Richly-Blessed April Weekend 2

I know, I know, I said part two was due last week!  Traffic sa cyberspace eh!   *scratches head*  Here’s the second and last part of my kuwento, which started HERE.

Blessing #5:  The Pasyal

There’s ALWAYS time for pasyal.  It’s our relatives’ first time in Texas, except for Tito Jess who visited Texas a loooong time ago, so in a sense, it’s like his first time, too.  Since they’re only staying for a FEW (Halata ba ang sama ng loob? Hahaha!) days, we didn’t waste any time and immediately went around.  Our first sightseeing adventure was at the man-made pond (I used to call it lake. Mali!) , just a stone’s throw away from our house. 

Tito Jess and Hubby leading the pack of real estate trippers.

So serious!  That’s the buyer (Tito Jess) and the real estate agent (Hubby).  Hee hee!  I really do think that for a moment, Tito Jess considered buying a townhouse  in our community.  That would be soooo cool!  Rina, relocate to Texas already!  

Tito Kit, Tito Jess, Ninang Petite, Abby, Me and Rina

We reserved the second day for more serious pasyal.  And being the true Pinoys that we are, photo opp muna bago lumarga.   This is in front of our house.  The only time we ever use the front door is when we have guests.   The rest of the time, we use the backdoor.

Our first stop was the Prime Outlets San Marcos.  I don’t think anybody took pictures there.  If there’s one thing more serious than sightseeing, it’s, you guessed it, shopping.   We only briefly stayed at the outlet though, say, 2 hours plus a few minutes for lunch.  And then we drove off to San Antonio.

group pic in front of the Alamo Gift Shop

If we could bring house guests to only one city, it would be San Antonio.  Not only is it near, it’s interesting and a really beautiful place, too.  We entered from the back of the Alamo so our first photo opp was in front of the first important building we saw…the gift shop.

 

 All of us at the Alamo.  Now we’ve been to Texas! (Photo snagged from Rina’s Multiply site.)

This is an x-deal photo.  Hahaha!  A kind man offered to take our group pic.  In return, someone from our group took a picture of him and his group, too.   Classic give and take.  Weeeee!

San Antonio tourists  

This was supposed to be a family pic, but Abby was “too busy”,  kaya lovey dovey pic na lang.

Wowo Jess and Abby at the basement of the Hyatt Hotel. 

I took this photo of Tito Jess and Abby while everyone went on “wee wee break”.    It’s hard to get a picture of these two together because Tito Jess always teases Abby who is pikon.    Abby agreed to pose after I gave her a few pennies to throw in the water.  Suhol?  Not!

Posing on a footbridge at the River Walk

Ahhh, the Riverwalk.  I love it here.  The last time we brought house guests here (my relatives from California) was in January,  there was no river as it was drained for cleaning.  At this time, there’s not too many people yet but come summer, it will be very crowded in this place. 

It will be impossible to take a picture like this in summer.  People will be all over the place.

Our trusty Kia Sedona rental van.  (photo snagged from Rina’s multiply site) 

We really like this van that we used in our joyrides…that would be every time we ride it.    It’s still very new with only a few thousand miles travelled when we picked it up.  This is the only rental vehicle I didn’t get to drive.  No chance, eh.

Blessing #6:  Shopping Bag Folding 101 with Tito Kit

Tito Kit teaching hubby and me how to fold shopping bags neatly.

No, these are not paputok.  Hahaha!  We keep our shopping bags in a small kitchen cabinet.  And when Tito Kit saw them, he just had to teach us his method of shopping bag folding, something he learned in the seminary.  And I’m telling you, that small cabinet was packed, as in PACKED, with shopping bags that you can no longer see the back of the cabinet.  I’ll post another entry on this so I can pass on ”the knowledge”.  Hahaha!

Blessing #7:  Investments 101 with Tito Jess

The only times we see Tito Jess, Ninang Petite and Tito Kit are during family gatherings, parties usually.  And you know how it is at these gatherings…people from the same generation tend to “hang out” together.  Hubby and I have always been in awe of Tito Jess’ success both as a family man and as a former “drug lord” (Don’t get any funny ideas. He’s a Pfizer man! )  So it was a real treat for hubby and me to get valuable investment tips from Tito Jess, that is to say, if we had something to invest.  Hahaha!   But seriously, hubby and I learned a lot from him.  Tito Jess, Thank you.  When we have the money, we’ll be really smart with it.  Promise!  ;)

Blessing #8:  I Drove to the Airport! :D

I’ve mentioned here before that as much as I can, I will avoid driving on the freeway.  I’ve driven on the freeway a couple of times but if I had a choice, I would not.   One other thing I’ve never ever done is drive to the airport….that’s quite a stretch of freeway driving!  However, the day our house guests were scheduled to leave, hubby had to leave on a business trip, too.  Hubby’s flight was at 8am and our relatives’ at 11 and there’s just no way we’ll let them wait for 4 hours at the airport.  So I had to, uhm, volunteer.

