If you could ask the eight-year-old version of me to describe what the United States is like, I would probably describe California.
When I was that age, growing up in the Philippines, my image of America was of sun-kissed beaches, surfers in the waves, vibrant cityscapes, a busy network of highways, avenues lined with palm trees, the “Hollywood” sign perched on the hill overlooking celebrity mansions, kids in bright coloured summer clothes skateboarding in the park, apple orchards, expansive vineyards, giant sequoia and redwood trees in the forest, boats floating on Lake Tahoe, and of course, amusement parks – Disneyland, Universal Studios, Knott’s Berry Farm, SeaWorld, and so much more.
This was a product of all the American movies and TV shows I watched as child. Of course, not all of them were set in California, but the ones that stayed etched in my mind were those happy movies involving kids and youngsters having some fun times at the park or by the beach somewhere in LA…living the California dream. Forget New York, Boston, Las Vegas, or Texas. Those cities were not very interesting for a kid like me.
My cousins and some schoolmates would usually spend their summer vacations visiting family in some county in California (there are a lot of Filipino immigrants in California; at present, Filipinos are the largest Asian ethnic group in the state) and then send us pictures and postcards from Disneyland or SeaWorld. As I stared at them wearing the iconic Mickey Mouse hats and posing against the backdrop of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle or grinning beside a dolphin or an orca after watching their pool show, I would imagine myself being there and enjoying those same moments.
When I was ten, one of my aunts moved to Sacramento with her entire family and I had since exchanged letters and pictures with my cousins. They would mail me photos of summer camps at Lake Tahoe, snorkeling at Long Beach, or hiking at Sequoia Park. I told myself that someday, I would travel to the United States.
It was not until I reached my university years that I got to travel to America. In my grade school and high school years, we could only afford to travel within the country, and twice, to nearby Hong Kong. A trip to America was beyond our budget then.
During my junior year at university, I joined a school theatre group that resurrected an old zarzuela (a Spanish lyric-drama stage performance that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, as well as dance numbers, and was adapted in the vernacular and became popular in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period). We modernized it to appeal to the younger generation. I was the show’s technical director.
Our group was invited by the North American chapter of the university’s alumni association to perform in a few East Coast cities of the United States (New York, Washington DC, and Detroit) and Canada (Toronto). The alumni association members were to partially sponsor our trip and host us for the duration of our stay.
It so happened that our musical director was the brother of Lea Salonga, who at that time, was at the height of her popularity after having played the lead role in the musical, Miss Saigon (both the West End and Broadway versions). Lea, who was based in New York that time, was very supportive of her brother’s project and volunteered to perform and travel with us. She was going to be the show’s opening act. This, for sure, brought in more ticket sales, considering we were just a band of university kids performing a musical.
Since it was a partial sponsorship, we were expected to contribute. We were to shoulder half of the plane fare and take care of our personal expenses. We’d be provided free accommodations and per diem while there, but we were responsible for miscellaneous costs.
Our group worked hard to get local sponsors but we could not get enough to cover 50% of the tour’s cost. We would somehow need to shoulder a portion of the expenses from our own pockets. A third of the group dropped out because they either couldn’t afford it, or they were not willing to spend their own money.
We had to make adjustments to the casting because we lost a lot of people. Some performers had to do double-duty by either taking on two characters (usually a main character and a bit-player or part of the ensemble) and the crew/non-performers were down to three – the executive producer, the stage manager, and me, the technical director.
This meant we had to do all the other behind-the-scene tasks such as the coordination of technical requirements with local providers (c/o me), supervision of the set-up of lights and audio equipment (c/o me), supervision of the local crew (c/o me; and I’d usually meet them only hours before the show), and the preparation, transportation, and mounting of stage set, props, and costumes for each performance (c/o the stage manager with some help from the executive producer).
I really wanted to go, not just because I wanted to finally see the United States, but also because this opportunity would be a good experience and a training ground for a future media job. We were told that for us Communication majors (which was majority of the group), this theatre tour could be counted as our “practicum,” which meant we would receive academic credits.
Fortunately, from the combined contributions of my parents, my aunt and uncle, and a part of my savings, we were able to scrape off the required funds for me to go.
