on to part three of my highlights of my US trip.  things have been increasingly hectic at work so i apologize for taking kinda long in following up my stories.  anyways, here we go:

november 19, 2007 – monday – day four – "casino royale" – i noticed during the longer i stay on that part of the world, the more times i wake up during the night (wee hours of the morning) and have trouble getting back to sleep.  i don't know if it's the weather, but if it is, then it doesn't make sense because i sleep comfortably on cool nights.  in any case, i woke up at around 7AM and had breakfast.  our itenerary for the day is to go to cache creek and check out their newly opened casino resort, as opposed to the plans of going to reno this past weekend.  the drive to cache creek is about two and a half hours long, so for us to make the most out of the day, we left at 8am but had to pick up my aunt's sister who was also joining us.

the long drive began and immediately, my mom, aunt, and her sister began talking.  me, well, silent as always, trying to enjoy the scenery along the way.  my aunt's sister and i would have conversations from time to time, but mostly it was about her asking me about my life back home since it was the first time she met me.  we drove through an indian reservation land, orange plantations, and crossed some small towns reminiscent of the countryside scenarios i have seen on hollywood movies.  upon arriving at the area, i marveled at the sheer size of the structure.  it was like the only modern landmark put up on an isolated area.  we then proceeded to the registration area.  first-timers get a free US$25 loaded card that can be used on all slot machines upon presentation of identification, so good thing we brought our passports along.  i still have the card with me in my wallet as a souvenir.  since my aunt was a regular casino goer together with my uncle, she showed us how to play a certain slot machine game.  it was not the old-school slots where there is a lever on the right side, and you insert a coin, pull the lever, and hope to the high heavens you get the three sevens for the jackpot prize.  i was actually imagining it to be that way, but things are much more sophisticated now.  there are now computer-based game slots where patterns are analyzed and a certain combinations had to be made in order to get back an amount from what you initially bet on.  at least that's how i understand it… sorry, first timer here… hehehehe….

my aunt settled on her favorite game and i was on her right side, watching her play.  she then showed me how to operate the game where i was at, from placing bets, to playing the game itself, and all the mumbo-jumbo of hoping the big money pieces turn up.  i got the hang of it pretty quick and started playing on my own in no time.  my mom also started playing on the opposite side from where my aunt was.  for about 45 minutes of playing, i won some and lost some, but not completely using up my game card.  i continued playing until i noticed that my winnings were piling up.  i tried not to be conscious about it, for i think that's where losing starts.  so i played on, until the remaining US$8 i had on my game card rose to near US$50!  my aunt was noticing that my money was piling up and quickly suggested that i cash out.  it seemed a good idea at that time, so i hit the "cash out" button, and a voucher came out with a value of US$50.65.  my aunt told me that there is an atm-like machine where i can insert the voucher and the money will be cashed out.  i suppose beginner's luck was with me and i felt good about my first casino experience.  we then took a break to have lunch at a chinese restaurant within the casino premises.  as we walked towards the restaurant, we passed by all sorts of slot machines and different gambling tables for blackjack, poker, roulette, and craps.  the place was really huge, yet it wasn't full of people due to it being a monday.

after having a sumptous lunch, we tried the other machines for fun.  since i had already more money than when i came in, i gamely hopped from one machine to another.  big mistake.  slowly, what winnings i had turned into losing streaks, and trying new machines didn't bring back the beginner's luck i had earlier until i was now inserting bills i had since my game card read zero.  i finally thought of going back to the first game i played in the hopes that familiarity with the game can bring back my winning ways.  i started playing again, until the familiar sounds of winning were being heard.  playing safe, i calculated how much i put in, and waited until it reached the total of all that i had bet on, and then cashed out.  break-even sounds better than pushing my luck to win, only to lose.

