Hot Chocolate 15K

Today I ran in the first ever Hot Chocolate 15K in San Diego, which is basically the best idea for a run ever! The run was 15K, which is about 9.5 miles, which is great since it didn't require as much training as needed for a half marathon plus the run was proceeded with a chocolate feast. We were given a tray that included a cup of hot chocolate, some fondue chocolate and many dipping items. We were also able to gather many Ghirardelli chocolate squares. It as basically the most awesome run ever! My friends and I had a great time and although the path was quite hilly, we did a great job at finishing with a great pace.

Double Chocolate Potato Chip Cookies

Have you ever thought to yourself, I would like something chocolatey but I would also like some potato chips and you can't decide which to eat, well with this cookie recipe you get both tastes in one. These were extremely tasty and not awkward at all. The chips are like salt, therefore making the combination taste like chocolate covered pretzels. My cookies didn't flatten out like the original recipe and I think it is because I failed to follow the recipe precisely and I used a whole egg rather than just the egg white, so please follow the ingredients and directions precisely if you would like some flatter cookies. No worries though, they still tasted great.

Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup

 I had some zucchini and bell peppers that I wanted to use and so I searched allrecipes and found this delicious looking soup recipe with tortellini in it. I have never had a soup with tortellini in it and it sounded like a great idea. Since this recipe was rated high, I decided to give it a try. This was a delicious soup and it was nice that I could prepare most of it in my slow cooker. 

Meatball Sandwiches

After our return from our trip, we had our families over to show them our pictures and to go over our trip with them. Since it was a large group, I decided to make something simple yet bountiful. I also like this recipe because besides the marinara sauce if you make it from scratch, it is relatively easily made in a crock pot.

Roasted Garlic

Garlic is probably my most favorite ingredient. I love it in everything and I use it as a seasoning for most meals. I have never tried roasting my own garlic because I never knew how easy it is, once I found out, I quickly gave it a try. Roasted garlic is delicious and it is great as a different taste for using garlic in a meal or for something as simple as spreading on some toast to eat. Yum.

Tahiti, French Polynesia

Our last stop on our big trip was to Tahiti in French Polynesia. This was the end of our trip and we were really excited to end it in a relaxing way, where we could really just sit and relax and not worry about having to see everything possible. Although full relaxation was our intention, we did end up doing some minor traveling to the city center Papeete and we also took a ferry trip to the neighboring island of Moorea. Although we didn't have the best experience with the locals in French Polynesia, our surroundings were absolutely gorgeous and we got to enjoy some snorkeling, body surfing, and sun bathing. We had a great time and loved the scenery.

One thing I want to share about French Polynesia is that it is super expensive, Megan actually came up with the analogy that French Polynesia is like the name brand version of a Hawaiian vacation, because a lot of the scenery was comparable to that of Maui and Kauai but for three times the price. If anybody I knew was thinking of going to French Polynesia I would tell them to decide carefully and to look into going to Hawaii instead. I would tell them that if they were to plan a trip to any of the gorgeous islands of French Polynesia then they should stay at an all-inclusive resort so as to save money and not starve since most meals at our resort were a minimum of $30 each for small portions.

 

The view from our balcony

New Zealand

Before I get into New Zealand, I must let you know that I took over 2,500 pictures overall and so it has taken a lot of time and effort on my part to pick out which photos are worthy of being shared and so I hope you appreciate them and that you get a feel for what it was like in Australia, New Zealand, and Tahiti. I also forgot to mention before that Australia was great! It was beautiful and everyone there was so friendly. The downside was that it was HOT and HUMID, very very humid but, we handled it. Not only that, but it was expensive. We heard people say that Australia is 50% more expensive than New York and I sure do believe it. An average cup of Joe would set you back about $6 AUD, around $7 American! Ridiculous, we did well though by packing our lunches and eating in China Town, Thai Town, and Little India. Overall, Australia was wonderful and we are all satisfied with our trip to Australia and don't feel the need to return in the future.

Now onto New Zealand, New Zealand was gorgeous! It had every scenery possible: tropical rainforests, beaches, farmlands, and mountainous lands. It was a lot cooler than Australia, still humid, but in the 70's rather than the 80's and 90's, we actually had to wear sweaters at night. We only toured the North island and it was amazing but everyone we met said that the South island is better, which we can't even imagine since the North island was so great as it was. We all loved New Zealand and we agreed that we must return to New Zealand to see the South island in the future. So here is New Zealand:

Australia

Hello everyone, I know it has been awhile. This time I have a great excuse. Nick and I went on vacation with our friend Megan to Australia, New Zealand, and French Polynesia (Tahiti and Moorea). Check out the pictures below for a quick recap of our awesome 16 day trip, starting with Australia.

 Sydney, Australia