San Francisco

Friday, October 26
We left Las Vegas and hit the morning rush hour traffic. Fortunately, by the time we passed Tropicana, it loosened up a bit. This time we stopped at the Barstow Station for a much needed rest stop. Donna has been in constant communications with Eph and Rach. They arrived really early in the morning from Hawaii and that they’re flying to San Francisco in the afternoon. We told them it’s unlikely that we’ll still see each other so we’ll just meet up north when we get there tomorrow.

Since we had Sister Gay with us, we went straight to Panorama City to drop her off. Guess where we had dinner? Yup, at Boy and Remy’s place!

We did some of our laundry when we arrived in La Mirada to prepare for our trip to San Francisco tomorrow.

Saturday, October 27
It was planned that we’ll leave between 7-8 but we overslept so we ended up leaving LA at 10 a.m. We had lunch at an IHOP off I-5 and we arrived at Pleasant Hill around 5. Tan was hoping we’ll get there before he goes to work so we can go to lunch but of course there’s no way for us to get there that early leaving LA as late as we did.

He’s already gone when we arrived. Dandy took us to a nearby Chinese buffet for dinner. Eph and Rachel will be in the wedding reception till around midnight. We called a couple of friends and relatives hoping they can take Manami and Reggie around to see San Francisco by night. But since it’s a last minute thing, there was no one available. And Reggie felt too tired from the drive so they decided to kick back and go see the bridges tomorrow as planned.


Sunday, October 28
Tan was already home when we woke up and he took us to a nearby IHOP for brunch. Daniel, Reggie and Manami weren’t quite ready so Dandy prepared some breakfast for them on the table. At the IHOP Tan’s brother Tony and Tan and Dandy’s daughter Christine met us. Christine took her Dad to the airport on his way to the Philippines right after we finished our meals.

While the kids were getting ready, I tried to map out our route going to the bridges. I’m not too keen on driving the freeways of San Francisco so when we were on the 880 freeway, it felt as if we were going in the wrong direction. Donna called old high school friend Zeny when we were about to drive by the off ramp to their house. We got off the freeway and met her outside their house and she told us we should go back to the opposite direction to go the Golden Gate. It’s good to see her if only for a few minutes. She was a bit disappointed that we didn’t have time to stop and visit.

Finally we got on the Oakland Bay Bridge, paid the toll, took one wrong exit (dang it!), got back on the freeway and took the correct exit, parked and basked in the glory of the Golden Gate Bridge!




When we had our fill of pictures on its east end, we got on the bridge towards Sausalito, took one wrong exit (again!), went back and finally got on the hill overlooking the bridge and the whole of San Francisco.


It was already past 2 p.m. when we decided we’re all ‘bridged-out’ and we were starving getting tired of the snacks we brought with us in the van. It’s time to head towards Fisherman’s Wharf. This time we found it without getting lost!


We saw a multi level parking structure and immediately went inside. We had to walk down 2 floors to the street and hurriedly looked for a restaurant. Tarantino’s looked promising and it had a cool view upstairs of the marina. I had to ask the waitress if Quentin owned the restaurant. She said, “No he doesn't.”



When lunch was over, we walked around some more, took pictures, got some souvenirs and headed back home to Pleasant Hill.


This is Dan playing Karate Kid with a sea gull on Pier 39.



Since we had a really late lunch, we weren’t quite ready for dinner when we arrived so Dandy let us kick back for a while. Less than an hour later she dragged us to their favorite Three Brothers, a Chinese restaurant located at nearby City of Contra Costa.


As you can see everyone was tired from all the running around in San Francisco.

Las Vegas and Mt. Zion

Tuesday, October 23 - Las Vegas
We woke up bright and early to pick up the rental from Gerald at the Enterprise in the City of Orange. He gave us a nice Chrysler Town and Country mini van with a huge discount, of course. We then proceeded to pick up Sister Gay from Boy and Remy’s place in Panorama City. And since it was around noon when we got there, that’s where we had lunch. They’re closer to the 210 freeway, so we took that route to the 15 to Las Vegas.

It was already early evening when we arrived. I made a pass through the strip to show Manami the lights of Las Vegas which she’s seeing for the first time. After dropping our stuff at Kong Paing’s house we had dinner at the nearby Cannery Casino and then we went back to the strip to take some pictures.


Wednesday, October 24
We overslept a bit so we postponed our Zion trip and we went to have lunch at Cannery Casino instead. After lunch I took them to the Las Vegas Outlet Stores (formerly Belz) for some shopping. They spent a couple of hours shopping and then I took them back to the Strip so they can take daylight pictures.


We dropped off Donna, Daddy Dick and Sister Gay at the Harrah’s then we went walking around. They talked me into going on the New York, New York roller coaster. It was fun but it feels as if I’m getting too old for such ‘youthful’ activities!

They felt as if they’ve taken enough pictures so we went back to Harrah’s to meet the rest for dinner.


Thursday, October 25 - Mt. Zion in Utah
We left Las Vegas at around 8 a.m. and went on our way to the Mt. Zion National Park in Utah. In Mesquite, NV, we went to Oasis Casino and had brunch. This is our usual stop here whenever we go up on the 15 from Las Vegas.

Here’s Reggie and Manami by the Utah/Arizona state line.


It was already around noon when we arrived at Mt. Zion. They’ve changed their policy since the last time we went here. Visitors can no longer drive through the park. Instead, they now have trams that shuttle people in an out of the canyon for free. We were able to avail of a great discount on the entry fee because Daddy Dick was with us. Being a senior citizen, all we got charged was a mere $10.00 and he got a lifetime pass which will enable him (and his companions) to go into any National Park for free.


Mt. Zion has always been one of my favorite National Parks in the US and I can never get tired of going there.


