long ny weekend

this post's a little overdue but very much detailed hehe. but just the same, let me relive the wonderful life that was for the past weekend. it's not every weekend that i get to spend time in a great place and with people i love...

friday
it was my first time to travel alone. i was a bit nervous 'cause i know i look too young to travel alone. and true indeed, i got a lot of "are you traveling alone?" questions. darn it. to hell with it haha! i just brought my passport for support document haha!

from above, i was dying to take snapshots of the vast lands of ohio and the neighboring states. i was in total awe how this big land could ever be so real. hehe no wonder they don't have beaches here. everything's just brown and green hehehe! no matter how far i extend my gaze, it's nothing but land, land, and more land. corny.

ok so the flights went well. ohio to pittsburgh and then to new york. it was pretty cold in new york. dilemma: i only brought a light jacket. i thought the weather will pretty much be like here in ohio where it's spring mode na. pde na mag flipflops. so i brought one and i also brought a capri and spag strap blouse haha! imbyerna! nde pala pede.

after a couple of attempts to contact camille, i was beginning to get nervous 'cause it was really cold, i was alone, in a foreign land. ni-try pa ko lokohin ng 2 mabait na taong sina camille and reagan. hehe... so after our besos and shrieks of excitement, we headed off to have dinner (at 11pm) in this thai resto. it's a really cool place. i thought that some restos in the phils are like that na. yung tipong gimikan and resto at the same time. kaso there were couples kissing indiscreetly and medyo mas wild ang suot ng mga tao. it was a wonderful dinner treat courtesy of papa reagan. thanks camz and reagan!!!

in a cool chair! mega wait pa kami for the other gimik peeps na magsawa sa chair na tayo. and so the picture goes...


with reagan and camille on a swing-bench-type chair...


good foodies! lahat masarap! yummiee...


after dinner, we went straight to the spot where we had a clear view of the manhattan skyline. it was great! i only see this scene in movies or paintings or pictures and now, it was right before my eyes. =) with the moon shining above, it was really a spectacular view. masarap may katabi sa bench sa mga pagkakataong ito. well, kung hindi masyadong biting ang cold. it WAS REALLY COLD! so cold we couldn't get a steady hold of the camera haha. night mode pa yung cam kaya malabo, we just had to capture the lights... but the pictures are great just the same:

with camille...


solo this time...


after the cold trip, we went to camille's apartment, caught up with lost time, chika, and then dozed off at around 430am. hehe this is why we woke up quite late the next morning...

saturday
first stop was the subway station. woohoo! it was just like our lrt pero it was really amazing how it could take you to places. o diba mag picture sa subway... woohoo!


and then to battery park, where we had to take the ferry to go around the liberty and some more spots. we could've taken the ferry that'll take you to the liberty spot but the queue's so long, it'll probably be night time by the time we had our turn hehe.

ms. liberty at the background...

this one's my fave! thanks, camille for the expert shot and for the picture frame that came with it!



and more mahangin poses with camille at the ferry:






in front of brooklyn bridge... so this is brooklyn bridge:


ok pagdiskitahan ang toro haha! bashtush! hey, the other foreigners grabbed the balls too! why can't we?


next stop was trinity church. i'm not aware that this became famous because of the movie national treasure. well, 'cause i didn't see the movie hehe. it was a very great church. ang bango amoy kahoy sa loob =)

the magnanimous stained glass work at the back of the altar...


give thanks for the magnanimous blessings i've had as well. wushu!


the magnaninous altar...


even the door's magnanimous!


and the bulletin board's uhmm... magnanimous too. hehe


and then to ground zero. gave me goosebumps just standing there looking beyond the wired fences... =( my cousin, ate elaine used to work at WTC and she was there when the tragedy happened. God's so good to have saved her, along with others.

used-to-be lobby daw of WTC (info c/o camille)...


what lies beyond the fence...


camille: "the cross was part of the original foundation of WTC. and they're now building a memorial for the lost souls"


after the semi-drama, headed off to china town, where there are chinese everywhere and it's simply a simulated chinatown/binondo in manila. =) this is also where we met my long-time-haven't-seen cousins from nj.


with the girls: camille, irish, ate elaine


hello my name is caths and i'm in chinatown... btw, i left this name frame in the van on my way home. still trying to retrieve it now. =(


and then to the broadway show, "naked boys singing!"... oooh! hehe... tuwang-tuwa ang mga girls. geez. i've never seen that much uhhmmm guy's thing! there were 8... of varied sizes and hues haha! i think it's more entertaining than miss saigon haha pinagpalit ang miss saigon sa mga hubong lalaki. we found it very... what's the word? ewan. basta it was funny!


