Let's Visit: Mission Beach

I was surprised when I found out that Katy Perry was not lying in her song California Gurlz as she sings: "You can travel the woooorrrlld, but nothing comes close to the golden coaaasttt~". I always thought that the golden coast referred to the eternal sunshine, the suntanned babes on the sprawling beaches or the golden sunsets but there are literally golden specs on the coast! Okay maybe not gold but it looked like someone spread golden glitter all over the sand and it shimmered so brightly under the sun that I had to hold my breath in awe. After some research, the golden specs found on El Coronado beach are actually a mineral called "mica". Hey, it's shiny and gold is shiny : 3 good enough for me hahaha! 

Unfortunately, these pictures are not from the golden speckled beach of El Coronado but from Mission Beach. It was really close to our hotel and we spent our Christmas day there (because everything else was closed). How nice is it to have a beach in proximity of where you live? I'm sure I would've been fitter because I could bike along the coast line : ) *excuses-for-not-working-out*

To me, a beach picture is not complete without a shot of a surfer and I'm glad to have captured one :-)

Nothing's cuter than an elderly couple holding hands while taking a romantic stroll down the beach <3

We encountered tons of these sandmen. I guess when there's no snow, ya gotta improvise somehow!

We rented bikes for a really good price (Asians know how to haggle BWUAHAHA) and biked along the coast line while the sun was setting. This is what freedom tastes like! The feeling of the breeze combing through our hair was so relaxing, I almost forgot that I wasn't wearing any security shorts. OH WELLZ, that's as wild as I can get on vacation *fist pumps*

I wanted to keep this bike and ship it back to Montreal : C 

It feels refreshing to look at these sun-kissed photos while the winter winds are howling like a wolf outside my window. It's a cheap little escape : ) 

Now that I've run out of content, I gotta go out and shoot some pictures with my pals Miss Adri and Lily :-P  Montreal is always full of festivities during the winter, I guess the government has to do something in order to prevent people from falling into weather-related depression. One of their efforts is an annual luminotherapy installation in the Quartier des Spectacles. Lights make people happy and I actively look for more happiness. 

Let's Visit: San Diego Zoo

You'd think a girl would have time to blog when she doesn't have school but the less things I have to do, the less productive I become. The other day, I was contemplating whether or not I should take an OOTD but I was feeling lazy. To which Monkey replied: "Yes be lazy! Let the laziness consume youuuu!!!" *note: he hates taking OOTD's for me because I always criticize his photo skills* 

Ofcourse, I can't let him have his way so I'm breaking out of my laziness by posting some pictures from our trip to the world famous San Diego Zoo! This zoo is connected to the Balboa Park so we dedicated an entire day to the zoo and park. 

In the Spanish Art Village, probably my favorite part of Balboa Park. It was so colorful and really lifted up our spirits! 

I love how hardcore Californians are when it comes to Christmas decorations. I have to admit that the sunshine and lack of snow made me forget that we were in the holiday season but when I see decorations like these, it makes me break out in a smile. Apparently, going around neighborhoods spotting Christmas decorations is an actual activity in San Diego! 

The zoo is famous for its pandas so of course we had to pay a little visit! The line-up was estimated to be 45 minutes but it took a bit less time than that. None of the other animals commanded this much attention. There was even a girl who gave an introduction of the pandas the entire time :-O.

30 minutes of grilling under the sun to see some pandas :-P

Finally got to see the pandas!

After a full day of walking, all I wanted to do was ride the Skyfari! 

Yay for a first class view of the entire zoo :)

We celebrated Christmas eve by eating some Thai fast food since it was the only place that didn't close early for Christmas eve :-P

I still have one more post left about my winter trip before I resume OOTD's. I've been stalling them because it's so hard to dress nicely while staying warm. I gotta brainstorm some outfits and maybe I'll pull up a: "how-to-survive-minus-20C-weather-outfits" post. 

