DISNEY WEEKEND: CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE

It's kind of funny how this entire trip played out. I for one, had no idea it was going on. This entire trip was planned by my sister and her boyfriend right under my nose and an hour or so after my graduation dinner, I was whisked away to the Happiest Place on Earth. Cheesy right? Haha. Whoever said Friday the 13th was unlucky, was dead wrong.

I was downstairs trying to configure Netflix for my sister when the doorbell rang and I was ambushed by her boyfriend, his sister, and their friends telling me to pack my stuff, and that we were headed off to Disney. In situations like that, my mind shuts off and I stare blankly trying to figure out what to pack! So after ten minutes of confusion and another ten minutes of scrambling/packing, we were on our way. 

We went ahead and took things slow for the first day, so we opted to go for California Adventure our first day, Disneyland the next. Personally, I find both parks to be completely amazing and it is such a waste if you don't visit both. 

Unlike Disneyland, California Adventure offers more restaurants and rides that are built to serve an older audience. Whilst Disneyland serves to please the younger crowd, California Adventure has it's key areas that are meant for older thrill seekers. But at that, they also have rides meant for the kiddos as well. 

One of the things I've noticed about this park is the very cohesive Californian theme it holds. From the entrance it has that old city theme going on and from there, it switches to beach life, to wilderness and so on—all things that make California, California. 

The Grizzly Bear Mountain! I was so sad when the Grizzly Bear Rapids ride was closed, it's one of my favorites! 

The not-so-little little green Army Men from Toy Story!

Where the beach theme of California Adventure starts! Paradise Pier has some of the coolest attractions in the area. Some of the best restaurants also! If you don't eat at Disneyland or California Adventure, you are missing out. By eating, I don't mean going to the place where everybody goes and orders a pizza, a burger, etc. Go to the cafes and the actual restaurants, you won't be disappointed. 

As for us, we settled for the Cove Bar, behind Ariel's Grotto. California Adventure is the only park in the Disney area that serves alcohol and such, you won't find it anywhere else besides here. If you do plan on going here, I really do suggest you visit the Cove Bar, it's got the Little Mermaid theme going on and their Lobster Nachos are to die for. 

Even their drinks are pretty! I'm very picky when it comes to my Buffalo Wings but hey, Cove Bar doesn't disappoint. 

Just thinking about the Nachos itself is making me salivate, and I just had lunch too! 

Right outside the Cove Bar was this fantastic view of the other attractions in the park. 

Yes, as the Ferris Wheel turns, the carts slip and slide in and around the bars. Would you ride this? 

One of my favorite parts of all of California Adventure. I'm not too sure what this avenue is called but I love the whole old Hollywood feel this area has. The old buildings have a bunch of really cool vintage shops that have old timey Disney things! The backdrop of the clouds at the very end is pretty damn awesome. 

Unfortunately, one of the rides that will never fail in giving me anxiety before riding was closed for the day. Either it was because it was Friday the 13th, or because they really had to renovate the place. Every time I see the Tower of Terror, I think of the old movie starring Kirsten Dunst, one of my childhood favorites! 

After adventuring on for a bit, we made our way to Cars Land! Cars Land is really, really effing cute and if you're a fan of the movie you would have a blast seeing Radiator Springs come to life. 

We went on this ride. It was hilarious in every way possible. Think of the Spinning Teacups, but you're on a tow truck. 

Mater! What I love about Cars Land is that they went above and beyond in creating these characters. The actual truck talks to you and cracks jokes!

We relaxed for a bit here at the Cozy Cone Motel. Inside the giant cones were refreshments you could buy and they all had that cone theme. Ice Cream Cones, Chili Cone Queso, Cone Dogs. Ahh, very punny. 

And just like that, Lightning McQueen showed up! 

We made our way to the Cars ride, which is by far the only ride that has the longest wait in all of California Adventure. At this point it was late in the afternoon anyway so we didn't mind waiting an hour and a half. 

I thought the queue itself wasn't THAT bad. There was a lot to see and when you're with good company, it doesn't feel like an hour and a half. 

