We were very busy during the first week, in the Philippines. We flew from Hong Kong to Manila to Cebu. Our plane was 2 hours delayed in Manila so we didn't leave there until after 6:00 pm on Christmas Eve. We got to the hotel here in Cebu after 8:00 pm and they did not have a room ready for us. Luckily they eventually put us up in another room while they got our room ready so we could change and get ready for Christmas Eve Mass. We just made it over to Glyn's apartment and then to Mass at 10:00 pm.
However, the night was not over yet. After midnight, a lot of Filipinos celebrate Noche Buena, which involves fireworks and firecracker and a lot of eating an d drinking. We had the meal this year over at Glyn's apartment with her siblings. It was a lot of fun as we ate, drank, and open some gifts.
Christmas Day was more laid back as we were so tired. Glyn's brother Camilo, sis-in-law Lizel, sister Jen, and nephew Lourence came over to the hotel to visit. It was nice just relaxing and hanging out with them.
During the next couple of days, we spent some time relaxing and we also did some shopping too.
We spend another evening over at Glyn's apartment singing Karaoke, which is a National Pastime here in the Philippines. I read somewhere that Karaoke is to the Filipinos what food is to the Americans. Here are some clips of the Karaoke singing:
The one of me is embarrassing...but remember I had a few beers in me, and, hey, "do as the Romans do."
We are leaving to Bohol today to celebrate New Years. Have a safe and happy one too.
Glyn and I had a great time in Hong Kong. It was both of our first time actually visiting there. It was Glyn's first time out of the Philippines. We were about the same age when we left our home countries. I was 27 when I went to Bermuda.
We both got in late on Friday from the airport. I got in around 8:00 pm and Glyn got around 12:30 am. We took the train, then a taxi to the hotel. It was around 1:30 am before we got to the hotel. We stayed up even later since we were so excited to see one another after over 10 months!
We got up relatively early on Saturday morning and headed downstairs to have breakfast at the hotel. They had a wonderful buffet breakfast complete with made to order omelettes and waffles. They also had an assortment of various Chinese foods too. It would be hard to give the buffet its proper due without leaving something out...so I will just say it was a big meal.
We then hopped into a taxi and headed to Hong Kong Disneyland! It was Glyn's first time at any Disneyland. I had previously been to Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and to Disneyland in California. The Disneyland in Hong Kong is the smallest of all of the Disney parks, which was good because we only had one day there. We could easily get to all of the rides and attractions.
The first thing we did was to go to Space Mountain. This is a classic Disney ride that is in Tomorrowland. It is a roller coaster that is inside...and it is dark. You are given the feeling of riding through space. I had previously been to Space Mountain in both of the Disney parks in the US; however, this was Glyn's first time on any roller coaster.
She was not sure what to expect, but I convinced her it was worth trying out. We went there for the first ride because it is a well known fact that the popular rides get busier as the day goes along. It worked well because Glyn really loved the ride! So after we got off the ride, we got a Fast Pass to get back on later. A Fast Pass allows you to get on a popular attraction without having to stand in line again.
After riding Space Mountain, we slowed it down for the Buzz Lightyear ride. It was like playing a video game in person as we helped Buzz shot various creatures through the ride. We also got to take a picture with Buzz himself! What a treat!
We stayed in Tomorrowland and headed to Autotopia. These are "futuristic" cars that you can drive around. Because Glyn has never driven before, I let her drive as we went around the track. It was funny because the driver's side was on the right, which was standard for Hong Kong.
After the Autotopia ride, we went back to Space Mountain using our Fast Passes. We did not really have to stand in line again for the ride! It was great even the second time of the day.
We then went over to Adventureland! The name sounds so exciting, doesn't it? There we took the Jungle River Cruise. This is another classic Disney ride. We rode on a boat and saw various (mechanical) animals and had lots of laughs as we rode down the river.
After the Jungle River cruise, we relaxed a little and enjoyed a show. We saw the Festival of the Lion King, which was a musical that had all of the songs from the movie. It told the story of the Lion King again. We took some video of it:
It was mostly in English, but they did have a couple of characters that spoke in Cantonese, which the local Chinese dialect, which you can see in this video clip.
After the show, we headed back to Main Street USA and ate at the Corner Cafe. I believe it is the only sit down, service restaurant at this Disneyland. It was around 3:00 at this point, so we were finally starting to get hungry (after our big breakfast).
After our lunch, we headed to another show called The Golden Mickeys. It was an "awards" show that had lots of the Disney characters and songs. This program was mostly in Cantonese, but they did have a screen that showed the English translation, so we could follow along. Here are some clips of the show:
It was a good show...and a very popular one too. There was not an empty seat in the whole auditorium.
After taking in the awards show, we saw another show called Mickey's Philharmagic. (Can you tell that everything revolves around Mickey yet?) This was a great show. We had to put on 3D glasses for the show. Characters and objects were constantly flying in your face. We also got a little wet and could smell some of the smells of what we were seeing (no, not Donald Duck...apple pie). It was a sensory delight.
Next, we were able to catch the Let It Snow Christmas parade. This was one of our favorite things to do while we were there. We got a good spot on the parade path and were able to interact with a lot of the dancers going by. Here are some clips from the parade:
After all of the excitement of the parade, we boarded the Disneyland train that went around the park. It was a pretty nice ride, but we really could not see too much while we were on it. At this point, the sun had gone down, so we headed back over to Main Street USA to watch the lighting of Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Led by Mickey (again...he is SO busy), it was a great light show. Here is another clip for you to enjoy:
Are you getting tired yet? We were a little bit by this point, but we knew we had more to go!
We went back to Fantasyland and saw the Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. We had gotten a Fast Pass for this ride, so we did not have to stand in line again. We followed a story of Winnie the Pooh and friends as we went through the ride.
