02.12.10
Back In Los Angeles
We’re back in Los Angeles. We arrived yesterday, and boy was that one long day! It took us about 22 hours from leaving the Philippines to finally setting foot at LAX. I have to admit that this time I felt a little conflict in that I was happy to be back to see my boys and hubby again, but I was also sad to come home as I really liked the food and shopping abroad. Maybe it’s because we left just from the heels of visiting Bangkok, and I was just not ready to go yet. There was so much to see and do there that I didn’t feel quite ready to come home yet. I will miss the food there. The food was incredible. And strangely, when we arrived back in Los Angeles I felt a tinge of culture shock. Everything here was (in comparison to Bangkok and the Philippines) sterile feeling. Hardly any people were walking in the streets, the weather was cold, and things felt too far apart. The Lord willing I would like to go back there some day for a better look around. Another notable thing was that there definitely were more foreign tourists in Bangkok than in the Philippines. There’s obviously a lot of partying going on there as well as we saw lots of people dressed up and ready for the night when we arrived, and some of the women were just absolutely stunning. Hmmm, bet it could be a dangerous place for young men, if you ask me! I imagine there have been lots of broken hearts and pocket books. . .
Anyway, since I’m still trying to get back on my feet, I’ll continue with the travelogue later. Have been sorting through the luggage, mail, and restocking the fridge and stuff like that. Tomorrow we’re headed off to the Asian Pacific Museum in Pasadena since Andrew needs to go there for one of his class papers. Then the following day, Sunday February 14 (and Valentines Day), is the Chinese New Year, so I want to head down to Chinatown to see what their festivities are going to look like. Both the Philippines and Thailand were preparing for the Chinese New Year, so I’m anxious to see the festivities here, too. The Philippines has a large Chinese population and each year when we’ve visited the Philippines in January we’ve seen their extra sales stalls preparing for their new year. Last year we happened to still be in the Philippines during their new year and we saw them light fireworks. This year we’re missing it and instead we’re back in LA. If I get any pictures of anything in Chinatown I’ll try to share them.
One final comment for today for anyone traveling to Los Angeles from the Philippines. . . Don’t bother bringing home chicharon. They confiscated mine this year even if they did not have the “laman.” Apparently, the rules have changed just last month (or so I was told), and they are no longer allowing chicharon (laman or no laman) into the country or maybe it’s just Los Angeles since I really can’t speak for any other ports of entry to the U.S. Must be some terrorist risk to bring pork cracklings into the country. The dang things are fried to a crisp in boiling oil, so it can’t be that they’re afraid of pathogens, so it must be a terrorist risk or very greedy, hungry customs checkers. I was very disappointed. Last year was a much more pleasant entry experience into the U.S. Last year after I handed my U.S. passport to be checked, the man smiled nicely and said, “Welcome home!” I was hoping for the same pleasant greeting this year, but no such luck. Instead of “welcome home,” he grabbed my chicharon and threatened me with a $300.00 fine if I didn’t fess up to any other bags I was “hiding.” Wow, home sweet home. . . rant over.
Marlakins
marissa said,
February 14, 2010 at 8:47 am
Gosh Marla ..I feel your pain in coming home from most vacations. You’re making me quite curious about Bangkok. I definitely would have to try visiting that place to see the people and sample the food. Sorry about the chicharrons. You absolutely have no luck on those pork cracklings when it comes to customs. Don’t worry I’ll bring some home to you next time I visit Manila
patti said,
February 14, 2010 at 11:14 pm
Welcome home, Marla! Since I was armchair travelling with you I didn’t even feel like you were gone.
Hey, I can’t find the sock post you had for me. Do you want me to send you a check this week? How much?
I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you knitting those for me (well, Ron). And I really can’t wait to tell him where they’ve been!
Hope you get rested and settled well.
patti
p.s. I wouldn’t let you bring pork rinds into this country either. Yuck!! (although Ron and Luke LOVE them).
Administrator said,
February 15, 2010 at 12:11 pm
Thanks for the welcome, Patti. Yes, it was different this time around having the computer with me. Being that it was going to be the longest I’d ever been away from my men folk, I felt the need to ensure regular communication ability. Turned out well, too!
As far as the socks, I’ve finished them and was going to send them off today when I realized that the post office is closed today due to President’s Day. Will have to go out tomorrow. Not sure how much postage will be, but the yarn cost about $24, so that with postage I think about $35 will be fine. As an aside, I asked Aaron whether he thought the socks looked like man socks. He replied, “Yes, especially with the size of those feet!” LOL And he’s right, man oh man, does Ron have big feet! Hope these will help keep them toasty.
