It's All Good, Baby. All Good.

Since I haven’t been around these parts lately, I want to share what’s been happening with life around my neck of the woods.

VERY GOOD:

Had a birthday (Thursday), took 2 days off giving me and the husband 4-day weekend. He treated me well for my birthday, exceeded all expectations. We don’t normally do a “big” thing for our birthdays. Dinner is the norm. However, for this birthday he pulled out all the stops. Flowers, cake, a sunset dinner Hornblower cruise around the bay, a beautiful sapphire ring, mani-pedi, massage, lunch at a Filipino restaurant in the Mission Distrit, a short road trip to Occidental, Bodega Bay, Tomales Bay, Olema, Pt. Reyes.

ALSO SO GOOD:

Friends came over the next day to share dinner at home. Got the very best scribbled b/day greeting from my favorite 7-year-old boy who we babysit. He decorated the drawing with kitty heads. He knows I’m a big cat person. His folks on the other hand gave me a wonderful set of jewelry. The mom knew I adore fashion jewelry and had asked me before where I shop for them. I really adored the gift. My other friend got me a wrap-around skirt, which would need a little bit of alteration, but I got the sewing machine for that. The night was wonderful. Filled with adult conversation and discussions from politics to culture to fashion and everything in between. It was as satisfying as the pesto pasta we had for dinner. The party broke at midnight.

On Saturday, we went to dinner with my two brothers, mom, and one sis-in-law at our favorite hole-in-the-wall Chinese place in El Cerrito. We ordered up a storm, got two dishes to go and only added up to $80. I chose the place because that’s my mom’s favorite spot and also wanted the family to know about this place. I think my sis-in-law is already making plans to bring people there. It’s a nice place to eat, if you don’t mind the nonexistent decor. Always I find my table the only non-Chinese when dining there. Talk about authentic dishes. They have for that day snails in black bean sauce that my brother adored. I scored big time there. It impressed him, because in restaurants like this you don’t want to see sweet and sour pork in the menu (although they have it).

On Sunday, we went to a friends’ wedding. We met the groom through church. We’ve been around them awhile, through the ups and downs, and we’re elated when they told us they are finally getting married. I didn’t do a church wedding because I am the type to shy away from spotlight. I don’t want the attention, but I enjoy going to parties like a wedding reception. The ceremony was casual, fun, and the priest was on top of his game and very funny. Honestly though, it was too casual for my liking.

The reception was held in Pleasant Hill and has an open bar. Truth be told I was hungry like a horse but threw caution to the wind and drank while munching on apps. I had three drinks (2 margaritas and a mojito) and didn’t feel buzzed at all. I guess the drinks were weak. The affair was catered but the bride and groom had requested that my husband make his famous cauliflower biryani and chicken kebab to supplement the food. The couple loved my husband’s cooking and so we both “slaved” at the kitchen Saturday evening and Sunday morning. It was all worth it when the caterer asked my husband after the dinner was served how he cooked his biryani and if he has a restaurant. High compliments, wow! My husband can really cook!

We were at the table with good friends of ours, a couple with their two kids, the younger one was one of the flower girls. She devoured every dessert and like any 5-year-olds has learned to manipulate people to get what she wants. She’s so adorable. I came to the table with my plate full of apps when she saw I had desserts. The girl immediately asked me where the dessert table was. She had more servings than I can ever count. Later her mom must have put out the stop sign on her dessert table trek so she asked me if she could go ahead and grab some dessert for me. Wise eh? I said go ahead, get me one and you can go and grab one for you too. She did. I let mine sit at my plate. I never intended to eat it. It was for her all along because I knew she would ask for it later on. And she did!!!!! I love that adorable girl.

Later, the mom texted me a picture of her and the brother all asleep in the car on the drive home. I’m glad she didn’t crash from sugar high that night and gave her folks a quiet Sunday night.

NOT SO GOOD

My reading has been derailed. First by a renewed attraction to Bejewelled Blitz and second by a new addiction to coloring these wonderful designs that are like zentangles. I have 2 books that I was reading simultaneously, but both are now waiting for whatever free time I’m going to have after all these hobbies.

I'm back!

Wow, the last post here was September 16? Huh! I can't remember why I wasn't posting here before my vacation, but now that I'm back from that freaking awesome vacay, I'm here to blab about it.

On October 15, we left for Venice. We had a very short layover in Toronto Airport. What little I saw of the airport, I really liked. Very clean and shiny. Then there's the modern panini bar. Naturally we had to get us some sample. Thankfully the eatery was next to the gate, otherwise we'd missed our flight. We were busy eating and did not hear the boarding announcements.

