RED BANK

Jasmine and I picked up my aunt and uncle's Honda CRV and drove to Red Bank, NJ to have lunch with my cuz Marivic. She was always the nicest cousin to me when I was just a little kid, about 14 years old. Long ago, her family and my family finally met when they drove all the way to Cali from Queens where they used to live. It was like meeting long lost cousins, but in actuality, we were never really lost at all. Distance and their immigration to the US from the Philippines were all that kept us apart.

We got to Red Bank a little early, about 12:30pm. Lunch was supposed to be at 1pm, so I got a chance to lie back and soak in some sun. It was actually really warm with the sun, but when you get in the shade, it's quite cold.

We met up with Vicky at The Bistro at Red Bank. It reminded me of the typical Cali-style bistro and it was quite good. Vicky was describing her pregnancy to me and how she has had difficulty keeping things down. She can only eat lettuce leaves, drink seltzer water and snack. I was reminded how noxious I felt the day after I had a Dead Poet over the weekend.

Afterwards, Vicky had to pick the kids up (among other things), so Jasmine and I got a chance to hang out at Red Bank. Kevin Smith, the director of movies such as Clerks and Dogma, apparently grew up here. He has a store called Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash and he supposedly filmed some of the church scenes from Dogma here.

After a little walkabout, we headed to the mall to watch a movie. Transamerica was showing so we watched it. I was surprised at how good it was and if I was a voting member of the Academy, I would have voted for Felicity Huffman. I thought her performance was much more difficult than Reese Witherspoon's, but I guess it's tough to vote for a transexual over June Carter.

We then headed off to the Plummaker's home which was about 15 minutes away. It's a small town with lots of room and I wondered if homes in New England are like this. I saw their kids Jaime and Jackie and hubby Jimmy. I remember being a little kid and being introduced to my parents' cousins and never remembering them when I saw them again. I suppose the same thing will happen to these kids. They have no idea how large an extended family they have.

We went to a seafood restaurant that I can't remember the name of but was it good! Everything was so fresh and you'd never know that this restaurant was any good if you just drove by it. But once you got inside, it was full of people and you could see that business was good.

It was that time again so we said our goodbyes and went back to Manhattan.