We then headed back to Sleeping Beauty's Castle for the big moment. As we were walking through the castle, I stopped and said something romantic to Glyn about being in Sleeping Beauty's Castle and then I got on my knee and asked her to marry me. She was very surprised...so surprised that she did not even respond the first time. Luckily, she eventually said "Yes!"
We were both in a daze at this point, so we took some time to go souvenir shopping and take more pictures. We even got our pictures with Mickey and Minnie!
We ended the day at Disneyland with a great fireworks show. See a couple of clips from the show:
What a great day we had there, but at this point we were tired, so we took the train back from Disneyland, and then we boarded a mini-bus to our hotel. We had enough energy to stop at McDonald's to have a snack before we got to the hotel too.
Day 2 was just about as busy as day 1 in Hong Kong. We slept in a little bit before taking a shuttle to Tsim Sha Tsui, which is a downtown area of Kowloon. Here there are many hotels and lots of shopping.
We walked over to Rosary Church for Mass. They had a 12:30 Mass in English. It is an historic church, being founded in 1905. Like the Masses I have attended in the Philippines, it was very much the same as Mass at home. One difference from the Philippine was we actually had air conditioning!
After Mass, we walked over the Peninsula Hotel. This is an historic 5-star hotel in Hong Kong. I had heard about it from a guy from the tobacco shop I go to at home. They are famous for their High Tea.
When we got there, we had to stand in line to wait to be seated for tea, since they do not take reservations. We did not have to wait long because we got there just before they started serving tea.
We enjoyed ourselves very much at the tea. It was Glyn's first time having hot tea. She tried it with no cream, and then later added cream. She didn't really taste much difference between the two, so see just had no cream later. She drank the mango tea, and I tried the Peninsula Afternoon tea.
We also had a tray of finger sandwiches, scones, and some desserts. Both of us did not think it would be filling enough, but we did not even finish the desserts!
While we were eating and drinking, we were entertained by live music, including a children's choir (who both Glyn and I agreed were not very good compared to what we hear in the Philippines). I even enjoyed a glass of egg nog after I saw it was on the menu. I really associate egg nog with Christmas, so it was good to have it. Glyn even tasted some of mine and thought it was good.
After tea, we took some pictures around the hotel, including pictures in front of the Christmas tree. Here is a clip of the Christmas music being played in the lobby at the hotel:
We were going to go up Victoria's Peak after tea, but it was so foggy that day that we knew we would not see anything, so we went a more casual route and headed over to the Hard Rock Cafe. Now, those of you who know me well, know this is what I do when I go to a city...visit the Hard Rock Cafe. I began collecting the pilsner glasses and guitar pins years ago, so it is something of a obsession by now.
So, here we were, my umpteenth time going to Hard Rock Cafe, and it was Glyn's first time. We were full from the tea, so we just got a drink there. We were also very happy to be joined by Glyn's relative Christina. She is Glyn's grandmother's sister's daughter (which I think makes her Glyn's second cousin). She has worked in Hong Kong for 7 years.
We had a good time at the Hard Rock Cafe and then we walked around looking at all of the shops there. We were all amazed at the very high end shopping that was around the city. Let's see, there was Guicci, Ralph Lauren, Christian Dior, Versace, Louis Vuitton, and many more. It was surprising to see lines waiting to get into these stores.
We finally got hungry again for dinner and found a place called Wu Kong Shanghai Restaurant. The wait was for an hour, but we thought it looked like a good place so we waited.
Boy, was it worth the wait! The food was very excellent. We had spicy and sour soup, shrimp with chili paste, fried chicken, and crispy duck. It was a very good meal and so much food. We did not even finish everything. Luckily, we could give the rest to Christina to enjoy later.
It was getting late so we headed back to the train, said goodbye to Christina, and took the mini-bus back to the hotel from the train station.
We had to get up early again on Monday and we headed back to the Philippines. As you can see, we were so busy, but there was so much we did not do. We are both looking forward to visiting Hong Kong again some day!
A year ago, I attended my 20 year high school reunion. I could not believe 20 years had gone by so quickly! When I thought about it, I had lived a longer life than I had done when I graduated high school.
I was nervous about going. I don't really keep in touch with anyone from high school anymore. My good friends from high school were not going, so I was afraid I would not connect with anyone at the reunion. If I were married or had a girfriend with me, it would have been a good buffer in case I had a bad time.
I did not go to my senior prom and I always regret it. I think it was because of this regret, that I went to my 20 year reunion. I did not want to regret not going. So, even though I was 20 years older and about 50 pounds heavier (and my hair was 80 percent grayer), I went to my reunion.
When I got there, I saw there was a line waiting to get in. Actually, it was a line of people waiting to get their name tags and sign in. I looked at the people in front of me, I did not recognize anyone. Then people started coming behind me, and I did not recognize them either. For a moment, I was worried that perhaps I was at the wrong place.
Then I heard a voice behind me ask, "Do you recognize anyone here?...How about this guy in front of us?" I turned around and looked at the guy behind me. It was his wife who was asking him if he knew anyone there. I looked at him again....and suddenly I recognized him. It was Jimmy Winand. Wow, had he changed!
In high school, he was rather skinny and had great winged back, feathered hair. The guy behind me was taller, buffer, and had no hair (shaved), but it was still Jimmy's smile. He introduced me to his wife and told me that they lived in Hawaii.
I was really impressed that they had come all of the way from Hawaii to be at the reunion. It was great hearing about his life and how he met his wife. They were really nice to me, and I think they even bought me a beer when we finally got inside.
It really was one of the highlights of my reunion. Here was a guy who was in many of my classes and it was great to see him and to hear about his life. He and his wife being so nice to me at the start of things helped me to relax and enjoy myself for the rest of the reunion.
Last week, I got an e-mail from the reunion committee that Jimmy had passed away. I could not believe it. How could this be? They had a link to a blog that explained everything. Jimmy had died of colorectal cancer.
Even writing this, I still can't believe it. It was the first time in my life that I had known someone well who was not a family member who had died. He seemed to have this great life and great wife....and suddenly it was gone.
I am so glad that I got up the courage to go to my reunion last year. I am so glad too that I got to see Jimmy again and to meet his wife.
After reading the blog that his wife wrote, I realized even more of the great man he had become and what a faithful wife he had. I regretted not knowing the man he had become, but was glad to learn that he lived a good life and had many people who loved him.
As I write this, people are gathering in Hawaii to celebrate the life of Jimmy Winand. Please take a moment to read through the blog that was started for him and learn about the journey of faith that he and his wife went through. Warning: It is a tear jerker.
When you are done, perhaps you can take a moment to pray for his family and to thank God for the many blessing in your own life.
I know I thank God for allowing me the opportunity to have known Jimmy and to see him one last time. Rest in God's peace Jimmy.
My brother Kevin (http://itskev.blogspot.com) had tagged me. Of course, like him, I don't know why I am doing this. If it give me a reason to post in my blog, then it can't be bad.
A- Available or Single? Huh? Strange question. I am neither, I guess.
B- Best Friend. In this world, Glyn and my buddy Jeff are currently on top. I have been blessed with many good friends in this life.
C- Cake or Pie. Cake. German Chocolate cake is my favorite.
D- Drink of Choice. I usually drink water, but I also enjoy a beer, a glass of bourbon, or a martini..
E- Essential Item. Toughest one. I don't think anything in this world is essential. However, right now, it has to be my computer. I spend a good part of my day on it. Mostly chatting with Glyn almost every morning and every night. Having a computer is essential to a long distance relationship these days.
F- Favorite Color. Blue... It brings out Kevin's eyes. (hehehehe)
G- Gummi Bears or Worms. I really hate them both.
H- Hometown. This is a tough question. I was born in Annapolis, MD, and lived most of my childhood (8 years) in Stafford, VA.
I- Indulgence. Baseball...and smoking a nice cigar. Also, a Quarter Pounder with Cheese. (Don't ask me why, I just love them.)
J- January or February. January. The beginning of the year, usually some snow, and there is my birthday and my mom's and brother Steve's too.
K- Kids. None yet. A special prayer goes out to April and Angelo...two children that we lost to ectopic pregnancies.
L- Life is incomplete without… Baseball.
M- Marriage Date. My first marriage was 5/20/95. It was the greatest day of my life. We will see what God has in store for me for another one.
N- Number of Siblings? 3. All brothers!
O- Oranges or Apples? I think I enjoy apples more. Less messy than an orange. Plus nothing rhymes with orange. :)
P- Phobias/Fears. I used to be afraid of a few things. I am working with God with most of these. The one that has been around the longest is the fear of falling. I used to think it was the fear of heights, but I have been at the top of some of the tallest structures in the world (Sears Tower and the Empire State Building) and was not afraid. Also, I enjoy sitting in the window seat in an airplane. However, get me on a pair of skates, and I am terrified.
Q- Favorite Quote. "I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside me." - Abraham Lincoln. I think this is a great philosophy on life. It is important to be true to yourself.
In second place is: "If you don't live what you believe, you will soon believe what you live" - Father Bill LaFratta. Fr. Bill was my priest in college. This viewpoint on life has been so true.
R- Reasons to smile. Waking up to a new day. The start of baseball season. (See indulgences.) Being in love. Knowing that God loves me, no matter what.
S- Season(ing). I like winter, because of Christmas, my birthday, and the snow. I love basil, because it makes pesto...yum! I also enjoy cayenne pepper in my chili! Spicy!
T- Tag Three. Arjean (I am too hoping she will blog again). Joy (I'd like to compare husband and wife). Steve (I would love to see him blog again).
U- Unknown Fact About Me. If I tell you, it would not be unknown, would it?
V– Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals. Definitely not a vegetarian, so I must be the other one. ;)
W- Worst Habit. I can be very messy. I can clean up my place, and in a day, it looks like a hurricane went through it!
X– X-rays or Ultrasounds. I have had both. Ultrasounds are cool because you can usually see what they are doing when they do it.
Y- Your Favorite Foods. Pizza and Mac and Cheese. These were my favorite foods when I was 5, and they have since remained my favorites. I have also grown to love creme brulee, baklava, apple crisp, and a good steak.
Z- Zodiac. Capricorn. I don't really follow it too much.
I have to tell you about the coolest product I have ever bought. A buddy of mine told me about it and after reading about it, I just had to get it. What is it? A Slingbox. What is a Slingbox? Well, it really is an amazing product. It allows you to watch your TV from anywhere you have internet access. That's right. I said ANYWHERE!
The product itself is rather small. It sits on the top of the TV and hooks up to your cable or satellite receiver. Then you plug it in to your router, Ethernet bridge, or Ethernet port. I happen to have my router in my TV entertainment center, so it was simple for me. I just plugged it in to my satellite DVR too and downloaded the software, and voila! I was all set up.
It was very simple to set up. You do not have to know much about audio-visual equipment or port forwarding to get going. They had an easy guide and the software was very simple to install.
I can now watch my TV on my laptop from anywhere where I live. I only have a TV in my living area, so this allows me to watch the TV from my bedroom or even outside. (I am currently sitting outside with my laptop and watching ESPN Sportscenter.) They have a great interface that even includes a remote...the exact remote that I currently use for my DVR...every button! So I can change channels, look at the program guide, pause live TV...all just like I was sitting in front of my TV.
Pretty cool, huh? Wait, it gets better.
Not only can I watch my TV from any spot in my place. I can watch my TV from anyplace in the world! I had Glyn in the Philippines download the software and plug in my finder ID (that is all you need to hook up to it). Before you knew it, she was watching my TV from halfway around the world! She said the picture and sound were good. She does not have the fastest internet connection, but it works good for her too! I was sitting in my living room watching her change the channels. She even paused the TV after I showed her how to do this.