with 2 of the 8 casts... woohooo! great performance, guys!


after the makabusog-matang performance, time to fill up our tummies again... off to jaya korean restaurant to chow once again.
with the pretty camacho cousins: irish and ate elaine


with the pretty camille


with joe and ate elaine. sheesh look at all those food!!! masarap lahat! yum yum! camille cooked all the bbq. yum! camille definitely has a taste in good restos and plays hehe... =)


and then, we went back to times square to witness the display of lights once the sun's tulog na.

the girls with joe...


the girls with reagan...


we wanted to have dessert sana sa serendipity resto but the place's so packed we just had some pics... what else? better to have pics than dessert. haha the dessert i could have here, but the pics, na-uh.. hehe.

and then we decided to call it a day and headed off to joe and ate elaine's apartment for some drinks and videoke. it was also there that i met whisky. the famous camacho cat. she was kinda aloof with me. siguro kse caths ang name ko bwahaha!

and then we finally went home to irish's home. had a few chika moment with tita marie and slept na rin.

sunday
had a quick talk with tito nards (papa's only brother). heck it was a so-serious moment. i don't like moments like that. hehe! after the confession-like conversation, irish and i went to hear mass and we were late. as penance (i think), we were asked to offer the gifts haha! and the guy thought i was irish's little sister mwahaha! nakabola na naman ako!

and then there was lunch with the camacho clan and the roma clan (tito joey is my father's best friend). it was very touching how they prepped everything up for me. i mean, i guess i was the only camacho link that they've got this side of the world so they were really glad to have seen me (again). lunch was great. camille and reagan also graced the celebration (thanks).

so after the dramatic byes, ate elaine, joe, irish, and i headed off to ny once again to see some more sights: empire state, central park, st. patrick's church, there was a flowery area, and then to my final destination, the airport.

and so now, i'm back here and doing the usual stuff. it'll take me quite a long time before i could get over that coooool weekend. =) and another one's coming this weekend with michie and thecx. can't wait.

dear camille (and reagan)

thanks for:

for arranging my tickets

for sending me tips and updates for the flight

picking me up at the airport

for partially making fun of me while i'm scared to death and so cold haha

for lending me both your coats and pajamas and sun glasses

for telling me wonderful stories

for the yummie dinner and fried ice cream

for accommodating me friday night

for sharing your bed with me

for the chika time 'til 4am

for giving me a subway ride

for being my photographer - fabulous shots for both auto and night mode

for being my tour guide - kahit nawalan ng boses, you are by far the best tour guide i've had hehe!

for having lunch with us and meeting my family in nj

for the goodies

for the wonderful photo in a wonderful frame

for everything

* reagan (did i spell it right?), it was really nice meeting you. hope you two will be happy for the rest of your lives. =)
* pics later! i've got tons of pics woohoo! courtesy of this new yorker here =)

sunshine

sunny day today! it's a good sign! hope the sun maintains its cheerful attitude 'til the weekend. pero plastic ang araw dito hehe. ang lamig pa rin. when you're inside kala mo it'll be a warm day pero paglabas mo... ay parang baguio hehe... corny.

oh well... i have a ride to the airport na on friday! yahoo! after much gathering of guts and overcoming of shyness, i called todd (his house is near the airport) and asked him point-blank... "hey todd, this is caths. i'm going to nj on friday and i was wondering if i could ride with you on your way home... and maybe you could drop me off the airport. if you have other plans, that's ok. i'll find other means." haha... direct to the point! haha. i've never done that before. i mean asking favors from people na nde ko kalahi. eh malay ko ba how they'd take that hehe! paul and ree said naman that it's ok... i mean, saying things directly and if he had other plans, he wouldn't have said yes. =)

well he said ok! yahoo!!! i promised him pasalubong na lang. yey yey! pano ang pauwi ko ngayon? haha... that's 1 more dilemma i'd have to solve haha! kaya ko itu.

haven't packed my stuff for friday. but heck... it's just a weekend it's not as if i'd bring 10 pairs of stuff! hehe! well, the phone calls from my would-be-hosts are now limited, which is good 'cause we won't run out of stuff to talk about in the following 2 weekends. hehe! here i come, guys! =)

gloomy day...

looks like it's gonna rain. no sunshine... cold... =( and still no ride to the airport - 2 days before my trip.

hope the sun won't be lazy this weekend. cmon, friend sun! show yourself! hehe... =)

MORE random pics (and MORE to come)

get ready... marami itu... portion pa lang yan... lupit! walang sawa!

aloha! hehe hawaii ba itu? mag picture-picture sa harap ng LN and you risk being laughed at by the employees going home by that time haha! woohoo!


flowers namin - blow-up version hehe...


on the way to jefferson mall. andyan kme somewhere in ree's car hehe. thanks for the lift, ree!


the black one's mr. jack and the gray one's mr. henry (not harry hehe). these are paul and ree's baby cats... or should i say tigers? =) big cats you've got there!


