Cruising Past Seventy: The Inner Journeys: February 2011

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Leaving Seattle Snow, Greeting Manila Sun OLA


Cathay Pacific's Boeing 777 at SFO International Airport

Finally on February 22 after a day of sleet we left Seattle with a forecast of below freezing temperatures and snow for the next 10 days! We are so lucky because we were still given the chance to enjoy sunny, warm, tropical days, as we had intended for winter! At the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Bill relaxed as he settled down with a glorious Starbucks non-fat no-whip mocha grande (and his emails) while I had my good old large Calm (chamomile) tea and this blog.

Bill relaxing at SEATAC Int'l Airport
That night we landed in San Francisco for a quick layover. My sister, Cherry was so gracious, as usual, with an adobo dinner waiting for us. The next day she got up early to make a big breakfast before her daughter Zan brought us to the airport for our noon flight to Hong Kong and Manila.  It was sad to leave their cute African turtle, Jethro! At the airport the giant Cathay Pacific B777 jumbo jet jumped through the huge windows at us. Then I realized that the tension that gripped us for 6 months, with all the delays around the citizenship test and interview (especially in the cold weather to which we are no longer accustomed), was completely gone!  

Jethro, an African turtle in SFO
The Changi International Airport in Hong Kong has totally changed from the days when I spent half of the month working there (the other half in Manila). It is now one of the most completely modern airports in the world. And what I loooooved best about it before, duty-free shopping is still unbeatable.  We did not buy anything but looking at all the fancy stores (at every wing and every corner of the airport of perhaps the shopping capital of the world) while waiting for your flight is a feeling to die for!
Cherry and Zan and me in SFO

Around midnight of February 24, on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the peaceful EDSA revolution that toppled the Marcos dictatorship (shades of the successful Egyptian revolution), our plane approached the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.  This is where the protest moment began, when Ninoy Aquino, father of current President Noynoy Aquino and husband of the post revolution president Corazon Aquino, was gunned down on the tarmac upon arrival from exile in the US.
The International Airport in HK

Funny, but I still felt I had come back ‘home’, after 7 years in America.  The mix of emotions was expected. I was arriving in Manila for the first time as an American citizen but I was also secretly hoping that sometime during the next three months I would be able to establish a dual citizenship. Aside from truly feeling the dual nature of my allegiance, a Filipino returnee (Balikbayan) has advantages like bestowing Bill the same status and one-year stay in the country without the need for a visa.  
Bill having breakfast at Prince Plaza 2

April, my only daughter still remaining in Manila who works as a project manager at HP Philippines, picked us up and brought us post-haste to the Prince Plaza 2 Condominium where for a privileged rate of only $15 a day we will be staying at the 22nd floor in the comfort of a suite of our friend and father-in-law of my eldest daughter Patricia, Tavy Aberion. The condo is in the busy, plush, and trendy Greenbelt Park and Mall, right in the heart of the Philippines’ financial district, Makati.

But, after a grueling 20-hour airport-to-airport flight a slew of 6 movies (127 hours, Life As We Know It, Morning Glory, Experiment, Due Date, and Never Let Me Go), we dropped to what we thought would be a looooong restful sleep. But the brightness of the next morning and the busy-ness of the streets down below woke us up earlier than we had expected. And the sun is beckoning us to the massive shopping malls around the megalopolis of 16 cities such as the Mall of Asia, 3rd largest in the world! Watch for my post next week!   

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Becoming an American, Helping the Philippines WOW

WOW
Citizen Carol
Valentine's Day 2011 was extra special! 54 of us from 26 countries took an oath of allegiance to the country who welcomes 'your tired, your poor, your huddled masses' and 'crowns thy good with brotherhood' thereby fostering the American Dream.  It is a ceremony that is repeated every day in many US CIS offices around these United States of America! I became an American that LOVE-ly day!

So finally, we have booked our long-delayed trip to the Philippines! We leave on February 22 for San Francisco, the following day we fly to Hong Kong, and we arrive in Manila at midnight of February 24! Things are now moving quite fast! We shall now be able to take care of pressing concerns there, visit dear ‘old’ friends and family, and show Bill more of the beauty of the Philippines! But before anything else, I have a request!

I have not forgotten my dream to help my country. So I asked Bill to enter a contest whose prize money is to seed a BIG (Breakthrough Innovation Grant) idea. I reprint here his request (and the link to his entry for GEM-Go and Experience Manila) and ask you, my dear friends, to help him help my motherland. The deadline is March 15 and I would like to thank you so very much for you help! This is one idea whose time has come for travelers to Manila

Since I retired, I have had a desire to do something as part of my “payback”.  Carol’s plan had always been to somehow help the Philippines. She asked me to join this BIG contest sponsored by Seven Fund. We entered this project: GEM, a substantial website to attract tourism dollars. The ultimate goal is to create jobs and alleviate poverty in the megalopolis. Please paste the following link to your browser, click the “like” button at the top and make a comment.  Quality inputs/promotional reach are in the criteria for selecting the idea that would get the $20,000 seed money. We would appreciate your help!


@ Camping World
Now the RV is in Camping World, that large chain of RV superstores, for roof repair and then it will be stored at the house of the Thompsons, Bill’s old-time friends in Sumner, Washington. So we will travel sans RV for about three months, with a significant change of weather! It is now 42 degrees Fahrenheit in Seattle and…..77 in Manila! That 25 degree difference will be a welcome change!