They have software that works too on Macs, Palm Treos and other handhelds, Pocket PCs, and Smartphones. This means you can watch your TV from your handheld...as long as you have internet connection.
I have seen some amazing products lately. Apple has done a nice job with their iPods, Apple TV, and the upcoming iPhone. This tops them, in my opinion. If you have not seen Apple TV, it allows you to stream all of your media (pictures, music, and videos) from your home computers to your TV. You could use the Slingbox in conjunction with Apple TV to access your music, video, and pictures anywhere in the world!
I was able to get mine because I had some Amazon.com gift certificates lying around (including one from my former employer...thank you very much). The version that I bought was $149 online at Amazon.com.
I can't wait to go to the Philippines to see it in action myself. (Like I need an excuse to go to the Philippines.)
Today I exercised for the first time in over 3 years. Yeah, that is right 3 years. There was a couple of times I ran for taxi, and I think I remember taking the stairs once or twice instead of taking the elevator.
Maybe it was 2 years ago...I do remember I ran a few times when I was in Miami visiting Mike. However, that is it. That is the extent of my exercising over the past few years.
Feeling fat, lazy, and a little stressed out—and realizing I was no Cal Ripken—I decided it was about time to end my streak. So I pulled out my old AquaJogging equipment and headed for the pool.
What is AquaJogging? Well, actually some people call it deep water running. It is basically running in the pool. I am not much of a swimmer and normal running kills my joints. I picked it up a few years ago when I was looking to do something different.
The high schools here in Arlington all have indoor pools. So I can exercise without worrying about the weather. The fewer excuses, the better for me.
I hadn't been over to the pool in 4 1/2 years! I could not believe it when I figured that out. Wow, how time flies. I used to get up every other morning and go over to the pool when I was in Arlington before.
So here I am, ending two streaks in one day...exercising...and now I have updated my blog.
There are pictures from our return trip to Alcoy and Bodo's Bamboo Bar Resort. Unfortunately, Glyn got sick while we were there, but you can't tell by the pictures...she is such a good sport.
There are also some shots (pun intended) of me at Cebu Doctors Hospital recovering from my kidney stones ordeal.
You will also see pictures of the Super Bowl, me getting a haircut, us getting a manicure and pedicure, visiting Casa Gorordo, spending time with Glyn's family, visiting Guadalupe Cave, and leaving to go home.
It was a great time. I miss it so much and can't wait to go back again!
I am still doing some catch-up on the photos I had taken in the Philippines. This is a BIG collection of photos I had taken the last weekend of the Sinulog Festival. On Friday, January 19, Glyn, Coning (Glyn's bro), and I went to Ayala Mall where they had a "Tribal Competition" between groups around the Cebu Province.
On Saturday, we went to the Basilica de Santo Nino to see the arrival of Santo Nino and attended a very special Mass there. The Mass lasted over 2 1/2 hours, so we were worn out (and I actually got a little sunburned) that we missed out on the Solemn Procession later that day.
On Sunday, January 21, we sat in the grandstand at the Cebu Sports Complex to watch the grand Sinulog Parade. It was a great place to watch the parade, because we didn't have to worry about the crowd or the sun so much.
I loved being part of such a unique event. I hope you enjoy the pictures! Look for the pig and Ronald McDonald!
Well, I finally made it back. By a miracle, my flight left JFK on Wednesday night/Thursday morning.
I didn't think it was possible that we would take off. Just a couple of hours before, the wind was blowing pretty hard and the snow was coming down in both DC and New York. The flight scheduled to DC before mine was canceled. The flight next to ours to San Juan was canceled. Another flight out of the same gate taxied out to the runway only to get stuck in ice and have to come back. I was just wishing they would cancel my flight before it got too late.
Well, at about 10:30, they told us to board the plane. When I got aboard, I could see I was one of those small planes. On one side, there was two seats next to each other. Across the aisle, there was only one. Not exactly the type of plane you want to be flying in during bad weather. In my mind, I started to sing La Bamba, Peggy Sue, and American Pie...only to humor myself. I actually felt pretty confident that they would not try to take off if they felt they couldn't.
So after the de-icing of the plane, we took off. The takeoff was a little rocky, with the airplane moving side to side as it flew. However, eventually it settled down. It is such a short flight to DC, only a little less than 1 hour in the air. From the time we landed to the time I got home, it was another hour. So by 2:00 am, I was finally home.
The next day I had an interview scheduled. I got up and cleared off my car which was covered in frozen snow. Then I tried to start it. No luck. I am not sure the last time it had been started (I had arranged for my car to be started occasionally while I was gone); however, I think the cold was affecting it more than anything. In addition to the fact that the car wouldn't start, was the fact that the back of the house and the driveway was an ice skating rink. The snow, which was a few inches deep, could be walked on, not in.
So reluctantly, I had to cancel my interview (I called and left a message seeing if I could reschedule), not seeing any logistical way I could get to Old Town Alexandria. I guess it was a blessing in disguise, because I was really tired and fell asleep after I canceled the interview.
Luckily, the job interview that I had scheduled on Wednesday that I had to cancel was rescheduled for Friday. Since that interview was off the Dupont Circle Metro, I did not have to worry about getting my car out. That interview went well, and now I have a followup interview scheduled for next week.
My car has still not moved. The temperatures today are supposed to get up above freezing, so there should be some melting. I hope to get the car out sometime this afternoon. It will be weird driving the car after all of this time. I have not driven in over 3 1/2 months...the longest stretch of not driving since I was in college (or perhaps, ever).
I have gone through a pile of mail since I have been back, but still have not fully unpacked. I guess there is a part of me that wants to be back in the Philippines and I am not quite ready to be fully back home. It is definitely a tough transition, on many levels, from the cold to missing Glyn. I know I will find a way back to the Philippines eventually.
