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...

N More Islands to Go...

this certainly beats maps with pushpins. :-)

My Lakbayan grade is C!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

Tita Yaya :-)

Originally, Texas wasn't part of my itinerary in my trip to the US (actually I didn't have any itinerary at all--it was anything goes hahaha). But when my tito called up to say that my tita in Texas (she was also vacationing there and staying with her son--my cuz) had to have an emergency operation and needed someone to help take care of my nieces after the operation, I jumped at the chance. And oh, how I jumped at the chance! I practically pounced on it like a tiger, I was that excited. =) Though I was going there mainly to help out, it still seemed like a good idea as I haven't seen my cousin and his family for quite some time. Besides, it would be my first time to go to Texas. ;-)

Here are some pictures of my nieces:

Kate and Ella at the play/media room. This is where they play in the afternoon while my tita and I keep an eye on them--and while trying to watch a movie at the same time--mostly Kate's countless Barbie and Disney Princesses flicks! I did more kid-watching of course, as Ella might cry and needed a nap or Kate might suddenly ask for milk (or ask me to play with her or answer her countless questions or...). Quite tiring, yes, but fun.

Tell me, who can resist this cute little girl's charming smile? Certainly not I! :-) This was one of those rare times she smiled at me. Ahh, priceless. Most of the time she just stared at me with a funny/wondering look, probably thinking, "Who is this crazy lady trying to be funny?" Hehehe. Honestly, I didn't even know how to hold her properly the first time when she was crying. It took me a couple of days to get the hang of it as it has been a long time since I held a baby. But hey, I became an expert in putting her to sleep after those couple of days! Take note that I'm an expert in putting her to SLEEP, not in making her LAUGH. ;-P

Kate et moi fooling around at Herrmann Park in Downtown Houston. My tita was a whole lot better by this time, and my cousin had the day off so he had the opportunity to show me the sights. Oh yeah, the pool behind us is called the Mary Gibbs and Jesse H. Jones Reflection Pool.

add-on:

see more of my Texas adventures:

http://palaboy-lamonster.blogspot.com/2007/05/les-pics-1.html

http://palaboy-lamonster.blogspot.com/2007/05/les-pics-2.html
http://palaboy-lamonster.blogspot.com/2007/05/les-poissons.html
http://palaboy-lamonster.blogspot.com/2007/05/la-madeleine.html
http://palaboy-lamonster.blogspot.com/2007/05/downtown-houston-sights.html
http://palaboy-lamonster.blogspot.com/2007/05/nasa-nasa-ako.html
http://palaboy-lamonster.blogspot.com/2007/05/nasa-adventure.html

Texas Sunset

In the days that followed after I arrived in Houston, I saw that the land seems to stretch on forever. There are a lot of new subdivisions springing up just outside of downtown Houston, and even more ranches surrounding them. With all this space, we can easily fit the whole of Metro Manila in the state of Texas and still have more land area to spare. No wonder Texas is one of the biggest states in the US. And even the sunset there is big. This was taken at the parking lot of Wal-Mart on a rare sunny day.

:-)

Song for the day:

Advance Happy Father's Day =)

I am posting this now as most probably I won't be able to go online on Sunday.

The songs here are mostly from the '50s and '60s, during the time of my pa's youth (naks! ü). I remember him bringing home tapes of artists such as Ricky Nelson, Frank Sinatra, Beatles, etc. whenever he gets back from his flights when I was younger. My brothers and I grew up listening to those songs and we (I) even used to imitate how they sang (you just gotta love Frankie Valli's lovely shrieking falsetto ü). Now it's only me and my pa who do. Hehehe.

And so to my beloved pa and all the fathers out there, here's to you. Happy Father's Day! Love you pa! =)

song survey

got this survey from friendster =)

Name 13 songs in ur mind and answer the following questions.

1. nothing in my way - keane
2. romance for journey - daishi dance
3. put a little love away
4. i'm no angel - dido
5. stranger in paradise - sarah brightman
6. abot kamay - orange and lemons
7. hanggang kailan - orange and lemons
8. para sa akin - sitti
9. for your eyes only - sheena easton
10. if i didn't care - jack lawrence/the inkspots
11. somewhere only we know - keane
12. bad day - daniel powter
13. honneur à tous - mulan

who do u remember when u hear no. 4?
erm... secret

does no.8 make u happy?
- of course, it relaxes me as well and i don't get tired of listening to this song.

has no. 3 made u cry?
nope, but it gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling

in what occasion did you hear no. 9?
when i looked it up on youtube hehehe. the first time i heard this was when i listened to sitti live! CD

do u miss no.10?
this song was released in 1939 but it was only last week that i first heard this song, from my cousin's oldies tape that he gave me

which lyrics do u like the best from no.1?
it's just another day, nothing in my way

do u imagine something when u hear no.2?
i imagine something warm and fuzzy

who do u remember when u hear no. 6?
this question should start with "what"... i remember manila.

