8 posts tagged “travel”
The end was anticlimactic, as i've found many endings to be.
With neither family being a fan of long, drawn-out emotional goodbyes, we had a quiet dinner on the night before we left for the US. As is usual for a first apo, Adrian was the focal point of the evening. Eventually we did get around to snapping a full family picture, which - aside from a moderately informal one at our wedding - is the only one we have of both families together. If i do say so myself - it does look pretty decent.
The actual trip back to Grand Rapids was nowhere near as exciting as the one to Manila; no delays aside from those expected at airports, and no surprises, and no more "accidental vacations."
(As an aside, to the Filipino travelers out there carrying H1B visas, don't forget to obtain an Overseas Employment Certificate from your local Philippine embassy. For the cost of $5, it'll save you a substantial amount of money in taxes and fees when flying out of NAIA. I forget the exact amount, but rest assured that if El Cheapo says so, it must be significant.)
Here's a few snapshots of the airport in Taiwan, and one from ORD waiting to fly back to GRR:
We returned to Grand Rapids on May 18th, 2009. And the rest is history.
EPILOGUE
It's been almost three months since we got back to Grand Rapids, and things have gone back to normalcy. I've gotten back into the groove of working in the hospital, Gianina is hard at work trying to get into an MBA program, and Adrian is busy wreaking havoc in his usual fashion. In unrelated news, i am dutifully training for my half-marathon this October and Gianina is addicted to 5Ks. All is well.
Reflecting on everything that went on during our nearly-three-week vacation, i am struck by how normal it felt to be back in the Philippines; how right everything seemed. Despite the atrocious heat and humidity, the pollution, the ever-present traffic, and the rampant graft and corruption that always greeted me on the front page of the daily newspapers, walking on Philippine soil reminded me what it feels like to really belong.
I don't remember exactly when, but at one point right in the middle of our vacation Manang Vi inquired of me (in Tagalog, of course): "So - when are you going back home?"
"But where would we go?" i replied without missing a beat. "We're already here."
When
I first met him he was (at least in my estimation) "just" the studious
guy at the top of the class. I clearly remember that when he'd give
reports in Araling Panlipupan, the question-and-answer segment would
always be replete with prizes for the ones getting the right answers;
cheap stuff such as candy and pencils to be sure, but decent enough
spoils for fourth graders. And of course, he was the son of Mrs.
Matic, one of the most-feared teachers in all of De La Salle-Zobel.
As time went by and we became constant classmates every year - from sixth grade all the way through Medical School, our friendship grew. We learned to play the guitar, went to various UAAP games with the Dedma Boys, lifted weights on-and-off (but still ended up flabby), pioneered Human Biology in DLSU, became "Histology Majors" in college, started a car "footwash" (a step below a car "pool"), tried to start a garage band, completed innumerable class projects, wasted countless hours playing Battle Realms/Starcraft/Warcraft 3 when we should have been studying for Evals, and lost a good friend to cancer. The list goes on and on, but suffice to say that short of homoerotic experiences, we've gone through almost everything.
One central "theme" to many of our interminable conversations was always the opposite sex. Of course, we started getting interested in girls in early high school... and of course, those early years were equal parts awkward and traumatic. How to do ligaw (courtship)? What was the proper diskarte (technique)? Where to buy cheap but not cheap-looking flowers? Where to go on a cheap but not cheap-looking date? Where to buy cheap but not cheap-looking presents?
(Obviously another central theme was how to save money. Unfortunately we were not as blessed as some of our classmates with overflowing coffers and parents eager to disburse the contents thereof. If you detect a little bitterness in my tone, rest assured that it's not just "a little," but that's neither here nor there.)
One spark of "brilliance" that we hit upon was the concept of a ligaw company. I forget the details, but I think there was talk of sliding scales for specific events, such as a standard date vis-a-vis the Junior-Senior Prom. We wouldn't be cheap, but we would be full service - from providing you with the appropriate script to ask the girl out to actually purchasing a nice corsage to tie to her wrist (the ones you pinned to the chest were allegedly passé).
In retrospect, it seems like the kind of idea that only some nerdy kids in high school would cook up, which is okay because we really were just nerdy kids in high school. Still, despite our bumbling efforts, we seem to have hit on some good ideas, because we are now both happily married - and not to each other.
