this is the second installment of what happened during my recent US trip.  again, please bear with me as this may be another long entry.  but i do hope you enjoy reading it as much as i enjoy writing it down.

november 17, 2007 – saturday – day two – "unscheduled stop" – i woke up to a foggy, 10-degree celcius temperature, yet i was able to sleep fairly well on my first night.  my mom and my aunt were already up and at the dining table having breakfast.  i joined them and had a traditional filipino breakfast of coffee, scrambled eggs and pan de sal which was bought at a filipino store not far from where we're staying.  i also got the chance to watch tv and surfed through the different cable channels like usa network, spike tv, vh1, fsn, espn and espn2, plus the local affiliates of cbs, fox, abc and nbc.  our plans that day were to go to the bank, a weekend street market, as well as check out the mall at vacaville where manufacturers like nike, adiddas, polo, and other brand name apparels are being sold at factory prices.  but before we go to those places, we had to make a quick stop at my aunt's office in oakland.  after breakfast, i took a very warm shower which felt good, but immediately started shaking after stepping out of the bathroom.  yet in spite of the cold temperature i was able to hack it, since i was used to cold temperatures in the office.

it was around 9 in the morning when my aunt, mom and myself left the house.  bank of america was our first stop.  i was kinda surprised that a stand-alone bank branch is open on weekends, but according to my aunt, they're only open until noon on saturdays.  'twas a quick stop, and we were on our way to the street market.  now, if you have seen the movie notting hill, you're probably familiar with the scene where one whole street was closed and lined up with sellers of different kinds.  from fruits to vegetables, plants, flowers, etc.  that was similar to what i saw on the street market which i found quite nice.  my aunt bought some radishes, and some veggies, while my mom got some strawberries.  we wandered a bit more, but my aunt told us that she needs to get to her office, so we were then off to oakland.  the drive took around an hour and a half on the freeway.  my aunt works at a restaurant supply company, called east bay restaurant supply, incorporated.  she just had to check some work-related stuff which she missed out since she was taking a week-long vacation on thanksgiving week, and had to make sure that things are in order.  upon arriving at her work area, she found out that she had work that day since one of her co-workers swapped schedules with her in order for her to be granted the thanksgiving week vacation.  so what was supposed to be a whole day trip turned out to be hanging out in the office on a saturday.  it was fine by me and my mom, since we were just tagging along and it prompted a chance for me and my aunt to have a little bonding session by talking to each other the whole afternoon while she was working.  we also wandered around the warehouse-slash-store since they were having a pre-thanksgiving sale that day as well, but we didn't buy anything.  had kfc for lunch, which really tasted better than what we have here in the philippines.

my aunt's schedule that day was until 4 in the afternoon, so we waited and once 4pm hit, we left immediately.  the skies were already getting dark that early, and since the drive back to vallejo was another hour and a half, we decided to push our scheduled activities to tomorrow and headed back home.  my aunt asked me what i wanted for dinner and i suggested we order take out at panda express, one restaurant which food i enjoyed very much during my first visit.  there was one on the way home, so we passed by and ordered orange chicken, chow mein, spicy beef, and sweet & sour tofu.  the smell of the food inside the car had my taste buds going since it's been that long the last time i had a chance to savor their food.  dinner was hearty upon arriving at the house and i had successfully done one of the things i enjoyed during my first visit–eat good food.  sunday mass the next day was scheduled at 8AM, so after watching sportscenter, i decided to call it a day and headed off to sleep.

november 18, 2007 – sunday – day three – "three stops, two masses, and the biggest dog i've ever seen" – i immediately took a shower upon waking up to get myself freshened up, as well as remove any trace of sleepiness i had.  after a short breakfast, we headed off to church.  my aunt was active in the parish community, and she was scheduled to be one of the lectors during the mass, so my mom and i seated ourselves near the front of the altar.  the church seemed to me like a small cathedral and i was awed by the nice paintings behind the altar.  the mass began after a couple of minutes of waiting.  all i can say about the mass is that it's more solemn compared to how masses are celebrated here.  the parish priest at the beginning asked everyone to greet one another, and it was my first time to shake hands with americans and filipinos alike during a holy celebration.  the homily was quite different since during that day, there was an organization fair where different parish groups are presented and everyone was asked to stand up and wander around to see if they might be interested in joining a particular group–all during the homily.  my mom and i didn't, though since i was just there for a week.  i really felt good after the mass ended, but as it turned out, my aunt had to stay for another mass celebration.  this time, her role was one of the coordinators for one of the religous groups during the fair.  we were not familiar with the area, so instead of going back to the house through local transport, my mom and i stayed and heard mass for a second time.  talk about making up for masses unattended!  hahahaha!

we immediately left after the second mass.  my aunt and my mom were talking about going to reno, nevada via a shuttle bus that leaves in the afternoon so we went first to lucky tours to inquire about the schedule.  unfortunately, all tour packages leave on fridays and saturdays only, so there goes our possible reno rendevouz.  my aunt then said that there is a new casino in cache creek so we decided to go there tomorrow.  for the rest of the day, we planned on going to vacaville and to the house of one of her sons in the same area as well.  we headed back to the house and had lunch, and shortly after, began the drive to vacaville.  after driving for an hour, we reached our destination and began to check out the different shops.  i got a pair of adiddas shoes for US$30 which had an SRP of US$45, a shirt from nike priced at US$12 which had an SRP of US$25, both good deals.  i bought a shirt and a cap for my brother, while my mom bought a pair of slippers for my sister.  we checked out some of the other stores, but i didn't buy some more, since i have a limited budget.  after a couple of hours wandering and checking out more stores, we then headed to a local suburb of vacaville, where my cousin–my aunt's son–was living.  she called him up, but unfortunately, he wasn't home, but since she had a key, we decided to go anyway for me and my mom to check the place out and see his pet dog.  it was an alaskan huskie of some sort, a
ccording to my aunt and it was about six months old.

we bought pizza along the way which we planned to have as dinner to be eaten at my cousin's place.  it was a short drive from the mall and it was late in the afternoon when we arrived at his place.  it was a typical american home, but my cousin is still single, so it turned out to be a bachelor's pad complete with a 42-inch plasma HDTV, a small weight room, and stuff you can find in a single guy's place.  my aunt then called for juno, the dog and when he entered the living room, my eyes were witness to the biggest dog i have ever seen in my life!  when i take a knee, i'm already face-to-face with it!  it's that big!  it's not afraid or uneasy with strangers, but it's very playful.  a picture of me with juno can be found on my friendster account.  i wish i had a pet dog like that.  we ate dinner–with juno–and after playing with him some more, we decided to head back home.

i felt sleepy on the way back and dozed off a little.  it was a tiring day and as soon as we reached the house, i changed to my sleepwear and headed off to bed.  little did i know that some of my other cousins were on the way to the house and unfortunately, i was already asleep when they arrived.  they were indeed looking for me, but my mom decided not to wake me up.  and for good reason.  i didn't want to look sleepy in front of them… hehehehehe!  but there were still opportunities to meet them before i leave.  and i wasn't expecting that it'll happen on the next day…

on part three, my very first casino experience, and finally meeting my cousins… one of which i wish wasn't… hahahahaha!!!!