UEFA 2008

My husband is a football buff, he used to play this sport however he stopped at some point because his mother asked him to and just focused on his studies. My husband being the good son obeyed.. but like what he said, he has no regrets coz at the end of single man journey, he found me aww.

Anyway this is not about me and my husband and his football, this is about the EURO 2008 that we watch and follow since it started two weeks ago. Poland was out though but the number of games were not to get me into it and now I am a certified football addict! By the way in USA, football is called soccer, and American football is what they call football.

The most dramatic so far is the win of Turkey vs Croatia. Croatia had a goal less than a minute left then the goalie of Turkey kicked the ball cross court and gave them the chance to score a goal which they did. This is the 3rd time they won coming from behind. At the end they won in penalty kicks! It brought me back to Ginebra days in Manila, with the never say die attitude.

However, with Nihat (Turkey's best player and captain) out I am doubtful whether they can still pull another miraculous win. My team now with Czech and Poland out is Spain (they bit the Italian Spaghetti ehhe). Its rebelling in me since I do not like Spanish team (they conquered my country for more than 300 years!) but they really play with a lot of heart.

On Wednesday, Germans vs Turks.. I am betting on the TURKS! Maybe they will pull another miracle shot :)

dont mess with the zohan

THIS IS EXTREMELY FUNNY.. however the humor sometimes disgust me. My husband loved it and perhaps we are buying a DVD copy when its out.

Its about a man who has this talent in war combat and could defeat any enemy he face, but at night he is the guy who wants peace and has a passion in making hair silky smooth. Inspired by Paul Mitchell, he escaped Phantom (his nemesis) on a combat and flew to US with the dogs scrappy and coco... eventually he used their names as his nick in NY. After few failures, he landed into a Palestinian parlor and made good money by making old women silky smooth and give free sex!

Ok ok...so its still classic Adam Sandler and out of this world movie but I did like the message of this movie.. the message of peace.

Gospel Concert

I have been contemplating how I will write one of the best concerts I have ever seen so far in the last 3 years.

2 Fridays ago I went to attend a concert at Northbrook, IL. Its hosted by SVD priests and I got the information from my ever loving cousin here - Ate Maricel. Her husband sang in the concert too together with his group.

What is so unique about this concert is the place where it was held. It was inside the church and so the echoes and pitch and tremors of their voices just bounced back from the walls making the singing so angelic and it captures the spirit of whoever listens to it. It was simply awesome.

I have three favorites - the action song (I forgot the title) that the priest sang, his tagalog song, and of course the finale song of my cousin's husband's group (I also forgot the title!! Ate MARICEL HELP!) Okay my braincells are a little rusty, but all I am trying to say here is that such concert captured my soul.. and its just simply awesome. In my 10 months here in the US, I have never had the experience much like what I had with Youth for Christ when we do our praising to the LORD.

Congrats to the organizers and performers of this gospel concert.

baby's day

Last Sunday was my first ever Baby's day! In Poland, they celebrate June 1st as baby's day, and my husband (since we still don't have baby) had it celebrated for me instead. So we went to Panera and had our lunch there and of course a nice trip to Toy's R Us. By the way, at age 27, its still is my favorite store. And then we went to the village's clubhouse and soak ourselves on the swimming pool and just before the end of the day, we watched Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, and Narnia and Prince Caspian.

Talking about baby's day makes my heart jump. I have been wanting to have baby for as long as I can remember but now that I have been treated so lovingly like a baby, a pampered wife and woman, I think I would like to enjoy this moment more. Now that I am the baby, it makes me feel happy and just want to make the most of my husband's time while I am still the baby. Selfish?? Nah.. its merely enjoying this great feeling, a feeling I have never had for a long time. I have forgotten this feeling already, thanks to my wonderful husband, he gave it back to me.

driving to work

There is not enough parking space at the Metra station in Lombard. Everyday, this is the battle my husband and I face on our way to work. Metra is a commuter train that runs from Chicago downtown to its neighboring suburban cities. Its the most convenient way of commuting to and from downtown if you stay in the suburb. In our case, we live about 33 miles from downtown, that is roughly 50kms for those who use the metric system. So its quite far, and if we drive to work like we did today, its about an hour to an hour and a half drive. Luckily we got here in 40 minutes which is quite unusual.

