March 25, 2006 8:27 PM Saturday, Jacksonville, Florida           

 

Four Day Escape

DH has to earn at least 24 credit hours of continuing mandatory education as prerequisite to renew his RN license every year and for this reason he took the chance to sign in for a 3-day GI & Hepatology Conference in Orlando, Florida.

The problem is, I am too chicken to stay home alone.  At first I was thinking maybe I’ll stay home and invite some Pinay friends over for slumber party but then again as I thought about it, I don’t think their husbands especially couples with kids would be too happy to let their wives gad about for 3 nights in a row.

So the decision to go with DH was the best option I can come up with although at first I was too inhibited to ask for another time off from work. Geez Luis! It feels like I just resume working yesterday and here I am again asking for another time off? I really feel bad for doing it because I haven’t even been in this job for a year yet I have taken so many vacations/time off already. I don’t want to give you-people an impression that I am slacking off  with my job because in reality I am really a very conscientious and hard-working individual.

Anyway, here’s how I approach my boss: She was finishing a report for the Auditor as we had a scheduled audit that week.

 Rhebs:    Excuse me, Ms S. Can I talk to you for a second?

 Ms. S.:    Sure! What is it?

 Rhebs:    You know Ms. S, I really feel bad for doing this but I have no other choice. If I do, I swear I would never do this to you. {I gave her a puppy eye look—paawa at pa guilty effect ba}

 Ms. S:     {I can tell from the look in her eyes that she was quite baffled--wondering what is wrong with me}    What is it, Rhebs? Tell me.

 Rhebs:    My husband is going to be out of town for 4 days and 3 nights next week and I refuse to stay at home by myself especially at night. I am terrified to be alone you know.  I am wondering if I can take another time off from work next week so I can go with my husband in Orlando.

Ms. S:      My goodness! You keep me hanging there for a while, girl. I thought you are going to quit your job.

Rhebs:     I am sorry, Ms. S. It’s just that I feel so bad for asking this favor from you because I just came back from vacation two weeks ago and here I am again asking for another time off.

Ms. S:      Ooh, that’s ok. You do what you got to do. I don’t mind you taking another time off next week. Just make sure you run the report before you go though because as you know we have to release payroll by Monday after next week. Remember I told you P. didn't get a chance to do your report the last time you went on vacation because of time constraint?

Rhebs:     I promise to get the report done before I leave. Thank you so much for being so wonderful to me, Ms S.

Ms. S:      No problem. I know you are a hard-working employee.  

So Thursday, March 16, off we drove 3 hours to Orlando and checked in at DoubleTree Club Hotel in Lake Buena Vista, Orlando Florida which is 5 miles away from and to Walt Disneyworld. The hotel rates normally range from $149.00 to $193.00 per night but we got lucky to bid the price through Priceline for only $160.00 for 3 nights.

While DH was in the conference, I just stayed in the hotel all day long to watch TV, surf the net and blab away for hours on the phone. It feels so good to be able to just laze around and not to worry about having to do any household chores but then after a while it gets to a point where I became restless.

Friday, March 17, DH and I spent couple of hours at Epcot.   Remember this, the NOT-TO-MISS rides at Epcot: Soarin'™  and Mission: SPACE! I can't begin to tell you how exhilarating the ride was. It felt so real... it's really amazing and unbelievable!  Come... see for yourself what Advanced Technology can do!

Every year for 4 consecutive years that we explored Disneyworld we haven't tried all the rides in all-four theme parks yet.

 

Saturday, March 18, around 11 o’clock in the morning, my friend, Gazel picked me up at Disney Board Walk with her spanking brand new 2006 BMW!   I have yet to ride not even test drive a BMW car before so riding with her was a great pleasure. She drove 90 miles per hour in I-4 at one point {talk about speeding} but it never felt that way. It was such a smooth ride, I tell you. The car is flawless! It’s sleek, baby! I drool on having one too... only in my dreams, Darling. hehehe My eyes are still set on Toyota Highlander Hybrid ;-)

Tampa is about 2 hours drive from Orlando so we got to Brandon Mall in Tampa passed 1 o’clock in the afternoon. We had Chinese food for lunch at the Food Court.

