Angel

Tolits, Ate Amy and Aldwin left about an hour ago to return to their initial destination here in LA — Baton Rouge.

It’s so sad that they had to leave, they have been our company since Anton, Bong and I went here.  They were our constant dinner and lunch dates, shopping and touring buddies here in Shreveport and Dallas.  Gone are our swimming nights with them, but then again, we might not be long here anyway.  I just hope they won’t send us to New Orleans (no offense people).

We will surely miss our friends, especially Aldwin, our little friend who did made our days brighter with his smile and cute antics, we look forward to seeing you again little buddy.  And to Tolits and Ate Amy, thanks for sharing with us your little Angel.  We will miss you guys.

      There’s nothing really new at all, explains why I haven’t posted for a while.  It has been four looong weeks, and unfortunately we are still here at Shreveport, Louisiana, oh yes.  So much for the two weeks business-cum-vacation huh! Except that we’re not vacationing at all!!!

     Uh okay, we were vacationing during the first week we’re here, there’s little work then, we even managed to have a weekend trip to Dallas, Texas.  And that weekend at Dallas was no fun at all, yeah we went to the Palace of Wax, and the Grapevine Mills for a little shopping, then that’s it, we have so little time to spare since we spent a luncheon and 2 dinners (same day) with Pinoy friends of Anton and Tolits (co-engineers of Bong).  Anyway, we said we’d go back for a little more of toilering around.

     And now it has been four weeks, and let me tell you, those four weeks didn’t  go fast enough to spare me the loneliness of being cramped inside a tiny hotel room with only a TV and my laptop to entertain me with.  And except for the constant chat with Irene and phone calls from Ate Amy, a few emails from the ladies of NC, I don’t have anyone to talk to, except of course my husband, who goes home (at the hotel) to sleep after a day’s work.  I couldn’t go outside, the temperature during the 2nd and 3rd week was flaming at 95-105 F, maybe just 10 minutes out in the sun will leave me passed out coz of the heat.  I even had a nose bleed just lounging around the hotel lobby.

   Oh well, so much for my ranting, I just really hope things will be better in the next few days, and maybe, just maybe, they will send us home in about a few weeks or so… just keep hoping!

     Here are some pics from our first dinner here in Louisiana, taken from the Louisiana Boardwalk.   Just bear with the pictures, I left my Digi-cam at the hotel so I just used my camera phone just to get some shots of the scenery. 

I am really starting to love it here, the city is nice, the downtown is beautiful and the lights are breathtaking.

     A 15-hour ride to Louisiana with my hubby and Anton for work…sure is a tiring one.  This is the longest I have ridden by land.  We got here by 2 in the morning I guess, I can’t trust my eyes as the visions have been blurred by the ride.  And for the first time in months, since we have been moving from here and there, I was able to sleep full 8 hours. 

     I was just pissed off when I woke up and found a used sock on the bed, it was not ours, maybe the sheets were not changed before we checked in.  This hotel (Jameson Inn, Shreveport NC) really sucks.  There’s not even a ref or a microwave in our room, how am I suppose to cook all the ‘in cans’ we bought at the Filipino store in Raleigh?! We’ll be staying here for a week, or at least that’s what the front desk said, apparently LEMCON reserved our rooms for only a week, and were supposed to stay here for 2.

     I woke up at around 10:30 this morning, and boy am I hungry…but breakfast is til 10am only.  I still have to wait for Bong and Anton (who are in the conference room right now for a meeting with their Manager) so we can grab a bite.  Actually there is carton full of krispy kreme doughnuts here in our room which Anton bought on the way here last night, but I can’t just get one and munch on it, hiya ako eh…

     No pictures to share this time, maybe during the weekend.  Ciao!

    And did I already wrote that the internet sucks too?  Well, it took me three times before successfully posting this thing.  So much for ‘high speed internet’ huh!

