My Vacation in California

Starbucks You are Here Mugs

After that black hat gig in Las Vegas, my manager allowed me to stay for a 5 days in California.  I really missed that place. My cousin asked me where I would like to go when I go there I said the beach, Costco and Universal Studios. I was not able to see the beach but I was able to do things I also missed. When Kuya Bon picked me up at Van Nuys Fly away we ate at In ‘n Out. I really miss the burger and fries; I was able to eat frozen yogurt. The yogurt in a nearby mall was 45 cents per ounce. I remember the price before at Yogurtland was cheaper; I saw Hollister but the price was still above the $10 range; I was able to go to my bank to withdraw some money I could take home; Manuel took me to play billiards and basketball. I missed playing basketball; I was able to buy new shoes and two backpacks;  I was able to watch TFC; I saw Ate Josie’s yellow hippie convertible Volkswagen beetle. Awesome! 

We did not go to Universal Studios but I went to some place better: Six Flags Magic Mountain. Hahaha. I never thought I would go there because before when people go there before I didn’t go because of the tickets price. This time I went there for free. Manuel and Jazmine work there and they are allowed to go there for free and have a guest for free too. Our lunch was also discounted because employees there get 15% discount too. I was able to score a minion stuff toy from one of the games. We were able to try three rides: Full Throttle, Viper and Batman because the lines are really long. Two hours for that batman ride.
 

My relatives in California are gracious. They took care of me really well. They are second degree cousins but I am still close to them. They love my mother and idolize her for what she accomplished in raising her children. They know how much she suffered just to send us to school. Ate Josie got teary eyed talking to my mother on Skype and during our conversations about her. I was lucky enough to study in Marikina to be familiar to them. The kids were still toddlers when I studied there in the late 90's. Now Manuel is 20 and Jazmine is 18. I last saw them in 2004 with our trip to Ilocos. I last saw Ate Josie when I went to the store around 5 in the morning after a Christmas party in 2007. 

When I was done with all my shopping they even helped me out with packing my things. I had a lot of stuff. Things from Las Vegas, Costco stuff, some toys and shoes. Kuya Bon bought thid balikbayan box which I would check in. They have a weighing scale so getting the weight right per baggage is balanced. To get me to the airport, Ate Marita hired this airport shuttle service because they cannot drive me since they all have work. No worries for me. I was just happy I was well taken care of. I could not ask for more.

I went home with all of this

So yeah, California was fun. Las Vegas and LA was great because of my Marikina connections. I really wish I could come back soon. They want me to bring my mother there also which of course is difficult. There are still other rides I have to try in Six Flags and places I have to go to in Las Vegas.

Next Stop: Vegas Please

I checked-in to Harrah’s Las Vegas. I arrived earlier than the check in time of 3PM so I have to wait more than one hour before I can get my key card. If I had enrolled earlier with that total rewards thing they would have allowed me to check in earlier and not charge extra. I also called Carlo’s room to check if I could crash in for a while before check in time but he was out. I just left a message and tell him of my room number.

I was hungry when I went up so I try to look for the usual bottled water and coffee maker so I can at least boil water for my cup noodles. The hotel room does not have those. Luckily I have a sandwich and pineapple juice left. I could go down and buy some McDonalds burger but I want to sleep. I ate the sandwich and drank the juice and dozed off.

Around 8, Carlo called my room and asked me if I want to go out. Of course, I want to eat. We went to the mall and eat at Panda Express, took photos of the strip then bought a lot of bottled water which would be enough for our stay here.

 

The next day we went shopping. The 24-hour pass costs $8 so we availed of that. We went to Las Vegas Premium Outlet South, ate Five Guys burger for lunch then to Las Vegas Premium Outlet North afterwards. I guess I scored some cool items especially from that Rip Curl closing out sale.

The four-day training I attended was cool. I learned a lot. It was difficult to keep awake because of the jetlag but I make it sure that I do the exercises right. There were sponsored breakfast and lunch so make it sure that I could eat the free food and take home some to save money on food. I need to save money to overcome the money I will surely spend on shopping. There was a Ross about a mile away from my hotel where I bought jeans and shorts. For supper I bought a pack of blueberry bagels. I got packets of cream cheese from the hotel just for this. One time I also ate a hotdog for dinner just to be different. When Jc arrived we also had the chance to eat dinner at his aunt’s house. Pinoy food and rice tasted great. I was not a fan of Chicken Asado but that time it tasted awesome.

