Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Visiting Bangkok On Jan. 3- 11, 2007



Emiliy Somrit and my goddaughter, Tara

I have a number of friends in Bangkok ,Thailand that I would get to visit next January 2007. I hope to see them all and spend sometime with them with moi husband. Yes! We will be in Manila from December 22, 2006 to January 15, 2007. We leave SFO on December 21 midnight and arriving in the Philippines one day later in the evening of December 22 at 10 PM. In between our stay in Manila I have planned a side trip to Thailand with dear husband. In the Philippines, my family is planning several trips for all of us in the provinces outsideManila. This should be nice! One of these include a trip to Villa Escudero in Quezon and of course, we will go to Tagaytay in Cavite. I decided to host a party to reunite my family and meet my relatives once more ~ those I have not seen in years. Through this gathering which I thought of setting up on December 30, my mom's birthday~ my relations would get to meet blue-eyed-husband. I also miss seeing my little nieces and nephews so this should be the right time for this event!


Olivier, my long time friend

Well, speaking about Thailand, husband and I are both ecstatic about this trip as there are a lot of things to see the Rose Garden, elephants, museums, etc.

Carmen, always  elegant & lovely in her beautiful home
. At this point in time, husband cannot contain his delight to have his first ever Thai massage! I always tell him how different it is there than how it is done here in California. Well, this excitement to hav it has yet to be on hold first since our tickets have not yet been booked because of the holidays in the Philippines, in Manila. These are the Halloween- October 31st; All Saint's Day tomorrow, November 1st and All Soul's Day on November 2nd. BTW, November 3rd is my dad's birthday! After these given dates above, my brother could contact my former travel agent in Southeast Travel after his return from his vacation. Philip (my brother) would purchase our two-way tickets to Bangkok from Manila. It is cheaper to buy in Asia tickets for Asian travel than to get them here online from San Francisco, CA. Relative to this trip, am quite delighted to receive email from Emily Somrit this morning about her referrals of reasonably priced hotels in Bangkok. Together with our mutual friends Olivier Fernandez and Carmen Noppakunthong- they are endorsing great ones with a wonderful amenities that include breakfast as well- so this is good news! And with their connections (I think) we can get discounted rates (yipee)! I hope this happens. We may select the Ibis Hotel in Huamark, Ramkhamhaeng.





~~~~

Husband and I may visit the school where I taught for 6 years. Anyhow, Dais, Carmen, Olivier and Emily are already getting excited and so are we! We will go for some ballroom dancing, too- as planned at Regent Hotel or elsewhere and if I remember right, they have nice live bands there- all imports from the US and South America. This is all for now. Cheers!



HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Monday, October 30, 2006

October 29: Yssa's 11th Birthday


Belated happy birthday to my nieceYssa! Hope you had a happy celebration. We miss you and Baby Kathie- cute, cute Kathie! Take care!

Sunday, October 29, 2006

NEWS FLASH: THE FIXED MARRIAGE In Mind Of The Filipina~ IN AMERICA She Makes Her Plans

She is pathetic. In America she dreams to upgrade her family's economic level in the Philippines through "fake marriage." She will divorce her ailing husband in the Philippines for her to have a fixed marriage in San Francisco. My mind was reeling. There is not even a divorce law in the Philippines!

We didn’t know that today was the start of day light saving time (DST) until husband noticed his computer time, cellphone and wrist watch were all one hour earlier than the usual time. Because of this, were able to catch up with the 7.30 AM mass at Ss Peter and Paul Church since we were technically on time. We were up early and realized we were hours ahead for our date so we went to hear mass. Inside the church during the mass, an old but slim and sorrowful looking Filipina aged sixty approached me. Right after the mass ended, came up to me. And there began my annoyance towards her. Why? Well because I was still in the midst of doing the sign of the cross and kneeling down in front of the altar to end my prayers when she started to talk non-stop and asked so many questions about me. She didn't even have the decency to move side ways to give me my space at church. What a nerve she got in her system! I was turned off terribly with her rudeness and in so little time she has told me her life story in coming to America. She has been here since last year and the rest of her soliloquy went on like these:

