Santa Monica and Long Beach

We were wonderfully suprised that even if it is not our first time in this part of the States, there is still so much more to discover. I loved everything about Santa Monica. The way they have developed their beaches with the walkways, the ferris wheel, the food and souvenir stalls, the restaurants, everything. Not to forget Third Street Promenade, which is now one of my favorite shopping malls. Two blouses from Zara at USD9.99 each. Jackpot! The Apple, H&M, Forever 21 stores were also nice.

Third Street Promenade

After Santa Monica, the T family brought us to Long Beach for dinner. We had dinner at Yard House, where we had that very spicy Tuna Sashimi Salad, pizza, pasta, giant onion rings, and others I don't remember now. We had a great time!!!

Revisiting Princeton

One of our biggest regrets from our US trip last year was that when we got to Princeton, it was already too dark to take nice pictures (read about Princeton last year and look at our dark photos here). E's cousin RC, our host on our last night in the East, so kindly brought us to Princeton for the second time. This time around, we took a lot of pictures because we absolutely love Princeton. My dream is to be able to stay in the university town and just watch people and time go by... while teaching or studying there!

Thawing at Panera

Chinese buffet dinner with E's cousin RC and wife MC

Visiting Friends by the Jersey Shore

E and I visited a good friend from high school, Dr. NN in Hazlet near the Jersey shore. It was a lovely and peaceful place. We spent the day with them, lunch at a dimsum place, a short trip to Best Buy so E can buy a wall charger for his iPod Touch and hanging at their house playing Wii and watching "Eagle Eye" on DVD. We had dinner at a very good Vietnamese restaurant near their place, loved the beef noodle soup and appetizers. We enjoyed time with his family very much.

Shopping and Dining in New York

Gadget-lover RL showed off his iPod Touch to E and E, without 2nd thoughts, was determined to get one for himself. On our 2nd day in New York, we were on a mission. We went straight to that grand Apple Store on 5th Avenue where E purchased his iPod Touch.

After a few hours of walking around, DL brought us to her favorite salad place chop't for lunch. The salad was so delicious, refreshing and surprisingly so filling.

That evening, DL and RL brought us to Dinosaur Bar B Que in Harlem (646 W 131st St.New York, NY 10027, Tel No. 212-694-1777). Loved everything that we ordered from the appetizer deviled eggs, to the buffalo wings, and of course, the ribs. Yummy, thanks for bringing us there DL and RL, and thanks for the treat, too!

For dessert, we bought Magnolia Bakery's (Uptown: 200 Columbus Avenue) famous cupcakes. Loved the icing on the cupcakes, I could easily eat two in one sitting...

New Year in New York 2

Have you heard of the saying that whatever you are doing on New Year's day will be what you will do in the coming new year. It seemed true for us, because on New Year's last year, we were also in New York! (Read about our New Year's Day last year here)

As before, we took the train from New Jersey (Metropark station) to NY Penn Station. We got to New York at about lunch time and we walked up from NY Penn to Times Square. It was so cold we couldn't feel our toes by the time we reached Times Square, so we had to thaw at Dean and Deluca where we met our gracious hosts and dear friends DL and husband RL. To welcome us, they treated us to Max Brenner chocolate drinks which were perfect for the freezing weather. Next stop was the Brooklyn Bridge Promenade where we saw the famous Brooklyn Bridge for the first time, and we had a great time taking pictures until it was too dark.

For dinner, we were so lucky to be invited to the L family's New Year's dinner in Manhattan, where RL's mom and sister cooked everything, and all the dishes were so delicious E and I helped ourselves to 3 servings! (yup, matagal nang nasira ang diet ko!)

Snow!

One of the reasons why we love going to the States in winter, walang ganito sa Pilipinas!

