I had the opportunity to go visit my cousin, Mars in late March. So I took another trip back to the East Coast and had some much needed cousin time.
March 23rd I departed for Philly to see my cousin, Maricar AKA Mars Bars AKA Marzipan. My flight left at 8am from LAX and so I decided to take the Airport Bus there. The schedules were pretty gnarly though. To guarantee I got there on time, I had to take the 3am bus. Yikes...I went to work that day, took care of my Tatang, brought Andrew dinner, packed, went home, tried to take a nap (didn't happen), and when Andrew couldn't keep his eyes open anymore...he dropped me off at the Airport bus at 1:30am. At first I was freaked out because it was only me and this other dude who was sleeping on a row of chairs.
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| Airport bus. 1:30am. |
When I got to LAX it was about 5:30am. I had a LOT of time to kill. So I walked around my terminal, got some coffee and a croissant, hung out at a Starbucks, looked at some art, and then waited at my gate. I did TONS of people watching. At this point I was feeling super numb. I was awake but my body just wanted to rest. I'd been awake since 7am the previous day.
As soon as I got on the plane, I shut my eyes. It was going to be a 4.5hr ride and I needed sleep really bad. No matter what I did, I just could not go to sleep. We didn't get a movie either. On our trip to Orlando (we flew with Delta) we got movies plus our own touch screen to watch TV shows and listen to music. I spent the time watching people play Temple Run on their iPads. The little girl who sat next to me had a DVD player with her own DVD collection of Disney TV shows, so I tried to watch some Victorious but then I just felt creepy so I closed my eyes again. I had an aisle seat too, so every time someone wanted to use the restroom or when a flight attendant was serving drinks/food, I woke up. I couldn't wait to get off that airplane!
When I arrived I was elated. I called my cousin and she said she was already waiting for me in the cell phone zone. She tried to verbally walk me through the airport to her location and when I finally saw cars and the street I was so happy. I couldn't wait to see my cousin, eat a Philly cheese steak sandwich and drink a whole gallon of water.
What a difference in weather! It was hot and muggy. Back in LA, it was so cold, but I was glad I brought my coat because the next three days were going to be pretty chilly.
It's so weird being on the East Coast. The subtle humidity made me feel uncomfortable at first but I got used to it pretty fast. I text my Mom to let her know I arrived safely. She was like, "Prove it! Take a picture." So I sent her this:
...and it helped calm her nerves. It was so weird being in Philly in Mars' car, haha. I told her I was starving and thirsty so she took me to go eat my first Philly cheese steak sandwich. I was just absorbing all the sights. Lots of row houses and narrow roads so far.
We arrived at Geno's which was kind of weird because there was another chees steak sandwich right across the street from it called Pat's (it was in Rocky). There was more parking at Pat's so we parked there and walked over to their arch enemy.
On our way to her place, she drove us through downtown. Old buildings everywhere and they were so tall. I was completely enamored with everything. Each building had so much character. I felt like a little ant absorbing the city.
We passed by the Schuylkill River on Kelly Drive. There were beautiful blossoming trees everywhere. It was hard to take pictures of everything in a car haha.
When we arrived at her place which was a pretty cute house, I wanted to take a nap so bad. So that's what I did while she went to the gym and got ready to go out. I was soooooooooo tired, but I told myself I was going to chug right through it and not miss a thing. So, I got ready and her roommate Catie (who just finished med school) offered to drive us so we could get our drink on. She was my age and she was a doctor. I think that day, she became official.
While they were figuring out where to go, Catie took the long route, showing me some Philly sites. She drove us by Grace Kelly's house and informed me that Kelly Drive was named after her (which I did not know). She also drove us by the cemetery where they filmed Adrienne's funeral in Rocky V.
Catie drove us to Rittenhouse which was an area downtown and I guess where a lot college kids love to drink. We went to Drinker's Pub which was jam packed with young college kids. I didn't know where to stand and it was really hard to talk because the music was so damn loud. The whole pub was a dance floor filled with drunk bros and hoes, haha...OK I'm being mean. I just felt out of place...maybe because I felt kind of old. I was glad Catie felt the same way. I asked her if there were any lounge/dive bars in the area and she said there were and she'd really prefer to go to a dive bar too. I couldn't wait to get out of that bar haha. Me and Mars had an IPA and a jager bomb each. Mars downed her IPA like a champ! It was quite impressive...I can't down heavy beers. I like to savor the flavor hahah.
