The End of Sinulog

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!

There's Snow Place Like Home

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.

If I Can Make It Here

I am still not home.

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 know I will eventually make it home.

Blogging from Hong Kong

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!

Super Bowl Monday in Cebu

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.

This Too Shall Pass

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...

What a Pain!

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