When the conference was ending, we attended two parties mainly for the free food and booze. I don’t drink so the food was enough, again to save money to offset my shopping spending.

The last day I met with my high school friend Conray. He left for Las Vegas January 2001 a month before the prom. He was a junior then and I was a senior. It’s been 12 years. We were not really friends then but we were both boy scouts and I was one of his officers. It was a small school and everyone possibly knows anyone in the campus especially pretty girls and everyone popular in any batch within the four years of your stay.

When he picked me up with his white Toyota Tundra, the easiest conversation is of course about the people we knew and the latest gossip about them. We also catch up on each other’s life. He is having a baby soon with an ex-girlfriend. I just hope they would patch things up for the kid.

We went to this casino play some slot machine games then eat at M Resort Studio B buffet. His treat. He said it was good to see a familiar face and speak Tagalog. He mentioned most of his hardwork and odd jobs he took before. His family and how they got to be in America. We also talk about our schoolmates who are in the States and how they keep in touch. I also talk about my life why I am in US every now and then and my trip he next day to California. I also mentioned about this scamming taxi driver on my way from the airport to the hotel. With that story, he offered to send me off to the airport the next day just to prevent any of that experience. He said he cried when he learned that my lawyer classmate who was his high school crush was getting married. Hahahaha. Good times on those crush stories.

After that we went to Chinatown to have boba. I shop a bit in a school supplies store where I scored some awesome notebooks and an ultra cool scrap book. I was looking for a scrap book for ages now because of a project I was making for my girlfriend.

The next day he picked me off at the hotel and send me to the airport. I was lucky he pick me off because if I went there on my own I may have spent more time looking for right gates and shit. He worked there before so he knows the place really well so I saved a lot of time for the security check and going to the right gate.

It was cool going to another place and finding an old friend you haven’t seen in a really long time. Talking about everything and being like a teenager again chatting on high school anecdotes, the girls and how much losers we were before not getting a girlfriend.

Vegas Taxi Scam

I arrived in Las Vegas 12:30 PM after an hour delayed connecting flight from Seattle. It was fortunate the flight was delayed because I would have had a difficult time catching the original schedule with the limited time I had going through immigration and through security check, riding the airport tram going to the right gate. I ride on a cab with the driver seems friendly and shit talking about black hat, Defcon and hacker stuff.  He said I should pay using a credit card because he has no change for a hundred or even fifty. The dude seemed nice until I found out on my online statement that the taxi ripped me off charging me $64. What the fuck, the meter did not even hit 30, and the receipt he gave me only totaled $17. I was a bit tired and jetlagged so I don’t mind the receipt not matching the numbers on the meter. He didn’t even let me sign the receipt if I would put a tip. Because of that stupid transaction I had to file a claim to my bank, using online chat and a phone call. The online chat was busy so sessions timed out; the phone call was also difficult because I need to look for my account details they were looking for. My room was charged for each call I made. A lot of trouble for that claim but, still that was more than $40 they ripped off me. The bank gave me a temporary credit for the claim but still needs 90 days to process the claim. So I guess I still need to put the $60+ bill on my liquidation after all.

Tarlac Roadtrip

Last year we did this Lucban Roadtrip which was really worth it and we enjoyed a lot. We went to a Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery, eat at Kamayan sa Palaisadaan, see Kamay ni Jesus, eat delicious halo-halo then eat dinner. This year, we tried the same formula in a different province and Tarlac it is.

