Tag: America

Just One Empty Cheap Cologne

Declutter. Dispose whatever is not needed. These are rules I’ve been following, or trying to follow, regardless if a stuff is something sentimental or not. I’ve disposed a lot and surprisingly so far I didn’t have any regrets. Must be the effect of reading about minimalism on my Facebook timeline.

If I could walk the talk was once again tested last night. While looking for a tool I found an empty cheap cologne container. There’s nothing special to it if not for how and where it was kept. It was among my valuable keepsakes.

12 years in possession.

By some interesting coincidence, exactly 12 years ago I took this cheap cologne on a special trip. Its scent filled my room each morning while I get ready for the day’s equipment training, it competed with the aroma of strong brewed coffee and fresh breakfast muffins I would hoard from Holiday Inn’s little pantry. The smell reminds me of Watertown, Wisconsin which was my first trip to the US, one that was unexpected. There’s some anxiety but I am now letting go of this cheap cologne. One stuff down, more to go.

***

I was contemplating on getting our cable subscription disconnected as we seldom watch the tube anymore. Every now and then we would but Netflix was tough competition. Plus there’s Marcus who has commandeered our flat TV. 

So wifey had a win-win idea: Transfer the cable connection to our bulky Sony Wega. This got me occupied after dinner last night which led me to finding the cologne bottle ahead of the tools that I really need. Need to declutter more I guess.

***

Mood: 1/10 Honks! (Some trivial suffs do keep big memories, don’t they?)

Advertisement

The Promise

It was during Christmas dinner last year— over fatty foods, beer, and good company–when I first heard of Timehop and I loved the app since then. It’s the crystal ball of social media. It made me take a look back at whatever I’ve posted online years back. Some cringeworthy, some that I am proud of. This Timehop post is the first on my blog just so I could test how it would look like. See more in the next days.

Moving On

What seems like in a snap of a finger, we find ourselves staring at 2017.  Now we once again wonder what this new year has in store for us with all hopes up that it would be better than its preceding year. In our books, 2016 is hard to beat especially that its last days ended with a bang. But after three weeks of living the life in the land of milk and honey, our life goes back to normal.  We have returned home, we move on.

Meeting 2017 at Old Sacramento.

Yes, we move on. One tall order after one unique travel experience. In the next days we merge back to the rat race–like it or not. In Marcus’ case, however, moving on is a pun and at the same time a big dream. And time is of the essence. This year we need to execute what we have regularly discussed between pauses during our American adventure. Our good hosts, my sister and her hubby, want to see Marcus undergo the next phase of DMD testing. They pledged to support it.

Kid in America.

To say we were happy at their commitment would be an understatement. DMD is one of those medical conditions that is expensive to deal with despite the uncertainty of success.  With the much needed support we can now proceed and see if the available DMD drug in the market would be of benefit to Marcus. So as early as this January we’ll be busy. It’s time we see the doctor again. Fingers crossed.

***

Marcus is among those in wheelchairs waiting to board the plane from Manila. He is the only child.

We continue to realize the challenge of travelling with someone in a wheelchair. Not that we are complaining but its a struggle we have to face. This is why I didn’t have any issues staying at my sister’s home and just enjoy time with everyone. I just know that Marcus preferred it that way too.

Even within the confines of the house there’s always something to keep us occupied anyway: gym, pets, TV, toys, food. They are also fond of non-smartphones games like Uno and Jenga. And it was where I learned my second card game (Trump cards is first) while Marcus proved he can play the latter.

He’s got steady hands.

Marcus once mentioned that he has seen how Jenga is played but we never saw him play the actual game not until this trip. To the surprise of everyone, he was a natural. He picked Jenga blocks on his own although I carried and assisted him to be able to place the blocks when the stack got higher. His dexterity to handle the blocks gave me some sort of hope. It proves that after all his remaining muscle functions may be preserved somehow.  Let’s see.

***

Mood: 2/10 Honks! (Now using Marcus’ HP PC which we fixed ourselves. Thanks to the male Santa.)

 

Sky’s the limit

To jump out of an airplane and eat at McDonald’s were two of the things I mentioned when I was asked by my brother in-law what I plan to do once we are in the US. I never thought the former was possible as I just want wifey and Marcus to experience their first US trip–everything else would be a plus. Then budget was an issue and the more we got closer to the trip the more I learned that weather could be a factor. But as fate would have it, the skydive happened. On a fine Elk Grove day, my brother in-law jumped strapped to our own instructors.

Tandem freefall from 13,000 feet.

 

The freefall was thrilling, the view was spectacular.

This is the second time I have jumped out of the plane and maybe this wouldn’t be the last. Fingers crossed.

***

In pictures

My sis and I after my first jump so may years ago.

 

Back to the arms of with my ever supportive wife. (Take note of the shadow.)

 

Grounded and happy to drive back home.

 

Anxious beneficiaries at the jump center in Lodi taken while I and my in-law fill up our respective waivers.

 

Late afternoon stroll at the park after the jump.

***

Mood: 2/10 Honks! (Inside an RV somewhere in San Francisco early in the morning.)

 

 

Our Santas’ House

We must have been so nice that this year our Santa Clauses decided that we personally pick our gifts from where it come from.

No reindeers here but fat cats and nosey dogs.
The table has been cleared and beers and gifts take over.

