Diminutive highs

In the news

2005-01-10T17:39:00.000-08:00

Don't expect this to be a worthy entry. Nothing much to write about today except if it's about work so I'd rather blog about something else.

A friend of mine got into talking by email today and she mentioned about how there were trees falling on houses because of the storms we've been having these days. I just remembered an article I read recently about this lady who was concerned about the tree on her neighbor's property and that it keeps her awake on rainy nights worrying that it would fall on her house and hurt her kids. I've always admired neighborhoods that are lined with tall trees but when it comes to something like this, I am grateful for our measly little trees (still in it's growing stage) in ours. It is not a good feeling to be insecure this way in your own home. I think there are a few who do worry about natural events that you can't control.

For the past couple of years, some neighborhoods in the Bay area (since it's hilly)had experienced the grief of watching their homes fall down because the soil is saturated with just too much water. This year, it seems it's shifted to some areas in Southern California. Mother Nature had given us some kind of respite this year (or so I think).

This may be late but I didn't see it coming and I am not really into blogging about these things but it's really sad to see Brad and Jen split up. I guess because they married a year after we did, it is very disheartening to see them end their marriage when a lot of people hoped they'd weather the times. Gosh-- and they even looked like they were into each other when they went on vacation during the holidays-- what was that all about???

Keeping warm

2005-01-10T01:02:00.000-08:00

I happened to stop by the pet store the other day when I was doing some personal errand. I don't know why I did this but all I remembered was that I just came out that pet store carrying a doggydud's meant for our cat.

Suede and fleece jacket

I was surprised she's kind of liking it but it was too small for her. This girl had grown a butt! I miscalculated the size somehow. She still didn't like to have her picture taken though.

We went to return it this weekend. I hope they'd get a supply of bigger sizes later. I really do not like returning stuff, so I exchanged the duds with a kitty warmer-sort of.

Getting to know her new bed...here enjoying a nice spot in front of the TV

What to do when it's raining outside...

2005-01-09T23:07:00.000-08:00

Because of our rainy weather here(174% in SF, 498% in LA rainfall since July last year!), we couldn't do much this weekend. Just rested pretty much and stayed home. Our heater doesn't seem to keep our lower floor warm, so I've resorted to wearing thick socks, double pants and fleece sweater on top of my shirts, a very homey look, I should say.

I spent a number of hours slaving in the kitchen today, the gusto probably triggered by my need to keep warm. I cooked a lot, am tired from it especially since I had to clean up after myself as well. So here's what I made:

Seafood Paella (substituted the sausage with riblets made from soy),
roasted kabocha (squash) with a mixture of honey, butter and thyme
a stab at substituting orange chicken with scallops
banana bread pudding, changed a little from Toni's recipe
baked yam with onion, parmesan topping

Not really a regular cook. It still feels like a chore to me but this year, I am determined to opt for home-cooked food than ordering out.

It was also a choice of either cooking today or sit and watch the plight of the tsunami's youngest victims on CNN--it is very heartbreaking. I cannot imagine how these kids will cope with the loss and pain they've gone through. Rain, cold and the news are not the best combination these days.

Friday Joys

2005-01-07T17:20:00.000-08:00

Although my system had lagged a day behind this week, I thought it was Tuesday on Wednesday kind of thing, I am happy that the work week had come to an end. I am looking forward to the weekend. It's been really hard to wake up in the mornings these days. The SF weather has been crappy the last few weeks. For the last week at least, it hasn't stopped raining and it has been cold. The weekdays were a chore just trying to roll out of our comfy bed. Wait for Saturday morning and I will be bright and cheery at 6am--that always happens to me.

Today, had lunch with a stranger. It's been raining so I took the subway to the next stop (SF center) and had lunch at the mall's food court. Saw this retired Filipina lady looking for a place to sit and so I invited her to sit with me. I have a soft spot for old people especially the ones who live out their retirement here in the US just so they can help their kids and family back home. This lady reminded me of my Mom I guess. It was fun, I got to chat with her my entire lunch break and had forgotten my newspaper next to me. She came far away from the other side of the Bay Area, I think she must be bored--poor lady.

And finally, Macy's has a sale today. Finally after a dismaying after Christmas and New Year sale (just 25-30%!), I am finally in the mood to go and get some shopping done (for me of course this time)as the store is having their 50% off sale today.

Happy weekend everyone!

Crosswords, puzzles and news

2005-01-06T17:18:00.000-08:00

I've gotten hooked (again) doing this on the train on my way home. I get my morning newspaper in the morning and try to read the entire thing on my way to work and I devote my entire ride home doing the puzzles. It does keep me from just sitting there and staring at people (haha). Plus it's a good brain exerciser.

On yesterday's paper, it was reported that the Thai government fired their Head Metereologist for not giving a warning on the tsunami. Apparently, they were in the know an hour before but were hesitant to give out the alert in the fear that the government will not be happy about disrupting the country's tourist industry. Imagine putting your future in the hands of a person who makes the wrong decision, a decision, that could have saved lives. Thinking it's better to save his job than human lives- what an awful thing to do.

When paranoia gets you

2005-01-04T17:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, on my usual ride to work by subway, I got on one of the train cars with a lady (?) who was covered from head to toe with some type of clothing. Literally, covered, as in, she had to take a peak out of her bandana-covered face just to see where she's at. She had a big rimmed hat, bandana on face with dark glasses, gloves and heavy rain coat, heavy boots as her ensemble. Come to think of it, I think I assumed she's female. On her, she's carrying two bags, one full duffel and a huge zippered bag.

Isn't that weird?

Everyone, including me, eyed her suspiciously. I think here in America, we tend to get lax about suspicious characters/objects. I myself have noticed that I can easily ignore certain signs and things and in this day and age, we have to be more alert for the sake of our safety.

But with something this obvious, it certainly will get your attention. What's in her bag? Why does she have to dress and act like that? and most of all, What is she up to?

She got off on the next stop, which was a relief and all my horrid thoughts went away. I think we had all signs of some relief in our faces. Anyway, all but one question wouldn't go away -- What was she up to?

I think somehow I figured that maybe (maybe) she has some kind of skin ailment or photosensitivity, the most obvious answer. Afterwhich, I felt bad and sorry for that person. It must be hard to even get around with that and without people having to gawk at you all the time.

I think I need to add, 'do not judge', on my list for this year.

Wishes and resolutions

2005-01-04T17:28:00.000-08:00

I just had ONE wish and I still didn't get it. I guess someone thought I was just kidding. So disappointingly sad. It's going to be another not so exciting birthday this month.

Anyways, this morning I found a list of resolutions I wrote down last year. I had totally forgotten that I had done that (haha). Skimmed through it, as it was a long one, didn't get to accomplish all of them. Some are still in the process of being resolved and some seem impossible to even do. Well, whatever was left undone will be in this year's list.

On the side note, being superstitious and all, I was at the gym on New Year's day. Feeling guilty for having indulged myself with the holiday food the past couple of weeks, I am just making sure that my psyche gets the message that I will continue to make gym attendance a habit this year.

I hope everyone had a blast welcoming the new year!

Bagong Balat

2005-01-01T23:59:00.000-08:00

I've finally made it work!

Have so much to do still. Like my favorite links won't show on the page. For no reason, the preview had it while I was testing my changes and edits but just as I published it, the whole section's gone.

At least I made it as planned.

Thanks for the vote of confidence from you guys who posted a comment on my entry. The pressure was indeed -- there. hehe, just kidding!

Hope to get those links up by tomorrow. I think I will do my resolutions like these on a daily basis, it's more realistic and I seem to get to look at it like a project that has a deadline.

Works for me!

2-0-0-5!

2005-01-01T23:56:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

We didn't freeze our asses off waiting in Pasadena for the Rose Parade. In contrast, we actually spent the entire New Year's eve cleaning the house and the cat. Cleaned like I've never cleaned before! Just wanted to welcome 2005 with a clean house. You read it right-- even our cat also got groomed and all. See, to keep the house clean, she has to stay clean as well.

One thing that we haven't acquired in taste is drinking liquor. I once posed a question to hubby why we never go out to get some 'drinks' like some couples do on Friday nights. Hubby's answer was--'ok, let's try to learn to drink then'. His way of humoring me. So grocery shopping earlier this week, wandered off to the wine/liquor section and found some on sale. Not that I intend to habitualize this, it was going to be our midnight toast. I ended up making pink margaritas for midnight. For the occasional drinker we are, it wasn't so bad and it was easy to make. The recipe goes like this: two parts margarita mix, one part tequila, crushed iced on a salt rimmed glass and a lime chaser--not bad. It was fun.. and I slept like a log.

In the skin

2004-12-29T22:42:00.000-08:00

I've had this skin for six months. I am definitely over it but my attempts at changing it seem futile. My sister had designed a nice simple skin for me, it's just a matter of getting it to work. So far I am having problems with the margins and the fonts.

Oh well...

Wish me luck.

I am hoping to pull a new one on New Year's day.

Sign of the Times

2004-12-29T15:32:00.000-08:00

First in my lifetime that I've heard of a 9.0 quake and seen the devastation of the ensuing tsunami that swept through many countries just a day after Christmas. And I thought that the big typhoon that hit Quezon was the big news of 2004. I was wrong.

We are living in scary times these days, makes one wonder what these events all mean. It's unfathomable how 80,000+ (and counting) humans can be wiped out just like that in one short moment. It is so sad and tragic, I feel so bad for these people.

A year or so ago, I got hooked reading the Left Behind book series. The current events reminded me of the first book except there are no dead bodies in the aftermath. I just hope that I won't have to live through the Book of Revelations in my lifetime.

I just want this year to be over with and am looking forward to a fresh new year. I am grateful that the Philippines was spared from this. I can't help but think that if Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia aren't geographically located like that, standing like a wall that protected our country from the rush of tide that spread thousands of miles in all directions--yay, that thought alone is enough to dampen one's holiday spirit.

I don't usually do this (exclusive of my daily prayers) but this week I started reciting the chaplet of mercy in the mornings on the train on my way to work.

It's been slow at work this week and so I've checked the agencies that are helping the disaster victims. For those of you who can spare some help, check the list. There's also a blogspot site that give a ton of information for people all around the world.

The night before...

2004-12-25T15:35:00.000-08:00

There is one thing that makes this holiday for me while I am away, it is gift giving and opening of gifts. It's still an exciting event for me.

We opened our gifts before midnight (haha). We spent Christmas eve preparing food for tomorrow's potluck at my aunt's house in Daly City. We don't really look forward to that but going there is a tradition now. It's just that we are the only cousins who come and it's basically just my aunt, her kids, in-laws and grandchildren. To not come means we have to be out of town again like Thanksgiving *smile*. Anyway, don't get me wrong, they are really nice people but it's just not the same if not spent with your own immediate family.

I was surprised that hubby actually was listening to my hints a few months back. I should have hinted on a new car (haha). This year he gave me a pink mini ipod and the remaining CSI seasons on DVD that I do not own. I gave him a smaller digital Canon camera for his everyday use on his blog since he's been using my camera for every occasion on his calendar. Not that I am being selfish but I think it's handier to have a compact one than my bulky G3. My sister gave me the perfume I've been eyeing for years but never really bought for myself (I don't know why), I didn't know she knew I like this scent.

He's also into old videogames and so he also received a Tetris world game for his Gameboy advance. And guess who ended up getting hooked on that game this weekend? ME! sheesh!

Great gifts! It was the most fun seeing their faces light up with the gifts you've so long tried to hide from them. Thank you!

Happy Holidays

2004-12-24T14:01:00.000-08:00

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO MY FELLOW BLOGGERS AND READERS!!!

Looking back I realized how naive I was when I came to the US. I used to think that I should greet everyone Merry Christmas in December. It never occured to me that some do not celebrate this holiday. SO NAIVE!!! It is just here that I learned to say Happy Holidays instead of the customary Merry Christmas back home.

So to those who do celebrate it---

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Thank you for those who've left me greetings on my last entry. I've been sooo bad on updating my entries. I will make it up and will include this as one of my 2005 NY's resolutions. I hope you all have an enjoyable, safe and memorable Christmas with your loved ones!

An unexpected gift

2004-12-22T15:26:00.000-08:00

I've been feeling blue for the last few weeks. Christmas is fast approaching and I just couldn't feel it.

I really miss Christmas back home with family. It is so different. It's another year of just us here. Another year of long distance phone call to home.

Well, for a moment, I forgot that feeling. My boss called me aside and gave me my Christmas gift. Not bad, considering that I wasn't expecting anything from him. He's such a nice guy and he's been really good to me. So in a way, I am lucky and blessed for that.

He gifted us with a $250 spa certificate here plus a free day off anytime I want. Said thank you to me for making his work easier (of course, what are subordinates for?) and to keep up the good work! Not bad.

