Friends

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Early Spring Asia Adventure (Parts 3 and 4)

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Part 3: Back in Manila and On to Cebu

It was Holy Week in Manila when I got back from Tokyo, and on Maundy Thursday, we went on a day trip to Tagaytay City for lunch with the nieces. It was more family get-togethers over Easter Weekend, dinner with another group of old friends early the following week, and another appointment at the foot spa before the beach resort vacation lined up later in the week.

Cebu City is the 2nd largest city in the Philippines and the destination for our 4-day beach resort vacation. After a brief hour flight from Manila, we arrived at the Bluewater Resort in Maribago on the island of Mactan where the airport is also located. The next 4 days was a flurry of sea- and pool-side relaxation, making sure to sometimes dabble in the art of doing nothing. Each day started with buffet breakfast at the resort restaurant that soon gave way to day trips of sightseeing and touring the local attractions, souvenir shopping, restorative and soothing massage at the resort spa, and taking in the varied flavors of the city at must-try local restaurants and the downtown Friday night food market. It was the prefect combination of a beach vacation with the amenities and offerings of a major big city, quite different from last year’s Boracay Island beach resort experience.

Part 4: Birthday Week

The days flew by and now it’s final week in Manila. It’s also my birthday on the 14th, and that kicked off a series of get-togethers and celebrations with family and friends for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. It’s really been the theme of this and every trip of mine to the Philippines: spending time with loved ones, catching up on each other’s lives and sharing memories, always over food. It’s always about making new memories to go over when we get together again in the future, and once again over food. It’s a delicious cycle, one that I can never get tired of.

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Early Spring Asia Adventure (Parts 1 and 2)

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[18 March - 18 April, 2026]

I spent a good month from the 2nd half of March till mid-April in the Philippines, with side trips to Japan and Cebu City, while staying in Makati, Metro Manila as home base. As usual, those days were filled with lots of get-togethers with family and friends, and as with most Filipino get-togethers, lots of food. Here is how I spent that holiday month, in four parts.

Part 1: Arrival and 1st Week in Manila

The first week was a frantic few days of family get-togethers, shopping, a haircut, and spa appointments. I also went to the Saturday weekend market, walked a 5K on a Sunday morning in the area business district, cooked the family dinner that same night, visited old friends in the neighborhood where I grew up, and went on breakfasts, lunches, and dinners with family and old friends throughout the week. I was trying to get as much of what I can accomplish that week, before I head to Japan the following weekend.

Part 2: Japan

After the first week in Manila, I traveled to Japan for the first time as a tourist, having been there many times before for business when I worked at Honda. It was a short 5-day stay in Tokyo, but packed with meet-ups with friends and former colleagues, sightseeing, shopping, and of course, eating.

Narita Airport, Japan

I stayed in a natural springs onsen hotel in Asakusa, a stone’s throw away from Senso-ji Temple, with its famed 5-storied pagoda, and Nakamise-Dori, the crowded and hectic shopping street leading to the temple. The hotel’s onsen was welcome relief at night before bed after a full day’s worth of walking and sightseeing (at least 20,000 steps every day!). My first couple of days were spent just enjoying the area, mixing with the large crowds of tourists visiting and photographing the temple complex, and sampling in the local cuisine at a matcha cafe, a taiyaki shop, a trendy coffee shop, and dinners of yakiniku and the best tonkatsu I have ever had anywhere. I also met up with Cort and Keiko who also happened to be in Japan at the same time, visiting Keiko’s parents in Nagoya, but at the time, staying at the hotel across the street from mine (actually, our meet-up was all planned for).

The third day, I took the train to Kamakura to see Harry and Junko, another couple of former Honda colleagues who now live in the area. It was a great day for sightseeing in the small, charming coastal city just south of Tokyo. Harry and Junko were the perfect hosts, and ensured we made the most of the time I was there. We visited several temples and parks, soaked in the near-full bloom cherry blossoms that adorned the city streets, dined on home-style onigiri for lunch, and enjoyed some craft-brewed coffee at a local roastery.

