My Little Sister

I often miss my sister, I always feel there isn't enough time to bond with her like sisters often do. I'd love to meet up with her often, have lunch and spend the day shopping, or maybe even just have a quick coffee-and-doughnut time; just to tell her things that is normally shared only with a sister or with a best friend. 

What things?  "Wala lang"  ( nothing at all ). 

 Oh, no big deal there, maybe just to tell her flimsy things: like finding the right dress for a party;  or about the latest recipe I tried; the gorgeous pair of shoes she got for a bargain; incidents that bothered me hoping that telling her will set things right; or when I"m just having a bad hair day.

 But that is not happening since she lives in the US while I am in Asia.

She used to live with us since she started college and stayed on when she had a job.  But at 19 however, she got married and her husband brought her all the way to California.  As much as I was then happy for her, I missed having her around. 

One of the happiest and maybe the most memorable time I spent with her and her family was when my whole family went for vacation in the US.  She had nagged us to visit so finally, my husband made it happen. 

This picture of us was taken in her previous home in Vacaville.

That  first summer was Disneyland and Universal Studios excursions, including a tour around LA and a walk-through along the shops at Rodeo Drive. My children and their cousins had a grand time bonding and sharing jokes. 

This one of us was taken in Vegas that year. 

I feel nostalgic whenever I hear  "Lady in Red"  and I recall the show in Las Vegas, where a guy sang it  while a girl was coming down from a rope above, kept swirling, turning, swirling, turning until she reached the floor and she was wearing a red dress!   Lake Tahoe was where we truly enjoyed a seafood buffet.  I like the quaint little shops in Monterey and Pebble Beach was more for the guys who had a fascination for golf. We had wine tasting and looked at the shops in Napa.   

Of course we also made the rounds of San Francisco's  landmarks. We had a great time, but what amazed me so were the numerous trips to the outlets and the six balikbayan boxes full of shoes and clothes we bought. 

Oh my! Is this turning into a nostalgic narration? Do you mind?

 The next summer, her family and mine had a road trip from San Francisco to Vancouver and back stopping over in Portland, Oregon and Seattle.  My bother-in-law is the greatest tourist guide ever ! He patiently brought us to places worth seeing and took our pictures on important landmarks. He always said:  " come, I'll take your picture, pose here, the background is nice....".

This one was taken at Stanley Park in Vancouver.

Oh, those two summers were sooooo wonderful, having visited a lot of places, bonding with my sister and her family, I'd say, it's a dream come true.  In fact I put together our numerous pictures in a very thick and heavy album and called it "California Dreams".  Take a look at the cover.

End of nostalgia. Now, back to more current affairs. 

Late last year we had a great time when she came for my daughter's wedding. 

This picture was taken at the wedding reception right on the beach of Shangrila, Mactan, Philippines. 

While in Cebu, Philippines during the wedding weekend, we visited the place where Ferdinand. Magellan of Spain landed and met the Filipino chieftain, Lapu Lapu. Look at the marker, indicating it took place in the year 1521. 

Below are two pictures in Singapore:

Before last year's visit, I haven't seen her in 10 years, not until I invited her to go to Singapore with us two years ago. Here she posed at Marina Bay Sands with the Skypark in the background. 

She says she misses tropical fruits from Asia, so we bought these at the Tekka Mall, beside Little India in Singapore. Her favorite is lanzones, her breakfast that morning. 

My sister is a great person to be with, when she is around, we laugh a lot.  My children, together with our nieces and nephews would laugh while they tell about the latest family happenings and recall family jokes.  She values family a lot; wants to be in touch with everyone all the time in spite of the distance. 

She is a sociable person, she is funny, loves to dress up and shop, likes to go out with friends, try new restaurants and enjoys happy hour. 

She also loves to travel and see new places, here she is in Hawaii with a niece. 

She loves to cook, she is often in search of new recipes, always very curious how a new one would taste like; cooking is play to her.  She likes having company at home that's why she often invites relatives and friends. 

She is also a dotting grandma, look how she seems to enjoy carrying her grandkids.

I was 12 when she was born that's why she really looks up to me as the older sister.  Take a look at the photo below so you can imagine our age difference. 

As a baby, I took care of her. She was a sweet child, good tempered and smiled a lot.  My mama always brought her to parties and she always entertained everyone with her antics. 

When she was older, she didn't mind doing errands for me. She enjoys going to the marketplace across our house to buy goodies. Looking back, I feel bad whenever I remember that she loved the Ponkan (Chinese honey orange, tangerine variety) I brought home one vacation from college. 

She liked it a lot that she gave me part of what she saved from her allowance to buy some and send it back to her. Oh my, what was I thinking then that I failed her when she was so young and trusting?  I couldn't even remember exactly why I never really got to buy the ponkans, much less why I failed to send them. To this day, I still feel so guilty that I'm unable to forgive myself; I just hope she has forgiven me. 

Early on, we get in touch only on birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas and New Year and when something important came up.  Nowadays however, I'm glad we are able to talk as often as we want since the advent of FaceTime and Skype.  We also take time to chat when we find ourselves both logged-in on Facebook.

But still, there is no substitute for seeing each other face to face,  beats FaceTime anytime!  When is her next visit or mine, who knows?  I'm sure I'll see her when I see her. 

By the way, she edited this blog, she is so conscious about how she looks in the pictures that she made me delete two.