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7.27.2004

SOS

You know your day has gone awry when:
  • you've missed your train because the person on the 2nd flr parking lot decides to call your elevator car instead of taking the stairs.
  • you get to the gym on your lunch break and find no lockers available.
  • you have a deadline to transmit at 4p and your modem decides to retire at 330p -- pffffttt!
  • pinagkakainggitan ka sa departamento mo dahil na maliwanag na pinapakita ng nakakataas sa iyo na paborito ka kesa sa iba.
  • yung kasamahan mo sa trabaho na kunyari lang na nagtatrabaho pero actually namimili ng kung ano ano online at feel na karapatdapat na itaas na ang suweldo niya
  • you need to leave early for a girls' night out and they give you last minute rush jobs at work.
  • you *just* by a split second missed the train again so that you can make it on time to dinner with your girlfriends.

On the other hand, you know that your day can still be salvaged because,

  • the modem actually worked at one time after rebooting and permitted me to send the file before the deadline before it totally and truly died on me.
  • that the IT guy was nice enough to notice that I needed a new mouse and of course, will rush the installation of a new modem
  • that one of my girlfriends actually without notice went to wait for me at the train station just because she thought I might want company driving to the restaurant (so sweet!)
  • that we all got there almost at the same time, had a great time chatting and enjoying our dinner.
  • that I stayed away from ordering dishes with pasta and rice on it (yeah!) instead opting for the grilled chicken with veggies.
  • got home and still had time to watch a baseball game with hubby and still had the energy to pack a little baon (cut fruits, PBJ sandwich, breakfast bars and soda) for him and my lunch (salad) for the following day.
  • my usual snobby cat decides to wait up for me and snuggles up while I watch tv.

I remind myself everyday, especially days like these, that it's up to me to recognize the good (be it minute or obvious) that God inserts in between the unpleasant things that matters the most at the end of the day.

Copyright 2004 Wandertrekker

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Bloopers -- pinoy style

While on my lunch break, I came across this article. I wonder if these quips really happened but it will surely make you laugh -- ang pinoy nga naman! click boo-boo article I also can't wait to see the movie "The Village" which is opening this Friday. It's by the director M. Night Shyamalan whose other film projects were the Sixth Sense and Signs.

Copyright 2004 Wandertrekker

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7.26.2004

What it has become

Initially, when I started this journal of sorts, I wanted to write down the highlights of my days or weeks. I thought it would be great to be able revisit the past and be able to reminisce.

I’ve seen how my grandfather would unfailingly write in his diary since I was a child that when he died my aunts found boxes of old journals and pieces of paper he had notes on but had ran out of time and energy to transfer them to his book. I used to think that keeping a diary was taboo and will just bring one misfortune (now where did I hear that from?). It seems I have come to agree, though too late, with what my grandfather had told me—that it would, no matter what, become part of my legacy.

My grandfather would write everything from the mundane to the most important events in his life that I think the reason why I resisted having one before was because of the thought that I will relegate my life down to a task that is practically redundant.

I used to sneak in his room to take a peak at what he’s written. Curiosity and vanity can be my flaws always wanting to know what he’s jotted down about me (hehehe). Now I find myself doing the same thing, except that I don’t have to have pen and paper like he did. Then I started to grasp the fact that I am now writing AND publishing for the world to read. It’s scaring me shitless but at the same time I find myself feeling very liberated and gratified of this undertaking.

Not really having a plan when I begun, I now find myself constantly thinking of what to write at the end of the day. I had thought of maintianing a travel log since I love to discover new places all the time and I appear to have the restlessness in me that prevent me from staying at home on weekends. When I thought about it earlier, I thought I can just drop a line or two or just summarize my day and yet on the other hand, I realize that I am writing long entries. I am still undecided as to how this will turn out. I feel some of my thoughts and experiences are still meant to be private but it would be an excellent channel for me to let go of some matters that clutter my mind.

My grandfather must be turning in his grave right at this moment saying “I told you so”.