***You Should Learn French***

C’est super! You appreciate the finer things in life… wine, art, cheese, love affairs.
You are definitely a Parisian at heart. You just need your tongue to catch up…

What Language Should You Learn?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatlanguageshouldyoulearnquiz/

    It has been ages ago since I have had taho as part of my morning routine so I made one myself with the help of the Oriental Store owner at Old Buffaloe ( si tito, di namin alam name nya but he’s a Chinoy).

     When we went to shop for Sinigang ingredients at the Oriental Store, we saw tita (Filipina who runs the store) eating taho…so we asked where did she get/buy it.  She teased me that the magtataho just passed by… haha… and I said "ay sayang"… but no, it was only made by tito (store owner) and it’s not for sale…the ingredients are for sale though.  So at $2.44 + 7% tax, and cooking instructions and tips from tito, I made my first taho.

Ingredients:  Tofu mix (Soy Bean Curd Mix)

                    Sago (Tapioca Pearl)

                    Arnibal  (loosely caramelized brown sugar)

Procedure:

1.  Cook the Tofu Mix according to package instructions, just add 1 more cup of water.

2.  Boil the sago until only small white specs in the middle remains.  When cooked, put on a drainer and splash with cold water. 

3.  Make arnibal, then put the sago into the saucepan with arnibal, let boil for 4-5 minutes.

     There you go… how about a taho party?!!!

     It was quite a dream come true for the writer in me.  I have been scribbling poems in my notebook since I was in elementary, been a part of a school newspaper since first year high school… I could say that I was a journalist.  I started off being a news staff, where everybody else starts to be.  I like it when I see my reports being published on first page.  But then I became a features/literary staff, which I can say I liked the most.  Most of my pieces were printed inside by this time, but let’s just say I enjoyed it when people talks about my short stories or my poems.  Then I became an editor, I couldn’t say I liked it because of the pressure… but nevertheless, I couldn’t have wanted more.

     Then came college,  I never dreamt to become a staff of the Kule (Manila Collegian), the UPM’s campus paper.  Maybe it was really something I enjoyed that while in Kule I have been the Layout Editor of my course’s newspaper (which I already forgot the name, it has been 7 years anyway), and a Features Editor of Ang Tagamasid, the CAS newspaper.

    But after college, I went back to just scribbling poems on my Corona for meetings, we all know how boring meetings could be that I just let my imagination soar (whenever I’m not the one presiding the meeting).  My pen is indeed mightier than sword, or than my mouth for that matter.  Let’s just say, I lost the feeling of happiness over seeing my poems published.  I was invited to write in the company’s paper, but I was too busy with a lot of things in the Wireless Center that all I can do is submit photographs, well did I mention that I was also a photojourn? 

    Now that I am married, a have more time doing nothing, and I thought of submitting one of my works to the International Library of Poetry.  Lucky enough, one of my poems way back in 1999 was published in a coffeetable book called Twilight Musings, first page.

     I got the book last June 27, a day before we moved to CaryTowne Park, and I w as so happy seeing my original work in a book.  It was my long time dream of h aving one my stories published as a pocket book, just like those of Stephen King, or maybe more like Danielle Steel since most of my works are of love stories.  Now that I have one of my poems (actually two, the first was during college but I didn’t have the money to buy the book back then, now I can’t find it anymore, sigh) printed on a book right at my hands, I can only say my thanks.  This is a start off… I am still hoping that I could get my stories published,  hopefully during my lifetime.

I have posted this poem here in my blog last year before I submitted it to International Library of Poetry.

     A weekend trip to Atlanta last June 23-25 was more than just the basketball Bong and Enyel had to play.  Unlike the last time, we were able to tour the streets of Atlanta.                       

       Starting off on Friday night, June 23, before heading to donnie’s house, we added a waypoint to the Centennial Olympic Garden.  We’re not able to go to the fountain area since there is an event going on and there are lots of people out there, we just went to the Statue of whoever that was.. hehe.. to take our picture and the fantastic view of Atlanta by night. The tiresome 7-hour travel was forgotten when we came by Downtown Atlanta and we were literally awed by uniquely designed architecture and their lights.  Anyways, buildings in Atlanta are most beautiful by night and are just plain by day.  The lights give them a sort of life.

