i cannot believe 2010 is coming to an end. looking back throughout the year, i had an incredible year. regardless of my quarter-century life crisis, i laughed and cried a lot, had fun, traveled, celebrated, said goodbye's and said aloha's. jeez, what a year!
here'a a quick (and long) recap of my fabulous 2010:
vegas trip in january.
for those of you who don't know, that's shanel and henrik - they are my besties from high school.
weekend getaway to seattle with leea to visit my friend melyssa.
up top at the space needle.
riding the duck throughout the city.
leea is someone i met through asahi gakuen (saturday japanese school) back when we were in... 5th grade i think. her and i got along very well - she's from long beach, we both swam and played waterpolo and loved to have fun and get rowdy. we actually got "kicked out" of japanese school together, the school asked us NOT to come back for jr. high. buahahaha, we laugh so hard about it now!
i met melyssa through mt. hermon high school camp - we got along instantly. her bubbly personality and captivating smile bonded us. since she's from seattle, i've promised her the last eight years that i'd go visit her and finally had the chance to. we had so much fun!
i met melyssa through mt. hermon high school camp - we got along instantly. her bubbly personality and captivating smile bonded us. since she's from seattle, i've promised her the last eight years that i'd go visit her and finally had the chance to. we had so much fun!
dodger games.
the little boy here is jake - he's my friend, jimmy's cute boy! he's is definitely the ladies man at these games!
jakey is so lucky - amy bought him that foam finger!
azzi is the best - she knows how much i love ethier so she bought me his t-shirt!!
this is us after a game in front of annie's kick-ass red bug!
tina's bachlelorette party & wedding.
this is at saddle ranch at universal - we rode the bull for tina. some of them are friends of tina's since elementary school! i've known tina since jr. high - although, she didn't like me at first, she's been like an older sister to me.
this is at her wedding - i had the pleasure of being her day-of coordinator. so much fun!
kettle one oranje launch party.
that's chuy on the bottom - he works for southern wine & spirits. he and melissa have been friends since they were little, so he invites us to all these liquor launch parties. it's always a party with the three of us!
my four-month long 25th birthday celebration.
we went to brass monkey in k-town, a karaoke bar. it was a blast!
here's me signing "don't stop believing" by journey. this has become "my" song. teehee. how embarassing but i have no shame!
gina came to visit me for my birthday - i took her to the taylor swift concert!
OMG - ethier is signing my t-shirt!!
i LOVE ethier!
and he loves me too!
stuart, that handsome man surrounded by us sexy girls, works for the dodgers. all thanks to him, i've had the pleasure of attending all these baseball games. for my birthday, he gave me one of the best gifts ever! he let me and my friends ON the field while the players were practicing for their game. i got the chance to meet my FAVORITE baseball player, andre ethier #16. AMAZING! best celebrity meeting EVER!
my birthday celebration continued as melissa took me to the lady gaga concert. so much fun!
ultimate girls trip to vegas in may.
i love us!
the girls and i went on a spur of the moment trip to vegas. we had so much fun soaking up the sun, eating, drinking and dancing!
after my girls trip to vegas, i came back a day after for a sales meeting for work. but of course, i couldn't be in vegas without seeing my favorite people in vegas. the four of us are silly and call our group P(aolo)S(hanel)H(enrik)A(ya).
this is us enjoying some "ono" food at bachi burger. this is a restaurant in vegas that my friend, lorin watada opened in vegas earlier this year. amazing!
this is us enjoying some "ono" food at bachi burger. this is a restaurant in vegas that my friend, lorin watada opened in vegas earlier this year. amazing!
yuki-chan's graduation.
these are my two sisters from another mother. kotomi (on the left) and i also went to japanese school together. we've been friends since fourth grade. then our parents became good friends. and now for as long as we can remember, we do all our family holiday gatherings together. kotomi's little sister, yuki-chan graduated from csuf this year. yay! the three of us are all college graduates! except now, yuki-chan is going back to school to be a nurse. good luck, sister!
my parent's 20th anniversary celebration.
these are my parents. so cute, yah?? my parents celebrated their 20th anniversary in may. if you don't know, my dad is my "step-dad", but he's the only dad i know and the only dad i need. my parents are amazing. my mom's kinda crazy but whose mom isn't?! hehe joke joke.
kotomi and i were the chefs for the day... no, i lie. kotomi is always the chef. i just do what she tells me to do.
although, i am a better piper than she is! i made my parents a vanilla cake with azuki (red bean paste) layer and green tea ice cream. delish!!
annual vacay to hawaii in june.
robbyn got a group together for a dinner for me at the infamous side street inn.
remember minami? i celebrated christmas with her and her family. although this annual trip wasn't exactly what it was suppose to be, it was fun!
seth finally graduates!
this is seth jordan ocampo. he's my best friend forever.
