our wedding day

Fil & Khay
San Mateo County Clerk's Chapel
Redwood City, California
26 October 2007

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where am i?

As i've mentioned in my earlier post, i'm now here in Fremont, California. But where exactly is this place?

Fremont is located in the southeast of the San Francisco Bay Area in Alameda County. Nearby cities are Hayward and Union City (in the north) and Milpitas, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and San Jose (in the south). From downtown San Francisco, it takes about 45 minutes to drive.

Our house is conveniently located near the 880 freeway exit and is accessible to malls, theatres and grocery stores. Luckily my friend Lia lives in San Jose. Last Saturday she and her friend Kathy accompanied me to David's Bridal in Milpitas to look for a simple wedding dress that would fit my petite frame and 5-month old pregnant belly. We later had lunch at Cheesecake Factory in Palo Alto and quickly toured Stanford University and its posh university mall.

Fil's got a lot of relatives and Filipino friends here too. I already met some of them last October 6 when we watched Manny Pacquiao's game in Milpitas. They're a nice bunch of happy people...even gave me a welcome balloon. Last Saturday night we had dinner with Fil's cousins in Walnut Creek then last Sunday we visited his aunts in San Francisco and spent a couple of hours driving around the city's steep hilly streets. Busy, busy, busy...busy sa kapapasyal :-)

It's only been 12 days since i got here. The first few days i suffered from jetlag and colds and sore throat due to change of weather but i'm okay now. So far i'm not feeling homesick 'coz i see Filipinos everywhere and everything that has tatak pinoy in it: Jollibee, Chowking, Goldilocks, Gerry's Grill and a filipino grocery store where vegetable leaves like malunggay, kangkong and petchay cost more than the price of chicken or pork.

Will tell more next time...

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happy and sad birthday

I celebrated my 33rd birthday last october 3 with my family in the Philippines and i was in a happy mood 'coz i have so much to be thankful for: my relationship with Fil, my US visa approval and of course, our upcoming baby boy. But these things that made me happy on my birthday were the very same things that saddened me because to truly realize them, i had to travel thousands of miles and be away from my family and friends, my cat Yna, my little green house...far from the things that i'm so used to having and doing.

During the party, amidst the noise of the videoke machine, i was spacing out - imagining embracing Fil and sharing with him the joys of our life together as a couple. Somebody called my attention for a picture so i stopped daydreaming and joined the fun. Mom and dad were singing the night away but I knew they were masking what they truly feel. They aren't the perfect parents nor am i a perfect daughter but one thing's for sure: we'll miss each other.

Life is bittersweet, so full of choices, can't have it all. So I made a choice: that is to live a life far away from my family but close to the owner of my heart and soul. There was no turning back. Day after my birthday i took the plane that brought me here in Fremont, California. This is my home now.

In one of my previous posts i wrote about me being two women trapped in one physical body:

one craves for all the joy, thrill, adventure and excitement this life could offer;
the other snuggles to life's routines, to the certainty of repetitive work

one rides the roller coaster, feeling trapped yet delights in going up, down and upside down; the other rides the carousel, safe and secure in simply going round and round

one dreams of traveling the world and getting to the very top of the career ladder; the other wishes to stay home, read a book and enjoy the simplicity and comfort of family life...

Now is definitely the time for me to play it safe, take it easy, enjoy life's routines, snuggle to the comfort of family life, stay out of the limelight, forget about accomplishing urgent things and focus on what's important, take care and love someone and savor being taken cared of and loved back.

My life now requires less makeup, no schedule, none of those conference tables, researches and deadlines, no bills to worry about, no Kris Aquino in my living room but still a life full of excitement and adventure in a different kind of way. Wish me luck! :-)

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