My flight yesterday got canceled because of the bad weather in the DC area. They put me on a later flight, and as expected, that flight got canceled too. The earliest flight they could put me on was for 10:40 tonight. So, being tired, and not wanting to spend the night in the airport I found a hotel nearby to stay in.
I ended up staying in the night in the Howard Johnson's near JFK. The price was not too crazy. (Of course, in the New York area, all hotel prices are crazy.) I took a cab over to the hotel. The driver didn't know where the Howard Johnson's was. That was a red flag. He ended up going the wrong way and the fare ended up being higher than it needed to be. When we finally arrived at HoJos, I asked the driver what the fare was ($15) and gave him a $20 and asked him for a receipt. He came back with the receipt and I asked him where my change was. He said that was for gratuity. I told him "for what?" He drove me the wrong way and now wants a $5 tip? He told me that was usual. I told him that just because I showed up in the country today, doesn't mean I know what the deal is. After arguing back and forth about it, he finally gave me $2 back. Being tired, I gave up on the argument.
When I went inside the hotel, they did not have my reservation. The guy said he had a reservation for a Tim Rudman and he asked me if I was sure I wasn't Tim Rudman. In my tiredness and disbelief, I told him I was positive I was not Tim Rudman. He asked me if perhaps I gave them a different name. And again, in my tiredness, I told him why would I give them a different name than my own. He kept on insisting that I might be Tim Rudman. And AGAIN, in my tiredness, I said, "Perhaps, just by coincidence there might actually be more than one Tim in the world and they both have reservations at the HoJos."
I ended up calling Hotels.com and straightening it out with them. I did apologize to him for being a smart ass. (But he never apologized for being stupid. ;) KIDDING)
The room wasn't too bad and I actually got some sleep. I did end up making the best of the situation and ordered some genuine New York pizza. I ordered a small pizza and a Coke and ended up getting what for most places would be a large pizza. The price also wasn't too bad...only $12. (After the $20 taxi ride, that was a bargain.)
Today, I checked out at noon and headed over the airport. I caught the free shuttle over to the airport. (It was much quicker and cheaper...nothing beats free.) When I got to the airport, there were tons of people in line. I figured a lot of people were in line to rebook their flights. Since I already had a seat, I only needed to do a simple check in. However, the self-check in kiosks were not in service. So I asked information if I needed to stand in line to check in. They told me that I needed to.
Well, I stood in line, for over 3 1/2 hours. At one point during the wait, they announced that all flights before 4:00 were canceled. I was hoping that they wouldn't announce later that all of the flights for the day were canceled. The wait wasn't too bad. I spoke to my mom for about 1 hour of the wait and I also called Verizon Wireless to change my plan back to what it was before I left for the Philippines. There was a woman in line (and later her daughter) that I ended up striking up a conversation with. She and her family were desperately trying to get to the Dominican Republic. The flights to Miami were all backed up because of the cancellation. So, here I was all relaxed, and there were others who stressed out because they were trying to go on vacation. I guess it could be worse for me.
I decided I was going to stay in the Admiral's Club lounge that American Airlines has. They offer a Day Pass that I decided to take advantage of. That is where I am at now. The seats are way more comfortable and they have internet access available. I figured it was worth the extra money to relax a little more.
Right now the skies have cleared up here in New York. (Although, there are some dark clouds again in the distance.) My flight is supposed to go out at 10:40 tonight, which would put me in to DC just before midnight. I think my chances of getting out tonight are better than not. They actually have flights flying out of here now. However, the only drawback is that I am taking American Eagle back to DC. I will be on one of those commuter planes, and the winds are supposed to pick up tonight. I am hoping they don't cancel the flight because of the winds.
I am on my way back from the Philippines. I spent the night in Hong Kong before I fly to New York this morning. Since I got in late (after 10:30) last night, it did not make sense for me to go into the city. Luckily they have a traveler's lounge here at the airport. I was able to get a bed to sleep, take a shower, have breakfast, and have internet access.
It was not cheap to stay even at the airport. I guess I am not in the Philippines anymore. :) The overnight package was $80 US equivalent. The hotels in the city were even more expensive than that! I guess it is like going to New York!
Well, I have go catch my flight. I will post again from the US!
Still recovering from Super Bowl Monday here in Cebu....Yes, that's right, Super Bowl Monday! Because the Philippines is 13 hours ahead of the East Coast of the United States, the game was show here starting at 7:00 a.m. on Monday. So Super Bowl Sunday became Super Bowl Monday here in the Philippines.
I thought it would be fun to watch the game at a bar instead of on cable at the hotel room. American football is shown here in the Philippines on cable on ESPN and Star Sports. I had seen a few games during my visit here. Sunday Night Football on NBC and Monday Night Football on ESPN are shown here live (of course on Monday and Tuesday mornings respectively). However, American football is not really popular here. The American sports that are most popular here are NBA basketball and boxing. Therefore, I knew that finding a place would be a little more difficult than finding a place showing a Manny Pacquiao fight.
After inquiring of where the game might be shown, I found a place called Badger's Sports Bar and Pub. It is not atypical of sports bars that you would find in the United States. They have a large screen TV as well as several other TVs throughout the bar. Learning my lesson from going to the Manny Pacquiao fight in November, I made a reservation for a table near the screen. (For the Manny Pacquiao fight at the Wineshop, we sat at the bar even though we got there early.)
I made a reservation for three. Glyn graciously decided to go. Her brother Ayan, who is a big sports fan knew all about the Super Bowl and who was playing. He talked about how it is the biggest sporting event in the United States. Unfortunately, Ayan had mid-terms to take that morning, so he couldn't go. However, Glyn's brother Coning, hearing what a big event it is in the United States, decided he wanted to come along with us.