OK--I think this sulky feeling can still be salvaged...

Getting the shopping done

2004-12-21T15:19:00.000-08:00

I'm done!

or so I hope...

I've made my list and it seems all have been accounted for.

Now why am I feeling like I've left the iron plugged in?

Adjustments

2004-12-16T14:53:00.000-08:00

I had my monthly ortho adjustment today. It's a short and quick appointment as they only change the bands. I missed last month's as I avoided them like the plague having not done my extractions yet that month.

So today, trying to be in line with the holidays, I requested for red bands on my teeth. I was undecided between red and green but the lady putting it on wasn't very helpful and so I quickly decided on the red instead of the green. Later on, I think it was good that I chose red because green would've looked like I have spinach stuck all over my teeth!

Next month it will be BLUE....

Delinquent woman

2004-12-08T23:10:00.000-08:00

Ziiing!!!!

That is how the days seem to have gone by all of a sudden.

16 days before Christmas!!!

Waaahhhh---I am soooo not ready for that yet.

16 wonderful days of rush christmas shopping

16 wild days of merry old parking rages at the shopping mall

a few more days to get the christmas cards out before it's too late, not to mention long queue at the post office.

Sorry to say, we are not putting up a tree again this year (2nd year in a row) but we managed to put some lights outside on the pathway. I'll see how this weekend will turn out. I seem to like the idea of our christmas stuff packed and organized away in the storage closet at this moment -- let's just leave it untouched.

bah humbug? haha...not at all.

I think Christmas is in the heart and with God. I don't have to show it nor shop till you drop for it either. I like it plain, simple and quiet--an otherwise exception if I were back home. I miss the holidays in the Philippines, it's just so different.

Extractions

2004-12-08T22:13:00.000-08:00

Well the day had come when I could postpone it no longer. I've ignored it for at least a month then realized that I am just prolonging my ortho treatment.

So I scheduled the dreaded dentist visit.

I haven't had an extraction for ages, the last time was done back home. And this time it involves my still existing wisdom teeth. I've heard a number of horror stories. What's so different about this from a regular extraction, I wondered? I've mainly received painful stories about it. Off I went to the dentist feeling sick to the stomach as to what I should expect and experience that day---I was to get three teeth pulled.

They say, as you get older, the more frightened and anxious you become of new experiences. I think this is proving to be true for me.

Terrified as I was, I even took advantage of the attention that the assistants were giving me--even asking for a walkman to dull away the sound of grinding/pulling of teeth.

What a total wuss!

It was nothing to what I envisioned it to be at all. Although back home they'd just stuff a cotton ball and let you bite hard on it to stop the bleeding, here, they actually stitch it to stop it right away.

I came home tired from the anticipation more than from the result of the extraction itself.

Have not felt and acted like a five year old for a long time. You should try it, it takes away the gravity of everyday adult life.

A long weekend that was

2004-11-30T01:35:00.000-08:00

It really was--on the road that is!

So now you know where we've been. Hubby had blogged about it right away. I didn't even dare drop a hint earlier, I am paranoid that way.

My philosphy--while I can still can and before I grow old and weary, I think a road trip will always be a great experience for the adventurer in me.

I could have just stayed home and really rested and enjoyed a long and relaxing weekend but no--I just couldn't pass an opportunity like this. We made up our minds too close to the holiday and too late to buy plane tickets at a good price--so we drove instead. Dreading the drive but I had to get back up on the horse, so to speak, after that recent car mishap in October.

We had a great but tiring trip. I told myself I wouldn't do something like this ever again and now after the long drive to LA and then to Las Vegas and back--I am saying it once again--I am NOT going to do that EVER again--at least if I do want to go back there, we will fly.

I planned everything last minute. Had a hard time deciding between two Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas, Zumanity or Mystere. We decided that Mystere is a better choice since my LA aunt is coming with us. Zumanity is quite erotic and different from the other Cirque shows. We've seen Mystere a few years back but it was our first Cirque show ever so we decided to watch it again and also there were photographers going around for pictures. It's not my favorite thing but hubby LOVES it. I turned him down the first time we caught the show. So I'm making up for it. They take pretty good studio like pictures.

I tried to get tickets for their new show. They've sent me notice about it but did not know that it was their opening weekend during the Thanksgiving holiday. So tickets were sold out. Next time we'll try to catch this show. I just love going to Las Vegas.

Mark this year as well as our first Thanksgiving with no turkey on the table since we've turned vegetarian. What did we have? Baked fish, a good helping of my aunt's famous pancit and vegetable lumpias--yumm!!

Brrrrr

2004-11-30T01:01:00.000-08:00

Somehow the Thanksgiving holiday had heralded the beginning of the cold--near freezing temperatures here in California.

This morning when I woke up, the weatherman forecasted a very chilly day and week ahead. Some areas dipped into the lower 30s last night. Sun's out but it sure was coooold!

The cat has decided to sleep in between our heads at night so that she can get the warmest spot of all.

Kept the heater on auto last night and this morning my throat was drier than the mojave desert.

Which made me wonder how the homeless people were faring during days like this. I am glad that they said there are more shelters that opened where they can seek a warm bed at night. That is hard!

Because of this, I am very thankful for a lot of personal things for myself and my family--yes, not to the Pilgrims but to God.

This season I feel I should give something back as well. Share the blessing with others.

Like give out some of my still good jackets that I no longer use and comforters and pillows that stay in storage most of the year. I'd want to be able to give used clothes to the needy instead of through Goodwill and Salvation Army folks who end up reselling it in their stores.

I'll post some orgs later on that accept stuff like these and actually give it to those who really need them most. If you know of some, please do not hesitate to share it, I may be able to call and donate as well.

Now I wonder if there are any back home (Philippines) that do the same thing. Bantay bata? Any ideas anyone?

Black Friday

2004-11-29T23:51:00.000-08:00

I really don't know how they coined that term for the day after Thanksgiving sale here in the US.

It's been a holiday full of firsts...

First time hubby ACTUALLY gave in and took Friday off from work (yay!)

First time I saw a terrifyingly long line that encompasses the area of almost the entire store (literally!)--no wonder I don't like shopping.

First time I actually got ready --um--staight from bed to the car kind of thing--to go shopping at the ungodly hour of 6am! Same with hubby too, he didn't know what he was getting into that day (haha)

First time we celebrated Thanksgiving without a turkey. We had baked fish instead and vegetarian pancit, lumpia, fruit salad with cream cheese and a homemade cheesecake (courtesy of our great culinary expert sister).

..to name a few.

And a holiday full of lasts...

Last time we're ever going to make a long trip anywhere by car, on a holiday and on another bad weather day. Our holiday itinerary SF-LA-Las Vegas. Well, I actually said this a couple of years back when we drove from SF-Seattle, sightseeing included all in the span of three days.

Last time I'm ever going to shop in So California on a Black Friday. I heard in Walmart, you'd have to elbow yourself through the crowd just to shop--no way!

Last time I'm ever going to be caught falling in line for 2 freaking hours just to pay for a sale item that I need to pay full price first. How's that? First pay full price then send the rebate (double, that is) by mail. BestBuy--tsk tsk!

Last time I'm gonna indulge in my last minute travel whims just because it's going to be a long weekend (cross my fingers).

Last time I'm going out on a major sale day without a shopping list in my hand. I felt I could have done more and finished my list last weekend if I only had one.

Short of sounding like a whiner, and inspite of it all, we ended up having a great time!

Mind your manners

2004-11-29T23:33:00.000-08:00

During times like these, it would help if coughing people would just cover their mouths.

On one of our drive stops for a bathroom break this long weekend, my sister just received an unexpected and unwanted gift from some stranger walking by. This old lady didn't even have the manners to cover her mouth when she coughed out loud as she passed by my unsuspecting sister (yuch!!!).

Do you stop and admonish someone like this and risk coming off like a disrespectful younger person? People can be just so callous at times. I felt bad for my sibling, she's been really careful and very conscious about not getting sick and all it took was one cough right smack in her face.

It just reminded me of this one CSI episode about transfers like these--it's so true!

Now she's the one who is nursing a cold at home. I feel it's going to be a long, long winter cycle.

She's been pumping herself up with lots of Vitamins and fluids and we are hoping that the buck stops there!

Please -- for those concerned, mind your manners and keep your virus to yourself!

Aches and Pains

2004-11-23T21:33:00.000-08:00

It was a stressful week at work last week that the persistent ache on my back muscles were radiating north and giving me a really terrible headache. Doesn't help that I just came out from a bout of flu earlier either.

It was that bad that I gave up my lunch for a massage appointment instead. The other gym I go to has this service, so I took advantage of it since I do get some discount from the membership. The only one I could get was at 6p--with a masseur! But I was that desperate, so I took that appointment.

Thirty minutes later --voila! kinks are gone and good as new!

I went to set up another appointment for lunch today, this time for an hour. I think I fell asleep. If I could only afford to do this more often, I would. I am willing to give up lunch for an hour of massage.(haha)

Here's what I think are the benefits of getting one:

Pain relief
Improves one's circulation
Better sleep
Stress reducer
takes out bad toxins
will make you feel better and relaxed

Got anything to add to the list?

One can never go wrong with getting a massage.

Weekend at the movies

2004-11-23T20:50:00.000-08:00

I gave up on shopping until I produce a shopping list, so this weekend we went off to the movies.

Do you realize how expensive it is to see a movie these days? $9.50 each! No wonder I've been waiting for them to come out on DVD instead. We always try to catch the matinee show but last week we had to pay the full fee.

This weekend, we don't want to fall into that trap again. We caught the matinee and saw the movie "National Treasure". I love these types of movies and they don't make them too often these days. However, I just am not a big fan of Nicholas Cage. I think he's trying too hard to look and act like "The King". Otherwise, the movie was entertaining.

We had popcorn for lunch--too much of it actually, it was threatening to come back up again. Then we found another theater that was about to show "The Incredibles". I've been wanting to see this when it came out last week. So we sneaked in and saw the movie as well (sshhh)...it was really hilarious. I am really dreaming of working at Pixar these days!

Ocean's Twelve and Meet the Fockers will be showing soon, those are on our list.

Shopping

2004-11-23T01:06:00.000-08:00

Here's our attempt to usher the shopping season this weekend.

We actually had people to shop for in our minds but what did we end up buying?

THIS--

I think we badly need to prioritize our list AND overhaul our sensibility. I don't know why we always end up wasting dollars for our cat--seriously, we always fall for it all the time.

This cat of ours, who we have a love/hate relationship, she always gets the goodies all the time, without her asking for it. All she has to do is look cute and pitiful at times (ala Puss in boots in Shrek2) and she had effectively sent a subliminal message in our feeble minds when we go out shopping--I THINK.

This WAS actually the only item we ended up buying that day. I was totally bonking my head the minute that man behind the register rang up the sale. I am sooo not falling for this again.

I certainly HOPE SO...

PS--she only played it for a few freaking minutes and she's totally over this toy already!

Quasi-vegan?

2004-11-15T23:34:00.000-08:00

I'm a die hard meat lover.

Well that was actually then--I am still surprised when I realized I've turned compeletely 360 and gave up red meat and poultry somewhat cold turkey.

Ok--somewhat because I still eat fish and some seafood.

And I wish I still had that copy of a Time or Newsweek article where they defined the different types of vegetarians. All I am sure of is that I am not a vegan.

What caused the turn around?

See, I've always oppossed a sans meat eating habit/lifestyle. I've laughed off the possibility of me ever turning down a meat entree. I always thought red meat is something the body needs. Of course it's also part of any American nutrition, in fact it's even in the food triangle. And last but not least, it's so flavorful and tasty.

I think my health had a lot to do with the change. Back home, I hardly ate meat as it was expensive. When I came to the US, I think my body went into shock and overdrive when all these became readily available and affordable. Weight gain was inevitable. Now beset with poor eating habits brought about by an unbalanced nutrition, came a slew of health problems. I hated it. Every year, I seem to be vulnerable to a surprise ailment.

What's next? I don't want to wait till I get the coveted heart problem nor the Big C which now seem to exist in my family.

So I am doing something about it.

A friend had given me a copy of a lecture done by a surgeon turned cardio and nutrition doctor. The film looks like it was made two or three decades ago but what struck me is the message that still holds true to today. He's already defined what was wrong with the American diet then, what else changed these days, the present, but the intake of an average American person. I agree with his facts, which I know is well founded by years of research and experience with his patients.

What struck me most is that our physiology does not require us to really eat meat. We can readily get the proper nutrition from plant based food. What grossed me out is the fact that the excess fat we carry in our body is not really our own fat but the fat of the animal we eat -- ewww! I can see why loosing the weight was hard to accomplish. What made it worthwhile is that the thought of any clogged arteries is most likely reversible if one takes a break from eating what's causing it to be clogged in the first place.

