-esque fashion and you feel like you’ve been transported into another dimension. There are many rooms and objects that encourage interaction. The installation can be observed just by passively walking through, but it is highly encouraged to purchase a $3 ‘game card’ that can be used to activate a multitude of stations around the installation to learn more about the backstory, and to participate in a ‘quest’ like experience.

Area 15

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>> Yelp Link

Area 15 is a hub for pay-as-you-go events/experiences. Entry is free.

The Chandelier

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>> Yelp Link

The Chandelier is a lounge/bar located inside the cosmopolitan. The tiered lounge has 3 levels, and is hard to miss. Known for their off-menu cocktail the ‘Verbena’, patrons visit The Chandelier to try the experience in a cocktail. The Verbena is a margarita tasting cocktail served with a ‘buzz ball’. You’re instructed to taste a sip of the cocktail, then chew on the buzzball for ~30 seconds, and then continue with the cocktail. The buzz ball is reminiscent of eating spicy Szechuan food, as your mouth starts to envelop a tingling and numbing sensation lasting for around 5 minutes. The mouth feel alters the taste and experience of drinking the cocktail.

Bacchanal Buffet

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>> Yelp Link

The famous Bacchanal buffet is located inside Caesars Palace. The buffet is divided into Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, American, Seafood, Pizza, Deli, and Desserts. Most items are self serve, aside from the carved meats. As far as buffets go, the offerings are top notch and do not feel like ‘buffet food’. Each item is restaurant quality and could tick off any possible cravings you have. It felt a bit gluttonous being in the dining hall that had an aura of abundance, but it was an interesting experience eating like a greek god for 90 minutes.

Cafe Americano

Restaurant located next to the Caesars Palace lobby. Large portions. Quick morning stop before our flight.

Nacho Daddy

A chain specializing in different variety of Nachos with tons of toppings. Great late night choice.

Assorted Las Vegas Pictures

Disneyland 2022 - Day 2

Day 2 started off early in the morning inside Disneyland exploring the new Star Wars themed area. Here, we queued up for the new Star Wars, rise of the resistance ride. The ride is one of the more popular attractions at the park, with a long queue all day. The only way to bypass this long line is to pay $20 a person for a lightning lane reservation through the new ride reservation app system ‘Genie+’ the parks have implemented. Although confusing as a concept at first, the new reservation system is a definite must if you are visiting the parks nowadays. Using the app efficiently will save you hours waiting in lines.

The new rise of the resistance ride has become my favorite ride at both parks. The ride is the first trackless attraction at Disneyland, meaning the ride uses AI robotics to move around a predetermined path instead of using physical wheels on tracks, akin to roomba. This frees up the ride to a nonlinear path, making the ride feel expanse and unpredictable.

Oga’s Cantina

It’s a small world

Assorted shots around the park

Disneyland 2022 - Day 1

We took a trip down to Los Angeles during Thanksgiving week to visit friends and Disneyland. The last time I had gone to Disneyland was in 2012. I was excited to see all the new additions to the park, as well as the holiday theme, as I have never visited during the holiday season.

Solvang, California

On the way down, we stopped to see Solvang, California, a small danish town with unique architecture, shops, and wineries.

Downtown Disney

We met up with some of our local friends to hang out at downtown Disney, a shopping and food plaza adjacent to the Disney and California Adventure parks. Downtown Disney is a gateway to Disney hotels, trains that transport guests to the Disney parking lot, and many Disney related stores and restaurants. It feels like an extension of the parks, except it is free to enter.

Trader Sam’s

A tiki bar serving cocktails and island food.

Star Wars Trading Post

Day one at Disneyland started early at 8:00 AM when the parks opened. We had 2-day park hopper tickets to maximize our time between the two parks. We opted to start with California Adventure on Sunday, hoping Disneyland would be a little less crowded on Monday. Our first ride of the day was spider-man’s web slinger in the new Avenger’s Campus. As an adult, I could better appreciate the attention to detail that goes into each attraction.

Pym’s Test Kitchen

An Ant-Man inspired restaurant serving small snacks and drinks

Guardians of the Galaxy, Mission: Breakout

Previously the Tower of Terror, the tall free-fall elevator based attraction is now themed around the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Lamplight Lounge

We got lunch at the lamplight lounge, a sit down restaurant that could be easily missed, nestled next to the water with views of the Incredicoaster and Ferris Wheel.

The theme parks transform into a lively a cozy atmosphere at night, with Christmas lights and decorations lit up all around the grounds.

Naples

After a long day at the park, we ended the night eating pasta and pizza at Naples in Downtown Disney.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park

Date: Thursday, August 18 - Sunday, August 21

We visited Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park for a weekend hiking trip and to celebrate a birthday. The national parks neighbor each other in central California near Fresno, and are typically grouped together in itineraries and official National Parks websites and documents. They are a short 3 hour drive from San Jose, California. We stayed at an Airbnb in a nearby city called Visalia.