Then, after lunch, we met up with Bill and Marilie with their new baby at the mall.   See the photo: That's me with Bill and Marilie's adorable baby girl named Erica Marie. She's only barely 3 weeks old.

Emelyn and Randy with their tot in tow showed up an hour later. I didn't get a chance to take that many pictures because I was too busy with the baby.

At 3:40PM, we all went to the birthday party of Honey’s daughter at Chuck E Cheese’s. Hmmm, I don't have any pictures during the party?!? How did that happen? I must have been into something then.... don't know what it was thought.

Anyway, later in the afternoon around 5PM, we got invited to go strawberry picking. Gazel and I went to hitch ride with Cathy to Plant City about 40 minutes drive from Brandon Mall.

I didn’t realize we were going to the farm until we got to the place. I thought we were going to somebody's backyard to pick some strawberries. Can you imagine me walking with 2 ½ inch high-heeled boots in the farm?  I enjoy picking strawberries right off the vine though. I got the biggest, most delicious strawberries at the height of their ripeness with the juice dripping down my fingers. It's so fresh and SWEET! The downside was, my seasonal allergy (allergy to pollen and dust) has gotten much worse. I can’t seem to stop sneezing and blowing my nose off.

We got back to Brandon Mall, Tampa before 8PM. Gazel was generous enough to treat me and Cathy for dinner at the Steak House Restaurant before we head back to Orlando. As you can tell, I didn’t spend a dime with our trip. Gazel paid for everything. I owe this girl big time! Thank you so much, Gazel for your friendship and generosity! Now I know why  you are so much blessed in life. You are so humble, kind, philanthropic and goodhearted person.

Going back from Tampa to Orlando was no sweat but finding our way back to the Hotel is like finding a needle in the haystack.  Gazel and I finally got back to Orlando around 10:30 at night but given the fact that I was a little slow to be a navigator, it was almost midnight when we finally figured out how to get back to the hotel where DH and I stayed. I didn’t bother to call DH for directions because it was almost midnight and I thought he was already asleep. Little did I know he was still up--fully awake waiting for me to come home. He figured we got lost someplace but he thought we'll eventually find our way back to the hotel so he didn't bother to ring me up either. We didn't get lost... we just explored and it's fun :-)

Sunday, March 19, I stayed in bed and slept ‘till 10 o’clock in the morning. We checked out in the hotel at 12:00 o'clock to head back home. We were back in Jacksonville before 3:00 o'clock in the afternoon, dropped by at my mother-in-law's house to give her a warm hug and some strawberries.

All in all, I had a very relaxing and enjoyable weekend escape but boy I packed 3 lbs more of flab in my body! Even my mother-in-law had noticed it and made a slight comment, "Rhebs you are getting chubby!!!"

You'll be surprised to know what I am up to lately to get rid of these unpleasant flab in my body. YES, I am that desperate to get back in shape!!!

March 10, 2006 7:54 PM Friday, Jacksonville, Florida           

 

West Coast Trip Photos

     Sacramento, California - February 18-21, 2006

All DH and I did for the first 4 days in Sacramento, California was mostly relaxed and enjoyed our time together in the hotel then dined out with family every night! Now that I thought about it, it is not actually surprising why I put on that much weight! 

One day, we drove to the CAPITAL and I got the chance to take pictures of the few Victorian Houses while we were driving around.  I wonder how much those Victorian Houses cost now... let alone the location. We all know real estate is all about location, location, location!

We also visited Edith and Norma in their home but we didn’t really stay long because Edith was busy running her own day care center. Anyway, we had agreed to get together in San Francisco the following weekend.  

Sacramento has probably the biggest Filipino food market in the States.  The Seafood City has everything you can practically buy from the Philippine food market. Inside the big building, you’ll find Chowking, Red Ribbon, Maxi’s Manila, Goldilocks and etc.

Imagine how keyed up I was to be able to dine in again at Chowking? Man, I was even thinking of having a big serving of “Hal-Halo Special” for dessert (I told DH to heck with my diet!) only to find out that their halo-halo is nothing but a crushed ice with some food flavoring. Chowking indeed disenchanted me big time!