It was really strange watching the game. First of all, it was early in the morning. I am used to the Super Bowl being the climax of the day of pre-game festivities, instead of being the first thing of the day. Also, including Glyn and Coning, there were very few Filipinos in the place. I almost forgot for a second I was in the Philippines. I could have easily been in any United States city. Then, there was the commercials, or the lack of commercials. Half of the fun during the big game is watching the various mutli-million dollar commercials that air during the game. In the Philippines, we saw none of them. Oh, we did see commercials, but they were for local programming and products. Nothing too special. (I did later see the commercials on the Internet though iFilm.com. Thank God for the Internet.)
There were many more Bears fans, as was evident from the touchdown on the opening kickoff. However, as the game went on, the Colts fans got more vocal. I was rooting for the Colts. It is hard not rooting for them, even though they are not in Baltimore anymore. (I wore my Memorial Stadium T-shirt—it is dyed from the grass and dirt—as an homage to the old Colts.) Plus, Payton Manning seems like a pretty good guy and needed to get this monkey off his back.
The highlight of the game for me was seeing Prince perform at halftime. To some people, Princeis a has-been and washed up. However, despite the rain, Prince shined at halftime. I know I am a little biased, but it was probably the best halftime show ever for the Super Bowl. Even the rain falling during Purple Rain seemed to be a little too perfect. Maybe Prince has connections from above.
Although, this wasn't a uniquely Filipino experience, watching the Super Bowl in the Philippines was very unique to me.
Paraphrasing Jesus...and my brother Mike, "Let he who is without kidneys, pass the first stone." Well, I still have my kidneys, but...
NO STONE!
Yes, it was a joyous occasion yesterday when the stone that was causing me all the problems came out. However, there was little fanfare with the passing...no crying...no speaking in tongues. After all of this time having kidney stones, I still can't believe that something so small can cause so much pain. The stone is smaller than the fingernail on my pinkie finger.
I figured I would have been somewhere over the North Pole passing my stone had I stuck to my original return flight. But as they say, it is good to finish where it all started.
Supposedly I still have two stones sitting in my kidneys, but the the immediate worry has passed. Now, if I could just get rid of this darn cold...
I should have knocked on wood a little harder. After nearly 7 years without a problem, it was bound to happen again.
On Monday when I woke up, I felt that familiar pain. From the right side of my back down to my groin...I thought to myself that this couldn't be another kidney stone! For the first two hours of the day, I was hoping the pain would just go away. I eventually told Glyn that I was worried it could be a kidney stone, and if it was, the pain would just get worse and I would eventually have to go to the hospital to manage the pain.
Glyn told me that a friend of hers and her husband (who is from Australia) were on their way over to the condo. I had mixed feelings about it. Of course I wanted to meet her friend and her husband, but I was worried that the pain would get very bad while they were here.
It was good meeting them, but my fears came to fruition. While I was listening to her friend's husband, the pain got really bad. I tried my best to be a good sport and host to our guest. However, I finally pulled Glyn aside and told her that the pain was getting intolerable. So her friends left, and we grabbed a taxi to Cebu Doctors Hospital, which is close by.
Glyn is not experienced as far as hospitals are concerned. In fact, she has never been admitted to one in her life. (Not even at childbirth....she and her siblings were all born at home.) After asking some questions from people around the hospital, she lead me to a doctor's office. There were several people waiting to see the doctor, but my crying and rocking while waiting got me in to see the doctor next. I thought it was weird that we went to the doctor's office instead of the emergency room, but I figured maybe that is how things are done here.
When I got in to see the doctor, I told her that I was certain it was a kidney stone because I had several before. She told me that I should be in the emergency room. So, they got me a wheelchair and moved me to the emergency room. Even though this was not the proper procedure, it might have been the quickest in getting medical attention at the emergency room since the doctor came to the emergency room with me. She told me that they would have waited for her to do anything anyway.
They hooked me up to an IV and told me that they were going to give me an injectable pain reliever. "Yes!", I thought, "The pain will stop soon." However, unlike times in the past when I have gotten injectable pain relief, it didn't work! They were reluctant to give me more medicine until they got my lab results back, so I laid there in immense pain. Whenever I have a stone that is causing me pain, I reflect on what I have heard so many times about the pain of a kidney stone being comparable to the pain of childbirth. I always conclude that the pain of childbirth, even if it is the same pain, has to be better. At the end of childbirth, you end up with a living, breathing human being.
(A few years ago, I was in the hospital with kidney stones, and the nurse sympathized with me, telling me that she too had had kidney stones. Seizing a potential opportunity, I asked her if she has children. I told her that I had always heard the two pains being compared and I wanted to know from someone else--since I would never know personally--whether it was true that the pains were the same. She told me that there was no comparison....the pain of kidney stones was much worse. Three month after having one of her children, she had a kidney stone. She said nothing compares to being down on the floor and throwing up because of the pain.)
Eventually, they gave me another shot and the pain was less, but still not gone. They then moved me into a room at the hospital. In my pain, I had chosen to go to a private room, not really thinking about it. However, compared to home, the price of private room is very cheap (about $35), and I guess worth it.
In some ways, I was glad to get the opportunity to be in a hospital here in the Philippines. I got the opportunity to compare my experiences in the United States to the Philippines. Now, from what I understand, I stayed at one of the best hospitals in Cebu, so it might not be the same at other places here.
Here are some of my observations;
Food. When food is brought in, they just put the tray inside the room next to the door. At home, I have always experienced them bringing the food right to your bed. Also, I thought it was funny that on the food card, next to Diet Specifications, they had "Foreigner." I took this to mean that they gave me potatoes instead of rice. Don't they realize that all foreigner eat cheeseburgers! :)
Medicine. They actually gave me the option of purchasing the medicines directly from the pharmacy instead of them providing them for me. That included all pain relievers. The difference is that they would charge me 30% more if they provided it themselves. Thank God that Glyn was with me! She went down to the pharmacy each time more medicine was needed.
