Meeting Angels in U.S.

(This story's what I've written for our school paper)

Meeting Angels in U.S.

Raina Adalla Garcia

As what my family had planned last year, off we went to mainland America last summer. On my previous article I keep on comparing Hawaii from our country but now that I had seen two other states of Uncle Sam- California and Texas, It’s no use doing that again as I realized it’s baseless comparing the Third World from the First World although I can”t stop wondering why they are that so blessed and ours are not where in fact the Bible says we are all created equal. Anyway, so much for that sentiments. This time I will share some of the highlights of our trip and I will introduce you to our family friends and relatives who had been so generous and hospitable to us during our 21- day stay to Texas, California and Hawaii.

Our trip, was in many ways, seemed complicated for me because of the stopovers, connecting flights and time differences from one State to the other. From NAIA we arrived at Narita, Tokyo International Airport after three hour and 25 mins. flight . We waited to board on our connecting flight for three hours and 20 mins then departed for Los Angeles and spent nine hours and 40 mins on air. Upon arrival at the Los Angeles International Airport terminal 2 we were taken by a bus to terminal 6 where we had our connecting flight bound to George Bush International Airport in Houston, Texas. Our final destination atlas after another three hours and 40 mins. airflight. We were met there by the smiling Caguioa brothers Tito Blan and Tito Amor. Tito Blan drove 45 mins. to take us to his cozy home in Sugarland City, Texas and played a terrific host to us for five days with his lovely wife tita Arlene, a nurse and an accountant at the same time. They have three kids- Kuya Aldionn, Brandon and Caroline who are all lovable especially Kuya Aldionn because he showed us around Sugarland and Houston along with his Vietnamese-Chinese girlfriend Cindy. Tito Amor and his wife Tita Alma with their witty daughters Charlene and Nicole are all very generous who gave us bag,wallet,clothes ,perfume, books and some pocket money. The Caguioa family always took us to different buffet restaurants every meal time where foods are so many and choices are limitless. At a buffet restaurants a customer will just have to pay $10 to eat and drink all we can. After staying there for three days, we were fetched by Tita Marilou and American husband Giles Honeycutt who is an Electronics and Communications Engineer. We rode the car for four hours and 55 mins.until we reached their serene home in Forth Worth, Texas . The wonderful couple together with their only daughter Danica treated us to a welcome dinner at Zorro’s Buffet. Obviously, majority of the food servers there are Mexicans while others are Filams. There’s a fiesta atmosphere in the restaurant and again I gave up eating even I still wanted to try tasting other deliciously- looking dishes there..The Honeycutt family is very-very kind to us. Tita Marilou is very loving host while Uncle Giles is very thoughtful. Their daughter ate Danica treated us like her own sister. All of them are very generous as they gifted us with almost everything they can find and can think of to give like a cell phone and uncle Giles’ spare laptop computer.

