operation overdrive: san francisco

i was pretty excited when chel told me that some of the cast of the new power rangers series was going to be in town and will be spending the weekend with us. chel is friends with rhoda who plays rose ortiz in power rangers: operation overdrive. they met in the philippines in january and quickly became good friends. since the cast are in california for the annual power rangers convention, they decided to fly to san francisco for a short getaway.

a little background info on our guests...

rhoda montemayor- resides in London, where she was also born and raised. she is 100% pinay (parents are kapampangan and ilocano). she's been seen on the big screen as tiger lily with johnny depp and kate winslet. she portrays rose ortiz, the pink ranger.

charmagne and rhoda

caitlin murphy - caitlin is from the land down under and born of irish descent. she currently portrays Ronny Robinson, the yellow ranger.

caitlin and michelle

ria vandervis - she plays the role of the villainess miratrix in power rangers: operation overdrive. ria is from new zealand. she had a supporting role in the film The Devil Dared Me To.

caitlin and ria

on saturday, we took rhoda, caitlin, and ria to sonoma for a taste of california's famouse wine country. we were blessed with a beautiful day--not to hot with a slight breeze. the vineyard views were stunning, the food and wine was excellent, and the company i was with was superb. here are some photos from sonoma...








after sonoma, we headed back to the city for some more sight seeing and dinner at siam at the parc 55 hotel.

michelle enjoyed her day with the power rangers--for me, there's no bigger star than my darling little princess! she's always on her best behavior whenever we take her with us on excursions like this.
on sunday night, we were hanging out in our kitchen, eating and drinking calamansi juice while we talked about the fans (theirs, not ours! hehehe), the ups and downs of being an actress, the jobs they have aside from acting, being a celebrity, travelling and a lot more. according to rhoda (with her british accent), 'we're obviously not doing this for the money. you gotta really love what you do...' they all look very different from their photos from their website---a good different. little to no make up, street clothes (no power ranger suit this weekend) and their beautiful smiles.

they were all funny and down to earth. i have never hung out with 'celebrities' before so it was a new experience---i was sorta star struck and kinda felt like a groupie =). nakakatuwa sila kasi wala silang ere...they never once made us feel self-conscious nor did we have to give them the star treatment. they all left today but promised to keep in touch and to see each other when they're in town or when we visit the uk, australia or new zealand. this morning, i said a short prayer and asked the Lord na mabless sila and become really successful actresses.