Meeting Rita

Despite everybody being busy in Manila, my friend Imelda and I scheduled a lunch date to meet Rita who came home from Canada. Rita was going to leave the Philippines in two days time. We had to meet despite all our busyness. So we decided to have lunch together in the nearest vicinity which was at Greenhills. Rita, Imelda and I, we all grew up in Cotabato City. We shared cherished childhood memories of a well loved hometown and school which is sad to say, have seen a lot of deterioration these days.
Most of my high school friends are no longer living in Cotabato but they keep abreast of the latest news and we keep in touch with each other.
And so we met, chose a quiet restaurant, shared paella valenciana for lunch and had chorus con chocolate for dessert. It was so nice meeting one another and sharing our personal life experiences. We had so much to talk about that our lunch lasted from 12:30 to 3 PM. If we could only stretch our time but all of us had to leave because each had other appointments at 3:30PM.
"Next visit," I said. "We have to spend one whole day together. One lunch is not enough."
Rita's next visit will be next year which is our 44th year class reunion. Time really moves so fast. Have we even noticed that we're getting old?! Hah!

Everybody Is Busy

So I come to Manila for a lot of things: personal follow ups of documents, make important inquiries, visit my children, commemorate my father's 20th year death anniversary etc.
People may think that I am busy but not quite. I finish half my errands in two days time. My children, they are the real busy ones. They work hard and are very conscientious with their responsibilities. Before I get up in the morning, they are already gone from home, on their way to work. Last Wednesday, when I came home from Baclaran at 1 AM in the morning, Tom was still up doing his homework. Even my friends here are all preoccupied. I don't get to see anyone of them this time. What I hear from my friends, kins and siblings, and what I get most of the time here in Manila are domestic help problems. For me, it has always been an un-ending one problem after the other. One of these days, the young ones should try to be self reliant and not depend too much on them like me. Domestic help it seems is everyone's household problem these days. Everybody is busy at work and at home too!

Long Trip Home/ Stranded in Honolulu

We left Seattle for LA on May 1. We had 7 hours lay over at LAX for our connecting flight to Philippines that same day. The 7 hours waiting inside LAX was not so much of a problem because we had prepared for it. But unfortunately when the plane took off and landed in Honolulu for refueling, for some mechanical or technical reason, it was not able to take off as scheduled. The sad part was, the passengers were kept inside the plane waiting for 4 hours before they finally announced that we would be stranded in Honolulu for a day. We were further kept in Honolulu airport holding area for an hour or two before we were finally released for transfer to our hotel. We were more than 300 passengers all in all and you could imagine the queue and the many frantic people trying to get ahead of others. When we finally got our room keys and food coupons, the sun in Hawaii was already near mid morning. I opted not to eat breakfast and lunch and went for my much needed sleep. I woke up in the afternoon and was kind of recharged for another adventure. From my first travel to Hawaii where I was billeted at the same hotel, I knew that Hotel Ala Moana was located near a big mall. With a renewed adventurous spirit, I first explored Macy's alone by myself but later egged on my family to go with me farther to find the huge Ala Moana shopping center and together, we all went out even further down to the beach. I felt sorry for some passengers who stayed all day in the hotel lobby, afraid even to go to their rooms, lest they be left behind by their flight. Getting supper at 5:30PM, was a long chaotic queue; as well as returning back to the airport at 9 o'clock in the evening. The epic wait for our next flight at 3AM/4AM was a total nightmare. My family and I, we tried our best to make the most of this trip. We befriended people and chatted with them to make the waiting bearable. We arrived Manila on May 4. Thank God we're safely home!

Saturday afternoon at Kirkland Marina

We were leaving Washington and USA for the Philippines on Sunday, May 1, 2011. That Saturday, we took our time inside Roy's apartment to eat breakfast, wash our dirty clothes and ready our things for departure. In the afternoon, we went to St. Jude Parish for our anticipated mass at 5 PM. After the mass, Roy brought us to Kirkland for a serene afternoon stroll at the Marina.

Ballard Locks

After Fremont, We went to Ballard, to see the Locks and Botanical Garden. According to attending personnel, Ballards Locks operate in the same manner and system like the Panama Canal. We were really curious. Just then a yacht came in from the sea and we saw how the Locks opened up to let the yacht enter to dock. This was educational.

Fremont, Washington

The State of Washington allocates budget for public art work which is very commendable. And in Fremont, you can freely see the artistic display of expressions. It is a place for artists!

Gas Works Park etc

Marion was going to meet her high school friend Jackie who was schooling at the University of Washington. The meeting place was set at Gas Works Park, so Roy drove her and drove us there. It was called Gas Works because the place used to be a facility for converting coal into gas. Now that the plant was no longer at work, they converted the place into a park. Ingenious idea as it was really a nice place with good view for a run, walk, stroll, chat or meditation.
After which when Marion left with Jackie and her friends, Roy brought us to a real diner's place for lunch.