Traveling by Train

     Train Station in Santa Barbara

      Last Friday my husband and I went to Santa Barbara, California by train. Although we have a car but we prefer to ride on a train just for experience purposes. Our plan was to eat in a nice restaurant in downtown Santa Barbara and stroll around because we have to be on the train station going back to LA before 2:00 o'clock in the afternoon that same day. Hubby's last time being on a train was almost thirty years ago while my first time being on a train for a very short time (around five minutes) was more than five years ago when I went to Manila, Philippines to process my papers in going here to the US. 

Ocean

     The train ride was more than two hours from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Barbara. On our way to our destination, there are areas wherein you can see the ocean on the left side of the train and farmlands on your right side. The train has a nice and comfortable seats with a folding table in front of you, just like when you are on a plane. There is a small snack bar inside the train and a bathroom too. 

     It was indeed a good experience most especially when we arrived in Santa Barbara around 10:35 in the morning, I was really starving and my husband asked me if I can wait for 25 more minutes because most of the restaurants we passed by were closed. I told him that I can't no longer wait because I started shivering. So guess where we ended up eating? In Panda Express. After we ate, we were laughing so hard because after all the time and money we spent in going to Santa Barbara we just ate in Panda Express wherein you can find this fastfood chain all over LA. 

Farm

     After we left Panda Express, we went window shopping but open to buy something that we like. I got three pieces of underwear from GAP (on sale for $3.42) and a collared blouse while hubby got a nice compression fit shirt with a long sleeve for him to use during colder weather. Before we headed back to the train station to go back to LA, I dropped by at Starbuck for my favorite Caramel Frappucino and hubby went to another store to buy a yogurt.

     We had a long day but we're having fun and our bonding together was priceless. We're planning another train trip but this time is going to the opposite direction...to San Diego.

Traveling Baseball

Contribution by Saul Martin

       The most exciting part about watching my children play sports is knowing that it’s ultimately teaching them some valuable life lessons. They are both extremely good at everything they do but I think they are finding out that you can’t win them all and sometimes you have to learn to be a gracious loser and I firmly believe that ultimately builds character in them. Recently, my son was chosen to go play baseball for a traveling squad during the summer. My wife and I are very excited about this opportunity but it means that we are going to have to be out of town for weeks at a time. My neighbor recently saw how stressed I was getting about leaving the house unattended and told me about Security Choice. Now I feel like my worries have been all been eliminated and I can leave the house without constantly calling my neighbors. All I have to worry about now is making sure my son doesn’t feel like he has to play just to please my wife and I.

Salt Flats in Badwater, Death Valley National Park

     Have you been to Death Valley National Park? I was there once few years ago and we went to the Badwater Basin which is 282 feet below sea level and took few photos of the Salt Flats which cover nearly 200 miles. I was mesmerized by its beauty and was amazed and curious how it was formed. The salt flats are fragile. Walk with cautious.

The information below is from the National Park Service

What causes salt flats?

Three basic things are needed for salt flats to form:

* source of salts, usually from a large drainage system

* enclosed basin that doesn't drain to the sea and wash away the salts

* arid climate where evaporation exceeds precipitation, leaving behind just the salts and fine silt

Using calling cards for international calls

      After only a few months since arriving here in the United States I have been using calling cards to call my family and friends in the Philippines. It is really hard being far away from your loved ones. Even though my husband showers me with his love, affection and a lot of his time by taking me to different places but I still can't help myself from feeling homesick.

      When my brother had a motorcycle accident in the Philippines, my sister called our home phone and told my husband what had happened. I was at work at the time so my husband gave me a call and informed me about my brother's accident. Because I always carry my calling card and pin  number with me, I was able to call my sister immediately without having to use our home phone and avoid being charged with a ridiculous amount for a long distance call.

     When I am running out of minutes, it is very easy to reload online. The minutes never expire and there are no hidden fees. I can use either our home phone or my cellphone to call internationally anytime. It is really very convenient for me because whenever I feel homesick, I just press the buttons on our phone and use my calling card numbers and enter the pin and I will immediately know what is new with my family in the Philippines. Being updated with what is going on with my loved ones gives me peace of mind.

Geysers in Yellowstone National Park

      Geyser is a vent in the earth's surface that periodically ejects a column of hot water and steam. Geyser is come from the word Geysir which is the name of an erupting spring at Haukadalur, Iceland. The geysir word itself is derived from the Icelandic verb geysa, "to gush", the verb from the Old Norse.

Old Faithful

     The photo above was taken in Yellowstone National Park when we went there almost two years ago. It is the best known geyser in the world, the Old Faithful. This geyser will erupt every 60 to 90 minutes and will blasts a few thousands gallons of boiling hot water between 100 and 200 feet into the air.   

     There are only about 1000 geysers in the world and most of these geysers are located in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. Other countries that have geysers are Russia, Chile, New Zealand and Iceland.