I am not sure if I can really give up eating fish besides I eat it in moderation. Nowhere in the Bible did I read we needed to eat a cow anyway. Good news of it is that I've started to loose weight and am feeling healthier and more energetic these days. And yes, it seems like a whif of a barbeque cooking doesn't make me crave, want nor long for it at all--isn't that strange?

Airborne

2004-11-14T23:09:00.000-08:00

I wish I had known about this at the first sign of my sore throat.

It seems I wasn't the only one at work that got sick that week I was gone. I ran into our HR manager the week I returned and she mentioned about taking more Vitamin C supplements. She said she's been watching any tell tale signs that she's caught something and that she cuts it short immediately by taking supplements to prevent it from progressing to a full blown flu.

I heard this was developed by a school teacher and that Oprah herself endorses and swears by its efficacy. Great, kind of too late for me but it may not be too late for others.

I actually bought one just to satisfy my curiosity. It comes in an effervescent formula (like alka seltzer that you dissolve in water). I feel like this sounds familiar with something I've taken back home but I can't seem to remember what it was nor remember the name of it--anyone? They recommend to take it at the FIRST sign of a cold symptom or before entering crowded environments like airplanes and offices. Just what I needed -- um, two weeks ago!

The formula contains seven herbal extracts, antioxidants, electrolytes, amino acids, 1000 mg of Vitamin C. These I like, as I try to stay away from heavy duty medications. I haven't tried to dissolve one but it supposed to taste great as well.

I thought it's one of those that I needed to order from those TV infomercials but I am glad that it's readily available at Walgreens or your local drugstores--kewl!

Well, now I know, next time I feel something coming, I will definitely "plop" the Airborne!

Keep healthy this season everyone!

Nasty bug

2004-11-13T22:39:00.000-08:00

That was a nasty "bug" I caught two weeks ago.

It put me out of commission for a week! I actually stayed home and just practically slept and watched TV. It's been a dream of mine to just take time off and just do nothing, unfortunately, it's not the same when you are nursing a terrible headache, cough, and fever.

By the third day, I was bored to death and I felt like I've made a permanent dent on our bed from staying too long on a reclining position. I also thought it's ridiculous that I've NOT gotten over this after 5 days. I don't feel like visiting my doctor either just to get a strong prescription and a note that I was really sick. I can't believe I am incapable of shaking off this thing that was plaguing me. That morning, I thought, I woke up feeling okay or better than the last few days. So I attempted to go to work.

Well, that was a totally bad idea. Lasted only until 10am and had to get back home -- pronto! I prioritized what needed immediate attention on my Outlook inbox and left. I think all I managed to do that day was spread the virus into the general public--stupid me!

Following day, Thursday, I actually got a call from the boss and he actually said for me to stay away until I am 100% better--geez, talk about feeling like you have the plagued--but ok--I'd rather stay home and watch TV than deal with work that week anyway. Plus, now I am wondering if I got this from him, he was sick and didn't report for work for two days that week either. I am sure I won't get the chance of taking a week off anytime sooner, so why not? So there, I didn't have to call in again for Friday, even if I felt better that day, I stayed home and took utmost pleasure --er languished pala-- for another day off from work.

Carmel-by-the-Sea

2004-11-01T23:40:00.000-08:00

Carmel lies just south of Monterey. It seems ridiculous not to pass this way if you are already in Monterey. The 17 mile ride from Monterey ends in Carmel. This quaint town boasts a number of artists, old town charm look and a former mayor and resident named Clint Eastwood.

It's one of my favorite churches. I am sure there may be better ones down in San Diego but I haven't been to all 21 Missions, so this remains to be the closest to my heart.

The corridor in black and white.

I finally figured out how to adjust our camera. Going crazy with the BW feature. The Missions back garden is my favorite spot. In the summer, it's very colorful with all different kinds of blooming plants.

A shot of the from the holy water font down the aisle to the altar. I wanted to get the "California" engraved on the font in the picture.

The Carmel Mission

Taken from the back garden. The Mission boasts of a huge fountain in the middle of the plaza, a cemetery on the side of the church and a museum running along the corridor on the foreground.

Spanish inspired from the roof to the climbing bouganvillas.

17 mile drive

2004-11-01T23:34:00.000-08:00

I don't usually take this route since they require you to pay to see these sights. The 17-mile drive entails us driving through a neighborhood full of coastal mansions and private properties with the best view in the world--I guess they have reason to collect money from visitors. If I were a resident I wouldn't want to feel like a pass through by the general public. Anyway, the fee doesn't seem to deter the throng of visitors I saw along the stops.

The drive passes through a golf course where the PGA players like Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh play for a win. It is proud of its difficult course.

The famous of all stops. They call this the Lone Cypress. This part of the coast is teaming with Cypress trees.

White Cypresses = dead trees.

Trying to take water in action on film -err - shot. This took me countless takes, it's not easy to wait and keep a steady hand at the same time.

a fallen cypress in BW

The wildlife was welcoming my aunt this weekend. She's also seen a Cayote (who posed) in Yosemite, enjoyed the stinking 300 seals that had taken resident on the side of Pier 39 in downtown San Francisco, Elks abound in the 17 mile drive neighborhood and was hoping to see a bear as well that one night in Yosemite. Glad they weren't THAT welcoming!

Monterey

2004-11-01T21:50:00.000-08:00

Monterey is a special city for us. It's a beautiful place. I call it the center of an abundant marine life. This coastal city has spectacular views and lots of animal life just waiting for anyone to appreciate.

It's special because it's also the place where we got married, for the second time, that is or what I call the "pretend" wedding. To make the long story short, I wasn't aware then the Catholic church doesn't allow a priest to perform a wedding outside of its church walls and we've already made the reservation for the place before I realized this fact. We'd gotten officially wed the day before at a church in San Jose officiated by my Dad's priest friend from HS.

Monterey Plaza Hotel along Cannery Row

This is where we had our wedding ceremony outside overlooking the sea. When I saw this site the year before I got married, I had no idea I'd be having it here.

A sea otter feeding himself near the hotel. He dives to forage for food and turns over when he's floating and opens his goodies using his chest as his "food plate". They are protected by the city as their population is dwindling.

Driving along Pacific Grove to the south. This gave us a smile. This seal is actually resting on a tiny rock balancing on his stomach. It's such a funny sight, I think he feels comfortable and dry in that impossible position.

An unexpected Mission

2004-11-01T21:45:00.000-08:00

We saw a sign. I call it providential. After the mishap, I think we needed to stop to calm our nerves. San Juan Bautista Mission was our answer. I had not planned to stop by as I neglected to print the locations of the 21 Missions in California. I only had Carmel planned for the weekend.

There were a number of Latino people making their way to church. Initially I thought it was the general population of the town until we sat down and the one hour and a half Mass was conducted entirely in Spanish.

The missions are scattered along the coast of California from San Diego to Solano (north of San Francisco) by Spanish Franciscans. It is a big part of California's history.

San Juan Buatista Mission. Three centuries old.

A close up of the church's campanilla

The missions were built along the El Camino Real. The street still exist but a part of the original was memorialized here just next to the church.

Inside the church. The podium on the left seem to exist in most of the missions I've visited so far

The entrance to the church. They all seem to have this corridor theme univeral in all of the missions.

A giant cactus. A subtle reminder that California used to be a part of Mexico.

They have the oldest and unique plants.

I've noticed that these berry trees are abundant in the area and all the way to Monterey. I actually wanted this on my garden.

Mishap en route

2004-11-01T21:25:00.000-08:00

I rammed hubby's car into a wooden 2x4 sign post on the highway trying to navigate a short interchange in the rain.

His car was pretty strong, I cracked the front fender but no dents at all! That sign went under the car and it actually prevented us from shooting across the other freeway against traffic.

My life didn't flash before me but it sure made me so mad at myself for not being able to make that turn. Hubby's car is an SUV, it's made for this kind of terrain, but somehow this freeway interchange required me to go from highway speed down to 20mph in just seconds! What are they thinking, if I braked that hard, we'd end up on a dangerous spin, turn upside down (horrors!) or over shoot the island and into oncoming traffic. It didn't make it easier with that puddle of water that it felt the wheels had a mind of its own, the car had hydroplaned while turning. I think that wooden post totally saved our lives. This never happened to me before but I know stepping hard on the brakes would have a regrettable result.

For that I am thankful and feeling blessed that He took care of us and we all came out unscathe.

Of course not bruised but I totally scared the hell out of my passengers, especially my visiting aunt. My reputation as a driver has gone down to 0% in reliability :-(

Hubby was mad but he expected to see the worse and refused in the beginning to look at the fender. He is okay now, he's such a calm and forgiving guy! whew--lucky me!

Now -- need to shell out more dinero to get this baby fixed.

Yosemite

2004-11-01T20:45:00.000-08:00

Even if it was raining and we were constantly reminded by signs flashing about 100 miles away that the valley was closed, we kept heading east. By the time we arrived at the entrance, the closure was lifted (a rock had fallen and they closed the valley in the morning) and we were able to get in.

My aunt got to take her snow pictures on our way in. Unfortunately, I thought I had a picture of it from my sister, who was the camera person in Yosemite. I only had a few winks of sleep the night before so I was just concentrating on driving that day.

We took the valley tour for two hours and finished the valley before night fell. Early tomorrow morning, we are saying adieu to Yosemite and heading on west to Monterey.

going to the center of it all--Yosemite Valley

the meandering Merced River

Had enough time to hike up to Bridalveil Falls (shortest hike of all falls)

Fall leaves on the grounds of the Ahwanee hotel

Of course a trip is not complete without my tree picture. I think this is a Ponderosa Pine. We didn't have time to drive south to the Mariposa Grove where the giant Sequoia trees were. Yosemite falls in the background.

This is the sight that greeted us on our way out of the park at 7 am the following morning. Three Brothers on the left. They've named all the rock formations. I didn't get a picture of Half dome which is the symbol of Yosemite.

El Capitan (The Chief) on the left is very popular for rock climbers. The weekend before, they've plucked 2 Japanese climbers who froze to death when a blizzard hit the valley. If you have time, you can take your binoculars and watch the number of climbers challenge this vertical rock. It may take days for some to reach the top so you will get to see how they sleep at night. They pitch a tent and sleep hanging (like a cocoon). I don't know how one can sleep soundly in this condition.

Last year, when we went for a visit, the northern part of the park looked like this--

Hiked to Vernal Falls.

Tioga pass on the northern entrance of the park

Mono Lake, outside Yosemite Park (North)

These are called Tufas ("toofahs"). From underground springs, these are limestone formations made from the combination of calcium and carbonate. There are volcanic domes on the lake which are currently inactive at the moment.

Some tufas have jutted out from the lake quite high.

Next time, we'll stay a little longer in Yosemite.

Up to the mountains and down to the sea

2004-11-01T18:28:00.001-08:00

Well not really literally but it just felt like that was what I had to do in three days last week--cover as much land in the proximity of Northern California for my long missed aunt.

I think I even neglected to tell hubby that I planned to go west to Monterey after Yosemite. All along I assumed he knew what I had in mind (haha). Actually everything was still up in the air if it weren't for the lodging reservation that I made earlier. I thought it would all depend on the weather, which was really iffy that week, wether we'd go or not. Seeing my aunt on Friday afternoon just set it, I can't possibly let her down now, so we went.

Yosemite lies about 200 miles SE from San Francisco. For those of you who have been here, you know what I mean by what serene and pure beauty is all about. It has something in it that sets itself in its own calibre. It must be the rock formations, the trees, the waterfalls, the rivers and lakes that you get to see in one compact area that makes it very special and unique.

Also, my aunt wanted to see snow, so since it's raining in the bay area, I can't go wrong going to the mountains for snow and snow indeed she got! The beauty of bringing my aunt is that she's a history teacher back home--she knows how to appreciate the sites through what she's read only in books back then. She's fun to talk to and to learn from as well. I haven't seen her for so long, back then I don't even remember many times that I've interacted with her that much since she's the strict type, working long hours and had a routine that she stuck to religiously through the week.

There were also quite a number of suggestions from her sisters in NY and LA that I was getting anxious on how I can fit all of them in three days. But I covered pretty much what I thought she'd like. So it was going to be Yosemite, Monterey (where hubby and I got married) and Carmel (for the missions).

Pictures to come...

Peterson murder case

2004-11-01T17:52:00.000-08:00

The sensational case that's been running here for the last 5 months is on Court TV practically the entire day today.

The prosecution side just delivered the closing arguments and they seem to have nailed this circumstantial based case in the head!

I can't wait to see what the defense has prepared tomorrow when they deliver theirs.

