San Diego Weekend

Aaaahhhh...nice and sunny San Diego. We had a short family vacation over the Memorial Day weekend. My brother and his very pregnant wife (yes very pregnant, you’ll see in the picture later) with their second child wanted to visit the SD Zoo before the new family addition. I’m down to visit the zoo anytime. So much fun! The traffic down to SD from LA was horrendous but we finally made it in 5 ½ hours (which normally would take only about 2 hours). The first night was just settling in and going out to dinner. We went to a Japanese restaurant on Shelter Island (Point Loma), Umi Sushi. Food was good but nothing extraordinary except that the chef gave us a complimentary plate of sashimi which was very nice of them.

*Sashimi Combination*

*This is the complimentary sashimi plate*

*Rolls*

*Udon Noodles*

*Tempura*

*My nephew playing with his new car Elvis...he loves cars. Disney put a spell on him!*

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The second day was the zoo day! By the way, I was determined to stick to my half marathon training so I ran 4 miles in the morning. It was quite nice running by the harbor. Change of scenery is always good. So proud of myself, heehee.

*Hmmm...my nephew was a lot more interested in the animal statues rather than the live animals. Is that a 2 year old child thing?*

*My favorite at the zoo. The panda! This is Zhen Zhen (almost 3 year old female, sister of the new baby panda)*

*It's spring time! Ducklings! So cute.*

*The family*


After a long day at the zoo we were ready to chow down. We had a reservation at The Oceanaire Seafood Room. My honey and I have been there last year and we had a wonderful meal. Their lobster was fantastic! So I thought we’d give it another try. Also my brother and sis-in-law were celebrating their anniversary. The Oceanaire gives you a menu printed “Happy Anniversary” with the date on it. Yay! (doesn’t take much to excite me, does it)

*Cod*

*Snapper*

*Shark*

*Dark Chocolate Mousse*

*Blueberry Cheesecake*

*Baked Alaska-complimentary when you celebrate something*


As you can see we had lots to eat. A good thing I did my 4-mile run in the morning. It was an uneventful but nice dinner with my good-behaving nephew.

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The next day, we checked out the pool and Jacuzzi after our breakfast. My nephew had so much fun in the pool. He’s so adorable. After the fun in the water we headed up to my brother’s friend’s place near Del Mar. It was a gorgeous day…sunny and breezy. We had late lunch at a restaurant called Poseidon located right on the beach. We sat out in the patio overlooking the beach. It was just perfect. Food was good. I enjoyed the fried calamari and my shrimp Caesar salad.

*Ready for my amber beer! Yum!*

*Happy? Would you say? It's the beers, hahaha*

*Calamari*

*Steamed Clams-the broth was delicious, I had to keep the waiters from taking the broth away...we were still enjoying dipping the bread in it!*

*Shrimp Caesar Salad-very yummy.*

*Fish Tacos*


After we finished our lunch, we could not resist taking a stroll on the beach because it was such a gorgeous day. Now this was fun. My nephew and I had a blast dipping our feet in the ocean and being chased by the waves. And oops, he got soaked when he fell (okay okay you can blame it on me for dunking him or whatever). Well…mommy was not expecting that but oh well mommies are always prepared, right?
*My nephew and my dearest sister-in-law*

*My nephew and me*

*My nephew and my honey*


Although it was short, I had a wonderful time seeing my brother, my sis-in-law, and my nephew…and spending time with mom, dad, and my honey. Next time I see my brother and sis-in-law I will have another nephew or a niece (they're not finding out what they're having, surprise!). I’m so excited to meet him/her.

Gettin’ physical!

I've been meaning to write about my fitness endeavour but I've been busy...working out! (for the most part...)

On May 8, I participated in the 17th Revlon Run/Walk for women. I ran in the 2008 event when I started to run and this is my second time of participation. This is an annual event that supports to fight women’s cancers. This is especially a meaningful cause because my mom is one of many strong women who fought and survived women’s cancers. She would not be here if it was not for the early detection by screening. For that, I support for prevention!

A few of my co-workers and my honey met up at the Los Angeles Coliseum where the event took place. As expected, it was crowded with excited runners and walkers to start the race and rest of the morning of fun. I was excited because it has been a while since I ran a race. Also this was a good prep for my half marathon in August.

*Proudly showing off the medals...*

I have been trying to get back on track with my fitness…not just running but also getting in the gym to do some classes with weights and all the fun stuff. Thanks to my friend Amber who has introduced me to her gym. I have been going to classes like circuit, cardio kick, and yoga. Oh boy, the first class of circuit with cardio and weights was not exactly fun. I’ve never felt so puky working out—all those jumping around, man! The weights were no joke either. But I'm getting in the groove of working out additional to the running. I forget how fun it was to do classes.

My training for the half marathon has started last week. I'm looking forward to mixing running and cross trainings (CT) like the weights and yoga. I enjoy hiking on the weekends so that would be a good CT activity too.

I think the hardest part is training my mind. It's so easy to get lazy and talk myself out of it. Wish me luck! And thanks for those of you who support me and keeping me on track (you know who you are!).