My husband and I were fortunate enough to go to this amazing place to shoot a wedding in Zion National Park.This was our lodge we stayed at!  Sooo beautiful!  :)

The wedding was incredibly beautiful, the couple we shot was so much like us and we managed to stay a couple more days after to explore the park. It was definitely an awesome time!! We stayed at Zion Lodge in the middle of the park. The day after the wedding, we decided to go and venture off to do Angel's Landing. This hike was awesome! It was a chilly December morning, so I had my poofy black Ski Jacket on. But as the hike and morning progressed, it got very warm! So I hid my jacket along the trail so I didn't have to pick it up later. The trail begins at THE GROTTO.

We followed the Virgin River for a while, slowly gaining elevation. There were times where it looked very much like a beautiful beach. Jimmy and I took pics of this majestic park and it's massive red cliffs surrounding us. Just beautiful!!!

As we forked away from the river, we began to take series of switchbacks between Angel's Landing and Zion Canyon. The views were spectacular! Just incredible!!! After the first set of switch backs, we enter the canyon and heard our voices echoing throughout. This area was shaded but we were still climbing.

These are the first set of switchbacks!

So we keep going! Some fellow hikers reached this area and turned around. We passed some interesting signs along the way that warned us of how incredibly scary this hike really was. So we climb and climb clinging for dear life on these chains with sharp sharp sharp! Drop offs and narrow trails around us. We get through the first part of the "hump" and again think.. ohhh we made it! We were again, WRONG. WE looked up and saw there was more to climb past this one little hill, so we continued.

The next part was the infamous "Leap of Faith" which looks like you're about to fall off or jump to the other side of this rock. On either side of this very narrow path were thousands of feet to your death. It was pretty scary.

Spoiler alert.. we made it! We kept going, climbing higher and higher. We passed another couple that did us the huge favor of taking a death defying picture on the side of a cliff for us. :) Pretty awesome! We continued… After some time, we made it to the top. The view was SPECTACULAR. We could see the Lodge from where we were.. We could see everything, the start of the trail, the river, the lodge, the ant-like hikers below! It was amazing! And the sun was creating such beautiful colors and shadows on the red towering rocks.

We ate some lunch and was approached by a furry visitor. He wanted our delicious crumbs. Then even met an older fella up there, and we told him about our Peruvian adventure. I believe he might go because of us. Pretty cool! A bunch of hikers, eating lunch and sharing our adventures! After we enjoyed our summit, snapped a couple pics, we started heading down.

The sun was descending pretty fast since it was dead smack in the middle of winter. Going down is so much harder now that Jimmy and I have knee pain from our hike on Telescope last year. Although knee braces really help us a lot. On our way down, I picked up my hidden jacket. Someone else also had the same idea and saw their being hidden away, too. It was getting chilly now coz the sun was going down so fast. All in All! What an amazing hike!! Highly recommend it. Definitely one of the prettiest day hikes we've ever been on. Piece of advice though, Don't do this hike if you are afraid of heights. Or do it anyway… if you want to face your fear! :)  Till Next time!!!! :)

Pisac - I heard about Pisac Market searching for places to see while in Cusco. So there we were riding to through the mountains overlooking the Andes. We stopped to take plenty of pictures of the mountainside, peruvian people who were so incredibly interesting to study (their beautiful bright colored clothes alone made my eyes feast on their beauty), and the town/villages from above.

Soon, we were descending into the Pisac Market to stop at an ATM. After shopping around in Cusco, we were eager to the see the archaeological sites as opposed to walking around the market. Although, I would of loved to have just an afternoon there. After getting some cash, Jaiyme took us away up into the beautiful mountainsides overlooking Pisac again, only now from the other side of the mountain range. We were headed to the amazing Pisac ruins, and oh, how truly amazing it was. It began to drizzle a bit, but that certainly did not stop us from taking pictures of this place. An old man tried to sell us a poncho for 40 Soles (around USD $15) - after buying ours in the US for $2. He began to bargain his price down as we refused to take his ridiculous offers. We sneered at his selfish efforts in trying to take advantage of us "the Tourists." Here's our poncho we brought!

Jimmy and I enjoyed looking at the ruins, the Incan steps,

and the small holes in the mountains that were Incan tombs. It was pretty amazing. The place was huge. It took us a whole hour and a half to somewhat "look around." We did find a nice house for us to live in on the top:

We finally made our way out. We walked through the walkway above the vendors selling us all kinds of trinkets, snacks, and drinks. We stopped about Peruvian corn with cheese and water. Peruvian corn were MASSIVE kernels of corn with some kind of crumbled cheese (sort of like FETA). It was delightful! Afterwards, we descended back into the valley to Pisac Market again. Only this time, we did take 45 minutes to bargain and shop for souvenirs. We bought 2 incan rattles, alpaca scarves, an awesome knife, and a pipe for a friend. We also met this mom and daughter - both dressed in the colorful traditional peruvian clothing. They were so gorgeous and I had such a nice exchange with them.

Then we met Jaiyme again (searching for the main square was fun- the market is quite a maze). Then we went on our journey to our next destination --- FOOD!!!! Jaiyme suggested this awesome buffet off the side of the road we were traveling. It was awesome!!! AND SOOO GOOD! It was a great buffet with views all around the valley. We were surrounded by majestic mountains. There were houses high up on the mountains and they looked so beautiful from below. Jaiyme told us that the people on the mountains have no water or power. They are very poor. He told us that 1/3 of Peruvians live like that. Reminded me of home, the Philippines.

