Philippine Newspapers - Philippine Asian News Today

A brief change of environ­ment, a different routine from daily activities can be relaxing. Ten days of vacation break seemed to be not enough to check out some places in California. Driving to differ­ent places these days was re­ally easy and non-stressful as it used to be. We owed this to the person who invented GPS or Navigator, driving adventure was made easy. Exploring Los Angeles and Sta. Barbara, California was re­ally a good plan. Sta. Barbara is a major tourist destination and a vacation haven. Houses were built with different archi­tectural design which made it unique from other places in California. It was the first time that we have sampled an authentic Churros made and sold by a Mexican family out­side the church of Sta. Bar­bara. A brown bag of 9 strips of 12 inches sticks of Churros costs $5.00 U.S. Good Chur­ros should retain its good bite even when left cold or at room temperature. It should not be rubbery or hard to eat. It was unfortunate that the family had no store to sell their Churros. We were not guar­anteed to enjoy the same Churros when we visit Sta. Barbara again.

From Sta. Barbara, we drove to Los Angeles via Santa Clarita where most orange orchards and other California fruits are growing. We were surprised to discover that pric­es of fresh fruits were really cheap. Oranges were juicier and sweeter. Strawberries’ flesh was soft, juicy and sweet. We simply enjoyed our afternoon ‘fruitarian’ diet.

A leisure walk at the Universal Studio was entertaining. It was even more interesting when we spotted our favourite Auntie Annie’s famous Pretzels. Yes, buttery flavour and warm original Pretzels was a good treat of the day. We were blessed with a cool and dry weather. To satisfy our spiritual side of life, we visited Los Angeles’ Our Lady of Angels Cathedral. Its modern archi­tectural structure wowed us. In addi­tion, the cathedral is huge that it can accommodate 3000 people. It was quite a challenge to meditate in such a huge place. Disneyland is a popular spot at Anaheim. A glimpse of Disney’s fa­us back to our childhood days.

From the West, we flew to the East Coast to visit New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia. As ex­pected, New York’s culinary ex­perience was unparalleled. Our favourite of them all was Saigon Grill at Broadway. Healthy and reasonably priced dinner was served to us. Other cuisine we tried Italian, Greek and Chinese.

During weekends, the stretch of 6th Avenue is opened for tem­porary vendors. One can buy the best deal price of different goods and interesting street food. Sou­vlaki’s were grilled and served on pita bread. A Mexican-Italian pancake sold at $ 5.00 each were made from corn flour and topped with generous slices of Mozzarella cheese.

Philadelphia’s landmark at Little Italy’s place is Gino’s Philly Steak, a 6-inch sub bread filled with thin slices of freshly grilled beef topped with grilled onions sold at $ 6.75 with melted cheese $ 7.25. With a separate dispenser, customers can help themselves top their sandwiches with pickled jalapenos, pickle relish, ketchup and mustard. It was advised that we go to the place earlier before a long line builds up before noon time. We were warned, too that we should be ready to pay cash. They don’t accept debit or credit cards.

At New York’s Grand Central Station, we found various inter­esting restaurants to explore. A French restaurant was the most popular because we have to wait to seated at any time of the day that we attempt to dine. Another attraction was a display of mouth­ watering desserts like cheese cakes, fruited Danish pastries, special cookies, pies and other specialty cakes. Various types of breads from all over the world were on display by bakery stores. Spot the best deals in shop­ping at Century 21 located near ground zero and Chinatown. Most shops don’t charge taxes on some goods.

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