“I Shall Return”
Traffic was heavy.., the mood was tense, sad & excited. Thanks to my husband’s not so reliable sense of direction we missed a turn and lost almost 30 minutes. Hug, kiss, teary eyes (nah!) And from all the mixed emotions and commotions I almost forgot my mac at the backseat of our car. Heavy luggage...And I mean really heavy luggage. The worst part of checking in is the security check. I hate the part where I take off my shoes, my belt, my watch and everything else.
After much deliberation, Eva Air was relatively better than most airlines. Cheap, reliable, and they serve good food. (which happens to be important thing on a long flight) The flight attendants were really nice considering my bad experience from Taiwanese-run aircraft. The connecting flights were all on-time. No long waiting periods. This was my 2nd time at a Taipei airport. As expected it was clean, unconveniently huge and the nearest Starbucks or decent sandwich at Subway was a mile walk inside the airport.
SO L.A dude!!!
The US immigration officer seemed perplexed at the idea of us going to New York. "It's too darn cold in New York! You should go to Florida." But I was allowed a max of 6 months stay in the US maybe after hearing that I’m staying only for 3 weeks.
Unlike my 1st visit in the US, It was still cold in LA. Then we probably spent
most of our time on the freeway going one place to another. We crashed with
our high school friend Mitchie at a Best Western room in Pasadena with her friend Laronda. Old Town Pasadena was a great place to hang out. No rowdy shady characters. Sort of like Malate (in the old days) and Eastwood City without the commercial aspect.
Hollywood!!
Tourist haven Hollywood was almost an ordinary place, except it was like a mecca to showbiz fanatics the way the Inca & Mayan trail was like to modern civilization.. The Church of Scientology building that I almost ignored reminded me of Tom Cruise and his evolved weirdness from ideology. The Kodak Theatre felt like I was walking through the red carpet to accept my Oscar trophy, except I was surrounded by a giddy group of cheerleaders congregating for a cheerleading competition inside the theatre. The Chinese Theatre is where you can come closely to holding Matt Damon's hands and realizing they are quite small. (awww...)
LA Pinoys & Airport Hotels..
Call me crazy but I saw Jollibee (the mascot) at an LA pinoy community commercial place and got so excited. I ran to him like a deranged toddler and had my picture taken. For some reason we had lunch at Chow King. The local pinoy grocery sold all pinoy goods llike you’re back in Manila. Complete with a guy with ‘bisaya accent’ on the paging system. My goily friend Mars & I stayed at the Howard Johnson airport hotel for the night and it had a cinematic resemblance to that old Stephen King flick, The Shining. 
Buti nalang, coolest-of-cool friend Sally(dumay) treated us to dinner (at Denny's..not bad ha) and decided to hang out with us in our hotel room up to 3AM. No time to sleep!!! We hopped on the airport shuttle at 4:30AM for a 7AM flight to NYC. The sleep deprivation has made me a bit depressed and irritable. Thanks to the Chinese guy who used my seatbelt. Kaya pala ang sikip man!
New York here we come!!
The flight wasn't bad. It was almost 6 hours of mild turbulence. Once we stepped out of JFK airport, the wind chill was terrible. I hate the cold! T'was the final days of winter, and NY isn’t exactly hospitable.
We were at the Garden State mall in NJ on our second day with galpal Elaine and ol pal Sagun (Frances Sagun..but we call her “sagun”) It was a long night of shopping. Sagun dared the challenge for us to find our shirt size inside Abercombie and ended up paying for it. She treated us to a Japanese buffer dinner that defined the word Gluttony. Wished Marc was there!! 
The NY Subway, 5th Avenue, Central Park and the Met (March 2)
The long walk to the bus station was torture. Wind chill and -7 degree temperature were my everday challenges. (Sort of like Survivor Weekend in NYC). We got off at the last stop which was Union Station (aka the Union Turnpike) and waited sans rain and cold for my friend's Aunt. First time I was having coffee & doughnuts side by side with the NYPD. This was also our first walk to fame at 5th Ave. The Apple Store along the 5th was the biggest and the 
mecca to mac enthusiasts. I just had to stop by the NBA store to get my hubby a shirt that was on sale for$14. Pricey for an ordinary white shirt with an NBA logo. The NBC store was exciting and again really expensive stuff. I cannot resist getting a Conan O'Brien shirt (I'm a BIG fan of course) and an SNL mug for almost 40 bucks. Haaay! St. Patrick's Cathedral was beautiful. It was a sight to behold amidst the skyscrapers, shops and offices surrounding it. Lots of people still drop by and light candles. The highlight of the day was the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Hey, we missed out on the Guggenheim museum. I have no idea why we decided to walk almost 20 blocks from the Rockefeller center to that MMOA at the Upper East side of Central park, but it was like doing penance. Buti nalang, The Met was the best place in NY for me...(aside from the UN). Mars & I were really there for the museums. Again I missed Marc... he would've loved looking at civilization art. Awww...