After six-day stay at Forth Worth we traveled back to Houston. This time we took the Greyhound bus. It had 10-15 mins. stopped-over at Hilsboro, Waco, Hearne, Bryan, Navasota, Prairie, all these in Texas state. Surprisinglly I never saw anyone wearing face masks amidst global news alert on the Influenza A(H1N1). We arrived at Greyhound bus Houston station after five hours and 45 mins. trip. My very kind Tito Blan met us there and again took us to their home in Sugarland. I was so surprised to find out that all his kids – Kuya Aldionn, Brandon and Caroline stayed awake and patiently waited for us to arrive even it was already almost 9 pm and they still have school the next day. I was so touched. We were so busy packing our belongings because the next day, May 28 we were scheduled to fly back to Los Angeles in the afternoon. Tito Blan is really an angel to us. He is very loving and caring as he helped us tidying our things and provided Balikbayan boxes, and a luggage. Afterwards he drove us anew to George Bush International Airport in Houston. Boarded the Continental Airlines, we departed Houston at 2:45 pm (Houston time) and arrived at Los Angeles International Airport at 3:50 pm.(Los Angeles time) with three hours and five minutes flight duration. Dad’s Mexican-American prima (cousin) Delia Garcia Limon and her friend Filipino-Mexican-American friend Rose met us at the airport. Tito Randy Oriel, a famous Dentist to the stars in California was also there. He took us to his car and drove two hours ( the traffic was heavy in Los Angeles) before we reached Salo-Salo Grill, a Filipino Restaurant in Cerritos, California for a dinner with his fellow Dentist wife Tita Marissa , Asian Journal writer Dan Nino, Tia Delia and Rose who are both English Teachers . For the first time Tia Delia and Rose had tasted halo-halo and surprisingly they liked it. I told them it wasn’t the best yet because in the Philippines Chowking serves the best halo-halo. After our sumptous dinner, we left Cerritos at 10 pm. Tia Delia drove us to her spatious and luxurious home in Santa Maria, California and arrived at 1:08 am. Her handsome husband Tio Eduardo welcomed us with their unico hijo Christian. My cousin Christian is dashingly attractive. He looks like my favorite actor Shia Labeouf (a.k.a. Sam Witwicky of Transformers I and 2). I gawked the next day when he introduced his Italian-American girlfriend Melissa because she looks like Megan Fox ( a.k.a. Micaella, Sam’s leading lady in Transformers 1 and 2) What a coincidence. Tia Delia is virtually another angel to us. She is so sweet, warm, very hospitable and an eloquent host. She brought us to Pismo beach which according to her is the third dirtiest beach in California but as I see it the beach is clean with clear water, beautiful boardwalk and a chilly wind. She took us next to San Louis Obispo Port where for the first time in my life I saw Seals, Seagulls and Squirrels. We excitedly watched the Seals splashing in the open sea, crawling , making noises while others are just sleeping. I was so amused when Tia Delia brought us to eat at Fire Stone Grill because a serving of burger can feed three persons of average appetite because it’s huge. When we got back to her home she showed us their “ motor home” parked at the backyard.. It amazingly looks like a mini-bus outside but with all the home-amenities inside like kitchen, sink, oven,ref, TV, bed, couch, a toilet and bath. She said they use it whenever they go to a vacation because it’s a lot cheaper than staying in a hotel. We also had the chance to meet Tia Delia’s two other siblings, Tia Blanca and Tia Guadalupe with their husband, children and children-in-law in an interesting dinner. They all look gorgeous, sophisticated, tall and they all have high noses and thick-curly eyelasshes. I felt like I was in a company of Mexicanovela actors. We bid good bye to Tia Delia and Tio Eduardo on the early morning of May 31 as Tito Randy fetched us. He drove us to Los Angeles where he bought us entrance tickets to the Universal Studios. We were greeted there by huge billboards of different stars and a particular big screen for Beattles where their songs are continuously played. Afterwards he took us to the Staples Center, the home court of the Los Angeles Lakers. I can visually picture it to my mind again when I saw it on tv as a venue for Michael Jackson’s memorial. He finished the day’s tour by treating us to Manila-Goodah Restaurant. The Filipino waiters told us it is frequented by Manny Pacquiao whenever he is in L.A. Tito Randy is really a blessing to our family. He spent a lot of money bringing us to restaurants and other places in California. He was also the one who paid for our excess baggages when we checked-in for our flight bound to Hawaii.I know he is not only a famous Dentist but also a successful businessman who owns a multi-storey commercial complex building in Cerritos but he is very-very humble in all his ways. He is really an angel.

We were met by another wonderful person when we arrivered at Honolulu International Airport in Hawaii after nine hours flight fron Los Angeles. Tita Mely Ylan Drake lovingly welcomed us with handful of fragrant lei. Immediately I knew she is a very interesting woman who is already on her 60’s but looks more than a decade or two younger. She drove her car and took us to her equally interesting home at Kapolei, West Waikiki which is just a fence away from a world class golf course nestled in an elite community. Tita Mely is married to Michael Drake a U.S. Airforce Pilot while she is a Historian. There is no dull moment with her because she loves to talk and relate stories and I learned many things from her. We hit more when she learned I am interested about Japan and I am learning Nihonggo because she said her German bestfriend lives in Japan whom she visited often. I beamed when I learned she is a vegetarian like me which I believe is her secret of youth . Tita Mely was our terrific host for a week. She helped us purchase our school supplies and clothes and drove us around in her Mercedes Benz. We had the chance to meet again our last year’s host- tito Lito, tita Miniang and their sons especially kuya Dong and they remain warm and generous to us.

I felt that our family is so blessed because we have many friends and relatives who are kind-hearted and I thanked God so much for that. For me they are all Angels sent from Heaven. Someday I wish to be like them so I can repay their kindness and generosity.