I considered settling down in Fresno when I was working in that Central Valley city. Fresno is not San Francisco nor San Diego or LA. Not even close, but as a latecomer to California, I assumed it's probably the most affordable city for me to get settled in. So what if it's hot? I could adjust to that, I reasoned.
But coming from the Midwest, I was surprised to find out that housing in Fresno was a lot more expensive than I thought. My high school buddy Romy Antonio has a sister who has been a Fresno resident for several years. She told me to check out Los Banos, CA, a small town in the direction of Gilroy, California's garlic capital. She said I might find that housing over there to be more affordable.
Los Banos? Aba maganda siguro doon. The name obviously reminded me of the town with the same name in Laguna back home. Palm trees, banana plantation on the hillsides, lush vegetation din siguro. I'm sure there's an equivalent of Mt. Makiling over there, knowing that California's terrain is somewhat similar to Laguna and other parts of Luzon. They probably have hot springs there too, that's why they call the town Los Banos, I said to myself.
So I checked Mapquest for its location and driving directions. 71.66 miles from Fresno. Not quite a commuting distance to my place of work. So scratch the idea of moving to a home in Los Banos. Kahit na ba affordable, kung ganoon naman kalayo..."
But what if I can find employment in Los Banos? Puwede rin siguro. Maybe it's a college town like U.P. Los Banos or maybe there's something like International Rice Research Institute, knowing it's in California's farming region. Hey, I did some architectural work for U.P. LOs Banos and IRRI when I worked for Leandro Locsin in Makati. I have the experience, so it's worth checking out the town.
Armed with that enthusiasm, I drove to Los Banos one Saturday morning. It was a boring drive on flat terrain of seemingly endless farmlands, going through Madera, Chowchilla and other nondescript small towns in the Central Valley. "It should get better when I get to my destination", I assured myself.
After about an hour and a half, I finally saw the "Welcome to Los Banos" sign. Well... I was still on flat land. Tumbleweeds were rolling across the highway that windy morning. Pretty soon I was in the town's paved but dusty two lane main drag with the usual fast food places on each side... Macdonalds, Del Taco, Jack in the Box... A tower at a small Wells Fargo branch showed it was approaching 100 degrees and it was not even 11:00 in the morning. I noticed a good number of businesses selling chiminea and other Mexican style pottery on the road side. Pretty much like those you see in Tijuana. It did remind me of that Mexican border town.
That's about it. I did not see any large office buildings. No banana plantation on hillsides. In fact, no hills around. It's all flat with cactus, yucca and other desert plants. OK, I saw a few palm trees in the residential section of town. I doubt if there's any hot springs anywhere near there. The town looked so dry. Nowhere near to what I imagined it to be. Los Banos, California is a desert town, not quite like Los Banos, Laguna.
I decided to continue driving west until I reached Gilroy where I ate lunch of spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread. I bought a bunch of garlic and some locally grown fruits to take home with me and started driving back, not stopping at Los Banos, having lost my interest. I continued on to get back home, passing through the boring flat lands of Chowchilla, Madera and finally, back in Fresno.
Given time, Los Banos, CA will probably develop into another booming real estate area, just like othersmall towns in the state. It may happen sooner or later. Or maybe not in my lifetime. who knows...
It took a little while for me to get used to hearing people here say "Los Ba-knows" instead of "Los Ban-yos". Same thing with "Paso Rubbles" for Paso Robles, one of California's wine regions.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Life After Chicago
It was late summer in Chicago in 2003 when I decided it's time for me to seek employment again. Most of my freelance deals had dried up after more than four years as independent designer . "Time to check out the sun belt", I casually told Ampy. She liked the idea.
"Really? OK lang sa iyo kahit magkalayo tayo?" I asked her. "Look, I can stay here in Illinois and find a job here, kahit na greeter sa Walmart." sabi ko pa. Ampy was not convinced. Lalo
niya akong ipinagtulakang subukan ang job market sa West Coast. Or anywhere it's warm.
So I checked monster.com and sent my resume to a few companies out west.
A Las Vegas company responded to my inquiry. I thought I was on my way, but my deal
with them fell through after a lengthy negotiation via telephone and e-mail. Sa madali't sabi, mukhang hindi sila na-impress sa akin.
Then there was a company in California who viewed my online portfolio. After the phone interview, they arranged to fly me there to work with them for a few days. It was a "so we can check you out and you can check us out" arrangement, according to a follow-up e-mail sent by the company's HR manager. I flew to Fresno in early September.
I had such a bad trip on my way to California. I was so sick when I reached my destination, having eaten bad airport burrito during a long delay at LAX. The connecting flight to Fresno
was in one of those small commuter planes. Man, I hate those vibrating propeller aircraft
especially on turbulent flights like that night that made me really sick and scared. Sa takot ko, halos umakyat sa lalamunan ko ang aking… ang aking sikmura na tila bumaliktad dahil sa likot noong eroplano.