On my return to Tokyo, I did a little bit of shopping at Tokyo Station for some souvenirs (mostly chocolates and cookies) for the nieces back in Manila. I also met up with Cort and Keiko later at Ueno Park to view the cherry blossoms in that area, which are some of the best in Tokyo. Then it was izakaya dinner to end the full and busy day.

Cherry blossoms in Ueno Park, Tokyo.

The fourth day was quite rainy, and a perfect opportunity for indoor activities. Still hanging out with Cort and Keiko, we went to Ginza and spent most of the day there walking around, a bit of window (and actual) shopping, snack breaks, and lunch. Then it was back to Asakusa for a final evening of izakaya dinner and drinks before they head back to Nagoya, and I to Manila the next day. A final lunch of tonkatsu at the airport the next day capped my time in Tokyo, for now. I’m sure I will be coming back.

Asakusa Station, waiting for the train to take me to Narita Airport.

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A Memorial Day Holiday to Remember

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[28 May - 6 June, 2025]

In late May, on and around the Memorial Day weekend and through the first week of June, three of my oldest friends, Jun, Ricky D, and Ricky L, came all the way from the Philippines to visit and stay with me, partly to attend the Memorial Tournament held annually at the Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, OH, but largely to spend some good time together and a little bit of road-tripping.

Going to two rounds of the Memorial Tournament saw us witness Scottie Scheffler win his 2nd consecutive title, along with plenty of spectacular (and not so spectacular) shots from the very competitive field.

Scottie Scheffler at the 2nd hole of the 2025 Memorial Tournament, Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, OH, May 29, 2025.

Our road-tripping took us to the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, Cleveland, Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and finally, Ann Arbor. Of course, this entire holiday “bro-cation” stretch was not without all kinds of food, with plenty of chicken wings, steak, donuts, and ice cream all around.

Before long, it was time for our get-together to end, but for sure, the memories from this reunion will definitely last. Already, plans are in the works for the next one. In the meantime, here’s a video that captures the fun of these, our fellowship days.

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Month-Long Vacation in the Philippines

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[1 February - 1 March, 2025]

Here’s a day by day video account of my recent trip to the Philippines during the entire month of February.

I originally planned this trip over the 2024 Christmas holidays but with cheaper fares during the dead of winter, plus a great excuse to avoid Ohio’s coldest month of the season, turned out this was, weather-wise, the best time to visit the Philippines. A couple of friends from Ohio, Cort and Keiko, joined me during the last two weeks of the month, which became the most jam-packed travel days of the trip.

The first two weeks were spent visiting and spending time with family and friends, all around food get-togethers, of course. The second half was spent with an island trip to Boracay Beach, a road trip north of Manila to the Spanish heritage town of Vigan, and finally, a visit up the mountains to the summer resort capital of the Philippines, Baguio City, where the temperatures were pleasantly spring-like cool, sans the heat and humidity of the city.

Already a month long, but still too short, it was a great reminder that a break from the craziness back home is just a “short” altogether 24-hour journey away!

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Spain Vacation

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[11-22 September, 2023]

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on this Blog, even as I try to continue to do so as frequently as I can on Today, but this trip to Spain warrants a bit more words than just photos or videos.

This trip was originally planned for December, 2021 but due to travel restrictions because of COVID-19 (remember that?), it’s been pushed back almost 2 years to just this past month. The wait was worth it, though, as this was a whirlwind tour de force of Spanish culture and cuisine all packed in a short, 11-day vacation. Plus, it was time spent with my lifelong best friend and his family, and this has been the longest time that we’ve spent together in a very long time.

Madrid was the epicenter of this trip, with quick visits to the Centro attractions: Plaza del Sol, Plaza Mayor, the Palacio Real (Royal Palace), the main shopping district of Gran Via, and the modern museum, Reina Sofia, highlighted by Picasso’s masterpiece, Guernica. An evening of tapas, churros con chocolate from San Gines, a bocadillo de jamón Iberico, and a trip to the Real Madrid official merch store, we hardly scratched the surface.

‘Guernica’ by Picasso, at the Reina Sofia National Museum, Madrid.

