Summer Vacation - Zion National Park

Hey everyone! It's been a while since our last post, but we're back! We just got back from a trip to Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon. It was both Minsu and my first time, so it was all very new and definitely breath taking. I can't wait to share all of the fun with you guys! 

This trip was 4 days and 3 nights long. We happened to go when the weather got extremely hot, so you can just imagine how terribly hot it was. We went with a group of about ten other people and rented an Airbnb. If you're going planning on going in the Summer, I highly recommend snagging an Airbnb as we probably would have melted to our death if we camped out there. So we stayed in a town called La Verkin which was about 30 minutes out of Zion. 

DAY 1 - Friday

We arrived on Friday evening and decided to just take the rest of the night off. We had an amazing home cooked meal, got acquainted with those we hadn't seen in a while, and just relaxed in our gigantic house. I'm a huge fan of Airbnb's as I have never had a bad experience. This particular house was gorgeous, super clean, and easy to stay in. The only thing that maybe was a little inconvenient was the lack of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and extra towels that guests could use. We ended up going out to buy our own necessities. If we had known of course, we would have definitely just brought everything with us. 

DAY 2 - Saturday

On Saturday, our second day there, we got to explore Zion National Park. We got up nice and early to eat breakfast, wash up, pack, and hit the road. We drove about 30 minutes to little town at the entrance of the park called Springdale. There were so many cute little stores and eateries to be explored. We stopped in a little coffee shop to grab some joe, parked our cars in a lot (where we payed $30 per vehicle), and made our way into the park. So there are park shuttles that come out to Springdale that take park-goers just to the entrance of the park. Once at the entrance, there's another shuttle that stops at each shuttle stop throughout the park. There are seven total stops which include Angel's Landing, Weeping Rock, and so forth. We stayed on the shuttle til the last stop which led to The Narrows. I'm sure you've heard of The Narrows or have seen photo's of the famous landmark. The hike to where the actual narrows begins is really not bad at all. It took around half an hour to get where the water was. We saw that most people just stop at the point, take a couple photos and head back. From that point on is where the real hike begins. We had larger group with young children so we decided not to go further. However, if we ever have the chance to go back, better prepared as well, this hike is definitely one to try. 

Because The Narrows were at the very end of the shuttle route, the ride was about 40 minutes long. With the scorching hot weather, the shuttles rides felt like they lasted forever. But our youngest traveler, Logan did an amazing job throughout the entire journey! 

This concludes Saturday's adventure. we returned back to our home, washed up, settled down before making dinner. Dinner was chicken fajitas and kimchi soup. We incorporated a little bit of Mexican and a little bit of Korean cuisine. It was sooooo delicious after such a long, hot, tiring day. 

DAY 3 - Sunday

We decided to take Sunday a little easy. We ate breakfast and headed out for Bryce Canyon. The drive was a little more than two hours long. Once inside Bryce Canyon, the sight was absolutely breath taking. The way the rocks were colored and formed was amazing. While we were driving through, there were little rainy patches that caught us off guard, but came as a pleasant surprise. We drove straight to Bryce Point. I assume this is also one of "THE" places to come see when you're visiting Bryce Canyon. It's a designated view point that lets you overlook the entire canyon. What an amazing view it was. It's one of those things you could see through photos, and think it looks the same in person. NO!!! Seriously friends, this view is worth your time and energy it takes to get here. I strongly urge you, if you haven't, to come see this view!

we continued our day with a drive tour. On our way back, we drove through Zion again to hit up the more "touristy" part of the park. There's a super long, super dark tunnel that goes through a mountain that is a "must drive through." Not only is it an amazing experience to go through it, but it also puts into perspective the immensity of the tunnel in it of itself gives. I was in awe that this tunnel was thought out, and executed because somewhere, someone thought it would be a good idea... wow. After the tunnel came just the most amazing view of Zion itself. It was like an enormous painting. 

We ended our activities with this view. We returned to our home and enjoyed each others' company, celebrated a birthday, shotgunned some beers, and relaxed in anticipation of our long drive home the next day. 

DAY 4 - Monday

On Monday we left all of our memories in Zion and traveled back home. We stopped for lunch at David Chang's Momofuku in Las Vegas. We tried an assortment of dishes including the pork belly buns, pear and burrata, cold chili noodles, crispy potatoes, trip tip ssam, and their famous friend chicken. It was such a treat, and a great way to have our last meal with the whole gang. 

Alright friends, that concludes our trip! We had such a great time exploring the outdoors despite the crazy heat. We especially had an even better time because we had such a great group of friends there with us. We're thankful for this fun, silly, tiring, and yet relaxing time. 

Thank you so much for tuning into our blog! We have a few more trips planned for this Summer, so stayed tuned!! Manna out. 

Enemy Territory - San Francisco, CA

Hi everyone! It's been a while since our last post, but we just got back from an awesome trip to San Francisco and I'm so excited to share our experiences with you! This was once again, a last minute trip. We've always wanted to experience a Dodgers away game. Coincidentally, a friend of ours was already taking a trip to SF, and found out the Dodgers were in town, so asked if we wanted to join. So this trip was planned around the Dodgers vs. Giants game, but we got to do a lot of other fun, touristy things too!

First stop was breakfast. We went to Tartine Bakery and Cafe in Mission District. This cute little place has a ton of reviews on Yelp, so it must be good right? well, let me tell you. They have the best croissants I have ever tasted! I absolutely love bread, and anything I might love even more is being able to eat croissants layer by layer. Tartine has some of the best pastries in town, and I would highly recommend to anyone visiting the bay area. 

