Once a year, Cherry Blossom Festival is held in Cupertino. This year the festival took place on 4/25/15 and 4/26/15 and my wife participated in the Ikebana flower arrangement exhibits. I recorded this video to highlight her work and many fine work by others in this community event.

For many years that I lived in my parents’ house in West Los Angeles, I heard about the Culver City Studio but I never bothered visiting or taking a tour of the place. During the spring break, I decided to check it out and took my daughter to take the tour.

This ex-MGM studio was where “Wizard of Oz,” “Dancing in the Rain,” “Air Force 1” and many of the old movies were filmed. Currently, the famous game shows “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy” are still be recorded there. We were able to visit the Jeopardy studio and the studio of “The Goldbergs” sitcom. Most of “stages” were off-limit to tourists though.

My daughter and I were glad to take 2 hours visiting this place. It brought back lots of memory and gave us a glimpse of the not-so glamorous back stages. This was educational.

The family took a day trip to Malibu Beach and Santa Monica Beach during our spring break vacation visiting my folks in Los Angeles.

Having spent most of my early life in Los Angeles, I never got sick of visiting the beaches. They are why southern Californians love living here. But believe it or not, this was my first time visiting the Malibu Pier. Had fun watching the people fishing from the pier and was pleasantly surprised by the sighting of dolphins.

The Santa Monica Beach was a quick 3 blocks away from the 3rd Street Promenade – an outdoor mall spanning across 3 huge blocks. I managed to take a short break from our shopping to enjoy the beautiful sunset.

It was a warm and beautiful day. What a treat!

Family took a day trip to San Franciso’s Ferry Terminal, which houses lots of eateries and shops. We enjoyed the foods and the wonderful view of the San Francisco Bay. This is the north east side of the city. Then we drove across to the west side of the city next to the Golden Gate Bridge and the Pacific Ocean. This place is called Sutro Baths. Some rich guy, Sutro, put in a giant swimming pool back in 1894. It was demolished back in the 1960’s. Now it makes a good attraction. Really enjoyed the nice clear view and temperature in low 60’s. Nice way to celebrate MLK.

Family is spending some relaxing time in Las Vegas. This video recorded our experience in riding the new “High Roller” (Ferris Wheel) across from Caesars Palace. The short 30-minute ride gives a high-rise 360-degree view of the Las Vegas Strip. The ride was smooth and enjoyable.
Happy New Year!