“Halo-halo” is a Filipino dessert. The Filipino word "halo" means mix.  It is basically a glass of crushed ice mixed with sweet preserved beans, coconut meat, jackfruit, mango, sweet yam, sweet corn, leche flan, shreds of sweetened plantain, condensed milk, and sugar topped with ice cream.  

I also placed one to go order of Ilo-ilo chicken inasal from Maxi’s.   Ilo-ilo chicken inasal is actually chicken barbeque.  Only it is a free-range chicken meat roasted in charcoal grill rather than gas/electric grill.  However, the taste is not exactly what I was craving for. DH’s chicken barbeque is tastier than Maxi’s Ilo-ilo chicken inasal.

Needless to say, I still cast my vote to the Filipiniana Restaurant in Chicago.  That’s the best Pinoy Resto I have ever dined in so far.

 

     Reno-Carson City-Lake Tahoe, Nevada - February 22-23, 2006
 

Our next gig was driving thru I-80 from Sacramento to Reno to Carson City, Nevada. I didn’t realize Nevada is a mostly desert but then again I only see one part of the whole state! Casino is such a big craze in the state of Nevada. It’s all over the place. 

Las Vegas is more or less 7 hours drive from Carson City. Neither DH nor I have passion to gamble so the place doesn’t appeal to us at all. It's probably nice to just drive around to see the place but at that time we have more important thing to do than drive to Las Vegas for almost a day.

 

After about 7 hours of driving/sight seeing, we decided to pick up a travel magazine to look for inexpensive hotel nearby Lake Tahoe.  We found one at South Lake Tahoe which is part of California so we drove around for less than an hour and before we know it we were back again in California.

Did you know that one half of Lake Tahoe (map can be enlarged to see the details) belongs to California and the other half belongs to Nevada? I didn’t know that until we get to explore the lake. The temperature that night was 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Ooh it was f…. cold out there! DH kept me warm though.  He makes a good body heater ;-)

 

The following day, we droved circling the entire Lake Tahoe  for about 6 hours—that’s with stopping to take pictures and playing with the snow and making my own snow angel. 

The lake itself has a breathtaking view. I fell in love with the serenity of the lake but definitely not the weather. I gathered this part of California-Nevada is even hotter and dryer than Florida in the summer time. I’ve been to many different states in the USA but Jacksonville, Florida remained to be the one and only true love for me ;-)

 

Anyway, on the way out from Lake Tahoe, we stopped by at one of the smaller ski areas hoping we could rent a ski gear and hire an instructor to teach us the basics of skiing but then after we found out the charged was $85 per hour, I turned my back on them! I can't imagine spending that much money for it knowing I probably would end up hurting myself or worse breaking my legs. 

Anyway, I had fun sliding down the slope using my snow boots ;-) Snow is definitely for one time experience. I am glad I never have to deal with it every winter.

Here's the Slide Show of all the photos taken at Lake Tahoe.

 

     San Francisco, California February 23-26, 2006

Another 4 days in San Francisco were spent exploring the metropolitan district. DH and I took great pleasure in walking up and down the hills. Can you believe we survived 3 hours of straight walk from our hotel to the Fishermen Wharf then up and down the crooked hills one morning?  I thought that was about 3+ miles total of walking up and down the hill.  That was the only time we got to at least burn some calories. It felt good! 

I was joking with DH one time that if we move to San Francisco, we probably would be in a better shape by the end of the year and then it would be easier to keep it off.

As we continue to walk, we also found the St. Peter and St Paul's Catholic Church across the street from Washington Square so we went in, lit a candle and said a special prayer for Aunt Judy and Mark's speedy recovery.

This is probably the biggest Catholic Church I have ever been in my whole life. Well, it in San Francisco so it has to be huge.... just imagine how many people go to the Church service every Holy Day of Obligation.  You would think Americans don't go to Church? Well, you are wrong!  Our Catholic Churches here in Jacksonville are always packed that is why DH wants us to go in 20 minutes early before the service starts so we can get a seat.