we had other plans that day, mainly to go to costco to continue shopping for items that i'll be bringing back home and for my aunt to buy the thanksgiving turkey in order to avoid the rush on the eve of the holiday.  so after an eventful day at cache creek casino resort, we headed back to vallejo.  my aunt's sister's daughter–princess–called, asking where we were.  she replied where we're going, and asked if she wanted to meet us at costco.  her daughter agreed and told her she'll meet us up in a couple of hours.  i fell asleep along the way, and woke up when we're just about to park the car.  it was 6PM already, but the skies were already dark.  weather was chilly as always as we headed inside the store.  princess was already there and my aunt finally introduced me to her and her to me.  "nice to finally meet you," she greeted me with a handshake.  now, if only i could see myself while she offered that handshake to me, i swear that i was like a deer-caught-in-the-headlights-stunned to see a beautiful relative smile at me.  now i admit that i'm a sucker for women i can't have, but come on!!  i was like, "she's my cousin?!?  like, are you sure??"  not that i said that out loud, but inside i was screaming, "how cruel can this be?!"  i later found out that i was double-whammied.  first, she's my cousin, second, she's only 20 years old.  i swear to you, she don't look like no 20-year old hottie.  damn…..  while all of this was going through my mind, i kept a straight face, making sure that no one realizes how utterly disappointed and dejected i am in meeting a beautiful young woman who happens to be my…. cousin.  son of a…. 😦

realizing that my silent whining would get me nowhere, i just focused on getting the items that we came for.  i also took some time to look around some of the cool stuff for sale.  we got mostly food items like chocolates, mac n' cheese, cookies, etc.  i paid for everything by the way.  that's what the loan was for…. hehehehe….  so, we then had our items paid and headed back to the car.  i learned that princess was driving her own car and saw that she was parked not too far from where we were.  she's driving a 2006 honda civic, which was not bad.  we passed by a filipino grocery store to get a box that i'll be using to pack the stuff to be brought back home.  as we parted ways, princess waved at me and told me, "nice meeting you!"  i just smiled back and waved at her in acknowledgement.  within a few minutes, we were back home.

i unfolded the box and started to see if what we bought would fit.&nbs
p; everything wasn't final though, as i still have my other check-in luggage to fill.  we had dinner, i watched sportscenter until eventually i became sleepy.  as i was settling in bed, only one highlight of the day was present in my mind…  and i guess you all know what that was….

on the upcoming installments, more chinese food, getting to finally ride in a mercedes benz, a walk in the park, the universal thanksgiving greeting, having my first thanksgiving celebration, and the flight back home.

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!!!!

before i begin, i would like to apologize for taking this long to finally talk about my recent US trip.  things have been hectic since i arrived, and i still haven't been up to speed with everything that is going on at work.  on top of that, there are things that are happening currently that i would rather discuss after the series of posts about my vacation.  it won't make a lot of sense–story-wise–talking about things happening today, then go back a couple of weeks, and then go back to the present.  this ain't no back to the future remake, so i'd rather tell things sequentially correct.  a short disclaimer though, these next couple of entries for sure will be long reads, so please don't say that i didn't inform you beforehand.  anyway, enough with the intros, so here it goes:

november 16, 2007 – day one – departure flight – "one looong day" – all i was thinking upon waking up was, "i never thought this day would come."  my mom offered a mass for the safety of our trip that morning at 7AM, and since i haven't been going to mass for quite a while now due to my work schedule, i went with her to church.  our flight was scheduled later in the afternoon, so i still had half the day to make some last minute arrangements.  i got cash, shopped for groceries, talked to some friends via sms, and finalized the luggage i was bringing along with me all in a span of four hours.  after lunch, we then headed to the airport.  all that time, i was thinking, "is this really happening?"  different emotions ran through me like fast traffic on a well-paved highway.  upon arriving at the airport, my mom bade goodbye to my brother and sister since she'll be staying longer than i am and we headed straight to ticketing.  i was still feeling surreal as we checked our baggage, cleared immigration and waited for our boarding time.