The company CEO himself picked me up at the Fresno-Yosemite airport and took me to a barbecue party at a private home near the airport where the rest of the staff members were gathered to meet the two new recruits – myself and another designer from Philadelphia. I was dead tired I could not even eat and enjoy the party. It ended around midnight. My body of course was telling me it's 2:00 AM Chicago time... way, way past my bedtime. They booked us at a Holiday Inn a few blocks away. Plastado ako pagpasok sa kuwarto.
I was well enough to be at the office the following day. At the reception desk was a pretty blue-eyed blonde girl who was not at the welcome party the night before.
"Good morning," I said. I'm supposed to start work today."
She smiled and asked: "Taga Pilipinas po ba kayo?"
I was shocked to hear that from her. The Tagalog accent was so perfect I could not believe it.
"Well, yes, I'm from there." I answered. "How did you learn to speak like that?"
"Ipinanganak po ako sa Pilipinas. Ang parents ko'y mga missionaries sa Northern Luzon, pero lumipat sila sa MetroManila para doon ako ipanganak sa Makati Medical center."
I still could not believe what I was hearing. Here's this attactive Caucasian girl talking to me like one of those Filipino girls back home.
"Ayos ito", I said to myself. Madali akong makakapagbolahan dito sa Kana. Hindi ko na kailangang uminggles.
So we had a good conversation, but it was so weird. Napapa-English pa rin ako, panay naman ang Tagalog niya. She told me the family moved back to the States when she was a teenager.
I found out that the Fresno firm was a start up company, doing mostly speculative projects. I did accept their offer after a few days. I knew I'd miss the freelance scene, but I didn't have anything else going on in Illinois, anyway. Might as well check out what life in California is all about.
The deal was for me to work in Fresno for 3 to 6 months or possibly longer. It didn't work out for the other recruited designer. He went back home to Philadelphia after his trial period with the company.
I flew back to Chicago, gathered all my basic stuff that included a futon bed and my old 17"
Sony TV and loaded them all in my truck. I then started the long drive to California, going through the boring plains of Iowa and Nebraska, the steep mountain climb in Colorado and
\Utah (akala ko titirik ang luma kong truck) and the hot desert of Nevada. It took me three days to reach Fresno.
I lived at a Red Roof Inn for another two weeks until I found a nice apartment in Fresno'sdesirable River Park area on the city's north side. The place was near the city's edge. Beyond that are the vast farmlands of grape orchards,orange groves, figs and almond trees.
It's a short distance from picturesque Millerton Lake and an hour-and-a half drive to Yosemite.
Meanwhile, Ampy was alone in Illinois. She would call me on the phone several times day and night. Narindi ako sa tunog noong Nokia standard cell phone ring. I have since changed phone rings, but up to now, everytime I hear that Nokia sound from other cell phone users, it always
brings back memories of my first days in California.
The weather in Fresno, even in the fall was unbelievably hot. Over 100 degrees almost daily.
On one blistering record breaking hot weekend, I went to a Starbucks in River Park for iced Capuccino. I could not find a seat inside the cafe so I went out in the patio. Napaigtad ako dahil napaso ang pigi ko nang umupo ako sa wrought iron chair. I thought I heard something sizzle. I did a rump check when I got back to my apartment. Wala naman palang grill marks.
Ampy would later join me in Fresno a few weeks at a time. On weekends we would drive to the coast to escape the heat in Central Valley. Carmel was always a pleasant place to hang out, to relax and to take a walk in the white sand beach. Ampy was hoping she would see Clint Eastwood there, knowing that the actor lives in the area and was once mayor of Carmel. She
also said "Hindi ba taga rito rin si Doris Day? Hindi ba paboritong singer mo 'yon? Baka makita mo rin siya." "Yeah, right," sagot ko. "She must be 100 years old now."
Anyway, I worked in Fresno for a little over a year until I got an offer from a Southern
California design firm that produces stage sets for corporate events and the entertainment industry. That's when we moved to Monrovia, a little town near Pasadena. I stayed with the company for about a year and changed jobs a few more times.
We found a new housing development in Southern California's Inland Empire which we really like and decided that's the place for us to get settled in. It's in the small and quiet town of Verdemont, in northern San Bernardino County at the foot of SB national Forest.
At present I am a site planner for a developer in Chino Hills. OK naman so far. When will I retire? I don't know. Magtatrabaho pa rin ako hanggang kaya ko pa.
Kahit siguro kasingtanda na ako ni Doris Day.
"Really? OK lang sa iyo kahit magkalayo tayo?" I asked her. "Look, I can stay here in Illinois and find a job here, kahit na greeter sa Walmart." sabi ko pa. Ampy was not convinced. Lalo
niya akong ipinagtulakang subukan ang job market sa West Coast. Or anywhere it's warm.
So I checked monster.com and sent my resume to a few companies out west.
A Las Vegas company responded to my inquiry. I thought I was on my way, but my deal
with them fell through after a lengthy negotiation via telephone and e-mail. Sa madali't sabi, mukhang hindi sila na-impress sa akin.