Our destination was, of course, not the California of my childhood dreams. But by this time, I was already a young adult and interested to see other places aside from this state. The good news was that after the official tour in the East Coast, my friend, who was the stage manager, planned on stopping over Los Angeles to spend a week with her aunt and cousins and she invited me to come along (my aunt's family had since moved from Sacramento to Vancouver, otherwise, I would have visited them). I would, after all, be able to see California!
Our East Coast trip was a mix of work and leisure. We spent a lot of time preparing for each performance, taking care of logistical arrangements, and doing a couple of courtesy calls in New York - one at the Philippine Consulate, and the other to the Jesuits at Fordham University (the university I attended in Manila is run by the Jesuits). But we were also treated to a few fun times – an after-show party at the Philippine Consulate, welcome dinners given by the Filipino community, city tours conducted by our sponsors, visits to a few tourist attractions in between performances, a couple of Broadway shows, and downtown outings with new friends. But all that is for another story. That was the work part – the official theatre tour.
My first non-official trip to America was the seven days that I spent in California with my friend’s relatives in Long Beach before going back to Manila. We stayed at her aunt’s house. And because her aunt, uncle and cousins were all working or going to school, the routine was for them to drop us off wherever we were going that day and pick us up in the early evening or late at night.
There were a couple of days when we just hung around the neighbourhood and tagged along with her aunt as she was doing errands – grocery-shopping, mailing parcels at the post office, picking up clothes from the dry cleaner – or we’d just eat at a restaurant or have dessert at a popular hangout. In all honesty, I actually looked forward to these because I wanted to experience a slice of the American daily life, just like what I used to see in the Hollywood movies.
Even household chores like vacuuming, loading the dishwasher, and doing my own laundry and ironing were exciting for me because in the Philippines, those were not part of my daily life. We were not rich, but we were comfortable enough to have helpers at home who did all those for us. I wasn’t sure if my friend’s aunt was thrilled that we were doing chores at her house, for we probably created more work for her rather than actually helped.
So, what did we do in California? Most of the things that I had wanted to do as a kid, that is, whatever we could fit into the seven days that we were there!
Disneyland
The first on the list was Disneyland, of course. “It’s the happiest place on earth,” the eight-year-old in me screamed, and the eighteen-year-old me couldn’t simply brush that aside. Luckily, my companions and I felt the same way. We had agreed to meet another theatre group mate (who was staying with his cousin near LA) by the entrance and we’d all spend a day with Mickey Mouse and his gang.
I was surprised by how excited I was. Disneyland was a childhood dream and it was coming true after so many years. The moment we crossed the main entrance, I became eight years old again. I think that we all did, even though my friend had already been there on previous US visits. She acted as our tour guide, making recommendations and giving us tips from what she remembered from her last trips.
We only had a day there but we were able to cover a lot. It helped that we had planned to arrive early - an hour before opening time - to get ahead of the game. And because it was a weekday and school was still on in North America, there weren’t very many families with school-age kids in tow. The line-ups were not so bad and our wait time for each attraction was pretty decent.
We decided to go counter-clockwise from Main Street USA and head straight to Tomorrowland because our friend badly wanted to go on the Star Tour and the Space Mountain rides, the newest and coolest attractions that time. We were one of the first ones on the line, so he was able to tick this off his list. Our morning certainly started with an adrenalin rush.
Next, we took the Disneyland Railcar and got off at ToonTown. There, we fulfilled our childhood fantasies of finally posing for a shot with Mickey and Minnie, and of course, the rest of the Disney gang who happened to be there. And since we were around the vicinity of the It’s A Small World and Matterhorn Bobsled rides, we did those as well.
We took pictures in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle but skipped all the kiddie rides that were behind it, except for the iconic Mad Tea Party teacup ride.
Our next stop was Frontierland, where we took another adrenaline-filled ride on the Big Thunder and then relaxed on the Mark Twain River Boat as we sailed around Tom Sawyer’s Island.
We had a quick lunch at Bengal Barbecue then explored the Enchanted Tiki Room before going on the Jungle Cruise. Next, we window-shopped at New Orleans Square before embarking on a ghostly tour of the Haunted House.
The last stop was Critter Country. We had a fun ride on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh before embarking on the more daring Splash Mountain. We’re glad we saved this for last because we all got soaked on this ride. I still have that picture taken as we slid down the steepest part, with all of us looking like we were jumping off to our deaths. (I recently touched based with that theatre friend, now a distinguished banker, and sent him that picture to remind him how crazy we were in our younger years).