The food was great as usual. But our favorite was the flan. We had 3 pieces. It was soo good!!! Afterwards, we went to the bathroom. We couldn't figure out the male/female bathrooms because we didn't understand the signs. Soon we both emerged feeling silly and went to the correct bathrooms. Amusing for the locals, I'm sure. After we paid, we went to the car and we were full and rested. Next stop was Ollantaytambo. (hard to say! But still an awesome place).

These ruins were pretty cool! Jimmy's favorite outside of Machu Picchu. We parked near a neat village next to this man made stream. Jaiyme took us to the entrance. The only problem with this place was the crowd. It was pretty busy so timing was key to not get swallowed by bus tours. Jimmy yawned and I caught it in a picture. He was very excited despite his yawning, I assure you. This was probably the best training right before our big Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu. As we went up, we saw the whole little village. We saw the car with Jaiyme cleaning it with the water from the stream. We kept going up and the view was amazing.

We had a "holy sh*t" moment at the top among the ruins looking out at the Peruvian mountains. It was like "where the heck are we!!!?!" It was an incredible moment indeed. This is Jimmy yawing at the majestic site. But seriously.. we both loved it, but getting up earlier in the AM at the crack of dawn to go on this trip really beat it out of us. GORGEOUS!

Till next time, folks!! :)

I took an hour walk at Old town Pasadena. My adventure has started the intersection of Fair Oaks an Colorado and I took my way to the South to the Central Park.

My adventure has continued to Castle Greene, Paseo Colorado, Pasadena Convention center. Then I have turned to the north to go City Hall, then headed to the West to

the heart of old town.

http://www.oldpasadena.org/

This hiking loop is the closest nature area from the business district. Only 7 minutes drive from the Lake Ave business district.

Most of you already know, that my husband, Jimmy and I have an addiction to Death Valley.  We love the place!  And have visited it nearly a dozen times (by now).  We love bringing new people there and almost everytime - everyone falls in love with our silent, vast desert.  After living almost our entire lives in the East Coast, where you're only place for peace and vastness is hours upon hours of driving - It doesn't even come close to the enormous vastness of our favorite National Park.  When we stand there in the middle of a road where you can see a car coming from 10 miles away - I realize how small we are - It reminds me of how I feel when we think of the galaxy and space.  We are mere tiny beings moving through - just speckles of dust. 

This time, our journey consisted of exploring new territory.  Even though we've visited Death Valley so many times, we still have not discovered the entire park - even after this journey I am about to share with you all.  Telescope Peak.  It is a massive mountain especially when you stand at -282 feet below sea level (the lowest point in Death Valley).  It's over 11,000 feet- and I know it's not the biggest of all mountains but, it is the highest in this national park and has been a goal of ours for years!  Jimmy and I promised each other that we would reach the very lowest point (which we have several times) and the highest point of Death Valley. 

It was a Wednesday and we realized that we had some time to go off adventuring somewhere, anywhere- so we naturally decided to go to our most favorite place, Death Valley.  Death Valley in the heat of the summer reaches a temperature of 120 degrees!  It is HOT HOT HOT!  But in the highlands-it stays in the 80's and even chilly at night at Mahogany Flats campground. 

We set off.... reaching Death Valley in the heat.  The sun was setting so we decided to lower down our windows and feel the hot hot air as we drove through the desert.  When we finally reached our campground, we sat underneath the stars.  We decided not to drive all the way to Mahagony Flats campground and we stayed at Panamint Springs instead.  It was still HOT here, but not as hot as the valley below.  In the distance we could see a thunderstorm, but we lay down in the heat. There I am in my tent under the amazing desert stars!

We rose early to get to drive to Mahagony Flats Campground, where the trailhead started! We drove off into the desert and man was it beautiful! 

As we ascended in elevation, it got cooler! and Cooler! and Cooler!! By the time we reached Mahagony Flats (8,133 ft)- riding a dirt path with our car, I had to put on a sweater!  Not to be expected in the dead heat of the desert summer.  I was actually cold!!! and wondered if I should bring my longer pants!  I just bundled up with a sweater and off we went. That's why they close this road in the winter and this hike becomes much harder because this peak is usually covered in snow. 

We started our hike @ 8:05 AM - The day started cloudy and cool!  But it was great to hike in!  Just comfortable really!  You can't really see it in the picture below - But the sun was shining ever so slightly through the clouds.

I knew that by noon time, these clouds would definitely burn off.  The air that was crisp and cool would definitely turn into warm desert air, even high in the mountains.

 So we continued to climb.  At 8K feet, you can start to feel the elevation - your legs are definitely heavier than usual.  Key to elevation - drink lots of water.  This was advice from Chris Lynch, the hiking leader of the film we are working on right now.  Lots of water and training ,of course. 

We passed a lot of beautiful trees and flowers on the way up.  It was gorgeous.  All the different colors and the 360 degree panoramic view was nothing to shake a stick at.

See the bee in the flowers.  Jimmy and I probably sat here for minutes staring at this bee - off the side of this cliff.  It was worth it.  :)

We reached a plateau and this is what we saw.  From up there you could see the bottom of Death Valley in the distance.  The white salt flats going on for miles and miles.  You could hear nothing but the sound of the cool wind.  We also got cell phone reception (All of a SUDDEN), so we decided to call Jimmy's parents to greet them from the mountains.  Pretty cool!  I hear the top of Everest, now has cell phone reception as well.

This is about 2.5 miles into the hike.  Another 4.5 miles to go and the last part was strenuous, for sure!  This is the other side of the plateau.  The one picture above looked down to the lowest point in North America and the other side of the plateau, you could see Mt. Whitney in the far distance, the highest in the lower 48 states.  Pretty incredible, I must say!

