OLA: Getting Fun, Food, and More, All in a Week!

yes...yellow roses!

Devin in his first varsity match, with the Flatirons as background

Dean readying his tennis rackets for the Sectionals

We decided to extend our stay in Denver with the Happy Harpers for a couple of days. And, so of course, we had fun, except mostly for Cassie who had an early start in her Middle School. On Monday we learned that Devin made it to the Varsity Tennis Team, the only freshman to do so, at the Fairview High School, known for academics and sports, particularly their tennis team. He also beat Suzanne, Cassie, Bill and me in poker but in the rematch, I had the chance to beat him! Dean had to fly to Salt Lake City on Thursday because his tennis team advanced to the Sectional Finals where they got the silver medal! During the weekend, we all trooped to the Elvis Cinemas (second-run theater for only $2.50 per person) to watch the highly entertaining Monsters University.

our celebration of Devin's accomplishment at Jason's

baked creamy orzo

The week was also spent trying out new recipes for the family since Cassie has turned completely vegetarian after she researched (for a project in school) about animals being used for product testing. She now will not eat anything with a face! So, for her I made baked creamy orzo with green onions, parsley, parmesan, butter, and milk. When I made fresh lumpia, I reserved some for her before adding shrimps; same thing with the pancit bijon and the chop suey. Suzanne made a winner lemony quinoa salad.  Quinoa is now being billed as the food of the future. It is like a cereal or grain but is not a member of the true grass family but more closely related to species such as beetroots and goosefoot. It contains protein.

lemony quinoa salad!

short ribs poutine

We also ate out a lot. The Old Neighborhood Restaurant and Lounge was just remodeled and reinvented by the famous chef, Gordon Ramsey.  The menu is new and lean but I absolutely loved that they had yellow roses all around. We also tried a burger place that we had not been to before: Five Guys. You get single or double fresh beef patties and can choose whatever stuff you want to put on your burger. I had caramelized onions, grilled mushrooms, cheddar cheese, and lots of lettuce! For the first time, I really loved my burger! Free roasted, unsalted peanuts are also served free! Suzanne and Dean also treated us to good Syrian food with beef, lamb, and chicken shawarma, hummus and pita bread, and, of course, near Dean’s office.

 

Five Guys! (that''s the name of the burger place)

Syrian Food

But we also had a scare. Last Tuesday Bill and I started going back to Bally’s (only Colorado did not sell out to LA Fitness). That afternoon Bill felt a painful knot behind his left knee so he did not go with me to the gym the following day. On Wednesday he ventured to go with me but only did upper body work and soaked in the hot tub instead. By Friday, his whole left leg, from the hip on to his foot, was feeling numb, tight, and painful. We went to the urgent care center and were quickly dispatched to the emergency room of the hospital nearby.

the ultrasound said it all

What we feared became reality. They found several blood clots on his left leg. They conducted more blood tests and he was given injections to break down the clots and tablets to thin out his blood. We were also instructed, if he was not to stay overnight at the hospital, to see a family clinic they referred early in the morning of the following day. We did and his INR (international Numerical ratio) was still 1.1. For some who have a high risk of clot formation, the number needs to be higher - about 2.5 to 3.5. So we were instructed to come back on Tuesday. Again, although there was some, improvement it still read 1.7. Therefore, we have to go back Thursday. Hopefully, we will be able to resume out trek to Arizona. As expected, I had a mild flare-up of hives. It is true, stress is the primary cause of my condition.

depending on who was reporting, maximum number of 600,000

And then I got involved. From 10,000 miles away, Facebook connected me to a series of issues in Manila. On Monday, August 26, National Heroes Day in the Philippines, there was a Million People March against pork barrel, a system of funding local projects through senators and congressmen. The Commission on Audit,however, revealed that a lot of them were coursing their allotments to ghost NGOs. On the heels of a controversial automated elections and the aftermath of a killer hurricane, my countrymen had been using social media to express indignation and disgust along with cries for reform and better use of taxpayer money for a better life. My body may not have been there, but my mind and spirit certainly were, for I left the Philippines for the very same reasons!

Thus, the week that was supposed to be simple and easy turned out to be much more. Our traveling lives will soon change to a more settled place and payback.

OLA: Ending the Saga of Our New Used Car in Denver!

the large quartz Bill needs to add to my jewelry collection!