We stayed in Venice until the 18th. The hotel we stayed in was outside of Venice, in Mestre. The bus to Venice stops a few feet from the hotel which was really convenient. The hotel was nice too, considering it was the cheapest we could find that wasn't a hostel with shared bathroom.

Venice is beautiful; there's nothing like it. We bought a Venezia Unica - a card that entitles you to ride the vaporetto or water taxi and the bus unlimited for 48 hours. They also have it in different increments like 24 hours. Oh boy we used up that card. We took the water taxi for our DIY tour. We walked the narrow alleys, surprised each time we came upon another church, or another charming bridge that begs to be photographed. The nearby islands of Murano, Burano and Lido (where we stayed after the cruise) are equally beautiful. Venice is the main attraction, but these other islands are worth visiting. Murano is famous for their blown glass creations, Burano for their lace and Lido for their beach. Although the beach cannot hold a candle to other beaches I've been and seen. But these other islands have their own charm. The shopping in both Murano and Burano is fantastic. Burano's beauty just blew us away.

Food in Venice was a bit of let down. Although we had tried a lot of good eats, but not one dish or panini stood out. The much ballyhooed spritz also didn't impress me.

On the 18th our friends who were touring the rest of Italy came to Venice to join us for the cruise. The cruise left on the 18th and lasted 7 days visiting 4 different Greek islands. What an enjoyable and exhausting cruise.

Corfu was our first port of call. The lush greenery of the island reminded me more of a tropical country (similar feel to Costa Rica) as we drove around the small island. We rented a car and we drove around. We first followed the tour buses and went where they went; afterwards we explored the small island (20 mi x 40 mi) stopping at different spots (including two different beaches) to photograph the sights. The people are incredibly friendly and very hospitable.

In Mykonos (second port of call) we rented ATVs and did our tour of the island that way. But seriously nobody told us that Mykonos is one windy island. One local told us later that even in the ancient times (during the times of the Greek gods and goddesses) it has been established that Mykonos is one windy island. The beach had huge waves and rough waters. But guess what, there were a lot of cats in Mykonos. They were everyhere. I was in cat heaven. The main town is full of shops and restaurants and charming houses with narrow alleys. After shopping and browsing, we stopped at a local joint where we had stuffed pepper and stuffed tomato with fried smelt. The food was very good. The island was dry, not much vegetation and like Santorini the houses are whitewashed with windows with blue (sometimes) green trim.

Santorini is as advertised. It does not disappoint. Like Venice there is nothing like Santorini. The white houses perched on the cliff in Oia are as beautiful as the photoshopped images on the internet with the Santorini blue of the sky as backdrop. Best explored on foot, Oia's main thoroughfare is lined with restaurants and souvenir shops. It's tough to take one's eye off the view to shop, though. We took the ferry to Oia then a bus to Fira. Besides more shopping and sunset watching, we ate in Fira. Arguably the best meal (stuffed squid) I've had in this trip was from this busy touristy spot where the donkeys passed while we ate and whose owner was a very very kind man.

In Katakolon, we again rented a car to get to Olympia (the birthplace of the Olympic games). The four of us explored the ruins of Olympia by ourselves and I wished we had a guide to tell us about what we were looking at and their significance. We went out to eat here but nothing to brag about. We had a tuna wrap and since this is Greece and restaurants seem to have a resident cat(s) and dog(s), the cat got most of the tuna. I made sure I picked out the tuna to feed the cute kitty. My companions were feeding the dog. We did our shopping at Katakolon because we felt like the shopping there was better since they were in one spot only. Also, the people here are unbelievably kind, honest and hospitable.

When the cruise docked back in Venice we spent the half day (our last) in Venice with our friends seeing the sights. Then we all took the vaporetto to Lido where our hotel was located. We had dinner in a local restaurant and had a lot of fun afterwards. The breakfast was incredible - champagne, cold cuts, bacon, eggs, many varieties of bread and even more varieties of pastries and cakes. Wow, the hotel room was very nice as well.

The following day we flew to Barcelona via Zurich. Our hotel in Barcelona is located near the Ramblas, the famous pedestrian thoroughfare full of shopping and dining and including the very famous La Boqueria market. Our hotel was about a block and 1/2 away from Ramblas. How convenient. As usual we had good eating here. Also went to see Montserrat, the one we missed when we came here first in 2009.

