Change of Plans!
As it turns out, lola was able to sweet-talk my Papa to allow Mama and I to join her in California. Papa had to work so he had to stay home in KY. After our two weeks in California, we will then meet him in Orlando for a weekend with Lolo.
The rest, let's just say, is history!
Mama first thought to write separate accounts of all the travels but, I think she dropped her thinking cap in one of the roller coasters in Orlando, and decided to just make one blog entry for the entire trip. And if you want to see our pictures... click on the link. There's just too many of them to upload here!
CALIFORNIA and NEVADA
January 21-29 2005: Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Victorville
Ohh... to have the sun warming our cheeks in the middle of winter. That's California for you!
We were met at the airport by my Tita Samantha and Lola Dinah. Actually, Lola Dinah is my Lolo's cousin, and she is actually almost just as old as Mama. Mama got married a few months earlier than Lola Dinah, and I was actually born a few months earlier than my Tita Sam. This accounts for the rear-facing and front-facing arrangements of our car seats. Hehe. I apologize for our weird family tree :)
We first stayed at Tita Sam's house in Anaheim, it's dangerously close to Disneyland hehe. Lola Dinah, took us to Downtown Disney, as well as the Disneyland hotel where she and Lolo Patrick held their wedding reception. Nice!
The following day, we visited some more of my Lolo's cousins, Lola Jun and his wife Lola Zening, at their home near Hollywood. They had a big backyard with lots of orange trees and big burly dogs. It was great to finally meet them. The next time we'll visit them would be in their new home in Sta. Clarita, as they are moving up.
We spent our weekend mostly relaxing and building up our energy. That's because we're going to Vegas, baby!
It was my Mama's first time in Las Vegas as well. Lola Dinah, Mama, Tita Sam and I stayed at the Aladdin Hotel where we had a very nice view of The Strip. My Lola, on the other hand, met up with her "amigas" and stayed at The Four Queens. The Aladdin boasts of the best buffet restaurant in the whole area. Self-proclaimed glutons that we are, we actually ate there twice! Once for lunch, and another for breakfast the following day.
Before heading back to LA, we made three stops.
First, we had the best strawberry milkshakes in the world at the world-famous Mad Greek Diner in Baker, California. The fried calamari, and fried mushrooms are yummy as well!
Second, we dropped by Victorville to visit my Lolo's sister, Lola Prima. She is the manager of the local Hogi Yogi (why oh why is there no Hogi Yogi in KY???). She even gave us the yummiest sandwiches and frozen yogurts for baon. I love her so much because she is so funny! We had dinner in Victorville with our Tito Pabling (Lolo's and Lola Prima's childhood friend from the Pampanga). He treated us to yummy steaks at the Original Roadhouse Grill. After dinner, we all hopped back in the car, including Lola Prima to continue our journey back to LA.
Third and final stop, Palmdale. All this time in Las Vegas, we were travelling with Lola Glo, my Mama and Papa's wedding godparent and Lola's best friend in Bulacan. Her son, Tito Marc is my mama's barkada and classmate way back in elementary school. Lola Glo is such a nice and happy lady. I met the rest of her family for the first time at her home in Palmdale.
Finally, LA!
Upon reaching Lola Dinah's home, we packed-up our bags once again because from then on, we will be staying at the home of Lola Donna (Lola Dinah's sister).
Lola Donna had twin sons, Tito Daryll and Tito Dylan. Looking at them I think I know where my kulit comes from. They took us to lunch at Chowking in Cerritos. You can just imagine how happy my mama was! Plus, we bought an ube cake from the Red Ribbon Bakeshop just beside Chowking. Hehe!
Afterwards, we continued our pasyal in Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Rodeo Drive. Too fancy! Lots of Bling!
What better way to end the night than to have.... Jollibee! Yes we did! But honestly, it's not the same. The chickenjoy was too small, the palabok was mushy, and the Champ was so-so. Plus, it was too expensive!
It was our last night in LA, but I am really happy I got the chance to make the most out of our short stay. I got to meet my relatives and got to eat at Jollibee.
ORLANDO, FLORIDA
January 29 2005: Disney's Magic Kingdom, Orlando
The question is, do I still need to tell you about Disneyworld??? All I can say is, it's really the happiest place in the world! I hope I can come back again when I am much older so I can ride the rides that Mama loves so much.
We stayed at the Comfort Inn in Lake Buena Vista. It's really so close to the Disney Theme parks and you can actually ride the shuttle going to Disneyworld (thus, saving up on the $12 parking fee!) but, the hotel itself is not that comfortable (sorry, comfort inn).
The pictures say it all.
Right now, I just need to tell you about The Earl of Sandwich. If it were possible to have a sandwich that is better than Hogi Yogi... this is it!!!!! At a steal of only $5 each for any of the hot sandwiches at that!!! Mama was in sandwich heaven. Papa, who never cared for sandwiches ate two in one sitting. And lola, ate a yummy salad! So yummmy!!!! Located at Downtown Disney, it's the first Earl of Sandwich store in the US. I hope their second store will be in KY.
January 30 2005: Universal Studios
Six Words: Revenge of the Mummy, The Ride.
I never got to ride it, of course, because I was too young. Nobody wanted to ride it with Mama. So Mama rode alone. And Mama couldn't stop talking about it. And Mama wants to ride it again and again and again. Hehehe!
January 31 2005: Disney's Epcot Center
Our last day in Orlando. This time, Tito Norvic tagged along. Tito Norvic is the son of one of my Lolo's friends who came to Orlando with him. It was also his first time at Disneyworld so we experimented with everything together!
We were deciding which Disney Theme Park to go to today: Epcot, Animal Kingdom, or MGM. We decided to go to Epcot because they told us that they had a new attraction... Mission Space. Of course, mama rode it, this time papa agreed to ride it as well. Papa loved it! But there was another attraction that Papa loved.. it was Test Track. My personal favorite was the ET ride!
Also, the FastPass is a great idea! If you would like to ride on one of the attractions but the lines are too long, you just need to get a FastPass ticket that will tell you when to come back. This way, you can go to the other attractions and not waste your time queueing! Ang galing!
By the way, when in Disney, you have to get the Turkey Legs, hehe.
Ohh the Disney people really have such great imaginations!
Anyway, we had to leave at 4:00pm to be able to catch our 6:30om flight back to KY. Lola, on the other hand will be flying to San Francisco to be with her friends there. Lolo will follow her there after the convention. So it's just going to be Papa, Mama, and Me, once again.
I will miss lola very much.
Lola saying goodbye to me at Orlando Airport. See you next year Lolola!
So this ends my Coast to Coast pasyal. Next up, it's Memorial Day weekend once again. I wonder where our sealegs will take us this time! :D