~manila, you're not that ugly

I always got turned off with “first world-third world” labels,  as if  lifestyles in different countries could really be rated (The Philippines is “third world”–does it mean we have third class lives by default?)…but but but, staying in the United States–a “first world” country– for the past three weeks, I really couldn’t help but admire their sense of structure and order.

Organized roads, traffic systems, public transport…

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My mom told me my cousin Whitney loved loved loved the cheesecake at New York’s Grand Central Station, so we got her a box on our way to Connecticut last weekend.

The box says Junior’s most fabulous cheescake has been “voted no.1″ as “the best cheescake in N.Y.” by New York magazine!

It hit me much later that I was finally having an authentic New York cheesecake! Heehee. 

One small plain cheesecake goes for about $15, the chocolate a bit higher.

Very cheesy, baked just like I like them.  Could’ve been a bit tarter though, but I’m sure I’ll still get to finish the whole cake.

Junior’s is a cafe at the lower level of the Grand Central Station in New York.

Mid-morning in Connecticut, April 2010

Flew to New York-Connecticut in a rush for less-than-happy reasons, but wow, seeing full-grown trees bursting with new green leaves was a nice pick-me-upper.

Spring does make you want to start anew. Bury the old, let the new grow inside, then burst at its ripening! Imagine having the seasons as your constant companion as you go through this birthing every year…

There’s a lot we miss out on from having just two seasons in the Philippines…