Currently at the KAL lounge for a hearty breakfast, borrowing Mr. C’s laptop yet again to steal moments for more updates. Flight from LAX to Seoul is way soo much better than my trip home last year! Last year, I took the plane out from JFK to Detroit then to Nagoya before reaching Manila. Boy was i beyond tired! That was the same route i took coming in the US — Nagoya and the US port of entry was Detroit and then JFK. Crazy. I was carrying two luggages then and a laptop.

Bottomline, this trip was more enjoyable. Factor in that I had a tall guy with me that I only need to hold on to.. Haha. No thinking required. No stress. This trip, we had a straight flight to JFK from Narita! (May i also say that the Narita Lounge serves better food what I recall last year at Nagoya..Anywaysss..

Babble babble .. I babble.

So how was my Disneyland experience? My ex officemate Ethel, who lives in LA asked me that when we met her. SHe asked me if i enjoyed it still.. going to Disneyland I mean. It was after all, a place for kids.

My answer was YES. From the unofficial guide book that my nerdy husband read and strictly followed, the best time to go to theme parks was the week AFTER thanksgiving. Our timing was perfect! Sure there were lot of people but I am quite sure the crowd does not compare to the week prior. We were falling in line around 915 am while we wait for the gates to open at 10am and by twelve noon we already had four rides! These rides showcase the stuff that Walt Disney is made of — pure imagination, incredible creativity and passion for detail.

We had the Finding Nemo adventure, the Peter Pan’s flight, Buzz Lightyear.. oh and the Hunted Mansion was amazing .. okay, kid stuff huh, just right for a ten year old. Mr C even bought me magazines as I wait for him because i was determined not to join him as he takes the Major Attraction rides — ergo, the scarier ones. But he took advantage of my poor sense of direction and complete dependence on him as we enter rides after the other.. so YES.. I was tricked and trapped and forced into taking the famous Space Mountain. My last roller coaster ride in Ocean Park HK was supposedly my LAST. BUt Mr C says that my Disneyland trip will not be complete without taking that dreaded ride.

Thanks to Mr. C, I had a scary 60 minute roller coaster ride inside Space Mountain. The ride took 2 minutes actually so… oookay.. the last 60 minutes was a thrill already.. almost. So let it be known world.. I TOOK THE SPACE MOUNTAIN.

After that, we took the Indiana Jones Adventure ride which was scary too but more fun to me than Space Mountain.

We stayed until 9pm– waited for the parade and of course the fireworks. An added bonus was the “snow” that fell from the err.. trees after the fireworks. SO imagine a park full of people, watching amazing fireworks that served as the backdrop of Sleeping Beauty’s castle — and then snow…. it was very romantic.

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My battery is running low and we are soon to board so I will try to post a few pics when we return .. ahh that would be tough because of the errands we need to do at home and the year end stuff we need to do at work.

As we wait to board the plane that will bring us to Incheon airpoirt in South Korea , we sit here in the lounge. Mr. C is Platinum member so he is able to spend time (and eat at the VIP lounge.. with a guest…that would be moi)

I am just about to have my second cup of coffee – my poor attempt at keeping myself awake. It is now, let me see…1030pm Saturday here in LAX.. 2:36pm Sunday Manila time. So, we need to stay awake for eight more hours. Ohhh boy!

Two weeks went by so fast. Who am I kidding? This year flew by so fast!! Just see how little time I had to blog. Time went so fast because a lot of wonderful, stressful, exciting, tiring, challenging events happened. But this is not my year end blog so let me save those thoughts in that other blog entry.
Let me have a quick rundown of how the past two weeks have been:

1) Arrived at JFK Monday afternoon, barely reeling for the happy events of the wedding 

2) Took at cab that brought us to this nice hotel just a few steps from the New York Times and Building!! And a few minutes from Times Square! And of course, took a pic in front of our office building in Times Square.

3) Went to Times Square of course. Walked around and be like pretty much everyone else in Times Square – tourists. We checked out the available plays in Broadway, bought tour bus tickets. Went downtime to Century 21 for some window shopping. This mall is just beside our other building where I spent my two week of training last week.

4) On Wednesday, we met with three of my colleague for lunch. My closest colleague, let us call him Rich, took us to PJ Clarks at the Hudson. That gave Mr C and I some time to move around downtown. I liked downtown Manhattan better than the more touristy Midtown. Why? It is Old Manhattan. I liked the older buildings. Some pavements are still made of cobblestones. Places like these brought out the nerd in me. That side of me that likes history and how things came to be. 
Mr C and I made a bad call by postponing buying tickets for Lion King. Which didn’t make sense because it was Thanksgiving week—of course, tourists will want to watch Lion King! So, in short, we didn’t get tickets. We were thinking of watching Shrek instead because it is sold at TKTS for a huge discount. But for a change, we thought.. hey let us go to Madison Square Garden instead and watch the famous Cirque de Soleil’s Wintuk. Amazing show! Unbelievable stunts!

But the cotton candy we bought cost a fortune! A whopping $12 … steep.

5) Thursday is Thanksgiving!!! We met up with Anjou before watching Macy’s thanksgiving parade.. took some poses at Times Square and then checked out of the hotel. We hauled our suitcases to the Long Island Railroad which led us to the PATH train that brought us to Jersey City where Anjou lived. (whew!)Without wasting time, off we went to Aunt Zeny and Uncle Bonnie’s place.

Then we took a half an hour drive (about 30 miles from Jersey City) to where Kuya Ronald (one of Tita Zeny/Tito Bonnie’s children) and his family lived for our first stop of Thanksgiving dinner. After about 90 minutes, off we went to Kuya Dennis’ (the eldest son of Tita Zeny/Tito Bonnie) for the second and final stop. It was smaller party, a lot more cozier and allowed us more time to chat, swap stories and in Mr. C’s case, get updated with his older cousins. We had fu n! So much fun that it was almost 11pm when we decided to rest. Besides, Kuya Dennis’ wife, Ate Rachel was getting ready for Black Friday! It was quite a long drive back to Jersey City.