Our first stop is Capas National Shrine. This place is overwhelming. I learned from the books about the war, see it movies and I know about the death march ended there. I know Bataan Death March 102K Ultramarathon uses the kilometer markers of the real death march. I first one of those markers in Bataan six years ago but those were just markers. I even visited Corregidor two years ago but the aura of this place is different. There’s this obelisk and surrounding it are names of fallen soldiers of the war. 

mer de noms

There were a lot of names in there and of course there were others who died because of that war. Knowing we are in a place where men died was overwhelming for me. There was also this train car similar to the ones used to transfer POWs with inscribed real life experience from a person who survived that ride. Life wad difficult back then and I am enjoying freedom right. I feel like I need thanking those veterans for their sacrifices, like how Americans greet and thank every men and women in uniform they meet on the street and especially on the airport.

After that we have our lunch at Isdaan in Gerona Tarlac. I can say that I will not go back to that place again. It is only famous for its Tacsiyapo wall and I wish there was something in that wall that says "Stupid overpriced tasteless restaurant" that I can throw a plate into. 

This wall is famous but nobody near Manila has imitated it still

There were lots of these entertainers that go hut to hut playing guitars for customers’ request. We are good tippers, so we gave each group 100 pesos. If we knew about that we would have paid each group 20 pesos after one song and waited for the next group to arrive. The place’s specialty is tinupig na manok and the place is called Isdaan. The taste of the food is not that good also, under par with the Kamayan sa Palaisdaan in Quezon. The price of the food is also too much, not worth the trip.

Next stop is Monasterio de Tarlac where there is also a Jesus Christ monument. Again, compared to the monument we saw in Quezon, this is smaller. The hike is also not that hard. The monasterio is also located on top of the hill. The entrance is on the other face of the mountain, the monument is overlooking another face of the mountain so the monument is at its back when we entered the vicinity.

 

After that we craved for halo-halo, with that divine halo-halo from Lucban in mind of course. We know nothing could beat that so we look for something but we failed twice because some stores are closed on a Sunday. We ended eating this lame halo halo at Tessie’s Grill. The place seems famous. There was an on-going wedding reception. There were signs boasting of their sisig. Too bad we were there for halo halo and we were really disappointed. Everything was frozen, all the ingredients. What the fuck? The shaved ice is the same consistency with Razon’s but the frozen ingredients really sucked. I bet nobody ordered halo halo from that place ever which is why the ingredients are put on the freezer. That would also explained why serving 5 halo halo took so long. 

The halo halo used to be in this paper container. How appealing is that.

We decided to eat supper in Tarlac before we hit SCTEX so the trip will be straight home. We ate at this Japanese restaurant Izakaya Cowan in Luisita. We just ordered some rolls and sashimi and that’s supper and it completed the trip. Food served was small especially that ramen Irene ordered. I don’t know but I really think Tarlac is just a one time only trip and we are not doing that again. Too bad for Tarlac that Lucban has raised the bar really high for comparison.

Mga Assholes sa Jeep

Kanina sumakay ako ng jeep. Lima pa lang kaming pasahero, nakaupo ako pangalawa mula sa bungad tapos yung katabi kong ale nagdedisyon nang iabot ng maaga yung pamasahe niya. Yung matandang babae naman na medyo sa gitna nakaupo na nagtetext lang ayaw iabot yung pinapasuyo kong pera. Abala siya sa pagtetext nya kaya bumangon pa ako sa pagkakaupo para iabot yung pera sa kundoktor. Nasa sakayan pa lang kami noon, Sa JP Rizal pa siya bababa. Hindi niya muna tinignan na hassle pa iabot yung pamasahe niya.

Maluwag pa nun tapos may baklang estudyanteng sumakay. Uulitin ko, maluwag pa, pero yung bagong sakay naman na 'to ayaw umupo  kung saan maluwag. Sumingit pa sya sa pagitan namin nung katabi kong ale na maaga nag-abot ng bayad. Ewan ko kung bakit yung mga tao mas gusto talaga nauupo malapit sa bungad. Anluwag–luwag pa, hindi pa oras para makipagsiksikan. Dapat mamaya-maya pa yan pag pinilit na ng kunduktor na isa pa sa kaliwa o sa kanan kahit puno na talaga.