     After a few minutes of staying at the park, we headed to Donnie’s home where we had sinigang and crispy pata.  We soo missed sinigang, ate Mel’s version is very tastful. Eversince I got here i just cooked sinigang twice, I don’t know why… maybe coz it’s too hard to find kangkong out here.  I might cook one after we got settled in our new apartment (different entry).

     The next day, Saturday June 24, we woke up early to get ready for the  Basketball Tournament in Atlanta where Enyel and Bong joined.  We were pressuring them to win since it took us 7 hours just so they can play basketball.  Nonetheless, they lost in I think, 6 points. In the first few minutes they were overthrown by 26 points, but they made it up to just 6 points with their fastbreaks.  I’m not really familiar with the games’ rules and jargons, but I really enjoyed watching the game and cheering for our guys.  It’s just so sad that only ate Mel, Irene and I watched the game plus the kids, it would’ve been very nice if their (the players’) wives were there.

     After the game, we just had lunch and headed off to the Georgia State  Capitol.  The gold-domed Capitol Building is just as fascinating, with Miss Freedom, a 22 1/2 foot statue atop the dome.  It’s nice to have a bit of a historical tour, only if we know the history of the capitol..hehe… all I know is that it houses the governor’s office and the state legislature and that it is made of Indiana limestone and Georgia marble and it stands 240 feet high from the rotunda floor.  I wonder who was the statue right at the back of Bong riding a horse…

    After marvelling the Capitol’s beauty, we headed off to the mountains.. er… the Stone Mountain Park which took us almost 45 minutes from the State Capitol.   Well, what can I say… the view from the top was heavenly, and the cable car ride was quite an experience…the first one was good, but the ride back was bad… well, we stood side by side with stinking guys.. eew… I never will stand beside any I_d_ _ n ever!!! 

     We rode the cable car at around 8pm, and they were closing at 8:30 which means we have to get in the line for the ride back before 8:30 to save us the energy of going down from the mountain by stairs.  So we just spent about 5 minutes atop of the mountain… the views are as I have said, heavenly… it’s kinda like singing the Carpenter’s Top of the World… well, we’re just on the top of Georgia…hehe…

   The following day was our day to go back to Raleigh, so we went to Downtown once again for the last minute tours.  Our first stop is the CNN Center where we were not able to tour inside  because we don’t have the time to do it anymore… so we just had a couple of pictures outside and at the entrance where different shops stood.  We did a little shopping inside and went out with the usual:  keychain for my collection, fridge magnet for bong’s collection, a CNN shirt for me (I once dreamed of being a reporter) and a collector’s pen for Bong.

     Last stop : World of Coca-Cola.  Well, Coke has been part of every Filipinos’ life, whether here, or back home, and I think the Coke people know this coz right upon entering the building’s 3rd floor, our flag greets everyone right at the doorstep.  The Coke museum was just small, they just featured Coke’s history (malamang!), how the bottles were embossed, and the all time favorite - Coke tasting!!! As if we don’t know how Coke tastes like huh, well, no…. there are 40 different kinds of Coke products here, from all over the world.  When you taste some of the Coke products, like  the Ginger Beer from South Africa (sorry), you’ll know why it’s not available in our country… try it so you’d know. hehe…

     We planned on going to Gaffney, SC for some outlet shopping, but the weather was so horrible that we just went on driving straight to Charlotte where we celebrated with our friends for Anni’s Baby Shower.

So that’s it, a tiring but exciting Georgia trip.  We’ll be back for the aquarium though coz we were not able to get a ticket for this trip (SOLD OUT).  I wonder where our feet will take us to next time.

Ciao!

