Two days after the end of the spring semester, I flew to San Jose, California, on the invitation of my old buddy, to spend a week in California before I went back to school for the summer term. I flew from Cedar Rapids Municipal Airport on an America West flight at 7:10 in the morning with brief stops at Des Moines, Iowa, Phoenix, and Las Vegas.
Carlos Respicio and his grilfriend, Myrna, met me at San Jose Municipal Airport. I flew in on the day of Carlos's uncle's interment. He died of cardiac arrest the day before. The couple had to leave the cemetery at once to be at the airport at the time of my arrival. A fellowship was being held at the Respicio home on Conti Court.
Although everyone was in mourning, my friend's parents and sisters were very pleased to see me. Maryknol was now married and she had a cute daughter. Hazeline had grown into a woman. I met former Pisbakal natives who knew my mother-in-law.
The past week had been a tiring and sleepless one for the Respicio family, but a couple days later, everyone was back to work, except Carlos who decided to take a few days off. He wanted me to get the best of my short visit to California.
GOLDEN CITY of the GOLDEN WEST
One windy afternoon, Carlos, Myrna, and I took off to San Francisco, passing by the University of California Berkeley Campus and Stanford University. We crossed the Oakland Bay Bridge, simply called Bay Bridge. The 8.5-mile ( 13.6765 km.) long bridge connects the isolated peninsula city of San Francisco with communities across the bay. It is double-decked to accommodate the continuous traffic flow.
Surrounded on three sides by the ocean, San Francisco is about seven miles long and seven miles wide, studded with hills of magnificent view, where quaint cable cars toil up and down impossibly steep inclines. Introduced in 1863, cable cars replaced horsedrawn cars, a difficult mode of travel in the city's steep hills. Today San Francisco is the only city in the world to have an operating cable car system. These antique cable cars are now designated national historic landmark.
Carlos drove his black Camaro Z28 up and down the steep streets until we got to the world-famous Golden Gate Bridge. Built where they said it could not be done, the Golden Gate Bridge is one of the world's greatest man-made wonders. The towers rise 756 feet above the water. From the San Francisco side, Alcatraz could be seen as a tiny speck on the bay. First a lighthouse and a fortress, Alcatraz became famous as a federal prison called "The Rock". It is said that no prisoner had ever escaped alive from Alcatraz because of the frigid temperature of the water around it. It had been the setting of movies. Today it is a tourist attraction.
We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and drove up the mountains on the other side. From there we got a breathtaking view of the city and the bridge bathed by the hues of the setting sun. From there, we headed back to the city and drove down Lombard Street. Highlighted by red brick and colorful flowers, the rakish and twisted road earned the tag the "Crookedest Street in the World." I had a picture taken at the foot of the zigzag road.
Next, we strolled along Ghirardelli Square, which used to be a chocolate factory. It had been transformed into a shopping center overlooking the Maritime Historical Park and Aquatic Park. The complex had shops, theaters, restaurants, decorative plazas, and art galleries. I had a fun sketch of my face done by a sidewalk artist while Carlos and Myrna watched.
The Fisherman's Wharf of San Francisco is the embarking and landing point of San Francisco's many fishermen. Located on Taylor Street at the Embarcadero, it is famous for its fresh fish, fine dining, and festive atmosphere. We had dinner at No. 9 Fisherman's Grotto, owned and operated by M. Geraldi and Sons. The restaurant was born 50 years ago and continued to be family owned and operated. Recipes were created by the fishermen themselves, using the freshest vegetables and seafood of the finest quality. I had Salmon Grilled for $12.25 per serving. During our meal, a waiter offered to take our picture. When he learned that we were Filipinos, he stated that he liked the new Philippine president Corazon Aquino. He made it known that he followed the People Power revolution.
Capping the San Francisco visit was a stroll along Broadway Street with its glittering neon lights and marquees in the theater row of live shows. We bumped into a Filipino guy working at Big Al's. We did not see any show. We went back to San Jose that night passing through the San Mateo Bridge.
The 17-MILE DRIVE
The next day, Carlos and Myrna took me to a ride through the 17-Mile Drive. This drive goes through Del Monte Forest, a private community known for its natural scenic beauty. It had been attracting visitors since the 1890s when horsedrawn coaches made daily excursions carrying guests from the original Del Monte Hotel in Monterey.