In a nutshell, you ride a car, go through Radiator Springs, get a race car makeover and you race with the car next to you :D 

Cars Land at night is absolutely beautiful. California Adventure at night is also really, really stunning. 

We relaxed around for a bit and did some souvenir shopping before riding one last ride. 

Probably my favorite ride in all of California Adventure! We were able to make it in time before they closed it early because of the World of Color show. I really like California Screamin' in comparison to other roller coasters because this one is ridiculously fast and you don't see the tracks at all. 

The Wonderful World of Color!

It was my first time watching it, and it was absolutely breathtaking! With the water effects going on, they projected scenes from Disney movies onto the water, and had the music playing in sync with them. 

Well that's it for Day 1 of the Disney Weekend, stay tuned for Disneyland! 

.x

GRADUATION 2014

I think by far the biggest even of the first half of 2014 for me was graduating high school.

On June 12, 2014, I, Sydney, graduated from my high school and now officially on my way to becoming a college freshman. Four years of memories, four years of studying, and four years of me on the scales of balance praying that I would pass, finally paid off. Sure, you may think "it's just a high school graduation!", and yes it is just a high school graduation, but a graduation nonetheless. 

Here's just a few pictures of the ceremony that took place. 

My biggest inspirations and even bigger supporters. I love my family, hehe.

Two of the best people in the entire world. My best friend Tiffanie and my cousin Chris. 

Proud grandparents! 

 

I realized in the majority of these pictures my eyes are so heavily squinted. It was an extremely bright and clear day that day! Not to mention hot. Underneath that robe I was simmering. 

 With some of my fellow graduates. Keita, one of the many valedictorians we have, Kimmy minus her robe, Catalina, and I. The funny thing about these robes is that we all looked like church choir singers in them. Everyone looked like they had massive and broad shoulders. The white cord I'm wearing is for the honors status that I'm graduating with, while the magenta and peach one are for me being part of National Arts Honors Society. I was Vice President!

Can you find where I am? 

Quickly spotted my dad and waved! 

From the looks of everyone's faces, I look to be the most excited?

Lauren joined us soon after! I'm now part of the young adult club! 

 Thank you all for being there!

--

I graduated, and now here's to the future. 

Lunch at db Brasserie

This post is extremely overdue because of two reasons. 

1. I am a lazy blogger. 

2. I forgot that I had these pictures until recently.

Better late than never right? 

Anywho, one Saturday my mother took my sister and I to eat at Daniel Boulud's db Brasserie.

from their website: db Brasserie is Chef Daniel Boulud’s new contemporary French restaurant at The Venetian® Las Vegas. The menu stays true to Chef Boulud’s signature French-American cooking and modern sensibility by offering updated brasserie classics, along with three of Boulud’s signature burgers featured at his restaurants New York City.

I think the first time I had ever heard of Daniel Boulud was when my sister asked me to record the episode of Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown in which Anthony visits Lyon, France. All I can really recall is when Anthony and Chef Daniel make sausage. 

One of my favorite coffee places. Their Iced Caramel Macchiato is a must if you visit! 

We had reservations for around 12:30, the restaurant itself wasn't that busy at this time, but around the time we left people started flocking. 

 My sister was the one who actually pestered my mom to take us here.

Mom and I. Blurred my face out because I looked haggard that day, hehe. My dad was out playing golf that day, so he was unable to join us.

I do love simplified and straight forward menus. I thought the man on the front was Daniel Boulud but alas, I was wrong yet again. This is why I'm no foodie, hehe.

If there's one thing for sure, I am completely obsessed about a restaurant's interior design. The better the design, my expectations about the food get higher. 

I thought the light fixtures were very charming. 

For starters, we had Thai Calamari. Beer Battered Calamari, Spring Onions, Pickled Red Peppers, Mizuna Salad, Kaffir Lime, Coconut Curry Sauce. 

 Pâté de Campagne Bourguignon. Housemade Pork Pâté. Cornichons, Mustard, Country Bread.

Salmon Rillettes. Fennel. Creme Fraiche, Dill, Egg Mimosa, Caper Emulsion.

Now, for our main courses. 