1. She was a school principal in Cabanatuan city.

2. She has retired now from school.

3. She has a bed-ridden husband who had spinal injury that triggered her decision to come here in San Francisco to work.

3. Her daughter is taking up nursing.

4. She works as a caregiver, “one-on-one” in verbatim ~to one family in SFO who reside on Larkin Street.

5. She asked me to call her.

What a creep! First I thought she was very unethical to speak in Tagalog when obviously my husband is American and a non-Tagalog speaker. Second, she said she wanted a favor , goodnes gracious- she wanted help-monetary of course! Indeed, she spoke quite frankly and direct to the point. No shame at all! Gosh, in simple maths, she plans to mooch me and be a moocher! I was starting to hyperventilate realizing this as she made herself to appear so kind, pitiful and needing an immediate help and rescue. Whew! I on the other hand, felt cheated for having given her away my time and space. Like~ I care about her life when I only met her that minute? Hell-o? Decent people don't do that! Honorbale folks give you oxygen to breathe and are sensitive of your presence as well. She asked my name; introduced herself; insisted she gets my number; was asking for a pen and paper to write my phone number. I got none. Not even my cellphone was with me. We decided to come to church early and opted to leave our bags then come back later for whatever we had to take with us. And for the first time I only had my i.d. card in my jeans and nothing more. So, I was frozen and in deep shock, indeed- that I was caught in the midst of all these- unguarded moment, being nerve wracked by this woman who obviously has hidden agenda in befriending me written all over her oval face. And there, I found myself reciting to her my in audiblevoice aboutmy cellphone number, which I did regret doing so later. I realized she scored and I lost and the impact of paying attention to this woman had started to take its toil. But I am human and I make mistake, I get rattled, too- especially, when I am in a compromising position. I am the type who hates to embarrass others to the point that I am the one who is getting fried in the pan at times, all in the name of DELICADEZA or common sense and finesse! Moreover, am not a liar and I can't lie. So, yes, she got my number and yes, called me not once but thrice in an hour's time. After moi husband and I had gone elsewhere after church time where we met her, checking my phone upon coming home, I found out that has has left a voice mail in my cellphone and has requested me to promise her to call her back. Wow. In such a short time, she told me a lot that I am not going to bite her bait. I had been so generous to people in my lifetime.

During my early years as a young and independent career woman (while living and teaching overseas to children of ambassadors), I lent $3000 to someone in dire need of financial help. And poor me, I was swindled. Sure, this experience came to me as the great teacher in my life that i made me to be aware that some people are made of evil flesh and blood. It was a very costly learning experience about life, money and survival that taught me immensely on dealing people especially manipualtors, utilitarians and users like her! So believe me, this woman at church won't get a dime from me. Her parting words came as a surprise on my part as well as it spoke of her value system.

“I will divorce my husband to have a fixed marriage here in America. I am working here in California for him you know. It's a sacrifice I made.”

Now what kind of logic is that? Where is her truthfulness in her marriage vow? Well, she is not a friend so I got no melting heart for her sob story. She was pathetic, true. But I am not to embrace her bad luck and be her financier for her duration of time being an illegal alien California. And by the way, her being here in this situation is her choice, not mine. So how could I be responsible for her welfare? We all make choices be it good or bad. The impact is on us as takers. On her third call this morning, I told her I was in conference that I needed to go and end our conversation soonest. She still didn't get it. Finally, I think I was able to shake her brain off her skull. She responded in her most meek way (to get her way)...

"Tawagan mo ako anak." (Translation: Call me my dear daughter).

I had goose bumps! We are not even related by blood or affinity.

May be I should have told her straight out that my cousin is an immigration official in L.A.?

