Our 2009 Sojourn to California

As they say, first time is always exciting. This is, as a couple, our first time to set foot in the mainland USA, the so-called land of the free. Thanks God, our daughter Danna got a job in a carehome facility, a reason for us to visit America.

For low-income couple like us, a sojourn abroad like this is already a luxury; thanks God again for friends like Dory Graham (a former colleague at the postharvest bureau) who accorded us a 5-star hotel accommodation at Marriott Hotel, a rare opportunity for us to live like the rich and famous.

As of this posting, we are still in San Francisco area enjoying the serenity of San Francisco Bay, and the well-organized suburbs of San Mateo and Daly cities where daughter Danna works characterized by well-planned residential, commercial and even church zonification.

To enjoy the tour, we rented-a-car equipped with GPS technology telling us the righ way to a pre-selected destination, amazing technology indeed. Cost here is around $40 per day, competitive enough with our local rate in the Philippines of around P3K- P5K per day.

We spent our Sunday celebration in a Filipino-American congregation here, the Alta Vista Church of Christ, with Bro. Oscar Cruz as one of the elders and Bro. John as the minister (see one of the posted photos). After worship, we went to a nearby popular mall named Toforan. So nice to see and mingle with Filipinos around.

In a couple of days, we will proceed to Riverside for another visit with a fraternity brother while seeing the tourists' spots in the area. Here are some pictures we took in selected areas. (JSF blogs)