Black Friday

Black Friday is the Friday after the Thanksgiving Day. My sister, Bobby, and I left the house before 4:00 a.m. to take advantage of the big, big sale at the Woodbury Commons in NY. We were late. The parking lots were already full and people from all walks of life were in line at famous stores in the outlet. And the country is in recession huh? And there's Cyber Monday too!

Happy Thanksgiving

Turkey for Thanksgiving

The turkey is the centerpiece of every Thanksgiving party table. This year Alma volunteered to take charge of the turkey for the family's celebration. Maybe she had the courage to do it because Bobby and I were there to help. And she wanted to do it the homemade way after several searches on the Internet for recipes and interviews with co-workers and relatives. ;)

New York City Tour

From the Bronx where Bobby and I slept over, we took the train to the city and got off at the Grand Central Station. Equipped with a subway and bus map of the city, we explored midtown Manhattan on our own. Grand Central Station, 5th Avenue Philippine Embassy, Rockefeller Center NBC Studio, St. Patrick's Cathedral Malls along 5th Av Central Park

Radio City Christmas Spectacular

Bobby and I were still in the Philippines when my sister bought the tickets to Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. She just wanted to avail of cheap tickets a month before the scheduled run. The musical holiday stage show was highly recommended by my aunt who has seen it for a few years in a row.

The 90-minute presentation features the famous Rockettes in their precision dances in various colorful costumes. I liked the 3D film of Santa flying to New York City from the North Pole in his sleigh. This portion which we viewed with our special eyeglasses showed the landmarks of NY until Santa finally got to the Radio City Music Hall.

Reunited

It was sort of a mini reunion because Bobby and her older sister, Tita Rose, last saw each other in 2001.

Tito Ehly and Pacquiao

My uncle celebrated his birthday on November 14. What's the highlight of his party? Naah, not the food but it was good. Guessed it? We watched the Pacquiao-Cotto fight on pay-per-view. Yipee! Tito Ehly's friends were there too so the whole basement was full that night. While enjoying the party food, some were wise enough to reserve seats. Just to make sure... You could just imagine the cheers and all the noise there was while we were watching the game especially when Pacquiao won by TKO in the 12th round. Good thing the neighbors did not complain. Go, Manny! Go, Tito Ehly!

Washington, D.C.

It took us five hours to drive from Cary to Washington, D.C. Bobby took care of the 125-mi stretch of I-85 from Cary to Virginia. Cool! Street parking is impossible near the White House so we decided to avail of private parking. The quick tour to the vicinity was really express because we had to reach Yorktown before midnight. Besides, parking is on a per-hour basis and expensive (not as pricey as in Manhattan though!)

Cary, North Carolina

It was almost midnight when we arrived at our distant relative's house in Cary, NC after our 6-hour drive from Baltimore, MD. My sister initially planned for a day stay then we were supposed to proceed to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. Unfortunately, Tropical Storm Ida came so we just enjoyed our quiet break in the house for three days. Contented to be with "Obama" at home We visited the two newly built subdivisions in the area and checked out their model units.  

The next day, it was still raining so we just drove around the campus of Duke University and went malling in Durham, NC. Bye Cary...

Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland

From Philadelphia, we continued with our long drive and stopped for an overnight stay in a hotel at Baltimore's Inner Harbor.



Crabcake sandwich is the order of the day ;)