6) The next day was Top of the Rock at the Rockefeller Center day. But not before going to Target and to Best Buy where my husband bought his toy. A Playstation3! Okay so he says it wasn’t his but for his brothers.. oohkay. Toys for the big boys are expensive but he tells me it is huge bargain. I cannot understand the amount they pay for electronics probably the same way they cant understand why we need to buy several pairs of black pumps and leather bags. Hehehehe!

7) Before we left New York/New Jersey, Mr C and I had time to take the night tour bus that brought us not just around Manhattan but around Brooklyn as well. Call me nerd again but I enjoyed the trivias of the tourist guide – a quick history lesson there.
And just like that, we were off to Anaheim – where Disneyland is. But that is another blog.

Because, it is just about boarding time…..!!! We are off to Seoul for 1.5 hour layover before heading off home. Home.

We went to two Thanksgiving dinner in New Jersey– thanks to my husband’s cousins. Lots of food.. Too much food actually…. Great conversations.. Mr. C’s Tita Zeny and Tito Bonnie invited us to two separate dinners of their two married children. I have met them a few months ago when they visited Manila for a long overdue trip. It was fun getting to know Mr. C’s cousins, whom he hasnt seen in maybe a decade!! But still, we instantly felt the warmth that only family can give.

A quick pose as Shrek floats by

We were told that we had one of the best Thanksgiving weather. It was the right chilll, the right amount of sunlight and just enough breeze for a perfect parade. Hearing that was a joy in itself.

After the parade, we managed to take some decent pictures using a tripod at Times Square, the thousands of tourists notwitstanding.

The title itself excites me enough. In five minutes, Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade will start uptown in Central park. Mr. C and Mrs. C (that’s me!!) are watching tv as we wait for our friend to come over the hotel before going to 7th avenue to join the estimated 3 million people expected to witness the parade. No rush, our hotel is quite near 7th avenue W 42nd st.. perfect.

We just had breakfast downstairs and we saw families having breakfast — from grandpas/grandmas to the little kids..! It is so festive and full of warmth, and the crisp cold air is just how it should be.. 52 degrees here.

The festive air reminds me of how we celebrate Christmas in the Philippines — with a bonus.. with my husband by my side.

I love it.. i love it..

Suffice to say that Mr C. and I received a clear message. Unspoken but nonetheless clear. So clear that we didn’t even talk about it until we understood the lesson separately, during our own personal time. It was what we both needed at this point in our lives.

As we were busy ticking off one task after the other, giving ourselves imaginary taps on the back because of our impressive planning skills, we hit a roadblock. Dumbfounded, we had to put down our pens and to do’s list and —take in the path ahead of us. The once proud shoulders finally slumped and the busy minds suddenly paused.

Mr. C and I have seemingly share a weak point, we are both control freaks. Basking in the glow of our progress, we forgot that we were humans. So yes, we had to be reminded that we were finite, limited, myopic. Events that we are currently facing allowed us to see the days through lenses that are tinted by humility and gratitude. Eyes that were so busy looking down to check our task list now have remembered to look up and yield.

In all our busyness, we have forgotten to ask.

I believe that Mr. C and I are more prepared and excited to see how our Ultimate Planner will create our special day and beyond. I know that we are much more ready to take on whatever snags, mindful not to be distracted from the real essence of all these preparations. We never felt more loved.

*****
By Dr. Woodrow Kroll -
During the Spanish-American War, Clara Barton, the founder of the Red Cross, was working in Cuba. One day Colonel Theodore Roosevelt came to her and offered to buy food for some of his sick and wounded Rough Riders. But she refused to sell him what he wanted. Roosevelt could not understand. He cared about his men, and he was willing to pay for the supplies out of his own funds. So he went to the surgeon in charge, who said to him, “Colonel, just ask for it!” A smile broke over Roosevelt’s face. Now he understood–the provisions were not for sale. “I will ask for it,” he said, and when he did, he got the food at once.

Enjoy God’s gracious gifts today. Thank Him for providing them without price and without cost. They are yours not because you buy them, but because God gives them.

A role perfectly fit for her,with her trademark timing that gave her blockbuster movies– and hunk of a partner who has long proven his comedic flair.

Once again, she delivered in the romcom movie The Proposal while he has now become one Hollywood actor that I have added to my make-sure-you-watch-his-next-movies list.

It was such a hilarious movie that seeing a very nude Sandra Bullock didnt quite sink in. I mean she somehow managed to make such a scene be seen for what it is — a funny scene with the two leads in their birthday suits not the other way around. Am i making sense there..?

The one and only Sandra Bullock is perfect as the boss that everyone hates. And Ryan Reynolds — well, Wade Wilson from the X-men Origins….. ’nuff said. (wink wink). Okay, I started to like Reynolds when i watched Definitely Maybe where he plays a dad who shares with his daughter — quite creatively if I may add, about his past loves and how he met her mom.

I cannot recall when I started to like Sandra. She has entertained with her brilliant acting for quite a long while that I have lost track. Mr C and I also wondered who else in Hollywood can play the role of Margaret Tate.. who else can fit this role but Ms Bullock? Kate Hudson? nah, too bubbly. Anne Hathaway. Too beautiful. Katherine Heigl? Nope. I cant imagine her as a Cruella-ish. Jennifer Aniston? Too nice. Halley Berry? maybe hmmm

We only came up with one name – Julia Roberts. Maybe minus a few years yeah. Or maybe not.

Bottomline – this movie is yours. Ms Bullock.