when was the last time u heard no .11?
i think that was last month

who told u about no. 8?
just heard it on the radio

do u often sing no.11?
only when i listen to it

have u sung no.7 to anyone?
there's no one to sing this song to =)

does no. 10 inspire ur life?
it inspires me to learn more about the past

does no. 5 tell about ur feelings?
heehee i think so... take my hand, i'm a stranger in paradise... =)

what do u feel wen u hear no.7?
i really love old manila

do u smile when u hear no 11?
not really

when was the first time u heard no.1?
earlier this year

if u could dedicate no. 9 to someone,who would it be?
my goodness, this question hits the mark... i'll just leave this to the imagination of whoever reads this hehehe. ;)

does no 7 mean a lot to u?
of course

what’s so special about no 2?
it makes me dance

would u sing no.1 to anyone? to whom?
no, and anyway there's no one for me to sing this song to.

does no.8 remind u of someone?
nope

what memory comes to ur mind when u hear no.5?
when i watched sarah brightman in june 2004!!!!!!!! yaaayyyy!!!!!!!!!!!

do u want to hear no 12 right now?
maybe later

can u remember clearly the first time u heard no 13?
sometime last year in the office on youtube (on breaktime, dearies, on breaktime. ü). oh yeah, this is the french version of "honor to us all." (Chers ancêtres, aidez-moi! Je ne doi pas faire un seul faux pas! lalalala...)

the adventure's over...

or maybe not.

hello, manila. =)

coolness

after the balmy-sultry-warmy-schmoozy-woozy-me-likey weather in florida, i am now officially a frozen delight back here in LA. honestly, the weather in florida is more to my liking. the weather here in LA is actually not that cold, but i guess warm weather suits me more.

tick tock

the hours slip by so slowly... before i know it, i would be on another Continental flight bound for LA tomorrow morning. i'm gonna miss florida a lot.

on the bright side, though, that means the time draws nearer for me to go home to my beloved manila. =)

this also means that this is probably my last post from the US coz it'll be difficult for me to get in front of a computer in my relative's place in LA. not that it matters a lot, though. hehe.

manila, manila... i keep coming back to manila

it seems that i will be going back to my beloved manila sooner than i expected. i'm excited to go back to manila, yet at the same time i know i'm going to miss all the new experiences i've had here in the US. every time i come here, there's always new places to go, things to do, and each is an unforgettable experience worth putting down on paper (or in this case, chronicling in this here blog. ü).

oh well. at any rate i will still be "chronicling" each experience even when i'm back in the philippines so it will still feel like i'm still living it. until then, there would be more writeups until i'm done, and then there would be new things to discover, more things to write about. hah-ha! =)

i'm coming home to stayyy... ;-)

biking pics

these pics are taken at the rock garden trail.

summit!

yeah!

we're about to go down this hill.

moi with me cuzes

miss lamon the mountain biker...?

as i type this, i must have lost about a million pounds already. this morning my tito and cousins took me to a mountain biking adventure at the alafia river state park. and when i say adventure, i mean adventure. i might know how to ride a mountain bike, but to really ride a mountain bike through rutty and rooty trails (not to mention overhanging branches, lots of bugs, and scratches) takes a lot of hard work, at least for me. i'm just glad that before i agreed to come along, i have been biking around the subdivision ever since i arrived here in my tito's place. at least that gave me the warm-up/exercise i needed or else i would be dead and not writing this by now. ;-)

the first trail we took was sand pine. it's the easiest trail in the park and it was no sweat for me. it was nice just cruising around the twists and turns of the flat trail, going over some roots that jut out and basically just enjoying the scene. but on one part of the trail, i suddenly saw a snake that moved as i passed by! it was black with white or yellow stripes. that was really scary coz i had no idea whether it was poisonous or not. this is the first time i've ever seen a snake that's in the wild and not just in a zoo. scary but exciting as well. i think i've never pedaled so hard in my life to get away.

the second trail was rock garden. you may think that i thought we'd be going around serene zen-like rock gardens with birds twittering about, but no. i just wondered how the trail came to be named rock garden, and i found out soon enough.

we had to ride on a trail that's full of roots that have jutted out from the ground, and it's so much trickier as we had to go uphill then downhill most of the time, with all those roots around. well, nevertheless, this was where i started to poop out because instead of riding down the hill, i just walked the bike down and then uphill. yes, and i'm not ashamed that i did that or else i might have ended up with a broken bone or worse, dead. ok, i'm just exaggerating here, but then i really had no intention of riding down the higher hills and though this is uncharacteristic of me, i just made the excuse that "i'm a girl." yuck, yuck, yuck but yes, i did. üüüüü

but even with that, i enjoyed the mountain biking a lot and if i just have a lot of time, i'd do this every weekend. then maybe i'd really lose the pounds. ;-)

pics to come soon. =)

my visual DNA

no relation whatsoever to my so-called "travel and food blog." just felt like adding this. =)

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

NASA Adventure

Over breakfast last Friday, I asked my cousin all sorts of questions before we left for the Space Center Houston. "Where will the tram ride take us?" "Are there shows?" "Are there any other rides?"