This is why I am not too keen to inter-act with odd looking Filipinos with bad vibes. Most are illegal aliens arriving here as tourists and then over staying for good once their visa have expired. On the contrary, decent Filipinos who come here for holidays are the ones getting into trouble with the immigration officers at the airport because of them. Cultural biases are triggered because of these bad blooded Filipinos. For this reason, who am I to blame the American officials for acting as such to innocent Filipinos travelling with Philippine passports?

Do you know that most often than not, if you are not an American passport holder, especially if you are a Filipino- once you enter an American airport- you would be brought to an interrogation room- a huge one, in the company with security officers and other travellers who are not American citizens? You are stuck in one room like you were a Jewish individual during the time of Hitler; you wait until your name is called upon. Innocent individuals are in the verge of panic- wondering why they were singled out, like why on earth were they brought there? They were coming to meet their friends and loved ones for a reunion! And they were being taken like common criminals! But once the interrogation is done and the immigration officers find out your entry is truly, indeed and yes- legal~ they'd wish you luck and say, "Have a nice vacation! WELCOME TO AMERICA!" Like hello, what happened to the state of apology-we made a mistake-here-tralalala?

I have seen old people, young people and children alike- feeling jittery while waiting their turn to be called. Oddly enough, there is still a smaller interrogation room within the big room for the officials to ask more tricky questions on why you are going to America. "ARE YOU GOING TO WORK HERE? WHY ARE YOU HERE? DO YOU PLAN TO BE AN ILLEGAL ALIEN?" "ARE YOU STAYING IN THE HOTEL OR WITH A FRIEND OR RELATIVE?" But despite all the strict airport procedures here in America, Filipinos with ill desires to get green cards pronto style, are still on the lose and are able to sneak in. I have been travelling internationally since 1989 and I hate to see these Filipinos with dark shadows to get away with their crimes. I feel sorry that the honorable ones are the oneswho are paying for these consequences. During the one visit I had here in the mid 90s, the airport official in Florida told me about the 10 Filipino doctors were attending an international conference in Orlando but right after the conference was over, the ten decided to stay over and become "T N T" or tago-ng-tago (TRANSLATION: "illegals infinitely hiding" because they have no legal documents being legal residents in America).

American immigration officials have horrible experiences with Filipino illegal aliens. Some Filipinos go through this interrogation process at the airport before their passports are given the 1-94 form of admission. But most would never divulge this humiliating experience out of pride. Well, I can't blame them. It's because of people like Aida, the woman I met at church this morning- that some Filipinos are humiliated at the airport before they are given entry to the USA despite the fact that they have their visas to enter the country. So for my own peace and sanity, I might report Aida to the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Service). It's a thought I may have to consider if only to bring dignity to the Filipinos back home. This should give her a lesson on when to shut up her mouth and when just to be quiet and mind her own business in a foreign land. Ciao!

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Las Vegas Photo Gallery Part 2 in Lake Las Vegas at the Ritz Carlton


~Click photos to enlarge~

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD



L to R: buttered risotto with toasted scallops (I had this for lunch); my dessert of mascarporne cheese cake; husband's T-bone steak filled his lunch meal. We had each a glass of white wine and red whine plus freshly squeezed orange juice for me and coffee for him.

LANDSCAPE



L to R: The view from the hallway leading to the club; the interesting wine set in our room by the veranda and the garden outside as seen from the Florentine room~ made our stay to be quite remarkable.


SPA

We walked to the spa shortly before 8:30 A.M. this Tuesday, two days ago and this gave us enough time to relax and to enjoy the facilities of the place. Before settling into our zone for our spa treatment, we had our mantra, "I will enjoy this day. I will enjoy this day. Tralalala." It worked! It was drizzling that morning but it ended up to be a great day, indeed and by mid day, the glorious sun was up in the skies! After our massage, we proceededto the casino and played some games. I won a few sum at the slots and called it a day. Wow! Husband won and lost a few hundreds but that was okay I told him. He works so hard and deserves a breather! So that helped him not to feel guilty (sulk) at all. In between exploring the Ritz village, husband and I frequented the Ritz' Carlton Club where cocktails, anti pasto and aperritif were served from 11 noon to 1 P.M.; snacks from 2 to 4 P.M., chocolates and cordials at 7 to 9 P.M. We had dinner together at 8.30 P.M. each evening. Obviously, the two of us (rolly polly lovers) have added another bunch of unwanted pounds to our horror~but who cares? We had a ball and we had a feast!