Madrid was very quickly followed by trips to Toledo, a nearby neighbor city in the same Castille/La Mancha province as the capital city, then to Andalusia for the cities of Sevilla and Granada, and finally to Basque country, notably Spain’s foodie capital, San Sebastián.

Toledo was the former capital of Spain, a UNESCO heritage city with no modern buildings. We took a Rick Steves-prescribed “city walk” that took us to the Alcázar (Army Museum), lunch at Plaza de Zocodover, a wonderful tour of the amazing gothic Toledo Cathedral, delicious snacks of mazapán treats in Santo Tome, and finally a visit to the El Greco Museum, all in a very long, very packed day.

Toledo, Spain’s former capital city, sits on a hill surrounded on three sides by the natural moat of the Rio Tajos.

Next, a high-speed train to the Andalusia region in Southern Spain, for the cities of Sevilla and Granada.

Due to our limited time, we were able to visit only two of the most highly recommended sights in Sevilla: on day 1, the Sevilla Cathedral, the 3rd largest church in the world, after only St. Peter’s Basilica and London’s St. Paul Cathedral; and on day 2, the Real Alcázar, the 10th-century royal palace built by the Moors that’s been a lavish residence for Spain’s rulers for over a thousand years. In between, we were also able to visit Plaza de España, a popular filming location for Hollywood hits like Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (Episode II) and Lawrence of Arabia.

The unquestionable superstar in the city of Granada is the Alhambra, the last and greatest Moorish palace and one of Europe’s top sights. Attracting over 8000 visitors a day (!), it was pure luck that we were able to get exactly the tickets we wanted just a day before our planned visit. Nowhere else does the splendor of Moorish civilization shine so beautifully. The Alhambra is a mind-blowing place, truly one of the most beautiful examples of world architecture I’ve ever seen.

Basque Country (El Pais Vasco) is the culinary capital of Spain, and San Sebastián is the culinary capital of Basque Country, with more Michelin-starred restaurants per capita than anywhere in the world. Needless to say, I was in foodie heaven! Our three days in San Sebastián were a scandalous array of food adventures one after the other. From pintxos and raciones of the most exquisite examples of Basque cuisine paired with the best local hard cider (sidra) and sparkling white wine (txakoli), finished with delectable sweet treats like Basque burnt cheesecake, hopping from bar to bar in Old Town is a serious physical sport. Mixing influences from mountain, sea, Spain and nearby France, Basque food is reason enough to visit this corner of Spain.

This vacation was definitely one for the books, a shining example of what world travel can be: a soul-filling immersion of local culture and cuisine, experienced with dear friends in the most beautiful places.

The following videos capture my most memorable moments of the trip, with all the sights, sounds, and tastes of these amazing 11 days.

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Road Trip to Michigan

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[10-12 November, 2022]

I’ve written about Ryan before (see this post), and this past weekend, he, his dad (also Eric), and I drove up to the western side of Michigan for a campus visit to Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. Being that it was his dad’s alma mater, WMU had made it to his list of colleges to consider for a degree in Business. And having not been to that part of the state, I tagged along for a fun road trip.

On arrival Thursday mid-afternoon, we walked about the main campus and made a few stops in several buildings (student services, bookstore, rec center, etc.). The main tour was on Friday morning and we wanted to get an early peek at the newest notable additions to campus (at least since his dad went there in the early 90’s).

Dinner that night was at Principle, a nice classic American restaurant tucked away in an old renovated brick building in downtown Kalamazoo. Food was good, but not unforgettable; a solid 7.5/10.

On Friday, after a quick stop at Maggie’s Cafe, an old campus haunt with an impossibly long breakfast menu, it was time for the main campus tour: an enthusiastic dog-and-pony show complete with an hour plus-long, 2-mile hike across campus. It was capped by a detailed introduction to the Haworth School of Business, which was what interested Ryan the most. Overall, it was a fruitful visit, Western was an excellent school, and I think a good match for Ryan. Was it the one for him? That remains to be seen.

