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.