After this we continued on and passed quite a bit of shale!  It was crazy... This part of the hike was pretty leveled.  Not many up and downs.  But soon we would reach this view, where would see our final goal.

There's Jimmy below and Telescope peak in the distance.  Gorgeous.  The plants behind us had a ton of bees!! BUZZING!  So we tried to buzz through this part as fast as we could. 

Finally we reached the bottom of the mountain, but the last mile is the strenuous climb and the elevation was starting to hit us - Excedrin was the key to the beginnings of our headaches and tons of water. 

This is one of the last pictures we took on our way up, before the crazy stretch.  This tree was amazing, so we stayed here a while taking pictures, admiring the beauty, and catching our breath!  :)

The tree was old, but the roots were very strong! And so alive.  To think, it had been here all this time staring at the beauty of the world beneath him. 

THE TOP:

Here we are at the TOP finally!  After 6. 5 hours, we finally made it.  We were so hungry and very ready for lunch, PB & J!  (What I really wanted was KFC, but alas-- they don't sell fried chicken at the top of this mountain. We did however find a small swig of Jack Daniels at the register box!!!  We signed our names away and enjoyed the world below us.  I wonder how it feels to be on top of Everest.  I would probably cry and hope that I could make it down.  I dedicated this hike to my dad, who passed away recently.  I wrote that when I signed our names at the top.  I think he would really be proud of me.

P.S. If you want to view my hike on the "MY ADVENTURE" app, we have it here on the site. I love this new app.  Although my battery did die on the way down, it got our journey to the top.  Pretty cool!! Check it out! -

Till Next time...

Road trip to Sacred Valley

Today, I woke up with no elevation sickess.. GLORIOUS START! There's a lot to cover for our day in Sacred Valley, so I will split it up..... 

Everytime I hear of Machu Picchu, I immediately hear of the beautiful Sacred Valley.  After our hotel owner, Melanie suggested a private taxi through the amazing countryside, we decided to take her up on the offer.  She arranged for us to take a private service and our driver picked us up at 8:30AM.  We didn't know what to expect, but we were excited.  After breakfast, we had some time so I decided to sat outside admiring our gorgeous tiny street.  

Then our driver arrived right on time :).  As we walked to where his taxi was parked, he introduces himself.  "Hello. My name is Jamie (pronounced as "Haymee")."  Then we introduced ourselves to him.  We jump in the car and he takes out a map.  Originally, we planned to take a short day ride through Pisac Road and back.  But Jamie suggested that we do a full circle all the way to a town called Ollantaytambo (which again, we knew nothing about).  Of course, Jimmy and I agreed to take the longer adventure.  We were on our way.  

We first ascended above Cuzco through it's crazy one laned streets.  If a car were coming from the opposite direction, one would have to back out.  As the sun rose higher and higher, we also rose above the valley floor.  The view of the city  was magical.  It was truly a city hidden in the mountains.  The streets began to get a little quieter at the top.  The streets began to get less city like and more provincial and mountainous---Our favorite!!!  Exploring Cuzco was fun because it was such a unique city and atmosphere, but this- the beauty of the Andes mountain range was one of the main reasons we took the flight below the equator.  

The mountains were beautiful and majestic.  We passed a couple of ruins by car.  I was a little sad our driver didn't stop but, later I found out why.  (Bigger and better!! things to see).   

Our first real stop was a llama and alpaca farm.  This place was very interesting.   It was a small village people catering to tourists. First, you come in and feed the animals.  The animals come right up to you, too.  We spent a while here taking pictures, as you can see. 

It was pretty cool!  We loved this place!  They were such cute animals!!!!!!

Look at us.. With the soft animals!  They were really, really soft, too!  Like a real life teddy bear in llama form! 

This is one of them.  LOOK at it's adorable eyebrows.  Okay.. haha! 

I had to show one more pic!  You guys have no idea how many pics I have of these cuties!  That's me feeding it! 

Anyways... there were also ladies dressed very colorfully in traditional Peruvian clothing.  They were making hand woven cloths with amazing designs. 

Jaime, our driver said that this art of weaving was not learned from schooling, but handed down from generation to generation. 

She let me take pictures with her!  I kept telling her how beautiful she was and how amazing her work was.  She smiled at me :).  The work was incredible. 

This guy showed us how they dye their Alpaca wool with natural ingredients.  We think they used herbs, flowers, and grains--- He spoke only spanish so we didn't understand.  All we know is, he made bright reds and yellows out of nothing! :)  It was like magic!

See all the different colors made naturally!  It was incredible!!!!!!!  :)  And you can really tell what was real Alpaca cloths and what was synthetic.  The man showed us that, too.  

They cook the cloths over this stove!  The smell was very distinct--- and fragrant!  I can't even explain it!  

:) 

After there, we hopped in the car and headed towards more amazing sites.   

We'll save the rest for another day!  :)  Next stop.. The Pisac Market!

Till next time...

Thursday, September 1^st, 2010 – Exploring more of Cuzco

Another incredible morning in Peru  :) This is my view from my hotel window.

I woke up again with altitude sickness but I refused to let it stop us from our priorities, which is… adventure of course.  We went down to our breakfast room – ate some food, got ready.  After eating, 2 sweet ladies served us delicious eggs and fresh bread, all complimentary with our hotel.  We headed out the door to pay Abroad Trekkers for our upcoming Trek to Machu Picchu via the Salkantay Pass.  We raced down to the “valley” of Cuzco (where we were staying, it was up on the hill), towards the Avenue of the Sun.  We got the money and off we went.  I was VERY DIZZY.   If you’ve ever experienced REAL elevation sickness, you know what I mean.  Walking too fast, feels like the world is spinning. 

