I really like the city of Brea…read more My husband and I come here often. There's just so much to do! I feel like we are in Brea almost every weekend. No joke. That's how often we come to this city. It's very clean and safe. I've never felt unsafe in Brea lol Maybe, I am naive. I know all cities have "bad parts." I probably just haven't gone to any of those areas. I still to trendy, public areas. For example, downtown Brea is nice to hangout. The Improv is perfect for a comedy show. I also love Shake Shack lol I wouldn't mind moving to Brea one day. It seems like such a nice city, with so much to do. Also, very safe and clean. There's no graffiti anywhere or trash laying around. It is well-kept for sure. I never see homeless people wandering around. What does the city of Brea do with the homeless? Whatever they are doing, it's working lol

Great city to shop and dine in. I mainly come here for the Apple Store at the Brea Mall and…read moresometimes to eat when hanging out with foods.

How quickly this spectacle was forgotten when the Endeavour tore through town…read more The LACMA Rock, which would later be stuck in place as their "Levitated Mass" and now sits mostly forgotten unless a herd of tourists wants to stand in front of it and take one of those corny perspective pictures of themselves trying to lift or push it, came through Southern California on surface roads. Avoiding freeways because it couldn't fit under bridges or overpasses, it had to go this slow, winding path from Riverside County. Well, the rock, wrapped up in white plastic like a frozen Butterball turkey, stopped for the night around the corner from my house. Honestly, Levitated Mass is far less interesting than the drama it was watching the rock get to LACMA. I ended up going out the night before to watch the damned thing turn a corner in La Mirada. There were 100 people already gathered. City vehicles were around to take down the street lights and make sure the wires were high enough, while police and paramedics parked their cars in the middle of the street to watch. One parked in front of a corner with a big group of on-lookers already standing there. An elderly lady, whose high-pitched voice occasionally rung out, "IS IT HERE YEEEET?!" started screeching from her lawn chair, "EXCUSE ME!! We were sitting HERE. You're blocking my view!!" and proceeded to throw her bedroom slippers at the ambulance. Then there was some drama with a stretch limo trying to come through the closed intersection and the police getting on their loudspeakers to tell it to move, to the roars of the crowd. While we waited for the rock to show up, got to talking with some of the people hanging around. Apparently this wasn't the first time a lot of them had seen the rock, with a few of them saying they'd been following along since Riverside. So yeah, the rock had groupies. It shows up with the biggest rig imaginable, with one truck pulling and two pushing. The rig was really long, with dozens upon dozens of tires. A low hanging tree ended up cracking and snapping as the branches got caught on the rock and ripped out. People ooh'd and ahh'd and then got in their cars to watch it make the next scheduled turn. I went home. Got up the next morning to get some cough syrup, still in my pajamas, and there it was next to the CVS with countless people from all around there to gawk at it as cars went by slowly, one at a time, since the traffic was cut down to one lane. Lots of impatient honking from people trying to get to the 605. It's sort of funny. Was this supposed to be performance art? It sort of inadvertently became such. It seemed like a bigger headache to get the LACMA rock around and yet people complained more abhorrently when the Endeavour came through in less than half the time. Can't wait for the next gargantuan thing a museum acquires for the betterment of the city's people to come rolling through to the tune of everyone's complaints and broadcasted yawns. Good grief.

I went to see the 340 ton rock on its way to the museum. I went on Friday and couldn't find it at…read morethe place it was supposed to be. It turns out they were 2 miles behind schedule and I just missed it when I got off the 71 freeway. On Saturday I found it and enjoyed seeing the truck it is on, but the rock is covered with an enormous trash bag. The museum has staff there passing out bookmarks with rock facts printed on it. Duane Johnson has nothing to do with it but it would be something to have their pictures together, eh?

Another new addition to Asian American Expo, Sneaker Expo!…read more Entry tickets to Asian American Expo, also gave entry to Sneaker Expo along with K-Play Fest and Anime Impulse! This event took place at the same time at exhibit hall 8. For their first year running, it was very impressive that they took over the entire hall and that they had a pretty good crowd going around. To be honest, I am extremely far removed from this kind of culture, but it was still neat to look around. There's lots of, of course sneakers and shoes, of which I assume are high quality and highly sought after and lots of trendy street fashion style clothes. Lots of vintage and anime collaboration clothing which was really neat. Loved how the vendors would decorate their booths as well. There were some cars at this hall, a place to shoot some hoops, and a trading area for shoes too? Perfect if you're a sneaker collector. I didn't think I'd get anything for free here, but I got a free lighter. Nice, thank you ! I also thought it was super funny, but I immediately got hit by a huge wall of vape juice/weed smell entering here haha. Vibes are on point!

It might be the last year. If you have never taken the time, please do it now. Lines move fast and…read morethe caramel popcorn is delicious.