Sequoia National Park

We spent the first whole day (Friday, August 19th) exploring Sequoia National Park. The park is filled with giant sequoia trees, including the world’s biggest tree, General Sherman. We started the day on the road at 6:00AM to drive through the south Ash Mountain entrance, which took around 1 hour from our Airbnb in Visalia.

Moro Rock Trail

Our first stop was Moro Rock Trail. Sequoia National Park is expansive, as it took an additional 45 minutes from entering the park to get to the trailhead. The trail is a short 20 minute walk up stairs to a viewpoint. This trail is the most popular trail on Alltrails, which is why we wanted to get it out of the way early in the morning to avoid crowds. We drove right up to the parking lot located at the trailhead, where we were met with swarms of little flies. Reaching the top gave us an overview of the park.

Congress Trail

Our next stop was Congress Trail, a 3.5 mile hike that tours all the large Sequoia trees, including the world’s largest tree, General Sherman. From Moro Rock, the trailhead was about a 10 minute drive. We arrived around 9AM.

Throughout the park, small chipmunks could be seen scurrying around the trail and forest grounds.

Pictures do not do justice for how large the sequoia trees are in person. General Sherman had a few tourists around 9AM. We were able to easily get pictures. By the time we revisited the area around 11AM, large crowds of tourists were present, creating a large line for picture ops.

Fires ravaged Sequoia National Park back in Fall 2021. Burn scars can be seen on various trees.

Many trees were named after American Government positions.

A cross section of a tree cut in the early 1900’s was on display. According to the park, this tree was around 2000 years old.

Macro shots of the tree stump using the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Lodgepole Market Center and Wuksachi Lodge

For lunch, we visited the Lodgepole Market Center to shop, and ate at Wuksachi Lodge. The Wuksachi Lodge restaurant serves standard sandwiches, bowls, and pizzas. The Market center sold various snacks and souvenirs.

Tokopah Falls Trail

After an afternoon break, we began our hike at Tokopah Falls trail. The 4 mile hike is an out and back trail that ends at a small waterfall. The rocky terrain is surrounded by large trees, rivers, and small meadows.

We were pleasantly surprised after seeing a small bear while hiking. The bear seemed to have an ear tag.

After finishing our hike at Tokopah falls, our plan was to visit Foothills visitor’s center. Unfortunately the visitor’s center closed at 4PM, so we would not have made it. The closer visitor center, Lodgepole visitors center, was closed for renovation. We headed back to our Airbnb around 5pm.

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Kings Canyon National Park

On Saturday, August 20th, we headed to Kings Canyon National Park. The 2 hour drive to the entrance and to Mist Falls trailhead was beautiful. After driving briefly through the forrest, the road opens up to an incredible view of a canyon surrounded by tall mountains. The layers of mountains were prominent in the soft morning light. We made our way driving through and down the canyon.

Mist Falls Trail

Our main hike for this day was Mist Falls, a 9 mile out and back hike through Kings Canyon. The trailhead was far east of the park, and is a gateway through many trails that backpackers take.

The trail starts through a flat meadow, and transitions through a shaded region surrounded by trees. After awhile under the trees and through some inclines, the trail opens up to reveal incredible views. Surrounded on all three sides are giant mountains that looked huge in person. The views reminded me of pictures you see online of Switzerland, with a few of the mountain peaks resembling Matterhorn. The views felt like views you would see on a multi day backpacking trip, not a day hike.

Grant Grove Giftshop and Kings Canyon Visitor’s Center

After our long 4.5 hour hike, we drove an hour to the Kings Canyon visitor center and Grant Grove gift shop to look around.

General Grant Trail

We then visited General Grant, our Nation’s Christmas Tree. General Grant was very large. On the backside was a scar from a fire.

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Our two day trip to Sequoia and Kings Canyon was a success. We were able to explore most of the sites we had planned to see, and left satisfied and humbled by the large grand sequoia trees and massive canyons. We are fortunate to be a short drive away from these beautiful parks.

Seattle 2022

Date: Saturday March 28, 2022 - Tuesday March 31, 2022

We visited Seattle during Memorial Day weekend. The primary goal was to visit Mount Rainier National Park for a day, and spend the rest of the days seeing sights and trying the local food. We experienced the notoriously cloudy weather with a few sprinkles, but there were few glimmering moments of sunshine. Seattle is just a short drive away from lush green nature trails the pacific north west is known for. Paired with their bustling city with its’ walkable, friendly neighborhoods, Seattle charmed its way to the top of the list of places I would some day consider living. Listed below are a few of places we ate and visited during our trip.

Starbucks Reserve

Starbucks reserve feels like a mecca for Starbucks / coffee connoisseurs. The wooden building with large double doors feels grand upon entry. As you enter, your senses are overwhelmed with smell of coffee and the sight of large crowds of tourists / locals gathered to experience the joys of caffeine.

The roastery is split up into 4 main sections: pastries, a bar, your usual coffee baristas, and a downstairs seating area. We primarily visited to try their Starbucks coffee infused cocktails. The sparkling Sakura tasted like a mimosa, but was a little too sweet. The espresso martini flight was an interesting experience. The appear much larger in pictures.