The trip’s bonus for me, though, was what happened afterwards. Eric’s brother, Jason, invited us for a tour of the Holland, MI seat plant operated by his employer MillerKnoll, famous for its midcentury modern classic line of home and office furniture by Herman Miller and Knoll. Anyone who knows me (and has been to my house) knows that being at a MillerKnoll showroom is like me being a kid in a candy factory, When even the factory’s men’s room is furnished with the George Nelson platform bench, I know I am in the right place!

After a quick but informative tour of the company’s seat assembly factory, Jason took us to the Company Store where several price-discounted company products were sold “as-is”. Unfortunately, I didn’t find either of the couple of things I was looking for, and ended up leaving empty-handed.

It was sushi dinner at the end of this busy and very exciting day back in Grand Rapids where we had booked an overnight stay before the drive back home on Saturday. But not before a stop in Ann Arbor, my own favorite Michigan city, for an obligatory pilgrimage to that temple of fine foods, Zingerman’s. But we ended up just buying a few sweet treats to take home; the wait for deli sandwiches was at 100-110 minutes, perhaps due to the home game that day, and a bit too much even for a die-hard Z fan like me. So it was Korean lunch for us instead at Miss Kim, a Zingerman’s-owned restaurant next to Kerrytown.

In the end, it was a fun-filled, packed, multi-faceted weekend road trip with good friends, all 700-plus driven miles of it. Hopefully, it was as memorable and rewarding for Ryan, wherever his future college plans may take him.

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1500-Mile Road Trip

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[24-30 May, 2022]

This was the first true long-distance road trip in the MDX (the Chicago trip earlier in the spring notwithstanding) and it couldn’t have come any sooner.

First stop was Hesston, PA where I spent a couple of nights at the Hills’ (old friends Drew and Stacy from back when Drew used to work at Honda in the late 90’s/early 00’s) vacation cottage near the Raystown Lake Recreation Area. Unfortunately, due to the cold and rainy weather, we were unable to partake in any water recreation activities. There was lots of good eating, though!

We then drove to the Hills’ primary home in Ellicott City, MD, a suburb of Baltimore where more eating and imbibing took place.

From Baltimore, it was off to see the Hsu’s in East Setauket, NY. Jim and I were old roommates back in our old Ann Arbor days, where we both went to the University of Michigan. His eldest, Peter, began studies in Neuroscience at the Ohio State University in 2015 so we ended up seeing each other more frequently during their visits while Peter was in Columbus, up to his graduation a few years ago, just before the pandemic. Of course, a visit with them in NY is not complete without a trip to Flushing for some of the city’s best dim sum.

After a couple of nights with the Hsu’s, it was on to Brooklyn to meet up with an old friend from high school, Lito from this 2018 Colorado adventure and this 2018 Ireland Bro-cation. It was a day-long gallivanting walkathon in the Chelsea, Flat Iron, and Hudson Yards districts, with a final stop at K-town for some K BBQ.

And finally, on my last day in Manhattan, it’s time to drive back home but not without first stopping by the Washington Heights area to pick up Lenin who just left his job of 6 years at Columbia University for a new (and better) one at Washington University in St. Louis.

And so ended my 1500-plus mile roadtrip through West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York with neither traffic incidents nor speeding tickets. The next road trip is still on the planning board.

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Texas-Style Briskets for Ryan

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Ryan’s been coming to our Breakfast Club with his dad since he was 3 or 4. It was his high school graduation this past spring and as I promised him and his parents, I smoked a couple of briskets for his graduation party.

It was also the first time that I was using the Big Green Egg this season so first things first: a thorough cleaning of the beast.

The cook started the night before and took about 12 hours. The 19-lb whole packer briskets came out very well, and was greatly enjoyed by all, especially the party celebrant.

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Another Trip Around the Sun

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[14 April, 2022]

Another trip around the sun means … another trip through foodie land!

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L.A. Friends

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[31 March - 4 April, 2022]

First flight since the start of the pandemic (over 2 years since the last one!) was in late March/early April to Los Angeles, CA to visit with old friends. Of course, there was lots of eating!

