I am sad to announce that my sister has ceased to be Filipino. Walang tabo sa banyo niya. I do not know how I will survive three more weeks living this way.

Our reunion was touching and surprising.  As soon as I stepped out of the airport's doors, there was my sister with a scrunched up face.  I was still a good five meters away when she started to cry, forgetting to make fun of me because I was the only person who was wearing a face mask which she saw from the monitors placed in the waiting area.  I rushed to hug her and didn't notice that the tote bag which contained my netbook tipped over and fell on the floor.  But no worries, I'm typing these words up on the said netbook, so everyone and everything turned out fine.

I now know first hand what jetlag feels like.  It's horrible.  But I was determined to make the most of this trip, so I tried to ignore it as best as I could that first day in the U.S.  My sister instructed me to bring as little luggage as possible because we would be taking the BART to Union Square.  I was all for it... I love using public transport in the places I visit; it helps me pretend that I'm a local.

After dumping my bags in my sister's car which she parked near Bloomingdale's, off we went for lunch at a Thai restaurant, and then some sightseeing.  I squealed out things that I realized I was experiencing for the first time: “Ooh, my first American street!”  “My first American mall!”  “My first American gust of wind; how come it's so cold, isn't it supposed to be summer?”

Before I knew it, my sister had already taken pictures of me in front of Tiffany's, Neiman Marcus and Macy's.  I stopped to hug a heart-shaped installation with cartoons painted on it, then, I had enough brain power left to contribute a quick history lesson when we approached the Dewey Monument which commemorated the Battle of Manila Bay during the tail-end of the Spanish-American War.  This was to be a foretaste of my whole California  experience... there wasn't a day I stepped out of the apartment that I did not see a Filipino or something that reminded me of the Philippines.

We made quick progress so that soon enough, I was already posing in front of the dragon gate which flanked the entrance to Chinatown.  I found that they sold the same kind of beads and trinkets you would find in Greenhills, at very inflated prices though.  Made me tighten my purse strings, so my sister and I agreed to just come back another time when I was more willing to actually spend money.

My maid-of-honor duties also started that afternoon, as I accompanied her to pick up their wedding banks.  I'm not sure if I was able to make the appropriate remarks on the beauty of the rings because suddenly, I felt woozy and disoriented.  For a stretch there, all I could say was, “I feel weird... I feel weird... I feel weird...”
 
My brain had all shut down by the time we got to her apartment.  She proceded to make chicken sausage lasagna for me and her fiance (whom I met for the first time that evening, but couldn't torture properly because I wasn't feeling like myself).  When we were eating, my sister proceded to take out some Jufran and coated her lasagna with it.  Ah, nice to know there's a Filipino still lurking inside of her somewhere.

Thanks to a sleep aid taken last night, I was able to sleep nine hours and feel mostly okay now.  But surprise, surprise, it's the sister who lay down on the couch for a one-hour nap before her gown fitting.  Sleepiness and sloth is contagious...  Might lie down on the other end of the couch now...