US Trip Abridged 1.0

I haven't been a good blogger since my trip to the US. Of course, there were a lot of issues that surrounded the lack of posts - the near immediate return to work days later, the need to upload the mass of pictures taken to Facebook, and reviving roleplaying with Kai. So to make up for it, I've decided to just wrap up the trip into two posts and hope that it counts for a good recollection piece looking back. Some memorable pictures surely to be included below!

All in all, my family and I went to four states and a few more cities.
San Diego and San Francisco in California, New York, New Jersey and the capital city of the United States, Washington D.C. It was a mix of old, renewed experiences of familiar places and new, breathtaking experiences of uncharted territory and sorta familiar places alike. So let's start the show and tell!

This entry captures the first part of our trip, focusing on our New York leg. Part two will have some outtakes from our brief New Jersey stop, Washington and San Francisco!

1. In-n-Out Burger, San Diego

Our midnight snack on the LONG drive from Los Angeles to San Diego. Dad wasn't able to join the flight with us, so it was just my siblings and my mom who arrived. My uncle Patrick and auntie Rose picked us up at LAX, and the drive was epically long.

2. Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York

My last trip to New York was a good 8 years ago back in summer 2004. At the time, I went with my uncle Patrick and cousin Troy, who at the time had graduated from college. Back then, my fondest memory of this place in New York was buying tickets to see the Broadway show of the timeless 'Phantom of the Opera'! We watched it at the Majestic Theater, and without fail, the broadway was absolutely magical and breathtaking! Now if only I could have watched The Boy from Oz....

3. Bethesda Fountain, Central Park, New York

The iconic fountain; a backdrop in a lot of movies shot in New York City. The first time I saw this 8 years ago, it was as breathtaking as I remember it to be~ Considering we live across Central Park, navigating to this fountain wasn't so much an issue as it was a true adventure just getting there.

4. Empire State Building, Midtown Manhattan, New York

My first trip to New York didn't put us in the luxury of having tours. We made like anti-tourists and took the subway to directly go to places we wanted to see, completely missing out on seeing the Empire State altogether. This time around however, we got the opportunity to see it during our Hop On-Hop Off tours around Downtown.

5. Flat Iron Building, Midtown Manhattan, New York

The iconic building where I always remember the Daily Bugle from the Spider-Man movies. A fantastic sight both point forward and from the side.

6. Statue of Liberty, Liberty Island, New York

Always a majestic view, and another icon of the great city on the East Coast. This trip was my first time touching down on Liberty Island to see Lady Liberty up close, so it was a real treat to actually appreciate and learn a little more about her and her significance in terms of symbolism and construction.

7. Bow Bridge, Central Park, New York

That bridge they use in Central Park for a LOT of scenes in movies and TV series would most probably be this one. Recently, I saw this featured during Episode 5 of Doctor Who Season 7!

8. Imagine Mosaic, Central Park, New York

Truth be told, I've heard about this, seen this in pictures, but it was indeed my first time seeing this "in the flesh" near Strawberry Fields in the midst of the vast Central Park. :) Hard to imagine hoe much of an impact this mosaic is, and not many people know that it's actually to fuss over and take a picture by!

9. The London, West Midtown Manhattan, New York

GORDON RAMSAY'S RESTAURANT! First learned about this during an episode of the 12-Michelin star chef's 'Kitchen Nightmares US'. So it was an absolute MUST to go and find this place no matter what and just have a picture outside it! And by some awesome circumstance, I found it! The London Bar, which also houses other restaurants of the 12-Michelin Star superchef: Gordon Ramsay at the London and Maze by Gordon Ramsay at the London. Hopefully someday I'll be able to sit down at one of these restaurants and have a bite to eat. Someday.

10. Nintendo World, Midtown Manhattan, New York

Seated in the midst of Rockefeller Center lies a two-story wonderland that is Nintendo World! From Pokemon to Super Mario Bros to Zelda and the like, it's an AWESOME store that sells merchandise and gadgetry of Nintendo happiness.

11. FAO Schwarz, Midtown Manhattan, New York

Ever remember Home Alone and that Big Piano in the toy store in New York? Well... THIS was the place! It's HUGE and full of toys of all sorts, including a Muppet workshop, sweets and candies, and stuffed animals, figurines and merchandise of all sorts! Toys, toys, TOYS!

12. Castle's Exterior Apartment, Soho, New York

Exterior used for Richard Castle's apartment in the ABC TV series, "Castle". :) It was a special side trip I took with my good HS friend Rina, bringing us all the way down to Soho. Definitely worth the trip, though I was at one point unsure if it was the place. But from some fun angle, I confirmed it. :)

13. Belvedere Castle, Central Park, New York

Location indicated in the Richard Castle penned "Heat Rises" in the middle of Central Park. One of the last places my friend Rina and I went to spending the latter half of the day together. While having full intentions of locating it, we actually stumbled across it by accident since we were almost getting lost and I wasn't going to ask for directions when the adventure of finding it was still there. Fun thing to note about Belvedere Castle is that it's actually used as a weather station of sorts, so the forecasts come from here, though it's more catered to the skies over Central Park, rendering some weather forecasts irrelevant in other areas of New York City. Go figure.

See you all in part 2!

Tenipuri Season 2 Jackets~

So yesterday, Kai and I went out to locate a gift for her cousin Chloe, who turns 2 today. After careful consideration of where we'd be going, I decided to drive us off to SM North Edsa. There are, of course, several reasons why I take her there. 

