I conquered Medusa!

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

We left the oldies at home and drove to Vallejo where Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is located. :) We decided to go today because we thought it wouldn't be crowded since it's the day after the holiday. We arrived just a bit after the park opened and we couldn't believe our eyes as busloads and busloads of students are being unloaded at the parking lot! It wasn't the best day after all. But since we drove more than an hour just to be there, we went in anyway, thinking that it wouldn't be that bad considering that the parking lot is still nearly empty.

We walked around and had pictures taken with the Looney Tunes Characters (neat!), and watched water creatures in their respective areas. Local Dolphins (as in, those born inside the park) were showing their craft in Merlin's Island party. Thirty minutes after, the show starring Shouka the Whale, was on. But Ane, Gi and I missed it coz we were already in line to get on Medusa.

Ane was too chicken to try it, but Gi and I endured the one hour or so queue just to ride Medusa for about 3minutes. The wait was worth it considering that the thing is the fastest, tallest, and longest thrill ride in Northern California. Being floorless, just looking at it, made me sick but I conquered it! We would have line-up again but the queue is just too long. We rode Roar, the Wooden Roller coaster and the smaller one with no loops, Cobra. This time with Ane. Am not sure though if he will ever ride again. Hehehe.

We didn't eat inside the park except for some snacks because you know how expensive park food can get...twice or thrice as much as when you get the same food outside. I do not understand why theme park owners (even in the Philippines) do not allow food to be brought in and then let their tenants sell food at skyhigh prices, tsk tsk tsk. My sister said I should wait until we get to Disney and realize that it's still cheap at Six Flags. Hah!

We left the park before 6pm and drove to the nearest Denny's...big servings at low prices! Perfect for budget conscious people like us (well, that was until we got here, hehehehe). The food is so yummy I finished everything! I had to skip dinner, mind you. :)

Was a fun day!




Mini-Reunion

Monday, May 28, 2007

May 28 is Memorial Day. And since it is a Holiday, most are on a break from work. We planned to go someplace but decided against it after discussing because definitely people will be all over the place!

So I agreed to meet up with Benz-driving Marijoe and more-Sophisticated Lira for lunch instead. It is really nice to connect with friends after so many years. We hardly talked since they moved to the US in mid-00's. It's nice to be with Jo, who after having a big row with years ago, we are able to save the beautiful friendship that started in Centerpoint. Lira's excitement to see old friends (who actually white-lied to her aunt just to see me, she told her that I was leaving for PI the next day!) rubbed on to me. We had a blast updating ourselves and talking about our former colleagues at Globe. It would have been more fun if Louie in LA and Pia in Davis were able to join us.

We had lunch at Dave and Buster's and windowshopped at Great Mall. Our time was limited because I had to go back home and Lira had to return to her cousin's house. But we promised to spend a whole day together when Ane and I get back from LA. :)

Can't wait to see them again :)


Gilroy

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Up to this morning, we didn't know where we were headed. We attended mass at St. John Vianney Parish. Afterwards, we were headed South.

Our destination was Gilroy, the Southmost City of Santa Clara City, where a lot of Outlets are located! Now that is something to be excited about but sadly, we are not here in the US to shop til we drop. We actually went there to drool, hehehe.

Before we tackled the stores, we had a hearty buffet lunch at Hometown. Those extra pounds are haunting me again! All we do here is eat. Whew!

We didn't go home all teary-eyed because my parents bought all of us a pair of Nike shoes each. Sweet! :) Sayang lang, I was too shy to check out the Coach store, where one has to fall in line outside just to get in. I felt embarrased just lining up when I didn't intend to buy in the first place :)


San Francisco

Saturday, May 26, 2007

So anyway, I should really post some pictures so you will see how awful I looked earlier today. Am not really a fashionista but then again, I know what looks good or otherwise..hehehe. The temperature today was around 7-9 degrees C. That's too much for me.