Then there was a company in California who viewed my online portfolio. After the phone interview, they arranged to fly me there to work with them for a few days. It was a "so we can check you out and you can check us out" arrangement, according to a follow-up e-mail sent by the company's HR manager. I flew to Fresno in early September.
I had such a bad trip on my way to California. I was so sick when I reached my destination, having eaten bad airport burrito during a long delay at LAX. The connecting flight to Fresno
was in one of those small commuter planes. Man, I hate those vibrating propeller aircraft
especially on turbulent flights like that night that made me really sick and scared. Sa takot ko, halos umakyat sa lalamunan ko ang aking… ang aking sikmura na tila bumaliktad dahil sa likot noong eroplano.
The company CEO himself picked me up at the Fresno-Yosemite airport and took me to a barbecue party at a private home near the airport where the rest of the staff members were gathered to meet the two new recruits – myself and another designer from Philadelphia. I was dead tired I could not even eat and enjoy the party. It ended around midnight. My body of course was telling me it's 2:00 AM Chicago time... way, way past my bedtime. They booked us at a Holiday Inn a few blocks away. Plastado ako pagpasok sa kuwarto.
I was well enough to be at the office the following day. At the reception desk was a pretty blue-eyed blonde girl who was not at the welcome party the night before.
"Good morning," I said. I'm supposed to start work today."
She smiled and asked: "Taga Pilipinas po ba kayo?"
I was shocked to hear that from her. The Tagalog accent was so perfect I could not believe it.
"Well, yes, I'm from there." I answered. "How did you learn to speak like that?"
"Ipinanganak po ako sa Pilipinas. Ang parents ko'y mga missionaries sa Northern Luzon, pero lumipat sila sa MetroManila para doon ako ipanganak sa Makati Medical center."
I still could not believe what I was hearing. Here's this attactive Caucasian girl talking to me like one of those Filipino girls back home.
"Ayos ito", I said to myself. Madali akong makakapagbolahan dito sa Kana. Hindi ko na kailangang uminggles.
So we had a good conversation, but it was so weird. Napapa-English pa rin ako, panay naman ang Tagalog niya. She told me the family moved back to the States when she was a teenager.
I found out that the Fresno firm was a start up company, doing mostly speculative projects. I did accept their offer after a few days. I knew I'd miss the freelance scene, but I didn't have anything else going on in Illinois, anyway. Might as well check out what life in California is all about.
The deal was for me to work in Fresno for 3 to 6 months or possibly longer. It didn't work out for the other recruited designer. He went back home to Philadelphia after his trial period with the company.
I flew back to Chicago, gathered all my basic stuff that included a futon bed and my old 17"
Sony TV and loaded them all in my truck. I then started the long drive to California, going through the boring plains of Iowa and Nebraska, the steep mountain climb in Colorado and
\Utah (akala ko titirik ang luma kong truck) and the hot desert of Nevada. It took me three days to reach Fresno.
I lived at a Red Roof Inn for another two weeks until I found a nice apartment in Fresno'sdesirable River Park area on the city's north side. The place was near the city's edge. Beyond that are the vast farmlands of grape orchards,orange groves, figs and almond trees.
It's a short distance from picturesque Millerton Lake and an hour-and-a half drive to Yosemite.
Meanwhile, Ampy was alone in Illinois. She would call me on the phone several times day and night. Narindi ako sa tunog noong Nokia standard cell phone ring. I have since changed phone rings, but up to now, everytime I hear that Nokia sound from other cell phone users, it always
brings back memories of my first days in California.
The weather in Fresno, even in the fall was unbelievably hot. Over 100 degrees almost daily.
On one blistering record breaking hot weekend, I went to a Starbucks in River Park for iced Capuccino. I could not find a seat inside the cafe so I went out in the patio. Napaigtad ako dahil napaso ang pigi ko nang umupo ako sa wrought iron chair. I thought I heard something sizzle. I did a rump check when I got back to my apartment. Wala naman palang grill marks.
Ampy would later join me in Fresno a few weeks at a time. On weekends we would drive to the coast to escape the heat in Central Valley. Carmel was always a pleasant place to hang out, to relax and to take a walk in the white sand beach. Ampy was hoping she would see Clint Eastwood there, knowing that the actor lives in the area and was once mayor of Carmel. She
also said "Hindi ba taga rito rin si Doris Day? Hindi ba paboritong singer mo 'yon? Baka makita mo rin siya." "Yeah, right," sagot ko. "She must be 100 years old now."
Anyway, I worked in Fresno for a little over a year until I got an offer from a Southern
California design firm that produces stage sets for corporate events and the entertainment industry. That's when we moved to Monrovia, a little town near Pasadena. I stayed with the company for about a year and changed jobs a few more times.
We found a new housing development in Southern California's Inland Empire which we really like and decided that's the place for us to get settled in. It's in the small and quiet town of Verdemont, in northern San Bernardino County at the foot of SB national Forest.
At present I am a site planner for a developer in Chino Hills. OK naman so far. When will I retire? I don't know. Magtatrabaho pa rin ako hanggang kaya ko pa.
Kahit siguro kasingtanda na ako ni Doris Day.
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