Mines View Park, Baguio City
Despedida (farewell) parties are on until we come back in May for the bienvenida (welcome) parties. Between these two party rounds are the trips around the Philippines’ 7,107 islands. We were so busy the last time we went that we were only able to go to Baguio, the cool summer capital up in the Cordillera Mountains, Tagaytay, the smallest volcano in the world within another volcano, Anilao, a famous dive spot, and Subic Bay and Clark, the former US military bases converted into fine resorts.  

the volcano within a volcano
This time we will see another top-ranked diving spot (Tubbataha Reef) in Palawan, the famous pink powder beach of Boracay, the Chocolate Hills of Bohol (also home of the world’s smallest monkey, the tarsier), Corregidor Island, a last American stand in WWII, and a road trip to Pagudpod, the northernmost tip of the big island, Luzon, where the Marcos crypt stands, only a stone’s throw away from Hong Kong!

3rd largest mall in the world, Mall of Asia
I may have turned a page by becoming an American citizen but my heart still longs for my birth place and my husband has heeded my request to find ways to help. Join us in our next posts about the contest’s outcome and our sizzling travels around the Philippines!
at Sonya's Garden in Tagaytay

  

Thursday, February 10, 2011

OLA: Viewing the Work of Man and Nature


Mt. St. Helen's sliced off look

Day 24 of the 2011 Regular Session
This week’s day trip took us east of Elma, to the state capital of Washington, Olympia, to watch the goings-on at the State Capitol. Then south we went to Mt. St. Helens, to see how much of the mountain was lost in the 1980 eruption, passing through the small towns of Tenino and Kid Valley. It was a day of viewing the forces of man and nature and respecting their contributions to the world.

the Washington State Legislative Building
Not wanting to be late for the opening of the House and Senate sessions on Day 24 of the 2011 Regular Session, we woke up early and hurried on to Olympia.  At the Senate, the ecumenical prayer was followed by the Honor Guard establishing the flag of the United States and Washington in front. There were many of us at the Visitors’ Gallery. It was exhilarating to watch the wheels of democracy turn!

the State Seal
Washington was carved out of the western territory ceded by Britain in 1846 and became the forty-second state in 1889. The beautiful Legislative Building houses the State Legislature where 48 senators and 98 members of the House from 49 legislative districts work. The executive branch is headed by a governor who has a corner office there. On campus also stands the Temple of Justice which houses the State Supreme Court. 

Olympic Mountains from the State Capitol
At the north end of the state government complex, one can look northwest and gasp at a picturesque scene in nature, the majestic peaks of the Olympic Mountains.  Then further south towards Tenino, are wonderful works of man. The first is the almost 200 fine sculptures in Monarch Sculpture Park, a 10 acre park where there are also a 1-acre maze of hedges, a butterfly haven, and a lagoon. The second is the International Wolf Haven which provides lifetime sanctuary to 150 rescued wolves.


the entrance to Monarch Sculpture Park
International Wolf Haven
Bill and I have wanted to see Mt. St Helens because its eruption (which he saw) was very much like that of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines (which I saw). We tried in 2007 but ran out of time so this time we took a shortcut and we were already an hour ahead from Olympia, 50 miles south of Seattle. On the way, we had glimpses of an unfamiliar southern view of Mt. Rainier in a pure white cloak of snow.

Mt. Rainier from the south
Very long-haired white, brown, and black llamas were silently witnessing all the beauty around them. Then, at 25 miles before the National Monument, we were surprised to see a 28-foot statue of Bigfoot in a little town called Kid Valley. Folklore has it that the legend perished here from the massive mudflow of Toutle River after the eruption. A buried A-frame house even stands as a gift shop beside him.

Bigfoot at Kid Vvalley
Mt. St. Helens is famous for its eruption on the morning of May 18, 1980, the most economically destructive in US history. 1,312 feet of its dome exploded, shooting 24 megatons of ash and pyroclastic flows sideways and not upwards, leaving a gaping mile wide horseshoe-shaped crater. Smoke still rises from this crater even today.
llamas along the road

11 years later, Mt. Pinatubo also erupted in the Philippines. Although it was half the size of Mt. St. Helens, this eruption is the second most destructive in the world in the twentieth century. It shot 1 megaton more but did so much higher up into the atmosphere, affecting other countries and destroying more parts of the country.
 
the crater of Mt. St. Helens coming up from the highway
Apart from the sliced off look of Mt. St. Helen’s and the still muddy Toutle River in the valley below, after 30 years, you see everywhere else bright new young trees and lush vegetation growing, testament to the life that continues to thrive even after such a destructive force of nature. And, 235 years after the US declared its independence from Britain, democracy still reigns supreme in the halls of government.

It was a winter day well spent! And we cannot wait for next weekend’s scheduled visits to Tacoma, Seattle, Roslyn, and Snoqualmie, Washington


Sunday, February 6, 2011

WOW: Being Noticed in Blogosphere!

Stylish Blogger Award
Versatile Blogger Award



THIS IS A REPOST FOR THOSE WHO DID NOT GET TO READ IT!
Thank you so much, Patricia of Subjective Soup and Sandy of Traveling Suitcase! This blog was not even a year old when it got the VBA last October and then the SBA last month.  I really do not think either is yet deserved but they certainly encourage me to make my blog better! Now I know what to do with these awards. I am sorry for being late in following the rules:

* Be sure to thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.
* Share 7 things about yourself.
* Pass the award to other bloggers who you think deserves it.
* Be sure to let the bloggers know you chose them to receive the award.

Here are 7 things the blogosphere does not yet know about me:
1. Yellow is definitely my color!
2. Bill and I have 3 children and 9 grandkids!
3. I am a Toastmaster!
4. Two years ago, I became a sexygenarian!
5. I would looooove to turn this blog into an e-book!
6.  Singing and dancing, reading and writing, cooking and eating are my likes!
7.  Traveling is my passion.

Here are some examples (space does not allow for a comprehensive list) of truly substantive blogs, more deserving of both awards for both form and function!