It's always nice being able to get away from the busy, hustling, city once in a while. A few friends and I decided to take a day trip to Shenandoah, Virginia and of course, the weekend before we go was beautiful 60s, the weekend we go was a windy, cold, 40s, and the weekend after was beautiful 80s. Just our luck, huh? But either way, we still had a great time. 

Good company, good vibes, and being surrounded by nature is always a great time. See below for a few photos from the Upper Hawksbill Trail. 

P.S. my friends and I dared my friend to wear her "Bear Bum" onesie on this hike and she did so ever so proudly. How amazing is she? 

From a spontaneous wine tasting at Morais Vineyards to a hot air balloon festival, see below for a few photos! 

P.S. My friend and I had hours to kill until the festival started, so we spent a good chunk killing that time at the Vineyard,  so don't worry, no one was driving buzzed! 

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What an incredible amazing and relaxing weekend getaway, runaway, to Lake Anna. Although our time here was short – we were only here for the weekend – it was still nice being able to runaway from our lives for a few days.

Except for the occasional Snapchats, we were all hardly on our phones for the duration of our trip. It was nice being able to disconnect from the world and pause everything that was going on for a few days.

We were left with our thoughts, with each other, too many rom-com movies, and this beautiful home. I couldn't ask for a more perfect weekend. 

& of course, as always, here are a few photos!

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Photo time! 

This was my first time at In-N-Out and I now see why the hype is so big. The quality you get for the price you pay, 10/10!  

Just a few additional photos from my trip to San Francisco that I wanted to share. 

I realized I've spent more time away than in my city over the past few weeks, so I decided to play tourist this past weekend.  A friend and I decided to stop by City Center for lunch (click here for post) and was hoping to catch the pink balloon lanterns too (click here), so I was a little bummed to see them gone. That didn't stop us from taking photos, so make sure you scroll all the way down! 

I can't believe July is already coming to an end and we're itching closer to 2017. 

Wanted to share a few touristy photos I took during my trip to San Francisco. Shoutout to my brother for his patience and being my personal photographer during this trip. 

Golden Gate Bridge!

Candid.

He's not a huge fan of getting his photo taken but being the sister I am, I of course had to at least try to capture a few shots of him. 

Hello, Twin Peaks!

I can't express how much I love sights like this. It's such a refreshing feeling and views like this always gives me peace. 

Candid pt. 2

I could honestly sit here for hours. 

Take 2 of the brother

I tried.

:)

Also, it was ridiculously windy up here. 

I'm running out of captions

But I wanted to share a few additional photos. 

Attempt to be "artsy"

I tried. Did it work? 

Thank for sticking around till the end. Make sure you check out my other posts from this trip and keep an eye out for my recap vlog too! 

My family and I took the cable car - and yes, we waited for over an hour with the rest of all the tourists - to Fisherman Wharf. We stopped by Franciscan for a quick lunch. We weren't too hungry - we had a huge breakfast - so we decided to order appetizers! We ordered crab, crab fondue with spinach, smoked salmon bellini, and crab and clam chowder soup. We then walked and explored the area to burn off some calories in the beautiful-humid-free-fall-like-weather. See below for photos! 

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My family and I decided to take a quick trip to the Bay Area to check out a few colleges around the area for my brother and do touristy activities since my brother and I have never been to this state. After taking a quick trip to the Google Headquarters - we geeked out and wanted to check the place out - we decided it was time for lunch. See below for my photos and what we ate at Cocina Central! 

Cocina Central

Time to fill my empty stomach with some good food! How did I find out about this place? I literally googled, after visiting google, "best restaurants near Mountain View, CA". True story. 

So many options

I couldn't decide what I wanted, I also didn't understand 10% of the menu, so I was studying the menu pretty rigorously before making my final decision. 

Food is ready!

Just look how good looking that food looks. Keeps scrolling down for close ups and what we ordered. Trust me, you won't be sorry. 

Enchiladas de Papas

My brother decided to order enchiladas but accidentally ordered this one instead of the enchiladas de pollo. I say this was still a pretty good choice though. 

Pollo Asado

You can't really go wrong with chicken tacos and I never saw tacos as something special, but oh man, were these good and fresh. 

Tacos Dorados!