Driving to work is a pain really, n0t only because of the looming prices of oil but more so because of the looming prices of parking spots! When I was in Manila, I would complain to paying 30 pesos worth of parking space for the whole day at the SM Megamall. In dollar terms that is about 70 cents. Right now, to park at metra station, we pay $1.50, that is already double to what I pay before, and mind you that's the cheapest rate here! Today, I will spend $11.50 just for parking, that's already a day's rate for me back in Manila. Plus gas and stress over traffic when we go home later...

Looking at the good side though, I get to spend more loving moments with my husband, so I think its still worth the drive :)

Back in Business

On Saturday afternoon, after 10 long months, I went back and played bridge. This is the first time I played at the ACBL game and it was a great one. There were 9 tables and we played Swiss teams. I played with Mr. Jensen who happen to be one of the tournament directors in the Chicago Contract Bridge Association. It was a great opportunity for me to play with him. I have held some interesting hands.. and one important hand for me was one the 2nd board of the first round where I held Kx (spades) xxx (hearts) KJTxxx (diamonds) and xx (clubs). My partner opened a 1NT bid and I lamely passed! I should have transferred him, realizing now how I chickened out on that bid. I am so rusty!

Okay for those people who doesn't know what bridge is, its now a sports and part of the mind Olympics. Its a card game and usually played by old people. Why am I playing it? Because it makes me feel so good and it challenges my intellect and my logical reasoning. For some people its hard to understand why people like me gets addicted to the game, but for those who play, its simple -- it makes you feel good.

I am glad though my husband understands that now..

In any case, I feel so apt and mentally ready. I need to play more though, but this is something I'd rather sacrifice coz time with bridge means time away from my hubby, the very reason why I am here. May be once a month at the most will be the best for me. I cannot get hooked to the game again.

For those who want to know the game, send me a comment or visit www.acbl.org

Morton Arboretum

On May 17, 2008, my husband and I together with my colleague Mark Janowicz went to the Morton Arboretum to have a photo shoot for an "engagement photo" that will be included in our wedding souvenirs. Morton Arboretum is about 5 miles from where we live and its a great place for bikers and joggers and for those who just want to enjoy nature.

The pictures taken below captures the love and happiness my husband and I share.

At the Grand Victoria Casino

After our chilly yet happy trip at the Noah's ark, we went straight to Grand Victoria Casino at Elgin, IL. This is not my first time in Casino, but it is my first time to play slot machines! We played $100..lost $50.. but my husband seriously believed that if I played the combination I did on the later part of the game, we could have won big.

Anyway I am just glad we did not go home bankrupt from the casino. The thing is, it made me miss bridge a lot.. not just the game but playing the game with friends. I missed my partner Andrew, my teammates (jop and eli) and also the funny discussions over bridge table. I missed my captain Albert.. and the treat Gerry Alquiros would give us at Gilligan's.

I could hear the shuffling of cards from where I was seating.. the poker table was just across where I was seated. I could picture myself playing competitively again. Oh well, I am playing this SATURDAY so what am I complaining about!

... to park this article, let me say that we will be back to the casino sometime this June.. My husband couldn't wait for it eheh, and hopefully this time we will win.

Noah's Ark

I forgot to add in my blog about the wonderful adventure we had on the third day of our wisconsin dells trip. Here it is.

On a not so chilly day in Wisconsin Dells, our last day for this trip there, my husband and I got ready for the happiest part of the trip.. THE WATER PARK!! We went there on its first day opening for this season, the wind was a little chilly still but the best part of it all was that there was no long cues for the rides.

Noah's Ark is the largest water park in the world.. YES the largest water park. See their site: http://www.noahsarkwaterpark.com/

Anyway, we took almost everything except for the following rides:

Point of no return - a drop to 5 floors in 3 sec! My husband is just too afraid to try it so I'd rather not try it too..

Slide Winders - we're just too tired to try it.

Endless River - this is closed

The Wave - also closed

The paradise lagoon - for kids only!

Everything else we tried!

Our favorite ride - black anaconda - which we took 6 times! Its a water-based roller coaster ride!!