Copyright 2004 Wandertrekker

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7.24.2004

Half Moon Bay



My Mom's visit was coming to an end and I haven't had the chance to take her around because I've been caught up with work. One good thing about SF is that there are plenty of places to see. Mom doesn't like windy road and far off places that requires her to be in a car for a long period of time. If you have kids who get restless on long trips, I have an older version in the person of my Mom. It's the are-we-there-yet? question coming from the backseat.

So we decided to have brunch in Half Moon Bay, it's a small town SW of SF. It is a far cry from the bustle of the city that is practically next door. If SF's real estate is outrageous, you'd be paying premium price to build one here because of the spectacular ocean view.

We tried to have brunch at the Ritz Carlton hotel that was recently built a few years ago on top of a cliff near the coast. We get there and we were greeted by the maître d', who asked us if we had a reservation--we didn't. Totally unplanned, I didn't realize it would be a popular place for brunch. The headwaiter was really nice, even gave me his card, informed me that they usually get booked a month ahead and-- that the brunch is $65 a head (what?!!!). There were four of us that day, if it weren't for the early reservation that would have been at least a $260 hole in our pocket! I can picture my Mom behind me cringing and calculating the total in her head. H thinks the price was fine ONLY because he sees a table full of scrumptious sushi, I think I was very lucky that I wasn't compelled to pay an exorbitant price for one unplanned trip.

After exploring the hotel's grounds and after walking along the boardwalk for some pics, we ended up eating at a Hawaiian joint along Highway 1 for a fraction of that the price.

Copyright 2004 Wandertrekker

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To the South Pacific


H and I decided to cancel our trip to Kauai this year. It's a trip we do every year since we got married. We can't seem to get tired of this place. We've been to 7 of the 8 islands, which include Molokai, Lanai and Niihau and have fallen in love with the Garden isle of all. This year, we decided to see if we can keep ourselves from visiting for once and not miss going and besides we've vacationed in Florida just a few months ago.

Well what do you know? I find out that it's too late to cancel our reservation in our timeshare there, so I guess we ARE going regardless. Oh well, I find myself getting excited for this trip again. Last year's trip was exceptional as we had a family reunion there. It was fun and painful in the pocket at the same time(haha!) but family time is something I don't regret spending money for.

This year, I'd really like to do the Kalalau trail which runs along the Na Pali Coast. It's for experienced hikers and I am not sure if we can manage this feat or maybe even hike to the blue hole. I had major back problems last year which prevented me from doing any hiking at all. There's just too much to do in this island, you cannot seem to run out of activities to do here. The appeal of this island is even more interesting as there were many movies filmed in Kauai like 6 days 7 nights, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones and a number of Elvis's movies. Hubby says this time we should try not to spend too much money on activities--hmmmm...I WILL try...

Copyright 2004 Wandertrekker

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The movie that jangles




Friday was the opening of the movie "Bourne Supremacy". I highly anticipated this sequel because I totally enjoyed the first. It's action packed, witty and for a change, it had a main character who didn't have superhuman power. I couldn't even wait for the matinee the next day, so I convinced my sister to see the movie with me that same night. Loved the storyline, the acting but quite disappointed with the way they shot the scenes. What was up with that cameraman?! Is it just me or is this the new trend in film making? I totally think that they've ruined the movie's action sequences. Even the trademark thrilling car chase scenes that I looked forward to, lost its appeal because the camera was too close and the picture too jerky, it can't be compared to the first one.

From the looks of it, a third installment is likely to happen. I hope they make it right the next time around.

Copyright 2004 Wandertrekker

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7.21.2004

A game, Irving and a wedding

The past weekend was a busy one.

Hubby planned that we watch a game on Saturday at the Oakland Coliseum. H is a big fan of the A’s (Oakland Athletics). That day they were giving away a baseball hat to the first 10k fans in the ballpark. Of course hubby wants to make sure that we will be counted within that limit and so he says we must all (my sister and aunt included) be ready to leave the house by 930a. The ballpark opens at 11 and the distance from our house about half an hour tops—you do the math, hubby thinks it’s never too early to get there on game days like these. On the other hand, the only time I was grateful we left early was that en route, I took the wrong exit and had to navigate out of the bad part of the town.