Our planned vacation to Switzerland

         Most of the people I've known love to travel and of course I am one of them. For almost five years that I have lived here in the United States, I can't exactly remember how many times we have been on local trips throughout the Western U.S.. Because of my irregular work schedule and usually I am allowed only a one week vacation at a time, it is really hard for me and my husband to travel outside the United States together. 

      We currently have plans for holiday travel internationally next year. Our first choice would be to travel to Switzerland and if I am able to ask for a two week vacation leave again, we are planning to go to Ireland as well. I am so anxious for this day to come. Our planned vacation will tentatively start around the last week of June through the first week of July 2012. It would be my first time traveling to another country besides the Philippines and the United States. 

     We've learned that planning your travel ahead is crucial. Since it is not cheap to travel, shopping for airfare and accommodations is really very important especially to people like us that are not wealthy. There are so many travel sites out there who claim that they offer the best airfare and accommodations but based on our personal experience, there is no guarantee that they are disclosing all the fine details or not unless you have to go to their website and do your own research. One of these sites that you should check out first is itravel2000.com. They have vacation packages which has been an ideal way for us to book when we will travel for two weeks next year. 

Flower Fields in Carlsbad, California

      Have you been to the Flower Fields in Carlsbad, California? I was there once in April 2009. I was overwhelmed with what I saw, 50 acres of different flowers with different colors. As you can see in the photo above, the flowers were planted in horizontal row. Thus, it looks like a rainbow when you stand in an elevated area even just few feet away from the flower fields.

      The flowers you see in the second photo are called Tecolote Giant Ranunculus which is one of the finest strains of ranunculus plants in world. There are other flowers in the fields but I don't know their names.

The Galapagos Islands Get-away

        There are so many places we want to visit. These places are not only here in the United States but also countries on different continents of the world.  Since we can't visit all the places on our list, not only because of financial reasons, but the time as well. My husband and I have a list of our top 100 places to visit so we just have to choose the places that are on top of our list. One of these 100 places are the Galapagos Islands. I first heard the name of these islands while my husband and I were watching game show on TV, Jeopardy. They showed exotic animals on an island like iguanas, birds, turtles, sea lions and more. I thought immediately that this island must be protected and people are probably not allowed to visit these very beautiful and unique islands. But I was totally wrong because my husband told me that the islands and animals are protected but visitors are allowed to visit the islands and see the exotic animals. In fact, he told me that he wants to visit these islands with me if I would like to. He wants to go on one of the Galapagos Cruises for a few days. This will not happen this year but we are hoping that it will be next year, maybe a few months after our planned trip to Europe. If we will be able to decide to go next year, we have to book in right away so that we can plan our Galapagos Cruise adventure. Seeing those rare animals and the islands will be very exciting especially since I've never experienced being on a cruise ship. The Galapagos Cruise Ship would be my first and hopefully not my last. 

       It would be a lifetime opportunity to visit these remarkable islands, see the animals and even go swimming in the clear water and enjoy the white beaches of the islands. I hope next year I will have time to be away from work for couple of days and spend it with my husband on one of the places we want to visit together.

When we first met

       When I first met my husband in person at Marriott Hotel in Cebu, Philippines I was so excited and at the same time nervous because it was my first time traveling by plane and my first time as well going on a trip by myself alone to a place which was totally new and strange to me. My family and friends were very concerned about my safety because they knew that I never been to Cebu and although my husband and I were friends for three years but we haven't meet in person yet and who knows he could be a bad guy.

        But our first meeting went well although it was a little bit awkward since I was not used in speaking english and being with a man alone. I was so lucky because my "hubby" was very accommodating and he tried to speak english clearly and slowly until I get used to it. Since I had only I think three days to be with him (since the company I work with at that time will not give me more than four days vacation leave) we spent our time together wisely and happily. We had a sumptuous breakfast buffet at Marriott Hotel for three times in a row, we went in a tour for three hours or so, we went to the mall to buy souvenirs for my family, had dinner at one of the nicest hotel in Cebu which I can't remember the name but I can still vividly remember that they had a man-made pool that was look like a long worm. In fact, after we ate dinner at this hotel I asked my husband who was just a friend at that time if we can stroll around the vicinity of the hotel. I saw women with their bikinis and men with their trunks in the pool having fun swimming and splashing water to one another. The view was very captivating and the water at the pool was very inviting. I really want to soak myself for even just a couple of minutes most especially that it was very hot that day and the night was just perfect for a good night swimming. But I am not sure if we are allowed to use their pool  because we weren't a guest in that hotel. We just went there to eat dinner and besides we did not bring any extra clothes. 

       It was just one of the good memories that I keep on reminiscing every so often. I was  not wrong in insisting to meet my "husband" although my father did not agree with it because he said that "hubby" should meet me in our city rather than in a place that I don't know anything about. But for the sake of my husband's safety, I agreed to meet him in Cebu. I did not regret of following my guts because we're happily married for almost five years now. We're even thinking of visiting again the place where we first met during our 10th year wedding anniversary. It is still a long way to go but I am very excited for this day to come.