The next cruise left Barcelona and visited the following cities/ports: Marseilles (France), Genoa (Italy), Malaga (Spain), Casablanca (Morocco) and Lisbon (Portugal). The port cities are very appealing to us that's why we went on this cruise. The first time we have been on MSC. While the cruise is not bad, we found out it's just not for us. We were bored to tears; literally bored. I even checked out a book from the library and finished it :)

The highlight of the cruise (not the ports, that's another story and not a disappointment) is when a group of Chinese actors came on board to shoot a reality show called Traveling with Parents. Chinese actors/singers (some couples) and their offsprings which I understand are also dabbling in showbiz were shooting a reality show about spending time with parents and find time to travel with them despite all of their busy schedules. So much fun to see these "famous" actors/actresses being followed by camera. If you have access to this I'm sure I'm in one or two shots, not intentionally, but I just come across them. On one shot I was one of the audience watching their "concert" and I was all smiles listening to the music that I don't understand, but the music was very catchy so I was enjoying myself and before I know it, there's a camera right in my face, catching my reaction.

The ports on this cruise are wonderful. We took the Hop On Hop Off bus tours in Marseilles and Genoa. We did a DIY in Malaga and had ample time to pound the pavement and sample the seafood and the wine. The shopping is excellent too. In Casablanca we got lucky to have a very friendly taxi driver for our DIY tour. We also had a tagine lunch and saw the sights.

Lisbon was our last port of call. On Lisbon day, we learned that there was a conflict between the arrival of the boat in Barcelona and our departure flight from Barcelona. Our flight out of Barcelona is 11:45 am and the boat was scheduled to arrive by 12 noon at the earliest. So we were rushed, stressed and conflicted. We knew we had to find our own way to Barcelona because we definitely could not miss our flight home.

I suggested to go to the airport and speak to Lufthansa people and see what our options are. Turned out we had only one option and that is to find our own way to Barcelona. We had to get off the boat and stay in Lisbon, which I was happy to do. Lisbon is too pretty and I was eager to explore it.

So we bought an extra plane ticket to Barcelona from Lisbon, which was not really bad, about E130/pp. While the husband was getting this done, I was sitting in the airport using free wifi to search for hotels. I had circled three. We got back to the boat with plenty of time before sailing time. I told the hubby to go to the boat's cyber cafe so he can book the hotel while I ran up to the cabin to pack. Holy moly! I packed 3 suitcases like the Tasmanian devil.

However, the good Lord was very kind to us. The hotel he picked (not any of the ones I chose) was perfect. It's a budget hotel in a pedestrian zone next to a plaza (square) and the street is lined with restaurants and hotels and souvenir shops. We had the room by the street and our small balcony was perfect for people watching.

So we ended up staying in Lisbon for two days, took the Hop On Hop Off bus tour, ate our way around the neighborhood, had some ginja, walked until my feet were going to fall off. The first day was raining, we were walking the streets and were getting wet, but didn't mind it. The second day it was all blue blue sky, but the breeze was cool.

Lisbon is so beautiful, the tiles are spectacular, the architecture impressive, the food could rival Barcelona. The people are super friendly. We had a great time here. We would go back and stay longer so we could visit outlying areas like Sintra.

On our last day, we had a long long day. Our flight from Lisbon left at 7 am Lisbon time, arrived in Barcelona at 10:00 am. At 11:45, the flight to Munich left. The SFO bound plane left Munich at 4:45 pm. We arrived in SFO at 7:00 pm. There were many time changes I could not completely tally the number of hours we flew or waited in the airport. Munich airport however is a nice one, there are free coffee (different varieties including the mochachinos) and hot tea and hot chocolate. Also there is a brewery inside which serves many varieties of beer. We naturally had beer here too.

So all in all it was a wonderfully tiring vacation. Owing to the fact that this is Europe, walking is pretty much expected. Except that we walked and walked and walked and walked. Never ending walking, I tell you.

Now this is one long post. I should have warned you beforehand.

7 Years Ago

Seven years ago tomorrow, I was here. Beautiful island no? It's called Catalina Island, about 45 minutes boat ride from LA, so close to LA but feels like a different land altogether.

Wonder if I could ever make a return visit?

And we cruised the Caribbean

November is a very nice month for cruising in my opinion. The weather is pleasant and mild and even the humidity in places in the Caribbean is quite manageable.

We sailed for a whole day. Our foursome pretty much joined most of the activities on board and snacked our way through the day.

Our first port stop is at Costa Maya in Mexico where the four of us signed up for a tour of the Mayan ruins Chacchoben. We joined 6 others in the van and travelled an hour to get to the ruins. Having seen the ruins at Chichen Itza I would have to say that visiting this is nothing compared to it; however, there is one ruin where you can climb up on top, which is pretty cool. Everyone seemed to be here though as the place was crowded quickly. As soon as we boarded the van to take us back to port, the rain came down in buckets :)

The next day, the ship docked in Belize. This was hubby's birthday too. While we were on the tender that would take us to port, we inquired about cave tubing tour from one of the employees of the boat. He said he know somebody and there's another couple interested. So our tour became 6.

