My first post of 2023 had to be happy! I didn’t expect to do so much traveling last year. It just happened and was all God’s grace as things aligned. I was even going to cancel my Orlando trip because of my mother’s fall. She was much better within weeks and my godfather stepped in to look after her while I traveled to rotate in Orlando. So here are my pictures from Orlando.
Pictures from Orlando
I didn’t have a lot of expectations but the least I expected was good public transport. Orlando is geared towards Disney tourists and so they have their own transport system. The rest of Orlando and the surrounding areas have little to no public transport. The frequency is abysmal and where I lived there was no public transport on weekends. However, I had my colleagues and many of them were like-minded when it came to sightseeing.
Lake Mineola
My first outing was on Maulik’s last weekend. He chose to go to Lake Mineola for our excursion. We hitched an Uber and went out first to the lake. For some reason, we missed the sunset and after a few pictures, we walked to downtown Clermont.
In downtown Clermont, there was a food fair at Montrose where we ate Brazilian barbecued sandwiches complete with a live duo for music.
Church
MK and I were blessed to be part of the Blessed Sacrament parish community with Fr. Roy, a Pinoy priest. We felt welcomed and were happy to be here. Even on Christmas day when I was alone, there were wonderful people at the vigil mass who spoke to me and I never felt alone.
Tampa
I know I said pictures from Orlando but I’m adding Tampa. When Christine was leaving, she wanted to go somewhere. And we all agreed to go to Tampa. When we drove to Tampa, it seemed like everyone else had decided to do the same. Plus, it was drizzling and by the time we got to Tampa, it was pouring. There we ate at the Riverwalk’s edge where they serve many cuisines. Each of us decided to pick up different food. Christine and Jordan went with Asian food while MK chose some pita and meat. I ate Cuban meat with sweet potato fries. Yum! We spent a lot of time along the Riverwalk and finally played some games at a cafe. The beach was completely out of the question.
Citrus Tower and Christmas Lights
When Malika left we chose to do Christmas lights at Citrus tower. It was mostly a kiddie event with fake snow and Christmas music but we had fun taking pictures. For dinner, we just went to a local Japanese diner.
Disney
I honestly didn’t plan on going to Disney but my brother said it would be a once-in-a-lifetime thing. So go see it. And so I agreed to go with MK and Juan. These two are Disney-crazy. MK had made an entire itinerary for us so we went on each and every ride. As a Christmas present, she bought us both lightning passes. We went to Universal Studios, because that was more adult-like. Of course, I was screaming on all the rides and even have some PTSD (bwahahah) but it was so much fun!
Historical Clermont and Christmas Parade
Jordan was not so keen on going too far. So with him, we went to the Christmas parade and then walked for a bit stumbling randomly on the historical homes of Clermont. The Christmas parade featured all the prominent businesses of the area. For lunch, we ate at a Mexican place.
Christmas Party
We weren’t having much to do for Christmas. At work, we did our Secret Santa and my gift arrived a day late. Our attending Dr. Alka arranged for us to have a Christmas party at her home where we played 7-11 and fishbowl. It was so much fun.
Christmas at Home
For Christmas, we arranged to have lunch at home. I baked my cake and cooked our traditional dish of chicken xacuti. We played housie and other games before chatting away.
Cape Canaveral
Cape Canaveral was on my list but getting there was hard and I had almost given up on it. Until MK said Phoebe and her husband KC were going to a launch. He works at NASA so we found a fellow space enthusiast. I dragged MK with me. We drove there to the free parks and saw one of Starlink’s launches. It was amazing. Then we went out to eat Vietnamese food because I love it and Phoebe and her husband obliged.
Farewell Potluck
The last two weekends were freezing cold and so Phoebe decided to do a potluck for Georgia and me. We all gathered at home for games, food, and karaoke.
Until The Next Trip
In between, when we were not working, we watched Avatar 2, went grocery shopping, Black Friday shopping, and had a blast at home. These pictures from Orlando should give you an idea of how much time we spent together. Each of these places could be a post in itself including the planning that goes into a Disney trip!!! (Thank you MK). The others planned these trips and I just went to hang out with them, so it was not stressful for me.
I traveled on New Year’s Eve and pretty much zonked out all of New Year’s Day after mass. So I barely got anything done. I guess the busyness of the last two months caught up with me. I took the Amtrak because I wanted to experience that and that will be for another post.
I hope everyone has a wonderful 2023. I keep saying this and the last two months kind of proved it.
“It doesn’t matter where you are, it matters who you’re with.”
I had the most amazing people surrounding me these last two months. People I laughed, worked and lived with. People who made every trip and meal so memorable. It was such a beautiful experience because of these very people. Until pictures of my next trip.
Happy 2023!