LN lobby: with the entire gang on the way to dave and buster's


dave and buster's: racing with tine, papa b, and joy. on this race we had to control the game so we could be in 3rd place. the 3rd placer bags the highest point... and we (betty team) won 3rd place! woohoo! *pogi ni papa b!


with leah and andy in one of the machines =)


ree and paul's baby, ernie. he's quite old and currently has arthritis. this doesn't stop him from emitting doggie charms though. =) ernie's with the 2 cats above, jack and henry. ree says sometimes he thinks he's a cat too... hehe cutie


heavy lunch at golden corral with the gang and todd. had too much to eat with their buffet menu. geez!


after the sumo meals. uy sige itago ang tyan... hehe


mr. henry at play. had a hard time. his body's too heavy! hehe


preparing for a jog and basketball. hehe sporty daw kami! di naman ako nadapa. good job!


lisa camacho-cruz's (standing, 2nd from the left) house. my long lost sister? or relative maybe? hehe! we have to trace our roots to verify this


another heavy lunch at ree and paul's place. yummieee!


bingo time, pero strike a pose muna. =)


and another... this time with ernie


and another... shoot f na f!!! ano itu mga artista?


ice cream time after bingo


tito ver and tita pat's backyard. lupet!


inuman na with team 1:
tama na 'yan inuman na hoy pare koy tumagay ka...


...nananabik na lalamunan naghihintay nag-aabang

payat. what's new?

8:10 am leah, dacks, joy, and i were entering the lobby of the office. the id system works this way: the door is the rotating type yung you get step on and it rotates to let you in. kaso you need to "swipe" your id to automatically activate and rotate it.

ok pasok na ang leah, dacks, and joy. tapos ako na weee!

mega swipe the id...

*beep, says the id reader. step on the door. wait a few seconds... "oops", sabi ko semi-loudly. ay ayaw bumukas... sa isip ko na lang yan hehe.

*natakot onti. pano ko papasok ngayon. try ko nga ulit. step out and swipe ulit.

*beep, the reader squeals again. step on the door ulit. and there you go! bumukas na! hehe...

the receptionist was an elderly lady who was smiling all the while, watching me. when i entered the lobby, she said, "you're not heavy enough to activate the door!" *laughs.

i laughed back and said, "gosh!" hehe... fine payat ako! sabi ko nga eh. kahit hand drier sa spi nde ako madetect eh. in fairness... mataba na ang tyan ko ah!

observations part 1

i have quite a lot but i don't have that much time. hehe. this is part 1. i hope i could do parts 2 to infinity hehe.

a couple of observations, comparisons, ekek:

mga tao

sila: super friendly. they have a smile ready for everybody... kahit strangers. would ask you how your day was... =) nice!
tayo: straight face. lalo na ko! don't expect me to smile to anybody na makakasalubong ko. unless, of course, maunang mag smile sakin... di naman ako madamot sa smile hehe.

sa restroom

sila: they don't brush their teeth after lunch.
tayo: heck! super brush! minsan kahit merienda super brush pa rin hehe

sila: ang brutal and ang bilis kumuha ng tissue sa dispenser... kakagulat. makes me all jumpy hehe.
tayo: mahinhin, mayumi, dahan-dahan, just right

sa kanila: yung sa toilet, yung binababa sa mismong bowl, may gap sa gitna... can't quite describe it. basta may gap. parang horseshoe yung shape. that's it.
sa atin: buo ito haha! oblong ang shape.

sa malls

dito: may tax (well, di ata sa lahat may tax)
sa 'tin: walang tax. what you see is what you get.

dito: pag sale, super sale! may clearance section pa na super mura talga!
sa 'tin: pag sale, joke lang kse parang you can't get to wear the items on sale plus mga P20 off lang hehe. kulit. but there are some pretty good buys din naman pag sale. di lang talga ko mahilig mamili at mag-ikot-ikot.

environment

dito: walang beach! bwahaha! i was starting to see things on the way to church. what appeared to be a body of water was actually a landscape? feeling ko may beach dito haha! the closest i've seen were some irrigation ekek or creek or man made chuvas?
sa 'tin: ay sus... woohoo! saya! super beach! super beach! beach anytime! kahit tag-ulan pede pagtyagaan hehe! can't wait to swim ulit!