We dried ourselves as we walked back to Main Street USA to catch the parade. It was a warm, sunny day, so by the time we got there, we were completely dry. We had time for a little bit of shopping. I bought some dangling earrings – Mickey and Minnie, Donald and Daisy, Tinker Bell, and Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. I also got myself a Donald Duck cap (not sure why I chose this over the iconic Mickey Mouse cap) whose bright yellow beak squeaked when you pressed it (and I just learned that it's considered a vintage item now and sells for around $100; too bad I lost mine). I also bought souvenir shirts for my family.
We found a shady corner for watching the parade. It was nice and cool there, but the spot I picked turned out to be a strategic one for I got spat on by Aladdin's camels a few times (good thing it was just water from mechanical camels). After the fanfare, we relaxed a little bit. By that time, we had already covered all the classic rides, and since it was too hot to stand in lines, we just went from one shop to another, checking out the interesting merchandise sold as souvenirs.
As the sun went down, we did another loop of the park, clockwise this time, and hopped on the smaller rides whenever we saw no line-up or super short line-ups. We, of course, stayed for the Fantasmic light show at the Rivers of America and the fireworks display by Sleeping Beauty’s Castle.
We left right before the park closed, and as we exited from the gate, I couldn’t help but sing Snow White's song in my head, “A dream is a wish your heart makes...” I made a wish when I was a little girl, and I finally made it to Disneyland as a teenager.
It was still surreal, even for eighteen-year-old me. Finally, I fulfilled one of my childhood fantasies!
Universal Studios
The next day was Universal Studios Hollywood day. This was another iconic California destination. But it had a different vibe from Disneyland. This one enticed the “TV-producer wanna-be” side of me.
Some of my favourite American movies and TV shows in the late 70s and early 80s were, of course, celebrated there in various rides and attractions, and once again, I became an eight-year-old girl. Most of these attractions are no longer there, and some have been replaced by new ones based on more recent movies. But back in the early 90s, these were the ones that we saw (and will give you an idea how old I am now).
The Shark from the movie, Jaws
At the time of our visit, what was displayed was already a replica of “Bruce,” the mechanical shark used in the movie, Jaws. Nevertheless, I posed for a shot, pretending I was being bitten.
“K.I.T.T.”
The talking car from the TV show, Knight Rider that starred David Hasselhoff was parked there and was available for visitors to sit in and ask questions. It was like the old-fashioned version of today’s Siri or Alexa, but in a vehicle form. For the geeks, the car’s name stood for “Knight Industries Two Thousand.” (Wow, it sounded very “futuristic” back then).
The Studio Tour
This is the signature attraction of this theme park and the most interesting for us, future TV producers (my friend and I did become TV producers after grad). We were driven through the Front Lot and the Back Lot of the studio to catch a glimpse of TV and movie sets, props, and the special effects used to create some scenes. In some sections, there were demonstrations (a flash flood, an earthquake, the “Jaws” attack, a collapsing bridge, King Kong on a rampage, among others).
Backdraft
This attraction was based on the movie with the same title directed by Ron Howard and released in 1991. It featured three parts. The first one was a video presentation of Mr. Howard himself describing what a backdraft is and how they recreated it in the movie. The second part was another video featuring the stars of the movie who talked about the difficulties they went through during the filming to make the scenes as realistic as possible. The last part, which was the finale, was a two-minute showcase where we were exposed to a terrifying display of fire and flames as a make-shift warehouse became an inferno. It made us feel we were really trapped inside a burning building.
Miami Vice Action Spectacular
This special effects and pyrotechnics live show was based on the then-popular action TV series starring Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas, two police detectives working undercover in Miami. It’s basically a stunt show featuring the two heroes as they raided a smugglers’ hideout. There were stunts in a break-neck pace, a water chase scene, and high-tech gunfights and blastings, as the heroes exhibited their skills while maneuvering jet skis and a speedboat on the water.
The E.T. Adventure
This was based on the popular 80s film, E.T, Extra Terrestrial, and the ride was based on the iconic bicycle scene at the end of the movie. We got on a bike with E.T. riding with us in a basket and just like in the movie, we tried to help him get back to his home planet, while at the same time avoiding obstacles – police officers with torches, lurching cars, and mysterious space-suit clad figures.