the flight to taipei was faster than i expected.  i was trying to recall the feeling i had 10 years ago when i first traveled by plane and the one thing that stood out was that feeling it does to my ears.  other than that, the food, the service of the stewardesses–i noticed they were a bit… old–and the ride itself was smooth.  it was cool looking outside the window while taking off and how the houses and buildings grew smaller and smaller as we went higher into the air.  we landed at taipei international airport at around 7:30PM and we went to our transit gate.  it was quite far off from where we landed because we had to take the skytrain to the other terminal were our departing gate was.  but since our departing flight was more than four hours away, my mom and i took our time and marveled at the monstrosity of the airport.  upon arriving at our gate, my mom just took a seat and waited, sometimes talked to fellow filipino passengers on the same connecting flight, while i decided to shoot my first video journal using my mobile phone.  i also had my phone's roaming service activated, so when i turned it on, there was a signal coming from TW Mobile, which meant that that network supported my local network at home.  i wandered around as well, and found a free internet station so i checked it out.  i wrote an entry and browsed through the web for about an hour then i went back to the waiting lounge near our gate and just listened to music on my ipod.

after what seemed to be six hours instead of four, we finally boarded the plane for san francisco.  there were lots of other passengers, mostly asian, who also boarded the plane.  after about half an hour, the plane started to taxi to the takeoff runway.  "here goes that feeling in the ears again," i said to myself after the pilot hit the forward thrust lever to send the plane barrelling down the runway.  meals were served again a couple of minutes after takeoff and the in-flight movie, transformers, was shown.  i fell asleep on and off during the movie and there was turbulence most of the way.  my mom had trouble sleeping because of the plane shaking, while i dozed off and on, as if the turbulence was rocking me to sleep then waking me up again.  the flight was pretty, pretty long to say the least.  i got up and went to the lavatory to stretch my arms and legs just once during the entire trip.  i forgot the titles of the two other in-flight movies that were shown, but from what i recall, those were not something that had star power written on it.  i was awakened by the captain's voice announcing that our plane was approaching san francisco.  i peered through the window and saw the bright lights of the city slowly coming into view.  it took about another half hour before the plane started it's runway approach and i was able to get a night time bird's eye view of the land i last set foot upon 10 years and six months ago.

as the plane's wheels touched the runway and slowly came to the arriving gate, all i said to myself was, "i'm here… i'm here."  maybe i was trying to convince myself that this really wasn't a dream and that i'll be stepping off into a world halfway where i came from.  i finally got my legs walking again as we headed to immigration.  my mom and i were the last passengers on our flight to queue up the immigration line since we both stopped along the way to go to the restroom.  i also turned on my mobile phone and AT&T's network came on.  while i was talking to my mom about going through immigration, i noticed that another group of passengers from a succeeding flight came queing up the line.  i didn't make a big deal out of it, and just proceeded to wait in line.  as i was surveying the surroundings, i managed to look at the line behind me, and lo and behold, of all the people i would be running into this part of the world, it was… my boss.  he was having a conversation wth the person directly behind me, so out of courtesy, i called his attention.  we shook hands and i introduced him to my mom.  he came from a non-stop flight from manila.  though i knew that he was also going to the US the same time i was, he was supposed to be flying in yesterday.  but he explained that he was a chance passenger and the flight yesterday was fully booked, so he took the next one.  his father was an airline pilot, so his airfare was free… lucky bastard.  there were two sets of immigration areas, one for US citizens and the other was for visitors/foreigners.  the line on our side was getting long, so the people at the other area decided to accomodate the passengers of the flight right after ours, so my boss went to that side (thankfully).  he told me that he also brought his mobile phone with him and that he'll try to get in touch with me and ask me go along with him and his friends.  i just nodded back at him with the feeling that he was just telling me that out of courtesy, perhaps.

