Broke in Tokyo

We arrived in Tokyo at 6pm.  The first thing we did was look for an ATM.  Unfortunately, the only ATM we were able to find in the Narita airport/train station did not take MasterCard debit cards.  Thankfully, the station accepted MasterCard and we were able to book 2 tickets for the express line to Shinjuku. 

After the almost 1 hour train ride (I thought this was express!), we made it to Shinjuku.  Stepping out of the train station, we were immersed in a sea of people.  It was so much fun weaving through people while carrying my travel backpack and lugging my new suitcase full of random things that I've bought in the US.  I saved about $100 USD by bringing the suitcase with me instead of shipping it, but I'm not sure if it was worth it!  We finally made our way down the brightly neon lite streets and found our hotel, Shinjuku Sunroute. 

The entire time, we looked for an ATM.  We found many, but none of them accepted MasterCard!  I checked my US debit card and it was MasterCard as well.  We were screwed.  We were in a foreign country, not knowing the language and we had no money.  By the way, Japan relies very heavily on cash.  You almost always paid cash.  I finally spotted an ATM with a MasterCard logo.  Ron went in and a few minutes later came out empty handed.  The machine only spoke Japanese and we had no idea how to get money out.  We walked away unsuccessful.

As we had no funds to buy dinner and we were exhausted, we decided to call it a night and go to bed.  The next morning, Ron woke up early, checked the guidebooks and success!  Found a Citi Bank. 

 

 Money!  Never had we been so excited to have cash monies.

 

First things Ron bought when we finally had yen. 3 out of the 4 are candy.  Shocker.

NYE

We spent NYE this year at the Hard Rock Hotel in downtown San Diego. 

 

Me, Lauren and Lacey

Randomly ran into Tanaz and Ron!  Yes, another Ron.  We met them in Sydney, of all places.  They were visiting Lili and Paul, who just happen to be our good friends.  

Just some of the boys that went.  Mike, Ron, Andrew and Andy.

What's NYE without shots?  

 

This photo just cracks me up.  Enough said.

The OC

This was the best trip home in a long time.  I don't mean just from Sydney, but even from earlier days when I was living in San Diego.  I can't really explain why it was the best trip but reflecting on it, it just was.  My dad was home from his farm in Hainan, my mom and grandma were both doing well and I was excited to be home.

For some reason, I didn't have take any photos!  I actually have not taken many photos this past year.  I always forget to bring my camera or I just plain forget to take it out.  So please just use your imagination as I try to describe events in detail.

I believe I already mentioned Christmas dinner at the Hwang house.  Everything was lovely except for the fact that I was sick out of my mind.

I was fortunately enough to have a few friends in town when I was home visiting.  Every time I am in Placentia, I always catch up with my friend Feliz.  We usually meet over breakfast but you know how that goes.  We end up sitting there for hours.  Marie and Stefanie were also both in town, which is quite unusual as they are both travel bugs.  We met for dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant, El Farolitos.  What was suppose to be a quick catch up, our dinner lasted close to 5 hours.  Marie and I hung out a few times when she was studying here in Sydney.  Our time only overlapped a few months but it was nice having a familiar face in a new town.  I haven't seen Stefanie since high school.  And that was a very long time ago!

I even had a chance to hang out with my sister Ellen and her friends.  Surprisingly, we lasted the entire day without getting into an argument.  This may not sound like a big deal, but if you knew our relationship, you would be shocked.  I had fun bowling and hanging out with them.  I mean, it's bowling!  Who doesn't have fun at bowling?

One of my favorite moments was spending some quality time with Robin and Brian.  Robin has been my best friend since high school and Brian one of my closest friends.  We had dinner in Yorba Linda at this restaurant that had the most ridiculous name.  It was something like Yorba Linda Fitness, or something like that.  It was one of those restaurants that have a thousand things on the menu.  Surprisingly, my Chinese chicken salad was actually delicious. 

After dinner, Brandon met us at the wine bar.  We shared a bottle of Talbot Pinot Noir and many laughs.  It is amazing how much we have changed yet how much we stayed the same.  As the wine bar was closing down, we made our way to a dive bar in Placentia called Kelly's.  It was definitely an El Dorado alumni hang out.  We ran into a few people that we knew and a few that we didn't remember.  Overall, I felt that the years melted away and it was like old times with Robin and Brian.  If you are reading this, I miss you.

Baby koala

 

Tyler wearing the koala beanie that we got for him

Meeting Tyler Pearson!

How cute is this little guy? 