The 17-Mile Drive and other roadways in Del Monte Forest are privately owned, and the right to pass is by permission. The admission fee was $7.00 at the main gate. Traffic regulations are strictly enforced. No overnight camping is permitted, but picnicking is allowed in designated areas. Hunting and feeding of wildlife is prohibited.
We drove through pine forests and groves of Monterey cypress and along a coastline of singular beauty. I saw deer throughout the forest, and sea lions, seals, and otters in the water and on the rocks offshore. There are 26 points of interest along the 17-mile drive, but we stopped and took pictures only in such places as I have described below.
Shepherd's Knoll Vista Point offered a magnificent panoramic view of historic Monterey Bay and San Gabilan Mountains beyond.
Huckleberry Hill, named for its abundance of native huckleberry bushes, was an area of unusual botanical interest where Monterey pine, Bishop pine, and Gowen cypress coexist with a number of native shrubs. It is one of the highest points in Del Monte Forest.
Spanish Bay was where Juan Portola camped in 1769 on his land expedition from Baja California to try to locate Monterey Bay. Thinking he had failed, he returned to San Diego, and it was not until his second expedition that he recognized Monterey Bay.
The Restless Sea, directly off Point Joe, is one of the few places in the world where ocean currents meet. This unusual turbulence, present even on the calmest of days, results from the changes in these currents.
Point Joe. From the earliest sailing days to the present, mariners have mistaken Point Joe for the entrance to Monterey Bay and have shipwrecked on the rocks.
Seal and Bird Rocks are the homes of countless shoreline birds such as gulls and cormorants, and offshore herds of sea lions and the smaller seals.
Cypress Point Lookout affords the finest view of the Pacific coastline on the 17-Mile Drive. Here I saw many sea lions on the offshore rocks and seals and sea otters close to shore.
Crocker Grove is a 13-acre (5.2611-hectare) reserve of native pines and cypress. The grove contains the largest and oldest Monterey cypress in existence.
The Lone Cypress, clinging to nearly bare rock, is one of California's most familiar landmarks, a tourist attraction.
The rocks and surfs along portions of the 17-mile Drive can be hazardous to life and safety. The ocean itself is very cold with a strong undertow along the surfline.
MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM
We exited from the 17-Mile Drive and proceeded to Monterey to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium which carlos and Myrna were to see for the first time, too. We got lost on the way, but finally found our way to Cannery Row more than an hour before closing time.
Opened on October 20, 1984, the Monterey Bay Aquarium array of galleries and exhibits offer a dramatic view of Monterey Bay, one of the world's richest marine regions. Each exhibit holds a different world - Kelp Forest, Marine Mammal Gallery, Sea Otter Exhibit, Octopus and Kin Gallery, Monterey Bay Habitat galleries, Aviary, and Touch Pools.
In the Habitat Gallery, jellyfish and mackerel school thrive despite the presence of sharks. The sharks are too well fed, so they don't bother. Seven-gill sharks and spiny dogfish never stop swimming: they need water streaming past their gills to breathe. Because research showed that sharks in circular tanks expend too much energy navigating the curves, the aquarium built an hourglass-shaped tank with turnarounds at each end. The 90-foot straightway give the sharks a long glide path for resting and breathing.
To make the bay's animals feel at home, the aquarium's lifeblood - fresh seawater from the bay - flows through the exhibits, pumped in at more than 2,000 gallons per minute. Huge pressure sand filters turn the bays cloudy water clear. Then for a few hours each night, unfiltered water is pumped in, feeding those creatures that filter food from it. By morning, the filters resume.
Hermit crab, shore crab, and other animals in the tide pools have man-made waves to meet their needs. A reservoir upstairs fills every 40 seconds, then sends the water crashing down to the tide pools below.
Seals live near the deck of the aquarium on the rocks nearby. Life-sized models of whales and dolphins float overhead, representing the marine mammals that pass through the bay.
Learning goes on through the aquarium every minute of the day. While one group of school children gazes up at whales, another stands marveling at the kelp forest. Holding a crab in hand, stroking a new blade of kelp, watching a brittle star wiggle, examining sea star tubefeet - children as well as adults learn lessons about sea life at the touch pools.