Of course, hubby and I conveniently forgot to tell them that I haven’t ever driven to the airport.  We didn’t want them to get nervous.   But on the way, after making sure all the windows were up and the doors locked,  I did confess.  Hahaha!  I think it was after Ninang made a comment that I’m sanay na sanay na to drive or maybe after Tito Jess observed that I didn’t have the GPS turned on, leading him to think that I know my way to the airport really well.

It’s true that I have been to the airport many times but I never really paid any attention.  The only time I really did was when we went to pick up Tito Jess, Ninang Petite, Tito Kit and Rina and that’s because I knew already that I will have to drive them to the airport.  To cut a long story short, we made it to the airport safely.  I did enter the wrong parking.  Technically, it wasn’t wrong, but it was meant for long-term parking.  So instead of parking the car, I chose to exit and head for the short-term parking.  Ayayay, that became my downfall.   It took forever to get out of the darned parking lot and then I kinda got lost.  Hahaha!  We were at the airport, only we were at the wrong area.  How embarrassing!   If it’s any consolation, I managed to keep off the runway.  Anyway, I was relieved when we finally got to the departure drop-off.  Yup, they didn’t make me park anymore.  Nyahahaha!  That won’t happen again next time, promise!

Blessing #9:  Laughter!  Laughter!  Laughter!

There was no dull moment, at least for me, the entire time our relatives were here.  We were laughing to kabag proportions most of the time.  We had hearty laughs over Tito Kit’s dancing at our wedding.  We laughed over the videos of Mang Renaldo of American Idol fame, and the Ken Lee video on YouTube, plus one other video that was funny yet caused Ninang and Tito Jess to have nightmares.   Tito Jess, again, was the promotor to watch Mang Renaldo.  And this is no exaggeration, for 3 days, Rina and I suffered from “last song syndrome”.  Just when we thought we’ve gotten the song out of our system, Tito Jess will start singing it again..”Brothers forever…friends til the end of time…”  Here I go again!  Argh!  Even Abby learned the song!

We laughed at the “Pac ‘n Ship” signboard of the mailing/shipping store near our house.  Rina said it’s like the Pinoy ”pakshet” and it’s a good alternative when cursing someone, you know, “You pac’n’ship!”  Get it?  Oh come on, I know I have smart readers!  Few but smart!   And then there’s the discussion between Tito Jess and Tito Kit on “malnourished” and “under nourished” that Tito Jess came up with “mis-nourished” and Rina and I, “Chuck nourished”.  Nyahaha!

What else?  Oh yeah, we had a “tabo” discussion at the River Walk.  You know we Pinoys love our tabo.  But first, here’s my question for you:  When you do your thing on the toilet, which hand do you use for washing and which one for holding the tabo?  Is your dominant hand for washing or for holding the tabo? Sige nga!  From our group of 6, only one person used the dominant hand for holding the tabo…it’s Tito Jess.  He found us weird and we found him weird, too!  Hee hee.  His valid explanation is that the tabo is heavy, therefore, should be carried by the dominant hand.  And second, the left hand is known to be the dirty hand. That’s why in some cultures (Muslim, I think), it is not used to shake hands.  Tito Jess said he will not shake our hands anymore.  Hahaha!   Sige, take a poll amongst yourselves.  This could lead to an interesting discussion, promise!

In closing,  I would like to say for the record that those 4 days were some of the most memorable hubby, Abby and I had here in Texas.  I can’t explain the feeling of comfort that somehow envelopes and overcomes us whenever we have family around.  It’s like being ”home”. 

Thank you Tito Jess, Ninang Petite, Tito Kit and Rina, for the glorious 4 days you were with us.  It was bitin so you know better to stay longer next time.  We miss all of you and we hope to have you come visit us again soon.  Our hugs, kisses and love to you all.  Mmmmwah!

Happy weekend and God bless y’all!