If you are not aware of what this case is about. It's about Laci Peterson, a young mother-to-be who went missing on Christmas eve two years ago, she was 8 months pregnant. Her husband ended up on trial for it because of his many snafus and what I call an undiagnosed but classic sociopathic behavior. They arrested him after his wife's badly decomposed body and the body of his (unborn) child washed up in two separate areas last March in the bay area marina where he said he went fishing the day his wife went missing.

They have full coverage of the case on Court TV. Finally, this case will be over and I hope the jury will hand a verdict and not be hung sometime this week.

I've had the TV on this channel since I got home while I drifted in and out of sleep.

I just want to finally have an end to this for the sake of Laci's family. And let this NOT be another OJ Simpson outcome please!

Read up on the Peterson case here

Cough and Fever = Flu?

2004-11-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

I am not sure if I've got a common cold or the full blown winter flu.

I can't even recall how I got this -- was it from our train's circulated air or from a cough from a fellow train rider OR was it from the super duper hectic schedule I've had these past weeks that it's finally caught on in the form of a flu?

I actually went to work today only because I've been missing a lot of Mondays lately. By 10, I was miserable AND my boss also called in sick! I think I did my share of spreading the virus today so I went home.

By now (evening), I've slept too much already. It's so cold when I'm out of bed and too hot when I am under the sheets. I hate being sick!

I think it's time to update my blog...tons of things to post.

No Cook

2004-10-17T01:51:00.000-07:00

I think one disadvantage of having a sister who cooks well is that we totally get spoiled by it. We hardly worry about cooked food on the table. This week she's in NY, so we are on our own.

So what do we do on our first day without her? Of course, eat OUT.

We went to the Ferry building in the city. I've been meaning to have hubby taste the food in this one place where they serve good seared ahi burger. The Ferry building also went through a big transformation, it's now a favorite spot for the city folks. Today (Saturday), they also have a farmer's market just outside the building. In the inside are a number of interesting shops. Parking was a hassle, as is always the case in the city. We meter parked for an hour so we had to breeze through one end to the other end of the building. Next time, we'll try to get there earlier and enjoy a good long lunch in one of the tables outside.

I didn't bring my good old camera, so these are phone pictures--unfortunately, it's not as vivid as I want it to be.

Ferry building on the Embacadero

Feeling so starved at 2 pm, the sign didn't help us feel any better while we waited for our food.

Taylor's Refresher -- great burgers in this joint.

Inside the Ferry blg, specialty shops flank both sides of the establishment.

You can even bring your food out here and enjoy the bay view.

We've got a bunch of these hearts scattered all over the city. They come in different themes. It would be nice take a pic of each one of them.

Obviously if we keep up with this kind of lifestyle we'll be broke even before sis comes back from her trip. As much as I hate cooking, I'd have to deal with it this week. We'll probably survive with leftovers.

Oh by the way, this has been one (and only) relaxing day. I feel that it's finally the first since we left for our hawaiian trip. Tomorrow will mark the start of the usual crazy and busy week ahead. When sis comes back on Friday, she's bringing along an aunt (who I have not seen for ages -- 17 long years!!) who is visiting from the Phils. I'll once again be the designated sightseeing guide for this part of the country.

You'll get a whiff of what I've got planned for her in my coming entries--stay tuned....

Flower power

2004-10-17T01:06:00.000-07:00

I've finally downloaded the flower pictures I took in Kauai. I took these from the Allerton garden collection. I love tropical flowers, it is too bad I can't plant these in our garden because of our weather here--so I am just going to enjoy them in pictures instead.

I want to learn how integrate an orchid on a tree

An insect eating plant.

Don't these look like crab claws on a string?

Below are my favorite pictures of the tour. Under the lily pods were strange wormlike plants. There were quite a number of small poisonous frogs in the pond.

I think I've centered this picture well enough, it actually came out quite pretty.

I just forgot the name of this tree but it looks magnificent. It fell over and the gardeners planted more orchids on the branches and moss like plant thriving very well on the branches.

This is a bamboo forest. It grows really fast--I think around 4 inches in a day.

I just realized, I didn't take pictures of the banana trees! aarggghhhh....

Let's dance

2004-10-12T23:54:00.000-07:00

After that exhausting Kauai hike experience last month, yesterday was my first stab at going back to the gym after a month's hiatus. I took a day off on Monday so that I can spend some time with my mom who is in town for a very short visit. I've also planned to squeeze in some time for a work out in the morning.

It so happens that H also wanted to have company in the evening when he goes for his usual work out, and so naturally I went back to the gym with him but only to check on a class that I've been interested in since this gym opened late last month. It's a Latin dance workout class and last night it was packed! It seems fun and I can see people drop out like flies after half an hour because they were sweating bullets from the workout. It's either they've turned down the temperature in that room or it's just body heat from the class participants.

Now doesn't that sound like it's going to be an effective and fun workout? I will attend next week! This even though I don't have a single graceful bone in my body, we'll see how I'll do in it.

Oh--and I think hubby is also interested since he loves anything Latin.

Hair-raising evening

2004-10-10T01:52:00.000-07:00

It was a long holiday weekend for me. I am back to my insomniac ways and started to visit my regular reads in the wee hours of the morning. This and posting entries, has been a priority this weekend more than any other chore like paying bills. The wonders of procrastinating seem too hard to resist.

And so I came upon this entry , the one written on 10.8.04 in one of my routinely visited sites. At the end of her entry there was this link about a certain ad. I think my curiosity got the best of me. I don't even know why I even clicked on it when I know I am such a scaredy cat when it comes to things like these. I may be the last person to have seen this ad but just in case you are one of the few left who hadn't, I won't tell you what it's about (the instructions will tell you anyway) but all I can say is that I woke up hubby from his deep slumber last night with my scream. So that's how it feels when they say one's head hairs stand on it's ends-- literally.

What felt like a wild caffeine rush courtesy of Wendy

L.A. in pictures

2004-10-05T20:16:00.000-07:00

They say you get your roles defined once you get married.

He navigates, I drive--this is the law of our marriage because I suck at directions (haha).

Our purpose to drive south--we only saw the outside of the stadium.

so we ended up in Disneyland instead

Disneyland's fireworks show is still the best!

I've seen this bridge in too many movies

The LA skyline looks painted on without the smog. They've got quite an impressive collection of big buildings

Pershing square--from Keanu's "Speed" movie

The L.A. Philharmonic -- got to see it only while driving, wished we had more time

another unique building being erected in the heart of L.A.

Strangely, L.A's downtown streets seem deserted except for Broadway St

At the farmer's market. These shopping wooden baskets were hand-made when the market started in the 1930's. Read some interesting facts about this place here

The Grove--feels like you are in Las Vegas

Driving along 3rd Street--the landscape had changed with the building of this shopping mall (The Grove)

Just across from the Farmer's Market

Farmer's Market -- I'm known for taking pictures that will make any tower look like the leaning tower of pisa (or is it just me?)

The Farmer's market also gets to keep their history. A vintage gas station.

Little Tokyo-we usually stop by but it was getting late, time to head back home.

...but not before I take my tree pictures...

driving around the Hancock Park neighborhood.

Outlet shopping, etc

2004-10-04T14:00:00.000-07:00

I am not much of a clothes, shoes and accessory shopper. I don't know, I think I just don't have the patience to go through the racks to look for something I'd like. That posed as a predicament for me as I've promised FuNkYmOmMa's cousin, who was visiting the bay area, a trip to the outlet shops before she goes back home to Manila. I am good at sightseeing but not shopping!

So I resorted to the 'bahala na' syndrome and hubby gave me the directions and the information I needed so I can bring Ate Marie outlet shopping. I took half the day off on Monday immediately after we returned from LA (haha), anything to be away from work is fun for me.

She mentioned something about a Coach outlet so we decided to go to Petaluma instead of the Napa outlet. I actually enjoyed shopping in the stores we visited and even ended up buying some items of my own. I think I'd like to go back and do some more later on. Maybe all it takes are the nice discounts and outlet prices for me to start enjoying this kind of shopping for once.

We finished shopping quite early and so I was determined to take her to the downtown area so she can ride the cable car. As they say, no person can be called a tourist in SF if they've not caught a ride on our cable car. I think I've never seen a day that the queue for this ride has gone short even on a Monday-- and on both ends! We planned to eat at the Cheesecake factory for dinner. The best way was to ride it up the hill on Powell, get off on California St--but in our case, Pine St (my mistake)--and catch the next trolley back to where we started. If we've taken the trip down to Girardhelli square and back, we'd have skipped dinner all together that night.

Dinner was great, we just ordered a number of appetizers as Ate Marie has a very small appetite and Cheesecake factory serves an enormous heap of food. I don't know why I wasn't too hungry either, I only had coffee from Starbucks since breakfast.

I had much fun with Ate Marie. I didn't even feel tired until I'd hit the sack. I hope the next time it will be Girlie and Angie who will come visit me here--that will be double the fun!

Trekker in me

2004-10-04T13:29:00.000-07:00

Well, I am back -- again. I think if it weren't for my job that helps pay the bills, I'd be out some place travelling. Wanderlust is in my blood. I'd jump at any opportunity to go and explore a place anytime if my schedule permits it. Oh yeah, I'd make time for it, you bet! I think my blogname is sounding more like an understatement rather than an exaggeration these days.

I haven't had the chance to log in nor visit my favorite sites again...bummer...I miss that a lot. I think I need longer days, that is.

Our drive down to Los Angeles to watch a baseball game totally got scrapped but that didn't stop us from turning it into a foiled weekend. We ended up in Disneyland and cared even less if we returned so late on a Sunday just to be tourists around LA. We had fun even if we've been to southern California many times before.

Pictures to come. Hubby has a narrative of our adventure in his blog.

Off to LA

2004-09-25T01:57:00.000-07:00

Didn't we just come back from vacation?

H has a baseball game to see in Anaheim and so we are driving down there tomorrow morning. We are staying at my Aunt's house in Orange County.

It's going to be a long week for me, haven't really recovered from our trip yet.

We've also a slew of visitors coming from all over, so the following weekend will be another hectic weekend for us.

Day 7

2004-09-25T01:25:00.000-07:00

Ditch Tubing

It' s not like we haven't done much this week it seems. I think Sunday was the only day we actually had rest in this island. Today we signed up for some tubing adventure.

When we arrived at their office, we were immediately fitted a helmet with headlamp and a pair of gloves. They hearded us into a couple of vans and drove what seems like a long long way up the mountain. They narrated that the area we were in that time, which was acres upon acres of agricultural land, belongs to Steve Case of AOL. I think he owns a chunk of Kauai having billions of money to spare. They brought us up to a vista point that was actually at the edge of a dormant crater. We can't even tell it was a crater until they pointed the fact to us (I've seen the crater on the map but wondered exactly where it was) as it is overgrown with so many plants and trees it really blended in with the tropical forest.

Kauai has an extensive ditch system that were used as an irrigation system to water their sugar plantation until 2000. Now they've quasi converted it in with their tourism offerings. What a clever way to do business, huh? Anyway, we were to sit ourselves in the inner whole of the big tube and let the ditch current carry you through the sinewy ditch. The ditch is so many miles long, some parts the water was rushing, some are pretty calm. It's fun and dizzying at spots where the water runs quicker. Our guide was very animated, funny and nice. Part of the trip involves us going through unlit tunnels. We'd hit rock walls and ceilings at times and so the helmet, gloves and keen ears for warnings was a big help when there aren't enough lighting in the tunnel.

After the ride, they brought us in a picnic area and served us lunch under the downpour of rain. It was refreshing and invigorating. Sitting with your butt on the water can be tiring and uncomfortable at times but it was a really really fun ride.

Maybe next year, we'll sign up for the zipline tour....we'll see...

Day 6

2004-09-24T23:26:00.000-07:00

Hanalei River

My legs feel like a couple of lead posts this morning. Two more days left in paradise and I wasn't going to be the wet blanket. We rented a kayak again in Hanalei. we were determined to tread the river this time on our own.

The rental company, Kayak Hanalei, was the same one we used on Monday. It's family owned and they give you the best service ever. Goldie was really nice, she took care of us until we boarded the kayak and really made us feel like we are part her 'ohana' (family).

View of the valley with its taro fields. Right picture shows part of the Hanalei River

Today was a sunny and gorgeous day. the river runs 13 miles into the mountains. We only paddled 3 1/5 miles into it and went back. No other kayakers there either. It was quiet and pretty much slow moving since the wind was going against us. We headed back and decided to go back to sea to see some green sea turles in the bay. Our way back was really relaxing. The wind was behind us most of the way and therefore only required so little effort from us. We cruised at a slow pace and we were able to see more birds standing like statues on the river banks, small turtles on dead wood, ducks and fishes on the river.

One way bridge over the Hanalei river. The bridge only has one lane and so traffic both ways has to take turns crossing it.