Not being a person who frequents weddings (in fact I've missed two important ones - Francis' and Jerome's - which I will regret for the rest of my days), I'm not a good judge, but I think he managed to pull off a rather nice extravaganza. The wedding ceremony was at the recently-renovated Magallanes Church and the reception was at the Manila Peninsula. The only wedding I really have to compare it with was mine, which - while I am undoubtedly proud of it - was practically DIY. But more important than all the guest lists, all the presents, all the speeches, and the final bill however is the fact that my best friend is beginning this new chapter in his life, a grand adventure into forever with his new bride.
Here's to Marwin and Cathy - I wish them all the best. Mabuhay ang bagong kasal!
While the 48-hour delay caused us to miss at least one significant life event - notably, my brother's swearing-in as a lawyer - the rest of hour itinerary remained relatively untouched. So, less than twenty-four hours after touching down at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, we found ourselves in transit to the summer capital of the Philippines - Baguio City.
The road trip itself was not unpleasant. The ubiquitous traffic - which we had been looking forward to with equal parts gusto (from me) and dread (from Gianina) did not seem quite as bad as i remember. The slowest going was to be had at EDSA and Urdaneta (which has had horrendous traffic for as far back as my memory allows), but otherwise we seemed to coast along fairly smoothly. I was quite impressed with the improvements made to the NLEX and the apparent quality of the SCTEX. It actually seems to me that the government is being proactive with laying down all this infrastructure; after all, with excellent roadways like those, the area should be ripe for investment (mental note: when i make enough money, invest in the northern provinces).
My only regret (yet quite a big regret it is) regarding this trip is that Baguio is no longer the city i remember. Granted, i only visit roughly once every ten years, but my fond memories vis-a-vis the reality is so jarring a juxtaposition that i'd much prefer to just retain my fond memories and ignore what my senses tell me.
Gone is the cool mountain air filled with the scent of pines; in its place is the oppressive Manila heat dense with smog from hundreds of jeepneys. Gone is the quaint architecture reminiscent of pre-war times; in its place are multitudes of sari-sari stores and shanties suggesting the inexorable creep of squatter colonies. Gone is the unique "Baguio-ness" of the area; in its place is an SM mall and the same hustle and bustle found in Manila and Makati.
(Of course the Baguio of my memories may be a fictional construct, an idealized version of what i prefer the "City of Pines" to be, but i have a sneaking suspicion that it isn't. Also, i was told that coming in the summer doesn't really do the ambient temperature justice. Although - if the "Summer Capital" is as warm as the real capital this time of year... what's the point of going?)
To be completely fair, the trip was a success. We spent night in an aircon-less hotel (at least the night air still cools down enough to be comfortable), met up with family at Vizco's (a local pizza-and-pasta place), managed to snag some plastic jars of peanut brittle at Good Shepherd, and of course - Adrian got to ride a horse. But somehow it was just not the same as i remember. Or as i think i remember. Oh well.
Surprisingly, we managed to bump into one of the last people i'd expect up there.
Last year we rode on Northwest Airlines, which is our default airline for most trips. Overall it wasn't a horrible experience; the worst was when Adrian decided to get restless and tried to stand up in the middle of turbulence for two straight hours, objecting at the top of his lungs when we tried to keep him strapped into his seat. While Gianina and i obviously suffered the most, i didn't envy the passengers sitting near us either.
In the end, the cheapest deal was far more expensive than i was willing to pay.
We booked the itinerary on expedia.com way in advance - roughly sixty days ago. Although we had previously decided that the convenience of flying out of Grand Rapids was worth the dollar difference of flying out from Chicago, in that particular circumstance we decided that getting cheaper plane tickets was definitely worth the hassle (i forget the exact amount, but it was at least $400 and at most $700 - multiplied by three!). No sweat - drive to Chicago, fly out of ORD, get to LAX two hours before the connecting flight leaves, get on the 14-hour flight to Taipei, and Manila would just be four more hours away.
Unfortunately the American Airlines flight from ORD arrived late and left late - two hours late to be exact. We got into LAX at 0100 with the connection scheduled to leave at 0115. Hoping against hope, we quickly went over to the China Airlines counter (which, incidentally, was in another terminal around a quarter-mile away) but were too late. The two-hour delay had cost us our outbound flight... and the next available flight with guaranteed seats was forty-eight hours away.