Until next time~

Let's Visit: Santa Monica Pier

The playground of the school behind my house has frozen into a skating rink. I stood at my window like a creeper looking at a little kid sliding alone on the ice. The kid wobbled for a good 5 minutes before he/she got the hang of it and skated away. Like the child, I'm still trying to get the hang of this cold. It's making me feel so layyyzaaay which is why I put off posting the remaining pictures of my California trip. Since we can all use a bit of sunshine and palm trees, I will be posting some today : ) 

Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach were top on my must-see list for this trip and unfortunately, we didn't get to visit Venice but we spend a good chunk of a day in Santa Monica. I had googled a lot of beach pictures but as always, the experience of being there feels completely different from the experience of looking at pictures through a monitor. 

On our way to the beach, there was a clown in our bus that gave everyone a demo of balloon-animal-making, it was so amusing and since it is a bear (Coco is an intense bear lover), we asked him if we could keep the balloon. 

She usually ducks away when I take pictures but you can see how happy she is with the bear balloon haha! 

This place would make a great first date place, there is just so much to do: there are rides, romantic walks along the beach, a boardwalk to enjoy the sound of the ocean, breathtaking sunsets! 

Fit people doing what fit people do: exercising! We saw so many people climbing or swinging around poles. Some kids tried to imitate the adults and failed :-P 

Coco and I sat at the beach for an hour waiting for the sunset because I didn't want to leave before I took my sunset photo. After countless shots, I think I managed to get quite a decent one :-) YAY I'm happy!

Looking at these pictures fill me up with warmth and I hope that you enjoyed them too. I really like to go on trips, especially to places that are very different from where I live. When you are somewhere different, you tend to walk a little straighter, dress a little funkier and think a little different. It's like putting on a new hat. You can be whatever you wish because nobody knows who you are and that is an exciting feeling!

A Walk In Balboa Park

If you only have one day in San Diego, I definitely suggest dropping by Balboa park, it is a grand and gorgeous urban cultural park in the heart of the city. We purchased the park & zoo passport and spent two days visiting the museums, the beautiful parks and the zoo. I particularly enjoyed the art museums. The city planners are clever for clustering all the museums in one space. For a day full of walking, I decided to wear a simple outfit. These kinds of outfits are my fav because they're fuss free and so comfortable! 

Bolero: Macy's (brand American Rag)

Jeans: Macy's (brand Levi's)

V-neck: American Apparel

This knitted bolero is the perfect size of salt & pepper pattern. I've been looking for a salt & pepper knit forever! Most of them are too small for my liking but this one is perfect and it's from Macy's! Why are American department stores so much better than Canadian ones? 

I love the wash on my Levi's jeans. They were on sale at Macy's and I grabbed 2 pairs. I had to resist myself from buying them in every shade. I didn't like the bleached bottom of my pant leg but they're starting to grow on me. They're so comfy, why didn't I ever think of buying jeans from Levi's? Oh yes, 'cause they're frikkin expensive in Canada >___< (anything above 40$ is too expensive for me lol).

For these pictures, I decided to play with Photoshop and Toycamera filters because I really wanted to bring out the warmth and beauty of Balboa Park. All the buildings are in a Spanish Colonial Revival style, they're intricate yet simple. 

One of my favourite buildings in the park: the California Bell Tower and the Museum of Man. The stunning tiled domed roof stood out from far away and I couldn't leave without visiting the museum. 

One of the many archways, I felt like a royal while walking through them.

Museum of Art,they had a special exhibition on Women, War and Industry. It was really interesting!

Pretty Persian tiles: hmm... bending backwards to pick up those apples isn't the most convenient way isn't it?

Indian artwork: Monkey God harassing a woman :-P 

The passport combo comprised of entry to 14 museums and the zoo but sadly, we simply didn't have enough time to visit all the museums. If you are interested in visiting the park only, it is free (for the most part). We only realized after we bought the passport that we could've just enjoyed strolling through the park and check out one or two museums (hence saved money). So heads up for those planning on visiting Balboa Park!

Sadly, my trip is coming to an end tomorrow. It's been a wonderful escape! I'm surprised by how friendly Californians are. Every day, a handful of strangers would smile and say hello to us or offer help when we look lost. I bet that constant perfect weather has something to do with the people's sunny dispositions. 

I still have a handful of pictures which I'm very eager to share. Hopefully the California warmth can reach you guys through the monitor :-)