Sa kabilang side ng bungad, nakaupo naman yung isa pang estudyante na nagaaral ng pagkamarino base sa suot niyang uniporme. May sumakay na ale na may malaking bayong sabi niya dun sa estudyante na malapit lang daw sya. Natural matandang babae yun, malapit lang daw sya kaya umurong yung estudyante. Ang nangyari tuloy may malaking nakahambalang na bayong sa lahat ng papasok at bababa. Pinapaurong na nga ng kunduktor yung malaking sagabal na yun sa daanan pero wala rin. Nagbayad yung ale ng walong piso, sa Cherry Foodorama daw sya. Naisip ko, e anglayo pa nun e. Mula sumakay siya hanggang pagbababa angdami nang sumakay at bumaba ng jeep.

Bukod sa mga nabanggit ko, naisipan kong maglista pa ng ibang asshole na ugali sa loob ng jeep:

1. Ayaw mag-abot ng bayad(numero unong salot)
2. Nauupo sa likod ng drayber o kundoktor tapos ayaw magabot ng bayad
3. Kunwari tulog para hindi mag-abot ng bayad
4. Natutulog na nakasandal sa katabi (Maaring double standard kung chicks yung natutulog)
5. Tatabi sa iyo kapag nakaupo ka sa harap tapos ayaw bumaba muna pag pababa ka na
6. Yung may nakakalong na malikot na bata tapos madudumihan yung suot kong pantalon dahil sa sapatos nung bata

Before Midnight

They claim to be the lowest grossing trilogy of all time. When I heard they were releasing a third film I was excited. People may find it weird that a guy is the one who will ask his girlfriend to see this movie not the other way around. Hahaha. What is weirder is that I saw ladies watching this movie alone in the cinema, on the first day. The first day, I was there. I don’t usually catch a movie in the opening day. The lasttime I did that was for the third Harry Potter movie which was nine years ago. I was such a fan then so I guess I am really fan of this Before Sunrise series. Coincidentally, the last movie of this series was released nine years ago too.

I like it when Chast is happy if I bring her one of these kinda artsy-fartsy things, like going to a museum, seeing that Boldstar gig or Cinemalaya. She doesn’t really know what to expect but at least she enjoyed all of them. I remember like less than 30 minutes of the movie she asked me if are they gonna talk all throughout the movie. I answered yes with a grin. She had this "WTF" reaction but still get through the movie quite alright. I actually check on her every once in a while if she is sleeping. That was funny. I love it that I was able to enjoy this movie with her, and she enjoyed it too.

Source. Hey, they now have twins

I still enjoyed listening to their conversations. I have to because the movie is all conversation. The characters have grown up a lot and the conversations are pretty much about life’s realities, including death. Too much realism which was in order with what the story is going through. I like how they managed to pull it of, making a new story arc for Jesse and Celine. That cliffhanger from the second movie was brilliant. "I fucked up my whole life because of the way you sing." This line from the movie connects just fine with that cliffhanger. You can say that I am watchful for cool dialogues. That one kinda lingers like that line from The Silver Linings Playbook.

I like how these movies use different European cities and when the characters pass by some place cool, they stop and talk about it. Some trivia and shit. It might help tourism. I’ve been to Nami Island in Korea and that place generally capitalizes on the fame of a hit Korean drama and a Thai movie.

I still recommend this movie. If anyone would ask which is my favorite, I don’t know. Each is different from the others because the characters do evolve within the nine years in between and each define very well the mindset of the characters at that age.

Jon Snow the Unicorn

During the Minions fever I mentioned that the kid Agnes is cuter than the minions and I own a unicorn stuff toy, not the one from the movie but Buttercup from Toy Story 3.

Chast upon hearing that I own a stuff toy, unaccounted for, accused me of hoarding toys. Hahaha. I know I bought it the along with Agent Oso and the other character from the series, then a Mickey Mouse because of the Buy-One-Get-One promo in the Disney Store the time they Left Texas last year. I remember showing all of them in the webcam and telling her I the two bigger toys are for her, the Mickey for Angel and the unicorn I will keep for myself.

She forgot all of that and told me I am keeping the toy a secret. I brought the toy to her but she won’t take it. I asked her if I will just put it together with her other collection of plush toys but she won’t allow it too. Because of that, I call it Jon Snow. I ended bringing it home again. Poor toy.