I got my tan, my husband got his face burned but we were both happy after leaving the park. We were there from 10:30am to 4:30pm, just enjoying the chills and water and everything else. After the ride, we went straight to KFC - starving but happy.

Thereafter, I drove 2 hours to Elgin, at the Grand Victoria Casino...

Hybernated at the Dells

Okay so here is the story of my memorial day weekend...

On Friday, the following morning after arriving at Wisconsin Dells, my husband and I woke up late, enjoyed the nice comfy resort where we stayed. We were set to go to the inverted White House (hehe this is fun) and to see the grandeur of the Wisconsin river rock formations.

We left the resort at 11am, and went straight to the Original Wisconsin Ducks. We bought the ticket for $21.70 each, and got scheduled for a 2 hour boat trip which started at 1:15pm. In between those hours, we went to check out the inverted White house.. Yes I DID SAY INVERTED! Everything was upside down even the doors, windows and furnitures! Even the presidents eheh. They call this the TOP SECRET. It was fun and I can say I liked shaking the hands of Bush when he is upside down.

Now the boat ride which is ever romantic whenever I am with my HANDSOME hubby. It was BREATHTAKING! Thats it.. cannot further elaborate. Just see the photos.

After the awesome trip at the Wisconsin river, we ate at a great steak restaurant by the river, and went back to the resort and enjoyed the indoor pool. By night time we watched our favorite CSI instead of watching the water show right across our resort hehe!

Here is the link to our photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/annaliza.castro/WisconsinDells

My first road trip as Damian's wife

I am now at Wisconsin Dells, WI. Our trip took about 3 hours and 50 minutes, the trip here included the road repairs in route 90 and a 20 minute lunch-picnic at the rest area after Madison, WI.

Wisconsin is fairly different than Chicago, there are no tall buildings here, just farms. For the first time in 10 months, I have seen barns, cows and farmland again. We are set to go to the Noah's Ark - the biggest water park in the world, and also to ride the boat in Dells... to have a genuine Dell experience..

We are now staying at Cliffside resort.. with a great view of the Dells' lake! Awesome view. We just finished enjoying the indoor pool and nice warm jacuzzi.. Will post pics later. For now dinner time!

Unexpected Performance

This is to my colleague Fred Oh.

On my first mother's day here in US on May 11, 2008, I went with my mother-in-law and my husband to Fred's concert at the University of Chicago. It was raining and the wind was chilly, and my husband was bothered in the morning because he thought we would not be able to go coz his mom has prepared other plans for the day.. Nonetheless, we went..and I was glad we did.

Fred, the quiet uveitis fellow, was there on the stage, with a violin on his left hand, started to play a classic by Beethoven. I was mesmerized, everybody were! The piano played with his violin, and I felt like I was brought to a different dimension. The music went straight to my soul and I was seeing a different Dr. Oh. His alter ego was there.. or Fred was there.. it really did not matter. My husband was amazed as well, with how he played the instrument, and my mother-in-law who also played piano was in awe. The usual quiet Fred, that afternoon - a performer, gave life to the classics. This was beyond what I expected it to be, and being there was just a great experience for all of us.

After the performance, all we could say was... Is that you Fred??

Below are our pics..

Fred and Me

Damian, Fred and Me

After the wonderful performance

Fred and Margaret

Addicted to CSI

Okay I am a true blue CSI addict! What can I do I like Grisham!

Everyday after work, my husband and I would rush to the train, try and make it to our 5:09 train and be home by 6pm right in time for our favorite show.

Yes I did mention my husband again, I got him into this, he is now the prime lover of this show, and we watch this every night. My husband sits on the couch, I would prepare dinner and have my head turned on the TV to watch the night shift group solve the crime as the evidences show it. If we miss it, we go to this site: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/csi/ and watch whatever we missed, or sometimes, we watch them ON DEMAND at COMCAST. By the way, COMCAST just made our lives comfy by having the ABC, NBC and CBS shows ready for our viewing...

Bad effects:

May be I watch too much CSI, it has gotten into me now, coz I have become a PARANOID! I am very careful now with my surroundings, am not being so trusting anymore, and just am more aware of whats happening around me.