At that point i was
too tired to be irate (try driving to Chicago from Grand Rapids then flying
across the country with a bored two-year-old and you'll know what i mean) but
was determined to make the best of the situation. Without going through the details, we bounced
back and forth between China Airlines, Expedia, and American Airlines, and had
to wait two hours in a deserted Terminal for the ticketing counter to open
before we made any headway, but in the end American Airlines (who was
responsible for the debacle in the first place) booked us a two-night-stay at
the local La Quinta Inn (they called up the Hilton right in front of me - no
vacancies, although for all i know they could have been talking to a dial tone
on the other end).
(As an interesting aside - the China Airlines people were exceedingly helpful while American Airlines was the exact opposite. With the way my mind works, it's hard not to make macroeconomic generalizations from this, but i digress.)
While Gianina calls it an "accidental vacation," i view it as just an extended layover. We went around LA for two days, saw the Kodak Theatre, walked down the Walk of Fame, tried a $4 hotdog, drove through Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive, and took pictures of the Hollywood Sign. For a moment we considered visiting Universal Studios or Disneyland but decided against it - Adrian will appreciate the experience most when he's not just concerned with running around at top speed and trying to break every expensive piece of gadgetry we carry around with us.
So my second visit to LA was at least as memorable but slightly less horrible than the first (someday soon i'll talk about the first visit). It wasn't a total loss, but i'm not quite certain that dropping our Philippines stay from 21 days to 19 was worth the money we saved plus two hotel vouchers. I'm sure El Cheapo will find a way to rationalize this a few weeks down the road, but another part of me would have gladly paid the extra money to get those two days back.
Forty-eight hours after our missed flight, we were eventually able to make it on an airplane bound for Taipei, which - in contrast to everything that had come immediately before - was quite the pleasant surprise.
So today i got our new passports in the mail. They're supposed to be "machine-readable" and more secure.
I must say that i'm not terribly impressed. Aside from the "face page" (pics of which won't be posted here for privacy concerns), there isn't much to crow about. As far as i can tell, everything else is about the same. I doubt that there's an RFID tag in there somewhere. Also, i much preferred the green color.
The interesting thing about this whole story is how painless the application process was. We showed up at the Philippine Consulate in Chicago around noon (no lunch break?!) and promptly filled out the forms (application forms available here). We then headed downstairs to get our pictures taken. (Note that while there are specific requirements that a regular person may not be able to replicate at home, the Walgreens on the first floor does an adequate job of fulfilling them - no need to get pics taken at the travel agency of the 15th floor - which charges a premium). After submitting everything along with $165 ($50 each for the passports and $15 to mail it to us), we went out to lunch. All told, it took less than an hour.
One thing i kicked myself in the head for was forking over so much money and not receiving a receipt. Back home, doing so in a government office would be one of the surest ways of making sure you end up poorer with nothing to show for it. And so for the past 5-6 weeks i've been worried about whether or not we'd get our passports or if it was just a big scam. Well, lo and behold, here they are!
An efficient way to get passports? Honest government workers? There's hope for us yet.
Last night i caught the tail-end of the Philippines episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. Of course the beauty of the country and scrumptiousness of the food is not news, but it's nice to see them featured on such a mainstream stage. At the very least, i thought it was fair and accurate in representing the culture and cuisine. Although i absolutely love Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods, i think focusing on balut and similar fare may portray the local cuisine in a rather unfavorable light.
I never imagined that lechon would even be comparable to other countries versions of roast pig, but it looks like i'll have to try it in Bali and Puerto Rico now.
On another note, it's interesting to me that Bourdain points out (although doesn't quite give a name to) the Filipino phenomenon of "blending in" to other cultures, which is something i've always considered tragic. While i do consider it a virtue to a certain extent (i.e. magaling tayo makisama and we do not foist ourselves onto other people), it's sad to see how quickly Filipinos are willing to give up their own culture and even language just to "fit in" with others. If foreigners fall in love so easily with the Philippines when they come over once or twice... why do some Filipinos try so hard to leave it all behind?
Here's a nice little Philippines Travel Blog if anyone's interested in going there. Barring complications, we should be there in May enjoying a nice getaway at one of the vacation spots (perhaps Davao). Gianina and i are flirting with the idea of scuba diving but there may not be enough time. Maybe sightseeing na lang.
(I just realized that i never did a blog post on that bohol trip and did not upload any more of the promised pics. I did post a video last month if it's worth anything.)
