Infatuation

THEY GROW UP SO FAST...

2:25 PM

I left my pet cat, Tiger, like this:

But now, he ballooned into this:

HAHA! Such a fat, lazy, obese cute kitty <3

My JTA stay in San Francisco has taught me so much things and Armand was right, it made me a better person and it made me discover who I really am. I not only learned how to survive by myself or cook or use public transportation but I gained insights and views on life that staying in Ateneo or in the Philippines would not give me. I know I gave up so much for this, but it's all worth it. My family said they were proud of me. Shaun said he was proud of me. Well, you know what, I am proud of myself too.

I remember that very day my family brought me to the airport, there was a minute there I regretted joining JTA and I didn't want to leave the Philippines, in all honesty. I wanted to stay because I was afraid of what is to come. I was afraid of being all alone in a country that I have never visited all my life. I was afraid of not having a rock, my family, there to tell me what to do or to run to in times of need. I was afraid of not having any friends because of the different culture. I was afraid I am going to starve to death (or gain so much weight because of eating take-outs) because I never cooked at home. I was afraid of getting lost or just being stuck at the apartment 'cause I never commuted, I never ventured out or went to places alone. Living a very sheltered life at home did not give me enough life experiences, I guess. That's why I was afraid of so many things; because I never was alone, or shall I say, I never was this independent. But this experience made me taste what life was truly about, or the good side of life anyway. I know it was easy cause I had instant money, I didn't have to work and money was always there, but nonetheless, I learned a lot. I was able to cook food on my own (and Shaun said they were good too, yay! haha!), I was able to ride the buses and go to the malls alone, to go shopping at my own leisure and time and to even watch a movie I wanted. I was able to make friends from different races and culture but most of all, I was able to experience diversity at its best. I was able to take complete control of my life, and I loved it.

JTA made me taste what life was really about and I have no regrets or whatsoever going here in USF. I know at first I was scared cause USF only had one slot but unlimited tuition paying. I never thought someone would pay to go here but at least someone did. I'm glad Daniel went here cause it helped to have someone with you along the way (though we only got to hang out at the beginning and eventually went with other friends we had). I thought that if we were 4-10 JTA people at USF, it wont be the same. You wont get the same fears I did and would not get the same pleasure of conquering them, of knowing you were able to do it.

Fiona, you were able to do it - these 4 months.

And damn right you should be proud of yourself. It's not the travels, the sights, the new stuff you bought but it is that journey of self-discovery that meant the most to me. Even though JTA ended and I'm back to my old life again, I know I came back a changed person. A changed and more mature person, hungry for life and what the future holds.

I just want to thank God for giving me this opportunity, for my family for allowing me and for all the friends I've made and have helped me go through this along the way (you know who you guys are!). I know I wasn't ready to go, 'cause I honestly didn't want to leave just yet. I wanted a few more weeks or months maybe. But it's time for me to go back to my family I dearly missed so much. This was enough and maybe someday in the future, I might be coming back there. Who knows? But for now, it's a pleasant farewell and thank you.

FOOD TRIP (AGAIN)

11:34 PM

I am moving out of my dorm today (Dec 18) and I had to finish all my food before I go, so I had ANOTHER food trip, this time with Shaun, and we tried to finish everything.

Other than that, here are some of the stuff we cooked and other places we went to eat to.

dinner by shaun: pan-roasted potatoes with buttered vegetables and steak diane with homemade mushroom gravy

trying to use up all plastic utensils

this was lunch by me

I called this chicken alfredo pesto with 3 cheeses

garlic onion mushroom side dish (which turned out surprisingly good! haha!)

chicken cutlets with country gravy

and for dessert, shaun made banofee pie FROM SCRATCH. and this was what was left of it when I remembered to take a picture. mmmm....

Fancy night with Shaun! haha! dinner at McCormick & Kuleto's seafood restaurant in Ghirardelli square. this was an amazing appetizer of mango, avocadoes and dungeness crab

I wanted to use my california ID for once, so we ordered a Ghirardelli chocolate martini!

this was fettuccini alfredo with Manila clams (though I must say, the one in Cyma was better)

shaun had pan-friend scallops with pork belly and these sweet small thin carrot-like veggies that I loved

fancy date calls for fancy get-ups. haha!

then dessert at the Ghirardelli cafe. even though it was freezing cold outside, I wanted my ice cream sundae. so here it was. very berry ice cream :P

though I dont have a picture of it, Shaun even rented a beemer for us. Went all out that night. haha! It was very fun and memorable :) Thank you baby! mwah! :*

MUIR WOODS

11:08 PM

I've always wanted to see these giant Redwoods and I was finally given the chance to do so with Shaun :)

Muddy, damp and foggy day. But it was still very very VERY FUN! A GREAT date place with your boyfriend! :)

taking a picture with the first giant redwood we saw

funny sign (that's a mirror on the left)

shaun and bear

bear fiona bear

inside a giant tree!

the trees were huuuuuge

an odd piece of a tree

the fallen Kent tree. I dunno what shaun was doing x.x haha

shaun inside the big tree

shaun peeking inside the tree trunk

shaun posing with the other trees

look how taaaalll they were

a random lady was walking by and offered to take our picture. when she was looking at us, she said "aww... love" for some reason, snapped our picture, and here it is.

I thought this would make a nice "the path" picture

wanted to take pictures with different backgrounds. this is one with a big tree bark on the back.

one overlooking a stream

and one overlooking the woods

CONSERVATORY OF FLOWERS

3:20 PM

Shaun came to SF for a week and here are some of the places we went to :)

It was a rainy afternoon and we were walking along Golden Gate Park when it started to rain x.x So we ended up in the Conservatory of Flowers in order to stay dry. haha! It was an amazing greenhouse-like place wherein there were plants everywhere and pretty pretty flowers from different parts of the country.