Gowns. At home, they always give you one of those goofy gowns to wear in the hospital. Not only does this make it easier for the doctor to make inspections, it makes it less likely someone will just bolt out the hospital. :) At Cebu Doctors Hospital, I was given no gown. I just wore my own clothes the whole time.
Payment. I actually had to give a deposit before I was admitted, and I had to pay in full when I left. I know at home, I could get treatment even if I had no money or insurance.
Nurses. There were lots of nurses on staff. The hospital has a corresponding university, so they had nurses there who were students. The nurses were both men and women. In fact, from what I read, a lot of men take the nursing route instead of becoming a doctor, because the United States actively recruits nurses from abroad.
Visiting. There were no visiting hours. In fact, Glyn slept on the couch in the room both nights I was in the hospital.
Cell phones. They are taboo in the United States with signs everywhere telling you that you can't have them on. Here, it was no big deal to carry them around. Even the doctors had them and were using them in the room.
OK, back to the kidney stone. The pain eventually went away. I was given medicine to help the stone move. However, at this writing, I still have not passed the stone. They did an ultrasound and saw that I have one stone in my right kidney and one stone in my left kidney, and one stone in my right ureter. It is the stone in my ureter that was causing me all the pain. Fortunately the stone is on the smaller side and should pass through on its own. I know from experience that the stones that are in my kidneys might remain there indefinitely and might pass through eventually with little fanfare. But then again, they might have a big parade.
I was scheduled to leave the Philippines this Friday, but I am going to try to extend my stay for a few more days. I would hate to board the plane knowing that I could have a recurrence. I would be the passenger from hell if that were to happen. Plus, I really don't mind staying here a few more days. :)
By the way, when I was laying in the hospital in my drug induced state, I kept on thinking on what I should title my post. Bear with me as I give you what could have been (I am still under the influence):
Pebbles and Bam-Bam
Oops, I Did It Again
Rocky III
I'm So Stoned
Not Kidney Around
As the Stones Through My Kidneys, So Are the Days of Our Lives
This weekend, we went to the Sinulog Dance competition that they had at the Cebu Sports Center. It is a competition among the children in elementary and high school. On Saturday, the competition was from groups around the province of Cebu. It rained so much all day, so the crowd was not so big. The dancers danced on anyway!
On Sunday, the groups were from around Cebu City. The weather was so much better! Each dance had "marching band"-like music and was similar to each other. Each dance, which told a story, also had an appearance by Santo Nino. The only thing I can compare it to is a college marching band at a halftime show.
I was very impressed with the dancing of the children. I have been to school pageants before (and have been in some myself) and these blow anything that I have seen before away! Here are the pictures from the competition.
Yesterday was the start of the Sinulog Festival. It cumulates every year in Cebu on the third Sunday in January. (This year on January 21.) It is kind of like Mardi Gras that they have in New Orleans (minus the debauchery). The festival is both pagan and religious in origin. The Sinulog is a dance that the locals danced to honor local idols. After Christianity was introduced to Cebu, the dance was changed to honor the image of Santo Niño (the baby Jesus). These pictures are from the Mass that starts the festival and the parade that kicks off the event too.
What is up with the title of this post? That is what Cebuanos yell out in honor of Santo Niño.
Today we are heading to the Cebu Sports Center to watch some of the Sinulog dance competition.
I went to Alcoy with Glyn to celebrate my birthday. Alcoy is about 2 hours south of Cebu City by bus. We stayed at Bodo's Bamboo Bar (Triple B) Resort and went to Tingko Beach nearby. Two days before my actual birthday, we went to the Tinder Box to start the birthday celebration early with a nice dinner, wine, and a cigar (smoked by me of course :) ). Despite the rainy weather, we had a good time overall. Here are the pictures from Shutterfly.
One of my birthday presents was hearing that Cal Ripken was elected into the Hall of Fame. They made the announcement on January 9 that he and Tony Gwynn (who played his whole career with the San Diego Padres) will be enshrined at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, this summer.
Of course it was not a surprise birthday present. It was a foregone conclusion that Cal would be in the Hall of Fame even when we was still playing. He is only one of 8 players to have at least 400 home runs and 3000 hits. He still holds the record for the most home runs hit by a shortstop. Of course, he holds the record for playing in the most consecutive games (2632), shattering the record previous held by Lou Gehrig at 2130. He also won two MVP awards.
He was a joy to watch during his playing career. The Orioles did not have too much team success while he was playing. During his second full season, the Orioles won the World Series. They did not return to the playoffs until 1996 and 1997, and haven't been back since. He gave me a reason to go to the games during these lean years. You always knew you could count on Cal.
Cal got the 3rd highest percentage for being voted into the Hall of Fame. Amazingly, 8 voters did not think Cal was worthy of being elected.
Many credit Cal for "saving baseball". His pursuit of Gehrig's record captivated the imagination of every fan. However, those who loved him most were the Baltimore faithful. After the Baltimore Colts left town in 1984, he was all Baltimore had left to call its own. He was a hometown boy (from nearby Aberdeen) and his father was involved with the organization many years before he put on the orange and black.
His induction comes the same week that the Colts return to town. The INDIANAPOLIS Colts are being hosted by the Baltimore Ravens this weekend. It isn't the first time the Colts have returned to Baltimore, but it will be the first time the Colts have played their successors, the Ravens, in the playoffs. Many in Baltimore will have mixed feelings about this. The Colts were the pride of Baltimore when they were there. I remember visiting relatives as a kid, and many of them had pictures of the great Johnny Unitas, the quarterback of team, on their wall.
In 1984, the Colts were stolen from Baltimore by Robert Irsay, who was the owner at the time. In the middle of night, Irsay packed up the team in Mayflower moving trucks and headed to Indianapolis. In 1996, Baltimore got football back in the form of the Ravens. The irony is that they got a team in a similar way the Colts left. Another greedy owner, Art Modell, owned the Cleveland Browns and took them from Cleveland and moved them to Baltimore. Fortunately for Cleveland, the name Browns, the team colors, and the history stayed in Cleveland. Today the Browns are again in Cleveland thanks to the expansion of the NFL in 1999.