my mom and i breezed through immigration and our passports were both stamped "may 15, 2007," which meant that we were given six months to stay.  we also had no trouble with our luggage at customs, then we were finally out.  i felt overwhelmed as i stepped out of the no re-entry zone, like there were things i wanted to express, but i didn't know where to start.  my mom then called her cousin (technically, she's still considered a relative, so i call her aunt) who was supposed to pick us up and was told that she was on her way and that it'll take another 20 to 30 minutes before she gets to the airport. 
so we waited until only there were only a few of us who arrived were left.  as i stepped outside of the arrival area to have a seat on one of the benches, i felt that old, chilling feeling of 10 degrees centigrade which kinda felt different, yet comfy in some ways.  i observed the surrounding area and wandered off a little until my aunt arrived in a new 2008 mitsubishi lancer which was the first time i saw such a vehicle and i immediately fell in love with it.  we exchanged pleasantries and then loaded our luggage in the car and off we went.  vallejo was around more than an hour's travel by car from the airport so my mom and my aunt immediately started talking.  i was still silent and waiting for the feeling to sink in that i am finally here.  it was around 7:30PM local time (pacfic time), still on a friday, so i realized that i experienced the longest friday i ever had.  i also dozed on and off during the car trip and finally, we arrived at the house where i'll be staying for the next six days.  even though my mom and i were both weary from the 13-hour flight, we still stayed up late at night getting settled into our room and having conversations with my aunt.  i also sent a message to my brother telling him that we have arrived at our destination safely.  we had a light dinner and more conversations of what we'll be doing during the coming days and we finally decided to call it a night.

as i settled into bed wearing jogging pants, an inside shirt, a long-sleeved thick shirt, socks, and covered by two blankets, i still can't believe that i'm actually at that part of the globe.  i had no feeling of jet lag since my schedule at work is the same as the time frame where i was, so it's as if i never left.  questions like, what will happen tomorrow?  where will we go?  who will i meet?  what will i experience?  ran through my mind.  i decided to let everything play by ear and see how things go, taking it one step at a time.  'twas a very long day, yet the journey has just begun.

on part two, my trip to oakland, first taste of good food, and meeting relatives that i wish weren't…

i'm back home…. though i'm still too busy to blog all about what happened on my vacation, i just wanted to mention that i'm home safe and sound.  i'll be posting entries during the next couple of days highlighting my second visit to the US.

in general, the trip changed some of my perspectives.  i had realizations and eye-openings, and experiences both good and the not-so-good.  it was one memorable trip that i'd like to share, but for now, i'm still trying to catch up with work backlog.  i just arrived home this afternoon (well, technically, saturday afternoon) and went straight to my shift at 3AM today, so no rest for the weary, as the saying goes.

thanks to all who prayed for me having a safe journey.  please check back here again soon for more, and pictures will be posted on my friendster account as well.

i'm back… though a certain part of me wished that i stayed longer…

greetings from taipei international airport!  just landed around 45 minutes ago and in the middle of waiting for our connecting flight to san francisco.  boarding time is at 11:25pm so there's roughly three hours to spare.  while wandering around this really, really huge airport, i chanced upon this free internet station.  good thing no one was using it!  so, here i am, blogging for the first time on foreign soil!  not to mention using a laptop for the first time as well since the internet station has laptops instead of regular PCs.  i also recorded my first video journal using my mobile phone.  i don't know how i can post it here though, so maybe all video journals i'll be shooting will be posted when i get back home.

the flight to taipei was generally smooth, though there was some slight turbulence while we were eating the meals that were served.  the food was also ok.  rice with veggies and some chicken.  the one thing i don't like about flying though is what it does to the ears during takeoff and landing.  i had to yawn several times to get my hearing back.  the stewardesses were nice, although i noticed that they looked a bit… old.  maybe late 30s to early 40s made to look younger with plastered cosmetics on their faces.

anyways, that's about it for now.  after this entry, i'll either be browsing, checking my mail, or just chilling to the sounds of my ipod for the next couple of hours before we board.  thank god for free internet access terminals on airports.  wish we had the same back home.  until next login… i'm out.