Anyway, we ended up leaving that bar and Mars decided we go next door to Noche which was another college bar. We walked upstairs to the second floor into Noche and it was another college dance club like place. It was really pretty though. It was like a big ass loft with tons of big windows allowing the city lights in. They had a DJ that bumped dance music. At this point I could not feel my body. I couldn't even tell if I was dancing. I know I was trying to. I did not want to be a dud but I could tell I was being one. After the one IPA and Jager bomb next door, my body just didn't want anymore alcohol. I couldn't hide it anymore hahaha...I had been up for 29+ hours.
We were there for a while and then we lost my cousin. Catie and I were ready to go and Mars was no where to be found. We even tried to check the bathroom (which had a bouncer, btw) and we gave up. We ended up going outside and tried calling her. We finally got a hold of her and she met us downstairs. Mars was hungry so we stopped by a sandwich shop (they seem to be everywhere) by their house and she got what looked like a Philly CS sandwich but with chicken. I remember taking one bite and it was yummy. I don't remember knocking out. (To be continued...)
When I arrived I was elated. I called my cousin and she said she was already waiting for me in the cell phone zone. She tried to verbally walk me through the airport to her location and when I finally saw cars and the street I was so happy. I couldn't wait to see my cousin, eat a Philly cheese steak sandwich and drink a whole gallon of water.
What a difference in weather! It was hot and muggy. Back in LA, it was so cold, but I was glad I brought my coat because the next three days were going to be pretty chilly.
It's so weird being on the East Coast. The subtle humidity made me feel uncomfortable at first but I got used to it pretty fast. I text my Mom to let her know I arrived safely. She was like, "Prove it! Take a picture." So I sent her this:
...and it helped calm her nerves. It was so weird being in Philly in Mars' car, haha. I told her I was starving and thirsty so she took me to go eat my first Philly cheese steak sandwich. I was just absorbing all the sights. Lots of row houses and narrow roads so far.
Cool lookin' coffee shop called Black and Brew.
We arrived at Geno's which was kind of weird because there was another chees steak sandwich right across the street from it called Pat's (it was in Rocky). There was more parking at Pat's so we parked there and walked over to their arch enemy.
Neat artwork on the building.
On our way to her place, she drove us through downtown. Old buildings everywhere and they were so tall. I was completely enamored with everything. Each building had so much character. I felt like a little ant absorbing the city.
We passed by the Schuylkill River on Kelly Drive. There were beautiful blossoming trees everywhere. It was hard to take pictures of everything in a car haha.
When we arrived at her place which was a pretty cute house, I wanted to take a nap so bad. So that's what I did while she went to the gym and got ready to go out. I was soooooooooo tired, but I told myself I was going to chug right through it and not miss a thing. So, I got ready and her roommate Catie (who just finished med school) offered to drive us so we could get our drink on. She was my age and she was a doctor. I think that day, she became official.
While they were figuring out where to go, Catie took the long route, showing me some Philly sites. She drove us by Grace Kelly's house and informed me that Kelly Drive was named after her (which I did not know). She also drove us by the cemetery where they filmed Adrienne's funeral in Rocky V.
Catie drove us to Rittenhouse which was an area downtown and I guess where a lot college kids love to drink. We went to Drinker's Pub which was jam packed with young college kids. I didn't know where to stand and it was really hard to talk because the music was so damn loud. The whole pub was a dance floor filled with drunk bros and hoes, haha...OK I'm being mean. I just felt out of place...maybe because I felt kind of old. I was glad Catie felt the same way. I asked her if there were any lounge/dive bars in the area and she said there were and she'd really prefer to go to a dive bar too. I couldn't wait to get out of that bar haha. Me and Mars had an IPA and a jager bomb each. Mars downed her IPA like a champ! It was quite impressive...I can't down heavy beers. I like to savor the flavor hahah.
Anyway, we ended up leaving that bar and Mars decided we go next door to Noche which was another college bar. We walked upstairs to the second floor into Noche and it was another college dance club like place. It was really pretty though. It was like a big ass loft with tons of big windows allowing the city lights in. They had a DJ that bumped dance music. At this point I could not feel my body. I couldn't even tell if I was dancing. I know I was trying to. I did not want to be a dud but I could tell I was being one. After the one IPA and Jager bomb next door, my body just didn't want anymore alcohol. I couldn't hide it anymore hahaha...I had been up for 29+ hours.
We were there for a while and then we lost my cousin. Catie and I were ready to go and Mars was no where to be found. We even tried to check the bathroom (which had a bouncer, btw) and we gave up. We ended up going outside and tried calling her. We finally got a hold of her and she met us downstairs. Mars was hungry so we stopped by a sandwich shop (they seem to be everywhere) by their house and she got what looked like a Philly CS sandwich but with chicken. I remember taking one bite and it was yummy. I don't remember knocking out. (To be continued...)
Welcome back! Genos and pats is mentioned a lot on the food network quite a bit!
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