Paul & I always talked about trying their tea every time we visited the Huntington Garden, and he ended up taking me there as a part of my surprise gift for my birthday... :) So sweet! Thank you!!! Anyway, we knew that they served tea, but we had no idea what type of food they offer. So, we were kind of concerned since both of us were starving by the time we got there!

Our reservation (*reservation required) was at 11am, and we were seated promptly. First, they served warm freshly baked scones (delicious!) with 2 different types of whipped butter (1 salty and 1 sweet) and asked us what type of tea we wanted. (I believe they had 3 choices of tea.)

In the middle of the tea room, they have this small open refrigerated stand with many small buffet plates where you can choose from "an array of savory finger sandwiches, imported and domestic cheeses, fresh fruits, chilled seasonal salads, and specialty petite desserts". I wanted to sample everything since everything looked so good there! But, it was impossible to try everything even though we went back for third rounds using their petite plates (pic below). We were stuffed and very satisfied! My favorite was their cucumber salad with mint leaves and smoked Gouda cheese. Their chicken sandwich and egg with water crest sandwich were good as well. And of course, their tea was awesome (unlimited refill).

I'm thinking about taking my mom there next time she visits. She would love it :)

After our lovely tea/brunch, we first headed to Japanese Garden.
Cherry blossom was in season and it was very pretty this time, and the Koi fish (pic above) was funny to watch. They are like dogs... jumping/climbing out of water to get food. So funny. And we checked all the Bonsai and talked about which one we want to take home :D Hehehe

The Rose Hills Foundation Conservatory for Botanical Science was very fun to explore. We've never explored this section before, but there were many exotic plants from three different habitats - rain forest, cloud forest, and bog. And you can interactively learn about each plants and why and how they grow in a certain way. Very fascinating and interesting.

Since we were running out of time, we said goodbye to the Rose Hills Foundation Conservatory for Botanical Science and walked over to our favorite cactus (desert) garden! Their cactus garden is just unbelievable!! Each time I come here, I focus on taking different pictures of cactus (This time, I focused on taking shots of details)... but I'm always amazed to see so many weird cactus flora and fauna here. Many of the plants look like some sort of creatures or monsters. Some of cactus’ are huge in size...and look unreal. We are always so fascinated and inspired when visiting this part of the Huntington Gardens.

Well, are you looking for a place to get away from the world or to get inspiration?
This place would definitely be one of the places that would rejuvenate your soul... Well, at least for us! And we highly recommend having tea at the tea room as a part of your journey :) It was definitely the nice addition to the trip there.

We can't wait until they open their Chinese garden in 2008! Supposedly, they will have a Chinese Tea House as well!! That would be very exciting!