The Clementes, the UN tour and top of the Rock!
Was finally able to get in touch with my uncle (a spitting image of my dad) and we visited his very posh place in the upper east side. Again it was a challenge to ride the subway. From the union station get off at Lexington Ave, ride the 6th train going uptown, get off at 77th. Walk 
2 blocks, take the bus, get off at York and 79th. Walk another 2 blocks and voila! Gossip Girl neighborhood of Upper class Manhattan. My uncle was my dad's complete opposite. 
Reserved, OC-neat & quiet. But he was our gracious chaperone to our UN tour and Top-of-the-Rock visit. He & his wife (Tita Lil) bought us tickets to broadway show Mama Mia (adaptation of ABBA songs), saying our NYC stay would not be complete without..broadway!!! tantarantaran! Another treat wasdinner at Brasserie Ruhlman. (Was so looking forward to this..hehe). Had the NY Strip Poivre a/k/a NY sirloin steak...which was the best steak ever!!! (well, I still have many years to go & I'm not closing the doors).
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARS (March 7)
Happy Birthday Mars!
First of all, Mars was my travel buddy. And I am, her ultimate test of patience. She would wake up at 7am and since I would regain conciousness at around 9ish, she usually ends up doing the laundry. And I... well I colored her hair.
So I offered to cook Caldereta for her birthday party. Madaming sabaw... Not my best caldereta but Elaine’s kids loved it... hehe.
Confessions of the shop-a-holics!
Forget Macy’s or Sears. The Tanger designer outlets in Long Island is the best place for shop-shop-shopping. RLs, designer shoes, Calvin Klein, DKNY, Nike, and the list goes on. It was raining like mad and it was terribly cold, but we didn’t seem to mind. (ok I did a bit..)
I bought Marc his Friday work clothes at RL for $39. That would cost me at least 4K pesos here. Most expensive buy was probably the Coach hobo bag for $96. That was P4K+ but that was a steal considering lacoste wallets here costs almost the same.
Broadway, Times Square, the Financial District at 8PM, WTC and my cousin Vince!
Reunion with cousin Vince. I’d say he’d make a great GRO..hehe. Very gracious and always entertaining. He knew right away that I hate the cold torture of the commuting process, so offered to be our chauffer-con-tour-guide for the day. He treated us for lunch and brought us to the theatre to watch broadway show ‘Mama Mia’. After that we walked to Times Square where Vince figured this was the best place for a photo op. Yes pipol he is a professional photographer (check out his site www.vincentlopez.com for his work) and Mars & I were the pinoy supermodels (shrimp version). Too bad we were late for fashion week. Thanks Vince!!!
Back to Cali…
March 12. We hopped back on the plane to LA. The flight was terrible. It was so bumpy I had to hold on to the walls while sitting on the toilet seat. It was a good thing we chose Delta and it was a straight flight. The last week was our stay in at BFF Mayen’s house and it was a long 3 - 4 hours drive to Fresno. Menggay and her ‘Tart’ Edwin were the most gracious 
hosts. Talo ang VIP treatment ng Shangri-La Hotel!! They have this big beautiful house (that most pinoys will drool for) in Fresno California, home of fresh strawberries, oranges and almonds… tama ba to Yems? More outlet shopping and a trip to San Fransisco. San Fo was cold and wet. We were 
drenched in rain as we hopped on the tram for an hour tour of the city. I loved SF, and I might make that part of my itinerary when I decide to go back for another vacation.
It was a great experience to be out on my own. Travel with friends, see the places I always wanted to visit over and over again (think NY..yeah baby). Too bad it was just too cold to walk around Central Park with my uncle. Next time I’d probably stay with him and my aunt in their cool Upper East Side apartment where I could walk across the street and grab a sandwich at the local deli. Or maybe stay with Vince and hang out some more with him and my other cousins. Or maybe wake up at 6am to see the Today show at Rockefeller center. I’ll definitely find more time to see Abe in D.C. at the Lincoln Memorial, or take a photo of my feet on the same ground where Martin Luther King made his famous speech for Civil Rights on August 1963.
But for the short stay I still loved New York. I loved the Met. 5th avenue, the NBC studios, Times Square, and Soho. I loved San Fo, Fresno’s laid back atmosphere. Most of all I enjoyed the time with old friends. Getting to know them all over again and enjoying all these places with them. It’s weird but I felt renewed and energized after this trip. This trip, was FOR ME. It reminded me to let go and loosen up. Then maybe, a self realization that challenges like a nerve-wracking NY subway trip will be similar to the ones I have to overcome later in life.