Husband and moi went for each of our spa treatment which consisted of a full body Swedish massage that truly pampered us for 50 minutes each. Clothing is an option (hehe) but each client is given a bathrobe and towel. The place is heavenly! Lots of perks to go with the ambience- I was spoiled and so was moi husband! I maximized my time by relaxing at the jacuzzi, dry sauna and steamer (I love this the most) and then I had my much-awaited massage.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE




These lovely couples are great people! They are Mira and Jacob (left) Adriana and Luis (middle) plus Brian and Debbie (right). Our husbands have affinity as they are all involved in the business dealing with customer service. We had our good times together~eating, chatting, dancing and just enjoying ourselves away from the maddening crowd. It was good while it last! We hope to have this social event again sometime in the near future!

October 22- 25, 2006 @ RITZ CARLTON in Lake Las Vegas

~Click photos to enlarge~


The Ritz Carlton (above) is a haven for a weekend get away. The Ritz' location is a bit far out from the local Vegas strip. We were collected at the airport by a Cadillac limousine service. Chris was our contact person and he was there at the Vegas airport to meet us. He was such a sweet guy catering to all our needs during the span of our stay in Vegas. The drive to the hotel was fairly good as the traffic was ok. We arrived at our hotel within 30 minutes as promised to us by our wondeful chauffer. Scenic views of new homes and villages under construction are seen from the freeway. Thus, this gives one the impression that Nevada's infracstructure is booming and in a never-ending state of splendor~that is in terms of economic growth.

Our stay in Las Vegas was at the marvelous picture book place called The Ritz Carlton and our stay made all our stress to go away for good! We flew in Vegas via America West Airlines at 9:30 A.M. last Sunday, October 22nd. We were at the San Francisco International Airport by 7:00 A.M. (we had to be early birds so as not to miss our flight). Security SOPs at the airport changed again, would you believe? And there was not even a formal announcement about this- verbal or print ads-whatsoever. Zero~! At the airport, monitors that normally showed flight schedules of travellers were eradicated for security purposes we were told~ but hold your breath, this was never publicly announced which was quite surprising. We were lost and were like two drunken camels trying to find our way into the desert; didn't know where we were supposed to be, was wondering what was our gate number and where was that. Ayayay! It was a lesson on alertness: one just had to be ultra sensitive to know when and who to ask for these queries. Most folks where moving like crazy, dancing in infinite circles like us~ before they actually figured out what was going on? Heck, there was no monitor for flight schedules. Santa Banana! After the great tragedy of 9/11, airport procedures have changed overnight and quite dramatically it changes continually after a few months. Darn! Gosh, one poor guy had to say goodbye to his Armani perfume (sigh)! Moi and husband just took a deep breath thinking the money he paid for that would just be put to waste. It was like $60 to buy a small Armani perfume and that went to the bin near the airport security inspector's domain! Bottled water, perfumes or any liquid stuff packaged in bottles are a no-no these days to travel with so better remember this. Ok?

We arrived at the SFO International airport from Las Vegas yesterday (Wednesday) at noon time shortly before 1 P.M. with a delayed flight return at 10.30 A.M. when our original flight was supposedly at 9.30 A.M. Mamamia!!! What a bummer!~#$%^&!! Passengers from that flight looked exhausted as we watched them marched in from the other side of the gate where we could see them from our waiting area at gate number 20. However, despite the hour-long wait inside the aircraft, husband and moi (together with our Russian friends Mira and Jacob) had a great time during this trip. We gained new friends including Luis and Adriana Torres!

