i have been watching the australian open live on tv. i miss being in the tennis stadium witnessing first hand the great plays of the great tennis players. i miss seeing petrova getting very mad and throwing her racket. i miss hearing sharapova’s shrieks. i miss feeling shocked when hantuchova retired from a match. i miss looking for sharapova’s dad in one of the seats in the stadium. i miss shouting ‘go maria!’ i wish i can experience everything again.
i’m back in california, just in time for christmas. there were a lot of people in the newark airport, most of them were sitting on the floor. we got to the airport early so we thought of asking if we can get to an earlier flight to lax. the continental officer laughed at me because all the flights to lax were full. well, i just wanted to try our luck and see if we can get to lax earlier than planned.
i’m going to miss the east coast. my relatives are very kind and accommodating. before we entered the airport, our cousin-in-law gave us a hug and that made me cry. i didn’t want to cry and i didn’t want anyone to see me crying, but i guess it couldn’t be helped. i also cried when the plane was taxiing in the runway, ready to leave newark. tears just started flowing when i was looking by the window, good thing the lights in the plane were dimmed.
earlier today, i was in the car with my tita and we were talking about my trip. she asked me which place i like more. i told her i like the east coast more than the west. i really don’t know why i like it more there. it’s very cold, the weather is gloomy, the skin gets very dry and itchy (my hands were very red from dryness, it seemed like i have a wound; lotion was not enough to moisturize my skin), the subway is not very clean, and the streets are like manila (tight roads with lots of cars parked on the sides). unlike in california, the weather is great and it’s spacious wherever you go. only problem in california is it’s hard to commute. i guess i got attracted to the fast-paced life, which my tita doesn’t like about the east coast besides the weather.
December 20, 2007
My nieces and nephew had a Christmas play in school and while watching them, I remembered the Christmas plays I was a part of in school and in church. My part was always an angel and I remember my dad making me wings every Christmas. He’d use a somewhat hard white paper as the base of the wings and then cut little pieces of crepe paper and paste it on the cartolina as my feathers. He’d also attach a string of some sort so i can wear the wings like a backpack. I think I also have a garland as my halo. I wonder why these kids don’t have wings. Did the teachers think that it was too much to ask the parents to make wings for their kids? Or the kids will be bumping with each other if they were wearing wings? I’m so happy my dad was patient and good with making me wings. I think I was happy running around the house with my wings when I was a kid.
december 8, 2007
i went with my cousin and her kids to a nursing home in new jersey. it’s a project of their church–bring a little christmas cheer to the veterans. it was a nice place. it even has it’s own beauty salon and their tv is a widescreen. it was kinda sad to see them in a nursing home, though. i mean, it’s probably because of the filipino culture that we live with our grandparents. i really felt sad for them. i hope their families visit them often.
the girl in the picture is my niece, lauren. she sang for the veterans. she has a really beautiful voice. on the way to the nursing home, she was listening to the song she was going to sing. when she was singing the song in the car, i thought that what i was hearing was still the cd. that’s how good her voice is–so angelic.
december 1, 2007
i took the flight to newark at 835am. it was a good flight because there weren’t much people in the flight. i didn’t even have seatmates, the flight attendant were offering some people to change seats because a lot were vacant. i didn’t eat much, though, during the flight. i didn’t feel like eating. i finished the fruits on the breakfast tray but took only two bites of the cheese omelet, two bites of the muffin, and two spoons of the yogurt, so much for wasting food. the flight arrived earlier than scheduled too, which was great. the only thing not good during the flight was, there was a lot of turbulence.
i noticed that people didn’t clap when the plane landed because i remember the people clapping in my previous flights. i wondered anyway why people clap after the plane lands. is it because the plane landed safely? or it’s a praise to the pilot for a smooth landing? if it’s the latter one, will the pilot ever hear the clapping with the headsets and the secluded area?
i was met at the airport by my cousin-in-law who works there. when i saw him we shook hands. talk about being awkward. haha. but after that it’s all good. he’s so funny. he was asking if i knew him because it’s been a very long time since i last saw him.
i stayed with my cousin for the night and when we got home after dinner, i played the wii with my niece and nephew. it was my second time playing the wii and i swear it really hurts my arm. i think i’m good with golf, though. haha.
sunday was the first day of snow. it was freezing. the temperature was around 1 degree celsius. we went out to clear the pathway because according to my cousin if someone gets in an accident in your property, the person can sue.
november 29, 2007
my sister, my cousin, and i helped my tita fix the christmas decorations outside the house. it was so fun. i miss decorating our house in manila. i was always persistent in putting up the christmas tree after all soul’s day. unlike here, christmas decorations start showing up after thanksgiving, which is a bit late for me. haha.
my tita also have a very cute little santa village that i just had to take a picture of it.
it is not a tradition in the philippines to celebrate thanksgiving so my sister and i had our first thanksgiving last thursday. thanksgiving sort of marks the beginning of the christmas season here in the US, and because it’s a special event, we had a family picture taking. tah dah…
(clockwise from left, tita lou (my dad’s sister), tito francis (tita lou’s husband), my sister, me, my lola (my dad’s mom), and francine)
i had fun during my first thanksgiving. i wish the whole world celebrated thanksgiving because it’s so good to be around family and friends. i know that you should be thankful everyday for everything, but the chance to be with all your loved ones is very rare and thanksgiving is one reason where you can be around them.