May be its also the way I perceived US to be, not pretty much a safe place for me. My husband would laugh at me whenever I say this, and he would ask me how I survived Manila, and I would refute his thoughts of a dangerous Manila by telling him the rate of crimes here and how hideous they are..

Oh well CSI may even be doing me a lot of good by making me extra careful. In any case, it will not stop me from watching it.

False Alarm

At 8:30pm last night, I had one of those "only in the movies" experience... the fire alarm in our apartment went off and it was so loud and I got so scared!

I was in my pajamas and my husband was watching the hornets and spurs game when the alarm went off, the first thing I asked my husband was: What is that?? he peeked into the door and checked what was happening.. and then I asked him: are we suppose to go out?? Then it sank in to me that the alarm was a fire alarm, so with my bedroom sleepers, I pulled my husband, took my wallet and off we go out of our apartment.

Two minutes after, the sound of sirens were around and four fire trucks, two police car and an ambulance came. It was like a Hollywood movie, Ladder 49 of some type. The firemen were all equipped with their safety gears.. they stormed the building, checked for fire and gas leaks..

Outside the unit, a number of our neighbors were there too looking so worried wondering why the alarm rang.. I was so cold, the wind was still chilly for May, and my husband was hugging me to make sure I wont feel cold. Later on I realized, I was feeling chilly mainly because I got so tensed and worried...

After 15 minutes, the firemen came out, called it a false alarm, and a water leak from the washing machine from the tenant upstairs caused the fire alarm to ring. Thank heavens it was a false alarm.. but the stress was just too much it took me another 5 hours to finally fall asleep.. and my poor husband had to take care of me to calm me down and make sure I'll be fine..

Post mortem:

I envy the system here in America on how quick they respond to imminent dangers and emergencies. Imagine, in 5 minutes time, they firetrucks, a complete ambulance system and police cars were there in the site. The firemen were fully equipped.

In Manila, firemen could only dream of having complete equipments to combat fire. Firetrucks ran so slow that when they reach the place where the fire is, the place is almost burned down. Unfortunately too for the Filipinos, no ambulance would go with the firetrucks so if there are victims, most them end up casualties of fires.

Some of the good things in America..

Part of my survival

I am writing this not because my friend said she is getting jealous of my husband but more so because this is the reality that she has been there through out my survival here in US.

Her name is Jas, she is the loudest girl you will ever meet, but for me she is one of the sweetest. She is always online from July 11, 2007 to chat with me every morning and night, to make sure I am fine here in Chicago, to share my grievances, to share her funny "boys" stories, and to continue to be a friend I could cry on to.

I've met her in the University, when I worked for the European Union. Back then she was working for the alumni association - she was the director! She was loud as usual but what captures my friendly heart is her funny stories and strong personality. She is the iron woman... she is a picture of strength.. she cried though when I left on July 11.

I am lucky to meet such friends that are really strong... both in will and personality. Jas perhaps is one of the strongest willed friend I have. Now, she promised she will keep me company, and like all her promises, she kept it, and she stays up late till about 4am in Manila just to chat with me.

A "good morning mare" will start the typical morning conversation... and ends with laughter or tears and hugs that emoticons could only bring. Such friend is hard to find and I won't trade my friends for anything!

Now this is for Jas.. my girl and sometimes gay friend! That's her on the pic :)

HOUSE WARMING

This is a pretty new concept to me, but I did it anyway. We moved into our new home in February 28, 2008. That was one of the best decision my husband and I ever made. We had the housewarming last April 19, 2008. Although very few people came, it was all worth it. It was a rather intimate gathering of the few friends I have here in US. It makes me appreciate each and everyone I have here and I treat them as my family. Back in Manila during my single life days, I host a party and the house would get full - jam packed! My friends and their friends and their friends friends come, have some food and drinks and enjoy the night. I rarely have the chance to talk to each one of them, but what the heck!

Now, with a very intimate setup for my housewarming, I had the chance to chat to each and everyone of my guests. It was really fun and I believe my guests enjoyed it too.

On the MENU:

Pansit Miki

Lumpia

6 kinds of Pierogi

Beet Soup

Fruit Salad

Leche Flan

Vodka

Soda

Juice

And I chose Crate and Barrel to tag for our wish list.