We travelled over an hour into rural sceneries to get to the cave and the river where we will be doing the tubing. When we entered the "park" and the van parked, we were asked to change into our bathing suits. I wore something that was okay to get wet, I had change of clothes afterwards.

We began the tour by getting our tube (salvavida) and our headlights. Our footwears were inspected and one lady in our group needed to rent water shoes because she was wearing the wrong shoes (flip flops).

Afterwards, we carried our tube and hiked thru gravel-lined path in the rainforest; crossing the same river twice. By the time we reached the same river the third time, we were ready to enter the cave and began the tour.

The river and cave setting was so magical. I hated the fact that I didn't have camera with me. I don't care if it would get wet, I should have brought the little one.

We floated on our tubes inside dark cave infested with bats, cold river water and quiet except for the many tour guides and tourists who were floating alongside us :)

That was one true blue fun experience. I could stay in the river for a whole day, heck even a week and be content.

On the drive back to the port, we stopped at CHEERS bar and restaurant where we grabbed some snacks. We had enough time to shop at the port area and so we did. I get so inundated by the same old souvenirs they sell everywhere, so I browsed and made sure I got the mandatory ref magnet that I collect. While the other couple shopped some more, the hubs and I stopped at a restaurant to try conch ceviche and fish tacos. That is where they found us and shared a bite with us. Afterwards we browsed at the stores some more.

The next day we were in Honduras. Roatan is a small island and that's the part of Honduras we visited. We signed up for island tour and we got to see as much of the island. We met some local kids in one stop and decided to get them some candies at a grocery store and returned to their place to give it to them.

Hands down best pina colada I've ever tasted is in Half Moon Bay resort and restaurant in Roatan, western end. Fresh pineapple juice, fresh coconut milk and lotsa booze. Two thumbs up.

Our last port of call was Cozumel. Okay so I have misconceptions about Cozumel. Before coming here I thought it's one of those made-up for tourists town with all shopping and I wouldn't like it. It is a made up tourist town, but I liked it, hah!

We didn't stay in Cozumel instead took a 45-minute ferry ride to Playa del Carmen (outstanding beaches, I wanna go back) where we would sign up for a tour of Tulum ruins, another Mayan ruins. This ruins however faces the water and the beach area is to die for, unfortunately we didn't have time to explore the beach. The ruins though is fascinating, they all are.

We got another full day at sea the next day so we again participated in everything.

Our boat docked in New Orleans and we were out of the boat by 10 am. The hubs and I walked leisurely from the port to our fabulous hotel in the French Quarter where our friends were waiting for us to have a little tour of the French Market. New Orleans is walker friendly, especially this part of town. Sightseeing on foot is advised.

I must say that New Orleans is really fabulous. The food. The music. The arts. The architecture. The shopping. What more could one ask for. As a bonus, we got wonderful weather the entire time we were there.

I'm back and ready to tell a story

I'm back from my 11-day vacation for 3 days now and I'm ready to tell a story. So grab a seat and get comfy. This could get long, very long.

Thanksgiving was a blur this year. I'm thankful for so many things, both the good and the bad that happened this year. The good brought joys to the heart and the bad always come with lessons in life.

Anyway, my plans for Thanksgiving initially were to have a simple Thanksgiving dinner at home. As a family, we don't normally gather for Thanksgiving, only Christmas. Hence I always invite people who have nowhere to go to for Thanksgiving. In the past I have a motley crew of guests.

This year though I was a bit hesitant to extend invitation to friends because I know that I would need to be rested on Thanksgiving because our vacation starts the day after Thanksgiving.

With that in mind I didn't send out any invites, but we had bought all the fixings for the meal including a 20-lb turkey. No way are we able to finish that just us, so I called brother #4 and invited him and his family over a few days before the holiday. I knew his family doesn't do anything on Thanksgiving. That is exactly the reason why I didn't extend an invite to my other family members especially brother #2 who always have a spread on Thanksgiving.

At the last minute however, brother #4 called to say that his daughter and her family are coming over for Thanksgiving and if we would be able to join them. My niece was sick and would need surgery a few days after Thanksgiving and because of this we couldn't say no. I told my brother that I have a whole Thanksgiving feast ready to cook. So I told him I'd cook everything (well technically the husband is the cook) in the house and haul it over his the day of. Furthermore I instructed him not to get any turkey because, well I have enough for everyone.

So that's how our thanksgiving played out. 3 out of 4 brothers came to lunch, we ate with gusto. I marveled at how my nephews seem to have mastered the art of baking. Joe made us wonderful cheese biscuits, he bragged courtesy of Food Channel. Brian made a delicious sweet potato souffle. Even my niece's 7-year-old daughter made a dish. Her contribution to the table was the cranberry sauce. We told her that this year is the beginning of a tradition. She would be expected to make the sauce every single year.

