The Anaheim Approach

"I knew it! We have dinner reservations at the Blue Bayou!" I exclaim.

"Maybe...," says Sinta.

"Can you call them? Maybe they can push down our reservation for a later time," I say. He doesn't respond. We sit quietly as we drive into Burbank. Traffic was rather heavy, but Sinta manages to skillfully work his way out of it into a faster lane. I start to get nervous, looking at the car's clock every two minutes. The traffic gradually lightens and we sail onto the on-ramp to the Disneland exit.

By this time, it's about 8pm. We made good time.

Before going in the park for dinner, we stop by the Disneyland Hotel to check-in and drop our things off. I take the extra time we had to freshen up after that five hour drive.

Then there was a knock at the door. Confused, I watch Sinta walk up to the door to open it. In comes a guy carrying this huge, but beautiful vase of flowers! I walk to the vase, admiring the orchids, gerber daisies, roses, lillies, and dahlias that made up the colorful bouquet. I couldn't figure out why Sinta surprised me with this, but I was feeling pretty special nonetheless.

"What's this for?" I ask him.

"I just wanted to pamper you," he says. Not a minute goes by, and there's another knock at the door. Utterly confused, I look at Sinta, and for some reason, I back away towards the other side of the room. Maybe I didn't want to see what was coming up next? At the same time, I was curious with anticipation.

To Be Continued

The 3rd of July

One of the things Sinta and I like to do is go to Disneyland. We go at least once a year. This year, we flew down for our annual trip the first weekend in June.

We usually get the two- or three-day park-hopper tickets for both Disneyland and California Adventure. This year was different since we decided to get the Annual Passholder tickets. Now you're probably thinking, "Do they really go down there that often?". We figure that if we go to Disneyland one more time on the pass, the tickets pretty much pay for themselves after that second visit. Air fare can be cheap if you find the right deals, or making the five hour drive to Anaheim isn't a problem, either.

A couple of weeks later after the first trip, I find out that I'm off for the 4th of July, as with Sinta. He suggests we drive down to LA on the afternoon of the 3rd, when I get off from work.

I thought it was a crazy idea. I rationalize quickly to myself: I work on the 3rd (though I'd work the earlier shift), and I'm due for work on the 5th. Was there even enough time to make the trip? Oh, what the hell, we have the passports anyway.

So we make our plans accordingly.

July 3rd came before we knew it. I started work at 5:30am. I was wearing a short, summer dress that day, and one of my co-workers asks me, "Aww...do you and J have a secret lunch later?"

"No," I say, "But we are going to Disneyland!" And if you know my co-workers, they all love going to Disneyland, too.

My shift ended at 2:30pm, and I walk out to the front of the building where Sinta picked me up. In no time at all, we were driving down Hwy 101. Traveling during this time of the afternoon meant no traffic, and fortuntately, we didn't run into any holiday traffic. Going through Pacheco Pass was uneventful, until we dropped down to Hwy 5. There were more cars and 18-wheelers than we would have liked. There's a Lexus next to us, with a youngin behind the wheel who's weaving in and out of traffic, but not getting very far.

"They must be hurrying to make their dinner reservations in LA," Sinta comments. I have no idea what he's talking about. "We better haul ass, too, to make our reservations."

My brain goes on overdrive, thinking, "What's he talking about? What reservations?" So I ask him.

"Reservations? To where? Blue Bayou?" Just to backtrack a little bit, we've never been able to eat at this restaurant when we're at the park, much less been able to make reservations in the past.

"I'm not saying," he says. I really thought nothing of it, so I didn't push the issue.

By the time we went over the Grapevine, we hit traffic. At this point, Sinta gets a little frazzled and says, "We're not going to meet our reservations."

"Huh? We really do?" I say.

"It's past 7. We're not going to make it. Our reservations are at 9:10."

To Be Continued

New Mexico in Five Days

Wow, has it really been that long since I last blogged? I guess so...I haven't been in the mood to blog lately, especially since Sinta's been doing a pretty good job updating his blog. Lol!

We did go to New Mexico a couple of weeks ago for five days. I've never been there before. I've never dreamt about going there, to tell you the truth. To me, New Mexico was the "forgotten state"--I knew it was somewhere in the southwest. All I knew was that it was desolate and lonely. Who would want to go there?

I've lived in many places, travelled to different lands; and yet, I'm most intrigued by New Mexico--at the moment, at least. It is, if I may venture to say, one of the more beautiful places I've been to. The landscape is rick in color. Splashes of orange and reds, grays and cobalt blue paint the desert plataeus and mesas. Adobe-colored pueblos set against the big, vivid blue sky. I can see why Georgia O'Keeffe was so inspired.

Photos to follow soon. I'd like to post the photos of the beautiful American Indian pueblos that we visited, but since these lands are sacred, we cannot post pictures for public use.

So What Have I Been Up To?

This summer has been a whirlwind of exciting events, trips, job site changes, and work on the side. I'm just trying to enjoy what's left of the summer before the weather changes again.

Of Baseball, Summer, and Happiness

I'm talking to myself here. More like talking to the TV. It has nothing to do with the Cab I'm sipping. I'm watching baseball.

It's the last game of the Giants-Dodgers series, top of the 1st, Bonds is up, full count. Will he walk? Or will Tomko strike him out?

Yes, I've been gone for the past few weeks now. I've just been enjoying my summer. Some of the highlights include going to the 2007 All-Star Game, and attending SF Giants games to witness Barry Bonds' "Road To History" to break Hank Aaron's homerun record of 755. Contrary to what people say about Bonds' other situation, I think you still need to have that hand-eye coordination to connect the bat to the ball when it's coming at you at 98 mph. And that's what Bonds has. 'Nuff said.

Other highlights include a couple of trips to Disneyland and Vegas.

Check out my photos here.

But the best highlight of my summer happened early in July. I'm very excited. Ecstatic. Happy. I'll tell you all about it...in due time...