After visiting Monterey Bay Aquarium, the doors opened up a new world to me: the world of Monterey Bay. On the way back to San Jose, we stopped by Sta. Cruz. The beach was empty and the water cold, but there were people strolling the boardwalk. We lingered on the Sta. Cruz fisherman's wharf where we got a good view of the beach and the boardwalk which would be bustling with so much energy when the weather warmed up.
LICK OBSERVATORY
California Highway 130 leaves the Santa Clara Valley and climbs into the Diablo Range east of San Jose. On a Sunday morning, Carlos drove his Camaro Z28 along winding roads and around oak-covered slopes for 18 miles to get to the peak called Mt. Hamilton. He was taking a Filipino Canadian guest and me to the Lick Observatory of the University of California Sta. Cruz.
Mount Hamilton, at over 4,200 feet, is the highest peak in the Northern Diablo Range. A panoramic view of San Jose can be seen from here. Lick Observatory was named after James Lick whose donation brought it into being. The main building had an attendant on duty showing the 36-inch refracting telescope, an original gift of James Lick, and giving as short talk about the observatory and its history. There were numerous photographic exhibits in the hallway of the main building.
The original gift of James Lick, the 36-inch refractor, is no longer the dominant telescope on Mount Hamilton, but it is still regularly used for research. The 120-inch Shane telescope is Mount Hamilton's largest telescope and one of the most productive telescope in the world. Astronomers use it every clear night of the year for conducting research on astronomy. The visitor's gallery of the Shane 120-inch telescope is open to the public.
COYOTE LAKE
Maryknol's husband, Julius, was to celebrate his birthday on May 24th. Instead of the usual party at home, it was decided that we go on a picnic at Coyote Lake. Aside from the family, a few relatives from San Francisco came over. We feasted on chicken and pork ribs barbecue and beer. Maryknol and I sang along with the sing-slong system she bought for her husband.
We went boating. Learning how to drive the boat was not difficult at all. Then Carlos and I tried to learn to water ski. The day before my California getaway ended, Carlos and I, together with the Filipino Canadian, went back to Coyote Lake. This time, I gave water skiing a try. After several attempts, I could stand on the water, but could not go farther than two meters. I gave up when I could not stand the cold water any more. That was the end of my attempt at doing something so challenging.
Carlos was determined. He did not give up until he finally was able to go farther than ten meters. I realized that it was not as easy as we see it.
VISITING FRIENDS
While in San Jose, I called Roy Mari, a friend at PNC, who was now residing on Peach Court. I had his address, but not a telephone number, so I scanned the directory. His name was not listed in the book, but his brother's was. Roy came to meet me on Conti Court. We had not seen each other for ten years after our heydays at the Philippine Normal College in Alicia, Isabela. He invited me to their place. He was at the time living with his mother (who served as municipal councilor in Alicia, Isabela for many years) and his brother Nonoy. They were delighted to see me again.
I spent the night at Roy's. We reminisced those years in college and talked about how our lives had been the past ten years. Roy took me to a Sunday church service where I met Jim Andaya and his sister. Jim was the musical director of the church choir. Roy is the brother of Mrs. Adelaida Mari Andaya who was my college professor and principal sponsor at my wedding.
Other townmates I met in California were Engr. Alejandro Coloma who was a big name at the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and Eddie Balico. I chanced on Engr. Coloma the night we went to Eddie Balico's new home at Hercules during the Memorial Day weekend. The former NIA bigwig was now residing with his family in San Francisco where he was employed. He drove a Mercedes Benz.
Eddie Balico and his wife (who I met for the first time) gave me a warm welcome. They were hosting a Memorial Day weekend party so there were Filipinos, most of whom from Pisbakal. The mahjong table was busy. I played "Pepito", a variant of poker, with Engr. Coloma, Eddie, and Carlos. When he could not get a seat at the mahjong table, Julius joined us in the card game. It was a game among relatives, so we had a bet of a dollar up to $5 only. "You realize that you're betting twenty pesos," they would remind me every time I put a dollar down on the table. Carlos and I won against Engr. Coloma. Just got a minute tip of what he had.
TWO WEDDINGS
I attended two different weddings in San Jose in a week. One was a "commercial wedding" - marriage for convenience, as they call it now- at the municipal court; the other was a pompous garden wedding at a Greek restaurant. The first bride was "married" to an engineer from Manila. I witnessed the civil ceremony at the San Jose Municipal Hall. It was a quickie - it was done in ten minutes.