that's sad... not so...

hay... reading that somehow made me sad. if i were in that same situation, i probably would've done the same thing. i understand completely. do i have a problem with that? i guess so, having been sooo used to it and knowing that it's always just there, but there's nothing i could do. it's not mine to keep... nothing ever is. everything is just a borrowed something from Him. some things come, some things go. some things aren't as good as the others though, but as with every new dilemma (dilemma's too harsh!)... but as with every new challenge (it's not a challenge!)... but as with every new mandatory event, you can't do anything about it but accept it as it is. as the prayer goes,

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

and i pray for that constantly =)

lost track

haha lost track of the day count. lousy. tama ba namang numberan kse ang days. ang corny. lack of interesting title?

oh well, oh well...

shopping take 10(?)
what happened last saturday? we went to shop ulit. goodness it's so mura here! ano ba itu? free land? hehe! well, didn't get that much kse may NJ pa ko sa weekend. i heard there are a couple of good stores dun, plus wala raw tax. neat, eh?

sisters(?)
after the shopping mania, we dropped by lisa camacho's house to just hang out and... uhmm... eat? videoke? hehe. i wonder? is lisa really my sister? hello?!? both our dads died on the same month and year! january 1997. we were starting to freak out when we have the same year... but the same month? hehe... the ultimate question was: what is your father's first name? hehe iba naman. so we're not sisters. we're just... ummm souls entangled in a mesh of coincidences (ano yun?? babbles itu!).

lunch + bingo!!!
sunday was pretty much a pigging out day. ree and paul (lovely lovely couple, lovely lovely hosts) and ernie -> doggie and jack -> big kitty and harry (was it harry?) -> bigger kitty invited us over for lunch. ay big slab of steak itu... plus corn and veggies. sarap! grabe! i never thought i could consume that much food! and i keep on complaining how my tummy's grown this big in just a week! haha! after the feast, we played bingo in their comfy backyard (yup comfy itu!). i won this toy... it's a... can't describe... ball that you bounce using a paddle (?). hehe. it's a toy! bingo was saya! super! with the participants getting serious to win the major prizes haha! we were wondering if they could include ernie... or the house... or the car in the we were really gulo no! after the game, we had ice cream pa plus like a pet show where ernie, jack, and harry (?) showed some tricks =) cool!

telebabad
ano ba? con call with michie, acy, thecx last night. for an hour! and then ate elaine called. we talked for almost an hour, i guess? ano ba? e kung gabi-gabi makikipagtelebabad ako sa mga taong kikitain ko dito, wala na kaming mapapag-usapan pag nagkita na kami. ayos! haha! but just the same, i love hearing from them kahit na tawa lang kami nang tawa. can't wait to see them =)

training
haha isingit ba ang training? oh well, i browsed through some training stuff... na nde ko rin naman masyadong na-absorb. kase naman... hehe.

day 8

2:08pm
cook/praning - wow it was my first time to cook dinner for them. sinigang na chicken and beef. hehe matabang. i was alone in the apartment for a couple of hours. i didn't join them in their shopping 'cause i cooked dinner nga. i was imaging things. what if somebody forced his way in and steal things or just kill me? nyay! what if the phone rings and a scary voice beats the hell out of me? hehe so the phone rang a couple of times and i was all jumpy and freaky hehe...

sleepy - i'm always sleepy! i don't think this has something to do with the time zone ekek... i could sleep pretty well at night and i can't stay awake at day. hmmm... antukin ako. that's unusual... kainis.

vacation update - camille's ready to buy those tickets woohoo! tita marie will shoulder the fare daw. more woohoo!!! talked with acy to and she might join us on the 22nd. =)

2:08pm
vacation update2 - tickets here woohoo! off to dinner with the girls. bye! have a great weekend!

day 7

ok... i have an entire entry for my 7th day complete with time stamp. the page expired and post was gone. chuva!

ok... let me recall...

today was the 1st day of engineering training. nothing much. di talga ko bibo... hush hush lang kahit pigain hehe ayaw ko sumagot ever!

i guess everybody's crazy over papa b and his blue green eyes hehe. too bad di na sya ang trainer namin so lamang ang mga bruhang analyst bwahahaha! i was able to have a good chika with him yesterday though. syemps katabi ko sa dinner say nyo? haha. mega chika! talked about the beaches in the phils. so i was actually luring him to come over the phils haha. ano ito isda? ni-lure. syemps nichika ko rin how his wife and daughter are doing diba... i bet his daughter looks like angel. kung anong puno syang bunga diba? hehe... todo bola itu. basta i bet i earned a thousand points for that hehe.

