Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

I love chocolates! L.O.V.E. Specially dark chocolates with almonds. I can eat a whole bag -- so a visit to Hersheys, Pennsylvania, a mere 1.5 hours from Philadelphia is in order!

We had lunch with our friends, the Abadilla's, who live in Hummelstown, PA - 5 minutes away from the Hershey attractions. They drove with us to Chocolate World which is a place were they show the process on how Hershey's chocolates are made. It was a little disappointing, I was expecting a real factory tour! Like Willy Wonka's! :) Instead, it was more like a Disney Ride. Still a worthwhile visit though.

We shopped for lots and lots of souvenirs and chocolates and walked towards Candy Lane. Alas! Candyland will not open until next week, November 18. We were also dallying, so we missed the last 3D show and the last trip of Trolley Works. Instead, we drove to Hershey's Sweet Lights, where we wound through over 2 million sparkling lights on nearly 600 enchanting animated displays.

The Nation's Capital

After a brief stop in Philadelphia, we drove to Washington DC on Thursday, November 10. As we have been discovering since Monday, we are almost always late leaving the house or the hotel -- today is no different. We left Kobeyn's apartment at noon and didn't get into DC until 2:30pm. We were tired and hungry.

We met Lara at the hotel, and walked 3 blocks to the White House. From the White House, we walked around looking for places to eat, and came to Cafe Asia where we had lunch. We booked a night tour with "All About Town". We saw the city at night, and stopped at the following memorials and sites: the Capitol, the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Korean War Veteran's Memorial, the FDR Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, Arlington Cemetery and the IWO Jima Memorial. We also drove by other buildings, memorials and the Pentagon. At about 10:30pm, we were all "memorial'd out" that no one even came out at the last stop.

Sleep came easily that night :) And since we've pretty much been to all the "tourist spots", Friday (Veteran's day) was spent at our leisure. We went to the Old Post Office for lunch and some souvenir shopping then walked to the National Mall. We visited the Air and Space Museum and Mikoy and Xam rode the carousel.

New York, New York

Today we drove from Philadelpia to the Big Apple, New York City. On the way, we stopped at Liberty State Park to take the ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. The weather was good (for November), the wind was cool but the sun is out. It is a little chilly, but not bone-chilling cold.

On the way back to New Jersey, we watched the sun set behind the statue of Liberty. We watched the glittering New York skyline come to life. It was dark by the time we continue the drive towards New York.


Ah New York, thru the Holland Tunnel, up Route 9AN, through Times Square. The lights of New York sparkled and entertained the kids. Our hotel was 2 blocks off of Time Square, a convenient location, but still pricey.

After some rest, diaper changes :) we walked the 13 blocks from our hotel to 34th street, the Empire State Building. Its open til midnight and it was just 6:30pm, so we had plenty of time. The walk was longer than expected, it was a little over half a mile only -- we must be out of shape :)

I will post the rest of the album soon!

From the city of brotherly love!

Hello! from the city of brotherly love, Philadelpia!

We got here last Saturday, November 5 at 11am. My brother, Marlon picked us up from airport. We got our minivan rental from Alamo and off we go to meet my sister-in-law, Reg and my niece Mikoy at their apartment home.

The rest of the day was spent exchanging gifts, catching up on news and resting.

The next day, Sunday, November 6 was spent touring Philadelpia. We toured the old city, saw the Liberty Bell, the Independence Hall, the Carpenters Hall, Franklin Court, and lots of old buildings. We had lunch at the Bourse.

At dusk, we went to the Art Museum on Ben Franklin Parkway to see the city of Philadelpia from the shoes of Rocky.


As usual, I'm behind the camera :) The rest of the album are coming up soon!