This is the saga of our new used car. There have been such happy events in the past weeks that we couldn’t believe what happened to us. Or maybe we have just been too happy that it was decided we should be tried and tested, too!

First the red Saturn that has been our dinghy for the past 3 years conked out on us. Then we, instead of buying a new one in the US, decided to buy in Canada.  It would have been a lot more expensive otherwise: 1) the plane fare would have cost about $500 for all three of us, Bill, Krishna, and me,  2)  we packed with a road trip in mind so we couldn’t have flown without more expense for luggage fees, and 3) on paper, we found that the 2002 Saturn SL2s we eyed (because we could just move the old one’s towing base plate and wiring to the new one) were even pricier in Seattle!

We researched and prepared all the paperwork that might be needed for the border inspection and the eventual registration in Seattle such as the ‘in transit’ permit from the Canadian Registry Office and the Washington Department of Transportation , the deed of sale from the car dealer, the manufacturer’s compliance letter for EPA and safety standards.  At the border, we were whizzed through in a jiffy. Boy, were we so proud and, boy, were we so wrong!

First the car did not pass the emissions test when Bill was registering it. He had to take it to a Chevy dealer who said that a spring broke on the transmission control box and it is best that we have it done now rather than later. Bill was so glad that the dealer in Canada paid the premium for a $3,000 insurance policy for a year! The part was ordered and the job finished by Friday afternoon.  And the car passed the emissions test. But, that was just the beginning of the ordeal!

It turned out that we had to have a customs clearance from the port of entry.  So Bill went back to the Peach Arch port of entry, 2 hours away, on Saturday. Finally, he got the precious customs clearance. When he went back to the registration office, he was told that he had to have the title. Had we been registering in Canada, the Bill of Sale would have sufficed due to their computerized tracking of the VIN. But we were registering in Washington State, so that Monday, after talking with the Canadian Vehicle Registry Office, Bill sent the car dealer the necessary authorization paper and copies of all documents. Our visit to Jim and his family in Boise, unfortunately, had to be scrapped.

And then another unimaginable thing happened. The car dealer brought the envelope with the document to the Canadian Post Office (not FedEx) who then turned it over to FedEx. This added a day.  Even if we paid for next day delivery, we finally picked it up from the Kent FedEx station on Thursday. The additional delay of a day was because a whole batch of deliveries, which included our little envelope, were released without proper clearance and had to be returned to the Memphis Customs Office!

at the Vehicle Licensing Office in Kent, Washington

Bill camped in front of the FedEx Kent station by 8:30 AM and we got the envelope 5 minutes after they opened at 9. We rushed to the Vehicle Licensing Office and, lo and behold, they quickly had our car plates ready for us! Finally, we were off to two 10-hour, instead of three 7-hour, drive-days. We stopped at Twin Falls, Idaho by 9 PM and the next day, we were off to Denver by 8 AM. At 7 PM, we were tired, but happy to see Suzanne and family again!

finally at Suzanne's driveway in Denver, Colorado!

Even before we reached Denver, we got an email from Cassie, now 12. She has posted 3 more items on her blog: http://askmyparents.blogspot.com. She also has a new phone and the whole trip we kept on texting each other until my last one that said: ‘On 94^th! 1 minute to go’. She is such a sweetie pie. I have shared her blog on Facebook, twitter and Google+. She will definitely beat her friend’s blog with her 350 views as of today!

After a wonderful home-cooked dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, we played four rounds of Mexican train dominoes which I won! But Bill was so tired from 2 days of 10-hour drives he had to retire early but I had to watch the recorded classic quarterfinal match between Federer and Nadal at the Western-Southern Open which we went to in Cincy in 2011. That Nadal beat the legend made my day!

the Happy Harpers at the Weekend Peach Festival

Bill with peach cobblet!

The following day I was excited to join them at the Peach Festival in Lafayette, Colorado, an annual event all about the peach. There were peaches galore and everything about peaches: peach cobblers, peach smoothies, peach pizzas, etc.  It was really hot though and, after a few finds, we trooped to Yak and Yeti, a favorite Indian buffet for a late lunch and early dinner.  The night was devoted to recorded tennis semifinals of the Cincy Open and Nadal beat Berdych to land in the finals.