We made a quick exit after a few hours because we were going to have friends over for dinner. We have some food at home and our friends joined us for dinner. They do not do thanksgiving, it's a cultural thing I suppose.

On Friday, brother #3 drove us to the train station; instead of going all the way to the airport by car, we opted to take BART. It's easier that way. Our plane took off on time at 1 PM. After an hour and a half we were landing in picturesque Salt Lake City. It's gorgeous from up there. Another hour later, we were boarding our flight to New Orleans!. We arrived in N.O. around 10 PM, immediately boarded the shuttle to the car rental, chatted with friendly locals at the car rental place who pointed us to the best eats in town we have to try and then decided to drive on local streets instead of the freeway to our hotel because we were scouting for a grocery store. We found a Winn-Dixie (don't have it in Cali) and got some essentials - sunblock, conditioner, lotion, vodka :), and frozen food for dinner.

It was past 11 PM when we drove up to our hotel and checked in. We were surprised at how lovely our hotel was, better than we expected for the price we paid. The parking however was another story, because although they have a parking lot in the back, it fills out too quickly.

We were meeting our friends in New Orleans, they flew in on Thanksgiving from New Jersey. We planned to take this trip together, but didn't talk about the hotels we'll be staying. Turned out our hotels are next to each other. Go figure.

On Saturday while our friends took a segway tour of the city, we decided to do a DIY of the city. We went to the Garden District, drove around ogling beautiful houses, stopping at the famous cemetery and was tempted to join a tour currently in progress, but I didn't want to cheat. I told my husband that we'd shoot and then google for information later.

Afterwards we drove out some more discovering churches and parks and the riverfront shopping area including the Mardi Gras museum. We parked the car a few blocks away and met our friends at the riverfront mall food court. We shared lunch and hurricane (a cocktail muy delicioso), then walked from the Riverwalk to the Mardi Gras Museum, which is a few blocks away. Browsed there, went to the riverfront, took pictures, then decided to walk from the museum to where we parked our car. Turned out there was a thousand blocks from point A to B, however, New Orleans is a walker friendly town and there's plenty to see.

Eventually we got to our parking and we loaded up the car so we could drive them to the garage where they parked their car for the day. But we hit so much traffic that the guy decided to go on foot to fetch the car. He would drive the car to the hotel and we'll meet him there. From there we would take one car and hit the nightlife of French Quarter.

French Quarter is party central. In my humble opinion as a party pooper, it is crazier than Vegas. Bourbon Street filled with people, all with drinks in hand in party mood. We walked around until we found the brewhouse that was recommended to us. There was a wait of 20 minutes so we sat in the bar and ordered 2 of the beer tasting menu, 5 different beers. Then decided to get something else, a cheese plate. By this time we lost our appetites for what the brewhouse had to offer so we cancelled our seating, and moved to next door Hard Rock Cafe. I know it's not our style to eat here. But remember we were with another couple who love to eat here.

I was almost full from the beer and the cheese plate, so hubs and I decided to split an order of fish and chips.

We walked some more after the dinner and then time to go back to the hotel.

Sunday we were embarking on a Caribbean cruise for 7 days. Check in starts at noon. We woke up early to see the sights. Being a Sunday the streets of New Orleans were empty. We returned to French Quarter, went to the cathedral and Jackson Square, drove out to the riverfront and French Market, then plugged in the city park in our GPS and drove around the beautiful and spacious park with old oak trees that have long graceful limbs. We saw a wedding under a picturesque oak tree, very romantic.

Then the hubs dropped us off at the port while they returned the cars. This gave us girls a time to chat. Here's the deal. I've known this couple for a very short time. One day to be exact. I knew them for one day 3 years ago in another cruise. We went on a day excursion with them in Cairo visiting the pyramids. We were in the same Mediterranean cruise. That excursion consisted of 11 people including us, 9 of which are our facebook friends. So via facebook we kept in touch; hence we were able to plan this cruise with them.

Technically I don't know them, because I probably have exchanged a dozen words with them prior to this trip. But from the very beginning it seemed like we were old friends. There was no awkwardness, only catching up, can you believe that?

So the time we were waiting for the hubs to return, we chatted furiously and shared future travel plans.

The hubs returned and we got checked in without any hassle. Now off to the cruise.