As a tourist, the Starbucks Reserve felt more worth a visit than the first starbucks store on Pike Street.

Rachel’s Ginger Beer

Rachel's ginger beer was highly recommended by various sources when we were researching places to visit in Seattle. This review adds to that list of recommendations because we had a great experience and visited twice during our Seattle trip.

The fizzy ginger beer drinks make it a perfect refreshing pit stop when you need a place to stop and recharge for a bit. We were able to bring in our clam chowder from Pikes and pasta from Beechers to enjoy, pairing greatly with our ginger beer infused cocktails.

If I lived in Seattle, I could envision frequenting Rachel's Ginger Beer, or regularly purchasing their large jugs of ginger beer. 21+ to enter.

Pike Place Market

Piroshky, Piroshky

Pike Place Chowder

Beecher’s

Sky View Observatory

Sky View Observatory was a great stop to get a unique birds eye view of Seattle. Between the more popular Space Needle, Sky View has cheaper tickets, is taller, and has no time limit.

We went during Memorial Day weekend around 7pm and there wasn't a big crowd or line to get in. They offer tiered tickets, priced by extra feature that are included. Some extra features include a priority line, and access to reserved tables next to the windows on the top floor.

After taking an elevator up the building, the doors open up to a 360 degree floor that you can freely walk around. There is a cafe that serves alcohol, and a few tables.

The prices are fair for the unique and untimed experience. It was a great way to kill some time before dinner at night. Be sure to check what time the sun sets to get the best views and lighting. Unfortunately for us, the sun set late around 9pm, so we didn't get much city light views until closing.

Gas Works Park

Amazon Spheres

Watson’s Counter

Biang Biang Noodles

Tamari Bar

The dinner dining experience at Tamari Bar was exemplary. Starting with yelp check-in (check in is recommended), our table was ready a lot sooner than the listed time. The restaurant has a narrow, dark and moody interior, with a beautiful bar. The ambiance and vibe were excellent with house music pounding in the background and a full restaurant of patrons enjoying their meal.

The menu changes frequently with new shareable bites. We got the
Hotate Blast
Tamari Bar Sushi Roll
Spam Katsu Bao
Hellz Bao

and other things I forget the name of. We were happy with the presentation and taste of everything that came out. Would come back and easily recommend this place to friends for the vibe, presentation, and interesting menu.

General Porpoise Doughnuts

Mount Rainier National Park

Mount Rainier National Park

Mount Rainier National Park
Sunday, May 29th 2022

We took a day trip to Mount Rainier National Park during our Memorial Day weekend in Seattle, Washington. The national park is a 2-2.5 hour drive from Seattle depending on where you navigate to in the park. The park’s iconic green meadows filled with colorful wild flowers were unfortunately out of season. Most of the popular trails are still covered in snow in June at higher elevations. Hiking these trails is still possible, but require special hiking equipment like crampons or snow shoes. If you’re looking for wild flowers, peak season at Mount Rainier is in August. To make the best of trail conditions, we opted to hike in the lower elevation trails where the snow had already melted. We hiked the Silver Falls loop trail located in the Ohanapecosh camp ground, then visited the park’s visitor’s center in Paradise, next to the Paradise Inn.

Mount Rainier National Park is the fourth national park I have visited. I enjoyed the park’s lush green mossy forests, raging teal blue rivers, and white snow covered peaks.

Silver Falls Loop Trail

Silver Falls Loop Trail is a moderate 4 mile hike in Mount Rainier National Park. Sounds of the rushing river travels through the air as you walk surrounded by the lush green forrest. The roars get louder as you approach Silver Falls where you can witness the power of the water crashing between rocks. People of all ages were seen enjoying the trail.

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/washington/silver-falls-trail

Paradise Valley

Visitor’s Center

The visitor’s center is located in Paradise. Here park rangers are waiting to answer any questions you may have. You can also find gifts and snacks.

Paradise Inn

The Paradise Inn felt like a cozy cabin in the snow. The Inn is rich in history

Skyline Trail (?)

Skyline trail is the quintessential hike to get the most beautiful views of Mount Rainier’s wild flower meadows. In June, the trail and hills are covered in soft knee deep snow that engulfs your leg with every step, making it almost impossible to hike without special crampons or snow shoes. Fortunately, some of the trail was pre-packed by previous hikers, allowing us to explore the beginning of the trail in regular hiking shoes.

Miscellaneous Scenes Around Mount Rainier National Park

The grandiose scale of the mountains, rivers and trees in Mount Rainier National Park is hard to convey in pictures. The massive natural structures were awe inspiring to see in person.

The day trip ended with a visit from a friend.

Mount Rainier National Park is a uniquely beautiful environment with diverse climates based on elevation. The different climates made for a wonderful winter-y June hike. We will definitely be back during peak season to enjoy the wild flower covered meadows.