Given the chance to travel, two main objectives come to mind: (1) to capture great memories of meaningful people, places, or things and (2) to visit all those people scattered around the globe who have made such an impact in my life.
I headed for Kansas City this time around to visit my high school chemistry teacher, Mrs. Ligon. It was already more than 8 years ago since I last saw her. Who would have thought I could fly over and visit the rest of her family? I used to think those just happened in the movies or in a dream. But hey, anything is possible huh? I was very excited to catch up on stories that were left untold over the years. When I landed in the Kansas City airport, the entire Ligon family was there to fetch me. I was very touched because of the amount of effort they exerted just to make me feel very welcome. Ate Sharon even kept saying: Shucks, Queen there's nothing to see here! Where will we bring you? But really, when I think about it, it was not about what I get to see but the company I’m privileged to be with! I got to ride their family car as we headed for Zona Rosa. We rested for a while in this cool lounge area and tried catching up with stories! There was an ongoing car exhibit of vintage cars outside which was cool knowing that those vehicles were born even before my grandparents! There was a band playing jazz music on the side to set the mood. We headed for some Ribs/BBQ at Smoke House BBQ for lunch since Kansas City was known for that. It was always nice to have a taste of whatever was the food highlight in a specific place. Then we headed for their lovely home. It was such a pretty and cozy place which made me feel so welcomed and at home. It's even more amazing to know that Kuya Rob was behind all those home improvement wood works to beautify the place. Home renovation is very popular in the US. Last week, my supervisor Dave just shared with me so many pictures of how he transformed his home into some place you would never expect. So we rested and watched a few Philippine TV shows since they had both ABS-CBN and GMA networks. We feasted on some good tasting chocolate cake. Rai was very kind enough to share with me her room! It was a pink room so it was easy to fall in love with it for any pinkaholic like myself haha :-) We headed to the Union Station in the afternoon and took some snapshots. I discovered how Kansas City was known as the city of fountains. You'll randomly find one after another as you go places! We headed for this mall, Crown Center where I found the world’s only Crayola Cafe. Thought that was pretty cool. Hallmark's headquarters was also situated in Kansas City. We also had good frozen custard which was the 2nd I’ve tasted next to Carmens at DC. I like the smooth consistency of frozen custard I don’t think anyone thought of it yet in Manila. Well, I may be wrong. Then we had sinigang for dinner. It was just about perfect timing after not having any Filipino dish for the past 2 weeks. Kuya Rob's a great cook even though he tries to be humble about it hehe. I played cards (Old Maid) and marbles with Rai during the evening. Having a little sister to hang out with reminds me of my brother, King who I greatly missed. Rai is such a sweetheart she would sometimes deliberately lose just so I get the chance to win as well. I love talking to her because of how witty and cute she is. I had a good sleep after not having enough sleep for quite some time. The jet lag was quite intense 2 weeks ago. My body clock was still in Cincinnati mode of course which allowed me to get up an hour before everyone else. It was a busy Sunday for us. We started the day with church. I loved the architecture! It was very much wedding material haha! Kuya Rob and Ate Sharon both even did the offertory. I found out that the school, Cristo Rey where Ate Sharon taught chemistry, biology, and forensic science (cool huh?) was connected to the church. There was a passage way. I felt happy to have gotten the chance to see what the high school classrooms were like in Kansas City. It was pretty cool. The lab was integrated with the lecture area all together. So it was the students moving around from 1 class to another. This surely reminded me of those chemistry days where we created little experiments which included: ice cream making, playing with co lored pigments, law of conservation of mass explosions. So anyways, we visited the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art afterwards. By the way, Kuya Rob's team did the construction for that. I love anything to do with arts so to be stuck in a museum is something I enjoy. We took photos of the famous shuttlecock pieces in the greens outside. It was a beautiful day with great weather. After going from contemporary to Renaissance to European to photography we realized we forgot about lunch! We had our late lunch at Winstead, a diner place since the 1940s. Onion rings were huge, chunky, and yummy. We went to the Country Club Plaza which I thought was interesting because I found so many famous restaurants I’ve been going to from Cheesecake Factory to PF Chang’s. The architecture was very distinct at the plaza. There was a unique blend of fountains, shops, architecture, and horse carriage going around the area. For dinner, we headed to a hotel and casino place called Harrah's. I got to meet their friends from there. The little boys were very hyper haha! The smoked prime rib was sooo good :-) When we got home, I played with Rai till 11PM! I was worried since she had classes the next day. We ended up sleeping together during my last night which was very nice. The next day I knew Ate Sharon and Rai had to go to class. It was sad since I was never a fan of goodbyes. I was lucky Kuya Rob could take me to the airport since he was on flex time. However, the plans changed. Rai couldn’t wake up because we slept so late. Even Ate Sharon called her school to say she couldn’t make it. She had to get rest too! I was deeply touched because I had an entire family send me off to the airport. I felt guilty at the same time causing a disruption to their schedules. We had a photo op at their very nice sala before we headed for the airport. As I flew out, I felt really blessed to have been given the chance to spend a weekend with them. I was obviously saddened to go. I will miss this family :-) I had such a great time with them. I am forever grateful for the memories that we can always look back to! :-) One day I hope I can go back and Reema will be there by then :-)
9 Comments
7/17/2012 04:24:51 pm
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Welcome!All about the traveling Queen who wanted to share with the world the little and great discoveries that have brought her joy.
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