I told Brian about your comment regarding the pork rind, and he said, “Patti probably hasn’t tasted chicharron from the Philippines.” Tee hee! Well, I don’t know if that would make any difference for you, but I agree with Brian that the packaged chicharon here is not near as good as the freshly popped ones there and thus the reason why we even bother trying to carry them back home with us. Even President Bush commented that he liked them! Remember when that came out in the news? http://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/07/garden/suddenly-pork-rinds-are-classy-crunch.html?pagewanted=1
Anyway, have a good President’s Day!
Marla
patti said,
February 15, 2010 at 9:14 pm
Oh, thank you! Perfect timing. I’m almost done with his jacket. I’ll send you pictures when I’m done. I have pictures of Grace’s animals for you too. Yup, my man has big feet. He’s decently tall. Just over 6′ 1″ so I guess that’s the big feet thing. Hmmmm. Wonder what that says about how tall Grace will be. She’s 12 today and is wearing a 9. Not sure if her feet are done yet.
She’s clearly not!
I do remember Bush and the pork rinds. Sorry, I just can’t do stuff fried like that. Anything. Besides the taste of fried fat, I can’t digest it well so it makes me sick. But hey, I’m glad y’all like them!
Some in my house love them.
Okay, gotta jet. I’ll pop a check off to you.
patti
marinel said,
February 16, 2010 at 2:53 pm
I can’t believe those custom agents took your chicharron!!!! I bet they needed an afternoon snack …. hmmp…
Administrator said,
February 17, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Hi Patti:
Wow, did Grace just have a birthday? Happy Belated Birthday! And yeah, her feet are bigger than mine already. Sounds like she’s gonna be a tall gal! I’m pretty short (5′3″). My boys are all just over 5′9″, including Brian, but he weighs about the same as Ron.
I’d love to see Grace’s animal pics as well as your jacket once it’s completed. I sent off the sock to you yesterday and if you want the tracking number I can send it to you private email. Just let me know. Hope it fits him right!
Oh, I didn’t realize that you can’t eat any fat. Wah. Does that mean you can’t eat butter, either? I cook so many things in butter! We eat so much butter around here that I didn’t realize how much butter I have been eating until one of my sisters and friend saw how much butter I was slathering on a piece of bread. They said, “Man, you eat the most butter I’ve ever seen!” LOLOL Hmmm. I guess I should back off a bit. . . So far I don’t seem to notice any problem with eating lots of fats.
Okay, laters!
Marla
patti said,
February 17, 2010 at 4:39 pm
I sent you a check yesterday. Thanks tons! I won’t worry about the tracking number unless I don’t see them in a week.
Grace’s b-day was the 15th. She had a great day. She’s officially done with piano now and today is her first guitar lesson. We made her play until she was 12. She still has to play an instrument until she’s 18, but we don’t care which ones. She’s more a strings girl. She likes violin and guitar.
I will be 40 on the 28th and am freaking out.
My grey hair needs covering and I need a new hairstyle! Doing that on Monday. Decided to just color my hair with peroxide and lemon juice to avoid the chemicals. hee hee Homemade sun in. 
Butter doesn’t bother me but meat fats do. We use a ton of butter but I can’t cook with it. We can use it on individual foods but that’s it. Luke can’t have anything cooked in butter or he’ll wet his pants for weeks. It literally cuts off the brain/bladder connection for him. So weird. Anyways, we do go through a lot of butter but because of him I use other stuff for actual cooking.
Still not done with the man’s jacket. Better be before the 5th! I’ll send you pics in one mail.
patti
Administrator said,
February 18, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Hi Patti:
Your birthday is the day before Aaron’s. His birthday is March 1. And yeah, it’s a weird thought turning 40. . . Been there. . .but now I’m 45 and this year in November I’ll be 46! Yikes! And yes, the gray hairs are making their appearance here, too. But at least they’re not as bad as my aunt’s. She told me that she had tons of gray when she was in her 20s, so I figure I’m not doing too bad in that department. But definitely more gray. . . It’s the other things that bother me more like the near vision seems to be getting blurry. I noticed last year that if I look at something too closely, it feels like I’m going cross-eyed, and the vision is blurred a bit. I’m guessing that’s the near vision thing that commonly happens when we age. sigh. . .
Funny how different fats affect us differently. I noticed that olive oil makes me get beet red and if I rub it on my skin, I can get hives. It’s a drag because so many foods are cooked with olive oil especially Italian and Greek foods.
Has Grace sold any of her creations yet? I’m curious to see what she’s made and how much is the lady charging for them?