Next, we went sightseeing to the Twin Peaks, where you can see over the entire city of San Francisco. It was such a beautiful day when we went so the view was absolutely breathtaking. Right below the Twin Peaks you can see the famous bendy road that car companies often use to show off their cars in commercials too! I personally really appreciated the view because the city felt so close in range. In LA, we have to drive up quite a bit to get a view like this, so it feels very far. I felt like SF does a great job of preserving as much natural land as they can. 

Our next tour pit stop was the Golden Gate Bridge. The pictures don't do justice to how amazing the day was. We went to Battery Spencer to get this amazing view. I think this is the best place to take a picture with the view of the bridge in the back. 

Next stop, Palace of Fine Arts! This place is a must see in my opinion. The architecture and detail is really something else. At first though, I joked that the dome looks like the EOS lip balm, and we could never unsee the lip balm. We took a walk around the whole place, discovered lots of unexpected wildlife, and just took in everything in awe. 

After all that, we were finally on our way to the main event; The Giants vs. Dodgers game. This was everyone's first time at AT&T Park, so we had no idea what to expect. After parking the car, the closer we got to the stadium, we saw more and more people dressed in blue, which was such a relief. Being so used to Dodgers stadium, navigating to our seats was a tad confusing, but overall, it was nice. One thing we do give props on is the food. The food is so much better than the food we have at Dodgers stadium. We really need to step our game up. For the rest of the night, we enjoyed the game, and each others' company. 

That pretty much wraps up our super short stay in San Francisco. A special thanks to our friends Young and Jenn for making this trip so memorable and fun filled. With Summer approaching, we have lots of trips lined up, so stay tuned for our next adventure! Thanks for reading!

Discovering The Weird City - Portland, OR

This trip was a short day trip to Portland, Oregon. It was our first time there, with not much planning time. So we figured, let's just explore the city. Our first stop was Pine Street Market. Being from LA, this type of establishment was nothing new. It's a market with many different eateries inside; very similar to Grand Central Market and Anaheim Packing District. We decided to eat at Bless Your Heart Burgers. We ordered a single (regular cheeseburger), Bless Your Heart Burger (chili, cole slaw, mustard, homemade pickles), and the Down N Dirty Fries (Griddled onions, peppers, mushrooms, beer cheese sauce, ranch, and BBQ spice). The single tasted like a mix between Shake Shack's Shack Burger and In N Out. The single was super juicy, not to mention the patty had a crispy crunchy outside that gave it even more character. The Bless Your Heart burger tasted very unique. The chili, coleslaw, and pickles are all made in house to give it a "one of a kind" taste. Lastly, the fries were just amazing. The beer cheese sauce was super delicious and the BBQ spice seasoned the fries just perfectly. Our first meal was a good one for sure!

Right next to Bless Your Heart was Brass Bar by Barista Coffee. Conveniently, this was another thing on my list of things to do, so naturally, we had our post meal coffee here. We got a vanilla latte with almond milk and hazelnut latte with coconut milk. The coffee was not the best we've had and ended up tossing it before we could finish it; probably because we were so full from lunch. Overall, the experience inside Pine Street Market was fun and upbeat. Definitely Something to check out if in the city. 

Just a couple blocks away from the Pine Street Market was the "Keep Portland Weird" wall, which we felt obligated to take a pic in front of. So here they are!

We did some more exploring and discovered Voodoo Doughnuts and the Portland Saturday Market. Voodoo Doughnuts of course had a long line, which we didn't feel like waiting in... So we took some photos, walked by doughnut eaters, and called it a day. We walked some more to find a huge food and art market with live music! It was a little overwhelming to say the least, but it was definitely a great experience! Elephant ears are a thing here. 

Okay, moving on. We hit up some more touristy spots. First, we went to Ira Keller Fountain Park. Unfortunately, there was no running water like we had expected. This sort of took away from the whole experience. But, we made the most out of it and enjoyed the view.

Next, we went to the famous Powell's City of Books. Really, it was a giant, overwhelming book store. Pretty amazing how many books and things there were, and how easy it was to get lost in the store. Inventory is probably close to impossible here! But, at the end of the day... it was just a book store hehe.

This area of the city was super nice to walk around and shop. There was one store in particular that caught our attention. We walked into Made Here in PDX. This cool space had different small businesses in one place! From local chocolatiers to handmade leather goods, it was all here under one roof. It was great to see small local businesses helping each other out. 

We noticed there were a lot of Middle Eastern eateries out of trucks. There is a huge food truck culture in Portland, so if the weather's nice, and you don't mind walking, checking out food trucks would be a must do in Portland. We ended up eating dinner at Thai Peacock. The little place was very cute with an upstairs seating area, where we sat. The flavor was a little different from the Thai food we're used to eating out here in LA. We enjoyed dinner, had fun eavesdropping on the "first date" happening right next to us lol. (Sorry no photos!)

Once we stuffed our faces with yummy Thai food, we took a walk across the Burnside Bridge. While on the bridge, we got a great view of the iconic White Stag Sign. Looking over the river, we also got a beautiful view of the rest of the city including the convention center. 

Just when we were about to call it a night, we discovered Voodoo Doughnuts Too, and there was not a line to be found! So we parked the car, walked in, and got ourselves a doughnut each. Minsu got the Cap'n Crunch, and I got a sprinkled cake doughnut. What a treat! 

So that just about sums up our super short visit to Portland, Oregon. We plan on going back to hit up the beautiful nature of Oregon. We had so much fun just taking in the culture of Portland. It was most def a new culture we experienced. Thanks Portland for a great time. Keep Portland Weird!

Indulging in some good ole Stumptown Coffee at the airport before our flight!