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.