Fruit Adventures: Pasadena Gems

Have you ever been to Pasadena? Most folks, both local and tourists alike, visit the Old Town Pasadena area to catch up on some retail therapy or to enjoy a succulent meal in one of the trendy and upscale restaurants that the Old Town has to offer. But what most people don't know about (or are just nonchalant about) is the rich architecture that lies in the city's vast residential area. I am in no way an art fanatic but having an architect for a boyfriend has definitely given me a new perspective on these sort of things. In short--- I kinda give a rat's butt about it now.

The Gamble House

Being one of the most iconic houses of the arts and crafts movement in architecture, the Gamble House is a sight to behold. The house was built as a winter home for David and Mary Gamble (of Procter & Gamble), designed by Architects Charles and Henry Greene. Guess when this house was built? 1908!

Uh...this was JUST a winter home? Damn.

The boyfriend has been itching to go to this place so when we found some time to squeeze in a one-hour docent-guided tour, I jumped right in to reserve some tickets. The only way to get into the house is through the guided tours so it's best to check out for their schedule and purchase the tickets online at gamblehouse.org. There is no photography allowed inside the house so sadly, I can't share with you how truly remarkable the craftsmanship of this house is but you can easily find a book or google about it. Every detail was so well thought of that the architects even designed the furnishings themselves. That, or they were just a bunch of control-freaks!

The house is heavily Japanese-inspired as the Gambles were very much into the Japanese art and culture.

Personally, I think the best thing about the house is the impeccable wood craftsmanship...like if you think you're anal then you haven't seen what they did for the interiors of this house--- everything was designed and collaborated to a T! Oh and speaking of wood, they won't let you in if you aren't wearing flat shoes (stiletto heels are the devil, or at least that's what the docents would think) as pointy heels may damage the wooden floors of the house.

Just a couple of feet from the house is the car garage that's now been converted into a bookstore filled with art/architecture books (you may also try to drop in and purchase some tour tickets if they're still available).

Dude, you know you're rich when you have your own gas pump in your garage...in---that's right, 1908!

Obviously I cease to exist when the boyfriend is surrounded by architecture books. Note to self: Send boyfriend to buy appropriate size of jeans. Mmmk, Mr. Saggy Butt?

I spy some cute tiles!

Taking pictures under the sun (in every freakin' angle) can really drain one's energy and sanity and since I knew that we were going to be around Pasadena, I called in advance and booked a table for afternoon tea at The Langham . This afternoon tea thing has become a tradition of ours since about 7 years ago, where we had our first afternoon tea together at The Drake in Chicago. It was a sweet discovery to find that both the boyfriend and I actually really enjoy this kinda stuff, so we agreed to try to have afternoon tea wherever we landed on the map. So far we've had tea at The Peninsula in Hong Kong, The Fullerton Hotel in Singapore and The Rose Garden Tea Room at the Huntington Botanical Gardens, and now we can add The Langham to the list!

Who would have known that this was in Pasadena? It's so hidden that you have to go through residential roads to get here. This looks like a perfect setting for a great wedding reception, non?

Upon entering, we were greeted by a modest lobby area, with a beautiful chandelier in the center.

The hallway towards the Lobby Lounge (where they have the afternoon tea), decked in huge beautiful paintings.

The hotel's beautiful courtyard.

It's not that hard to navigate around the hotel but if you spot this sign, you've arrived at the Lobby Lounge.

The set-up is pretty chill, you can hang out with your friends or just have a relaxing date.

Further inside, you can see floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the hotel's garden.

You'd think my date's looking at floor plans---he's just checking out the tea selection. Ha!

The Tiffin Afternoon Tea has two options, you can get the Traditional Tiffin Tea ($39 per person), or the Royal Tiffin Tea (includes champagne, $56 per person). Getting drunk off of champagne in the middle of the afternoon and possibly scaring all the other guests sounded so enticing but we still had somewhere else to go, so...Traditional it is!

The tea comes with a selection of scones, pastries and finger sandwiches. I was so hungry that I devoured all the sandwiches first, screw the pastries! Ha!

This passion apricot cone had a gold flake in it, should I eat it or save it 'til I end up having a whole gold bar? Hmmm. Decisions, decisions.

We're having afternoon tea with our little pinky's up so, I have to act all prim and proper, right?

But then I couldn't help myself and got sugar high with God knows how many sugar cubes and milk I dumped in my tea. My cup is too full, I lick the tea spoon and I don't wait until the sugar dissolves, I MASH it---I am every tea aficionado's faux pas nightmare! Ha!

Thank you, boyfriend, for recording my VERY FIRST short video (?) on my blog! And also for holding in your giggles until the last part.

Is that food in my hair?

When we were done with our sugar-high tea, I had the hostess validate our valet parking stub. Please take note that this place has valet parking only. I think they charge $12 for it but with a validated stub, we only paid $5.

