A Different Halloween

Trick or treat? This time it's not the usual "kaluluwa'y kambit, kambit." Oops, did I get it right? Brandon and Hailee were in their Halloween attires when we went to my uncle's house in the same town. It's time for the kids to don their costumes and do the trick or treat. Mind you, they don't repeat the costumes and we had to go to the mall to get the match. We went to the most frequently visited Halloween house in the vicinity. Every year, the household takes all effort and bucks to decorate their front yard Halloween style with all the light and sound effects and other high-tech gadgets. Big deal! It was drizzling but many came to view the displays. Of course, my nephew's and niece's treats were wholeheartedly donated to the door-to-door box for the Philippines. ;)

Apple Picking

It was almost mid-fall season and the last weekend for apple picking at the Fishkill Farms, NY. Not a good time to visit because the apples were almost gone but we went there for the unique experience.

We got two small empty sacks from the farm aide at the entrance to the 40-acre apple orchard. We were supposed to put the apples we pick in those bags. The farm was not full compared to the previous weekend according to my sister.

From the entrance, we could already see rows and rows of apple trees. There were more than 10 varieties, each area properly labeled. Bobby tried to pick some golden delicious and red delicious fruits up in the trees. We tasted them fresh and crunchy.

On our way out, we tried the best-selling fresh-from-the-oven apple doughnuts. Didn't have the guts though to try the hot apple cider.





Pumpkins for Halloween

Fall in New York

I had been to NY thrice but the first two visits took place during springtime and the last one started in late winter. So when I left the last time in 2007, I said to myself that should I have the chance to go back, I wished my family would be with me and we would experience the fall season. Though the kids were not with us, it was somehow a wish granted.

It's awesome to see the colors of fall. Very colorful. The scene brings me good memories. Nostalgic. I could hear the song, "the falling leaves..."

My sister said that we need not go to Vermont (famous for the fall scenery). NY has so much to share because of the lush greens along parkways. And even in the backyard!

MNL-NRT-JFK

This is it! It's Bobby and me on a two-month vacation in NY. The promo fare came just in time (thanks to Northwest Airlines and BPI). Every detail of our travel seemed to fit so well. Start of sem break, here we go... Change plane at Narita International Airport, Japan Arrival at JFK International Airport, New York

UPLB @ 100

Year 2010 is UPLB's centennial year and on October 10, it celebrated its 91st Loyalty Day. The Agricultural and Rural Development Scholars (ARDS) had "Kumustahan Night" on October 9 at the SEARCA International Residence. It was great to see familiar and new faces from the first batch down to the 30+ batches. Imagine, the younger batches look like our kids. The following day, we had our symposium with no other than SEARCA Director Dr. Saguiguit as our guest speaker. Some of the former directors and staff of the Learning Resource Center (the Center which handled our scholarship program) came to celebrate with us. The Loyalty Day Parade this year was held in the afternoon. Bobby and I joined the NGs and in the evening, we were with our bros and sis at the Alumni Homecoming at the Sacay Villa Clubhouse. It was a fun-filled evening of dining, reminiscing, and chatting with one another. We were all surprised to meet our guest speaker, Cong. Teddy Casino.