On our way back to North Beach, we drove to Kaiser Permanente's Medical Center on Geary Boulevard and had our flu shot! It was a breeze~ can't believe it myself~! We were done in less than 20 minutes; were absolutely amazed by it~ that upon reaching the parking space at the basement, the person in charge of collecting parking fees just waved his hands to us and gestured us that we got our freebie of free parking for such a short while! Wow! What a breeze and a grace! Now, that is a trade-off for the delayed flight we had in Vegas! Hm, yeah~I realize that sometimes, good karma just comes easily to good people like us (sigh). So be good, you'd never know what's fate has installed for you. More later.

Saturday, October 21, 2006

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MURIEL!



Hello! I just wanted to greet my cute little niece Sugar Pie who turned eleven last October 20, a Happy, Happy Birthday!


Muriel a.k.a. Sugar plays classical guitar and is a very good child artist. She has a good sense of perspective and visualization that truly amazes me! She was tested when she was quite young as a gifted child with multiple intelligence. Wonderful! Her older brother is Paco. Happy Birthday, Sugar Pie and good luck, kiddo!

Movie Date Last Night


Once in a while we watch movies in marathon. Last night we did at the AMC Metreone in San Francisco's Fourth Street. We were there from 5 PM to 12. 30 MN. So many people watched the movies. Gosh, I thought it was a Sunday but TGIF! Here's my ten cents' worth of movie review. Read if you wish, skip if you must~I am good~read on if you insist!


1. "The Illusionist"
This is about a magician named Eisenheim who fell in love with S
ophie, duchess of Austria. The two met during their teen years but were separated by time and space due to their polarities in life. She was a duchess while he was a peasant. It's a typical love story but peppered with a twist, suspense, magic and promise. ocation: Austria. Eisenheim left his village during his late teen and in the realm of his journey met a mystic who manifested to him under a tree~ showed him magic and then made himself disappear. The legend said even the tree disappeared as well! He returned 15 years later to the village he met Sophie where he gave her a special wooden rectangular locket that when twisted it becomes a heart. Inside it was his photograph in sepia. Eisenheim was madly in love with Sophie but he had no power to get her back during his youth. He was poor, a cabinet maker's son- whose family worked for Sophie's family. Upon his return to the village, he found out that Sophie was engaged to the son of the emperor of Austria. Eisenheim of course was heart broken. Although he had traveled around the globe and was raved upon everywhere as an illusionist par excellente, nothing meant so much to him butto get back his Sophie. His return brought intrigues and attention that drove Sophie's bf to be quite edgy. He happened to be the future emperor Austria (whose father was the ruling emperor at that time). Later, he would have Eiseheim be brought to him for questioning and later, the magician would go through a series of interrogation as done by the chief inspector. This was to harass Eisenheim. To sum it all, Sophie was killed by her cold blooded royal fiance; was found by the river one morning by Eisenheim and the police. Later on, her memory was erased in the local scene. She was categorically labeled as a "victim of murder." Months came by, soft whispers about her mysterious death became uncontrollable. During Eiseheim's several performances in Austria, he was able to make Sophie to manifest as a 2- D spirit that drove the viewers glued to his esoteric performance~to the point that the people almost were fanatical to it. Right there and then, they asked her where she was, how she died and who killed her? For them she was a mystery and the stage apparition was enough to make them believe she was dead. Eisenheim was awesome and was disctinctively ranked as a man of "super natural gifts" by the paranormal society. Despite having all these popularity and strict following of admirers of Eisenheim, he remained humble and unassuming. During his last performance on stage, Eiseheim was to be arrested by the police for making the public be interested in the paranormal for which he found no responsibility~as his shows he claimed~ was only meant to entertain. For the police, this is a dangerous time and zone as his performances could trigger queries about the state of affairs in Austria. The political bandwagon would be at stake so to stop this brouhaha about him, he was designed to be arrested that evening. Slick as an illusionist, his trick was magical~he was able to make himself disappear on his last performance. No wonder, he endorsed all his assets and properties to his manager. After seeing his disappearance on stage, the police was silent and embarrased; ransacked his place but found no evidence to attest to their defense that indeed he was dangerous. All they saw in his workshop were his tools, props and notebooks that showed illustrations of his magic tricks. In the end, it was the chief inspector himself who found out that he was the victim of Eisenheim's trick. The inspector concluded that Sophie's death was indeed just an illusion~ perfected and crafted by Eisenheim himself, the master magician-illusionist of his time. Engineered to reunite him with Sophie, he was successful in doing so. In another corner of the earth, Sophie awaits for his return with so much passion and desire. The film ended with him coming to her place, chained in an embrace that could warm up and flame old ashes of the earth. This is a movie to watch- has great entertainment value- for its cinematic treatment and amazingly great direction. Sorry I don't write actors' names. Am not good at remembering names! But this is a movie to watch!