Will tell you all about it soon. Needless to say, I need a vacation after the vacation because I'm very tired :)

10 Down, 2 To Go

This was Orange October. Orange for the the October Quest post-season games that the Giants were playing. Orange October was good, in fact very very good to me because my team, my love, the San Francisco Giants won their 2nd word series trophy in three years. So yes, that would always be the highlight of October. Three glorious weeks in October were for watching the baseball games, the pre- and post-games and reading all the articles online. It was madness, and maddening at the same time. I am just in heaven right now, orange and black heaven. Today is the victory parade. I am not going. I went to the first one in 2010, it was craaazy, lots of people, shouting, crowding, just total jubilation. I am not going, because, well because I wasn't feeling it this year. I know I got a better camera and hubby just picked up a little upgrade for his camera as well. However, I am going on a cruise in a few weeks so I don’t want to use up another day off for this. But the DVR is recording two different stations covering the same parade. I hope I taped all the happenings, with DVR you don't know. It always cuts off the best parts.

In addition, I have won (or given, however you see it) a cruise. There's a lot of things attached to claiming the prize, but as long as there's no money leaving our pockets we're going to go with it. Plus, our thinking is even if we fork out some money, as long as the cruise would still be less than the regular price of the cruise then we'd take it. Right now, we are awaiting for the processing of claim to be completed. But this was really fun for me, because I join many contests, raffles and drawings over the years and I never really get to win something substantial as this is. So this is really neat!

And speaking of more winning, we received a thank you card over the mail yesterday from a fellow church member thanking us for the Pirate cruise along the Sacramento River that we donated for the church fundraiser last June. She won the cruise, which was tagged as second prize. The first prize was an overnite stay in a lighthouse converted into an inn in a little island between Contra Costa and Marin counties. Anyway, she said that after years of joining raffles and losing she was shocked when her name was picked out. They only used their prize last weekend, and she and her husband had one wonderful night and experience. And she sent us a card to let us know. How thoughtful of her. And I thought that sending cards via snail mail is completely gone. I love receiving and giving cards over snail mail. I hope to send Christmas cards this year as well.

Hubby and I also joined a local newspaper's photo contest where the prize is a trip for two in the Pacific, something like a tropical vacation. I'm not very hopeful about my entries, although I stand by them, but I've seen the sampling of the entries and boy oh boy compared to those images, mine look like a 5-year-old snapped them. I didn't do a lot of picture taking this month.

Darby came early for trick or treating. He is growing up to be such a darling of a boy. My niece is raising him so well. It's a hoot to hear him call his parents Nanay and Tatay. He yelled with glee when my mom came down the stairs to greet him and said LOLA!!!! He calls me Tita and my hubby Tito.

Looking forward to November I'm very sure I'd be more rushed than October.

Weather, etc

I do not have any complaints with our gorgeous weather. It's hot, even reaching the 80s with plenty of sunshine and the most beautiful blue skies. BUT, it's autumn. Where is the crisp air, where is the chill when a breeze passes by? Where is the smell of burning wood coming from the neighbor's fireplace? Where is the hot cocoa at night?

While the Indian summer that we're experiencing has been delaying its exit, I'm not sure I want the lovely weather to end. It has been gorgeous as I have said before. Today at 8:30 am it was already 77F as I was driving to work. No doubt the temp will rise some more by the mid day. I just wish I was outside today in a park or something enjoying the good weather.

I've been quite preoccupied with church stuff, as usual. As a member of the committee that puts out monthly Saturday night events, my hands are full. Not only is the first Saturday night this coming Saturday, I'm also keeping an eye on the following monthly events, as they are more hands-on. I don't know why I even volunteered to help out in the planning of the events. I can be a masochist sometimes.

I know it's good to be involved in social activities, let alone church functions. And these activities combine both the church community and the larger community. Sometimes, I feel overwhelmed by the task at hand. Opening an e-mail can be daunting sometimes. I don't know what's waiting for me out there. What other tasks I must do, what alterations I must perform, etc, etc.

It's all good. It's using one's "talent" for the good of many. I did put that quotation in there because I still am not sure what my talents are. I know my leadership qualities have long eroded and I'm content with assisting people who's leadership qualities leave nothing to be questioned.

However, my talents seem to be completely lost when it comes to the website I'm trying to maintain. It's our church website, it's just not an ordinary personal website where I can just ramble on and on about the weather and the movies I've seen. I cannot seem to generate a post about the functions/events we've had lately. A fellow church member who not only writes a blog, but also has published the contents of that blog into a book has agreed to write an article about said function. It has been a month and I have not heard from her yet. I don't know why I hit a wall when I open the website and attempt to update the contents. I feel like I don't have full confidence in myself and I'm always second guessing my intentions. In the end, nothing gets published. Sigh!

This October has been quite blah overall. It's work and church and housework. Although lately the housework part has been neglected plenty. I've also been harping about pulling out the box that contains the holiday decors from the garage so I can start decorating the house, but other than getting cat food from the garage, I haven't been there lately, let alone dig out the box of decorations. May be this weekend. Oh no, I'd be tied up with church events all weekend. Sigh!

