Aaahh...

Dawn of a new era. Weather reports say rain is coming as if to clean the city of all bad karma. I'm still on Barack-high reading online headlines about yesterday's events from the moment I woke up. One thing does bother me though, along with yesterday's poll results, came the news that Californians have voted YES to Prop 8 which puts the recent marriage of thousands of same-sex couples in danger of being revoked. I don't understand how this happened..and in California of all places! I've always assumed that the citizens of this state were open-minded about these things. But to come together and deliberately eliminate any person's choice to marry whomever they choose is atrocious. Everyone goes on and on about animal rights and all that jazz whatever happened to freedom of choice? Disgusting, ugh.

On to other things...

Tomorrow, I will go in the city. I don't know what I will do but I will get off my million dollar ass and do something. Someone just reminded me that New York is too great to waste one's time being indoors. Sigh...

This is the video that should have accompanied yesterday's park post.

Ugh. I hate how Vimeo randomly picks the poster frames for your videos and it just happen to choose my most unflattering shot. Crap.

I like the part where Omar slides down while saying "I slide down like the little kid I am..." That part where he was on the swing and he suddenly goes "Ohmygod!!!" was because while I pushing him on the swing, a boy ran in front of his swing so close that Omar almost kicked him on the head.

(Omar just corrected me after seeing the video, he actually said, "I slide down like the little pig I am.." hahahaha)

Obama wins US presidential elections!!!

I can't even begin to describe how happy I am. Tito Mo has been sitting in front of the TV watching CNN and he just called me in to see the projections. Obama has gone past a landslide victory gaining enough electoral votes to win this race. Read CNN for updated news!

This is so historical I want to cry. I want to remain in the US even more now! I am sooooooooo happppyyyyy!!!!

Omar and I spent election day in a park nearby where he spent his time playing frisbee, football and hanging with the kiddies in the playground while I stole glances with a hot dad/brother/whatever who was watching this funny little boy. Hahaha! So totally hot, I tell you. He kept doing pull-ups by the monkey bars and would hang around where I was (dorky but very very cute!) Eneeweey....I had no makeup on and was dressed in frumpy clothes so I couldn't channel my inner "Chriselle" and say hello. I just smiled. Hoohah!


Photos here. I LOVE NY. This city makes me want to keep taking photos.

I wish Jammi were here. I need her to read (tarot) for me again. I need to have insight as to where I am and what to expect. I opened my tarot deck and tried to read for myself today. I haven't learned much except for the major arcana cards and I haven't opened my deck since I got to the US. I've been too scared to ask a question since it answered me so vividly the last time. I know this all sounds cuckoo for non-believers. I used to be one I swear but Jammi converted me. My grandmother read tarot cards too. She learned it from a gypsy that used to work for her when she lived in Caracas. She read for me once and everything she said came true. Back then, I figured it was coincidence but I've opened my mind to the radical possibility that it may not all be bullsh!t. Besides, Jammi hasn't told me anything that was untrue.

Anyway, so I took the deck that's been sitting untouched for months. I asked my question, shuffled and dealt myself five cards. I got The Hanged Man, The Devil, Strength, Moon and The Tower. What was my question? Well, only Jammi will have an idea as to what it was. It was that thing I couldn't stop thinking about Jamm. The one I can't get out of my head? The cards may not have told me anything I don't already know but the significance of The Tower card got me curious. The tower represents sudden change, either for the good or the bad. I'm supposed to expect a sharp 180 degree turn soon. I sincerely hope it's for the good because I'm not up for any more bad news. On the other hand, something good may finally come up after the rut I've been in.

Off topic insert:
Forgive me but I really, really, REALLY want to see this.

I saw an old episode of No Reservations in Bali last night and it was there that Tony Bourdain swore was the place that made the best pig ever. I start wondering how his Cebu adventures went. I knew he was supposed to be in Cebu last week to try the only kind of lechon I personally crave for. People who know me know I'm not a hug fan of pork (unless its all lean meat) but Cebu's lechon is absolutely TO DIE FOR. Best eaten with hands, no rice and absolutely NO MANG TOMAS. It is simply the best lechon EVER. Caryl was gracious enough to provide me with a link to a blog detailing his adventures in Cebu. I seriously hope Tony meant it when he wrote this down. I'd be so proud to be part of the country whose roast pig trumps Bali's in Bourdain's list.

Nangati ang pwet ng pamilyang Elabdouni at namasyal. Tito Mo, Tita Chon, Omar and I hopped in the car with no destination in mind. Tita Chon simply wanted to go somewhere where the fall leaves were nicer for photos. We took the Triborough bridge and ended up driving through the towns of Connecticut and upstate New York. We drove past ginormous houses and drooled at their sprawling lawns with their own little ponds and fountains. We couldn't stop to take photos of the houses since it was the kind of neighborhood where they'd probably suspect you were up to no good if you lingered around taking photos of their front doors and lawns. Living in houses similar to those ones by the lake has been my dream since I was 13. They will forever be a dream.

The feel of autumn is much more visible upstate than in the city. The trees look lovely and the roads and nearby woods are covered with an assortment of yellow, red, orange and purple. We started taking photos late during the day and night began to fall. I tried to take as much as I could and not having a tripod didn't help with the lack of available light.

Ang gagaling namin umarte. Kunwari hindi naninigas ang mga buto namin sa lamig.

It was also very much colder out here and I wasn't appropriately dressed for the cold. I tried to take as many photos during the night despite having stiff knuckles.

I love how this shot was taken. By this time, it was already very dark and I was already shooting at ISO1600 and had to meter at the darkest area. The first few shots were drab and no reflections could be seen on the water. Then Tito Mo did something ingenious and turned the car's headlights on full and directed it at the scene which lit the water, the far off bushes plus highlighted the ducks on the water!

We had dinner at a Friendly's nearby and it was hilarious how Tita Chon was so fascinated by the restaurant, the food and the menu. I couldn't understand why she was so amused by it at first until I realized why. You see, restaurants like Chili's, Applebee's, Red Lobster, Cheesecake Factory and IHOP which are in abundance in California, are sparsely seen here. Our neighborhood is full of specialty restaurants that cater to different cuisines depending on the area. This is also one of the reasons why I love this place. We never go out and eat in places like Chili's. My father-in-law loved Chili's and I count how many number of times he took us there for dinner. Hahahaha!

I took a short nap in the car after dinner thinking we were on our way home. I woke up a while later to find out that Tito Mo took another detour and took us to New Jersey! We drove by the Hudson River coastline and picked the best spot to take my first ever photo of the NY Skyline. We were pretty high up and the wind was fierce and cold but we still managed to take a few goofy shots at Omar's request.

this image is better viewed at a larger size so *click*

We took the Lincoln tunnel to Manhattan and crossed through midtown going home.

I've been too lazy to download clips from my Flip the past several weeks so I'm dumping most of them here now.

Halloween Parade:


HodgePodge of clips from the last couple of weeks: