Living in the Bay Area

Pink flowers at San Francisco Botanic Gardens

This blog is not dead. Sounds a bit like Neitzsche but in no way near his cynicism — in fact the complete opposite. I should mark this day of blogging accomplishment ‘coz I didn’t think I’d manage to post an update this early. Trying to sit down to write a blog was a pain and I am grateful that I was able to pull myself out of the ditch. I really couldn’t be any happier now that I am back to the blogging universe.

We arrived in the Bay Area almost a month ago with nothing but essential things for survival: some clothes, a laptop, a hard drive, and the most important: our son, Daniel. This must be one of the most no-brainer relocations from halfway around the world. We knew this would come and when it did, we were ready in a snap of a finger: no dramas, no second thoughts, no worries. The move was upon us. Needless to say, we had to allot a week or two to adjust to the weather, which is beautiful I must say (and I’m like a broken record for saying this numerous times already), and the time zone. Thankfully, we’re at the point now where everything seems like our typical day in the Philippines sans high humidity and without our trusty laundry woman, cook, and Daniel’syaya — people I definitely miss and feel grateful for.

Hello Kitty store at Taiwan Airport

Our flight from Manila to San Francisco was, thankfully, uneventful: as what we predicted, Daniel gave us an easy time all throughout the flight, although there were little tantrums here and there like when he preferred to be carried (I tell you, he is heavy) over lounging on his stroller. Otherwise he was a great traveler. Air turbulence must have played a major part as he just slept soundly almost the entire flight. The only drawback was — fortunately for me, and I don’t mean this in a selfish way — he wanted to be lulled in Amarind’s arms the entire 11-hour flight from Taiwan to San Francisco.

So we now call the Bay Area our home, although we will, most likely, take trips back to Asia, particularly the Philippines, once or twice a year, whichever is more feasible — and I’d definitely love that, no doubt. For now, it’s temporary goodbye to pristine beaches, lush rice fields, and tropical weather. It’s also goodbye to 50-something roosters that never failed to untimely wake us up from our deep slumber. Oddly enough, and we mean this: we miss them, just because they’ve been part of our wakeful mornings for more than a year. I also miss my family, that’s a given, and the more I think of them, the more I miss them.

Which reminds me: our current blog header, which is a photo that I took in El Nido, Palawan, should be replaced by something more apt: an image of rolling hills perhaps or a snapshot of the Golden Gate Bridge (ok, not that cliched) although we’re not exactly located in downtown San Francisco, but should be a scene from this side of the Earth. Changing the “look and feel” of this blog should definitely be in my long to-do list.

I don’t know what couples go through when they move from one country or another, or what a new immigrant goes through when he moves from one country to another (I would love to know more if you volunteer to share). I’m still trying to adapt to the new environment, especially when my ultimate goal is to set-up a business here. I mean, at times I’m still taken aback by how friendly people are, not that it’s a bad thing — it’s just, uhmm, different. Back home, people don’t have the same enthusiasm that people here have and that’s probably because of the laid back nature of Asians. Having said that, socializing here certainly takes time getting used to. I’m trying my best to be adaptable for my sake, in the long run. So far, moving here has been relatively easy for me, maybe because I expected it to be a lot harder in the first place. Also, the Bay Area is not everything that I had in mind: maybe I over-glorified it or maybe I painted the wrong picture of it — I must be thinking of a different place or something — but so far I like what I see: the people are nice and I can’t rave enough about how great the micro-climate is.

Anyway.

Amarind and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary three weeks ago at an Italian restaurant around the area. We are big fans of simple living and random-things-to-do, although our celebration was not exactly random. We had to celebrate but we didn’t really need anything grand. After an incredible journey these past few years, we’re still so much in-love and unfazed despite numerous trials this year. That thought alone sustains us both.

A lot of things happened this month and the part that I enjoyed the most were mini-trips here and there, like going to Michael’s, Safeway, and Costco; trips to the library and to that quaint-coffee-shop-around-the-corner; trips to Lake Chabot and Lake Elizabeth; trips to San Francisco… we are also grateful to have met incredibly friendly people up in Berkeley last week, and some movers and shakers in the Web 2.0 world.

These are great changes in my life: a welcome respite from a more laid back life in the Philippines. I’m glad for being here and there’s absolutely no room — maybe little room — for complaints. Being in the US alone is like the culmination of 21 months of mountainous paperwork, numerous domestic flights from Iloilo to Manila and vice versa, and our tireless endeavor to get approved. I had to mention this that some people in the Philippines spend their entire life, or 20 years for some, waiting to set foot on US soil, sometimes by selling their real properties. I, on the other hand, got my green card last week and it’s not even 1 month since I came here. Not that I am comparing my life to theirs, but this breezy migration to the US gives me more reason to be grateful.

And, no doubt that I will always be grateful

All Photos © by Althea Tan

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