These Days

Cess and I decided to explored the Seaport Village (SV) Monday morning.  We took the trolley from the Santa Fe station to the SV station, just one stop.  It was quite a walk from the hotel to the station and then to the SV itself.  We knew that it was close to the hotel but didn't realize that it was just just a straight down North Harbor Drive.  It would probably have taken less time walking all the way vs. taking the trolley. Seaport Village is an entertainment and commercial complex with restaurants, a historic carousel, shops and other attractions.  It's open from 10AM-10PM.  We were there as the restaurants were opening.  There weren't a few people around yet. Just some joggers and hungry people like us.=) It was a warm, sunny day. First order of business - food.  We checked out a few restaurants, then settled on Margarita's Kitchen and Cantina.    Burrito and quesadilla for brunch!  We savored these at...

My home-away-from-home for the duration of the meeting (official business) was the Holiday Inn - On the Bay.  It's a great location right by the bay and very close to the airport.  There are a lot of things to see and do around the area.  The Gaslamp Quarter, Balboa Park and San Diego Zoo are all within 10 minutes drive.  Ideal for leisure travelers, which I could see was majority of the market for this hotel. I was billeted on the second floor and the next two photos are what I see from the window.  Not perfect but I see the bay, which is good.  Philippine flag! The thing about this room is that since it's on the side of the street and on a low floor, you can hear the vehicles from the street and noise from the bar if it gets loud.  Not ideal if you require total peace and quiet in order to sleep.  I had trouble the first couple of nights but was too tired to notice it on succeeding nights.  I guess that's the tra...

It's been a while since we bought a new gadget.  I've long wanted a Flip, a new phone, and a couple of lenses for the SLR.  Then I ask, "Do I really need this?" and the answer has been "No."  Yes, I talk to myself. =) Last weekend, I finally got a new Sony point-and-shoot.  Yey!  The SLR is still working (needs cleaning though) but it is just too bulky for everyday use.  I always want to have a camera with me, and I just can't bring the SLR for what-if situations.  I take it for events, photoshoots but for more informal, ad hoc moments, a small camera is more practical.  I read somewhere that "the best camera in the world is the one you have with you" and I agree.  This is one good camera that I can definitely take with me all the time. Richard and I chose the Sony DSC-WX9.  It's fast and can record HD video.  Once you've gone SLR, the speed of most compact cameras will be a disappointment.  This one however, is really goo...

Today is my Nang Lani's birthday and I'm glad to be here in SD to celebrate with her and her family.  This hasn't happened in the last 15 years!  She's the best big sister ever - caring, thoughtful and loving.=) 'Love you, Lan!

September 11, 2001.  Dasmarinas, Cavite.  I was awakened by a text message that the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York were hit by hijacked planes.  I groggily marched to the other room where the TV was, and turned it on to CNN.  There it was, the buildings were ablaze.  It seemed so unreal... On the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I found myself on US soil.  We in the Philippines might remember that day very vaguely and treat the anniversary as just another ordinary day but here in the US, it feels very different.  The newspaper are full of related articles and documentaries are being shown again on TV.  Local groups are doing a memorial ceremonies as well. We were in church on Sunday, September 11, and part of the service was devoted to lighting candles and reciting a litany about the event.  You can sense that people still feel deep sadness from 10 years ago.   I can't imagine how it must have been for th...

Nang Lani and I watched The Help Sunday last week.  I liked it a lot!  It's drama based on 1960s America and deals with racial issues, specifically about black women raising children from white families, including all the intricacies and complications of the master-servant relationship, racial discrimination, and social classes.  I made it sound so serious there, but if I had to describe this movie in one word, it would be spunky.  The movie is an adaptation of the popular book by Kathryn Stockett.  It's set in Jackson, Mississippi.  Skeeter, played by Emma Stone, is an aspiring journalist who wanted to write stories from the perspective of the helps.  Two women, Aibileen and Minny, agreed to speak with her but with reservations because they were afraid to be found out and lose their jobs.  Also, close interactions between blacks and whites were frowned upon, to say the least. Skeeter has problems of her own as well.  She is unmar...

I flew to the US day before the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.  I've read reports that security will be tight, and so I was readying myself to deal with additional checks at the airport, tighter immigration screening and longer queues.  Surprisingly, that was probably the least stressful of all my US entries. I landed in Portland and the queue at immigration was very light.  Getting my check-in luggage in San Diego was quick, too.  Thank God for smooth transitions. Portland Airport - not busy at all. My flight wasn't trouble-free though.  On the plane from Narita to Portland, the person beside me accidentally tipped his glass of water to my side.  My seat was all wet and the right/back part of my jeans was soaked, as with the pillow and part of the blanket.  He apologized profusely though, and it really was an accident so I just told him to not worry about it.  He offered me his dry pillow, which I accepted and the flight attendant...