this is our family. haha joking. that's jallen ella, seth's baby girl. she's two and she's my goddaughter. i miss her...
carol & chris garnier's wedding.
this is the beautiful bride, carol.
this is her hubby and my brother, chris. i cannot believe i get to work with him in hawaii!!
gv's bachelorette party, wedding celebration AND baby shower - all in a matter of 5 months!
pool party potluck at de-lo's apartment with our silly little masks.
after our time in the sun, we went to hollywood men. i cannot disclose any other information about the fun evening we had.
on her wedding day in huntington beach, where she became: gina virgalitto-kemp. i also had the pleasure of being her day-of wedding coordinator. gina says her hubby, jaysn was so shocked because i was able to tell his mom what to do and she did it! hahaa.
then, omg, gvk is pregos! due to my sudden news of departure, andrea organized a baby shower luncheon at raya at the ritz carlton in laguna nigel. gina was so surprised and we all had a good time.
this is funny. we all wrote down our guestimate of when baby kaya would be born and at what weight. this is what ananda guessed. hahaha she's crazy!
july 4th weekend getaway in dana point.
we had an amazing and rockin' dinner at javier's in newport beach.
had an "aya-sandwich" at the marriott. lucky me!
spontaneous trip to vegas in july.
i wanted to get out of la so i decided to go on a drive at 10pm to vegas to see my friends.
shanel taught me how to make turon - banana lumpia. she loads it with lots of brown sugar so it was extra sweet! yummmmeee!!
annual crew get together.
we all met through mt. hermon. some of us have been together since jr. high. i thank god for them.
roy's off-site events.
little tokyo service center's 30th anniversary gala with garrett and yoji.
private dinner hosted by roy at a private home in palos verdes estates.
project by project with jorgie, garrett and ivan.
go for broke's evening of aloha at the anaheim hilton.
roy's downtown la's 5 year anniversary dinner.
my handsome chefs - yoji-bear, markie-mark and g-money.
haha they're my angels.
my favorite guests and friends. the "six-pack". love them!
with guest chefs - raphael luneta, chef/owner of jiRaffe in santa monica, akira hirose, chef/owner of maison akira in pasadena, roy yamaguchi of roy's restaurants, and garrett mukogawa, chef partner at roy's in downtown la. HANDSOME yah???
this is my ALL time favorite picture. this perfectly portrays the fun roy and garrett were having while executing the dinner. this photo is truly an inspiration to me. ♥
i was SO proud to put together the five year anniversary gala for roy's in downtown la. it was a major success and a fantastic evening full of celebration!
gooch's babyshower and birth of baby ryder!
i was lucky enough to pay a visit to the new parents and baby ryder at the hospital, just a few hours after his birth!!
labor day weekend in lake tahoe.
right before our horse ride - all of us in our hats. hahaha.
beautiful blue tahoe behind us!
this is trillion - i've seen him grow up since he was like 13! he's all grown up now!
this is his younger brother, tedmund and i pretending to go to prom. hahaa. i've also watched him grow up!
agbayani wedding.
this is edgar - he's currently the chef partner at roy's in newport beach. we've become good friends - we call each other's future-ex. apparently, i didn't take a picture with the wifey. sad! sorry salila!
chiu wedding.
this is the crew - ann is the first of the crew to get married. yay! (and everyone thought i would be married first...)
ann and i have been friends since jr. high. we were roommates in college and have shared life changing experience together. those experiences will always keep us bonded where ever we go.
this is how much i love roy's! creative, yah??
i took jalen to the pumpkin patch and we fed the farm animals. we were both scared of them!
i was hello kitty for halloween - shocking.
lady antebellum concert.
if you don't know, i'm a country music fan. lady antebellum is my all time fav! amy took me to the concert even thought she doesn't like country. BUT i kid you not, she definitely enjoyed it and tried to justify liking country music by saying, "oh, it's more like country rock!" hahahaaa, just admit it, amy!
fun with my oc girls.
salila, debi and i L♥VE to eat, drink and laugh. oh, and shop!
night with my pretties.
always, always a good time with the three of us!
laker game.
as part of my going away present, clari took me to my first and last lakers game of the season. we had so much fun - except for the obnoxious and annoying guy sitting behind us!
going away parties.
GAWD - the last 7 months were FULL of going away parties. all thanks to curtis for starting the trend. eff you!!
GAWD - the last 7 months were FULL of going away parties. all thanks to curtis for starting the trend. eff you!!
and now.
so, i'm here. reminiscing about 2010, missing my family and friends, missing downtown la, and missing all the "fun". but i'm here. looking forward to my HI-life here in 2011. i'm making friends, i'm having fun, i'm learning a lot and i'm actually starting to enjoy nature... just a little bit.
i will forever and always cherish 2010, as it was one of the most memorable year for me thus far. but i'm excited and hopeful for what is to come, so i will raise my glass to 2011!
♥♥♥
