Island Cove

Cavite, Philippines

 
This is Island Cove in Cavite that has a collection of animals and a sort of water park that was quite fun! We saw some hogs, some hawks who were noisy at the time! We even saw a couple of tigers!

 
The first photo is not of animals, but, I love that tree with the orange flowers!!! We call it a fire tree because it looks like the tree is on fire, though I'm not sure if that is its real name! Haha! Oh yeah, there were a lot of crocodiles there! It was pretty exciting to feed the crocs! They feed them real chicken and the crocs snap them up!


 
After looking at the animals, we went to the restaurant there where the tables are right on the water! You can fish there too!

Another view

Manila, Philippines

 
It's not the view from above but from some floors up. Hee-hee! Forgot the name of the area, but it's somewhere in Manila. Did you know that the McDonald's in the Philippines serves fried chicken with rice and spaghetti too? That's pretty neat that depending on the area, McDonald's has different offerings! Now I'm thinking maybe I should still try McDonald's when I'm in a different country just to see what's different. Hee-hee!

A View From Above

Somewhere in Dubai, I think!

 
We had a brief layover in Dubai, around 9 hours I think. Guess what we did there during that brief layover, sleep! Haha! So, since we didn't get to go look around there, I took some pictures from the airplane. =D

More spring signs!

Bull Run Park in Centreville, VA

 
Bluebells! Another sign of spring as beautiful as cherry blossoms, of course in my opinion! =D Just look at the carpet of green and blue along the banks of the river! The blue of the bluebells just pops out of the greenery there! This is one of our favorite places to see bluebells in spring (Bull Run Park). They have a short loop (around one and a half mile, I think) full of bluebells, surrounding you left and right of the trail!


 
Here are some more photos of the flowers and the trail. The bluebells usually come around the same time as the cherry blossoms (usually around April, but it all depends on mother nature!), if you want to come out and see them in spring!

Spring is in the air!

Vienna, VA

 
Spring is in the air! Everything is growing! Well, the pictures were taken not at the beginning of spring, but still spring season! I love cherry blossoms! We were a little late visiting the park as you can see leaves with the cherry blossom flowers, they were still beautiful!


 
It was a really nice spring day the day the pictures were taken. Look at how blue the sky is! I love all the greens around and of course, the flowers were a delight! The daffodils were very cheery! One time I bought a bunch of cut daffodils for home. I was so happy with myself for bringing some cheer at home with the daffodils, but for some reason, I was not feeling so good... I was sneezing and my eyes were teary and my nose was running. I wasn't feeling well when I'm at home but still smiles when I see the daffodils... I didn't realize the daffodils were making me feel miserable until someone pointed it out to me! I even didn't believe it at first. I was like, I don't get allergies from pollen! Once I chucked the daffodils, I was feeling fine! No more sneezing, watery eyes and runny nose! I was a little sad that I couldn't bring home daffodils anymore. Or any flowers with pollen. Haha! I am fine with flowers outside apparently, just not inside the house! Going back to the daffodils in the park, I still think they look very cheery with their bright yellow colors!


 
I just love visiting Meadowlark Garden in the spring! Look at the colors at the park! You do need to watch out a bit for the geese there. Some of them are a little feisty!


As you can see, I love the gazebo there! Just wanted to share another photo of it! Hee-hee!


 
Here's a few animals that you can see there. I saw these turtles and the koi at the gazebo! Don't you just love spring? I do!

Lunar New Year

Falls Church, VA
 
Have you ever been to a Chinese New Year Festival? A friend invited us to join them in a Chinese New Year Festival at a middle school in Falls Church, which was very nice of that friend! They have dragons that you can take photos with and booths where you can buy stuff. I also liked the show that they had with the costumes and everything! The dragon hanging on the ceiling is not that one I was talking about that you can take photos with. Haha! The dragon that you can take photos with is the one that they use for the dragon dance, which was pretty cool! Unfortunately, I did not take photos of the dragon dance... Haha! Of course, to complete the outing, a trip to a dim sum place nearby (which I now can't remember the name!) is a very nice end to the outing! =)

That most wonderful time of the year

Vienna, VA and other places

Okay, this doesn't look like it's the most wonderful time of the year.... You do agree though that it's pretty neat to see icicles on a tree, right? I thought it was pretty amazing so I wanted to share! =D Of course, we all know that the most wonderful time of the year comes in the winter, so this is still a fitting picture, I think. Haha!


 
It was a very cold Christmas eve when we visited the Meadowlark winter walk of lights. You wouldn't know it was that cold with the number of people at the park. Well, except that everyone is bundled up well from head to toe which was a clue to how cold that night was. Enough with the talk of the cold at that time, it was still a good night to stroll through the lights. The trees and the grass there are covered with lights, which was quite a sight! Close to the lake, they even have the lights dancing to some music, which of course, I have now forgotten! =D


 
As you can see, my photo taking skills is not so great... Haha! I think you can still see that the light show was pretty good, I hope! We had a great time walking through the lights, albeit a little bit cold and at the end of the walk, you can get some s'mores! They have a good fire going at the end of the walk to warm up in and of course, they sell some hot cocoa and the s'mores kit. You can also just buy the marshmallows and the roasting stick! I think the fire with the roasted marshmallows is one of the highlights of the walk! Haha! So, if ever you're around Vienna during the holidays, the winter walk of lights at Meadowlark is a fun way to spend an evening! I enjoyed the walk through the lights! (Of course, the marshmallows at the end too! =D )


 
This is not from Meadowlark Garden, it's from a friends house and just wanted to share! She goes all out when decorating for Christmas that when you visit her house, you can't help but feel a little more Christmas spirit! =) Hope everyone has a most wonderful time during that most wonderful time of the year, through the years! =D

The happiest place on earth?

Anaheim, CA

 
Have you guessed yet where the happiest place on earth is? Disneyland! =) I love that horse pulling the trolley, I think... Just beautiful! Of course, the sight of sleeping beauty's castle immediately brings to mind, Disneyland! Is this your happiest place on earth too? =)


 
At the time of this visit, Disneyland was decked out for Christmas! Yeah, Buzz Light Year is not decked out for Christmas... I just wanted to include him in the post. Hee-hee!


 
I liked their Christmas parade there a lot! For some reason, I prefer is to the Christmas parade in wdw! =O We saw a lot of Disney characters dressed for the season and of course, the big honcho for christmas, Santa Claus!


A visit to Disneyland is not complete without going on It's a small world! I always can't get the song out of my head after riding it for the rest of the day! Haha!


 
I love how they decorated the inside of It's a small world for the season! I think this was the first time I visited Disneyland during Christmas Holidays and I must say, I'm impressed with what they did for It's a small world! =)


 
I was impressed by the inside of the ride, guess what, I am even more impressed with the light show that they do on the facade of the ride! It's amazing!


I'll leave you with a picture of sleeping beauty's castle all lit during the Christmas holidays at Disneyland! Is it the happiest place on earth, or what? =)