@ Yak and Yeti Indian Buffet

having fun @ IMAX 

Sunday was a great day at the Denver Museum of Science and History. The added fun was the Scavenger Hunt for elves hidden among dioramas of different exhibits, embedded in videos, or painted into murals. The feature on Galapagos Island at the IMAX Theater moved me to write about something and to complete the other 6 Top 10 Islands of Travel and Leisure Magazine we have also not seen. (We have seen Palawan and Boracay, both from the Philippines at #1 and #2, Bali, and Prince Edward Island. 

the Denver Skyline from atop the museum

We also watched The Cosmic Journey at The Planetarium and learned new stuff about our Solar System.  Cassie then led me to the top floor where I got a great shot of the Denver Skyline. Sadly, however, I lost the pop tab bracelet Cassie made for me. We were able to register it at the Lost and Found. I hope a good samaritan finds it! We ended the weekend with the movie Oz, the Great and Powerful.  But I was able to watch Nadal finally beat Isner at the finals! 

the lovely bracelet Cassie made me which I lost!

It was a busy weekend with the Happy Harpers so, with their permission, we decided to stay longer!

OLA: Thrice Making it to Five!

top view of , my 2 dozen yellow roses from Bill!

our parting family shot in Calgary

It was hard leaving Calgary for we knew we couldn’t take Kai with us. But being able to take care of my fifth grandchild, albeit just for 5 weeks, has been wonderful. Come to think of it, I was able to oversee the care of Krishna until she was 10 and Yeye until she was 6, fully baby-sit Kenji until he was two and Enzo until he was four months. In just 2 years, I will most probably be taking care of my sixth, April’s (she says she will have only 1), and I will have no more unfinished business as a grandparent. But then I may be given the chance for great grandparenthood next! Wonder if I will make it to 5 then, too?

final Canadian scenery

We left Calgary at 8:30 AM Mountain Time and arrived in Seattle at 9:30 PM Pacific Time, all of 14 hours accounting for time change. It was supposed to be 11 ½ hours but we had three stops: the Port of Entry border inspection, lunch, and dinner. So it wasn’t that bad for Krishna and me but it must have been very tiring for Bill. Krishna slept most of the way and I finished 2 more chapters of editing my book (3 left to go and the manuscript finally goes to my editor)!

The fly in the ointment is the used Saturn we brought in from Canada. But let me talk about this continuing saga next post because it isn't resolved yet! Hopefully, in the next couple of days we will be able to drive on to Suzanne's home in Denver! We have had to skip the visit to Jim's family in Boise!

Yeye's 17th birthday and Krishna's send-off PARTY!

view of Mt. Rainier and the Sound from the deck of the Zderics

The good thing is that we were able to attend Krishna’s send-of party and Yeye’s 17^th birthday party on Saturday evening and had a restful Sunday, prepared for any new challenges in the saga of the car. Plus we were able to visit the Zderics at their new house on Bremerton on the Sound. What a lovely home and dinner Irene and Fred had waiting for us. We even were able to see my good friend Fides Alviar for lunch n Sunday. And Krishna, my First Apo, treated Yeye and I to a sushi lunch!

Krishna's birthday treat for Yeye and grandma with her short white hair!

Madison Park Conservatory Signature Event

But the third 5 is this...Bill and I have just made it to 5 years! It was at 8 PM, August 8, 2008 (8888) was when we, sailing aboard Champagne Lady on Lake Union with 65 guests on board, said our ‘I Dos!’ It has literally been a long road from then until now. Bill surprised me with 2 dozen yellow roses! Then we had a special cocktail reception and four-course dinner with 19 other couples, a Visa Signature Event at the Madison Park Conservatory on the Seattle waterfront at 43rd Avenue East. 