As we ascended back towards San Blas – up the hill – I decided to stay behind, since the lack of air really affected me.  I sat on the street corner off of Recoletta (the street where Abroad Trekkers was located, just down a bit more).  I felt pretty safe even though it was such a foreign place.  Cuzco has an over amount of tourists, so we don’t really stick out like an attraction.  If we were in the Philippines (where I am from), this would be different.   To most westerners who don’t really travel outside of their countries, a poorer country like Peru or the Philippines is the "most dangerous place" in the world.  But here I was, on the corner of some random street, not getting harassed.  If I were in NYC or LA, again, this would be different. 

After a little while, I began to get bored, so I walked towards the Abroad Trekkers office.  I walked up their steps and Jimmy comes strolling out the door – happy to see me safe and sound. J  We took a taxi down to the marketplace for only 3 Soles for the both of us.  3 Soles = $1.  I felt so dizzy so the taxi helped  a lot.   We arrived and immediately began our search for WARM items to prep for our trek and of course, souvenirs. We got a lot of stuff for very little American money.  For instance, we got a big handmade Alpaca really warm poncho and 2 hats for $65 soles.  (about $25).  We also got mittens, a scarf, and socks.  Soon, my head began to bother me again, so I went outside and sat on a bench on the side of the market.  As we walked out, 2 ladies dressed in traditional Peruvian garb (but this time dirty and ripped) held their hands out asking for change.  This is normal here and I guess normal for any city.  Jimmy went to get me a bottle of water.   I sat there for 10 minutes watching an old man seated on the ground with an orange bucket filled with rice and some kind of liquid.  Jimmy finally came back as I began to empty my pockets for any change I could get.  He wasn’t begging me for money, but I could see he needed it.  I walked over and gave him everything I had.  He began praying.   We are incredibly lucky people.  

We walked back into the market and started to look for food.  We both decided that we had to try something "new" at the market where the real foods and locals were.  As we walked through, people were yelling at us in Spanish, inviting us to sit on their benches and feast!  We only saw two other foreigners (the looked like hippies J), standing up after their meal.   Finally, we sat down and picked a place.   We squeezed into a tiny bench with other locals.  They looked at us surprised!  We ordered the most expensive thing on the 4-6 item menu:  Caldo de Cabeza for a whopping 6 soles ($2).  The locals smiled at us and so did the lady behind the counter.   She turned around and got us a bowl almost immediately.  She handed the bowl over to us and to our surprise, it was the head of a sheep or a goat. We couldn’t tell.  Well we had to taste it, so we dug in.  I only tasted the soup and potatoes.  I began to feel nauseous, but I’m not sure if it was the food or the fact that altitude makes you feel this way.  I think it was a little of both because Filipinos eat some crazy stuff, too, so my stomach shouls be used to it.

Jimmy, of course, liked it! Jimmy ate about ½ and we were ready to go.  We turned the corner and began to get thirsty.  We went to another food stand and ordered ourselves an Inca Kola (the Coke of Peru), forgetting that like the Philippines, you can’t leave with the glass bottle.  The lady pulled up a wooden chair for us to sit in. S he wiped it with her dress.  The locals eating at her booth stared at us as we chugged down this Inca Kola!  Then we were done!  

We walked out and began walking towards the craft center on the other side of town.  We passed a couple of mini markets and we bought other trinkets.  Finally, we reached the craft center area.  But before we went in, we ate at this fancy hotel across from it.  I tried to eat as much as I could.  It was really nice being able to go to a fancy bathroom where you could flush toilet paper.  However, the place seemed so removed from the amazing realness of what was happening right outside.  Jimmy and I both agreed this place was a bit too fancy for our tastes. 

We walked across the street to the craft center – a place that was supposedly known for better crafts.  It was, for us, a cleaner version of the Cuzco main market with the same items.  We were a bit disappointed.  We took some pictures of the giant figure in the mall like market.  Then walked outside, bought some tasty ice cream – the in store kind, not the street kind.  It was still very different from American ice cream.  

It was getting late, so Jimmy grabbed a taxi for us and off we went, back to the hotel.  The driver dropped us off at San Blas Square.  For dinner, we went to a restaurant at San Blas square called Pacha Papa.  I ordered a pizza and Jimmy got Alpaca again.  For those of you don't know what Alpaca is, they kind of look like llamas:  

I also tried another Peruvian drink called Chicha Morada.  It’s made out of purple corn and has a very sweet taste to it.  

     I also tried another Peruvian drink called Chicha Morada.  It’s made out of purple corn and has a very sweet taste to it.                                                                                     

 After dinner, we decided to take some pictures in front of the waterfall also at San Blas Square.  

We talked to Emily, Jimmy’s sister on video chat.  We shared our crazy day!  After we uploaded some pics to FB, we went to bed early.   We had to get up real early because we were going to take a road trip to the country side the next day!

Zzzzzz…Till next time

Okay, So I know I have written a lot of blogs today, but I am a very organized person, so i like to keep one subject per blog. I am weird... I know :)

But yeah, so not to long ago I found out that I was accepted to go on a study abroad program in Ireland! I am soooo excited! I was so extatic when I found out that I was accepted. You see, Ireland has been to country I have longed to go to my whole life. I have a lot of Irish in me and I grew up listening to many stories about my ancestors there and so I have always wanted to visit. It seems like such a pretty place. And, i love the fact that I have a new camera to take pictures of while I am there.