Both my mom and sis ordered Coq au Vin. Braised Chicken, Lardons, Mushrooms, Pearl Onions, and Hand Rolled Garganelli. (I tried it and to be honest it reminded me of glorified chicken adobo. Still good though!)

As for me, I had the classic Steak Frites. Flat Iron Steak. Pomme Frites. Baby Gem Lettuce. Sauce au Povire.

A classic cheese platter to cleanse our palates, or as the French would say; Assiete de Fromages. 

For dessert we ordered this beautiful Black and White Fondant. 

Molten Chocolate Cake with Verbena Ice Cream. The Verbena Ice Cream was to die for, so refreshing and such a great compliment to the molten cake. 

A trip to The Palazzo wouldn't be complete without a visit to Barneys, especially if my mom is around. Unfortunately, photography is strictly prohibited so I went and snuck this ootd shot while my mom went shopping. 

For more information on Daniel Boulud's db Brasserie, visit their website at 

www.dbbrasserie.com or call at (702) 430-1235

My AP Art Portfolio.

Hello all! It's been quite a while since I've properly blogged. Things have been quite a whirlwind, so the next few blog posts are dedicated on catching up with what's been going on. 

One of the biggest events of the past school year took place sometime in April. I've been meaning to post this, but I guess I was just way too focused on getting this entire thing done. I'm sure this is the first time I'm formally speaking about this, but throughout my Senior year of High School I took an Advanced Placement Studio Art Class. Within the year, I am required to create a portfolio with an overall theme to submit to judges in order to receive college credit. 

Regarding my theme, I explored the idea of combining traditional media such as painting and drawing, and digital media such as Photoshop to create a series of images heavily inspired by the movement of Art Nouveau and by artists such as Gustav Klimt and Alphonse Mucha. 

The first three images I created were inspired by Gustav Klimt's works. The heavy golden atmosphere along with various geometric shapes were used to create an ethereal feel with my photos. 

As of right now, this one is probably one of my best pieces I have ever made. The photo composition itself was easy, I had Nikki wear a black shirt that I had her lower to expose her shoulders, then adjusted the brightness and contrast so that the paleness of her skin would stand out, and her black shirt would blend in with my black backdrop. 

It was printing this photo out and painting on top of it was the challenge! After printing it out, I drew basic patterns as a guideline before painting. Never in my life would I have ever thought of spending 10 dollars on a tube of gold paint. In the end, the final product was completely worth it. 

This one was a lot easier compared to the first one. I was more focused on the line work rather than the painting. I find that the combination of both seemed to flow together well. 

My last piece in the Gustav Klimt inspired images was a "happy accident". Originally I was in a complete stump over how to finish this. The makeup Sara did on Nikki was amazing and the heavy gold was such a contrast on her very dark lips. I went ahead and drew the patterns in and around the side of her profile, almost detailing out the flow and symmetry of this. I had gold paint on the side of my hand and accidentally rubbed it on where the circles are drawn and it ended up looking really nice! I took a dry brush and went to town on this and somehow, resulted in this. 

The next three were inspired by Alphonse Mucha and his whimsical works that are quite often seen in French wine advertisements. The three images I created followed the same process as the first three. I photographed myself, Nikki, and Sara, then edited it to make us look more flat and almost water color like. I printed us out on some sheets of watercolor paper and drew on the rest of the details. 

Unlike the first three, I kept a cohesive theme with these ones. 

The first one I titled "The Judge". I wrote Veritas and Mendacium, meaning Truth and Lies. The red around my eyes symbolize the idea that justice is blind and swift.

Titled "The Lover", Sara symbolizes the embodiment of the Jury. The ones who weight out the good and the bad and the ones who pass on the final decision. 

The final piece I titled "Lady Vengeance". I took inspiration from the South Korean movie Sympathy For Lady Vengeance in terms of makeup. The one cohesive trait I added in for all these pieces is the red around their eyes. Lady Vengeance is the "executioner", the Judge examines the innocent and the guilty, the Lover weighs the good from the bad, and the Executioner has the final task. 

It was such an experience doing all of this, and quite often I look at these and pat myself on the back for all the had work. What's left now is waiting for the results!

Thanks for reading, and look forward for the next couple blog posts!