This also leaves me very little time to blog. I play memes on a daily basis. That is in addition to the travel blog I have, which is my original blog, this blog, my cat blog, and then my project blog. I don't have enough time to do all that. So I temporarily cut down the memes I play in half and I just incorporate the memes in my travel postings.

Also in my plate is full with research of IVF facilities, so we can proceed with our baby making project. I have heard from one facility that we planned to use. I have to do more research and hit the phones and get some answers to the questions I'm trying to formulate. I'm giving myself a few more days to accomplish this so that I can then go ahead with getting excited in planning our excursions for the cruise we're taking after the Thanksgiving holiday next month.

Half of me wants another vacation so close to the last one in August. The other half is not ready to go away again, because I don't feel like I have fully settled into daily living after one month in Asia in July and August. But the cruise has been reserved since before the Asia travel was planned and taken, so we're going. Time to kick back and relax after the rush of Thanksgiving and before the chaos of Christmas preparations.

And so I ranted and rambled again. Until next post. Hope your autumn is wonderful.

One Fine Weekend

The long weekend aka Labor Day weekend had come and gone and the next 3-day weekend will be roughly here in 3 months.

This weekend also signals the end of summer in everyone's mind. The kids have gone back to school and daylight is a little shorter than it was a few weeks ago.

People usually take trips, camping trips as a last hurrah for summer during this time. We stayed home given that in a week's time we'll go on our long-awaited vacation.

Three things happened this weekend. Let me enumerate:

First - I finally got to cruise the bay. The San Francisco Bay that is. Courtesy of a voucher from Travelzoo that we purchased a couple of months ago, we boarded the Happy Hour Bay Cruise out of Pier 39. The cruise was a 1.5-hour ride in the bay with snacks and drink/s. I checked online for regular price of the said cruise and it was $35 pp. We paid $25 for both of us - huge savings.

Well, you know how locals always say they won't be caught dead in the tourist spots in their town, right? I on the other hand love to be there, to watch the tourists enjoy the city that I love and call my own. Of course I don't live in the city. I live outside the city, but I call this city my very own.

And so I enjoyed walking the 2 blocks from where we parked to the waterfront, watching people/tourists marvel at our very cold weather. How they enjoy everything about this beautiful city.

Anyway, the cruise boarded at 6 pm. There was a spread of snacks - chips and salsa and guacamole, cheese and crackers, assorted nuts. Our ticket also included one alcoholic drink per person or 2 non-alcoholic drinks. Of course we went for the alcoholic drinks given that this is a happy hour cruise. I had blue margarita and the hubby had tequila sunrise.

As the Blue and Gold Fleet was leaving the dock we passed by the sea lions, not as many as it used to be. Still a mystery why they came here and why they left.

Then it cruised by Alcatraz, close enought to get shots, but the weather wasn't cooperating. It was gloomy, cold, and breezy. Oh yeah, foggy too.

Then it went back and cruised along the city waterfront terminating in AT&T Park which is a jewel of a ballpark along the water. We stopped there for a moment then went back slowly to Pier 39. It was a wonderful experience, cruising under the SF Bay Bridge.

There are other itineraries, some go to Golden Gate Bridge.

We were so stuffed that we didn't have any dinner at all that night. I may have snacked myself full with cheese and crackers - they served the cheese that I liked.

Second - Our friends abducted [kidding] us and took us to this Vietnamese restaurant that they loved and have wanted to show us for months.

The pho definitely was good. Our friends and my husband all went with pho and I had something else. I cannot remember what I had but it's noodles and grilled beef with veggies. Really fabulous and full of taste.

However, I got really sleepy midway through. Could it be they have way too much MSG in their food? WE also ordered durian pearl shake. OMG, the durian smell was outrageous. I hated the smell but at the same time I loved the taste that I was torn between sipping and not the whole time.

It was indeed a good place to get pho. It was inside a strip mall with nondescript facade. The interiors were sparsely decorated and it was a local hangout. It was full and people kept coming.

Third - my waterheater died. Luckily we knew this was going to happen as it died before. But this time it was for good. It leaked and flooded the garage. Lucky that I was looking for my cat Buster who I knew was at the garage the last time I saw him and when I went there to call him I saw the floor flooded in one corner.

So there we were sopping up all the water that was dripping from the water heater. I watered all the plants with all the water we got from our garage floor. Not too fun time, but the guy that we contacted before came through for us. One day later, our new water heater is installed and I didn't have to shower in cold water. I'm really blessed. HOpefully, this will last me 30 years.

How was your weekend?