Marla
patti said,
February 19, 2010 at 3:46 pm
Hi Marla,
Thus far, Grace hasn’t sold anything but the lady has been very encouraging and told her that Jan. and Feb. are really slow so she should be patient. She said everyone that comes in loves the little animals so that’s a good sign. The small animals she sells for $5.50, med. $6.50 and large $7.50. The lady thought to start at $10 but I told her I felt like with the economy that wasn’t a good idea. And since the idea right now it just to get Grace exposed to “business” the lower prices were fine. She just got a new animal pattern for her birthday she’s going to use. She finished up a vest for Kassandra today (I’ll get a pic of it too!) and Kassandra loves it! There is a story behind it but I’ll have to explain that later.
I got the socks today. They’re fantastic! I showed Grace because today she started crocheting her first pair of socks.
You inspire her! 
The socks *look* like they’ll be big enough. They look to be almost exactly the size of his everyday ones. I love the colors! Thank you so very much for making them!
Hopefully you’ve gotten your check by now. If not, it’s in the mail. hee hee! I hate that saying.
Gotte jet.
patti
Administrator said,
February 19, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Hi Patti:
I was just going to get on here to tell you I got your check in the mail and see that you beat me to it! And you sent me “extra,” too! Gee, you didn’t have to do that, but it is much appreciated, thanks. . .
Now I’m anxious to know how it fits Ron. At least we know he has a one of a kind pair since those are hand dyed and specially made for his feet. . .
Oh good idea regarding the pricing. I completely agree that technically everyone is just from the heels of Christmas shopping, that it’ll likely take a little time for people to start shopping again. I don’t know what kinds of animals Grace made, but I can tell you that I brought some in to my knit group that meets at the library on Saturdays and just from “sitting” there with the stuff I’ve sold some of my crocheted bears, ha! People would come in to buy used books and see our yarn stuffs while we sat there. I remember selling at least six that year just sitting there making them. The little ones seem to especially go fast since they’re small and fit the “compulsive” buy category, heheh.
Wow, Grace made a vest? Was it from a pattern or from her own design? She’s really getting good! That’s great!
Oh, and regarding turning 40, try not to sweat it. I realized later that I didn’t come across with any words of comfort in my previous reply when in fact I really should have mentioned that turning 40 isn’t so bad, ha! I honestly think I’m even healthier now then I was when I was 30. And besides. . . if you look at it from the Chinese perspective, you’re already 40 because they count age from the moment of conception, not on the day you make your appearance. That would mean that I’m just about 46! Yikes! LOL Let’s just keep taking as good care of ourselves as we can and who cares how old we are!
Take care,
Marla
patti said,
February 26, 2010 at 9:13 pm
Hi Marla,
The “extra” was such a small amount for your time. I’m sure they took way more hours then that pays for. Just from watching Grace I know that’s so.
Yep. The vest Grace made was from a pattern we found online that she liked. We’re starting to find lots of craft sites that are neat. She enjoys going through them all. Kassandra LOVES the sweater. I’m waiting until Ron’s jacket is done so I can send you pictures all at once. I am struggling bigtime with the zipper in this thing.
The turning 40 thing is strictly a weight fear for me. I asked hubby for a treadmill so we’ll see. I’m finally at a stage where I can workout without having to constantly worry about what the kids are doing and I so want to get 30 pounds off of me. I can’t even stand to look at pictures of myself anymore. Ugh! I weigh less then I did several years ago but I still don’t like where I’m at. The fear thing is I always hear stories how it’s impossible to lose weight after you turn 40. I have felt very under the gun this year because of that. When I got pregnant in Nov. I gained 10 pounds almost immediately, which ALWAYS happens to me and I’ve only been able to lose a little bit of it. Mostly I think because it’s winter and not much outside work. Anyways, we’ll see what happens when Sunday comes. Since hub and I rarely exchange or get each other gifts, it will be interesting to see what he does. I’m doing stuff for him because he’s turning 50 which I think is another milestone.
Definately, I am healthier today then I was when I turned 30!! Way way healthier. So I guess that’s good. However, in celebration of turning 40 I did cut 7″ off of my hair and get it highlighted. I LOVE it. It feels very feminine. I also went shopping.
The boys loved my hair, the girls hated it. Kassandra told me, “You’re not my mommy. Go away and come back as mommy!” hahahahahaha They must be getting over it – it’s been 3 days and they stopped saying they don’t like it.
Better jet and get to working on Ron’s jacket. I am making it so there are no visible seams on the inside which means also fitting the zipper between the inside and outside layer. What a PAIN!!