The highlight of the ride was the soaring “flight” above the city and across the moon. But unlike in the movie, this bike actually made it to E.T.’s home planet, and we dropped him off to join his little friends. At the end of the ride, we got a personalized “thank you” from E.T. himself and it was then when we understood why we were asked to audio record our names at the start of the ride.
We also watched several shows on stage – a live animal training show, a musical show featuring cartoon characters, and a puppet show. Then we toured an exhibition on movie props, movie costumes, movie stills, movie set photos, and memorabilia. There were interactive video displays of “behind-the-scene” imagery and sections where we could “play” with items such as set drawings, animatronic dolls, miniature sets, prosthetic props, and others. The rest of the time was for souvenir shopping.
City Beach, Planet Hollywood, and Downtown LA
My friend’s cousin spent his “half-day off” from school with us by taking us to the Long Beach City Beach just to walk along the breakwaters, enjoy the sun, watch the seagulls, and admire the view.
Then he treated us to lunch at Planet Hollywood, a very trendy place back then. This themed restaurant chain inspired by Hollywood was the cool place to dine in when in the United States during our time. We had the usual American fare – burgers and fries. Then, we took pictures of the Hollywood memorabilia on display.
After lunch, he dropped us off at the mall where our other school mate (the who went to Disneyland with us) picked us up with his cousin for a drive around downtown Los Angeles. It was more or less like a private city tour, but instead of a hop-on-hop-off bus, we were on his cousin’s flashy sports car. Afterwards, we had pizza dinner and they dropped us off at my friend’s aunt house to call it a night.
It was a whirlwind trip to California, but it had been a fun taste of California life.
My next visit there was more than ten years after the first one. I was already living in Canada that time, and my brother and his family had settled in San Bernardino, in southern California. My husband and I visited them before we permanently left Vancouver and moved to the East Coast.
The trip was more of family visit than a tour. We wanted to spend time with my brother, sister-in-law, and niece, but since they also love to travel, it ended up to be a combination of both.
For the first few days, we first stayed at their apartment and neighbourhood, just going to nearby malls, supermarkets, and restaurants and getting familiar with their usual haunts. Then we went long driving with them to Nevada and Arizona and when we got back, my husband and I stayed at a hotel in Anaheim for a three-day Disneyland/Disney California Adventure excursion, while my brother and sister-in-law got busy with moving into their new home.
They actually didn’t tell us about it. When my brother picked us up from Anaheim, he drove us back to their new house and my sister-in-law and niece welcomed us with a, “Surprise! Welcome to our new house!” We literally “baptized” their guest room, as we were their first overnight guests after less than a week of them moving in. We spent the last few days exploring their new neighbourhood and a day at Universal Studios with our niece.
My second visits to the California theme parks were quite refreshing. I experienced them this time with adult eyes and of course, there were brand new and updated attractions from my last visit. But I was no longer the bright-eyed eighteen-year-old with an eight-year-old heart. I was in my early thirties then, recovering from a painful ordeal. (I suffered from a miscarriage a few months before and my brother thought that having a change of environment and reliving a part of my childhood would help pull me out of the rut.)
It was also my husband’s first time to visit California like this (like a kid, I mean). He had been there on geological excursions as part of his university program when he was taking his Masters' degree, but he had never gone there for leisure. As for theme parks, the last time he went was when he was about ten years old at Disneyworld Florida. So, in a way, he, too, was reliving his childhood.
As we enjoyed the rides and attractions, we temporarily set aside our adult concerns. We told ourselves, “Let’s just get lost in the moment, be like kids again, and forget about our worries.” We were two grown-ups healing from a recent loss and heartache, and what could be a better place than California to cheer us up.
Our next visit there would definitely be with our son. We had waited until he is old enough to remember precious family moments, mature enough to appreciate the fun and relaxed vibe of the city, and tall enough to get into all the crazy rides. Can’t wait!
Photo Credits:
thingbilgy.com, insidethemagic.net, Carol M. Highsmith (Wikipedia-Library of Congress), Amy Sussman (Getty Images), ca.hotels.com, wdwnt.com, historygarage.com, universalstudioshollywood.com, themeparkinsider.com, Juerg Hindermann, thestudiotour.com, undercovertourist.com, hollywoodmoviecostumesandprops.blogspot.com, visitcalifornia.com, esquire.com
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