The Clairvoyant is returning from San Francisco today and I just got off the phone with her telling me in ecstatic tones what I missed during the US trip. She was at NAIA Terminal 2 to catch a connecting flight back to our second home in Singapore. I was eagerly looking forward to the US trip. For one, such opportunities when the wife and I get to travel together abroad are quite rare. The last time we did was Japan but I guess that can be considered an exception since I was already staying in that country as a visiting researcher. Still, we were able to plan that out and it did help that her office had their meetings in Tokyo around the time I was there. Singapore doesn't count because we have a home there and the Clairvoyant is based in that country now.
A US trip would have been wonderful and the Bay Area would have been the perfect staging point for expeditions to Napa Valley, Silicon Valley and other places of interest I was not able to check out during my brief stay in 2007. That time was my first and only US trip (The Clairvoyant frequently travels to the US as their headquarters is in Chicago.) and I still regret why I didn't extend my stay to be a tourist for a few days. Oh yes, I remember the reason, I didn't have money at the time. But now is different. Though we are not awash with cash, I certainly could afford to go around more with the Peso strengthening against the Dollar and the fact that I did prepare a budget for the trip. Problem is, work happened, and I haven't stopped saying sorry to the Clairvoyant for what could have been an opportunity of a lifetime with no work whatsoever linked to the travel.
So to sort of alleviate my feelings of regret and what might have beens these past days when I could have been in California instead of in wallowing in work in Manila, I am posting some photos of fine memories of my first US trip. I am very thankful to friends from way back in high school for hosting me for few days before I returned to Manila at the time. The brothers Mike and Ian Campos are great hosts and we had a great time exchanging stories and experiences since we last saw each other prior to my visit. I am also very thankful to Tin Togle, a friend of ours from the Clairvoyant's previous work at a Makati law firm. She took me shopping and I do not regret getting the pair of Cole Haans that to this day remain as my favorite shoes (yes, I am vain, too).
With the Campos brother Mike and Ian, who were my high school classmates
With Ian and family
With Mike in front of SF City Hall
At the wharf
Lombard Street - "the crooked path"
At Ghirardelli Square (before shopping for chocolates)
In front of the UC Berkeley Dorm Building where we stayed at during WCTR 2007
With Tin Togle at the Campos residence
At the fog shrouded Golden Gate Bridge
Waiting to take the San Jose VTA
At a BART Station platform
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