The only time I took pictures of the food we ate was when we were dining in at Boudin because I have never seen this type of food serving before. Soup serves in sourdough bread? How neat!

The Typical food you'll find around Fishermen Wharf is a soup serves in sourdough bread. DH decided to let me try Boudin's specialty.  He later told me that part of the bread we ate was actually bake hundred of years ago. I thought he was just kidding but apparently he was serious.  "The oldest continuously operating business in San Francisco, Boudin Bakery was founded in 1849 by a family of French immigrants".... read more

 
Crabs on the side-walk counter too? Doesn't this look familiar to you? 
The side-walk eatery  reminds me of the "turo-turo" or side-walk small restaurants  in the Philippines.

The only difference is over here you can't just point your lips to the food that you want to order. LOL I still do that once and in a while with DH and he always gets a kick out of it.

 

We also went to Golden Gate Bridge one afternoon with Duane, Edith and Norma but we didn’t really get to enjoy the place because it was one gloomy and awfully windy and chilly afternoon. However, DH was wearing shorts. 

Heck, he walked around one morning in Lake Tahoe at 20 degrees F with just his blue jeans and short sleeve T-shirt without jacket.  One guy stared at him like he's nuts. Later the guy couldn't resist to ask him, "Aren't you cold?".  DH responded with a grin, "not really". The other guy seconded the motion, "Man you are nuts!"

 

Anyhow, the best thing about San Francisco is you’ll witness the diversity of culture/race from all over the world in a great extent. People there seemed to be more tolerant of folks from any other ethnic background.  I just can’t seem to imagine how people get to enjoy their space there though because the place is so congested let alone the cost of living is very expensive!  DH felt claustrophobic in big cities like San Francisco, Chicago and New York City. Nope he has never been to Chicago and New York yet but has no plan on going there ever. But then again, he never want to go to San Francisco either… if it is not for Aunt Judy’s liver transplant surgery, he probably would never see San Francisco. That’s the reason I flew to New York, San Francisco and Chicago by myself the last time I went for a visit because big cities don’t fascinate him at all. He’d rather go to the lake, sea, falls, mountains and forest than to any big city in the world.

Anyway, DH and I had a thought the other night.  We came out with an idea that maybe next time he goes mountain climbing, biking or camping, I’ll stay home and host a slumber party for all Pinays out here WITHOUT kids in tow.  DH says we can cook our stinky food, talk loud to our heart’s content, sing karaoke ‘till wee hours or do whatever we want to do. Hey, one thing that I’ve never done before was to go on sleep-over with friend’s house and partying all night long. Wouldn’t that be a nice break for all Pinay mommies out here though?

That's all for now folks.  DH and I will be out of town again for 4 days next week. Man, there goes the diet part one more time!  I like to take off from work and go on a trip but I can't resist the temptation of dining out in a restaurant with scrumptious food. Anyway, while DH is attending a conference, I will be meeting Gazel in Orlando and see if I can talk her into driving to Tampa to meet up with Marilie and Bill with their new baby.

Hasta vista baby :-)

March 1, 2006 7:54 PM Wednesday, Jacksonville, Florida           

West Coast Trip Review

We are back from the West Coast.  First, I’d like to write a review on our flight, hotel, rental car, restaurant, and places we went to.
 

Flights

Whew… the 6 hour flight from Florida to California and vice versa weren’t as comfortable for DH as it is for me. The economy/coach seat is just too cramped for him and he swears he won’t fly with me again anywhere unless we get a business or first class ticket next time.  I can’t seem to justify (or was just too cheap) paying more than twice as much for the price of a first class ticket ($1,365 round trip/person) as opposed to economy ticket of $608 round trip/person. But after this long uncomfortable flight, we complement.  Next time we fly, I’ll get one first class seat for him and an economy/coach seat for me. But I noticed one thing though. Do you know that if you get to sit along the EXIT’s row, the legroom is even more spacious than the first class seats?  Hmmm I am thinking out loud, maybe next time I will book our flight earlier so I can reserve the exit row seat for us ;-)

Car Rental 

I thought I got a better deal from Budget Car Rental when I made a reservation.
Budget quoted me this: Midsize Car: $275.90/Week, Unlimited mileage, Extra hour: $20.34, Extra day: $50.99.