We were starving by the time 11 rolled by and we entered the coliseum. One good thing about places like these these days is that they now give you a variety to choose from when it comes to ballpark food. Besides the traditional hotdogs and beer, they now also sell items from ice cream served on a mini plastic baseball cap, Gordon Biersch garlic fries to bbq ribs—yum! H and I shared a foot long hotdog and some chicken strips. Ballpark food is the only thing I basically look forward to when going to a game as I am not a big baseball fan. No offense to my husband or to other fans alike, but I feel the games are a tad slow and boring. Okay, not counting the times when they hit a homer or do a great base save! And the A’s do have exceptional aficionados when they play a home game—some even converging in the parking lot with tents, barbecuing and hanging out. You will see a majority wearing the team’s baseball cap, t shirt or jersey and a number carrying their homemade signs. Even though the A’s lost to the Chicago whitesox that day, we still sat through the entire nine innings under the sweltering sun. Highlight of the game was actually finding my sister’s image on the huge billboard for what seems like eternity and she won a price for it—not bad! Also it would have been even better if Mark Mulder was also pitching this game!

I find this video clip of a commercial really amusing—on the link, click and play the “Screaming Girls” video on the bottom left.

PLAY THIS

After the game, we tried to make it back to the city as fast as we can from the Bay bridge all across town to Irving St to try to get a haircut for the wedding we were to attend the next day. If one doesn’t want to delve into the maze of the original SF Chinatown, one would go to Irving St. I call it the second Chinatown of San Francisco. We are regular customers (suki) of this hair salon on 22nd and Irving. H got a buzz-cut and I got a trim with extra layers amidst the loud (I mean LOUD) bantering of the six or so hairdressers. While we were in there my aunt was a few doors down getting a pedi. She got her big toes painted with some design which my sister describes as similar to a painting of a fungus (haha), you be the judge-what do you think?-->

Then off we went for our 720p reservation at the nearby popular Thai restaurant, Marnees. I love their specialty spicy chicken wings. Not a good weekend diet- and budget-wise!

Sunday was a wedding event day. My cousin was getting married and so we had to drive to Union City in the East Bay. Feeling really old that day, as I realized I used to baby sit the bride when we used to all live down in LA. The wedding wasn’t held in church but in a community hall, wedding and reception all in one. Here we call it a ‘non-denominational’ rite. There was a mix of an Indian American blessing (a feather with strong incense being waved by the reverend) after the vows which I still find quite unique and somewhat strange considering that the majority of the guests were Filipinos. My sister and I mostly took pictures, all 300 or so of them. My feet started to hurt after all this—gravity and food all weighed down on the pointy shoes I was wearing. Special thanks to my friend, Girlie, back home, for easily suggesting an outfit for me to wear to the wedding. That pink poncho over a black dress worked out well and served its purpose of hiding the bulges here and there (haha, yes, got those!). As my usual self, left before the event ended. The mother of the bride, knowing me too well, just rolled her eyes, seeing my typical habit of what I call my ‘hi-bye’ syndrome whenever I visit—oh well.

So now I wonder why does it feel like I didn’t have a two-day non-working weekend at all?

Copyright 2004 Wandertrekker

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7.20.2004

Lost it!

No, no, no--not mentally just that I had a long entry composed last night and thought was saved as a draft right before hitting the sack.  Logged in this morning to find that it's not there! argggggghhh...
   Apparently, we had an unstable internet connection last night and I didn't notice it while working on my post.   Will start composing in another application before I post here from now on.
   Just not in the mood now to do all over again--maybe tomorrow.  I will just visit my fave sites for now.  

Copyright 2004 Wandertrekker

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7.16.2004

***Happy Birthday, Lola (grandma)!***

Copyright 2004 Wandertrekker

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7.15.2004

Gone subterranean

Shasta Caverns


It's really the first time I've been in a cave. I've been wanting to go to one for sometime now but have not found the time to go to one. I was excited from the ticket booth to the ferry boat ride across the river until I got to the entrance of the cave and saw how the walls felt like it was ready to engulf me.

Talk about having a bad case of claustrophobia!