While this isn’t my first time to set foot in the US, this is the first time to be with Marcus and wifey and with our Santa Clauses. Needless to say, this is one unusual Christmas for the three of us and we couldn’t thank God enough for this opportunity and for surrounding us with people who support us: people who paid for this trip and even people back home who wished us well.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

***

Mood: 2/10 Honks!!!! (Our Garmin watches are waiting to be tested.)

 

Rogue One Versus Popcorn

Rogue One is one of those movies that Marcus had been waiting but it premiered in the Philippines when we were already busy packing stuffs and going through our travel checklist over and over again. He was all smiles when he heard he’d catch up on it where we would be after four days.

Cold but eager Rogue One fan. Outside Arden Fair while we wait to get our tickets.

 

I’m beginning to get the hang of taking selfies from different angles.

 

We are lucky to be one of those watching in this recently opened cinema in the area.

 

 

Big bucket of popcorn and comfy seat complete Marcus’ experience.

 

Team popcorn.

Did I just say popcorn? Well, Rogue One is one of those movies I fought off sleep by eating popcorn. At some point I knew I slept and twitched and dreamed and talked in Filipino. Sorry American seatmates if I snored as well.

***

Mood: 2/10 Honks! (Achievement unlocked: found food in the pantry on my own.)

 

 

Cold And Sweet

So this is the land of milk and honey and it’s cold.

 

Blown away. He was overwhelmed with everything and this was just the beginning.
Two hours after the long Customs Border Protection queue we finally step into the land of milk and honey.
And the adventure begins. Face to face with a drone though not those he sees in Call of Duty.
He discovered not everything is sweet in a candy store. He just tasted Toxic Waste.

This is just day day one and this the first official post that says we have landed.

***

I had cancelled trips in the past and I don’t want this one to be among them so I never told any of my friends about details of this trip as I don’t want to jinx it.

***

Mood: 2/10 Honks! (Happy and fat.)

 

The Red Wheelchair Flies

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no…it’s a wheelchair. Yes, the long wait is over and Marcus and his wheelchair is flying against all odds, against weird baggage weight requirement.

I’ll be there…

Our plan to pack light, just a carry-on bag and one for check in, seems like a bad idea. We didn’t know that what works in domestic flight won’t do in international. We discovered that the weight requirement is strictly enforced per bag so we have to summon our packing talent, or the lack of it, in a whim. It was a good thing we brought one extra backpack to distribute the excess stuffs. We eventually found ourselves waiting to board the aircraft, tired, hungry, sleepy but we made it.

 

***

Mood: 2/10 Honks! (That expensive jumbo siopao made my day.)

 

A Week of Interviews (Part 1)

It is a fact and a cliché that time flies so fast. And so today I was surprised to see that the last time I did a blog was on August 31 and fifteen days after that, I’m still wondering what I’ve been thru since then. Now I’m in the middle of the much awaited months for us Pinoys–the BER months. And being the 15th which is the payday for most employees, I can just imagine the throng of people in the mall, in the clubs, and those in the beer bars—all likely enjoying at least a couple of Christmassy tunes in the process.

In spite of losing track of my activities, the freshest memory that still lingers in my mind are the things that we did last week. In work terms, work week 37. Last week, my wife and I underwent a couple of separate exciting interviews amid my untimely colds that was made worse by the enduring rainy week. But having prepared for these interviews for so long, not to mention that the stakes are high, we proceeded undeterred.

The first one was in the US embassy in Manila. It was actually my wife’s idea to try our luck in getting a US Visa (tourist). Although, I’ve been thru this before for my week-long Wisconsin training trip, I was a bit pessimistic in acquiring a new one as I’ve seen a couple of times the disappointment it gave my parents upon every denial in their quest to visit my sister abroad. Lately though, according to wifey, a lot of her peers got theirs without much ado. And true indeed, after a couple of anxiety-filled hours inside the embassy, our visa application got approved as well. My wife went out of the hallway skipping like a kid promised with a weekend beach picnic. “I feel like I’ve just won the American Idol audition”, she quipped. Well, that probably puts me in William Hung’s shoes when he got the record deal. (What made it greater was that our Visa expires in 2018 but the news today regarding the end of validity of the green passport by 2010 looks trouble to me.)

One thing that my wife and I are totally in synch with is that both of us agree with rewarding ourselves with every success that we had; more often than not, we love food treats. And this time we dropped by MOA (Mall of Asia) looking for something new. Then we saw Cheesecake Etc. Inc. It is a small (approx. seats 10-15 person) restaurant but with cozy feel to it. Obviously, we ordered a couple of cheesecakes and coffee to match it. What we got were lovely shaped treats plus great plate decoration. Price was also fair. I recommend this place as an alternative to Starbucks.

Walle

After satisfying our sweet tooth, we headed to the cinemas just in time to catch the movie Wall-E. It was time to feed our craving for comic relief.

Like any other Disney movie we’ve seen, this movie didn’t fail us. The scenes in the movie despite being subtle and comical packs a serious message of what our (humans) future awaits if we lose the awareness on our environmental obligations. It also sends a strong warning to everyone who tends to entrust our lives to technology with the belief that it is there to give us convenience. Convenience that if not controlled will eventually produce more bad than good effects in the end. Does garbage problem and obesity sound familiar? If there’s an animated counterpart to Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth movie, this is it. This is a must see movie for both young and old alike. (I love this one so much that I can’t wait to get its DVD.)

(to be contintued…)