BEST CARAMEL POPCORN I'VE EVER HAD! Mom and Dad used to bring the whole family out every year,…read morestarting back in 1978. This is the same great caramel corn I remember, and I'm sorry if this is the last year. Smilin' Jack 4-EVAH!

They have the best hospitality!! They go way above and beyond to make you satisfied!!! It's a local…read morespot and never disappoints!

I have the biggest sweet tooth in the world and I have tried almost every dessert spot in Orange…read moreCounty. So trust me when I tell you that this place has the BEST crepes ever!!! They are so generous with their chocolate/Nutella which most other crepe spots are not. Every bite was freaking amazing!

I've been to AX many times and this was the first time I didn't feel burnt out after the con was…read moreover. I could actually function and get my chores done when I got home on Monday. I will say, it's probably because we spent two nights across the street at the Delta Hotel and also because it's a lot smaller. We also left our car at the hotel so we didn't have to do deal with the parking lots or parking fees (Although the hotel did bill us for overnight parking). I thought getting our "badges" would take at least two hours and was fully prepared to wait for that, but I literally walked up, scanned my QR code and was handed my...wrist badge. I did not enjoy that because it was a one way tightening bracelet. But we were able to slip it on and off with a little effort. The con started at 9 AM and we got there at 9 AM and after getting our badge we literally walked into the con. No waiting in line! Lets talk security - Kind of all over the place. They sort of checked my bag at check in and by the end of the night they just made sure you had your wrist badge on lol. The event staff was kind of helpful but most were young kids and they looked bored. I wish there were umbrellas or some type of covering during the day in front of the AX stage outside - It was so hot! And then at night it was freezing! Lol but we enjoyed the lineup on Saturday night called "Future Funk" featuring Ken Harada, Englewood and Macross 82-99. It was so cold we couldn't stay for Macross, which was a bummer. There are burners but the one we were by burnt out and staff couldn't fix it. Their Artist Alley is smaller and outside the con in its own tent but there's still over 200 vendors. The dealer room is inside the main building and again, over 200 vendors. During the day there are several events happening in ballrooms A and B and a screening room where anime is constantly being played. There was a retro arcade gaming room, activities for the kids, a spicy ramen challenge, a treasure hunt and a stamp hunt. For food trucks, I think there was a good variety - Okamoto Kitchen, Bearology, Daikokuya Ramen, Pizza Studio, Shin-Sen-Gumi, Takoyaki Yama-Chan, Tokyo Yakisoba, Rice Balls of Fire, Kuramoto Shavery, just to name a few. Overall there weren't as many cosplayers, there were more kids, and way less people. The less people made the con more enjoyable. Although we did miss the big name brands you see at AX, this is something I'd bring my kids to or first timers to to see if they enjoy it.

I believe this was the third annual Anime Expo Chibi event. It was hosted at the Ontario Convention…read moreCenter which is a large venue. The event consisted of lots of cosplay, artist alley, merchandise, food trucks and more! There were rooms with anime sets to take pictures. It was really cool to pretend like you're in an anime with the background. There was a Manga Lounge (it smelled bad...like sweat and B.O. sorry to say), there was a Maid Cafe but we didn't go in as I believe it was for 18 and older. The venue had a lot of security inside and outside checking wristbands and ensuring things didn't get out of hand. Honestly, it was more security than I've seen at the conventions in the past. Overall, we had a good time. I was super excited to take a picture with Joseph Joestar, from JJBA, almost as soon as we entered the venue. Also to take a pic with almost all of season 5 and my favorite character, Anna Sui, from season 6 was really cool! Everyone's cosplays were so good! Some of the costumes looked really expensive! Unfortunately, parking was HORRIBLE! I hope they do better going forward. We spent over an hour trying to get parking. We arrived around 11am and it seems everyone had the same idea and there was a super long line down the block for parking. We got out of the line, not sure we were in the correct line, and tried to go to another convention center entrance. They had around 5 lots, I believe. Lot A, B, C, and I think D and E (not sure on the last two). It was miserable. I almost said forget it and drove home! The parking situation could have been organized much better. Many people didn't know where to go and the parking lot attendants weren't helpful in directing us to the appropriate area. Also parking was $25!!! The parking WAS NOT directly at the Ontario Convention Center as that area was exclusively for the Anime Expo Chibi and the food vendors, rock concert, etc ... The $25 was for a lot across the street which might have been owned by the convention center. Not sure. Also there was a dirt lot not far, adjacent to the convention center and a few lots behind the convention center that were being used for parking. We ended up finding parking a little distance away and parked for free! I was also really disappointed that the artist alley area (inside and outside) had pictures of naked anime girls out in public view. Anime Expo has always been a family friendly event. While I understand that anime culture includes provocatively drawn characters in some animes (and mangas) it was absolutely disgusting seeing naked anime characters like that. If they want to have that "explicit artwork" it should be set aside towards a different area, not mixed in with regular anime drawings. Outside there was literally naked drawings in one area and then nearby, not far away was a jumpy house for kids. I was shocked. Needless to say, we didn't buy any art from the vendors this year. Also, this was our first time at AX Chibi but we've attended Anime Expo in the past. I was surprised they didn't have a bag for us to put our stuff in. They wanted everyone to buy merchandise. We were fortunate that the Helpful Honda table had bags and we could put our stuff in it. All in all, it was an okay experience but I won't go again. Not to Anime Expo Chibi. I'll consider Anime Expo in LA and hope that too much hasn't changed since I last attended.