Does anyone have any suggestions on resteraunts or places that I must see while I am there?

:D

For some reason, this winter I have really come to realization about how much I love the winter season. There is just something about it that makes me really happy. I love all the snow, i love all of the different sports you can do in the snow, i love the way a sunny winter day looks... so much stuff. And now, i do not want it to come to an end. I do not think I have ever felt this way before, I usually want winter to end and quickly, but this year is totally different. I don't really know why my opinion has changed so much, that is still a mystery to me :D

So, I have had my camera for about a month and a half now and I must say that it is absolutley amazing. I love it and I love taking picture with it. The pictures turn out really nice; very sharp and with awesome colors. The only thing that I wish was a bit nicer is the lense, but it makes sense that it is not the nicest lense since it did come free with the camera. So now I am just trying to save up to buy a bit nicer of a lense. But, it is still a really nice lense and it still takes really nice photos, so I really have nothing to comlain about :)

August 31st, 2010

First breakfast in beautiful Cuzco (I can’t say that enough...mmm beautiful Cuzco).  I still had a headache from the elevation sickness and I couldn’t take moving too much at all.  I had migraines my entire life, but an elevation headache is something else... Wow, the pain! Jimmy was all-better and I was a little sad that I wasn’t!  From our room, we could listen to the hustle and bustle of the foreign streets outside.  The shower was very nice in our hotel – The had hot water!  It was a charming, little bathroom  and it was perfect.  However, funny thing about Peru and probably most of the South American countries – you can’t flush toilet paper.  Oh well!  You can't have beauty and perfect plumbing -  You just can't have it all!!!

 After getting ready, we were excited to set out again into the new world!  I still had a slight headache but we were taking it slow.  We got a recommendation on Facebook about a coffee place that happened to be right around the corner in the main square of San Blas.  It was called “The Meeting Place.”  Some fellow Americans who belonged to a church was running the joint.  That has to be the best job ever!  A Coffee shop in Peru!  Wow!  I’m envious!  After coffee, we went to our trekking company, Abroad Trekkers.  We managed to find the place, but it was first- a little difficult since the streets were so unfamiliar and winding.  This time, we actually had a real destination and couldn't just choose to "get lost in the city."  

We eventually found it and it was a nice walk from our hotel.  We walk in to this tiny little office filled with schedules, books about Peru, traveling, etc. – The first guy spoke little English and told us to wait.  There was a family that lived there and a little toddler.  The cute little girl was staring at us for a while.   I wanted to pinch her adorable Peruvian cheeks.  After like 10 minutes, a guy walks in – Speaks great English.  He began to talk to us about our big trek to Machu Picchu.  We were both excited and nervous about it.  It would be the very first time we would ever attempt to do a real “trek.”  We were taking the non-traditional route (and the more difficult one) - the Salkantay Trek to the Salkantay pass - A trek that would take us above 15,000 feet, higher that we’ve ever been.   Afterwards, we walked past the main square to purchase our “tourist pass.”  It was what you need to get into a bunch of “must see” museums, important places around the town and the Sacred Valley.    

We walked to the Temple of the Sun.  Outside we saw some ladies with grown llamas.  They were asking us to take pictures with them for tops.  They normally should get about 1-2 soles, but as we were taking the picture, the one lady began demanding 10 Soles! And would not stop!  It was 2 ladies, so we gave them 6-- I mean, we did get great pictures :D   

As this was happening, there was also a random little boy lying on the ground.  He was adorable, so I took a picture. We also got great street ice cream that reminded me of the street ice cream in the Philippines... mmmm I miss that!  It was 1 sole each!  soo good!!!

After the llama ladies, we decided to go into the Temple of the Sun.  We walked to the front of the building and a guy asked us if we needed a tour guide.  We hired him and gave him 20 soles for a tour.  Little did we know, he spoke broken English (eh, the guy tried his best and we understood most of it).  This building was one of the most important buildings of the Incan capital and it was quite amazing! There were windows that were perfectly lined up to each other and brilliant architecture that could withstand earthquakes.  The Incans really built structures very smart and securely.  

The views of the city from the terraces were also pretty amazing.  We tried to look for the Planetarium to sign up for some stargazing, but we never found it and we got tired!   We just walked around some more and continued to admire our surroundings! 

We both began to get hungry but wanted to get back to our place.  So we did the tiring trek back to San Blas.  Even though, it’s easy to get down to the square from our hotel (5-10 min walk).  It’s harder to go up because it’s all stairs.  San Blas is up a little above the main square, which makes the view so incredibly beautiful, but man with the crazy elevation- the trek back up was tiring for sure

We stopped at this place that Melanie (the hotel owner) recommended to us.  It was on our way up to San Blas and was a great break between the stair climber streets.   We walk into the tiny restaurant and it was splashed with all kinds of color.  The restaurant played beautiful Peruvian music.  Jimmy ordered a Pisac Sour - the famous alcoholic drink of Peru.  He didn't like it all!  It was too strong!  I didn't either, but I don't really like strong drinks.  We ate some delicious Peruvian food, but it was definitely not as good as our first place we ate at the day before, Hotel of the Sun.  This place mainly offered ambience that surrounded it's customers with colors of the country.    

The night was beautiful in Cusco.  It glowed at night with all different kinds of sounds and incredible energy.

We made it an early night.  We were both so tired.  We were still getting used to the elevation.  Jimmy was better than I was.  Even though we ate, we still picked up some empanadas and pear pie from the bakery near our place.  It was good day! 