We have been wanting to meet Tyler for months now.  To be precise, 9 months.  Tyler is the first baby of our group of friends and the center of everyone's attention.  Rightly so.  Ron and I went over to hang out with Geena and the baby one afternoon.  We spent the day just playing and observing (writing down tips for when we have a little Kahler), waiting for Erick to come home.  It was so much fun cooking and eating dinner, catching up and basically just staring at Tyler!

Thumbs up!

Big smiles.

My favorite picture.  Snuggling together watching Kung Fu Panda.

Ron, Sophie the Giraffe, Tyler and Cat

Home for Christmas

Of course we went home for Christmas!  How could we not? 


This was the best trip home.  Everything worked out beautifully.  No delays in Queenstown, no missing ugly Christmas sweater party, no arguing about where to go and what to do.  Christmas this year was bliss.


It is just Ron's and my luck that we tend to fly the day after big events or holidays.  We flew from LA to Sydney on July 5th 2008 (after spending the entire day/night in PB celebrating 4th of July).  We flew out from Sydney this year on Christmas Eve, which wouldn't have been too bad, except for the fact that our company Christmas party was the night before!  Thankfully our flight was at a reasonable 11.50am and we didn't have to leave the house until just before 9am.  But I will say that it was a bit difficult getting up after a night of flowing free champagne.  The real kicker was flying from LA to Tokyo on New Years day.  Yes, that is right, after spending NYE in downtown SD at the Hard Rock Hotel.  Did I mention that our flight was at 10am in LA?  Up at 6am, shower, coffee and out the door by 6.30am.  That was painful.


But back to Christmas in California.  We arrived at 6am on Christmas Eve to LAX.  Being very fortunately, we have loving parents that got up at 5am to pick us up (thank you Mom and Dad Kahler).  I stepped out of the airport and into the freezing cold.  Although it was Southern California, it was 6.30am and the temp in the car said it was 40F (it did warm up to high 50'sF - low 60'sF throughout the day).  Please keep in mind that we were coming from summer in Sydney, the morning we left was around 75F at 9am.  The drive down to San Diego was easy, no traffic and we made it in good time.  We didn't even make it home before we took a detour and made our way to a Mexican taco stand for breakfast burritos.  $3.20 for a burrito! Beat that Mad Mex, I dare you.


The rest of the day was spent hanging out with the Kahler family.  We did a quick stop at the mall, where Ron and I single handedly tried to reivive the US economy.  Ron went a bit crazy in the Macy's Men's department, puchasing numerous work shirts and ties.  Granted, I was there saying for $19.95 buy 5 of them!  We also bought American Eagle jeans, Ron's at $29.95 and mine at $19.95.  I didn't need another pair of jeans, but at $19.95 how can you not?  I normally do not shop at Gap (I prefer Banana Republic) but I peeked my head in and saw nice work pants on the clearance rack.  I walked out with 2 pairs (1 black and 1 tan/brown design) for $35 after tax.  Personally, I wanted to shop more but I noticed that the rest of my party was a bit tired (or bored) so we decided to call it a day.


The next morning was spent opening presents and eating home made waffles.  I received everything I asked for on my wish list.  I must have been a very good girl last year.  To be honest, I really didn't ask for much but I was very surprised to get it all.  Nail polish, Carrie Underwood's new cd, Sephora gift card (thanks Rob and Nicole), yoga ball, pajama bottoms and the list goes on. 


We drove up to Orange County to spend Christmas with my family.  It kicked off with a bbq lunch and fresh crabs (my daddy got up early to buy them just for me).  Afterwards, the Lakers game was on which diverted some of Ron's attention away.  We then took a stroll around the backyard, admiring my parents garden.  Fruits and vegetables everywhere.  I was pretty jealous considering I can barely keep my herb plants alive. 


Then it was time for Christmas dinner, which my sister, Great Aunt Anna and a couple family friends joined.  By this time, I had caught the flu and was seriously miserable on the couch.  With a Christmas fest in front of me (including the mashed potatoes that Ron made) I was only able to eat a few pieces of melon for dinner.  Afterwards, we played the white elephant game which was hilarious.  Ron pulled the gift from my great aunt (which she was hoping would go to me).  It was one of those Japanese cats that waves it's arm, with little cats at the bottom.  It is a good fortune statue for fertility!  Christmas gifts were next, I recieved a wallet and suitcase.  Ron was given a messenger bag (which I've already stollen and used while in Japan!).


As I was not feeling well, I called it an early night.  Also, I had to get my rest before I braved the after Christmas crowd at the mall.  Again, I tried to revive the US economy 1 store at a time.