Let me copy and paste the food description to paint you a picture what my taste buds were experiencing: roasted potatoes, crema, avocado-serrano sauce, shredded lettuce.   

Seriously, look at this.

This was 100% the clear winner out of all three dishes. Yes, this was off the appetizer menu but this filled me up pretty easily. Seriously, this was amazing. The hard taco shell, potatoes, and everything else was such a good combo -- you must order this if you ever get the chance.  

Could you tell I was a huge fan of the Tacos Dorados? 
Great price, great meal, great dining experience.
10/10 

I wanted to share a few non-food-related photos I took during my trip to Vegas. I guess this would also be a good time to share one of my "moments of truth" from this trip, so here we go: My friends and I purposely decided to stay at Caesars Place due to its multiple appearances in Hollywood films. Can you tell it was all of our first time making it out there? We quickly checked-out Bellagio as well to see the waterworks but ended up missing it by a couple beats, so I just took a few photos of the hotel instead. 

I'm guessing you were expecting something a little more gossip-worthy, so sorry to disappoint if you were. See below for photos! 

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Finally concluding this year's graduation-- and being my friends's photographer-- season. Warmest and biggest congrats to two of my close friends for finishing up their masters and undergraduate studies. 

Dolcezza aka my go to gelato spot for the past 3 years and probably one of my favorite sweet spots in DC. I decided to take some photos around City Center after treating myself to some sweets. See below for a few photos! 

Dear DC weather,
You never fail to keep me on my toes. From being nice 60s to a way too hot 70s, then dropping down to 30s and deciding to snow a bit in April; you're literally hot and cold. Hoping the weather will stay cool for a little bit longer before the hot-humid-summer DC weather hits us. But for now, hello, Spring...? 

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Hello, allergy season -- I mean, spring and cherry blossoms! 

No matter how long I've been living in this city, this is one view I can never get sick of. Yes, I will acknowledge that "tourist season" does get a little annoying - especially when they stand on the left side of the escalators - and that the tidal basin-area gets way too crowded. But despite all this, I always still find myself making my way over here. I guess you can say it's one of my favorite date spots with my camera. 

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Wanted to share a few photos I took from "Crafty Bastard's Cabin Fever" aka an arts and crafts fair here in DC. Enjoy!

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The calm after the storm.
There's something incredibly beautiful about snow. 
After staying in from Friday to Sunday afternoon - which got me feeling restless - it was refreshing stepping out of my apartment and being encompassed with this view.  

I decided to take my camera out and see if I could capture anything good. I also happened to venture out and take a route I usually never take, and I'm glad I did; without it, I wouldn't have been able to capture this amazing view. Due to this, during this mini adventure of mine, I kept thinking of one of my favorite poems by Robert Frost: 

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence: 
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— 
I took the one less traveled by, 
And that has all made the difference.  

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Samcheong-dong (삼청동)
One of my favorite neighborhoods to visit when I come to Korea. The very quaint, traditional, yet modern-like neighborhood is what draws me to this place. I don't have much to say in this post, just wanted to share a few photos I took during my exploration. 

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There's about 25,500 LED Roses located on the rooftop of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul, Korea. I've seen the LED Rose Garden make an appearance on several Korean Dramas, which was how I first learned about this place. I was curious to see if this place looked as stunning in person as it did on screen, so I made sure to stop by this winter. My conclusion? It was as stunning in person. 

If you're ever in the neighborhood, I highly recommend checking this place out as a fun quick evening activity. Oh, and don't forget to bring your camera! 

I'm always incredibly thankful to be able to stop by home and catch-up with old friends, especially with those who watched me grow and saw me during my awkward prime teenage years -- oh yeah, those were the days. I haven't seen one of my closest friends (first photo below) in nearly two years, yet once we reunited, it felt as if time hadn't escaped us. We were able to pick things up quickly and felt as if nothing changed, except maybe for our now prominent American accent. 

Because majority of my close friends are scattered around the world and we hardly see each other, I've learned to value and cherish the moments and time you share with a friend. It's not easy trying to maintain multiple long distance friendships and I'll admit that it can get exhausting, but when you do keep in touch with those you value and eventually reunite once again, you'll quickly learn that all your effort and time was worth it. It's one of the most rewarding moments of life and one I wouldn't exchange for anything. 