 Till next time... :)

August 29th, 2010

We woke up bright and early to go downstairs to our complimentary breakfast.  We ordered some friend eggs, ate some delicious fruit, and drank some Mate de Coca (a tea that would help us prep for the immense elevation change we were about to experience). 

 After breakfast, we walked out with our taxi waiting for us right outside the door.  We were now  going back to LIMA international airport to hop onto a plane that would take us from sea level city, Lima to 11,200 ft (3,400 m) Cusco. 

We got to the airport.  There was a huge line of people with the same idea of seeing the infamous magnificent ruins high in the mountains of the Andes!  We went through a weird process for domestic flights - you pay an Airport Fee, then Security, then you're finally in.  It was an extra step in the whole airport process.  We managed to sneak a forgotten water bottle in.  However, I really don't know what the domestic rules are in Peru.  We cross security and we immediately buy ourselves a delicious Carne Empanada.   They are a bit different from the Filipino Empanadas (slight larger, different spices, powdered sugar on top).  This was the start of us eating the delicious  food that Peru offered.

We boarded our flight on TACA airlines.  We had aisle seats that sat next to each other, so we didn't see much of a view.   But as we approached our final destination, we saw little glimpses of the beautiful, enchanting town of Cusco.  It was quite exciting!

We land and we are immediately greeted with crowds of people selling trekking adventures, tourist info, hotels, motels, cab rides, you name it - they got it (and you can bargain, too).  It was a nervous 20 minutes or so waiting for our bag.  Of all the places, to loose a bag, this would of been a bummer.  Baggage claim was on group level and you could see outside where they were loading the carousels. We had an unmistakable bright red bag so we were worried when we didn't see it at first.   It was literally the last luggage to be uncovered by the other cargo.  It was a sigh of relief. 

Finally, we stepped outside.  We got our first breath of thin mountain air.  Cusco, like I said before, is HIGH in the mountains.  Even at 11,200 feet, there were towering mountains surrounding the city.   It was an amazing first sight to see.

We found a taxi driver (among the hoards of taxi drivers around us) to bring us to our Hotel in San Blas (a borough in Cusco).  After approaching Cusco (the main center), it was amazing riding through the old streets.  The buildings were soo different from what we were used to.  Most of the streets were lined with original Incan walls and stones.  The streets were incredibly narrow and people were walking along these tiny 1-person sidewalks.  We were surprised to see that there were very few traffic lights.   We couldn't help to look at each other in awe about where we were and what was actually happening around us.  It was a new world!  A new adventure!  A new place with completely different people!  It was THE most exhilarating feeling.   We got dropped off at the end of this tiny little streets and had to walk up these old stairs that led to our street that our hotel was on.  Hotel Casona les Pleiades

This was right outside of our hotel.  This is from the inside of our front door.  What a different world it was!  It was an incredibly humbling experience. 

Right away, we knew it was going to be a great place.  The owner, Melanie, let us in.  She was so friendly, greeted us with a hug, and started to go through tons of great info about what to do while here in Cusco.  We sat down around a few cups of the Mate de Coca tea and talked for about an hour.  By the time we got to our room we were anxious to get out and explore! She also warned us to be easy on ourselves because of effects of elevation sickness.  "You need to take it easy at least you first day otherwise you can get really sick and that is normal in this town."

We headed upstairs.  Our room was very clean and had a lot of character.  It was on the 3^rd and top level of the hotel so the ceiling was slanted .  It made the room look cool, but it also caused more than a few bumps to the head.  But we didn't mind, the exposed wooden beams and the view out the window made it all worth the bumps.  Out of a little window, we could see the whole of Cusco.   Ignoring the warning about elevation sickness from Melanie, we quickly grabbed what we needed and headed out.

 Not counting moving from airports, to taxis, to hotels, and back, this was our first time out into the city.  It was surreal.  We got a really good recommendation about the hotel, so we were lucky to be in a great part of town called San Blas.  There we were, overlooking San Blas Square, ready to explore Cusco.  We started taking pictures right away.

This one native Incan woman in traditional dress approached us holding a baby llama.  She offered to let us hold it for a picture.  Jimmy proceeded to take a picture with this woman in her colorful dress.    As it turns out, it is very common for people like this to approach you looking to pose with you for a picture for a few Soles.  This was the first of a number of pictures we “bought” from these interesting people.

We wandered down the narrow cobblestone streets to the main square in the middle of Cusco.  It was beautiful, with huge cathedrals and a big fountain in the middle.  And the best of it all, was the beautiful people. 

We were really hungry so we went looking for a place to eat.  There were people lining the streets offering their menus, hoping to lure you into their restaurant.  After a little more wandering, we stumbled onto the Hotel of the Sun restaurant.  We almost walked away, but then decided to turn around.  After reading the lovely lunch menu consisting of a soup, a drink and an entrée for only 20 Soles ($7), we decided to enter in the threshold of deliciousness.   After sitting down, we immediately felt the altitude hitting us.   We thought we had escaped the infamous sickness of everyone that arrives at Cusco, but we realized we definitely did not.  We drank some Mate de Coca, which is what is recommended for altitude sickness.  Still the slight dizziness didn’t go away, but stood in our backyards.

Our soups were incredible made with a grain called quinoa.  The food was full of flavor! The colors of the soups was bright orange and man, was it good.  Our waiter, Percy recommended it to us.  It was sooo good!  After tasting that, we didn’t think it could get any better.  Jimmy ordered a delicious Alpaca meal and I ordered Ceviche ( a traditional dinner here in Peru – and the Philippines).  They both were amazing!! And as I am writing this, it makes me want to walk over and have a taste again!   