      We had some friends over for a small gathering last June 18 — my birthday.  Bong’s officemates and their partners came over and some of our friends from Church.  All 30 people (more or less) fit in our teeny-weeny apartment, and with the temperature at 90 deg or more, it was a sweaty afternoon.  We just had merienda, videoke and had some dinner, but what we enjoyed most is that chit-chat.  Stories varying from bosses freaking them out, girls wanted to do some more shopping, going home to the Philippines, going to places here in the US, saving up money for businesses we want to start in Pinas…the list goes on.  Being together, us Filipinos share our dreams of saving up and going back. 

    They (friends) also serenaded me with some funny songs from the MAGIC SING, and I especially liked CJ’s rendition of Bahay Kubo while dancing a traditional folk dance step.  And did I already say that Irene’s Kare-Kare is superb? Well, everyone couldn’t stop digging into the dish that I have to sneak some when nobody was looking and hid it in the fridge..=)   And, well, they brought gifts too!!!  They really are sweet… 

    This is one birthday celebration I will never really forget.  It wasn’t like my birthdays at home with my family, but despite that, me, my husband and our friends had a blast.

  ‘Twas a tiring 12-hour drive from 8pm May 26 to 8am May 27 down south for a Memorial Weekend trip with the Fujitsu people and the couple — Enyel and Irene.  Our friends whom we met at the Bowling Tournament in Cary who then became our Churchmates at the Glory to God Christian Fellowship, Jonathan and Chat, invited us to stay over their folks place at St. Petersburg. 

      The couple took us to the beach to get some tan, as if were not brown skinned at all, and we enjoyed a couple of hours dippin’ at St. Pete’s beach, and yeah, we got a little burned from the sun.  Hours later, when we’re done freshin’ up, they took us at The Pier and watched a lot of people fishin’ from the parking lot.  We did some shopping too at The Pier’s shops.  By the way, Jonathan is an American-Cuban missionary to the Philippines (reason why he’s speaking fluently in Filipino) way back 2001 and married Chat, a Filipina, in 2003.

     The next day, May 28, we rode for 2 hours to Walt Disney World and about 20 minutes more to the Universal Studios in Orlando to drop off some of the Fujitsu guys who find Walt Disney too girly or too kiddy for them.  About 11AM, we’re finally entering the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom.  We had a chance to visit only Magic Kingdom among the four (4) Theme Parks in Walt Disney World due to time (or days) constraint.  It takes a day or more just to roam around and get some rides in one Theme Park. 

      It was a sunny day with temparature rising to 90 degrees Fahrenheit and we got burned more than we did at the beach.  Albeit, we still enjoyed.  We had a few kiddy rides and a tour of the Haunted Mansion.  From 11am, we stayed until 11PM for the Fireworks, and yes it is GRAND.  It was a day soo tiring but full of fun.

     Next day, May 29 is the Memorial Day, which means Memorial Day Sale!!! We hit Orlando Premium Outlets in the morning, with a hectic shopping schedule of merely 2 hours.  Imagine girls shopping for only 2 hours!!! If my sister were here, she would have panicked..hehe.. peace SIS!  So there we were, rushing from one shop to the other, going only to shops that the Carolina Premium Outlets doesn’t have such as Lacoste (top on the list), Kenneth Cole, Armani Exchange, Diesel, Calvin Klein and a couple of others.  Irene and I are practically sprinting all the way to the stores just to get what we were looking for.  The boys (Bong, Enyel and Erwin) just followed us wherever we went, maybe 2 hours isn’t enough for them too so they might as well not shop at all =).

     It wasn’t long enough that we realized our vacation was over so we hit a 10-hour long drive from Orlando to Raleigh… sigh… it was a 4 day vacation with only 9 hours of sleep, total, ha and no sleep at all during the ride to St. Petersburg.

    On our next trip back, we’re sure to hit another Theme Park at the Walt Disney World, and hopefully more hours of shopping at Prime Outlets (another Outlet in Orlando).  Well, Florida sure is an exciting state apart from it’s sunny hot weather, a lot of Outlets and Theme Parks, I could go on a month long vacation in that place.  We’re looking forward on our next Florida Trip with Anton and Jitjit, Rojie and Zorina.  See ya next time. =)