the weekend before thanksgiving, fides, roman and i went on a road trip to chicago. we left early early early morning (sorry, it was 4 am) and drove for about 6 hours. the long drive was well worth it from the moment we saw the chicago skyline. move over, cincinnati! after looking for a parking space for soooo long, we dropped off some things at a friend's house and off we went for sight seeing. our first stop was the shedd aquarium. at first, i was hesitant to go since it's a bit pricey plus, i've already been to the sydney aquarium. i thought it would be almost the same. but i went in anyway. and a good thing at that because it was awesome! we saw some beluga whales, dolphins and sea lions. it was the first time i've ever seen a whale up close! they were sooo cute!
aside from that, there was a display about the philippine coral reefs. i don't know what it was --- maybe it was because i was missing the philippines or maybe because this is something i can be proud of, being a filipino. it was a good exhibit and i am hoping that it will give people an idea to go visit our country and see the wonderful things we have to offer.
after that, we went to the millenium park, which is not really breathtaking but seems to be very popular judging from the number of people there. what was interesting in this park though was a sculpture called "the bean". it's a big --- no, humongous silver bean.
we wanted to have our pictures taken in the buckingham fountain but were sorely disappointed to see that it wasn't open. after having lunch, we proceeded the magnificent mile to check the lighting of the trees. they have this big parade, after which the christmas lights get lit up. we proceeded to the navy pier after that to have the chicago skyline at night as our background. this is where i met up with tito rey and we headed to glenndale.
glenndale is a small town outside of chicago, probably similar to where i am staying in cincinnati. we arrived at the marasigans at around 930 pm to find everyone in the household still busy. it was time to catch up on things that have been happening for the past three years since the last time tito rey was in the philippines was when ate tetet got married. the next day, we went to their local church to hear mass and had a fabulous lunch at red lobster. tito rey and tita medith took me to an asian store where they bought filipino goods for me --- instant noodles, toyo, bagoong and even longganisa and tawilis! no wonder they don't miss filipino food that much! after filling up two big bags with winter clothes, we headed back to chicago to meet with roman and fides and soon we were headed back to cincinnati. i was sad to say goodbye to tito rey and tita medith but i knew we'll be seeing each other soon in manila.
second stop: NEW YORK
one thing that i really looked forward to with my first thanksgiving was seeing my relatives in new york. it's been a long time since i last saw tita nona and her family, i didn't even know if pocholo, who is now called mikee, still knew me. nikki, who is now called val, was karla's closest cousin before they left for the US. with a new set of companions, roland and lu, we drove to new york on wednesday night. it took us 13 hours and about five attempts at exit 100, 103 and 104 before we arrived at new city where tito rudy and tita annie live. after eating breakfast, tito rudy drove us to manhattan where we decided to go sight seeing by foot. the macy's parade was still going on by the time we arrived, there were loads and loads of people in the street. we didn't even attempt to see the parade because we knew we wouldn't see anything anymore. we decided to walk to central park and see the city in the process. we soon met up with bert and arthur, officemates who are staying in jersey. after having lunch, tito rudy picked us up --- i stayed in new city while lu and roland went with some folks to washington dc.
the preparations for thanksgiving dinner was well underway when we arrived. tito rudy was already done with his paella and tita annie was preparing all the dinner accoutrements. tita nona was bringing the turkey while the other guests were free to bring anything they wanted to share with the group. as for me, i brought my pasalubongs from the philippines. it was a very festive occasion. after dinner, it was videoke time! everyone took turns singing their favorite tunes. even i was not spared. tito jojo was the star of the night with his repertoire of filipino songs. soon, it was time to say goodbye. it was a very memorable thanksgiving for me --- seeing my cousins, titos and titas that i haven't seen for the longest time, sharing the occasion with fellow filipinos and having a great time all in all.