Soon, we were full and we were ready to run out and discover more of the beautiful city.

We went out and walked around and around and around.  Admiring the beautiful native clothes that the Peruvians wear – the beautiful colors of their hats and skirts and shirts!!! We absolutely were amazed! We took a ton of pictures admiring all the scenery and the beauty of this new world.

We decided to go down to the market.  For Jimmy, this was his very 1st time to ever experience a real marketplace (and I don't mean a grocery store or the LA farmer's market)- this was a place where you can bargain deals and people yell for you to come to their booth to shop when you walk by.

We entered the market and there were a ton of fruits, vegetables, meat, Peruvian crafts, clothing large pizza sized circular bread being sold by sweet old ladies, alpaca sweaters, gloves, scarves, socks, warm hats, and so much more.  It was full of energy.  When you look at an item as your passing, they start showing off - opening blankets, clicking two wooden spoons together, anything that can get your attention.  Of course, we stop.  We look, we think, we buy but before we do, we bargain - Every price is negotiable.  They always start high for tourists - and with our giant western hiking daypacks, Jimmy and his "color," clearly we were tourists. 

After the market, we began to walk.  We had a map but we were intentionally getting lost.  There were dogs everywhere.  They were just a part of the city.  WE LOVED THAT. They were very well behaved dogs, too.  After walking through the crazy marketplace, filled with people selling honey straight from honeycombs and men selling us toilet paper on the sidewalk, this new part of the town was very quiet.  We kept getting farther and farther from it all.  Suddenly, we reached a pair of train tracks and it was there we decided to head back to our hotel because the elevation sickness began to really bother us.  The altitude in Cusco was definitely a hindrance.  We walked for another 30 minutes back to our place.   Our condition began to get rapidly worse.  Soon, we felt the sickness really bad.  Our headaches were just horrible.  And it's not like we were hiking or walking fast or running- we were just leisurely walking, but "leisurely walking" in high altitudes is a problem if you are not adjusted.  We learned this the hard way.  We were warned not to push ourselves that day, but we were so excited to explore this new and foreign land that we definitely pushed ourselves to our limits. 

We got to our hotel and immediately laid down.  It was only 2:30PM but we collapsed and slept for 5 hours. 

Till next time...

Dog sledding at Mount Shasta was so much fun! First, because I have never done it before, and second, my own dog was hooked up to the sled and became a sled dog for the day. (He's a siberian husky). My family (and my dog) had a blast!

So I just got the new camera that I ordered in the mail today! I am soo excited! I absolutley love photography and I must I have learned to use those little dinky digital cameras quite well. But I decided, this year for Christmas, that it was time for me to upgrade to a DSL.. and boy am I sooo excited about it!

I have a thing for sony products (sony computer, sony digital cameras, sony camcorder, sony dvd player, etc). I just love their products and I love their customer service. So I decided to get a Sony DSL camera. (That and they have quite a few that are decently priced sense I cant afford to much and they take great pictures.) So, I got the Sonly SLT- A 33. So far, it looks really nice. It came with a lense, which isnt the nicest of lenses, but I knew from reviews that it wouldnt be the greatest lense. It still takes gorgeous pictures with it though so I am okay with that!

But now I am going to go play around with it and I will let all of you out there know what I think of it later!

:D

So, as I have said before, I am a huge baker!
I love, love, LOVE to bake! I decided this summer that after I graduate from college I am planning to go to culinary school to become a pastery chef. Now, I know that this might seem silly. Why graduate from a very expensive school with a really good degree and then drop that all to go to culinary school? Why waste time at one school if there is nothing there for you? But, if you really know me, really really know me, then this idea wouldn't seem to odd. In fact it might make complete sense. So, for the time being, just go with it.

So bake to my love of baking. For some strange reason, in about 9th grade, I decided to bake some chocolate chip cookies, my favorrritteee chocolate chip cookies ever. I had found them in this reallyyyy old Betty Crocker cook book. It was that recipe though the led to my love for baking. Before I new it I was baking several times a week. I would bake for birthdays, for celebrations, for holidays, for classes, or just for fun. I made chocolates, cookies, pies, pasteries, brownies, everything that you can ever imagine. I have even made a 3 teir wedding cake for my mom's best friend. I loved baking but I never thought that i would be able to make a career out of it. I just thought it was a fun hobbie. I did always have adream though that when I was older and retired that I would open up a cute little bakery.
Well, that goal is still here, but this summer I decided I didnt want to wait until I was old and probably un-hip to follow my dream. I decided that after I graduate from college, if I am able to afford it and can get in, that I want to attend a pastery school so I can follow my dream!
I do hope that this can happen and I want to do everything in my power to make it possible.



Well anyways, this whole blog was just going to be about what I baked today but I guess I got a little side tracked.

TodayI baking chocolate chip cookie muffins from a Martha Stuart cupcake recipe book I got from my aunt this Christmas, some chewy coconut cookies from a recipe on Allrecipes.com, and some Ghirardelli hot chocolate that I made for my family after they got bake some selling Girl Scout cookies in the snowy weather.... I must say, it was a very successful day in the baking world.