Oh hey, American Pie, Weird Science, and Donnie Darko houses are also along Country Club Drive in…read moreLong Beach too?! Sweet!!! After you've finished checking out the houses from Ferris Bueller (which was also featured in Red Dragon and Not Another Teen Movie) and Painters' House from American Pie 2, swing on over to the other streets surrounding Country Club Drive in Long Beach to check out these film location houses. Originally, I was planning on just visiting Ferris Bueller's House. Thanks to my trusty Yelp, it also pulled up this feed and other Yelpers reviewed the surrounding houses. Furthermore, a huge shout-out to Yelper Alana M., for posting the addresses on her picture captions. Definitely saved me the huge headache of trying to find them, lol! With that, I continued on my mini house tour before heading over to my first ever Long Beach Elite Perk from Alex, the newly appointed Long Beach Community Manager, yay! Admissions and Parking: All free and residential parking all around. Yes, residents actually live in these homes and so please be respectful and quiet when visiting the neighborhood. Locations: +2001 Donnie Darko House: 4225 Country Club Drive, Long Beach, CA 90807 Starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Drew Barrymore: A demonic-looking rabbit tells Donnie that the world will end in 28 days when Donnie sleepwalks outside his house during the 1988 presidential election. I had never seen this movie but decided to check out house since it's here in Long Beach. +1985 Weird Science House: 4252 Country Club Drive, Long Beach, CA 90807 Starring Kelly LeBrock, Anthony Michael Hall and IIan Mitchell-Smith. Two high school nerds use a computer program to literally create the perfect woman. Loved this movie! Always rooting for the geeks and Lisa (their creation) was sassy, loving, protective and brilliant! Then again, John Hughes' movies are always dope! (Breakfast Club, St. Elmo's Fire, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, etc). +Jim's House from 1999 American Pie: 3925 Cedar Avenue (and Stewart Way), Long Beach, CA 90807 Starring Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Seann William Scott: Jim and his group of high school virgin friends decide to take action and vow to lose their virginity by prom. Lol, the apple pie sex scene! Can't live that imagine down...ever, lol! +Michele's House from 1999 American Pie: 3925 Cedar Avenue (and Roosevelt Road), Long Beach, CA 90807 Starring Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Seann William Scott. Chris Klein, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Thomas Nicholas, Shannon Elizabeth: Jim and his group of high school virgin friends decide to take action and vow to lose their virginities by prom. Michele's infamous quote: "And this one time at band camp...I stuck a flute in my...." LOL! Not so innocent, geeky, little band camp girl after all. She definitely taught Jim a thing or two.... If you're a fan of Donnie Darko, Weird Science, and/or the American Pie Franchise movies, come on over and check it out on these streets!

Looking for something fun to do this afternoon? Want to impress your out of town guests or your…read moreday date? Put on your walking shoes or hop on your bikes and check out the "Little Hollywood" of Long Beach. The Virginia Country Club area of LB is where you'll find the real homes used in the filming of "American Pie," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "Red Dragon," "Donnie Darko" , "Weird Science" and "Not A Teen Movie". Filming continues in this neighborhood and a few weeks ago they were taping episodes of "Dexter" in the area. Many of these locations are close enough together you can see a few at a time. But with nearby Rancho Los Cerritos, Los Cerritos Park or the Bixby Knolls Biz area, a visit to a few of these spots can make for a wonderful day! [ Warning: These are private homes. Do not trespass on their property, knock on their doors, or otherwise disturb the residents' privacy. ]

Had tickets to the free event from Eventbrite to attend International Festival and Korean American…read moreFestival of OC. To my surprise Korean American Festival of OC was actually part of the International Festival of OC which saved my girlfriend and I the trouble of traveling. This international festival was kind of small with a majority of Korean vendors and a few other international vendors. We were able to get some free freebies and decided to buy sugar cane juice to drink. It was really good, my girlfriend says it's a famous place for sugar cane juice. There were also other vendor and food vendors. They also had a beer garden area. We were able visit most of the vendor and food vendors within 30 - 45min. There wasn't too many things to buy and or look at. There were performances from different nationals performing.