First stop was at Pier 39. I would have bought myself really hot coffee, but I realized that standing under the sun (with no sunblock, argh!) will make me feel comfortable. We walked a bit, took some pictures and decided at 11am that we should go grab lunch already because we wanna miss the long queue's at the restos. We had some nice lunch at Bubba Gump where the ambience is the same as that of Greenbelt's. Yum! The service is really good, our server was so accomodating. We also had a nice view of the Marina. We couldn't linger any longer because people started to arrive and we needed to give our table up for them.

And then we tried to catch a trip to Alcatraz but we weren't able to get any tickets. Tickets were sold out until Monday (bad timing I guess, we were there during the Memorial Day weekend). So we decided to walk towards Powell Street so we could ride the famous Cable Cars. It was an exciting ride, going up and down the steep streets. At the end of the line stood Westfield Mall (and a lot more vagrants). So yeah, we were malling again, hehehehe. The interiors/architecture of this mall is rather different. More like a church/palace to me, teeeehhheeeee. Very nice indeed.

This is also where I experienced having make-up in the mall for the first time :) So the raves about Bare Escentuals are true. If you know me, I do not wear make-up everyday. If I can get away without it, am fine with that. So it's a nice surprise for me to find something that does not irritate my skin and is cheaper than Chanel (which works for me too!) :)

After getting coffee at Starbucks, we were back again on the cable car to Pier 39. Sadly it was time for us to go home. A day is far from enough to explore all the nice places. I vowed to come back... I just don't know when.

We didn't go straight home since it was already dinner time when we were still on the road. It was Gerry's Union City for us. Not that we are already missing Filipino food but it was a break from all the American food we've been eating :)


Layering is not my style...

Until today. Ugh. I wore FOUR layers of clothing today.

We were leaving the house for San Francisco at around 930am today when Kuya Jun asked if I have my jacket with me (I decided to bring the denim one) and I said yes. And he also asked if I would like to put another shirt on top of the one I was wearing, and I asked if I had to, he said yes, so I did. Before he closed the doors, he grabbed his other jacket "just in case I would need it".

When I met Ane at the car, I asked if I looked ok. He smiled and I knew it just wasn't me. Hay. We arrived in San Fo and Kuya Jun was right all along when he thought I wouldn't be able to take the cold. He immediately lent me his other jacket.

I was instantly sporting the unsexy, unfashionable, uncomfy "homeless look". :(

Anyway, I think I will have to go back for more stories because some big boy is about to throw a tantrum....


The waiting is over...

Thursday, May 24, 2007

At least for my sister and her family. She marched on her Departmental Graduation today for her Master's which she technically finished in December 2006.

So we started our day early with her and Mom going to the parlor to get her hair done. While I did some laundry, hehehehehe. Joaquin wanted to play in the tub. And I let him play as long as he wanted until I found out at 11am that we were to leave for Downtown SJ at noon! So naturally, I panicked coz no one else was ready and we needed to steam iron some clothes for the boys.

Naturally, we were behind schedule but we were still alright. Ate was expected to be in the Uni by 4pm so we actually had a lot of time :) We just needed to be there early so parking won't be a problem.

Lunch was at Sonoma Chicken where chicken was sooo good and the crowd young. :) We also ordered some calamari and Chicken Alfredo (which was so rich I felt nauseous, and didn't finish it, haha).

By 3pm, we were already in the campus grounds and we had so much time left to take pictures and go around. We had lots of pictures so I should start uploading some soon! We also got to see their library which is housed in an entire building so nice it can pass as a hotel in Manila! Books!! Oh books!!! :)

We entered the auditorium by 530pm and the ceremonies promptly started by 6pm. It was a cozy graduation because there were only about 24 MA Grads and less than 15 BA grads. Everyone seemed to know anyone! Ate's name was called and Joaquin started to run towards the exit, then to the other entrance towards the stage that I had to grab him (His Dad and Ane were taking pictures)! Turned out he wanted to go up the stage as well, and he was screaming at me for stopping him. So yeah, I missed the main reason we are here. I flew to the other side of the world, endured a 12hour flight, to watch my sister wear her master's hood onstage...and I missed it. Sigh. You bet I wasn't talking to Joaquin until we got home tonight.