We ventured a little bit more around the property and found cute little bungalows where guests could stay at instead of the usual hotel rooms in the main building.

As we went back inside, I noticed there was a nice, dimly-lit place called The Tap Room.

I wanted to grab a drink or two since it looked so cozy in there but alas, we had to leave or we might miss the main event of the night---which you will find out on my next post! :)

Stay tuned for more fun stuff coming up on the blog but for now, have a great weekend!

Toodles!

Father's Day : San Juan Capistrano

Today, I am happy because I got to spend another Father's Day with my main man, my Papi. It was a nice day out so we decided to take my Papi somewhere he hasn't been to yet (almost an impossible feat to accomplish, if you ask me!). We wanted to beat the rush of the Sunday brunch so we moved our celebration to Saturday instead.

My brother's friend suggested that we go to San Juan Capistrano and coincidentally, I have always wanted to go see the historic Mission San Juan Capistrano, a Spanish mission that was led by Father Junipero Serra to spread Christianity to the native inhabitants of California. In fact, right when you get there, you will undoubtedly notice the colonial Spanish architecture that the little town exudes.

The town center is actually pretty small so you can park just about anywhere and walk around to browse through cute little local shops as well as restaurants that offer great al fresco dining. We were pretty lucky to get a parking space right across the Mission, which also happened to be a couple of steps away from the restaurant that we were going to dine at.

Cedar Creek Inn

Al fresco dining.

Being the Asians that we are and to avoid premature ageing, we opted to be seated inside despite having an inviting weather that would have been perfect for dining al fresco. I'm glad we chose to do so because the interior of the restaurant was cozy, yet it had large windows that allowed a good amount of natural light to shine through.

I love the rustic details.

On to the food! Apparently I was the only one who was hungry (my family ate before they picked me up while I, on the other hand, was deliberately starving myself so I could feast when we got to the resto), so my family and I ended up just sharing whatever I ordered. 

Sesame Calamari. This was actually very tasty. The sesame definitely gave this appetizer a boost on the taste category and the japapeño tartar sauce was awesome.

Beer Battered Green Beans. This tasted alright, but I think it would have been better if the dipping sauce they used was the same japaleño tartar sauce that came with the Sesame Calamari.

Cedar Planked Salmon. I was totally disappointed with this dish. I ordered this because I was expecting a salmon to do some major planking. Hardy-har-har. I know, I can be a cornball at times. But seriously, this dish was YUM-O! The salmon didn't have that fishy taste and the maple-soy glaze wasn't too salty.

Marcy's Divine Salad. This salad tasted kind of like a Mexican-inspired salad to me. It had cilantro, corn, tortilla strips, apples, bleu cheese, bbq chicken and some other stuff I forgot.

My dad said he wanted Fish and Chips because he missed eating the "chips". I said, do you mean you just want to eat fries without sounding like you're ordering something so unhealthy at this hour? He just kept offering his fish to my brother so he could devour all his "chips". As if calling it chips makes it a whole lot different than eating fries. My dad just tried to lawyer his way out of it --- it's Father's Day so you get a free pass, Papi-san.

Your honor, I present Exhibit A. The case of the missing fries. 

This mischievous looking fella right here is my Papi. Love you, Dad!

Right after we had our late lunch, we headed straight to the Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano to attend the anticipation mass.

There was a solo violinist playing beautifully as we were making our way to the front of the basilica to find some seats.

After mass, we wanted to go inside the Mission to explore the ruins but we needed to do some errands before heading home so I was happy to see at least part of it peeking over the wall as we were parked right across the entrance.

It's a funny coinky dink 'coz I wore a crochet dress and I felt kinda like La Isla Bonita while being surrounded by colonial Spanish architecture.

Dress by: I totally forgot who (random bargain brand)--- sorry too lazy to walk to the closet and check; Belt by:  H&M ; Espadrille wedges by: Steve Madden.

And no. This is not in San Juan Capistrano, it's inside South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. I was so embarrassed as hell to take a picture but I had to do it because I forgot to have one taken after hearing mass at the basilica. So yeah, I sacrificed to look like a tourist in a local mall just for you guys.

Tropical the island breeze,
All of nature wild and free,
This is where I long to be,
La Isla Bonita

Look away as I attempt to do the cha-cha.

Toodles!

Europe At Night

Move over, filter-crazy people on Instagram! You ain't got nothin' on this time-lapse video entitled, Night Vision, made by photographer and filmmaker, Luke Shepard. The video features famous landmarks and amazing architectural wonders of Europe at the best time that they can be seen...at night! The colors are so vivid and the picture quality is so surreal that it feels like you're being transported to different places for about three and a half minutes.

Can you name any or all of these architectural wonders?

Click on the video below and make sure to watch it in full screen!

