bonding with the fam bam

After spending the first two weekends of April with my girlfriends, the weekend that passed was another busy one as we spent it driving around, hanging out and having fun with my husband's relatives.  Fil's cousin Sandy and his family spent the last 3 days of their 5-week vacation in the US with us and though short and hurried, we managed to squeeze in a couple of sightseeing trips in Fairfield and Napa Valley. 

In Fairfield, we visited Travis Air Force Base and idled the night away at Toto & Chi's house (Toto is also Fil's cousin).   In between packing and repacking Sandy's luggages and boxes - making sure they don't exceed the 50-pound limit per box -  and feasting on dinner, the boys (Fil, my brother-in-law Frendale, Sandy & Toto) talked about the good old days when they were young and crazy.  I've heard the stories many times before but i swear they get funnier and crazier with each telling :) 

Saturday we drove to Napa Valley and my son was thrilled to have his cousins with us in the van.  They laughed and joked and cheered and sang to my husband's funny Tito-Vic-and-Joey playlist LOL! 

We headed straight to our favorite winery Castello di Amorosa not so much for its Italian style wines which we didn't really care about but more so for its 13th-century inspired Tuscan style Castle perfect for picture-taking (think: Facebook!).  It's also great that they have an area where kids can color and enjoy their grape juice while mommies/daddies sample the wines at the tasting bar.  We had a blast! Especially because all we did was laugh and joke about our drinks.  When our server told us the white wine he's pouring on our glasses could be paired with  smoked fish, Toto blurted out in our own dialect that it would be perfect for "bulad" or dried salted fish that Filipinos love to eat eventhough it smells like rotten shoes when cooked hahaha! Who knew wine-tasting could be this fun?!  By the way if you ever find yourself here and you have next to zero knowledge of wines like me, i highly recommend "Fantasia", a sweet soft sparkling wine, low in alcohol (7%), with bright aromas of cherry, exotic flowers and wild berries. You'll love it! 

After touring the castle we stopped by Beringer Vineyards but it was 95 degrees outside and everyone was hungry and tired so we didn't stay long.  We ended up having lunch at Jollibee in Vallejo.

We all spent our last night in Fremont...more last-minute shopping and packing, kids running around, the big boys laughing about their crazy past (again!) and me and Chi getting some make-up tutorial and tips from Tetet who, among other things, sidelines as make-up artist back in the Philippines.  No way I'm letting Tetet board that plane without her teaching me how to blend my eyeshadow! :)

We had so much fun guys... and we miss you already!

Tweet

color me spring!

My friend Candy was back attending a conference on nanotechnology (nano what???) in San Francisco this week and we had exactly one full day together before she flew back to Washington State U.  She's been here many times before and been to all major go-to places so i decided to bring her to Filoli Gardens in Woodside, CA.  She's a sucker for photography and i knew she'd love it there.

Recognized as one of the finest remaining country estates of the early 20th century, Filoli welcomes you to this remarkable 654–acre property including the 36,000 square foot Georgian country house and spectacular 16–acre English Renaissance garden.  Filoli was built for Mr. and Mrs. William Bowers Bourn, prominent San Franciscans whose chief source of wealth was the Empire Mine, a hard-rock gold mine in Grass Valley, California.  Mr. Bourn arrived at the unusual name Filoli by combining the first two letters from the key words of his credo: “Fight for a just cause; Love your fellow man; Live a good life.”

Luckily, we were blessed with a beautiful day and, together with my son and Lia, we had fun taking pictures of the colorful flower gardens...  a perfect way to officially welcome spring and celebrate its blossoms with two of my bestest friends.  Ang saya-saya! :)

Tweet

renewed friendship

April 4-7, 2012.  My April started with a reunion of sorts with highschool classmates Anilee, Jane and Christy.  Anilee and Jane live a couple of hours away from each other and together with Jane's hubby Teph & son Basti they drove from Bakersfield, CA to spend a few days with us.  Jane's family recently moved from New York to California and it would be our first meeting since our Maryland trip in 2009.  Anilee, however, visited me 6 months ago to celebrate my birthday.  It would be fun seeing them again!

   

Golden Gate Bridge from different angles on a

beautiful spring day (no fog at all!) - April 5, 2012

A week before our reunion, Jane got sick and had a couple of visits to the ER but despite that was stubbornly determined to go on with the road trip.  The weather wasn't also cooperating -  the Bay area was soaked in heavy rain (with thunderstorm and hail in some areas) but miraculously the sun showed up on the day they arrived. 

The next day we headed to San Francisco hoping for a fogless day so we can take great photos (importante ang pictorial!).  If you live in San Francisco or ever been there, you know that your worst enemy in enjoying the view and taking great pictures is the fog.  Fortunately for us, the majestic Golden Gate Bridge can be viewed from any angle in high definition ALL DAY.

We crossed the bridge and savored it from different viewpoints, had lunch at the iconic Mel's drive-in, drove down the crookedest street and ended our day at Pier 39 where we met up with another HS classmate Christy who resides in Hercules.  Christy and Jane haven't seen each other for 21 years (since highschool graduation) while the last time i saw Christy was in college (mid-90s)... it would be our first time to meet here in the US.  Very exciting! The moment we saw each other we exchanged warm embraces and stories as if not a day went by since the last time.

We had early dinner at Bubba Gump while reminiscing the good old days and excitedly babbling about the series of events that all brought us here.  Listening to everyone's stories made me realize that just like the famous line from the movie which is the theme of the restaurant, i have to agree that life is like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're gonna get!  

Thanks to facebook, we are pretty much updated with each other's  present lives so we had less "catching up" and more time to laugh, enjoy the sites and take pictures.  Still, a few hours with Christy wasn't enough... i hope to do it again soon!

For now we are truly happy and thankful for the time we had together.  Who would have thought that two decades after high school we would all find ourselves reunited here when back in the days we only read about San Francisco through pocketbooks/romance novels and imagined that we were here and knew it very well?  Ahhh... life is full of surprises!

____

Basti also celebrated his 9th birthday last Friday and Anilee and I managed to set-up a yellow-themed party for him while Jane dozed off hehe... Basti has grown so much since the last time I saw him and it's a joy seeing him get along well with my son.   Kudos to Jane and Teph for all the patience and hard work, you guys are blessed with a happy healthy smart kid the same way that Basti is blessed to have you in his life. 

Happy Birthday Basti! soar high and dream big. anything is possible!

Tweet