The Graduation ended with a small gathering of sorts outside the Auditorium where we met some of Ate's professors. There were some food too! :)

The University graduation is scheduled on Saturday but we decided not to go anymore. Not only will we be sitting under the sun for about two hours, graduates won't we called on stage again. No one among Ate's colleagues would go, as well. So there wasn't a clear reason for us to go.


I never knew

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

that it could be this emotionally draining and stressful on this side of the world. Don't get me wrong, though. I am having quite a good time experiencing a lot of new things and I enjoy being with Joaquin but there are things I can't seem to run away from. Sigh. I must be PMSing. Sheesh.

Anyway, on to more positive things...

I played Badminton today. Yup after about 5months of not holding my racquet, I decided to join Ane, Gi and Kuya Jun. I did pretty well but not better. I think I even got worse than the last time I played! Hehe. I stretched a little and am glad my body is okay eventhough I did a lot of running ang bending and jumping. Good luck to me when tomorrow comes. Ane said I should prepare myself, hehe. Maybe I should take Ibuprofen before I sleep eh?

So yeah, we went to Fremont again because that's where United Badminton Court is located. But before that, we visited the bookstore once again. Ane gave me permission to buy a CK Scrapbooking ideabook which costs $5.98 (original price is $16.95). Oh yeah! Happy me c")

Before we played, we grabbed a bite at In-N-Out (again!) and it was so funny Kuya Jun had the guts to ask about their "Secret Menu"! Hihihi. The girl on the counter was giving him the "look" and blankly told him that there is no such thing because their entire menu is posted in their website. Go google it hehe.

The rest of the day was spent like this: after the games, we went to Costco to buy some things, dropped by a model townhouse unit my sister is hoping for, went home, steamed some clothes, picked Joaquin from school, dinner at home courtesy of Mom (yeah, both she and Dad arrived on Sunday), went out to check out this store where clothes are cheap, drove thru Jack-in-the-Box for some snacks, and then home again.

Tomorrow will be busy because it's Ate's Deparmental Graduation. :)

Before I end this, lemme share with you Joaquin's Prayer before meals (read til the end, you will be as surprised as we are, I was able to record it but I cannot play it in the computer, duh):

"God is good.
God is great.
Thank you Lord, for our Food.
Amen.
Praise the Lord!
Don't give up!"

:) Night everyone!


My Visual DNA

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Got the link from Aggie's blog and just tried it. If you click on "Read my VisualDNA", you will find my details. Some are true, some are not entirely true, hehehe. Maybe because I'm not feeling too emotionally balanced at the moment. Go try it yourself!




Off to the Beach

Saturday, May 19, 2007

I asked Ate if I should wear my bathing suit and shorts and Havaianas today but she gave me that funny look. She told me that I might not be able to take the cold. So I wore gym pants and rubber shoes. Kuya J even suggested that I bring my windbreaker with me.

I'm glad that I was "properly" dressed for Sta. Cruz Boardwalk. Even with my clothes on, I was shaking cold.

The trip was about an hour away and we got there an hour before the rides started operating (there was an old roller coaster made of wood called Giant Dipper! Scary, eh?). We let J play in the sand for a while and then we started to walk towards the wharf where the sea lions were. Cool! While there, we had light lunch and immediately walked back to the beach to check out the place more. Rides, arcades, games, food and people all around! It was the part of the Boardwalk's 100 years celebration. We missed the Thrilling Trampoline & High Dive Show and didn't wait for the next one anymore. We didn't play or ride either because there were just too many people.