We left at around 5 pm and had a quick bite at Burger King in Hurricane, Utah. It was kind of late when we arrived in Las Vegas so we decided to stay one more night and leave for LA in the morning.

When Reggie and Manami arrived from Japan, she started having some allergy symptoms, runny nose, sneezing, etc. It seems as if her allergies turned into cold and she wasn't feeling too well by the time we got back to Las Vegas. All the more reason for us to stay one more night so she can have a good night's rest.

Post Wedding Stuff, etc.

Sunday, October 21
Dandy’s husband Tan called us not realizing we’ve already gone back to La Mirada. He wanted to treat us for brunch but they’re still in San Diego.

I think he ended up taking Elaine and Gene. Later, Rey and Josie along with Mary and Robert took and showed them around San Diego.

We went to church at 11 in our former parish, St. John of God in Norwalk. Donna and I then took Atching Mariette and son Roland to Costco so Donna can get the prime rib, which she’ll serve for tomorrow’s dinner.

Sister Gay was with us from San Diego so we had to go to Panorama City to drop her off at Boy and Remy’s place. We arrived early evening so they fixed dinner for us.

Monday, October 22
Nido’s Previa has been making this noise and he took it to his mechanic in Bellflower a while ago to get it fixed. The noise went away for a while but yesterday the noise was back. So today I took it back for some warranty work. When they finished I went to Kong Paing’s place since I’m already in Bellflower to pick up the keys to his house in Las Vegas. It was around noon by that time so I had a quick lunch there. I then went to Eph’s house in Long Beach to drop off the wedding gifts that are still in the van. I hung out there a bit until Reggie and Manami’s friend Yosuke arrived from San Diego.

He’s here from Japan to buy some vinyl long playing albums that he in turn sells on line. It took him a while to arrive because he got stuck in the freeway due to the smoke from all the brush fires.


We talked for a little bit when he arrived and then I left to go back to La Mirada.

Donna was already cooking her prime rib when I arrived. Dinner turned out great.

Robert and family came as well as Rose, Jun and Ate Medy. The latter is Rose’s older sister who came from the Philippines for the wedding.

The Wedding of the Year!

Saturday, October 20
Donna had me set the clock for 6:30 a.m. anticipating the time for everyone to change, have her make up done by Emy, etc.



The day before, Rachel pointed out to everyone that the wedding entourage has to be at The Prado by 9:45 so they can pin flowers on everyone.


And of course, on our way, we couldn’t find Park Blvd that’ll lead us straight to Balboa Park. There was some construction going on so we had to make a detour. But since we woke up early enough to prepare, we arrived at the venue on time. We were getting worried about Nido and Emy but when they finally arrived, bless their hearts, they had some breakfast for us.

The ceremony was quite beautiful. It was perfect actually. Our rehearsal from yesterday helped quite a bit. There was a bit of worry about the weather because it was raining and a bit cloudy from the weekend before. But it seems like everything fell into place and the wedding went beautifully.



It was great to see friends and relatives once again, this time on such a happy occasion. The food was great and The Prado's catering staff's way of synchronized serving was quite impressive.


But everyone agrees that the highlight of the reception was the newlywed’s video montage. It can actually be viewed on YouTube.com and it’s been divided into three 8-minute video presentations.


Everyone was impressed by the reception. We had our routine entrance to the hall, with a slight twist – each couple performed a short dance of some kind right before we took our seats.


After the reception, our group, as agreed went to Mary and Robert’s place in San Diego to continue our ‘European’ bonding since Imelda, Ed and Amanda were there as well. I showed them my pictures of the infamous 'Victoria's Secret Models'!



The rest of the wedding entourage went to an after party shindig in a club somewhere in downtown San Diego.

The Wedding Rehearsal

Friday, October 19
One thing we needed to accomplish today was to make my 9 am appointment at the DMV (short for California Department of Motor Vehicles) to get a replacement for my lost driver’s license. The process was pretty quick actually. We arrived at the DMV, I filled out a simple form, paid $21 and was told I should get it in the mail within three weeks. We then proceeded to San Diego for the wedding rehearsal.

The drive was fairly smooth and we got to San Diego with plenty of spare time for the 4 pm rehearsal. So we dropped by Mary and Robert’s place for a while. He was sort of surprised to see us. The last time we saw Robert was when he left Spain several weeks ago. After talking a bit, we headed on out to Balboa Park.

It’s been years since we’ve been to this place and it all seems new.


We were hanging around the amphitheater killing time when Robert and Mary arrived.


A few minutes later, we saw Nido, Emy and kids. We then proceeded to the nearby Prado.

The rehearsal started a few minutes after four. We did a couple of run downs, the second one, this time with the music, felt easier than the first.


And then it was time to go to Old Town San Diego for the dinner at Casa Guadalajara. We, however, went to the Sofia Hotel at downtown San Diego to check in. This hotel reminds me of the various hotels we stayed in Europe. Owing to its age and location I suppose, the room itself was not too spacious and the bathroom was quite small and I thought it was odd that the shower door seems to be missing one half of its sliding counterpart.

When we finished checking in, we asked for directions to the restaurant from the front desk. Of course, we made one wrong turn and had to stop to ask exactly where the restaurant was. We finally arrived to a crowded and packed place. Our group was situated on an outdoor patio. Picture below shows the pastor saying grace before dinner.


The Mexican food was not too bad and everyone was hungry by that time so it actually went down pretty well.


The house Mariachi band added to the evening’s festive mood.


Below, Eph had me and Jun deliver short speeches of thanks to everyone.



Unfortunately Daniel didn’t make it. After the rehearsal, he went to pick up his tux rental but couldn’t get a hold of any of us when he was done. So he just went and waited for us at the hotel.