I always enjoy pushing myself to try new things. I like to see how far I can push myself and my self control. To do this, I like to give up little things I enjoy or set goals like going running every day for a period, just to see if I can. So last year, for my New Years resolution, I decided to give up chololate for one whole year. Now some people might find this a simple request, but not me. I am a very avid baker (baking about 3 times a week) and I literally had chocolate every single day. So, to say that I was going to give it up for a whole year was a huge step for me!
Not only would I not be able to eat chocolate candies, but also practically everything I baked, everything everyone else bakes, Easter candies, Halloween candy, Christmas candy, and everything else which I sooo deeply loved. Not an easy task for anyone!
But..


I did it! One whole year without annnyyy chocolate! One whole year of lots of questions and crazy looks as I gave the explanation! One whole year of being tempted to lick the brownie bater spoon! One whole year of realizing that every resteraunt has practically no non-chocolate dessert options (except vanilla ice cream). It was a hard year, but I am soo glad that I prooved to myself, and to the many who were hesitant of my capabilities, that I COULD!

And lets just say, after a whole year of no chocolate, even the lowest grade chocolate tastes AMAZING!!!!

In the beginning of 2010 - I listed 3 places that I wanted to conquer, Mt. Baldy, Mt. Whitney, and Machu Picchu.  It is now close to the end of 2010.  I crossed 2 of those things off my list.  Mt. Baldy (thanks to the documentary that I am directing- Baldy for the Blind) and surprisingly enough, Machu Picchu. 

It has been a life long dream to travel the long road to the magical, mystical ruins of Machu Picchu.    I have heard about this place from fellow dreamers and travelers.  I have seen the ruins in many travel shows, seen the many, many pictures of it, and even read the travel blogs of strangers talking about their adventure on this incredible expedition.

On August 28, 2010 - Jimmy, my husband and I hopped on a plane to South America in search of the infamous ruins.  A couple months before, I spoke to a friend who had completed the trip and after talking to him, the seed was planted to actually achieve that dream this year.  We thought it would be an impossibility, but we took the leap of faith and chose adventure over stability.  Life is too short!!  and we are too young to NOT use up all our resources to follow a dream! 

Walking into the airport, everything seemed normal.  People traveling, luggages, suitcases, crying, laughing, taxis, children running catching up to their parents, all the sounds that we were used to.  As we approached our gate, we began noticing a new sound, everyone at our security check in point was either speaking Chinese (probably Mandarin, not sure - a flight to China was 2 gates down from us) or Spanish.  That was when it really started to hit me.  We were leaving America and approaching a new county.  We were truly stepping onto the soil of a new continent.  A year ago, we would of never dreamed of this moment happening, but it was here. 

There we were sitting on a LAN airplane on our way to a new chapter in our traveling experiences.   We flew over Mexico and saw Baja's beautiful crystal blue waters, a desert with sand dunes so big that it could be seen 30,000 feet in the air, and then night came.  The world turned into stars.  We played games, slept, ate, looked outside to the darkness, and slept again.  Soon we arrived in LIMA, PERU.

We spent little time in LIMA.  We arrived near midnight, so there was nothing to see or do.  After getting our bags, our cab driver and girl from the hotel met us and took us to our hotel.  We walked out of the airport and was greeted by the dozens of taxi drivers asking us if we needed transportation.  I looked up to a spanish speaking world - billboards all in spanish (of course).  We get into our cab.  I look over at Jimmy and there is just pure excitement in his eyes.  We were both trying to soak in the crazy experience.  Both our driver and the girl from the hotel spoke very little English - but somehow we communicated to the best of our ability.

We hopped out in the world and immediately walked into the our hostel.  Not the most interesting side of town, but we weren't going to stay there for more than 8 hours till our next taxi ride back to the airport.   The girl escorted us in.  The brightly colored hostel was very welcoming and we were immediately greeted by a nice man who spoke very fluent English.  Right away, he set up a cab for us for our flight out to Cusco.  He asked us where we were from - we told him Los Angeles.  He laughed and said... California ( in a Spanish accent, "Cale por nia").  About 60% of the people that come here, are from the US and about 80% of them are from "Cale por nia."  Interesting. 

Someone helped us to our room on the 3rd floor.  We passed a brightly colored room with colorful lights and a pool table on our right.  On our left, was a room with 2 hammocks you can lay down on and look up to the sky.  We were basically on the roof!  We entered our room down the hall.  The room wasn't fancy, just simple and convenient.  We had our own room with it's own bathroom.  The door closed behind us, Jimmy and I looked at each other, smiling.  Out eyes were glowing with excitement!  We headed down the spiral staircase to grab some food.    It was 1AM, but we were starving!  The guy at the front immediately said that the staff would make us pancakes!

Their staff immediately walked into the kitchen and whipped us up some Peruvian Style Pancakes and some Papaya juice. We walked into the lounge where there was a TV, video games, books, DVD's,  and 2 computers for the internet.  Not to mention- this place had wireless internet which was very convenient.  Within seconds, we were calling the US and immediately posted on FB (of course) that we had arrived safely!  We got in touch with our friend, Craig, who "facetimed" or video chatted with us through our iphones.  We were ecstatic and we knew that the adventure was just beginning.  After 20 minutes or so, our food was brought out to us at a the little diner tables in the dining room.  The pancakes were delicious!!!  The fruit was so fresh!  We were satisfied!!  After eating, we were spent, so we walked upstairs and headed for bed.

This was only the beginning...

Till next time!

Also, check out this video of our trip:  [video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNXi7Gzbdvc 100x100]

Going to post the rest of our blog up!

Alas! Summer is over and it is back to school!!  Feeling like a part of my spirit has been ripped away!  What an amazing summer hiking, climbing and camping in Oregon.  It is truly where I feel most at home.  Dreading the winter months far away from home!

Exploring Oahu on a scenic drive