By 2pm we were off to The Mystery Spot also in Sta.Cruz. It was an interesting tour lasting about 30 mins for $5 each person. Ate, Kuya and J did not join us anymore because they've been there before. They just waited for us in the little park down. Joaquin was so happy to see us after the tour that he hugged us all :) This is also where G found some crispy crickets he was more than willing to try. He did buy a box and Joaquin was grossed out upon seeing his uncle eat the bacon and cheese flavored bug. Hehe. I should post his picture real soon hehe.

We were home and tired around 5pm that we fell asleep. I woke up at 8pm realizing that I should have cooked Tinolang Manok for dinner a couple of hours earlier! Hmp. So we ended up eating my tasteless Tinola for dinner an hour later. Ugh, I messed up.

It was a good day that even a crappy dinner didn't matter. :)


To Shrek or not to Shrek

Friday, May 18, 2007

Shrek the Third is now showing today. I've been waiting for this time to come but I found myself at a position where am torn between watching it (and spending precious money) and just missing it altogether. You see a movie pass cost $6 in the morning and $10.75 in the afternoon onwards. We planned to see the movie in the morning to save. But, $6 is still $6, and that is something extravagant especially when in Manila we would only pay around P120 (we don't even go to IMax) for a movie or we could head out to Metrowalk & you-know-what. Wink, wink!

So you guessed it right. We decided to miss it. But promised ourselves to catch Ocean's 13 when it plays on June 8.

Since we got here, we've been really careful about spending our pocket money. I know converting is not healthy but then thinking we didn't earn the money here, makes it hard NOT to convert, if you know what I mean.

We stayed home until we got bored. We decided to hit the road and ended up in Fry's Electronics where I drooled some more. Hay I want a new laptop and a DSLR but I have to set my priorities for now. We picked Joaquin from school and dropped by the supermarket to buy stuff for dinner. Then headed home where Ate was.

Dinner was a mean Sinigang courtesy of Kuya J. :)

PS. It is fiesta time in Obando (May17, 18, 19) and I missed it for the first time in years. Sad. Especially now that Ane and I have a big favor to ask God & it sucks that we weren't able to participate in the Fertility dance.


Operation Laundry

Thursday, May 17, 2007

I found out today that Summer hasn't officially started yet. It will in a few weeks time. It is still Spring. And still cold in my opinion hehe.

We decided to stay home after the long day yesterday. Anyway, I did our laundry today which is quite as easy as 1-2-3. Put the labada in the tub, set the machine, put detergent, and wait...when done, transfer clothes in the dryer, set the timer then leave it alone, and wait again until it's done and then fold. Sisiw! Hehehe, no clothesline needed! It's so easy I forgot I have trauma doing the laundry. It's so easy I would want Ane to buy me the same machine if only water and electricity in PI weren't scarce and expensive.

While doing the laundry, I cleaned up some of the kitchen cabinets, as requested by Ate. Man, I had to throw out stuff because they were expired. I didn't finish everything but I was able to clear an area where we can put the goods we brought here. The OC monster in me was satisfied a bit. We all took a nap after my chores and after lunch... and woke up just when Ate got back from work at 5pm!

We all went to Oakridge for dinner where we ordered Chinese food, express style. The honey-chicken was delicious. Ane had Orange-chicken. But since the serving is big (as every servings here), we had to bring half of our food home, heheh. Then we went to Target to buy some stuff and we were on our way home around 9pm.

Sleeping time! :)


First day out!

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Joaquin had school today and Kuya Jun got some errands to do somewhere in Newark so we decided to tag along and show ourselves around Fremont instead of just staying at home. Joaquin goes to Teacher Nancy MWF 8-5, so it's actually a daycare and school in one. :)

We left the house around 10am. After Kuya Jun "briefed" us around the Fort Bonifacio-like area in Fremont, we dropped him at his appointment and we were on our own. It was Ane's first time to drive here! I was both anxious and excited for him hehehe. Anyway, he did pretty well but stayed clear from the road leading to the freeway, haha!