we celebrated thanksgiving with my tito’s family. there was an instance where my tito’s sister-in-law was talking to us. i thought she was funny because while we were talking, she looked at me and talked about my skin color. she compared me to paper. she said that i’m like my tita, who’s very white like paper. i found it funny. i’ve never been compared to paper in my whole life.
after dinner, we went home just to change because the outlet stores were opening at 12 midnight. there’s an outlet store near our place so we thought we’d go there and check out what’s on sale. we were so surprised to see a lot of people. most of the people lined up outside the stores, ignoring the coldness of the midnight. it was crazy. lines at the cashier were also very long. it would take an hour in line to finish your purchase. i’ve never seen such craziness in shopping here in the states. it was like greenhills during the christmas season, literally hard to walk around.
after the outlets, we thought we’d check out the mall because some malls open very early for the after-thanksgiving sale. there was also a lot of people but it was more manageable to walk around and wait in line to pay. when we got home, i was very tired and sleepy. i slept until around 3pm. took my breakfast/lunch/snack at around 330pm, took a shower, and went to the mall again. talk about being a shopaholic. haha.
My cousin, my sister, and I went to day 4 of the East West Bank Classic. Day 4 was full of Round 3 matches. Most of the matches were during the day, which meant that we were under the sun the whole day. My friends know that I don’t like the sun, but i endured it to see famous players. Haha. We brought all sorts of protection from the sun (sunblock, umbrella, jacket, blanket–for the hot seats, caps). We still got sunburn, but it was fine. This only happens once. Haha.
First match was Nadia Petrova vs. Katarina Srebotnik. I noticed that Petrova is a bit short-tempered. She threw her racket twice. She first threw it at the floor and then at the chair. She also hit the net with her racket for not getting a point. During one service, there were some people who were a bit noisy and she shouted at them. This is a bit understandable because you need concentration when playing. What I don’t understand is, why was she getting mad when she was winning the game? Petrova won 6-1, 6-2.
Next match was Elena Dementieva (defending champion of the East West Bank Classic) vs. Daniela Hantuchova. I like Hantuchova. I find her very pretty. I like her tennis outfits also. Haha. Unfortunately, Hantuchova had to retire in the second set due to something. Dementieva won 6-3, 4-1.
Third match was the one we’ve been waiting for, Maria Sharapova vs. Michaella Krajicek. Of course, we witnessed the ever famous shrieks of Sharapova. It was the loudest shriek I’ve ever heard from all the players I’ve watched. Sharapova’s match was the longest. The match lasted for about 3 hours. Krajicek is a good player too, maybe the reason Sharapova had a hard time beating her. While the Sharapova match was happening, we were looking for her dad. We were looking for a man wearing a Motorola cap, a Nike shirt, and shades. Haha. We found him sitting at the East Concourse (we were at the West Concourse). Sharapova won 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-4. After Sharapova’s game, we came face-to-face with her dad. How cool was that??? Haha. I took some stolen shots of her dad while he was waiting for the elevator.
Next match was Ana Ivanovic vs. Lucie Safarova. I was rooting for Ivanovic. She’s a really good player, and she’s very young too. I see that she has a lot of potential in playing tennis. The match was pretty quick. Ivanovic won 6-2, 6-2.
The last match for the day session was a doubles match of Tatiana Poutchek/Anastasia Rodionova vs. Daniela Hantuchova/Martina Hingis. I thought that I was finally going to see Hingis play. Unfortunately, as I’ve mentioned earlier, Hantuchova retired in her singles match and have withdrawn from the tournament.
The first match for the night session was Jelena Jankovic vs. Sybill Bammer. After the Ivanovic game, we went out of the stadium to buy some drinks and we passed by Jankovic. My cousin asked her for a photo op but she said, "Oh, I’m getting ready for my match." It felt bad to be rejected, but at least she said it in a nice way. Jankovic is the runner-up in last year’s tournament. During her match, we noticed that she’s a really nice person. When her opponent had a very good shot, she clapped for her opponent. Now, who does that??? She was also smiling and laughing at some of the comments of the audience. She was even laughing at herself when she makes an unforced error. She’s really jolly, it’s as if she’s not taking the game seriously. Unlike Petrova, who gets angry a lot of times. Haha. Jankovic won 6-2, 6-1.
The final match for the night session was a doubles match of Alicia Molik/Mara Santangelo vs. Jill Craybas/Laura Granville. We didn’t stick around for this match because it was getting late, but Molik/Santangelo won 6-1, 6-4.
It was really fun watching tennis at the stadium. My dream before was to have a chance to watch the Wimbledon. I think this is enough. Haha. After all, I get to see famous players. But I still haven’t witnessed the men play, at least at the stadium. Now, who wants to finance my trip to New York and watch the US Open? Haha.
