Sammy T and I have just returned from a very enjoyable visit to New York and New Jersey August 23-26, 2007. We arrived in NJ Thursday August 23 and that very evening had a get together at Tessie Saturnino's place with Miriam, Elmo, Tessie. Eleuterio Laud was supposed to come but at the last minute had other important errands to run, and Charity Ladera likewise was to stop by after work but failed to show up. Nadiene and Lillian had other commitments that day and were unable to join us. Tessie and Miriam prepared a feast.... Conversation, fellowship and food - what a great combination. We all had a blast!
Friday August 24 was devoted to attending my medical conference and also seeing New York City - we took the 2 hour Circle Cruise as well as the double decker Gray Line Bus tour of New York. This was Sammy's first visit to New York City so we did a lot of sightseeing. We also learned some trivia - i.e. SoHo means South of Houston, Tribeca stands for Triangle below Canal (Street), native New Yorkers pronounce Houston "Houseton" and call 6th Avenue not Avenue of the Americas but just plain "6th". We also had Nadiene who was at work guide us to Hop Kee Restaurant in Chinatown where we had a satisfying lunch that included Hop Kee's specialty - fried flounder. Nades, thank you for being our Mapquest via cell phone. Too bad we were not able to see each other - but hopefully you will be available for our December 7-9 mini-reunion. Friday evening Sammy T and I enjoyed Les Miserables at the Broadhurst Theater in Broadway. Talking about activism and radicalism, this play about the French Revolution, Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert certainly leaves one with a lot to ponder.
Saturday August 25 we took a train from the NY Penn Station to Hamilton NJ to fellowship with Elmo, his wife Maria Fe and his mom Elsie. Again we shared another wonderful meal prepared from scratch by both Elmo and Fe. Elmo's mom Elsie even shared her Tagamet tablets with me since I had an upset stomach probably from the milk and cereal I had for breakfast that morning. Elmo's mom looked strong and has retained her youthful looks. I also discovered in the course of our conversation that my UP Diliman and UP med school friend Susan Montemayor is the niece of Maria Fe - it is a small world indeed.
Sunday August 26 found us back in Newark, New Jersey. Jane Gensaya ( who is the sister of my sister in law Japhet Gensaya) was our most hospitable host. Miriam picked us up from Jane's place and we attended Sunday service at Clifton Baptist church - home church of Rev. Manuel de la Fuente, Miriam's hubby. We enjoyed the service and the church music - lead singer, guitarist and pianist was none other than Miriam's son Mike Jamerlan. He truly is blessed with musical talent.
August 25 was Mawe's 50th birthday so after the Sunday service the church had a birthday luncheon for him that included lechon with crunchy skin. Again we ate....everything was sooo good. I was shocked when I looked at the birthday boy's plate - he had several chunks of lechon on it , in fact all that he had on his plate was lechon. He was definitely not compliant with his healthy heart low salt low chol diet, but since it was his birthday, I turned a blind eye!
Miriam was kind enough to drive us to JFK airport - I was catching my 4:15 PM flght to Hunstville and Sammy T was flying to Austin at 4:25 PM. Despite this day being a Sunday we encountered horrific traffic (bumper to bumper caterpillar paced) all the way to JFK - we both missed our flights although Sammy T was able to reschedule to a flight leaving at about 5:35 PM the same day. I was stuck with a Monday August 27 flight leaving at 6 AM (the next day). When Miriam heard about this she offered to drive back with Mawe to pick me up so I could spend the night at their house. As fate would have it, at the last minute Sammy T's flight was cancelled due to mechanical problems and the next available flight to Austin would not be leaving until the following day (Monday August 27). Luckily, he was provided vouchers for lodging and food as the problem was airline related. All is well that ends well. We ended up at the Ramada Plaza very close to JFK and Miriam and Mawe did not have to return to JFK (about 1 and 1/2 hours each way from NJ without traffic). Thank you, though, Mirs and Mawe for offering to come pick me up - I certainly appreciate the thoughtfulness!
All in all we had a lot of fun . It was a memorable visit. The fellowship, camaraderie,conversation (and of course the food) was worth the trip. I do wish to say THANK YOU to all our hosts - Tessie, Elmo and Maria Fe, Miriam and Mawe, Jane Gensaya. Classmates, you too will have the chance to enjoy the sights, fellowship and food come December 7-9 when we will have our NY/NJ mini-reunion. One word of advice: Please fly to Newark Airport (EWR is the airport code). It is much easier to get to and you do not have to deal with traffic. We learned the hard way that this is a much simpler, easier, better way of doing it!