He answered all my questions with equal seriousness: "To the Lyndon Johnson Space Center where blah, blah, blah..." "Yes." "Yes." Then I fired off my last question: "Is there some kind of ride which has zero gravity?"

His answer: Yes. Only I have to ride an airplane that goes up higher than the normal plane that will go up and then down, like a roller coaster, in order to achieve zero gravity. And only people who are training to be astronauts can go on this. Oh, oh-kay. Zero gravity cannot be achieved on the ground (uh, so sue me. i just thought that with the superior technology of NASA, they have already invented some zero gravity room on earth. apparently, it's on air ü). Moving on, I was able to learn later on that the plane that's used in achieving zero gravity is called the C9B, or otherwise known as the "Vomit Comet." It is so nicknamed because of its parabolic trajectory path. (Wow, do I sound so professional! ;-)) On earth, they have a diving pool in the Astronaut Training Facility in order to simulate zero-g.

Astronaut Training Facility

The rocket Saturn V is kept in a large storage in Rocket Park. It is the last rocket made, and because of the advent of the space shuttles, it was never launched.

Saturn V

ain't this Saturn V rocket long?

rocket boosters of Saturn V

take a closer look

Inside the Space Center is the Starship Gallery, where there's a space time line, exhibits (such as the Apollo 17 Command Module, space suits, the inside of the Space Lab, etc.) as well as a display of moon rocks.

l-r: basalt, breccia, anorthosite, breccia

touchable moon rock. =)

this is me and another astronaut on the moon. i'm the one on the right. ;-)

Apollo 17 Command Module

Space Center Houston also has theaters, one of which is the Blast Off. It's actually a new attraction at the Center, and it features a simulation of a launch---"over 7 million pounds of thrust pushes a 4 1/2 million pound vehicle skyward." It was an awesome feeling. After the lunch... er, launch, people go straight to the Blast Off Theater where they are updated on the latest news in space exploration. This is also where they enlightened the clueless visitors about the zero gravity room. There is, however, a real zero gravity room---the Zero-G Diner. =)

I watched another film in another theater, which is called the Northrop Grumman Theater. The film takes longer than the first one, about 30 minutes, but it was so worth it. It's about the people who undergo training before they can be sent to missions up in outer space. When the real shuttle was being launched, I felt I was also in it. The view of the earth from outer space is very beautiful; the five-storey screen made the experience even more incredible. Oh yeah, and the film's title? It's "To be an Astronaut." I definitely wanted to be an astronaut after watching it. =)

There are more pics in my multiply page, so if you'd like to see my ugly fesz as well, click here and here. Be warned! ;-)

yeah

i am now officially ensconced here in my cousin's room in tampa, florida. new adventures coming up! =)

the flight coming here was awesome. it's just about an hour and a half plane ride fron houston, and no matter how tired i was from last night's picture-posting on this here blog, it was worth it--the flight was short and smooth, the sky was very clear, and i could see different types of boats on the gulf of mexico below. i especially loved two things on this flight: first, when the plane took off, all i could see are fields of green--trees, trees and more trees, with patches of buildings here and there. the state of texas seems to go on forever, with vast terrains that still needed to be explored. and then second, on the plane's final approach to the airport, i saw this really, really majestic sunset. the glow of the setting sun reflecting from the water's surface as seen from the air is more spectacular than seen on land. tampa's many waterways transformed into golden pools of sunlight. it was simply dazzling, literally and figuratively.

i remember that when i was flying to houston, the flight was different. it was a bit bumpy as the plane was flying over land, and we also encountered a thunderstorm two hours into the flight. (the flight was about three and a half hours from los angeles). we were actually just above the clouds, and it was so amazing to see the force of nature literally light up under us... lances of lightning slicing through the dark sky. (it was night time, obviously. ü)

the flight coming to the US is a different story, though. i'll write about it real soon.

and i'm really happy that on all three flights, i sat by the right wing of the plane. the seats by the plane's wings are my most favorite!

and yeah, i'm a-going to the beach tomorrow! woohoo! =)

nasa NASA ako

"Houston, we have a problem."

Ahh, the most memorable line by Tom Hanks from the movie Apollo 13 (and which also became included in the list of cliches). But hey, I certainly didn't have a problem at all in touring the Lyndon Johnson Space Center in Houston.

the names of the five space shuttles

a model of a space station

this is the only McDonald's that has an astronaut on top.


this is my weight on jupiter. my weight on earth? you do the maths. =)

Ooh, so many pictures... I'm getting sleepy now. =) More pics will be posted here and in my Multiply page soon and on the moon.

Downtown Houston Sights

I can't believe it... this is my third post for today! Yay! =) Anyhow, the following are some more of what I've seen on my jaunt to Houston yesterday. (May 3)

part of the Houston skyline from the Downtown Aquarium
Toyota Center, the home of the Houston Rockets

Reliant Stadium, home of the... home of Houston's football team. =)

Here's an interesting fact about Reliant Stadium: it's roof is retractable, so when it's raining the roof closes so everyone doesn't get soaked by the rain. Of course when it's sunny, the roof's open. Think convertible.