Manila, thank you once again for the great memories; until next time! 

Reunited After 2 Years!

Can't believe I've known this girl since 8th grade. Oh, how time flies. 

#ThreeAmigos Reunite

One by one our friends stopped coming back home, which left us with the #ThreeAmigos 

Catching-up with Old Friends

This is What Home Tastes Like -- Philippines Mango

You haven't tried mango until you've had Philippines Mango. But seriously, just look at this Mango. 

My Favorite Food

Have I mentioned I love Japanese Food? Read about it here. 

Lunch at Tim Ho Wan

The Baked BBQ Pork Bun was so good, I ate here two days in a row. 

I've been hearing so many positive things about the Renwick Gallery and because I love art, I've been itching to stop by. I dragged two of my friends along with me on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Here are a few of my favorite photos and just another reason why I'm so in love with D.C. #FreeMuseums 

Photo Time

Because, why not? 

Also, I never thought I'd be wearing shorts + a cardigan on a December "winter" evening. This never happens, so I had to take advantage of this oddly warm, but beautiful, fall-like weather. 

Streets of Main Street Annapolis, MD

There's something extremely attractive about this town. It was nice being able to drive away from the City and do a quick day/evening trip here. 

Streets of Main Street Annapolis, MD

Lost track of the number of times we walked up and down these streets (in a good way). 

Chill.

I couldn't resist but take a quick snapshot of this kid and his shirt. 

Kilwins Ice Cream: Kilwins Tracks

Kilwins Tracks: Vanilla Vanilla ice cream with chocolate covered peanut butter truffles and swirls of thick chocolate fudge. 

Christmas Lights

I was trying to be a bit artsy with this photo; did it work? Throughout the night, I wanted to take a "reflection" photo that wasn't boring but also showed some Christmas spirit. Thought this was the perfect opportunity. 

Out of The Day?

I'll admit that I did take a risk with my outfit. I usually go more for the simple but business casual-feel-look. 

Dinner at Galway Bay

And of course, we had to end the night with some great food.

Top left to right: Guinness Fried Oysters, Blackened Scallop Boxty Bites

Bottom left to right: Miss Peggys Mini Crab Cakes, Corned Beef Poppers

I'm already planning for a food-centric trip back here with a few friends for early 2016.
Stay tuned!  

A few weeks ago, for my company's fall outing, we decided to go to Butler's Orchard to go pumpkin picking, have a photo scavenger hunt, and have a picnic-style lunch. The weather was absolutely beautiful, so it was the perfect day to be out of the office. 

This is one of the many reason why I love fall so much: the weather, the fall activities, and the weather - oh wait, did I say that already? 

Hotel: Borgata

First of all, who takes photos of their keycard in an elevator these days? Apparently I do. 

Pool Time

Just Kidding, I didn't swim. Everyone was sleeping-in from staying up the night before, so I decided to take my camera out on a date. 

Photo Inception

I'm not a huge casino person, so unlike everyone else I was with, I was able to start my day early; see those empty chairs around me? Exactly. 

Relaxing

Decided to pick up a book and enjoy the nice breeze early in the morning -- okay, it wasn't that early, this was taken around 11 a.m. 

My Favorite Time of the Day - Food Time

Finally, as everyone slowly crawled out of bed, we feasted by ordering way too much to fill our empty stomach. 

This pretty much summarizes my trip to AC. I warned you, this isn't exactly your typical AC trip. I don’t gamble, so I’m not a casino person. I did end up eating a lot of good food, took some nice photos, and got to catch-up on sleep. Wow, I never thought I’d say that post AC-trip.

P.S. I went on this trip with a few family members. If I had gone with friends, who knows, maybe my experience would've been different. Actually, I know for a fact that it would've been different. 

I've been meaning to check out Zoolights since 2011. Since this is my last year in college, a friend and I promised each other we would go this year. I'm glad we not only fulfilled our promise but checked out the National Christmas Tree as well. 

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Entrance of Zoo Lights

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ZooLights with Friends

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ZooLights with Friends

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Trees & Lights

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More Lights!

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Obligatory Jump Photo

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National Christmas Tree

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National Mall with Mini Trees