Miss Emma

Today I'd like to introduce a dear friend of mine, whom I've had the pleasure of meeting on a fateful trip to Costa Rica: Emma.

The ONE photo we took together during our photo adventure through SGV.

Through spending time frolicking through rainforests and mangroves and stuffing our faces with fresh chocolatte from cocoa fruit, we discovered that we both have an obsessive passion and most tasteful appreciation of all things art, music, and culture. She is my partner in crime when it comes to being patrons of the arts and attending the latest and greatest musicales. One day we will become what our souls are...glamorous little old ladies, in a faux scarves and fabulous hats, attending fancy dinner parties...livin` dat pura vida.

Over this summer we made plans to give Emma a photoshoot and a tour of my homeland, San Gabriel Valley. I think it's safe to say that (626) has developed into the modern "Chinatown" of Southern California. Here is the recent adventure of ours...outside of theatre...and I will venture to say, it is still quite dramatic.

First Stop. Field trip to an Azn Plaza.

I introduced Emma to the all too familiar landscape of Asian populated enclaves...plazas. These city centers that are lined up side by side, block by block, offer a plethora of Asian restaurants, grocers, after-school tutoring to extracurricular establishments, boba shops galore, and that occasional multilingual cell phone provider store. The competition is fierce. I think the biggest culture shock was that most buildings were decorated in Chinese characters haha...and it didn't help that the romanization didn't come with proper pinyin to guide pronunciation. Our first stop was in Monrovia. My favorite type of morning sustenance is definitely Taiwanese breakfast which usually consists of warm soy milk, Chinese fried donut, egg scallion pancake, turnip cake, glutinous rice rolls...which is pretty much what I piled onto our table for Emma to try.

FULL & SATISFIED (this is before she realized she left the restaurant empty handed).

We made a mini-stop at the market...Emma saw a black chicken for the first time and made some friends with the sea creatures.

Next stop...BOBA DRANKZ. This was actually my first time trying CoCo but a friend had recommended it. I've been craving wintermelon + grass jelly since leaving HK and they had it here...too bad it was two sweet and scant bits of jelly. :'(

Stop 3...Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in Arcadia! I frequented the arboretum throughout my childhood and spent every summer during high school volunteering for the summer concert in the park series (I love the arts). Being back made me reminisce those free classical concerts under the stars and getting to freeload off the VIP cheese & crackers after the show...those were the golden years. Here are some photos of the beautiful gardens and a slice of Emma's colorful personality. Haha, I love this girl!

There are some facial expressions where I can't help but think she looks like a combination of Emma Watson, Tina Fey, and Anna Kendrick...my friend's going to be a star one day. *o*

We're finally heading into the park keke.

The hills... 

...are alive... 

...with the sound of music! 

Hi. Have I introduced you to my friend, Emma?

I like taking photos of strangers... "Adventure is out there!"

The backdrop is about to change. It's crazy how many terrains the California climate can support with the existence of water...

I like yo fro. 

This is the story of the girl who danced with geese.

weeeeeeeeeeeeee

4th destination...Pasadena/Old Town. Ice cream & architecture.

Fifth stop, dinner, Monterey Park. I am actually a first timer at Yi Mei, CoCo, and Mama Lu's...hahaha. While planning for our activities, these places had TOP reviews. But, to be honest...I think I get better food at home. Haha...spoiled. @_@ Next time Emma will get to try homecooked meals. ^_^

6th stop...FTB, San Gabriel...except it was closed. LOL...so we just took a photo at the Mission. The Mission Playhouse brings back memories too. :3 I used to perform there with pit orchestra for our high school's musical productions. Greatest times of my high school career. :')

7! Back to Arcadia. We couldn't finish this night without dessert. Cafe Maji is nestled in a gym...I actually used to intern here during high school with the chiropractic/sports therapy office inside...seems like ages ago when I wanted to go into Physical Therapy. It's pretty neat and out of place (heh) how they've incorporated the little cafe into the gym...but it's so cuteeeee! I want to open up a place like this one day. One day.

And the cafe closed. The End.

When we got back home...my mother demanded that we salvage the blueberries and bananas that have been sitting around for 2 weeks. She commissioned blueberry banana cake...too bad we screwed up pretty bad on it HAHAH...there weren't enough bananas and I totally forgot to add sugar. (It was pretty gross. HAHAA). My mother said we didn't put enough love in it, heh.

Emma stirring in the last minute sugar. XD

Looks can be deceiving.

This day 'twas much fun...and filled with the crazy unplanned...like running out of gas right when we left the house...driving back and forth on Duarte, Emma forgetting her purse in the restaurant...running out of time for Old Town...to Factory Tea Bar being closed...and not having enough bananas for our banana cake and forgetting to put sugar in the mix...hahah, "drama" at its finest. I'm so thankful for Emma and her wonderful character that just lights up any space. She's always filled with energy and pizzazz. Beyond that, she's someone that has a big heart for people, social justice, and cross-cultural understanding. I am truly grateful for her and the opportunity to share with her a little piece of home and an adventure for her palate. And, today...she's 21! SO HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY EMMA <3 Have fun today! And I can't wait for you to come back so we can do a little celebrating of our own... #alcoholicboba teehee!