A Glimpse of New York

December 30, 2008. MS so kindly took us on a short trip to New York. Since we haven't gone to Chinatown, Battery Park and have not seen the Statue of Liberty on our previous trip to New York, that was precisely what we went to see. Although the original plan was to have lunch in Chinatown, parking was impossible that we ended up eating in Newark at this charming Portuguese restaurant. At least we managed to buy a dozen of that famous baked siopao (we wanted two dozens, but they ran out) from this popular dimsum place.

Pasalubong Shopping

December 29, 2008. Since MS (my cousin KS' wife) was off from work, we tagged along with her for grocery shopping. This was the best time to buy all the "bilins" so that we can fill up a balikbayan box before we leave New Jersey. We went to Costco for my parents' medicines and vitamins, chocolates, a year's supply of batteries in all sizes (yup, a lot cheaper there) and a lot of other things. I had to stop myself from buying additional bath and bed linen... we haven't used more that half of what we purchased last year. Next on the list was Wal-Mart for Hormel Chili con Carne (E's family's favorite snack) and cosmetics and toiletries that were mostly "bilins".

In the evening, we finally decided to buy the Roomba (been obsessing about it since last year)from Kohl's. Am really excited for it to finally arrive. We also went to Bridgewater Commons, the nearest mall to buy Bath and Body Works products for pasalubong and our own consumption. Luckily, BBW was already in the middle of its semi-annual sale. I bought my year's supply of home fragrance oils (I hope I got enough), hand sanitizers and liquid hand soaps. At day's end, we were able to fill up the Balikbayan Box.

Hoodies

I love hoodies, they help me look young and keep me really warm! So, in a span of 2 days, I have bought for myself 2 hoodies, one in purple/violet from Kohl's at USD12, and one in off-white from an H&M outlet for USD15. From then on, I knew I couldn't spend more than USD15 for a hoodie!

Atlantic City Adventure

We were so lucky to celebrate Aunt S' birthday with the S family in Atlantic City. We stayed at the luxurious Tropicana, one of the biggest casino hotels in the city. We tried our luck several times, and ended up shelling out USD30 and losing to Tropicana's slot machines. On hindsight, that could have bought me 1 pair of jeans or 2 hoodies...

But no regrets, because our Atlantic City holiday proved to be a very unique experience-- E learning poker on slots, outlet shopping and scoring a USD15 hoodie from H&M, walking along the Boardwalk in freezing cold and being in the middle of the festive holiday season in Atlantic City. It was great!

Lunch at the Tropicana Coffee Shop

The Christmas Tree inside Tropicana Marketplace with our niece and nephew.
Walking along the Boardwalk

Dinner at Hooters

The Boardwalk outside the Tropicana Marketplace

1st Day in the US: Bargain Shopping Na!

We arrived in New Jersey early morning of December 26, and we all know what December 26 is: Boxing Day! We started our day with a trip to the nearest Kohl's and snapped our favorite Levi's jeans. For me, 5 pairs worth USD136, not bad! Also scored a hoodie in today's hottest color, purple for only USD12. I'm in the best place to shop for clothes: New Jersey, where there is NO TAX on clothes.

Philippine Airlines and San Francisco International Airport

For our 2nd US trip, E and I decided to try Philippine Airlines to take advantage of their promotional rates (around USD650 for RT tickets exclusive of taxes and other surcharges, total amounted to about USD1,000, still cheaper than other airlines). Our travel time to New Jersey was cut to almost half compared to our last US Trip (20 hours this year vs 37 hours last year). We missed Singapore Airlines' inflight entertainment but the non-stop flight to San Francisco made up for it.

It was very cold when we got there, we had to wear scarves, gloves and jackets inside the airport. We spent around 4 hours waiting for our flight to New Jersey that's why I was disappointed that the San Francisco airport did not have free internet access.

I insisted on a photo by the Ghirardelli store (one of my favorite chocolate stores)
No free internet!

Reality Bites

After about 22 glorious days in the US, we are now back in Manila. We arrived at around 5AM yesterday, January 17 and I was on my way to school to teach at around 8:30 AM. Yup, I went straight to work. But no regrets whatsoever... I work hard, and I play hard:)