Once we got to the mouth of the river that goes to the bay, we had to paddle against the waves, hoping we won't turn over. We settled past the buoys and waited. Then--we saw the turtles' head pop up from the water, they were big ones! We kept our distance from them and we tried not to make sudden moves. They are very shy creatures and do not liked being harrassed. I was able to take some pictures using our disposable camera.

The Queen's Bath

By noon we were done with kayaking and had enough time to explore some more. We wanted to see the Queen's bath in Princeville. It does require a short hike downhill (oh man!) and I braved it just so I won't miss seeing the site. It was worth it, inspite of the warnings that there is danger in the unpredictable surf.

Queen's bath amidst lava rocks. Just a breathtaking sight.

A couple of other places we wanted to visit as well didn't materialize. One required a 4wd and the other was inaccessible to visitors as the trail passes through some private property.

Regardless, the day was still more than what we expected. We went home tired and hungry. We have to finish the food in the refrigerator (including the ice cream cake) before we leave on Saturday.

An accomplished Momma!

2004-09-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

I have to pause and CONGRATULATE my great friend FuNkYMomMa for being picked as the representative blogger for the Philippines by the United Federation of Bloggers!

I wrote an entry as a guest blogger on her SITE

To see the selected few that were picked from around the world, check the article on the United Federation of Bloggers Part two on your blogger news section on your blogspot sign in screen.

So proud and happy for you friend!!!

Day 5

2004-09-22T01:00:00.000-07:00

Hiking the Nualolo trail

The day of uncertainty has come. I had a restless night's sleep. We are going to try this trail in the mountains. Geez, am I on vacation or what? Why did I even think of forcing myself to do these things while I am on vacation, I must just be tripping! We've practically read a lot of tour books that describe this trail but in the back of our minds, we knew that what we really needed was to know the topography of the area and the condition of the trail itself. Unfortunately for us, the information center at the start of the trail doesn't open till 10am. We are on our own.

We woke up early so we can beat the heat of the sun. It's going to be a long hike. I've been apprehensive because of my recent back problem. I am definitely unsure if I can pull it all the way through. I try not to scare hubby with my thoughts. I know deep down that it will come down to perseverance and my own self preservation to make it through. I can still tell that Hubby is a worried about me too. I constantly drop hints that I will definitely push myself and get back in one piece no matter what. I now feel we are on some kind of reality show. We are here and there is no way I was going to turn back.

We found the start of the trail behind an inconspicuous post that is overgrown with grass. We started with this one lady hiker who greeted us and we find out that she heads out once a month on this trail to the vista point. After that, she's gone and we are on our own for the rest of this quiet and long forested trail. We each have a backpack and two bottles of water on each, some power bars, bananas and a breakfast burrito that we plan to eat for lunch at the vista point before we head back.

The first quarter of a mile trail was uphill. I had a foreboding feeling about what this trail is going to look like later on. The rest of the 3.8 miles to the end of this trail will be mostly downhill. Our original plan was to do the loop which consisted of the Nualolo trail (3.8 miles), Nualolo cliff trail (3.4 miles) and then the Awaawapuhi trail (3.1 miles) all before the sun sets. What was I thinking????!!!

I never had problems going downhill but this trail is very unforgiving, my knees just got pounded by the impact of the wet floor. There was hardly any part that is horizontal, it's just mainly either uphill or downhill. By the time we got to the end of it (Cliff trail), we've walked some 7 miles in 4 hours. I cannot describe the exhaustion we felt at that point. Gatorade, a drink that's supposed to help your body retain water and salt for energy was just passing through in the form of sweat. The view on the other hand was breath taking. The vista point is also a Six days Seven nights film spot where Harrison Ford beat the bush in his frustration. I was ready to do the same thing or call a helicopter to come fetch us at the edge of the mountain.

We debated if we should continue on with the rest of the trail on the loop. We aren't sure what to expect with Awaawapuhi trail either. Hubby and I decided that we'll head back the same way instead (against the advice of most tour books) reasoning that if we did the loop (which in reality is really u-shaped rather than a closed loop trail), we still had to hike an additional 1.5 mile up the road back to our car.

If the trail downhill was excruciating, going uphill wasn't just what my body was built for. Ok, I think now I realized I should have worked harder and longer at the gym to prepare for this. Two and half miles still to go, my legs started to cramp major time! I was then bordering desperation, I was zapping hubby's energy from my constant rest stops to calm my muscles. H didn't seem fazed by the hike so far until I got the cramps, credit him for having taken track and field in HS.

We tried to drink as much as we can before our return to lighten our load. We really just ate the power bars to give us more energy. Our return hike took longer, it being high noon and hot, due to altitude changes and of course going up continuously just makes it harder for me to catch my breath. We saw about 3 more couples negotiating their way to the vista on our way back. We are still by ourselves in the forest and it's making me a little freaked out but my mantra was perseverance-bebe!

We finally saw the final .25 mile sign post, we were so elated but the last stretch as always seem the longest of all. We've wrung ourselves with our last drop of energy and finally we hear cars, dogs in the park and chickens!!! It's a good sign, I can kiss the ground coz we've MADE IT!!!

I tell my friends what we've done and most of them say I am crazy for doing that. I know it may sound crazy but I set out to do it to prove to myself that I can, to put a milestone that I've overcome my back problem (that having it doesn't mean it has to control my life), to test (in a way without our realizing it) that H and I can overcome adversity without having to lose our tempers or respect for each other. I came out of that trail dirty, spent and legs scarred (from the grass and overgrowth cuts) that I'd say can be figuratively compared to the Passion of Christ but otherwise glorious, somewhat experienced and totally fulfilled. I think, all these above all, is by far not synonymous to the term crazy.

Tomorrow's Thursday and you know what I've got planned for this day (my body will just love me for this)....

Day 4

2004-09-20T22:03:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Honey!

He finally was able to open his gift. I am sure he thought the trip was his gift (a mini ipod), so *I think* he was absolutely surprised by it. He's a music fanatic, blessed with good music ears, so I am sure he will put this to good use. Unfortunately, he'd have to wait till we get back home to download the songs for his playlist. I've set up for a nice dinner at a popular restaurant (Pacific Cafe) in Lihue and also ordered a small ice cream cake from Coldstone.

There was a change in plans for today's activity. I tried to get a kayak rented again so that we can kayak the Hanalei river itself but there were no available kayaks until Wednesday. We opted to move this for Thursday instead since we wanted to stay with the same company that did the bay tour and go for the discount they were offering us.

Allerton Garden

So now, we are off to the Allerton gardens just a stone's throw away from where we are staying. We are set for some Kauai fauna and fauna education.

The garden is privately owned but they are allowing guided tours through the property. Our guide was a retired Navy man who volunteers his time to do the tours. The garden has all kinds of exotic plants from flowers to trees. Quite a lot of these plants are grown in the Philippines. The part of the land that we saw was only a tiny part of the immense land that the Allerton's owned. Their house is located near another secluded beach that I thought would be a dream to live in.

We learned that the plants in the island introduced and native were grown mostly in the last couple hundred years. Before that Kauai was just really red dirt and barren. These days its so lush with all kinds of plants.

What I love most about this island? There are no snakes. They do have lots of chickens that are protected by the island. There really aren't any predators for most of the animals here either. Even the chickens have none except if they happen to be roadkill (which is rare). The residents are very protective of their natural resources and their environment here, how I wish we had the same attitude back home in the Philippines. I know our country has so much more to offer than this smaller island but we choose to abuse ours by being irresponsible or unaccountable of our present actions and the total disregard of the consequence of such actions in the future of our environment. It's a sad reality when one realizes that the future of my homeland seem very bleak--if we just have no respect for any of God's gift.

I don't know why I love trees, they just fascinate me. I guess it's because you can tell they have the history to tell. I bet a number of people have seen this tree--if you've seen the movie, Jurassic Park, it's the scene where the dinosaur eggs were discovered

It is also unbelievable that I neglect to realize that not everyone has seen a banana tree. We've toured through different parts of the garden with exotic plants but I was surprised that the one thing that the people from our tour group was mostly interested was this plant. Suddenly, they started taking pictures of the fruit bearing tree, I was just taken aback by it.

Had to retire early so that we'll be rested enough to tackle the long trek up the mountain tomorrow.

Day 3

2004-09-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

Sea Kayaking

Oh no! the days seem to pass so quickly when you are having a great time.

Since Hawaii is 3 hours behind, leaving at 6am for our Kayak gig wasn't so bad since it's really 9am back home in California.

Kayaking is really a favorite activity for hubby and I everytime we come to the islands for the last 4 years. Kauai has 7 major rivers, only three are navigable. The Wailua, Hule'ia and Hanalei.

We've traversed the Wailua twice. I found this the best river so far. It involves kayaking for a few miles and then hiking for more to a secret waterfall. This is the same river that Harrison Ford and Anne Heche hauled the parts from the amphibious plane in Six days Seven Night movie.

Hule'ia involves the same course except that the waterfall is smaller than the one in Wailua.

Hanalie is the final river we needed to try out after having done the other two. I unknowingly signed up for (by mistake) a bay tour which meant we had to kayak in the sea. I had butterflies in my stomach from the start, not knowing what to expect from this trip. We have not kayaked in surging waters and I can't really swim in the ocean if ever we turn over. The trip also includes a snorkeling trip in a secluded beach. By the time we negotiated the waves through pouring rain (yes, it was pouring on and off) and got geared up for snorkeling, I'd finally overcome my fear.

The water was very inviting, the reef very clear and full of fish. We dove right in with the rest of the group. It was the most enjoyable experience, we were able to go far enough to certain areas where it is teaming with schools of different fish species. How did we manage this? I'd say wearing a life jacket and fins is the way to go! I took a lot of underwater pictures with our disposable waterproof camera. The last time we did a snorkeling trip we had to jump off a boat in the middle of the ocean. I am no water baby and even with a life jacket then I wasn't daring enough to do that at all. I had this distinct fear of sinking to the ocean floor without any chance of being rescued.

Just as we landed and inspite of the rain in the horizon, the water was very very inviting

Who can resist not experiencing what's underwater with a view like this. I couldn't even think if I can do it or not---we just did it!

Then they served us lunch at the beach while we take on the view before us and talked about the fishes we saw in the reefs. The guides had a fish card for us to compare it with.

The weather cleared up by the time we ate our lunch, we certainly got to take all the events in while sitting in the sand to get some rest. Then we're off to return to where we started on the other side of the island

Earlier, we had paddled to the bay where the endangered green sea turtles congregate. We found a couple. They have this compelling fish-y smell brought about by its mostly seaweed diet. Both are both jumbo sized and very shy. In everyone's excitement, one of the couples went under suddenly. Probably a wave slammed them on the side unexpectedly or the wife made a mistake of turning abruptly to catch a glimpse of the elusive turtles which caused their kayak to tip over. It took both guides and a lot of time to get them back up.

It was a blast after we learned how to catch a ride with the waves. By the end of the tour, I was exhausted and already nursing a headache from the ever changing weather, however, we still had time to go and make a side trip to the guave plantation near the area.

Tomorrow will be H's birthday and so I can't wait to finally give him his present.

Day 2

2004-09-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

A day of shopping

We were to plan our week's activity today and had alloted the day for some souvenir shopping.

I've made some phone calls to make reservations for our activities. I was able to make two, one for Monday (tomorrow) and the other one on Friday. The Friday activity seems very popular, the concierge had told us that it was fully booked for the week. It was a good thing I called in just the same and we were lucky to get a spot on our last day in the island.

Went to Walmart to buy souvenirs to take back home. I think we've eliminated all on our list by the time we stepped out of the store.

The condo was looking very empty after we returned. Last year we had a family reuinion here and it was a full house. It was kind of hard to match that this year but it would be great to have some R&R on our own this time.

Tomorrow we need to get up early and drive for more than an hour to the north side of the island, Hanalei.

Hanalei is where they filmed the movie "South Pacific". The mountains where Peter, Paul and Mary got inspired with the song "Puff the Magic Dragon" and where they coined the term "Bali Hai".

Day 1

2004-09-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

Plane ride

Ours WAS eventful. We sat behind a bunch of rowdy, insensitive group of people who thought they were the only ones on the plane. Besides getting drunk during the trip, they were the most annoying group with their loud conversations that lasted the entire freaking 5 hour flight. I swear the flight crew must be in their aloha mood that day for they weren't fazed at all by their behavior. Drinks were bought and poured as if they were having the wedding reception in the plane. I am glad someone (not us) told them off later in the flight. I am very disappointed with the Hawaiian airlines flight crew for ignoring such conduct. It is unfortunate that Hawaii will also have to welcome these types of people in their islands.