1. It's a mere 10 minute drive (depending on traffic) from my house

2. It's one of the biggest SM branches in the country

3. It's got most everything we want there. 

4. It was one of my most frequented malls prior to the rise of TriNoma and the mall's massive renovations. 

Last Saturday, we went there for dinner, decided on eating at Sakae Sushi located at the Annex building. As I was waiting in line at the BDO ATM, we found, to our dismay, that it had closed down. I guess profits weren't exactly on the positive side for the conveyor-belt sushi buffet. Ah well, economy. Instead, she decided to let me decide where to go, so we traded the sushi buffet for a nice food-hopping at Burger King, then Yoshinoya, capped off with some books shopping at a booksale on our way back to the carpark. 

Yesterday's misadventures brought us back to a second visit to anime specialty shop Comic Alley. We actually passed by this store twice last week to look for the Shin Tenipuri jackets of the U-17 camp and the One Piece poster collection, only to find both out of stock. This week, however, we our lucky day! Not only were several things on sale, but there was finally stock of the jackets, and Ryouma's hat to boot! I snatched us those as well as the posters she was looking for last time, and her only exclamation after all this (besides the usual proclamation of loving me for all eternity) - "I finally have a Tenipuri jacket with my size!T^T" 

xD Pretty hilarious actually, but all the same, sweet. x)

It's just the jacket, and there isn't much talk about a set coming out anytime soon, but I AM hoping they put the black jackets out to production too! Anyway, pictures of the jacket and the hat below~

Since we were hungry, we decided to eat at someplace new! A little Japanese place called Katsutei, where their specialty was their Katsudon. Kai and I had the Katusdon and Pork Tonkatsu especially, and wouldn't you know it, they actually tasked quite swell! And at an affordable price to less than P200 for each value meal. Not bad (on my wallet)!

Purchase Arrivals

What a treat after a long day at the office today! After being swamped to my neck in Excel formulas for one of my projects, I get picked up by my dad, who earlier that day, informed me that my pre-ordered copy of Richard Castle's fourth book in the Nikki Heat series, Frozen Heat, arrived from his friend in San Francisco! It's unexpectedly thinner than Heat Rises, but I'm happy to now that at least I finally have it on hand~ As was in my previous post below, this was one of the two books on my pending reading list once I finish Fifty Shades Freed. We'll see how things go, or where I lean over to - crime/mystery or tragicomedy.

And while we're on the subject, Season 5 has already started! It was indeed worth the wait and the episodes so far have been epically hilarious and ingenious at the same time. Yei~

The second of that little package was the skin for my Galaxy Ace. During my stay in the US, I took the time to purchase my current phone online on Amazon. While I was there, I ticked off some accessories to accommodate it - screen protectors and this skin. The screen protectors that were with my Uncle mysteriously disappeared/haven't arrived yet, so I'll settle for the skin that my Aunt sent over.

Waitlist

I always enjoy a good read, especially if it's worth it. The character, the plot, the premise - anything that gets me to read (okay, might as well include the author in the selection process) a physical book is always a welcome thought.

Lately, my love for reading was rekindled some months ago because of the Nikki Heat novels. Since then, I have been with a book in my bag every step of the way; to the last Artemis Fowl book, the Fifty Shades trilogy and the pending list of books after that. Scheduled on my waiting list are two titles by no so unknown people: JK Rowling's new adult novel The Casual Vacancy and the latest Nikki Heat novel Frozen Heat.

Before I get to any of those though, a little book called Fifty Shades Freed still stands in my way. I hope I could get to finishing it soon. I'm still figuring out which among the two I read next.

Work, Play, Sleep

I have a routine five days a week - wake up at 5:30 (or 5:15 on Wednesdays), take a shower, get dressed, ride to Makati with my mom, work for 8 hours, ride home with my mom at an indeterminable time, go home, chat with Kai if it's still early, then sleep, of course. I neglect adding when I actually eat, but mostly because it's usually negligible, stagnant or on the fly. Whatever the case may be, rest assured that I don't go without packing in some food amidst all that busy-body cycle that encapsulates my week.

Fridays, luckily enough, tend to be more spontaneous if you take into consideration that it's become common practice for Kai to stay for the weekend, which ultimately means meeting up Friday after work to do whatever. As of late, Kai and I have been finding ways to pass the time, especially if we want to hitch a ride with my mom heading home. For quite some time we took a bus but both of us easily got dizzy during the hour long (sometimes longer) commute that we settled for just riding home with my mom for convenience's sake.

Recently, Kai and I discovered Wako, a Japanese Family KTV and Restaurant right along A. Arnaiz Ave. where I work. A fellow officemate of mine, Mawsi, brought up the place during one random conversation in the pantry while we were consuming our lunch. Very quickly, we became attached to the place since it housed a number of TENIMYU and anime songs in actual Japanese! So a return trip soon is surely in order!

As things are, I don't mind the tedious work schedule. It's all to work myself up to a regular spot (just like Tenipuri!) and rise through the ranks within my company. Fingers crossed!

New Phone (Yet Again)

So I've had this phone for about a month now, but I never really got the time to introduce it to you all. Meet my new-new phone, a Samsung Galaxy Ace. My dream phone that ended up to be a not-so-dreamy phone gave me some fun but with everything chugging along in technical advancements, I figured that getting an Android to couple with my iTouch was the better option than going for an iPhone altogether. 2 gadgets means more stuff for well, stuff.

So this lil' guy I named Shoryuu or as I jokingly refer to it, the BannerPhone. Half of the reason is because Mark Ruffalo playing Bruce Banner is my current wallpaper for it, while the other is just because I'd think the good doctor would make his own brand of phone to contest anything that Tony decides to develop.