MEMORIES FROM MINI REUNION

"Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. " -Francis Bacon

REFLECTIONS FROM EBB TIDE: I am back after a sentimental journey to the Philippines & dream trip to Southeast Asia. Those trips were one of the best times of my life. Last February, being reunited w/ many past high school classmates in Makati after 50 years was something I am very thankful & will forever treasure. Also going back to my homeland after 33 years of absence gave me a wonderful feeling. The Southeast Asian trip & cruise is something to remember. I am extremely happy to have done such a long travel while I could still walk & enjoy the hassle of taking a trip. It was worth the long distance journey & expenses.

When I got back to the U.S. last April 1st, I wasn't in the mood to jump into blogging. So many things occupied my mind & time. Moving to San Diego was my priority every moment of the days. I was disconnected from the e-group for months but it didn't mean I no longer care. I am glad that many were patient & understand my silence. My endless thanks to Sari who made an effort to continue our blog despite of my long absence. She did a good job filling in.

Meanwhile, although I haven't updated our "Gintong Alaala" blog I thought of it once in a while. I wanted to start the Part 2 of "Gintong Alaala" w/ new layout & design but so far, I have gotten rusty and needed to practice a bit. Also not having all the time in the world kept me away from blogging. It will take months before I could spend as much time as I did the first time I started designing our golden blog. I am sure many of you wanted to continue our Gintong Alaala & looking forward to Part 2, Part 3, & beyond.

Anyway, I'd like to restart our blog and share my latest mini-beach-vacation to Cayucos, California last July 10. It was tiring but fun filled w/ new experiences. This place is a quaint village near Morro Bay, surrounded with little towns such as Cambria & San Simeon. There are many interesting places to visit, that will not make you sleepy during those quiet times.

THE HIGHLIGHT:Our mini-get-together w/ Eloi & Jun (hubby) on June 10th (Sat.) was the best part of course. It's over a week since we saw each other. Time flies so fast! We met at the beach house where we stayed -for-4-days (courtesy of my sister-in-law-Dita). It is just 30 minutes drive from Atascadero where Eloi & Jun both work. They wanted to see this million dollar beach house. We toured them around. It was a beautiful day. ELOISA FARRALES & EBB RESELLA AT THE CAYUCOS BEACH HOUSE

HAPPY QUARTET- JUN AND ELOISA FARRALES & EBB AND RHOD RESELLA

LUNCH AT THE HOBBIT: Later we had lunch at the Hobbit, a resto recommeded by Dita, as the best in Cayucos. We took lots of photos. We had a wonderful lunch of gourmet hamburger & mixed seafood soups (ala bouilabaise).

THE HOBBIT RESTO: It has an ocean view & nice garden in the back. We only remembered to take pictures after we ate all the food. So no photos of the food. Thanks to Eloi & Jun for splurging. They too had millionaire's personality. Why not? Parehong doctor yata!

HOBBIT OUTDOOR GARDEN: This is one side of the beautiful garden. We choose to eat indoor because it was cold outdoor. After we finished eating our lunch, the beautiful sun came out & it's too late to eat in the garden.
ANOTHER VIEW OF THE HOBBIT GARDEN
BACK TO THE BEACH HOUSE: Later, we went back to the beach house. This is Dita's small garden on the entry way to the house. My grand kids were there already. So Eloi & Jun were able to meet our young poet (Audrey). Soon, we were inside the SUV of John (Dita's hubby). There were 7 of us (me/Rhod, Eloi & Jun, John & Dita & Aaron (Rhod's youngest brother), so it was packed. Mas marami mas masaya. The winding road to Paso Robles was thrilling, where we enjoyed wine tasting ala "Sideways." There are 200 wineries in the area & we only went to 4 of them. Most in our group like to drink wine except me & Eloi. They had so much fun. Wine tasting is free up to 6 glasses if you buy at least a bottle later on. So for our 1st tasting, me & Eloi had sparkling fruity wine (virgin/non-alcoholic ). I drank it while Eloi only sipped a little. LAST STOP: In Opolo Winery they served appetizers (grilled sausages), crackers with wine tasting. This winery was more hospitble because their wines are more expensive. Some cost$20.00 per bottle. Amazingly, Jun bought a whole box and gave some bottles away to Rhod & Aaron. We could have stayed longer at the wineries but Eloi & Jun had to go back to Astacadero by 5:00 p.m. We had so much fun that saying good-bye wasn't easy.

STUNNING SUNSET BY THE BEACH: This is one of the sunset views that we saw during our refreshing times by the beach house. Sorry that Jun & Eloi missed this beauty but I hope the photo will inspire them to take more time off.
Eloi's e-mail & comment ......"It was a comfortable feeling being with you, as if we did not have 50 years in between." How true like a good aged wine.
IN THE FUTURE: I am trying to convince Eloi to retire here in San Diego. She will never be lonely with us around-(me & Evelyn NZ).Plus my 3 sisters & 1 brother are all here. We could adopt them to be part of our big family. Also, my 4th sister Didi is married to a doctor. It's a small world because my brother-in-law is also a past classmates of Eloi & Jun while at UP Medical School. It's not to late to start all over again.

ENJOY READING FROM EBB!