If you're fortunate to have been to all of these places, I'd be happy to live vicariously through you and your #nofilter pictures!

P.S. This is why I think architects can be such sexy beasts. Hello, boyfriend.

Toodles!

The Reluctant Road Tripper: Day 9

Washington, D.C.

We took the metro which had a station conveniently close from our hotel in Maryland to Washington D.C. Everything is walkable when you get off from the Metro Center station, namely, The White House, Smithsonian Museum and that big dude chillin’ up on that chair the Lincoln Memorial.

Interesting ceiling at the metro station.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t avail of the White House tours since they all got cancelled from the beginning of March and they won't be having any until further notice. I’m guessing this is due to some confirmed reports on the White House receiving letters that contained some biohazard stuff and being addressed to the President (yup, sometimes I swap my cartoons for the news).

If you don't plan on joining any tours, make sure to check the weather and wear comfy shoes because there is a whole lot of land to cover. I don't recommend visiting in the middle of summer (like we did) because it gets scorching HOT and HUMID. I’ve lived in a tropical country for most of my life but walking around under the sun with 95 degree weather + severe humidity is like walking on the surface of the sun. It is THAT bad. I bet this place would be lovely during Spring, though. 

Time to explore!

Squirrels make a special appearance to the tourists who willingly feed ‘em whatever morsel of food they've got on hand. They are so used to all the tourists that one of 'em crawled on a kid's shoulder to beg for more! This is the first time I've seen a squirrel that looked borderline obese.

I don't remember what this monument was called but this is where you can see a lot of dem borderline obese squirrels at.

Welcome to my humble abode. I’d invite you in but I got locked out.

The only good thing about not joining a tour is that sometimes you can find random things along the way, like the Lock Keeper's House.

"This Canal house built at Lock B by 1833, sheltered the lock keeper who also collected tolls and kept records of commerce on the waterway. It remains today as the only remnant of the Washington Branch of the C&O Canal."

Not really knowing if we were going the right way, we followed a walking trail that led us to this large pond.

It was so damn muggy, I had to catch my breath and stop at a bench like every 20 feet. 
The hair and the sweaty face says it all. Oh and that's not a lame attempt of a duck face, it's actually an involuntary pout when I start to get exhausted.

Looks like the Prez has important visitors today.

Good God, we finally made it. Phew.

Hello, Mr. President.

Tucked in a small nook is a tiny book/souvenir shop where everyone tried to squeeze in just to relieve themselves from the stifling heat. I was in there pretending to look around when all I could think about was how I would have to walk ALL the way back again in that dreadful heat to get home.

 

You can get a pretty nice view of the Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial, too bad it was in the middle of renovation while we were there.

I have no idea why I took this picture so lopsided. Ha!

They needed to do some restoration work on it due to earthquake damage.

The World War II Monument.

I just admired the U.S. Capitol from afar because ain't no way this little piggy gonna walk all the way down there. The Smithsonian Museum was just a couple of blocks from where I took this picture too but I really had to wave the white flag this time. The mind is willing but the body is weak in the knees and sticky all over.

With only the slightest energy left in my body, we found refuge at this thank god, it’s air-conditioned place that kinda left me feeling a little bit out of place. I went in with my touristy shorts and tank top, only to find marbled floors and tables with lots of men/women all clad in their power suits and ties.

Old Ebbitt Grill

Luckily, they have an area for us under-dressed tourists to be comfortable in.

To my happy surprise, this resto-bar that we stumbled upon happens to be a historic place wherein past (and maybe even the present?) U.S. Presidents used to hang out like Presidents Grant, Cleveland, McKinley, Roosevelt and so on . If I read the newspaper articles (hung in a frame inside the resto) right, most parts of the bar are original despite all the renovations it had undergone through the years.

I know you're probably wondering why the heck I ordered hot soup on a hot day but that's just how I roll, mmmk? I love me some clam chowder.

Yummy pesto pasta with salmon.

Right when we stepped out of the restaurant, we saw a convoy of black SUV's all lined up and parked in front an establishment (I don't remember if it was another resto or a hotel) next to the Old Ebbitt Grill. The ones in the front seats were in suits and ear pieces, most likely from the secret service.

We decided to just head back home right after our late lunch and for the first time in our entire trip, I concurred. I didn't feel so bad 'coz I was able to at least enjoy the colonial architecture that surrounded the area.

Hehe...check out the Duck Tours peeps.

Just a personal observation though, and I know it varies from one person to another---but D.C. is by far the least hospitable place that I’ve ever been to. The sights were a delight to the senses but the peeps, well…I think some of ‘em need to use those vacay or sick days, be one with nature, catch a falling star, mix hard drinks, ride a unicorn, pass the dutchie to the left hand side...ya dig?


I am officially a flat tire. Another day, another adventure!

Toodles!