A Page From My Journal

January - February 2011 Mexican Riviera Cruise

It seemed a little odd to me to be taking the Mexican Riviera Cruise after I had already taken the Mediterranean Cruise a year and a half ago [the Mexican Riviera is a sort of entry-level cruise destination]. But the need for a vacation, a time away from our busy schedules, one that would be easy to organize and easy to take arose. And because we already made a deposit previously in another cruise and the fact that the pricing for this cruise was within our budget, we opted to sign up for this one.

I did some cursory online research on the 3 ports of call - Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta, and jotted down some sights I wanted to see. No activities were penciled in as this was to be a lazy holiday - nothing to do week. Little did I know I could have done zip lining and parasailing.

I cannot remember our drive from home to the long-term parking lot near the airport or the shuttle ride to SFO. However, I do remember how disappointed I was upon entering the plane, a Jet Blue. I could not shake off my anxiety as I was already afraid of flying and now to fly in a small plane??? But my husband assured me that the flight to Long Beach would only take an hour. That is so much better than driving there for about 8 hours.

To my amazement, it was a smooth flight, including the take off and landing. I took a few peeks out the window and the sun was out bright. And 55 minutes later we were landing in Long Beach.

It took us another 20 minutes from the airport to port of Long Beach where we would be embarking on a 7-day cruise of the Mexican Riviera. Where was the traffic that SoCal was so infamous for? Must be the time of day or must be because it was a Saturday??? I wouldn't know, but I was glad that there wasn't any delay to the port.

We were dropped off curbside and I noticed that it was crowded. There were three ships, and one of them is Queen Elizabeth, one of the fancy schmancy cruises where you have to be garbed in a Gucci or something (my impression). Our little NCL ship sat next to this humongous vessel and there was a line snaking in to the building. I asked if this was the line to the NCL and was told that was it. I parked my luggage next to me and snapped some shots. I found myself getting a tad irritated at this long line (which always gets my goat no matter where the line is). Not helping my surly mood is the fact that I have been nursing a two-day old cough and sore throat and I sounded like froggy. My husband left my side to investigate what's the hold up. He returned without an answer. The line was thankfully moving, at a snail's pace. However, he found that we could send our luggage in ahead of us and they will be delivered to our rooms. That's a good thing not to be pulling and pushing heavy luggage while trying to take pictures :)

Eventually, we found ourselves inside this huge hangar-like building that serves as the arrival/departure point of the cruises, NCL for this one.

We were given a stub with a number on it upon clearing the x-ray machines and were told to sit and wait for our numbers to be called. People were hungry and tired from standing on the line for too long and we were all crabby. I could not see one relaxed face inside that hangar - well except for the hubs.

Our number was finally called and we presented ourselves at the mmigration officer where we presented all the necessary papers. When we were handed our number we were also given a medical waiver kind of document where you click a box that says you are sick or not. Something of that sort.

And crabby me I click yes on the box that says I have cough. I wasn't allowed to get through. Instead I was taken to a makeshift room a few feet away from the desks and was told to wait for the doctor. BTW, I was told by the officer that almost NO ONE checks yes on this document, but today, I was the second to say YES. My hubs although irritated at my stupidity said nothing, but gave me a hug and said things will be alright. When I was sitting inside that makeshift room, I realized what I'd done. I could potentially be barred from going on board. Our vacation was at jeopardy and we both really needed a little time to get away to soothe my frayed nerves :)

It was at this time that my husband saw concern and panic wash over my face and I got another hug. It was at this time that a security officer came into the room and handed me a walkie talkie. The doc was on the other end of the line and wanted to speak to me. I answered her questions truthfully and when she asked if I had fever or having chills, I replied no and that must have convinced her to let me go.

When I was cleared we were both ushered into the elevator next to the room. WE didn't need to make that long walk to the other side of the hangar and take the escalator or elevator upstairs.

We quickly made it to on board, gotten into our room and rapidly descended to the restaurant to get something to eat. It was hours since my last meal and it was nearing 2 pm and all I had was coffee I believed.

The Romanian waitress that served us was very cheerful, made me laugh and forget about my irritation at all the delays in embarkation. It was through her that we found out the reason behind the delay. If people in the front told passengers up front there wouldn't be too much frustration now, would there?

So it began when the ship was coming in to dock at the port in the morning. They couldn't because of heavy fog. They were waiting for the fog to clear out. That delayed them over two hours. That 2-hour delay trickled down to delay to disembark passengers, delay to restock supplies, etc etc etc up to delay to allow new passengers, i.e. us, to embark - the domino effect. Isn't that easy to announce that there is delay caused by fog. Who would get mad at a fog, at nature?

We made it through all the required activities - like the part where they show you how to respond to emergency in case one arises, etc. The following day was a sea day and Cabo San Lucas was the first port of call.

***Will be blogging about the ports of call in my photo blog.***

Street Photography 3

Cobblestone street in Izmir, Turkey. November 2009.