First stop was Circuit City where we checked out cool gadgets and techie stuff. If you know me, you would have imagined me drooling! Ane and Gi tried the Xbox 360 connected to an HD tv. Whoa! The graphics looked so real! Amazing. But then the console is cheaper in Manila. And besides we didn't have the budget for that. We plan to buy PS3 here though, you know for the big boys, ugh. :)

By the time we went out of CC, we were hungry and decided to grab a bite at In-N-Out. Now, we saw one just around there but when we started walking aimlessly, we couldn't find it and I started to get cold. So we got the car and drove around. The three of us each ordered Cheeseburger and it was simply heavenly yummy! :) I was telling Gi I read somewhere that In-N-Out has a secret menu and promised him I'd find that article. Here it is.

Then we were off to the local Badminton Court, United. I planned to play but the $5 all-day fee got me thinking. Hehe. And besides, I haven't played in a while and there's no one to play with. So the boys just played singles. When we arrived, the players on the court were mostly Chinese. We were even mistaken to be Chinese, haha. The owner was talking to us in his native tongue that it took us a few seconds to realize that we didn't understand him. Ane and Gi were tired and done after about three sets.

After the courts, we visited a 2nd-hand CD/Book Store where Gi found 2 interesting CD's that cannot be found in the Philippines. Then later to Starbucks where we stayed until it was time to pick Kuya J.

Ate and Joaquin were already home when we got back and it was late to cook dinner so we decided to go to our

Splurge of the day destination: Jollibee in Eastridge. I said so because we paid around $45 for Dinner (a bucket of 12 Chickenjoy, Salo-salo Spaghetti, 2-pc Burger steak and Drinks! Too much I'd say so I guess we won't be going back anytime soon. Heheh. The food tasted different though.

That's it for today :)


We are here...

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

We arrived in San Jose last night. The flight via San Francisco was smooth that after we were served dinner and after finishing Night at the Museum movie, we were asleep until 2hours before landing (only because breakfast was already being served!). And we didn't have problems with the Immigration and Customs here and in Manila. The peeps were incredibly nice :)

So far, I haven't done anything but sleep, play with Joaquin, eat, buy Coke and go to Great Mall to stroll. The boys went to buy stuff for the ref while I stayed home during lunch today. It's summer over here but I still feel cold. And lazy.

The week before our flight was hectic. So I'll just go back and try to note everything worth sharing.

{Shoutouts}

To Rissa, I got your offline message only today. heheh. I have my ex-hdd with me and it's somewhere in my luggage, so I'll just email you the layout later!

To my mommy friends, sorry wasn't able to greet all of you on Mothers' day.

To Yang, we miss you!

{PS}

Daddy won. :)


May he rest in peace.

Monday, May 07, 2007

Last night, I received a text message from Mitch that one of the Members of the Baddicts Lucena Group died of a vehicular accident. Now we don't personally know "Apachi" (his forum handle), but Ane and I felt sad upon hearing the news. Afterall, we consider Baddicts as a second family already (the number of members has grown to thousands since 2004). Apparently, he was riding his motorcycle when he met the accident on Saturday. He was on his way to see his wife and 1-year old son. He was supposed to play at Sta. Rosa yesterday but didn't make it. Ane and I immediately thought of the other motorcycle drivers that are so reckless on the roads and called it a night.

This morning, I was browsing the forum for news and found out that his death wasn't as simple as that. He was found dead, still positioned on his bike and had a stab wound just below his left shoulder. Investigation is now underway so the cause of such wound is still unknown. The family's theory, however, is that he could have passed on a street that had a party going on and someone must have stabbed him for no reason at all...in short, napagtripan...and that he was still able to drive his bike and run-off to save what was left of him. But didn't make it to the nearest hospital.

Incidents like this make me shiver, he died a senseless death.

Please pray for his soul and his bereaved family that they may all have peace.