The man in the first wedding came to the United States as a tourist. He had a good job as an engineer in Manila, but he envisioned a brighter economic future for his family in the U.S. He had two children left temporarily back home. His wife was in the U.S., too, and had herself a marriage-for-convenience arranged earlier. The couple got a divorce here. The objective was to pay a U.S. citizen who would agree to enter into a no-strings-attached arrangement; meaning the parties would not actually live together as married couples. After the wedding, a petition would be filed to legalize the alien spouse's stay due to marriage. After obtaining legal status, they would get a divorce and end up with each other again.
I was told that many Filipinos, especially those who were out of status, had resorted to this procedure in order to legalize their status. It was called marriage for convenience. Should I get into such arrangement? This opportunity to be here was indeed rare. Many Filipinos would do anything just to be able to enter the United States and much more, live here permanently. The fact that I was already here made it easier for me. But I had a commitment with PRODED which sent me here. Had I decided to stay, how would my wife and young son take it?
I could pay back the government eventually. I could start fresh here. On the other hand, my wife and son would have to wait for only God knows how long before I could petition for them. There was a prospect for a bright future for Chester. Everything sounded wonderful, or so it seemed. But I was not convinced. Not only because of the enormous amount I would have to pay back , but more important, because of the uncertainty of the length of time I would be separated from my family in the process of waiting.
Looking back now, I know I will do what I did then. I hated myself for not having the gut to take risks, to venture into such a challenging decision to make. But deep in me, I knew that living in this country with all its comforts and opportunities was never an ambition of mine. My wife and I were contented with our simple life together. We both had been through the hard life, and simple things were enough to give us joy in life. We were contented with the way things were. What we both were interested in was advancement in the career path we chose to follow. There were the usual financial difficulties, but we always found ways to survive together. The tendency to love a simple life came from our rural upbringing.
The garden wedding, the second one I attended, was a pompous one. The ceremony was brief (not a Catholic service) and simple, but the atmosphere was wonderful and the setting was very appropriate. At the reception hall, I was seated among family members next to Carlos and Myrna. Most of Myrna's relatives kept asking Carlos when their turn would be. We had a hearty meal, and champagne flowed throughout the reception.
A part of the celebration reminded me of the traditional "pagala" in our local Ilocano weddings. The newlyweds started the dance. Men of all ages took turns dancing with the bride, while the girls and women danced alternately with the groom. Even the young relatives went to the dance floor to dance with the bride or the groom. When Carlos and Myrna's turn came, I wanted to take a picture of him dancing with the bride. But the camera was empty. He made sure of that before going to the dance floor. He anticipated that I might be tempted to take a snapshot of him and the bride. He did not want people speculating that he had gotten married. "Who would not be convinced that I was the groom in the wedding?" he asked after the dance. He was looking every inch like a groom in his double-breasted black suit.
I never thought of dancing at all, but Carlos and Myrna encouraged me to go to the dance floor with one of Myrna's gorgeous cousins. Most of the ladies around were of Mexican parentage and certainly were very pretty. They reminded me of the young Gonzales actresses of Philippine movies. Carlos and I agreed that these young ladies could give any Filipino actress a run for her money.
An exclusive celebration was to be held later in the evening by the bride's immediate family at another room in the same Greek restaurant. Myrna wanted to take me to the party to watch a featured belly dancer, but I said that I would rather rest. Neither of them was interested in staying for the party, so went home after the main reception.
FILIPINO MOVIES
California has everything Filipino. I spent the rest of my vacation watching Filipino movies. We would rent Tagalog movies from one of the Filipino video stores in San Jose, and would watch with Myrna in the evening. Surprisingly, she had developed a special liking for Tagalog movies. She did not understand the dialogs, but she understood the plot through the action. She said whe would be carried away by Sharon Cuneta's dramatic scenes. She thought Eddie Garcia was really a fine Filipino actor.
I left San Jose on the tenth day of my vacation via America West. Carlos and Myrna saw me off at the airport. I changed flight in Phoenix, the home of America West. The flight to Cedar Rapids (via Des Moines, IA), was delayed for almost two hours. From the Cedar Rapids airport, I took a limousine to Iowa City.
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