Pick up:                               Drop off: 
  In the Airport Terminal              In or near the Airport Terminal
  Sacramento, CA (SMF)             San Francisco, CA (SFO)

Only to find out when we pick-up the car that the rate doesn’t include any insurance plans.  So after we choose an option to get a $30/day insurance policy (DH insisted we get a full insurance coverage since he will be driving in a state called the land of flakes, fruits and nuts) we ended up paying $500 a week. Bummer!

 Hotels

The first hotel we stayed in Sacramento was, I should say what a good deal for a buck!

La Quinta Inn Sacramento North
4604 Madison Ave
Sacramento, CA 95841

Amenities include heated pool and feature free HBO and wireless high-speed Internet access plus a complimentary continental breakfast, passes to a nearby fitness center, and free transportation within 5 miles.
For $78/night, you can get any better than this. The hotel and rooms are immaculately clean and the parking is free!   I rated this hotel 3 out of 5.

Rodeway Inn
4127 Pine Blvd & Stateline Ave
SouthLake Tahoe, CA 96150

Amenities include heated pool, Jacuzzi and continental breakfast. It’s a budget motel so what do you expect to get for nominal price of $50 per night? The room is awfully small and the bed is not too comfortable but don’t we always get what we paid for? The price of being too cheap!  I rated this motel 1 out of 5.

Comfort Inn by the Bay
2775 Van Ness Ave
San Francisco, CA 94109

Amenities include complimentary continental breakfast and wireless high-speed Internet access. The rate for standard room with queen size bed is $110 + $28.50/night parking fee!  I was taken aback but quick to confirm with the guy at the front desk “$28.50 PER NIGHT for parking? You’ve got to be kidding me!” He responded, "That’s what it is, Ma'am".  DH sounded off, “Sweetheart, this is San Francisco!”
 

I rated this hotel 2 out of 5. The phone in our room doesn’t work and the worst part was we have to call the attention of the front desk to get our room cleaned.

Highly Recommended Restaurant

Bobo’s Steak House or Boboquivari’s at 1450 Lombard Street, San Francisco, CA 94123

While the better steakhouses dry-age their beef up to 21 days, Bobo’s has its certified Prime dry-aged 4 to 6 weeks for a steak that melts-in-your-mouth so juicy and tender. A not-to-miss dish is the filet mignon perfectly medium rare. “Wow~ The BEST steak I ever had”, DH exclaimed! The total bill for the two of us including tips was only $89. Not bad eh?

Cousin-in-law, Delphi treated us out for dinner one night at Ruth's Chris Steak House in Sacramento, California and I was flabbergasted to see the bill for just the 4 of us, was a whopping $300 including tips. The steak was good but wasn’t as much mouth-watering like Bobo’s steak yet it arrives at our table sizzling really hot at 1800 degrees! It smells soooooooo good though!

While  in California, I wonder what’s going to happen after all the treats from Delphi, Duane and Edith and the eat-outs we did during the trip.

Much to my chagrin, I put on 8 lbs in just 10 days. I now weight 122.5 lbs! Jeez Luis!!!!   I am now heavier than I had ever been since late of 2003. You know I even made a bet with DH. The deal was if he gained 10 lbs or more, I get his one week allowance otherwise he’ll get mine. And you know what? HE WON!!! What’s even more bizarre was with everything and anything he ate during our trip, he gained 2 lbs. only?! I don’t get it. I was even more conscious than him when it comes to the choices of food we eat but in the end I gained more and don’t shed off as much as he does. Needless to say, I am happy for him though for not putting on that much weight.

Now, I’ve got to do some SERIOUS exercising and dieting before it is too late and lock myself in the most dangerous zone where there seems to be no way out for those who allow themselves to sink in completely. I won’t let that happen to me. I know I am in control of myself…and no one else!

Next issue, I’ll write about the different spots we went to complete with photos as I have yet to organize thousands of photos in my camera. Hey, I finally get to play in the snow and made my own snow angel at Lake Tahoe even though it's so f....... cold out there!

Stay tuned….