Unfortunately for Baltimore, their beloved Colts are no longer their own. They are somebody else's. This weekend, fans will be searching their hearts on who to root for.
Well, my birthday is over. I tried to milk it as long as I could. Because the Philippines is 13 hours ahead, I started to officially celebrate earlier than I usually do. Even when the clock struck midnight here, I still tried to convince myself that my birthday was still going on the the United States. So at 1:00 here in the afternoon, my birthday as over in the east coast of the US. But....there was still the west coast! So at 4:00, my birthday ended there too. I guess it is still my birthday in Hawaii. :)
For my birthday, I wanted to go to the beach. Believe it or not, I have not really been to the beach during the whole time I have been in the Philippines. There are some private beaches nearby, but I really don't like having to pay money to sit on a beach. Of course, the more money you pay, the better the private beach. Back in November, Glyn and I took a hired taxi tour of Mactan Island which is part of Cebu. There are a lot of beaches there, but nothing that was really worth the money in my opinion.
I had heard about a public beach in Alcoy, which is about 2 hours from here. The beach is called Tingko beach and has a nice stretch of sand. We went down on Monday and stayed at a place called Bodo's Bamboo Bar (or Triple B) Resort. Bodo is a German who is married to a Filipina here. The resort was nice and very reasonably priced. We opted for a balcony room with no aircon (how they say air conditioning here). We had a nice view of the ocean (technically Cebu Strait). Air conditioning was not really needed as there is a nice breeze that comes in from the water.
Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate with us. It rained all day on Monday, and on Tuesday it rained on and off. We didn't let the less-than-perfect weather stop us from having a good time as we headed off to the beach anyway. At the beach, there are cottages to rent for the day, so we were able to keep dry during the rain. Heck, we even got in the water when it was raining pretty hard. I guess you can't get more wet than you already are!
My birthday dinner was great. I had some champagne, a nice steak, and a banana crepe Amaretto flame. (Yes, my dessert was in flames!) It is nice to eat at Bodo's because they have outdoor seating where you can get the ocean breeze.
We made our way down to Alcoy by bus. It is a fairly cheap way to travel around the island. It cost the two of us 200 pesos ($4 US) for the trip down. Actually it cost us a little more than that because after checking in to Bodo's we were told that they did not take credit cards. I knew I was a little low on cash, so I asked them where the nearest ATM was. They said it was an hour back north in Carcar. The woman told me that businesses in that area do not usually take credit cards and there are not usually ATMs. I had been so used to being in Cebu City that I did not even consider it. So with little choice, we headed back up to Carcar by bus to go to an ATM. The trip was not all lost because we stopped by a little store in Carcar to get some bottled water for the stay in Alcoy. However, the great treat is that we picked up some banana chips while we were there. We ate them on the bus ride back to Alcoy and vowed to stop back by on our way back up to Cebu to get some more (which we did). They are soooooooooo yummy.
I actually started my birthday celebration on Sunday night. We went to a restaurant called the Tinder Box. It is one of the finer non-Filipino restaurants around. The best part about the place is that you can smoke cigars there. Also, the service is really great. Compared to US standards, the prices are very reasonable. (However, by Filipino standards, it is fairly expensive.) I picked up some cigars when I was there and brought them down to Alcoy to enjoy while I was there.
I will try to post more pictures soon. Shutterfly was doing maintenance when I started this post.
Back from Bohol...It was a great experience being there. I took so many pictures that I would like to share. However, I cannot upload the pictures right now. A couple days after Christmas, there was an earthquake in Taiwan. Luckily, only a couple of people died. Yet, what happened that had a greater impact is that telecommunication and Internet cables were damaged in the quake.
For a little while, a lot of Asia was not able to connect to the Internet...especially those in China. Since then, there has been some work to re-route the Internet traffic. However, what has been exposed is that there really is not adequate Internet backup in the Pacific region. Some web sites that I try to access from the Philippines go slower than dial-up. It is funny to see how vastly different some web sites respond now.
Going to google.com (and its sister site blogger.com) is just like normal. However, accessing my e-mail from Yahoo or trying to upload pictures to shutterfly.com is an exercise in patience. Doing some things on the Internet take me hours (I kid you not) instead of minutes now.
It really makes me realize how delicate the Internet really is. I will keep blogging here and I will try to find a way to upload pictures soon.
I am an INFP. INFPs are quiet, creative, sensitive and perceptive souls who often strike others as shy, reserved and cool. These folks have a rare capacity for deep caring and commitment--both to the people and causes they idealize. INFPs guide their behavior by a strong inner sense of values, rather than by conventional logic and reason. Forced to cope with this facts-and-figures "real" world we inhabit, INFPs may appear to have been imported from another galaxy! They gravitate toward creative or human service careers which allow them to use their instinctive sens of empathy and remarkable communication skills. Strongly religious, spiritual or philosophical people, INFPs may see the purpose of their lives as an inner journey, quest or personal unfolding. More practical or rational types may tend to discredit the INFP's sources of understanding as mystical. The search for a soulmate is a preoccupation for many INFPs, who must balance their need for privacy and peace with their yearning for human connection. If there seems to be an air of sadness in the INFP's spirit, blame it on this type's longing for the perfect in all things.
We were very busy during the first week, in the Philippines. We flew from Hong Kong to Manila to Cebu. Our plane was 2 hours delayed in Manila so we didn't leave there until after 6:00 pm on Christmas Eve. We got to the hotel here in Cebu after 8:00 pm and they did not have a room ready for us. Luckily they eventually put us up in another room while they got our room ready so we could change and get ready for Christmas Eve Mass. We just made it over to Glyn's apartment and then to Mass at 10:00 pm.
