Char and Aimee go see Cacti and Chinese Garden. IMG HVY

[aimeekitty]

Yesterday it was foggy, but Char and I decided to go out to tea at Chado and then to Huntington Gardens.




then onward to Huntington! I've been wanting to show Char Huntington for years it feels like. She really loves cacti, and Huntington has an over 100 year old cactus garden which is pretty awesome. Also the Chinese Garden, Garden of the Flowing Fragrance just opened a week or so ago.

The cacti were all very happy and blooming because it had rained recently, and frankly the gardeners and docents at Huntington really dote on the plants there. (as they should!)






Don't they seem like little people...? like little families huddled together?




the squirrel was eating the fluffy top from one of the cacti.


It's hard to tell,... but all these cacti were tilting towards the sun... but it looked like they were all bowing to that one big tall cactus in the center! lol! So I decided to join them.


these cacti did not fall down. they naturally grow this way. I am very scared of them.


a lot of the cacti are really huge here. You can't even see all of this one Char is standing next to. Doesn't she look cute with her sweater color and the cactus colors...?


we thought this one looked like it was an attack octopus. in person, actually... it's much bigger. It was definitely imposing. Char is fighting back


am much more scared of the attack octopus cactus.


Char tries to eat an orange


onward to the Chinese Garden! (EYAAAAAAY!)


this is looking back into the Japanese Garden. There were lots of early blooming cherries.


The white stuff on the rocks is petals. XD


then we saw more cherries... they were everywhere, all colors!










Some Chinese Magnolia. Don't they look like tea cups? I love the shape. Their color was so gorgeous too... with tons of petals on the ground.




doesn't this one lone magnolia look like it's glowing?




KOI!


Char loves the orange ones. I like the calicos.








little girl: "OMG DUCKS"


this is the first we saw of the new Chinese Garden. The last time I was here for a preview, there was only a couple small bridges and some walls. I wasn't sure what to expect. I figured there wouldn't be a whole lot, but I was excited. So this is the first new building we saw. (little girl is running inside. Isn't she cute?)


Then we entered the wall, and my mouth must have fallen open. In the short time between the last preview and this opening, they had built an entire complex! It's SO BEAUTIFUL!! I'm so happy!!!




It was chilly and misting a bit, so we went inside to have a cup of tea (YEAY!)


Char likes things sweet. :)
















This is the model of what they are building. The black buildings are complete and the white ones are the ones that will be finished for the next phase!


We went home to warm up and loafinate. We drank tea (flowering tea from AJ!) and ate comfort food and watched lots of stupid movies like The Hot Chick, Zoolander and stuff. Actually today, we just sat around and loafed, also. Sometimes you just need to be quiet and cozy.


some of the sakura mochi we got


BTW, here's some of the jewelry I got in the garment district. None of it was over $2.
You can also see the Jelly Belly Wild Blackberry Peach Cobbler fragrance Char got me from http://demeterfragrance.com/. It smells like candy, but it's not too sweet! I love it! It's very adorable.

Comments

[merrycalliope.livejournal.com]

I can't get over this photo. It's like Spot the Pokemon! XD Cuuuuute cacti!

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, I like Chinese gardens more than Japanese ones, on average. They're not as tightly controlled. I wonder if there are any up here? I guess I need to drive down south one of these days ... Anyway, I think we're going to go to Hakone Gardens in Saratoga during spring break, though I don't know if the cherry blossoms will last a couple weeks what with all the wind we've been having.

I doubt they have any clip earrings in the garment district. (T_T) Man, I'm such a troglodyte.

Anyway, great photos!

[comrade-roz.livejournal.com]

What gorgeous photos! I especially love the close-up shots of all the different flowers. I wish we had huge Chinese and Japanese gardens like this here in Hawaii. You'd think we would with such a large Asian population, but I guess we just don't have sufficient landspace for it. :(

[kittytreats.livejournal.com]

Wha...whoa I want that cute cat on teapot!!!! Awesome pictures of the cactus!

[darkanticrista.livejournal.com]

All the photos are lovely! I can't wait for the cherry blossom festival here in Philadelphia in April, we didn't make it last year, so I'm really pushing this year, especially after seeing your pics. :P

[maggifan.livejournal.com]

yay! the shots are awesome! flowering tea? that looks scary:P Hehehe....

[gogolotus.livejournal.com]

Wow, the Chinese garden is so full of life now! The last time I went it was so bare D: And I don't think the tea-house was done then. I must go back nowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

I love Magnolias next to Lotus flowers ;_;

[aoi-no-neko.livejournal.com]

Lovely photos, it's been a long time since I've been to the Huntington, nice to see it again! Looks like you and Char are having a great visit!

[jinyo.livejournal.com]

WOW Chinese garden looks awesome!
You guys seemed to be having fun! I'm always impressed by the Huntington cacti zone. It looks so alien!

[karisu-sama.livejournal.com]

Wah, so pretty! :D I wonder if I'll ever get by there... *loves Asian gardens*

[kattykinns.livejournal.com]

It looks like such a beautiful place <3

[esques.livejournal.com]

Oh my gosh, this post has me salivating. What gorgeous pictures and items, it looks like you had a wonderful time.

[joshuaaaaaa.livejournal.com]

Wow...beautiful...I'm putting this on my list of "things I need to see!" And I know Char pretty well, and that one caption should have said "Splenda!", not "Sugar' :D

[ashbet]

I love it!! So beautiful . . . I want to come and visit!!

-- A :D

[miss-jane.livejournal.com]

Those pics are all awesome! The downward growing cacti scare me too... it looks like they're coming after you! I want to visit my aunt, she lives in Arizona and I bet there are all sorts of cacti everywhere!

[pumabaerchen.livejournal.com]

Oh such a gorgeous place! I would love there someday, it looks like an enchanted garden :)

And the jewelry is so adorable!

[agentshawnee.livejournal.com]

thats where they filmed parts of memoirs of a geisha ^-^ i love that garden!

[padawansguide.livejournal.com]

Beautiful photos! I would kill to see some spring flowers - we don't have them quite yet, just a few crocuses. It's worse elsewhere, so I shouldn't complain - at least we have crocuses! :-)

[merryshannon.livejournal.com]

OMG how fun! Gorgeous photos and that looks like such a wonderful afternoon. ♥

[ming85.livejournal.com]

thank you for uploading all this pictures, they're lovely and very good reference (I'm making a small personal ref collection) Your many trips to places like these make me jealous, and make me wanna move to CA! And i always get inspired by the way you enjoy things like tea, cakes, beautiful things and many many different interests. The way you seem to fill your life with your many passions always motivates me ^^

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

Oh, the gardens are beautiful! And I never realized just how many cacti there are!

[hikarichan78.livejournal.com]

Wow... those gardens are just so gorgeous! Thank you so much for sharing your pictures. I haven't been to Huntington Gardens since I was a toddler; I knew about the cactus garden, but I didn't know they had a Chinese garden that's still in the works! Thanks for the reminder that I really should go there and have tea with my sweetie. ^_^