Our Place

We are staying at our usual place in the south shore of Kauai called Poipu. We were welcomed by a pouring of rain that only lasted a few minutes while we picked up our rental car. For the first time in history, I was able to resist the urge to upgrade on the car class. I was determined to stick to our budget and keep our expenses down to a minimum.

Once we arrived at the property, the sun was out. They've given us the suite in the same building as last year's, with a spectacular ocean view. Half of the property was still under construction the previous year. This time, it's all finished down to the last pool. We've arrived in paradise indeed.

Can't wait to plan our week!

Not so real time

2004-09-12T22:50:00.000-07:00

I've resorted to writing on paper for the week we are away. I found out that the place we are staying at has the amenity of providing internet access (for free) to the residents. It's just downstairs in a public area next to their store called 'Marketplace'. I tried it once but ended up not being able to post at all. A fellow pinoy struck up a conversation with me and I gave up the chance to post a single entry. So I am back to writing the old fashioned way.

I'll post what I've written when I get back, in order of each day's happening but not necessarily the published date on the page.

Leaving on a jet plane

2004-09-11T13:07:00.000-07:00

First day of our vacation and here I am really wishing time would just slow down for this one week we will be off to sunny and therapeutic Hawaii.

I've checked in the night before (by web) and so we bypassed the long queue at the counter. Security to the gate on the other hand was a bottleneck. They now require us to really go through the detector barefoot (it used to be only those who wear socks and shoes). I think, travelling on this significant day required all of them to be extra careful and thorough. That's perfectly fine with me, I want a safe flight to my destination.

I was carrying hubby's surprise birthday gift in my backpack. It's a mini ipod that's he's totally not expecting to get. I am really running out of ideas for a gift (hehe)...I was crossing my fingers as we went through the checkpoint hoping that they won't randomly pick me for a manual check of what may look like a 'questionable' item in my handcarry. I was running all different scenarios in my mind on how I'd have to break it to him if ever that happens. One not so funny thought had stuck in my mind if they ask me what is in the wrapped present, I'd say --- 'er, hon, by the way, Happy advance Birthday, here's my present to you?' and blame airport security for ruining the surprise.

Deja vu on an incident a couple of years ago on our way home from Las Vegas. Airport security was still morphing from its lax to their 'very tight' passenger check procedures. Hubby was stopped as they've detected some mineral residue (from hiking) on his sandals, coupled with a certain unfamiliar item he was carrying on his backpack (a 3-d face picture of us lasered into a block of glass/crystal, a new technology at that time). I've relentlessly kidded him after he was questioned, examined and all, that he was now in their watchlist from then on. He wasn't very happy about the whole experience and I thought today it might just be his turn to do the same to me!

Thank God, that didn't come true, I still have a surprise to spring on Tuesday.

Pre boarding stuff

2004-09-10T23:48:00.000-07:00

The time I was unable to log on, was in a way, probably a blessing in itself. I was beginning to lag from doing some of my other chores at home (haha). We are going away for a week and I want to come back to a clean and organized home. I just didn't want to deal with piled up laundry, dirty floors, etc after our vacation, that will just prematurely start my done-with-the-fun-vacation-stuff-blues. The things I was able to do other than blogging:

Went to Ikea to buy three more tall bookshelves and installed it in the home office.

Unpacked all of H's 9 boxes from Japan that arrived here a couple of weeks ago. It contained all his childhood photo albums and school memorabilia. They were occupying more space in the garage, hence, the necessity of the bookshelves above.
Cleaned out the garage! Well, as clean as it could get at this point. We still have a few things that need additional storage. We are in desperate need of an outside shed so we can park the two cars in the garage. For now, one car inside is the best I could do.
Found a ton of picture frames from our move last year that were still in the box. We were able to put some of it up on the wall and some placed on the new bookshelves.
Met with my friend Girlie's cousin for dinner before we left. I felt bad, she didn't want to eat much and with the time constraint, was only able to do a little shopping at Stonestown. I promised to make it up to her after I come back from vacation. Overall it was really fun to meet her. She was easy to get along with and reminded me of Girlie in more ways than one.
had buried myself with work and by the end of the week was totally and truly ahead of it, I was running out of things to do. I was a sign I was really ready to go on vacation!

Didn't get to bloghop and visit my favorites....I miss reading up on everyone but will do it upon my return! Catch ya all later!

Problem fixed

2004-09-06T20:35:00.000-07:00

It's been a LOOOOONG time--! but we are back online!

I missed blogging so much.

After the internet problem came the router problem, which I had to also fix and another round of calls with another tech support group.

But you know, I so glad that the times I got help and had the problem fixed (finally) was when I was on the line with pinoys in the Philippines! There are times I'd get India and they can't seem to pinpoint the problem all the time. I won't talk about that time when I was on the phone with them.

I remembered a friend of mine had cell phone problems and he was very grateful to the person who helped him (way over there in the Phils). He said they were clear, concise and got the problem fixed in no time. I sure can vouch for that now!

Lost connection

2004-09-03T08:28:00.000-07:00

We've lost our internet connection this week at home. So I haven't been able to blog at all. I'm so irritable because I can't log in -- can you believe that? It's actually controlling my mood swings. It doesn't help either that everyday we call customer service to inquire about the problem and that person happens to be on the side of the planet.

Another blogger in the family

2004-08-29T23:45:00.000-07:00

I guess I don't write about him much. Every night he never fails to ask me what I wrote about him. Sorry honey, I tried :-)

What does he do? He goes and creates his own blog. mmmm....

Check it out

A not so wasted weekend

2004-08-29T22:38:00.000-07:00

It felt like it had been a lazy weekend. I can't seem to get any household chores done. I think it has something to do with the warm weather here. I had planned to take a walk at the Crystal Springs reservoir before the sun sets high but couldn't wake up early enough.

By Sunday morning, I felt I haven't been productive at all. Sis and I decided we should start cleaning up the garage since we finished the built in project a week ago. We had a lot of left over lumber from the project. Here we were able to get rid of the old desk but instead accumulated extra wood that won't have storage space in the garage. Sigh.

So much to the dismay of my sis, I decided to build a headboard from the scraps. Well, half dismayed, that is, because it's going to be her headboard.

With left over fabric and three and a half hours later, we actually finished it!

Three and a half hours later....(it looks like a mabuhay first class seat--haha--I have to get some decorative trim to spice it up a bit more)

Clever cat appraising the new headboard from a comfortable spot

Ever the curious cat, now wondering how she will get down from way up high

This week, I really have to make a list of what to do and have to seriously stick to it! Just ONE more weekend and we're off to the beautiful island of KAUAI--woohoo!!!

Tug of war

2004-08-27T14:45:00.000-07:00

I didn't have the energy to post yesterday. I was in major pain but I just have to face it, this is how it's going to be. So enough of that! :-)

I feel like i am having an affair--but not the kind you are thinking!--

I say this because the female population in this company I work for is what you may call a minority. Yes, the testosterone level here is too high. In the beginning, I thought, that's great, less intrigues and gossips. But no--not the case, we STILL end up in cliques no matter what. I've learned to like this environment now than before because everyone gets along very well already. In this company's earlier years, there were too many young (bagong salta) college grads trying to make their millions and it could get rowdy and somewhat of a collegiate-or-university-attitude kind of an environment at times. After the numerous layoffs, I've seen a change in the demography of the company not only in age but also with experience. The female population did not increase unfortunately, we are still a minority but the relationship between us are better and friendlier.

There are three of us girls in our department. We've been pretty close and somewhat kind of exclusive in the eyes of others. I don't think we wanted to project that image but somehow that was just how it ended up since we work on the same schedule and work in the same area. Then here comes a new girl who we thought wouldn't even think of hanging out with us from the light of day. It turned out she was also a Pinay but initially I was turned off only because when asked what her nationality was, she said half Spanish, half Filipino (nauna yung Spanish, at parang kinahihiya yung pagka Filipino ang dating). Anyway, that was the first impression, the real one isn't that bad, she actually turned out to be a down to earth person.

The problem started when we'd go to the gym and the other girl started to act like she doesn't appreciate the extra company. I was upset because it felt like I had to choose between the two of them. It had gotten so bad that there are times I have to meet up with the new girl discreetly so that the other girl doesn't get upset. Now doesn't that feel like I am having a friendship affair?! well, it sure does feel like it to me! I am definitely not liking this situation. I even went to talk to each of them but it's going to take sometime for this to be in my level of comfort.

For now, having to cope with my teeth/jaws/mouth pain, I don't deserve to add 'splitting headache' on my pain list just trying to make things work out. I think I just want to avoid both and will join if all of us will be in one group.

Hah! for those of you who think I was going to write what's in your curious mind--shame on you! :-)

Metal mouth

2004-08-25T22:05:00.000-07:00

I finally have the full blown braces installed today. Looks cool except I can't chew well. My overbite's worse than I expected the top front teeth are hitting the appliance on the lower teeth directly below it. So it's either I eat Gerber baby food, rice cereal, soup or swallow my food whole. They won't see me again till October, I wonder how I will manage.

In the meantime, the ortho gave me a prescription to get my dentist to extract 2 wisdom teeth and one more first molar, she said to get it done soon. I am going by this day by day and not even anticipating what will happen in the next two years I am supposed to wear these braces. I just hope that the company I work for will last a few more and not lay me off until I'm done. Although not too much, we do have ortho coverage under our dental plan and how I wished I'd done this sooner.

The fun part about dental visits are the free stuff (well it's part of the whole deal) you get. Like a lollipop to help you get over the unpleasant experience. As if it can soothe the pain I'd have to deal with later.

Here's what they gave me:

Dual head toothbrush
Mouth mirror
Floss with floss threaders
Travel toothbrush
3-minute sand timer (!)
Tiny spiral brush
Toothpaste
Ortho wax
Anti-cavity flouride rinse
and a prescription for a stronger flouride gel treatment

Now why haven't I heard about anti-cavity flouride rinse and gel treatments before? I could have prevented a lot of cavities there. As it is right now, I dread it when they tell me I need to get some fillings done. Scared not so much with the drilling but with the novocaine inoculation.

Then they bombard you with visuals of what happens when you don't floss, brush properly and rinse regularly. The pictures are enough to drive you to spend hours in front of the mirror relentlessly checking if you've missed a food particle or morsel between your teeth.

I keep revisiting my original question since I started treatment and still wonder why I pursued this --->Am I putting more harm than good to my teeth??!!!

Circus mania

2004-08-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago, we discovered this world renowned circus. I highly recommend watching this entertaining show if they happen to be in your town. We've been hooked and we're trying to see all of their shows playing everywhere.

This was our first show when we went to Las Vegas @ Treasure Island hotel. It's what got us hooked and even if there is the famous O show in Bellagio just a few doors down. It still remains to be the best show for us. This show is funny, dark and very entertaining.

We were in Palm Springs then and on a whim decided to drive all 400+ miles to Las Vegas just to see this show. Tickets for this show are always dear and hard to find but it will be worth it. The show was named O which sounds like the french word 'eau' meaning water. The stage is elaborate and one of a kind with its gigantic water reservoir as stage. Even saw a pinay celebrity (Vina Morales) watching the show there.

These were travelling ones. They come to a city and set up a Grand Chapiteau--plainly, a big tent. We caught Verakai here in SFO and Dralion in Sacramento.

Our latest show to add to our list. This is a resident show in Orlando, Fl in downtown disney. We made sure we'd see this when we went there on a recent trip to FL.

These girls are about 13/14 years of age but they were so tiny you'd think they are 8/9 year olds and very effective in keeping those diabolos (spinning tops) under their control throughout their routine. The talents come from all over the world, they must be truly honored to be picked but I just wonder--too young to be working, don't you think? I just hope they get paid well.

Here are some of the acrobatic routines. Some of the photos are blurry because I took it from the brochures. I've yet to find the actual pictures I took of the shows.

There are still a lot more these, I want to completely see every show there is everywhere. Cirque du Soleil shows are playing in quite a number of major cities around the world. If you are in a city where they are playing, don't miss it! I guarantee you will be in awe of them.

I still want to see Saltimbanco (Europe), Alegria (Canada, Japan), Quidam (down under and NZ) and another one that sprouted in LV-- Zumanity (replaced Lord of the Dance in the NY,NY hotel).

Sin Bandera

2004-08-23T22:53:00.000-07:00

Translated, it means-- Without a Flag.

This band transcends borders. They sing with passion, carry a tune that can be a cross between Kenny Loggins and Savage Garden and a style very appealing the audience were very concerted with the artists. They are not too well known outside the Latino world but they definitely have the potential to break into the US scene.

It was a toss up between Gloria Estefan (doing her farewell tour) or them, I think we didn't miss anything.