It was sponsored by Bank of America, Alaska Airlines, Madison Park Conservatory, and Lost Canyon Winery in Sonoma Valley, California for Visa Signature cardholders.  Raw oysters, foie de gras, prosciutto ham, curried beef tongue, and baked brie with special bread and champagne filled the reception table. Dinner started with a special vichysoisse, then melon cucumber salad for me and heirloom tomato salad for Bill, quickly followed by a crispy prawn aperitif. An orzo dish baked with cheese and spices was served family style just prior to the petite fillet mignons. For dessert it was chocolat pans, berries, and cream.

with MJ and Ron at the Visa Signature Event

Chef Mahoney talked about everything he was serving us.  And winemaker Brad explained at tableside all the wine pairings, the Chardonnay for the salads, the Pinot Noir for the orzo and the heavier Pinot Noir for the steaks. But the best thing was that we sat with a very interesting couple, Ron of the Ophthalmology Center in Harbor View Hospital (and a chef himself) and Mary Jo, a bacteriologist from the biotech firm that makes hemostatin. Thus we had the perfect ambience: excellent hosts, new friends, good food, and great wines by the Sound! Bill couldn’t have asked for more. Neither can I, actually. 

OLA: Having Three Times a Lady One More Time!

Claudine, Carol, and Krishna

My dashing Bill came back on July 29 at 6:30 PM fresh from another Alaska experience with daughter Cristine, her husband Mitch, and her son and Bill’s first grandchild Kyle who arrived from Hawaii. He immediately attended to the to-dos of bringing our new Canadian car into the US: a compliance letter from GM, the paperwork from the dealer to get temporary papers to get to the border and a temporary trip ticket from Idaho and Washington to pass through these states before getting the full registration in Washington. Plus further testing of the car for any troubles not revealed during the hasty purchase.

Krishna, 21

Because my knight has arrived, I am once again a lady, dyeing my hair, putting on a bit of make-up, dressing up a bit, etc. Meanwhile, my daughter Claudine’s body is returning to normal, becoming the definite lady of the house, preparing menus, picking up groceries, and prettifying the house in addition to taking care of Kai. But the great news is that a third lady has come to visit! My eldest granddaughter, Trisha’s daughter, and Claudine’s goddaughter Krishna arrived from Seattle on Aug. 1.

We now have three times a lady for Krishna is another one! Claudine was a convenient second Mom at the time when she and Trisha were still teenagers and I was, as usual then, the provider, the man of the house. When Krishna was 10, she migrated to the US with Trisha and sister Yeye to join Deejay. She soon plunged into the misadventures of an American teenager. Due to unfortunate circumstances, we found each other in Calgary when Enzo was born. And now, under better circumstances, we find each other again with Kai!

Krishna and Kai

dimsum lunch at T-Pot

Now, she has graduated from the Gene Juarez Beauty Academy in Seattle and passed the State Board Exams. Ready to take on a career, she will relocate to Los Angeles City in two weeks. This visit is Claudine’s farewell of sorts, launching her to another phase in her life, when, hopefully freedom begets responsibility. Then she drives with us to Seattle for her despedida and farewell camping with her immediate family. What great moments to be part of!

Halo-halo and San Miguel beer at Pacific Hut

Bubblemania wings and tea

Her visit consisted of lots of eating out: dimsum lunch at T-Pot, bubble tea and chicken wings at Bubblemania, Filipino comfort food in Pacific Hut, and great pizzas in Famoso. But we also had plenty of eating in: shrimp scampi with pasta in Alfredo sauce, baked beef lasagna with garlic bread, sushi platters, pulled pork buns, etc. We also shopped a lot for pasalubongs for the Aberions. Finally, I found Ecco slippers that would provide lots of support for my feet.  Actually, I have been limited to only a couple of hours of walking a day due to pain that grows on my left heel as the day wears on.

baked beef lasagna at home

Filipino breakfast at home

But the highlights of Krishna’s stay were four-fold. First was the Rose and Crown Bar in downtown Calgary with Arnold, Jamie and his friends on Saturday evening. They came home at 3 am! Oh the parties of the happy-go-lucky! The second is the hair coloring session today courtesy of Rath, Claudine’s friend and expert hair stylist. What an educational send-off for Krishna. I wanted to get mine colored burgundy and I probably could have but Bill was not impressed by the idea – at all. Then, of course, there was baby-sitting Kai. And lastly, there was the $6,000 massage chair where she spent many an hour.

Krishna at the Calgary Viewpoint

Krishna lounging at the special massage chair

Tomorrow morning we leave early for the 11-hour drive to Seattle, the registration of our new car, the final send-off of Krishna and the 17^th birthday party of Yeye, the visit to the new home of the Zderics in Bremerton on Puget Sound, and our 5^th Anniversary Dinner at the Madison Park Conservatory.