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Colorado Adventures

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It's always an adventure when you fly out for a 4-night, 5-day long weekend holiday with only the first night's hotel room booked.  Plus, several grumblings already made about going to places and sights outside of the original itinerary (or, what poses as one).  But such is reality with the two knuckleheads I was traveling with.  Ed and Lito flew out of JFK and met me at Denver airport on Thursday night, April 12th, with an already rented 4WD Toyota Highlander (so much for the Camry reserved ahead), pumped for the long weekend bro-cation.

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Friday, the (April) 13th

First day started with a hearty breakfast at Four Friends Kitchen in Denver and an expectation that the next full meal will be dinner wherever the day took us.

First stop: Colorado Springs where we planned to visit Garden of the Gods and then drive up to Pikes Peak.  As with anything Colorado, both places were spectacular and great for the photo enthusiast.

Unfortunately, only 13 of the 19 miles leading up to Pikes Peak summit was open due to snow and weather.  Nevertheless, the drive up was still quite exhilarating, notwithstanding the 12-degree temperature drop from mile 1 to 13.

Next, we left behind the cold and snowy environs of Pikes Peak and began heading south towards the dry and desert-like landscape of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve which couldn't stand in starker contrast to Pikes Peak.  We reached the dunes at the golden hour and witnessed one of the most breathtaking sunsets in the most desolate of locations in the Colorado wilderness.  Our packed day ended in Alamosa, deservedly with a fat and juicy steak dinner.  Total distance driven: ~300 miles.

Saturday, April 14th

Happy Birthday to me!  The day started with another hearty breakfast courtesy of the Holiday Inn Express in Alamosa.  Our modified itinerary took us first through the Rio Grande National Forest where we were held up in over an hour of stopped traffic due to an overturned RV trailer that completely blocked Highway 160 just before Bayfield.  Past that, it's straight to Durango and the San Juan National Forest before reaching the quaint old mining town of Silverton where we started our trek on Colorado's Million Dollar Highway (Highway 550), which, despite its spectacular and breathtaking "million dollar" views, was one of the scariest roads I've ever driven on.  It was a bit of a relief when we finally reached the charming town of Ouray (the Switzerland of Colorado) which marked the end of the highway and where we stopped for burgers and fries.

Alamosa to Durango, via San Juan National Forest and Rio Grande National Forest

We left Ouray full and refreshed for the long drive back to the Denver metro area.  Heading east on Highway 50, we passed through Gunnison National Park and Forest on the way to Buena Vista via the Brown Canyon Wilderness Area, where we stopped for prime rib dinner.  Then it's off on Highway 285 all the way to Denver, passing through Boulder and on to our final destination for the day, Longmont, where we planned to stay the night before heading up the next day to Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park.  Total distance driven: ~600 miles.

Sunday, April 15th

Have you ever looked around and gasped in wonder at the incomparable beauty around you? Yeah, Rocky Mountain National Park.  RMNP is truly one of Colorado's most beautiful places in a state chock full of beautiful places.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

As has become the norm of this trip, we started the day with a breakfast of lox and bagels at Einstein Bros. Bagels just across the street from our hotel in Longmont.  Then it's back on the road to Estes Park with a stop at the Stanley Hotel, famous as Jack Nicholson's favorite haunting grounds in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.

We arrived at Rocky Mountain National Park at its eastern entrance in Fall River and was immediately enthralled with the park's natural beauty.  However, the entire western half was still closed to visitors due to snow (the park's fully open only from June to October).  Nevertheless, what we saw at various stops and lookouts was enough to impress upon us the majestic beauty of this amazing collage of natural wonders.

Leaving the park through its other eastern entrance at Beaver Meadow led us back down to Estes Park where we stopped for lunch before heading down to Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater, famous for its big name summer concert series.  This was our last destination for the day, in fact, for the entire trip, before heading back to downtown Denver for a relaxed final dinner of Korean barbecue.  Total distance driven: ~150 miles.

Monday, April 16th

We stayed at a Staybridge Hotel and Suites at Denver airport the night before our flights back home but weather in the east coast brought us considerable flight delays.  Finally landing back in Columbus almost 3 hours later than scheduled, I was hit with the realization that the magical Colorado adventure was over, and that I have to be back at work early the next day.  Making a quick stop for Chinese takeout, I was gifted with a heartwarming message from a fortune cookie:

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