the client treated us (again) at dave and busters. it was a pretty good bonding time for us all though it's a bit hard to jive with them siguro dahil sa cultural differences. hello mahirap makipagkwentuhan at jokan sa english no! but they're all nice naman.

ok. vacation update: boss didn't allow me to have a few days off on our way home. she said we'll be pretty busy na raw by that time so we can't afford to have absences from work... too bad. but my vacation (vaccation talga, hindi training hehe) must remain untampered. i'll head off to NJ on the 16th instead. =) woohoo! so i could still meet camille and (what's left of) the camacho clan - 5 lang sila hehe. plus michie and thecx will visit me here on the 22nd and sama na lang kme sa spi people sa tennessee. so i get to meet all my friends pa rin diba? woohoo!

this is worth posting: my mom reminded me to pray for the pope's soul. i haven't done that yet and i haven't said a thing about my sympathy for it... i'm just touched on how he has been an inspiration and how he has touched the hearts and lives of millions of people, including mine. he will forever be an inspiration =)

day 6

killing some time again. i guess i can't do this tomorrow na. the engineering training starts tomorrow so medyo busy-busyhan na yun malamang... hehe. i'm a little bit nervous 'bout it not having a good exposure in engineering work. dapat super mega attentive diva?

we went to circuit city last night, pero wala naman akong nabili. wala yung mga bilin, wala rin akong nakitang interesting for me. ended up buying a couple of make-up for my mom and titas. good buy daw yun. hehe malay ko ba, di naman ako nag me-make up. asus.

talked with camille, michie, and thecx again. finally, my plans are having good directions na. michie and thecx will probably go here to visit me na lang since my last weekend will surely be packed. i dunno maybe we could just scout some interesting places here. anything is interesting basta may kasama naman akong friends =).

tapos, i'll probably spend the weekend with the camachos in NJ and then with camille on monday and tuesday. sana ok. i heard my boss said daw na sana wala munang mag-absent when we get back to manila... i hope this is not a bad sign. i hope she'll allow me to have a few days off. i hope i could see my friends. i hope i hope i hope... =)

off to training again. =)

day 5

hmmm... days 1 to 4 are missing hehe. didn't really have much time to update my blog. now i'm in day 5. so what's up? just had lunch.

yesterday, we hads tons of food intake hehe. heavy lunch and a tabo of icecream courtesy of the client. and i thought, "we're paid to do this?" cool! hehe!

when we got home, we had another pictorial session and jogged + played basketball near our place. sus... sporty sporty daw, mamya madapa na naman ako. medyo trauma na nga ko pag tumatakbo eh =( feeling ko madadapa ako any minute. hehe. praning.

i guess i've adjusted na. i'm not THAT sleepy anymore. pero sleepy pa rin. ayan na. start na naman ng antok. heavy mata... waaah!

410pm: eeew... i have an hour to kill. training's done and we're not going home 'til 5pm. during training, we were observing the other team while they're doing their exercise. i was standing behind leah and janette and i swear, i could fall asleep nang nakatayo!!! promise! pumipikit mata ko waaah! i was imagining i'd suddenly pass out hehe.

* sometimes, i do checks and i'm not really sure what my current status is hehe. ano nga ba? ano nga ba? hmm...

some pics:
narita, tokyo airport. pictorial agad? hehehe...


malou and nannie's place. bait bait couple =)


videoke itu... moonlight over paris. ano ba? di pa sawa? hehe!


shopping! with the rest of the gang


tita pat and tito ver's place1


tita pat and tito ver's place2


stairs with the girls and yongca's roderick. yihee bayong!


tago poste with tin and dacks hehe payat naman eh pedeng magtago


ay, f na f ang pag-upo sa grass... basa! mwehehe!


mas f na f... solo pa!


ano ito? hehe...


'di namin apartment yan. kamuka lang.


patulan pati slide ng mga bata


hmm... mga baliw? hehe... pinagtinginan lang naman kme ng mga dumadaang sasakyan asus.

dito na

Here na… first day sa office. We just had a tour of the office. Kay laki… hehe.



Somehow, I still have my days and my nights all mixed up. So evening mode ako ngayon ‘cause it’s tulugan time sa pinas. Can’t really keep my eyes open. Tapos pag gabi, I swear, super buhay ang diwa ko. Hay…



I talked with a couple of friends na: Camille and Irish. Maybe I’ll try to head off to new jersey to meet the camachos before I go home hehe… and Camille in NY. Also, michie and thecx might try to see me when I get there… di naman ako masyadong excited to see them all =)



We went to a couple of malls here to shop. =) met with some of the filipino communities. They were all kind and hospitable =).