I wish I had learned the lyrics since everyone else seem impassioned with it. Everything was in Spanish. I came without any idea how they look like. I totally wasn't expecting to be going to a concert this weekend. I thought they were Americans who lived in South America and learned the language but they weren't. One of the guys even looks like a friend at work, I can't stop smiling because my friend's gay but this guy's not and every female were deliriously screaming their heads' off. We had good front seats and the only non-latinos--again but we seem to never fail to tremendously enjoy their concerts.

Hubby though is nursing a sore back after being pushed out of the way by an insane group of female fans who were trying to catch the towel tossed from the stage. I guess his 6 ft frame wasn't a match to the throng of female fans who deluged him. I wasn't happy about that at all--geez, for a towel??!! But now we laugh it off after we recall what happened that day.

Album cover and tickets Sin Bandera @ Redwood Ampitheater Great America Argentina's Noel Shajris and Mexico's Leonel Garcia

My friend look a like..they cry when he starts to sing

After a string of Latino concerts, I told hubby it's my turn to pick. We were supposed to see Britney Spears this month (just for the heck of it) but of course she cancelled her tour and we got our money back. So now my wishlist: Sarah McLachlan, Matchbox twenty, Jewel (again), LeAnne Rimes, even Ashley Simpson.

A cat's lazy weekend

2004-08-23T02:21:00.000-07:00

***HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTIE C!***

My sister-in-law recently married in Japan. We just told them about my blog that is now becoming a page of our (husband and I) daily life here. I think it's a good way of keeping in touch. My hubby's only sister and her hubby both are very busy working people (some of you may know this is a culture in Japan)that this seems to be the best medium to keep them abreast of the goings-on here.

I am totally bored

hellewww??!!! can someone PUH-LESE just give me a goooood massage

I hate pictures and cuddling!

it's either she's saying "no paparazzi!" or "talk to the paws"

"Apparently I am not the only one having a lazy weekend but my owners are too!"

Bobblehead parade

2004-08-23T01:28:00.000-07:00

***HAPPY BIRTHDAY YUMIKO! ***

My hubby took some pictures this evening. This is turning to be very much his blog as well. That is okay since it's also his way of keeping in touch with his family back home.

This ones are for you, Yumiko, from us--may you have many more to come.

TADAAAAA.....!!!

2004-08-23T00:20:00.000-07:00

Idea on paper -- $0,

Additional materials for the project -- $350,

Storage boxes -- $90,

Labor -- $0,

Turning your sadness to a sense of accomplishment -- PRICELESS

This what happens after a week of disappointments. We suddenly finished the built-in entertainment unit. I think I poured all of my frustrations into this project that was taking longer than I am accustomed to accomplishing these days.

My sis has been supportive of all my home improvement projects through and through, and had been a big help in assisting me with the painting and the building and in no matter what it is I come up in my 'crazy' mind--THANKS SIS!!!

We had this blank niche in our family room, huge enough to hold all of our stuff. I've been wanting to do something about this wasted space but was reluctant to make any holes in the wall. After all this is the first time I've done something close to building a furniture.

In contrast to other wives, I really do not find it therapeutic to go shopping for clothes in the mall. I love Lowes or the Home Depot. Strange isn't it? I think I am a frustrated architect.

This project started with our extensive collection of DVDs. Frankly I really do not like much clutter at home but hubby loves to collect practically everything. We've been buying shelves to store these but it's becoming an eye sore.

The idea sprouted in one of those lazy weekends (very dangerous for my restless mind). I started to doodle an idea on a paper napkin over breakfast. I didn't want to spend much on this project thinking there is still a possibility of failing but the idea on paper made it very inviting, I had a positive mind and a strong determination to succeed. I decided I will drive the cost really low by recycling the wood of my hubby's unused desk that was sitting idly in the garage. I even borrowed the circular saw and cordless nail gun from my cousin.

With just the trim missing and a can of buttercream paint from Restoration Hardware.

I used to finish a project over one weekend--a true weekend warrior--but this time, I decided to take my sweet time and take it slow so there won't be any major mistakes. I knew this won't be an easy one, we did make some changes to the original plan and the wall spackle had turned out to be a favorite and very useful buy.

I think it was quite an accomplishment when we finished it this weekend, we can't stop looking at it (haha!)...

The original plan called for three drawers to mirror the ones on the bottom and to create a good balance overall, but making the drawers were too time consuming, we decided to just leave it as a shelf

We bought some nice baskets for the top shelf to give it texture and interest. It will also serve as additional storage. We are still going to remove the cd racks on the side of the TV--it still feels overly cluttered--what do you think?

Drained

2004-08-19T00:58:00.000-07:00

Just tired, today was an emotional roller coaster. I thought having lunch and a good talk would make it better. I was so wrong about that but totally right about my instinct. Don't really like to talk about the details of it as of yet--maybe later. Feeling even crappier that it didn't solve the problem but like I opened a can of worms instead.

I think I've been too trusting and naive about keeping certain people as friends. Hubby has reiterated and confirmed that she is not what you call a friend when instead of being happy for you, it's jealousy that gets the most of her. When hubby says something like this, reality suddenly kicks you right in the face.

SAD.

Blah

2004-08-17T23:48:00.000-07:00

I just noticed that I've been feverishly posting one entry after the other. I think one's emotional state can do that to you.

Today was a day I felt sadly betrayed by a now 'so-called' friend. I tried to ignore it for quite sometime now always giving her the benefit of the doubt but at the end of the day I got blasted by a IM message that was NOT intended for me. She's resorted to talking behind my back. It's the most awful feeling to see that from someone you thought was a friend and a confidante.

I am devastated that she took a side without even knowing mine. What made her do it? Is it jealousy, spite, misunderstanding or all of the above? It's been racking my brain for quite sometime now. I am not a confrontational person at all and this is the reason why I just kept quiet the entire time, however, she's hit me below the belt and I think I just got to know what made her do this to me.

I think for the sake of our past friendship, a talk is in order, so I called her and left a message to have lunch with me tomorrow. Wish me luck and I hope she makes the date.

Meow

2004-08-17T22:47:00.000-07:00

We've been wondering why a small stuffed toy that H brought home from his recent Japan trip kept ending up on the floor.

I caught her doing this --

with precision, determination and with silent grace she had been plucking the toy from atop the table when she thinks we aren't looking and would attack it like it was alive on the floor. The picture was blurry just because I was caught by surprise. We tried to get her to do it again but she definitely knows when the lenses are on her. She hates it when we take her picture.

H and her seem to understand each other so well. She just gives him a look and hubby knows she wants either food or water. She never learned to meow for anything she needs, she just gives you that "ESP" look. I believe she thinks we can read her mind.

One of her habits these days is to drink water fresh from the tap on a porcelain cup that's placed on our bathroom floor. When we get home she'd go straight to our bathroom and chug it down like she hasn't drank one drop the entire day. She totally has us wrapped around her little paws and has turned into some kind of kitty diva.

On the chair

2004-08-17T16:36:00.000-07:00

What can you do when you are at the mercy of a dental assistant who has heavy clumsy hands? I’d say tell her so.

That’s what has happened on Saturday morning, I don’t even know why I ended up with her in the first place and I hope she doesn’t have to see me again next time I have an appointment. I am doubting if she even knew what she was doing. Saturday meant installation of the metal bands and oh-- more separators! *ughh*.

The entire process shouldn’t even take too long but she took more than an hour with me, sighing under her breath whenever she can’t get those bands in between my teeth. So what do I get for this? Metal separators!

If I wasn’t in a rush to leave to get to the ball game, I would have complained to my ortho about it but because this lady took her sweet ol time, I had to tell her I have somewhere to be that time and she has to hurry up. I am sure she must be cursing me in her mind for it but hey, if you get pinched and metal instruments hitting your teeth due to HER clumsiness, I just can’t take that sitting down (even if technically I was).

I think I should have delayed this for another month because I just realized we are leaving for Hawaii in a few weeks (yay!). Here’s hoping I won’t set the metal detectors off at the airport.

Marathon game

2004-08-17T16:11:00.000-07:00

It has been baseball games that have occupied my hubby and me for the last three days. H has been on a roll and I am sighing for eating all those hotdogs I so hated before. It’s the only food I can eat with ease these days. I don’t like hotdogs very much only because of the preservatives.

We got some more of those freebies they give away for the first few thousand guests. Of course, the last two days going to the Network Associates Coliseum to get these freebies meant falling in line as early as 10am for the 1pm game. And you know, H will not let this chance pass without trying. So no sleeping in during the weekend either.

Got these for being there early. I almost didn’t forgive myself for getting there on Sunday at 1045a with a line already a football and a half field long just because the bobble heads are so much in demand. I think this hall of famer bobble head will fetch a pretty good sum of money on ebay considering people got them for free. I really felt downright rotten in line because I felt I let H down for having convinced him to make a pit stop to fetch some outside food before going to the game. What a big relief that in spite of the line and how late we were, those 15k bobble heads stretched all the way to our spot! Whew!

Saturday’s game, I drifted in and out of sleep until the middle of the 5th inning and cheered the rest of the way. A’s won 6-1 against the Royals. Sunday’s game was terrible, same score except the A’s lost. And oh, I missed a foul ball that fell on my feet—what a dim-wit—I’ve been beating myself with regret for not being fast enough and also because the guy who got it wasn’t even an A’s fan but was rooting for the other team! I was actually shocked when I saw the ball coming our way and all these people anticipating to catch it well before it landed! H was away fetching me some drink, I wasn’t just ready to scramble for the ball on national TV.

H got four free tickets to a Giants’ game for Monday evening. With my sister tagging along, we are left with one free ticket. We tried to find someone to give it to but ended up with no one by Monday morning. We’ve been hesitant on inviting either my uncle or my aunt because one of them will have to stay behind. It was luck that the game wasn’t sold out and so I was able to get another ticket in the same section. Both of them were able to watch the game. It turned out to be a fun evening because the Giants’ won!

The park is amazing, the site where they built it (by the waterfront) will get you entertained during those slow innings. They just built this about three years ago for the Giants to replace their usual venue in the Candlestick Park (now 3Com or some new name), so everything is still new and exciting to see. We had seats in the third level but we get to have spectacular views of the bay and of course the entire field. We’ve been there before but do not go too often because the ticket prices can be so pricey.

On a sidenote, H was wearing an A’s shirt on a Giants game! What was he thinking?

Barry Bond's HR career score

Getting ready to bat, everyone was waiting for the 6-9-0

...but they've been making him walk these days

Owww!

2004-08-12T23:43:00.000-07:00

Had my ortho appointment on Monday and they jammed 8 separators (tiny thick rubber bands) in between 4 of my molars on each side, upper and lower jaw. They are to remain in place for a week to create spaces for the metal straps on Saturday. These straps will act as anchors to pull my teeth in their proper places.

OUCH!

YES, I am getting braces and YES, I am getting them this late in life.

I had retainers on when I was in College and my ortho back home went gung ho and pulled all of my first molars which created all these gaps in between my teeth. So now it's creating a problem because my teeth had started to shift and my bite is quite off. My friends here think there is absolutely nothing wrong with my teeth. In fact, I think it looks fine superficially but lately I feel I've been clenching my jaws too hard it's giving me a headache.

Now before I even allowed myself to be tied up for this, my good ortho here, wanting to be thorough, had referred me to another dentist who specializes in gum surgery. I was told that I've lost some bone on the spot where one of my first molars used to be. Most probably when the tooth was originally pulled, it broke the bone that held it as well.

Great.

So off I see this other dentist and the appointment went this way:

dentist: Interesting case. The bone lost is bigger than I've expected, you need an oral surgeon who specializes in actual bone grafting.

me: what does the oral surgeon do in a case like mine?

dentist: (shows me a dummy with removable gums) In surgery, they will pull open your gums and will transplant bone into that open spot,close it up and see if it will assimilate with the surrounding bone (somewhat in that premise, technical words forgotten). It will take a year for it to heal.

me: (shocked), and do I still get to function normally during that timeframe?

dentist: yes, well, of course maybe with some discomfort, bruising and swelling. They will prescribe something to help you with the pain (here in the US, painkillers seem to be the answer to everything and oh, he forgot to tell me that maybe infection may be another factor, right?)

me: (double shocked and after a brief loss for words) er, so did you tell me where they will exactly get the bone from?

dentist: oh anywhere from your back jaw or from your chin where there is more bone.

me:(EGAD!!!!)I see.

The versatile natto

2004-08-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

Have you ever tried eating this in a Japanese restuarant?

I'd say liking this is an acquired taste plus it can be mentally challenging if you've not come across this Japanese breakfast staple before as it is glutinous in texture and has that funny smell to it. When H first introduced this to me, I just looked at him and wondered how he can say this is good food.

They sell this here frozen in small styro containers (a serving) with individual packets of shoyu and mustard that you mix together until the frozen beans becomes gluey in consistency. The mixture is usually eaten with a bowl of rice.