2. The Marine

This should have been entitled as "Incredible Hulk," "The Terminator," "Fire Starter" or "Super Man." An old cliche ran the whole time in this movie. The marine hero fought all his antagonists in flying colors. His biceps and triceps would make you want to poke them with needles and pins making sure they are real and not just gas or air! He is a Matt Damon look alike with the body of Lou Ferigno. In the end he came by a super heo; brought back to life his skinny wife and survived endless flames of disaster. I believe the director of this movie has a fascination for fire! This is an action film with lots of violence. I am not recommending this to anyone with a blood pressure over 140/120. But go get a kick and watch this at your own risk!

3. Jackass: Number 2
We only saw the last 15 minutes of this film. This is all about stupidity and violence, experimentation and stunts~ as done by macho men to prove they are what do you think? Macho men! One scene that really grossed me out was about finding the props beard and moustache of the American dude (who pretended to be a Middle Eastern suicide bomber ). They were actually a collection of shaven pubis of his fellow actors in the film! Can you imagine how gross that is? He threw up all right, complete with the excrement of his puke in living colors! Yuck...! If you have the taste for the bizarre, this is for you. If you want to be entertained in terms of paranoia, this is the film to watch. Be sure to take your valium with you!

4. "Little Miss Sunshine"
A story about a dysfunctional family on a road tour to the beau
ty pageant for kids. Present were mom, dad, 10-year old or so daughter (who is the contender in the pageant), speech defiant teen aged son, suicidal gay uncle and eccentric grand daddy. They were in synch and were all inside the family bus on their way to L.A., California from Albequerque. The family went through heaves of trials and tribulation while travelling: old VW bus broke down; granddaddy died at the motel; speech defiant son got enraged and started talking again-thank god; dad going bankcrupt; mom ready for a divorce and gay uncle meeting his ex-gay lover at the convenience store. Finally, they reached the hotel where the pageant was to be held. Miss Sunshine almost didn't make it to register as she was late but for heaven's sake, the gay uncle was able to persuade the chairwoman's side kick. She ruled out the stage and came out with flying colors. Her dance routine was unexpected.
Dressed modestly in an Annie Hall ensemble with a magician's hat, she dedicated her dance routin
e to her granddaddy who choreographed it. Husband and I were expecting a wholesome dance number when our wits won over us: she started to strip like a pro! Wow, this was the catch! We almost died laughing nside the theatre! Lesson learned by the bro and the uncle plus the dad:ilm? Don't join the arena of stupid girls trying to be young women while they are still 8, 9 or 10-years old! Embarrassed by the strip show of little sister, eventually the entire brood went upstage and started gyrrating. The audience smile arched into a dismay. The family ended up in the police precint. Moral of the story? The family that stinks together stay together. This is all. Until next blog, ciao! Have a great Saturday morning! Moowah!






















































Thursday, October 19, 2006

Marionberry,Raspbery and Blueberry Tarts


Yellow Cake

With Peachy Colored Cream Cheese, Butter, Vanilla and Powder Sugar


Thursday, October 12, 2006

Now and Then




Counting The Hours

Guess what?
Tomorrow is my big day and am counting the hours before it goes- BANG! It's here- it's here! Cheers :-)

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Home Again In North Beach


After a tiring day today, we are back to our nesting place in North Beach. Thank God we are done- at last!

I went to our veranda tonight and saw my mums all abloom. They give me inner peace each time I look at them...aren't they lovely?

Done Deal

We finished off at 5.40 PM tonite and would head back to the city (SFO). Many people came here to do the work- Coit, Mike who would do the sliding door plus the ceiling light cover at the kitchen and Brad, our contractor did come to pick up his construction materials at the garage. Betty our new tenant came by as well mid afternoon and signed the contract; made a walk-through at her new flat and was delighted we painted the house c/o Brad with the Kelly Moore Oyster color she loves! We met today Debbie, our neighbor at the end of the townhouse complex. She was impressed with the added bedroom we had done that Brad made for us. Brad however, would have to come back here on Friday to put up all the padlock in all the doors then Sunday, Betty would move in. BTW, tomorrow Thursday, Coit's stretch-the-carpet crew would do the job repair of our wall to wall carpet that needs stretching. Coit crew will just mail back our new front door key to our North Beach mailing address. Whew! Lots of jobs done and a little more to be done. Otherwise, the place is all set for some dolling up! Betty will place her white baby grand piano in the corner where the new bedroom was constructed. We promised to visist her as soon as she has settled in her new abode. As for the vertical blinds, we took them off ~ our previous tenant broke the 8 louvres on both the master bedroom and living room. We decided to take them off for good to the delight of Betty. Well, this is ciao time!


This swimming pool is the added attraction of this townhouse. Tiffany Circle is a quiet and peaceful neighborhood of Ripon on the other side of town, 5 minutes' drive to where we used to live.

Tiffany Circle Connection

We are here and have done some more cleaning up. Now 1:26 PM, Coit Carpet and Draperies crew is here doing their gig. Cost of maintainance is huge and stretching of carpet is another thing but this has to be done. But all is needed for its upkeep. We hope to leave after 6 PM and be back in SFO by 9 PM. Hopefully we won't hit traffic as we enter Bay Bridge.

More later.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

The White Cat

She was walking along our lawn at Tiffany Circle in Ripon last Saturday as I was cleaning up the garage. She came up to me and was very friendly. Cute as she is, she was not really that clean so I tried not to touch her since I am allergic to fur of cats and dogs. Anyhow, she was the sweetest thing I ever saw last week! The moment she was near me, she let her fur touched my right hand. After which she said, "Meow, meow..." then off I went inside the townhouse and there she went off for a tiptoe and some play at the grass as the neighbors across us were getting ready for their yard sale for the day.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Cleaning Up The Pieces

We drove here back and was home at 9.30 PM. We cleaned up our place and it is going be rented by a nice old lady who owns a botique on Main Street Ripon. We passed by our former residence as well on Fourth and Palm Avenue and saw my roses abloom plus my lemon and lime tree. I miss them! We will drive back this Wednesday to endorse the Tiffany Circle place to Betty. We added a room there and it is being painted right now. Carpets would be professionally cleaned by Coit this Wednesday evening then we'd be back here in SFO as soon as the job there is done. Meanwhile, we are back on track here in North Beach. We missed the many festivities of the week like the SFO Fleet Week, Columbus Day, Italian and Chinese dinner in our parish at Saints Peter and Paul- plus the famous Italian Parade commemorating the Columbus day in Little Italy. We hope to see these all next year. Cheers!

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Those Days When There Is No Sunshine I Feel Happy and I Feel Introspective



NOTE: Click photos to enlarge. Photos of husband and his siblings, at Grace Cathedral in SFO, CA. This is famous for its labyrinth indoor. Photo taken last late September 2006. Veranda photos taken days before my in-laws flew in from from Portland, Oregon. They came by from San Jose, CA and stayed with us for a few days. Just FYI.


It’s a drizzly quiet morning today. It’s 5 minutes to 12-high noon and the tiny drizzle of rain dances in the air, making my mums to be all abloom, bright and in deep lemon yellow. I love them dearly! My umbrella plants rest peacefully in my veranda and from there I could see some silent strangers who occasionally walk by in our alley, to work or to be there at their nook, in their own little corner of the earth wherever it may be. So far, I love where I am in our tiny little haven in San Francisco. I can play the piano at sundown and listen to every note I play as I look at the skies and imagine how life would have been different had I decided to work overseas and remained single as before. But life has its surprises. I met my husband and fell in love. He wanted to marry me fast and fronto and all I could do was say, “I do.” And then we are here in San Francisco after living for a whole two years in Ripon. I saw the change of seasons there and loved the springtime where I learned to do vegetable gardening, food prep and many more.

Today, I spoke with my old chum since my Ruamrudee days, Teri. She is in Orlando, Florida and was at work. She called after I left a voice mail. I needed to share something with her which is very important to me and after a while, I felt my rhythm has stabilized, my chest- seemingly, is at peace, on hold - in repose but somehow, it made me laugh again, as before, as I was, as I am always like- light and easy.

It’s been a while since I blogged since friends and family have pre-occupied my time plus my husband’s travel and with me tagging along at certain times made all the writing for me to be impossible. But now, just before I head to the shower I had this impending need to write. Feel. See. Look. I am alive and thinking. Wondering. Why?

I got a call today. One very important call!!! Geez, what a day to think about phone calls that could either break your day or castrate your dreams, but boy- am okay and coping silently on my own.

I did a spring-cleaning of my haven- the flat I share with my loving husband. I have a mountain of Chinaware to clean and that beats the crap out of me, doing the dishes manually without an aid of a dishwasher, as a trade off living in SFO. But, hey~ am not complaining as life is good here, too perfect in fact, that sometimes I know it needs some diffusion for me to see the wholeness of my life here, like seeing an impressionistic painting- one has to move away from the painting, to see the unity of the dots.

I will take a shower then go to Chinatown to shop for food for tomorrow, bake French bread and some berry tarts for my better half…he always wants something sweet!

Tomorrow we drive to Ripon to check out the additional bedroom that has been under construction early this week. We are due to see and interview candidates to rent our place, in this lovely townhouse in Tiffany Circle on the other side of town. We hope to drive back in the evening of Saturday, in time to celebrate Columbus Day along Filbert where an Italian Parade is sure to be a go-getter. Our parish, Saints Peter and Paul will sponsor a bazaar on Saturday and Sunday this week in celebration of Columbus Day. It starts at 10 AM and ends at 7 PM. Our German-American friends might pop up with their daughter on Sunday afternoon, if we are able to finish our spring-cleaning in Ripon. Otherwise, we would have to cancel our date with them. Also, I needed to call a friend in Oakland (Joanie) to check out how she has been. She emailed and expressed a desire to visit us in the city. But likewise, she was given our time schedule for the week.

My good friend Arn will be in town again from Guam to finish her M.A. in art therapy. I hope we could connect despite our opposing schedule. Husband and I are flying to Las Vegas on October 22 and Arn is arriving on October 19 and leaving on the 23rd.

Ah, life’s surprises do stretch my muscles from east to west. I hope I could see all my friends now. Just those days when overcast skies can take a toll in one’s soul…I guess I have to close for now.


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BTW, I'll take photos of my mums tomorrow for sure. They are so lovely! My digital camera has been broken for a year now so I need to borrow husband's camera. That will have to wait upon his homecoming tonight after a hectic business trip. Ok. This is all.

Cheers.