Japanese Friendship Garden

We had a very busy week last week, lots of evening adventures and wedding planning inbetween. Mitchell had improv on Tuesday, and then I had an interview at the California Botanic Garden on Wednesday. It went well, but I haven't heard anything yet (and in America they tend to not tell you if you haven't got the job). It was nice to walk around and see all the plants though. They specialise in California native plants and have everything from Joshua trees to redwoods to all the wildflowers currently blooming. 

Mitchell went to go and play squash in the evening, and then on Thursday we went out for pho with a group from meet-up. 

A new board game cafe recently opened in Riverside, and on Friday night once a month they hold date night, where they pick out good two player games and give you a free chocolate mousse. We played some new games and got to explore the cafe. It was small, but had three extra rooms, which were all fantasy themed. There was the courtyard, the tavern, and the secret dungeon. There were dice and fantasy objects all around to make it the perfect setting for dungeon and dragon players. 

On Saturday, we spoke with Mitchell's family and then went out to play some tennis with our German friends in the building. We weren't sure if we'd be able to as there had been so much rain recently, but there was only a few puddles and we were able to play. 

In the afternoon, we went for a quick trip to the Newport Center Mall next to the beach. I'd heard that you can actually see the ocean from it, but it was so misty that day! We could barely see the tops of the buildings next door and it was like driving through a cloud. We spent a little while there (mostly in the Barnes & Noble) and then moved on a place a little further inland.

We met one of Mitchell's improv friends for dinner at a vegetarian restaurant which did big fancy sandwiches. They'd recently changed location and were only doing pick up, and it took us a while to find it, but fortunately we managed it and sat outside to eat. It was really tasty and we stayed for a while chatting until we decided we wanted dessert, which required a change of venue. 

We drove a few minutes to a place called Honeymee, which served ice-cream topped with local honey. Alex and I got the plain with just honey on top, and Mitchell got a lavender and cookies and cream milkshake. 

We stayed pretty late and then the clocks changed (a week ahead of the UK for some reason) so we didn't get up until a bit later than planned the next day. We arrived at the San Diego Japanese Friendship Garden just after 12 and found a giant queue to get in! We were here for the Cherry Blossom Festival and so was everyone else!

We had to wait for over an hour to get in, but once we were inside it wasn't too bad. There were cherry blossoms and little structures everywhere, but our first stop was the food. There were Japanese food trucks set up in the centre and they were very popular. We spent another hour queuing for food and got some noodles and a rice ball each, which were tasty, but we could have done without the wait. 

Once we'd eaten, we went back to the blossoms to get some pictures and look at the stalls selling art, stickers and other items. It was very pretty around there, with small streams and a koi pond too. 

We had planned on visiting another museum in Balboa Park after the garden, but we'd spent so long there, it was nearly closing time, and we went home instead. 

That was our week, more next time!

Lots of love,

Emily and Mitchell

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx