florida: the sunshine state (not quite true in this case).

home, sweet home.  although i love (and i mean, absolutely love) being on vacation, there are times that i become homesick and just long for the familiarity of home - from the tantalizing vietnamese food on washington avenue to the traffic on I-95.  by the end of this trip, i was ready to go home, which is unlike most of my other getaways, where i am disappointed for departure. 

the vacation started off in miami, fl.  i left philadelphia, where there was plenty of sunshine and heat, to a city with looming, ominous clouds and downpours (at some times) of heaven's tears.  although the weather did not fully cooperate with us, we still made the best of our time and soaked in all the sun (hardly) and fun we could. 

miami: miami, "the magic city", offered a plethora of activities for the LE family (more so for tru and me since the others lack the kind of energy that we brew).  although my traveling posse did not fully take advantage of the time spent in south beach (probably because of the weather.. and maybe because it was a bit too crazy for some of them), we did manage to have some memorable moments:

- spending friday with my other half, christina the weina

- walking a few blocks in the pouring rain just to eat at CJ's crabshack on ocean drive

- dancing on stage until 4am at clevelander

- bottle service with the entire family

- eating a $1,000 meal at the atlantic grill and bar

- watching my mom frollick (yes, frollick) into miami's atlantic waters

orlando:  after our short fling with miami, we packed up and headed north to "the city beautiful", where we really didn't do much, to be honest. 

our first night there, we met up with my father's friend, went to the hotel pool (might i add, it is a gorgeous pool - caribe royale suites), and had dinner at thai thani. 

the next day, we ended our slumber early to get ready for disney world, where we traversed the world showcase at epcot, passing by nations such as china, mexico, and france, and meandered through magic kingdom in search of those beloved disney characters.  after dropping tri and ngoc off at the airport, we made our way back to the hotel pool and then dinner at a sushi joint.

our final day consisted of packing and laying out by the pool to catch some last minute rays, and then off to the airport we went.  twas a very relaxing and stres-free vacation.

after a 5-day affair with florida, it is good to be back home to the place i love (glad i missed the scorching heat wave!).  now time to plan my next possible tangent from philly.

a few photos after the jump!  (to take a full look into my vacation, check out the photos on my facebook!)