the next day, tito jojo, tita nona and mikee brought me to an outlet store. it was already late considering they opened at 5 am for the day-after-thanksgiving sale. we first went to lacoste. mikee bought a pair of slacks and tita nona also bought one as pasalubong for tito ronnie. i wanted to buy something but when i looked at the price tag, couldn't bring myself to get even the cheapest in the store. we then went to bass and that's the store where i bought (well, tita nona actually) a lot of stuff --- a pair of brown boots, a pair of brown loafers and jeans (that actually fit!). tita nona also bought a pair of black loafers for mom. after that, we went to nike and bought stuff for mikee and aljo. i also got a pair of silver and blue nike shox that again, tita nona paid for. it felt like christmas came a month early! and so, armed with the day's shopping bags, we went home happy and hungry. after lunch (which, incidentally, was at 3 pm), we went to the mall to kill some time before going to dinner at a restaurant in NJ. my titos and titas were supposed to see a hotdogs gig and they invited me to come along. unfortunately, the gig did not push through so we ended up eating at a korean restaurant.
i have always preferred japanese over korean food but in this instance, i really enjoyed the food that was served to us. during lunch, someone suggested to drive around new york city so i can see some places. mikee was surprised with the suggestion but the rest seemed to think it was a good suggestion. so after having our fill of delicious korean food, we headed towards the city. with everybody inside the car, tita annie and i went down to have my picture taken in front of radio city. we proceeded to the rockefeller center and had my picture taken with the skating rink, the christmas tree and the angels as backgrounds.
we also rode around time square. i wanted my picture taken there but with the number of people and the traffic, i knew it wouldn't be possible. so i had to content myself with times square minus myself.
the next day, i dragged tita annie and tito rudy to the different electronics shop to look for a laptop for dad and a camera for me. i've wanted a digital camera for the longest time and i've set my eyes on a kodak z740. it's much bigger than the normal point and shoot but it's still smaller than a digital slr. what's good about it is that it has 10x optical zoom. unfortunately, we couldn't find a laptop or the camera that fit my budget. after lunch, we went to the liberty state park in new jersey. tito rudy and tita annie wanted me to see the statue of liberty but knew that i couldn't go on the ferry because it'd take too much time. the park was the next best thing.
we passed by chinatown and had some steamed and baked siopao, went to the seaport and had our pictures with the new york bridges as the background, and listened to the carolers as they sang festive christmas tunes. tired but happy, we went back to new city and met with tita nona and tito jojo for dinner.
it was back to cincinnati the next day. it was another loooong drive and i was sad to go. i had so much fun in new york, i didn't want to leave just yet. but thanksgiving was over and so was the this road trip --- it was time to go home.
third stop: CINCINNATI
i decided to take a leave during my birthday. although we weren't really that busy with the project, i just didn't want to spend my day thinking about it. in the morning, lu and i went to toys r us to buy some gifts. i bought the geotrax workin' railway for franco because kuya weng said that he was into trains at this point and i wanted to give hime something he'd enjoy (it's christmas, after all). then we went to kenwood mall to meet with roman. after lunch, we headed to jeffersonville to do some christmas shopping in the outlet stores. we bought stuff to give back to our teammates in manila and some for our relatives back home.
it was an uneventful day at this point and although i wasn't expecting anything, i had to say i was disappointed with how my day turned out. i didn't expect my birthday to be so boring.
then lu called to say that they were dropping by the house. she and roland surprised me with a gift. i shrieked with happiness when i saw a gift box of elizabeth arden green tea perfume!
this is my favorite perfume at the moment. i've been thinking of buying this but kept putting it off. so now, i don't need to! :)
then roland had to rush off because of some issue he had with work. little did i know this was only an excuse. he returned, with roman, holding a birthday cake. i tried blowing the candles but they just kept on lighting up! then the smoke alarm in the apartment went off! good thing the firemen nearby didn't come. we had dinner together and had the birthday cake for dessert.
thanks to my friends, my birthday didn't turn out to be so boring after all.