*for pictures visit sandratherese.multiply.com
Last Monday night, August 6, I watched tennis with my sister, my Lola, and my cousin. We are all tennis fans. My sister and my cousin even play tennis. Monday was the first day of the East West Bank Classic Tournament. It was held at the Home Depot Center, home of the LA Galaxy (team of David Beckham, not lucky enough to see him. haha). The tournament is part of the US Open Series. The first match was an exhibition game of John McEnroe and Jim Courier. They were so funny. At some point, McEnroe was imitating Rafael Nadal because he was also left-handed. McEnroe is famous for his line, "You can’t be serious." So throughout the match, some people were shouting, "You can’t be serious." Courier joked around that he was irritated that McEnroe was winning, so he gave his racket to a ball kid and he let her play. The girl was pretty good because she was able to hit the ball and volley with McEnroe. But of course, McEnroe wasn’t hitting the ball that hard. McEnroe won the first set, so I thought he was going to win the match. But Courier got the second set, so the third set was a tie-breaker. Finally, Courier won the game. After their match, they gave out tennis balls signed by them. We weren’t lucky enough to catch a ball. The ball kids also had a photo op with them, how lucky.
The night was chilly too, even if it was summer. Some people even brought blankets with them. We didn’t expect it to be very cold so we just had jackets with us.
The next match was Sania Mirza (India) vs. Aleksandra Wozniak (Canada). Mirza’s ranking is 35, while Wozniak’s ranking is 109. Their match was quick, it was just over an hour. Mirza won 6-3, 6-2.
*for pictures, visit sandratherese.multiply.com
i’m finally in LA. flight to LA was uneventful but i thought i’d still write something about it. so here goes…
i was seated beside an indonesian woman who i think is in her 60s. she didn’t speak much english, not that we tried to talk or anything. when the plane was nearing LA, we had to fill out forms that we had to give to the immigration officer. she was asking help from the flight attendants and when there was no flight attendant to help her, she’d ask me. it was hard understanding her. i really couldn’t hear an english word coming from her. anyway, on my other side were two american guys who were in their late teen years. they slept most of the flight and i envied them. i didn’t have a long sleep during the flight. i’d wake up from time to time and when i wanted to go back to sleep, i couldn’t. so sometimes, i’d read or watch whatever was showing. it was hard for me to watch because i was 4 or 5 rows away from the screen and i’m not exactly a tall person. plus, the quality of the picture on the screen was not that good. blades of glory was shown twice during the flight and i didn’t watch it. i’m not exactly a fan of the actors in the movie.
food was first served at 12 midnight, philippine time. i really wondered why they would serve food just two hours after take off. i was thinking people just wanted to get some sleep first. anyway, it was a choice between prawns with noodles and beef with rice. because i’m not eating rice these days, i went with the prawns with noodles. it was the usual plane food but there was a generous serving of the prawns. i liked the dessert also. it was cake but i don’t really know what it’s called. i liked the flight attendant serving my aisle. he was very nice. after he gave me my food, he asked what i wanted to drink and i asked for some orange juice. after which, he asked if i wanted some water also and i noticed that he didn’t ask the others if they wanted water also. the flight attendant serving the other aisle was not as friendly as my flight attendant. she really had this serious face on her.
when the plane arrived at the airport, it was a very long walk from the gate to the immigration counters. lines were also very long because there were other flights that arrived the same time as ours. when the counters for US citizens were almost done with the residents, visitors were allowed to line up to those counters. there were three officers who would get people from my line. finally, it was my turn. the officer who asked me questions was also the officer who asked questions to the indonesian woman beside me during the flight. there was a problem with her forms so the officer told her to go back. when it was my turn, the officer asked me if i’d like to help the indonesian woman and i said i already helped her in the plane. he was also having a difficult time entertaining her because she didn’t speak english. anyway, the procedure right now is that they’d scan your left and right index finger and take a picture. the officer asked me to smile on the picture, because he said i have a great smile on my passport. haha. i didn’t smile at first because i noticed that the people who went ahead of me just had their serious face for the camera. anyway, the officer was really friendly to me and even offered me an advice when he learned that i didn’t have a husband or a boyfriend. he said i have to be careful because there are seamen out there trying to look for wife.
i was finally off to get my luggage. i had to wait for my luggage for a very long time. at some point, i became nervous about my luggage being lost somewhere or being picked up by some other people by mistake. there was a filipino mom beside me waiting for her luggage also so that helped me to not be nervous. our luggage were the last ones to arrive. it was amazing that i was able to carry the luggage from the carousel to my cart. it was the biggest worry of my mom because i’m really not allowed to carry anything heavy because of my scoliosis. i was finally going to the exit. when i got to the exit, i immediately saw my sister, and then my tito, and then my lola, and lastly, my tita and my cousin. in the car, they were arguing about who i saw first. my lola and my tito insisted that they were the first one i saw but it was really my sister. haha. my sister and i were just laughing about it inside the car.
so there goes my adventure from traveling alone the first time. i really thought it was going to be hard to be alone but it wasn’t. people are really helpful and friendly.
