funny...

i joined ivan mandy of old manila walks just this morning on his art deco dancing through the halls of FEU. it seemed that i was the earliest one to arrive and so when i asked the guards at gate 4, they directed me to the admin bldg. apparently he wasn't there yet so i asked another guard over there if he has seen the tour group meeting somewhere.

me: andito na po ba si ivan?
guard: ivan?
me: yung tour ni ivan dito sa feu... me tour siya dito ngayon. nakita niyo po ba siya?
guard: attorney ivan? anong department?

ohh, my. attorney? oh well. good thing i already saw ivan before things got even more confusing. hehehe.

more on the tour soon... just felt like posting this before i forget. ;-)

I Walk the Streets of San Francisco...

finally, I get to post this long-delayed entry. what with having the film developed here and then wonderfully scanned and cropped. ^^

I never expected to go to San Francisco as I originally intended to fly to Los Angeles from Manila. But since I'm a chance passenger and I chose the very convenient time of flying at the start of summer vacation, I got bumped off the flight to LA (twice). It turned out to be my best mistake so far. Hehehe. San Francisco was actually the better bet of chance passengers since it's not as overbooked as the LA flights. And so when all hopes of flying to LA became nil, I was off to the check-in counter for SFO and from there, I was off to San Francisco. Away from the blistering heat and on towards the biting cold. (It may be summer in the Philippines in April but spring has just started in the US.)

I have been to San Francisco many times before but this is the first time that I traveled by myself. And this in itself made it even more memorable. A few days after I arrived, my friend Myka graciously offered to come with me to the city as it was her day-off from work at the time. It's amazing to be in San Francisco once more as the last time I've been there was five years ago. Nothing much has changed from what I can remember; the city is much more laid-back and less polluted than LA. And furthermore, it's more fun to walk there. :-)

The Ferry Building at the Port of San Francisco. Myka and I rode the ferry from Vallejo, and this is where we docked. The fare was actually very outrageously pricey (11USD one way) and we staggered at the cost. But what the heck, this is my first time to ride a ferry there and I am a tourist, after all. The ride was worth it--calm, blue waters, nice scenery, and the prospect of seeing a whale as we passed the Golden Gate Bridge which we didn't see anyway. ^^ And don't you think the sky is perfect?

Waiting by the traffic light to cross Mission Street. The Hyatt is shown on the left side. Take a look at the clean, clean sidewalk too.

Emporio Armani on Grant Street. Grant Street is like the Fifth Avenue of NYC, with lots of designer stores such as Banana Republic, Versace and Juicy Couture.

Random building and streetcar. Obviously the sun hasn't reached this part yet so it's quite dark.

Gateway to Chinatown on Grant Street

Chinatown. Isn't this street so clean? I could walk barefoot here. This is just one of the many steep streets in San Francisco that gives instant exercise to people.

The TransAmerica Pyramid, which is probably the most recognizable structure in San Francisco because of its unique shape.

Another thing that I like about San Francisco is that there weren't that many people walking on the streets at that time, given that it was a Monday. It's almost like Ortigas Center. hehehe. Oh well. I may be back in Manila now, but San Francisco will always be close to my heart. Oh, not really, coz I already left my heart there. :-)

go, miss cheesy!

I just love San Francisco and I can't wait to go back there.

More Pics from the Food Fest

I'd like to thank Layla and Happy for the pictures. See you soon on the next blogfest! =) (except for layla... we meet almost every week. hehehe. peace!)

With the one and only Yatot! =)

Us girls

Just a sampling of the delicious foodies!

The piece de resistance--the creamy, dreamy, heavenly dark Belgian chocolate fountain! It's sooooo good with those big marshmallows. Ooh, I can practically taste it again now. ^^ There were actually two (the other being milk chocolate), but I love the dark one better. =)

Scraping off the remaining chocolate on both fountains. Yum, yum!!!

Blogger's Food Fest at the MOA Whoo-hah!

When I first read the invitation of Tita Dine, aka Sexy Mom about the Bloggers Food Fest held at the Mall of Asia on July 3, I didn't give it much thought as it will be held on a weekday, and I also have to go to work at the crack of dawn. But a girl's allowed to change her mind, right? I won't be the only one who's sleeping late that day and besides, the promise of free food and lotsa other freebies was so enticing. So when she asked me again a few days later, I didn't hesitate to say yes. And man, am I glad I did, because if I decided not to go then I would have missed the best event ever.

Together with my food maven friends Heidi and Layla, we arrived early at Taste Asia) where the event was held). We were by ourselves for quite some time as we didn't know a lot of the people there except for Tita Dine and Yatot, whom I also finally met. Battle plan: eat first, and then conquer. ;-) I do believe that Heidz was the first one at the oh-so-delectable chocolate fountain, notwithstanding that our table was near it. We had our fill of the assorted fruits, profiteroles/cream puffs and marshmallows dipped in the delightful Belgian milk and dark chocolate. Ahh, how can something so sinful make me feel like I'm in heaven? *dreamy sigh*

It was also fun meeting other bloggers such as Sarah, Jomar, and Happy. Since they were also by their lonesome, all six of us stuck together. Battle plan: first conquer, then eat again. ;-)

Here are some pictures we took at Clique Booth. Thanks Karl! =)

us girls...

And all 6 of us

We didn't win any of the prizes (well, except for Jomar) since we didn't add our names to the fishbowl but anyhow, meeting blogfriends in the flesh and getting to know new people certainly are more of a prize for me. On to the next food fest!

More pics to come...