Long Beach
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My first trip to the US was in 1999. It was supposed to be a “business with pleasure” trip but mostly pleasure I must admit. My place of choice for my first US trip was California. Aside from the very famous tourist spot there, I also have a lot of friends all over that state so it was the most ideal place for me to visit. For most of my stay there, I stayed with a good friend who has a long beach apartment . She and I used to share a room when we were still teaching in the Philippines so it was like a given that I would stay with her while I was visiting. It was like old times…too bad the ‘business’ part of that trip didn’t materialize or we would have been living in the same area [if not in the same apartment] right now. A few years after that trip, I moved here in the US. I am on the opposite side of the country from my friends but at least I’m no longer a thousand miles away from them. It's a lot easier & cheaper to visit them now. But since we...