Chat later. Probably won’t be for another week. Just very busy right now.
patti
Administrator said,
February 27, 2010 at 9:22 pm
Hi Patti:
Yeah, zippers can be a challenge! With enough persistence, I’m sure you’ll get it in the way you want it. Boy, sounds like a nice jacket! Look forward to seeing it and Grace’s stuff, too! And yes, I know what you mean about craft sites online! I could easily spend hours looking through them! There’s always some amazing talent out there, which is really fun to see and learn about.
Oh, the weight thing as we age. . . well, yeah, I’ve heard about that stuff, too, but I don’t think it has to be that way. Both my sisters are older than I am and neither one of them struggles with excess weight. Actually, I’m the heaviest one in our family, and even then I’m still relatively the same weight as when I was in high school. Course I think my weight has distributed a little differently! Yikes! Like the “square” hips and love handles. I’ll admit that those seem to be here to stay. . . but in all honesty, I haven’t tried to do anything to get rid of them and basically they did appear after I had my kids. Neither one of my sisters have kids, so maybe that’s why they don’t have that issue. I just really hate exercise. . . but I really should do some for the health benefits, particularly osteoporosis. At this point that’s more my concern than the weight. Besides, Patti, you might be more judgmental of yourself than others. Often we see the worst in ourselves, but others don’t see all that. The bigger issue in my eyes is the health factor. If you don’t feel good, then definitely work on it.
Looking at it from another perspective, I read that controlling weight has more to do with what and how much we eat than with exercise. AND the condition of our organs, particularly our livers and the efficiency of our metabolism. There was an article I read that claimed that we couldn’t exercise enough to burn all the calories we eat normally. They have a list of how many calories are burned with various exercises and aside from endurance athletes, normal people just can’t burn enough just by regular exercise. It’s more a matter of how well our organs function and how much and what we eat. How much truth there is to that, I don’t know, but I tend to think there’s some truth there. Because I know that people with thyroid problems are prone to weight loss or gain depending upon how well their thyroid is working. And the thyroid is also closely linked to how well the adrenals are working. Which also regulated our body temperature and thus our metabolism. I remember reading something Russell Blaylock wrote in his book Excitotoxin, the Taste that Kills, that he believed that many cases of obesity are linked to damage to the pituitary gland from excitotoxins (you know all those flavor enhancers like MSG and stuff and the excitotoxins in sodas, etc). He wrote that with the pituitary gland damage our overall hormone regulation in our bodies don’t work right and causes obesity (the pituitary gland is supposed to be our master gland). I guess the reason why I tend to agree that there’s definitely more to weight maintenance than exercise is because I’ve often seen regular runners who I would never guess were regular runners. Physically I would never have guessed. And then there are those who are complete skinny winnies, and they don’t exercise at all (my oldest sister is one example, and she struggles to maintain her weight over 100 lbs). And since it’s commonly agreed that as we get older our bodies become more heavily burdened with toxins, our organs such as our livers and glands don’t function optimally and thus we tend to gain weight as we age. I was reading something about cellulite and there are different ideas for what causes it and how to get rid of it. One explanation I read is if we have cellulite, it’s an indication that our livers are not working up to speed. I can see I’m having some problem with that as I notice I’ve got some cellulite on my thighs. I thought in addition to exercise and massage I should work on improving my liver to see if the cellulite goes away. . .
Well, I guess I’ve yakked enough about that, but I know there are much more things I’ve read about it. Don’t know who’s right or wrong, but food for thought, anyway. There was another book I read discussing the difference with brown fat and white fat in our bodies and that we have to activate the brown fat to help us lose weight. But that involves incorporating certain types of oils in our diets, and I think you can’t take fats, right? Anyway, have a happy 40th, and I hope you get your treadmill! That should be good for your health like your cardiovascular health in addition to exercising to lose weight.
Take care,
Marla
P.S. I’d love to also see a picture of your new hairdo! I’ve only dyed my hair “once” before (about a month before I got diagnosed with AA. . . ) And I got a similar reaction from my kids! I had my hair “slightly” streaked, and when my boys saw me they said, “Why do you want to be blonde?” Acckkkk! It was “hardly” blonde! But I guess since they were so used to seeing me with jet black hair, any amount of lightening must have been obvious to them. Both my sisters used to streak their hair a lot, so I decided to try it. . . I posted a pic of me with that haircut years ago, and you can “hardly” tell it was lightened. You’d have to really pay attention to see that there was a tad of lighter streaks in the picture. http://goatrevolution.com/blog2/2007/03/12/aa-in-san-diego-county/#comments