I only started liking this after a restaurant (We be Sushi in Geary) served it as a maki sushi (rolled sushi). In another restaurant (Kisaku, San Mateo) they served this as an appetizer. They wrapped the natto in shiso leaf and then dipped in tempura batter and deep fried--yumm! that's when I got hooked--well, I don't crave for it but I like it now.

Apparently, he's convincing me to eat this daily for health reasons. Just one advice, this is not date food material :-)

Volcano tales

2004-08-09T23:51:00.000-07:00

I never got around to continuing the post from last month's Redding trip, so here goes..

That weekend we went to see the new bridge, we also made a lot of side trips. I love driving but don't really like repeating a trip once I've been there especially if it means driving more than 4 hours by car one way. It's a trait I had probably inherited from my Dad. I remember when we used to live in Mexico, where my Dad was assigned, we'd make weekend trips to visit different places which required all of us to be expeditious, quick and constantly alert (lest we get left behind) as he likes to cover a lot of ground in one day.

But I digress.

Here are the pictures. We took lots of pics but most of them I am on it, so can't post those, it just ruins the views (haha)...

Mt Shasta, taken after our cave tours, this is the closest we've come to this mountain, we were running against dusk because we needed to still find our hotel for the night. At the foot of the mountain is this quaint town which reminded me of the movie Dante's peak for Mt. Shasta is a volcano after all.

Mt Lassen -- it looks pretty similar to Mt Shasta, in fact I had a hard time distinguishing them from each other. We decided to do this side trip because it's nearby and I figured we can swing it on our way home. Guess what? to go there means having to drive all the way up to get to the other side that will lead us to the freeway to get back home. It's a good thing we had the entire day to spare and the drive thru it was well worth the time. Although not comparable to the grandeur of Yosemite, it has its own beauty and endearing characteristic that will make you connect back to pure nature. This is mountain is another volcano that last erupted in 1917. See why they call California earthquake zone?

The pine trees are so much different from the ones I've seen here around SF and they are so packed like crayons in a box. I've noticed that the formation of the trees looked like they were lined in neat rows and arranged to have an illusion like they've been planted in an alternating pattern when seen from afar. Here we are trying to stop every so often thinking we will not get a better view of the mountain for a good pic and not knowing we were actually going to climb the 8,000 of the more than 10k foot mountain!

A jab at a picturesque shot from a photographer wanna be

The rivers are prestine and super chilled!!! You would think the water is good enough to drink---naaah--wouldn't dare it.

We found another river and went down actually to put our feet in----brrrrr--- not such a good idea to do for so long, my feet almost turned blue in just under 10 seconds. Would probably be good to white water raft in it though..

It's called Castle Crags, on our way to Mt Lassen. They are granite peaks that jutted out of the mountains a million years ago. Kitchen counter material galore? *haha*

I forgot the name of this lake but right now I call it the Crystal lake. Somewhat similar to the one in Yosemite (Tuolumne) but smaller. Visitors get to picnic or set up camp around the lake. Nice!

On the mountain, climbing up to get to the other side...Our first glimpse of the packed snow we thought was hardened ice. I was wrong, one can make snow cone from it, just need the syrup to go with it.

A view from the top! It feels like we were on top of the world and we were kind of feeling dizzy from the altitude. The air is quite thin up here at 8k feet but the view is just breathtaking, you now wonder which one is causing this to happen. Do you also call it the bends when one has climbed such altitude so quick? haha

We went to the edge of the mountain and saw a lone deer below. My hubby zoomed in for this pic of wildlife in the park.

I love taking pictures of trees especially when they're way so high!

I told you I love taking pictures of trees. Nature is my stress reliever.

Weekend's over!

2004-08-09T01:28:00.000-07:00

It felt like the weekend zipped on by too fast--didn't feel it at all!

Managing to squeeze every chore within these two days seem impossible. Doing laundry seems to be a vicious cycle for me. I can never get caught up with it. What with the convenience of the washing machine/dryer, I still can't seem to have enough hands and time to do the whole process during the weekend. This weekend I've only managed to load all the dirty clothes from the hamper then folded and put away all the clothes from last week's wash. The wash I did this morning will probably get folded next week (haay!). I got spoiled during the time my Mom visited and all I had to do was load the wash, she did the folding and then the ironing. I guess I just don't have the patience to wait for the washing machine to get done with the wash cycle, it's just too boring for me. I always end up forgetting I had some clothes waiting for the next process.

I am almost done with the built in cabinet. Unlike washing clothes which I categorize as a chore, being crafty is what I call a hobby. I can never get tired of this for some reason. My sister, who is assisting me on this project, had to stop me today. That's good, if she hadn't I would have finished the whole thing today. I'll post a picture of it once it's done.

Good night! got to sleep or else I won't make it to the gym tomorrow morning.

Babooshkah

2004-08-07T23:58:00.000-07:00

We got this last weekend as a free gift for coming early to watch a baseball game. We usually get one each and H usually gives the other away. This time, I wanted to keep mine, only because I love these dolls within dolls (Babooshkas)! Girlie said the term sounds like the informal farewall greeting used back home. I've seen these when I was younger back home and never knew what they were called.

These are the items, we've collected so far, that the coliseum gives away on certain weekend home games. H started a baseball card collection as well. I tell ya, hubby is still a boy inside that 6 foot frame.

Got Milk?

2004-08-07T00:37:00.000-07:00

READ THIS -->

http://www.factoryfarm.org/docs/rBGH-Hudson.doc

I need to blog about the milk in the US especially after a friend from work had mentioned about how milk is produced here. When I first arrived here, imported fresh milk was something that we haven't heard of in the px market back home. Of course, first thing I do after coming here is try it, preferably ala American style breakfast, with cereal. Little did I know!

That was then, glad to realize that I have not gotten hooked on it especially after reading the articles below. Not only is it unhumane to have cows subjected to this practice but to think the FDA directly or, so they claimed, had 'indirectly' given their stamp of approval to have this hormone artificially produced is absolutely preposterous! Now most Americans are unknowingly dealing with the consequence of having consumed this along with its side effects. No wonder there is an alarming increase in cancers, obesity, infections and other unknown causes of certain illnesses here in the US. With all the warnings being released by the FDA left and right, this generation has become one misinformed group.

Just the thought of having consumed milk with with what can be cow pus in it is totally disgusting me.

Let us be warned.

What's in your glove compartment?

2004-08-06T23:57:00.000-07:00

Some people might have maps..a flashlight..pen..paper..tissue..junk stuffed in their car's glove compartment. Me? I have what I call my 'emergency' supply -- FOOD.

Okay, not really what one can say real and wholesome food but hey, the kind I keep have quite long shelf lives. For those times we have emergencies -- maybe a craving, a need to satisfy a sugar rush, or when times when you just can't get to the nearest store (I just miss those sari-sari stores that are in every corner back home) and you find yourself ready to pass out from hunger (ha! right!). Anyways, I forgot about this stash until my sister went to look for a pen and saw what I've been hiding in the compartment

So I say it's for 'emergencies' only.

The Dahlia

2004-08-06T22:19:00.000-07:00

An officemate had given us fresh cut dahlias from his garden the other day. Aren't they pretty? I've fallen in love with this particular species since another officemate who love to garden gave me some bulbs early this year. I guess it's because it resembles the sunflower and they come in the most amazing colors and sizes.

We just moved last year to our new home and one of its selling points was that it had just the right size garden, nicely landscaped and neatly planned. I've been trying to introduce more flowers in the red and yellow shades. Although I have a couple of topiary rose bushes, the color scheme is basically in the lavander and blue tone. Roses for me are pretty much hard to maintain although I've seen some of our neighbors have really maintained beautiful rose bushes around the perimeter of their homes. I just think I can't spare the time to garden that much during the weekend and so I think Dhalias are for our type of a gardener. They are very easy to grow and some of them can really tough the weather. Of course I think the one thing that really interest me is that because to its face size, I get to enjoy them at a distance. Just got my first yellow bloom from the garden but am definitely in the mood to shop for more.

The Village

2004-08-05T23:20:00.000-07:00

It was another girls' night out today. We usually do this once a month, our schedules permitting. Last week was a premature one as a couple of our other friends joined us and had been wanting to go out for quite sometime. As planned a month ago, we were to see "The Village". Yes, I usually go see movies like these on opening night but this is another exception and so I had to wait. The wait was worth it! Great movie! I highly recommend this movie.

One of my friends, P, who used to love horror/scary/suspense movies had developed a fear of these after having a couple of kids. In fact, she had a bad dream the night before and was deeply bothered by the thought of watching a scary movie today that I was almost sure we'll end up watching something else tonight. However, by the end of the day and by some leap of faith, she decided to go for it.

I am usually the scaredy cat when it comes to this sort of movies but one of us has to be strong for the other. Movie starts and with squinting eyes on certain premonitory scenes, then we find out we were in fact seeing a romantice/love story! Ron Howard's daughter was phenominal, those eyes, they are just so darn expressive. That's all I'm gonna say--you go watch it!

M. Night Shyamalan--

Making it a habit

2004-08-05T22:52:00.000-07:00

So. ok. I decided it's better to go to the gym in the morning before I go to work s0 I won't have to think about it the rest of the day and also to not allow myself a chance to make any excuses not to go cuz I can be a major slacker when it comes to exercising.

The gym I go to is next to where I work and so this morning half awake, took the train and went on auto mode and took the subway exit leading up to our building instead of the gym's. Shucks! because of this I had to cross the street to get back to where I was supposed to go and then the dreadful thought hit me--

I. don't. feel. like. going. to. the. gym.today.

I started to tread back and crossed the street, again, then my conscience hits me--can't stop now, I've done well having gone practically everyday this week and here I am relapsing from my original plan in just a matter of days! Shame on me! and so I head back towards the gym.

Now feeling foolish and looking like I am a lost tourist in the middle of the Financial district, I thought of being headstrong on my original decision and just go to work instead of the gym. Be firm with my thoughts!

Then I realized, midway crossing the street for the final time, that I haven't showered and washed my hair and so therefore, can't show my face at work at this ungodly hour looking like I was.

See, this plan works as I ended up in the gym after all! HA!

Fog infested August

2004-08-05T22:11:00.000-07:00

First day back blogging and here I am wanting to talk about this funky weather we are having here.

I woke up this morning freezing like it's the dead of winter. I feel we completely skipped summer and went straight back to winter. The mountains look ominous with the thick fog rolling in yesterday, have not seen the sun shine for days. I've had a very stressful day dealing with strange acting people at work today, I think I'll blame the weather for putting a damper on their typical cheerful disposition.

The fog here is pretty much a way of life, I should say, but I think we've had better summers in the past years. It's already August and I have yet to store my winter clothes away.

I do love the weather here inspite of it being mostly dreary and windy at times, I'd still trade it with hot humid days any time. Took a picture yesterday with my new camera phone but am clueless as to why it's unable to send the picture to my e-mail address. Hopefully, by the time I am done with my entries tonight--need to catch up--my carrier's customer service will be able to help with this problem.

uh-uh...no need to call 9-1-1, the mountain isn't up in smokes

SF fog at it's finest (and thickest)

The Bay Area from the San Mateo bridge

Hey, it was just sunny 2 minutes ago??!!

I'll be back

2004-08-02T18:25:00.000-07:00

Haven't posted for days, though got lots of entries that are in draft mode and have been visiting my favorite sites daily... I also had to un-publish my other entries that has pictures as I am making it smaller so it will load faster. I am also working on a building a built-in cabinet at home, and so blogging has been pushed aside for a little while (only a little). I will blog about this hobby of mine on a separate entry later. Will definitely catch up this week, so keep on coming back!

SOS

2004-07-27T23:57:00.000-07:00

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.

Bloopers -- pinoy style

2004-07-27T13:19:00.000-07:00

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.

What it has become

2004-07-26T22:16:00.000-07:00

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”.

Half Moon Bay

2004-07-24T23:50:00.000-07:00

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.

To the South Pacific

2004-07-24T22:30:00.000-07:00

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...

The movie that jangles

2004-07-24T21:19:00.000-07:00

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.

A game, Irving and a wedding

2004-07-21T23:25:00.000-07:00

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?

Lost it!

2004-07-20T23:22:00.000-07:00

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.

2004-07-16T00:07:00.000-07:00

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

Gone subterranean

2004-07-15T22:35:00.000-07:00

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....

A bridge too far

2004-07-14T01:03:00.000-07:00

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.

Alzheimers

2004-07-13T22:59:00.000-07:00

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!)

Monday Blues

2004-07-12T00:52:00.000-07:00

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!

Memetdcat

2004-07-11T12:13:00.000-07:00

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

Concert in May

2004-07-11T02:07:00.000-07:00

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

First entry

2004-07-10T23:24:00.000-07:00

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.