Beach Bodies
Two minutes away from our place is a gym called 24-Hour Fitness.
At first, we thought of just looking at the gym to see if it will work for us, then maybe ask for a 10-day tryout. But we signed-up already, because the Sales Manager gave us a good Memorial Day discount, which, she says, expires today.
Well, we do need exercise. Unlike in New York, where we walked our legs off to get around, here in California, we drive. That means less exercise, so we need to really look for a conducive exercise venue – and the gym is the perfect place for that, aside from the beach.
And speaking of the beach, because we’ll most likely be staples of the beach every weekend this summer, we need to look beach-ready. And best place to get beach-fit is the gym, with weights for Nino, kickboxing classes, yoga, pilates, and a pool for me.
So, diba, we really needed to sign up.
Goodness. We are such suckers.
Almost
I can’t believe it’s been exactly a month since we first arrived here in our new place, our apartment in Torrance, CA. Torrance is located in the southwest area of Los Angeles county.
Our Apartment (PICTURES!)
We’re now 80% settled! Thank God for Tito Ike’s pick-up truck which we used to haul our mangled, murdered boxes (lesson learned: never buy “shipping” boxes from Staples.) from Tita Eileen’s to our apartment, and to haul 2nd hand furniture we bought through craigslist (thank God for craigslisters!). Sa kama na kami natutulog, hindi na sa airbed.
We occupied 2 rooms out of the 3-bedroom apartment. One big room kay Tito Ike, the other room sa amin, and the 3rd room we made into Nino’s office (since he works from home) slash guest room.
I already bought utensils, a couple of pans, a pot and other cooking tools to furnish my kitchen. Oh my goodness, my kitchen. There’s so much space!!!! And there are cupboards and drawers and cabinets! Woohoo!!!
It’s all coming together. Happiness! Isa na lang ang kulang – dining table and chairs. For now, we make do with the kitchen counter. We bought a couple of stools para pag kakain kami, Nino stays put (he used to walk around while eating nung nakatayo pa kami habang kumakain, so don’t blame me kung bat sya payat ha).
Our Area
On our first few weeks, Nino and I went exploring around our apartment. We soon discovered that all our favorite stores were just 5 to 10 minutes away! Lahat ng dinadayo pa namin noon from Manhattan (Queens, New Jersey, etc). at schine-schedule para puntahan, nandito lang. Everything is so accessible – groceries, drug stores, fast food, real food, even Filipino food!
A few minutes away from our apartment is Carson, a city with probably more Filipinos than any other race (or so it looks that way). So expectedly, there is a Jollibee, a Chow King, a Red Ribbon, and a huge, horrible-smelling Pinoy grocery store called Seafood City. Syempre seafood city nga eh, di amoy RAW seafood (in other words, malansa) – so wag na magreklamo diba?
.JPG)
The best part about this place is the BEACH!!!! Redondo Beach and Torrance Beach are just 10 minutes away from our place, with traffic. This is such a welcome change for us because we felt so deprived of the beach last year in New York. As much as Nino and I wanted to go to one of the best beaches in NJ, we couldn't because we had no beach gear (chairs and stuff), not to mention a PLACE in our apartment or the car in which to put beach gear, so we settled with friends’ pool parties over the summer.
Also, because of the beach breeze, it’s a bit cooler over at our place, compared to inland LA weather, especially over the summer. It's like our place is Tagaytay, inland LA is Metro Manila.
Kaya eto ngayon, papakasawa kami sa beach (in our own one-of-a-kind, pinagtitinginang beach chair)!
---------------
Everything is just almost perfect right now - spacious apartment, breezy, sunny weather, everything accessible – with ALMOST being the operative word.
Katabi kasi namin ay equipment rental ng mga CAT and all those huge trucks, kaya when you look out the window, parang construction ang view, maingay pa pag umaga. Sabi nga nung isang bisita namin, “Ay may new construction sa katabi niyo?”
Sabi ko lang, “Hindi po, equipment rental yan.”
Di bale, maganda naman ang view beyond that – you just have to look a bit further for a nicer view of the Palos Verdes mountains at night.
So, it’s all good. I can settle for close-to-perfect. Oh happy day!
Reconnecting
It’s always nice to find old friends. Jhoanne, My college blockmate from way back when (has it actually been 10 years?!) is now based in Huntington Beach, about 20 minutes away from our place.
I haven’t seen or heard from her since, what, 2nd year college? When we were still back home, we both knew that our boyfriends were college blockmates too. In fact, they were even in the same barkada, but we never got to attend the same dinner or gimmick, so we never saw each other then.
And now, after missing several jobs, ex-boyfriends, deaths in the family and each other’s happenings in our lives, we’re catching up. It’s great to know that despite the years of no communication, you can still connect and be comfortable with each other. Who knew dito pa kami sa US magiging close?
I’m glad she’s here. I’m pretty sure she’s glad I’m here, too. =)
Now We Know
When you just moved in to a new place, you learn how everything works by trial and error, just like the way we learned about working the dishwasher.
We never had a dishwasher in New York for obvious space reasons. So, naturally, we didn’t know how to work the dishwasher now available here in our apartment.
My uncle who shares the apartment with us, Tito Ike, said he was not sure if his previous housemates ever used the dishwasher, because he never did. He advised us to give it one run to clean it up. I asked what to soap use, and he said, “kahit regular detergent, pareho lang naman ang linis nun.” We decided to use the dishwashing liquid on our kitchen sink and let it run one cycle before we all went to bed.
I then prepared to go to sleep with my evening rituals. The next thing I knew, Tito Ike was barefoot on the kitchen, mopping the floor flooded with dishwashing liquid soap suds bubbling out of the dishwasher.
Lesson learned: Read the FINE PRINT of every product. At the back of the dishwashing liquid we used, in ultra-fine print, was written, “Do not use in dishwasher.”
So I Say...
Nino left for Washington DC tonight, for some official assignment. I brought him to the airport, about 25 minutes away and drove home alone.
I was so scared because it was my first time to drive alone. Heck, it was my first time to drive in CA, period! And at night!
My heart was racing, even if I had my uncle convoying with me in his truck for the first couple of miles, before we separated routes. Ang bibilis kasi ng mga sasakyan, plus I had to pay attention to the signs so I won’t miss my exit. Buti na lang, I was able to go with the flow of traffic (meaning above speed limit) without going too fast and hindi naman ako naligaw.
I guess that's because I managed to calm myself down by singing to the music in my car radio. Thank you for the music, the songs I’m singing, sabi nga ni Abba. I made it home in one piece.
