So, I am now, 2500 miles closer to my wife Karen, and so far the trip has been nothing short of note worthy. I flew Virgin America direct BOS to LAX Friday night, and arrived a bit earlier than expected, but of course the luggage carousel took longer to unload to things all balanced out.
Once my aunt Sharon, uncle Ngok and cousin Michelle picked me up, I was on my way to the O.C, and the wonderful suburban vibe of Irvine CA. All I can tell you for now is... WOW. The setting was pretty much all you could ask for to have the recognition of a top place to settle down in. You just have to come here, either to visit your family or to make friends with mine in order to enjoy all it has to offer.
So after an incredibly deep and comfortable rest I woke up to the tune of mid 60's and sunny skies, quite a contrast from New England starting around this time. Don't get me wrong, Boston will ALWAYS be my home, but this definitely was a treat. After a brisk stroll around the area with the fam, I met up with my other cousin Howard and his two great kids. We took a tour of his place (up until this point I thought the first place was grand..), drove down to a wilflife sanctuary a place close to Newport
So a nice fusion lunch around the area, then after returning home for my fam to rest I met up with my friend Brian and his fiance Jamie to head over to Huntington Beach. Some reminiscing and a wonderful send off by the two of them and I returned to the fam for another lovely meal.
Sunday was pretty much an all day extra fam day, with me seeing my Aunt Janet, uncle Sammy, cousins Gary, Wendy, Betty along with a whole bunch of lil' runts (just kidding!) and then some more chatting amongst everyone. Here's the thing about the Southern California area... you may say you live close to LA, or even just an hour's drive away... what distinguishes this from other cities with more density, like Boston or New York, is that the freeway traffic and congestion don't allow for frequent get togethers,or as much as you would like... that's why I was amazed when all my family were able to get together at one central point, stretching from the OC through Alhambra, up to the San Fernando Valley, and be so happy to see each other again.
I saw family, but in addition I got to see the Beverly Hills-esque area of San Marino with the rows of palm trees along the streets, block after block of cultural shopping plazas, and one of the largest concentrations of Asian communities this side of Boston *wink wink*
All in all, this has been a great experience for me, but I still miss my East Coast family, and hope everyone is doing wel back home - mom, dad, sis, bro-in-law, baby Nathan, the in law fam, uncles and aunts, cousins and "cousins", little tykes, college/high school friends, and those close family friends... in just a few short days I will be back on the plane to Asia, and my connection with this country will be limited to Skype and EMail for the time being... until that moment however I'm going to soak up the California sun as much as I can, in spite of its 9% sales tax and outrageous gas prices hehe.
Take care everyone, and know that the same is being done for me here!
Regards,
Kent
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