After the grueling climb up the steep stairs, and after we were warned that we had 600 more steps to navigate during the tour (yay!—what have I gotten into?) we arrived inside the first of several rooms and suddenly all of my anxieties were replaced with awe by the sight before me. My camera had to work extra hard to get decent pictures with the limited lighting in the caverns—thank goodness for digital technology! My impression of cavern tours meant going down below ground but this one we actually went up inside a mountain. We can also tell the guide has spent so much of her time showing visitors around as she's telling corny stories and pulling character look alikes from the shapes of the cavern walls the entire time.

....still more things to come....

Copyright 2004 Wandertrekker

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7.14.2004

A bridge too far

A long weekend for most here in the US means a jaunt to some place far away from your usual city. This is what we did (and more) this past holiday, nowhere exotic just North to the City of Redding approximately 230 miles or a good 3.5 miles from San Francisco. Why Redding? Only because they were inaugurating a new bridge that was designed by a world renowned Spanish architect and engineer name Santiago Calatrava. He also designed the new PATH terminal at the WTC site and projects at the 2004 Athens Olympic games.



The new bridge is called the SUNDIAL bridge because it was ingeniously designed to tell the time as well. The tallest tip at the other end of the bridge serves as the big hand and its shadow would cross over upon these little cement mounds on the floor that has the exact time engraved on it. The bridge span is made of glass, it's actually the first time I've seen one! It's such a sight at night when its lit from under the bridge.





Well it was a long weekend and it's just one bridge, so it's not the end of the story--more pictures to come from nearby areas we visited.

Copyright 2004 Wandertrekker

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7.13.2004

*Alzheimers*

I am sure I am not alone when I say I misplaced my car keys this morning. The problem is, it's not the first time. More often than not, I forget where I place a certain item especially when I do some cleaning at home. I always welcome it when I get the urge to organize my ever-growing pile of mail, bills and all. The only thing is I know I have the tendency to hide 'important' items in a special place/nook and I realize later on that I hid it too well enough that I can't find the darn thing when I actually need it!

So this morning, I had to wake my sister from her deep slumber so she can give me a ride to the train station and then had managed to hitch a ride with a friend from the city to get back home, what a day!

A *reminder* for myself to look for my spare key that I had put away in a forgotten special place a while back.

I think this journal will also serve as a reminder of events that happened in my past ....after all memories are something to be treasured for a lifetime.

As of this writing--keys were found by H (hubby, rolling his eyes at me) --thanks hunny! --it was tucked between my stack of bills that I brought with me to work yesterday and today (hay naku!)

Copyright 2004 Wandertrekker

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7.12.2004

Monday Blues

It's past midnight and it feels like I will be burning the midnight oil all through the wee hours of the morning again (it's all that caffeine in my system and HTML codes in my brain!)-- I am sure as hell gonna pay for this when I try to drag my sorry ass to work tomorrow morning with no agenda in mind for the 930a meeting with the Boss who will be reporting back to work after a week long vacation and a deadline for a file that needs to be sent early. Last week was really nice and relaxing--

shhh!!hey, I got a lot of things done last week ok--really!

Copyright 2004 Wandertrekker

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7.11.2004

Memetdcat

The brat is STILL the baby and queen of the house.

Copyright 2004 Wandertrekker

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Concert in May

Hubby H is a huge fan of latino music. In fact, it's all the music he listens to these days. Not common if one's Japanese! As usual I can always expect a lively, fascinating and fun performance from latino artists and their audience. We always have a blast! Mind you, this isn't the first we've been to, he's always into the lookout for concerts of Enrique Iglegias, Shakira, Juanes to name a few -- and of course I'd always expect those customary stares when they see us there, a couple of asians, enjoying their kind of music. Some pictures from Thalia's High Voltage Tour

Copyright 2004 Wandertrekker

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7.10.2004

First entry

I discovered blogging by accident earlier this year and have been visiting my favorite sites religiously for quite sometime now. I don't exactly know how I ended up publishing all of a sudden. It just happened last night when I found a skin I really liked but couldn't seem to change the title to my own--this got me challenged for some reason and now I find myself writing an entry to post! Too bad, am spending a lot of time designing more than posting right now..still a lot to learn and a lot to update--I am sure I will catch on especially since I am NOT a morning person and I love to sleep so very late.

Copyright 2004 Wandertrekker

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