From L A with ♥ pt. 8: End

Previously: The train that was about to take off once we got to the station was apparently the last train. Good thing we caught it on time, otherwise we needed to wait for...I don't know, tomorrow morning? I guess? Eventually, we spent the rest of the night packing and tried to reassembled all the items we bought in LA and the clothes as well. Phiew, what a night.

Okay, I know this is already beyond expired and even unnecessary to brought up again. But thing is, it came to my realization that I haven't posted the last part!!! *lame*, I know. Anyway, let's just get on with it.

It was our last day to spend in LA before going back in the afternoon.

We woke up a little bit late than days before, seeing how worn and spent we were. Seeing it was our last day in LA, we decided to shop a little more in Japantown. We dropped by at some souvenir shops we'd visited before and see if there was anything else we were interested in buying.

In one of them, three of us decided to buy identical umbrellas with different colors. Mine is pink, Elda's is blue, and Aymee's is red. The umbrella's very worth it for sure, because mine and Elda's have broken off a bit and can no longer be used.

Bidding farewell with Japantown!

The restaurant we had our dinner in after Universal Studios

There should be Koreatown on the sign as well :)

Gonna miss this place

Yeah, we basically strolled around Japantown just to get a glimpse before we departed back to San Jose. Really worth the walk!


Downtown LA from Japantown

My two most favorite pictures among all pictures taken during our LA Trip.
Gotta love it!


Shadow play

While checking out if we left anything behind in the room for the last time, we managed to take some pictures. The lighting was good if you kept the curtain open!!!

It was around midday and we skipped lunch in order to get ready to go to the airport. The shuttle scheduled to pick us up finally arrived at the lobby.
See you Japantown! Looking forward to seeing you again in the future.

Last picture taken in front of the lobby of Kyoto Grand Hotel.
Taken by Super shuttle driver who complimented on how we looked.

We happened to pass Staples Center and got a close look of it. Suddenly the whole SMTown drama emerged in my mind again.

The check-in procedure was a bit complicated since we had to self-check-in in order to save more time. The line for the scanning process was unbelievably long, but glad the whole procedures ran smoothly until we reached the gate at the very end on time. Aymee had lunch with a sandwich she bought during the last minutes before boarding.

Our trip mascot: Snowball

Snowball and its owner

The flight back to San Jose was okay. Nothing special or different than the last flight except I couldn't sleep. Even it was freaking hot inside the cabin!

Touching down at San Jose, I began to realize how San Jose and Los Angeles were two completely different cities in terms of vibe! For the last four days, I've been indulged too much with nice sights, crowded places, tall, colorful buildings, and San Jose was just the opposite of it. Somehow the Silicon Valley atmosphere I felt when I walked out of the arrival hall made me miss Los Angeles, despite the fact that we just went there for the last four days lol.

AYMEE'S BIRTHDAY SURPRISE
On the way home in the shuttle, my friend called me. It hit me that it was the day my friends, Elda, and I were planning to surprise Aymee in the evening. My friend, Poe, called that day, reminding me of the plan and what to do. What a good timing though, because Aymee was sleeping, but still I couldn't talk loudly about the plan. She might be awake at anytime.

After arriving at Elda's and my apartment, the shuttle was off to drop Aymee at hers. Elda and I dropped our luggages at our apartment first before we headed off to Pho for late lunch (it was around 5 o'clock, or maybe I should call it as early dinner), also to talk about our surprise plan for Aymee.

We took a bus to the restaurant, which was located across my campus. Poe, who called earlier, caught up with us to discuss about our plan. He bought with him some snacks and games just in case we wanted to stay a little longer at Aymee's place after the surprise.

Elda, Poe, and I went to my apartment to wrap the present and to prepare the cake. Another friend of ours that we invited, Kevin, arrived at my apartment as well to proceed the surprise. After everything was set, we took off to Aymee's without telling her.

Anyway, we already told her cousin Nancy about the surprise so that she could keep it a secret from Aymee.

Here came the moment of surprise....

Aymee, the Happy Birthday girl :)

Unwrapping the presents


Don't cut yourself!

We munched on our snacks although we didn't get to play games on the projector Kevin had brought. But still it was fun though! We laughed and saw each other dance to celebrate Aymee's birthday.

What an exhausting yet a long day! XD

E N D

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N O T E : Aymee's birthday marks the end of our whole LA trip. Overall, it was a very impressive and memorable vacation. Actually this is the second vacation I had after Denver trip for Thanksgiving 2010. Huge thanks for Elda and Aymee for making it all happen. Thanks for all readers to keep up with the reading even though there was a huge gap between part 6 and part 7, but I somehow managed to finish it. Hope you guys enjoyed the whole story and I'll make sure to come up with more exciting stories!

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