We got:

Towel Warmers (My boss really takes care of me ehhe)

Electric Wok (Thanks Marcia..this is super)

My dream drinking glass (Rochelle inuman na!)

Paintings (Dzien kuje Mis and Tata)

Frame that says.. And they lived happily ever after (one of my fave eheh thanks VEE)

Spice Rack (Ate Maricel knows my hobby --- cooking)

Serving Spoons (from the bakers and great cooks - Sebastian and Kasia)

Plates

Cooking wares etc

and 10% off at Crate and Barrel

I am uber happy and so is my husband .. we got these stuff and get to watch the first matches for the first round of NBA quarterfinal matches.

Indeed our home warmed up!

Spring blooms

The buds on the trees are out, these signal that leaves are blooming soon, and then flower buds will be out, which means in a couple of weeks I will be seeing fresh flowers and smell the scent of spring. The winter season has truly said bye for 2008..

I was walking on my way to work -

I usually walk with my head down checking on where I walk, I have poor eyesight so if I walk with my head up, more often than not, I would get dizzy and step into something that would either trip me off or injure me. I remember my very good friend Jop would always complain about how I walk with my head's down, so what I would usually do was to hold his belt and stay behind him when we walk together, that way I would be protected from the rush of people coming towards me.

- back to walking towards my office - my head was up, checking on the buds of the trees.. my first time to experience the transition from winter to spring. The last time I experienced spring, the plants have already bloomed, but now I can see them blooming slowly - and to me its just a wonderful experience. Its like seeing a new life coming out from the branches of the tree.

By my porch in my apartment, I can hear the ducks quaking already, they are playing outside the pond that is just outside my porch. I love hearing them, that is nature by my porch. Can't wait to jog outside, that would be super coz this time I will be seeing squirrels and rabbits jogging with me, they have long been hibernating!

Spring signifies new life, new beginning, and that is very much true for me and so I celebrate spring more than any other season. When I flown and stayed here in the US, I know that this means a new life and new beginning for me, and that was the case. I have my new life as a wife, as a foreigner turned permanent resident, I have new family, new career and simply different path that I took, completely dissimilar to what I have previously planned and thought of, but like spring, I bloomed and I feel the beauty of what I have now, and like all the four seasons, I have moved on.

Flu bug

The changing weather got into me. While most are celebrating the coming of spring, I am here sitting on my desk and awfully sick. I caught a flu bug. And this is the flu season.

I remember what my mother-in-law would say, the worst months are not December to February, its actually October and March to April, because the weather is unpredictable. One part of the day, it may go extremely cold, the next part, warmish. People get sick with such unstable condition. This is even worst here in Chicago, the windy city is not helping me at all. This is one of the few places where temperature changes are drastic. I did remember telling to mu husband that I am in a wrong city.. in summer its too hot, and winter is just too freezing cold.. that is the lake effect - Chicago being surrounded by Michigan Lake on the east side.

Back to my flu.. my joints are aching, I keep on vomitting and having diarrhea, the soles of my feet are sore too. I know for a fact that our feet have all the nerve endings and whatever we feel from up our body, our feet feel too. A very good friend of mine used to give me very good feet massage, it made me feel very good after being sick. Massage usually makes me feel better after having a flu - maybe its time for a massage...

leatherhead

My husband and I watched the movie Leatherhead at AMC cinema in butterfield. Its one of those movies that you usually expect to be very very good that prior to getting inside the movie house your expectations were as high as the sky. Rating the movie, I think its a 7 with 10 being the highest. The way they filmed the movie was good, but then the story line in itself, including how scenes developed where quite long and dragging.

While watching, I just tried to keep myself awake for most part of the movie. Its became boring at some point, thanks to Renee Zellweger, my money's worth was given. I am not a professional movie critic, but I think most will agree that developing how "Rutherford's" little secret would come out should have been a little fast rather than dragging - its like developing three different characters (Clooney, Zellwegger, and "Rutherford") and trying to justify the development of football all together. It made the movie dragging at some point. Oh well, it was still fun because we were munching the bear paw we bought at Panera (by the way its so so good!!).