- Mood:
Peaceful
- Listening to: Break The Ice
- Reading: Askmen.com The Guy's Guide to Romance
- Watching: Weeds Season 3
- Playing: Madden '09
- Eating: Sweet and Sour
- Drinking: Java
September 5th 2008
“So Long Seattle”
It’s 10p on Friday (do you know where your children are at?) and I’m at SeaTac with my uncle to fly off to our grand adventure in the Philippines for my Dad’s wedding. Check-in was smooth (my bag was 1kg over the max but he let it slide) and security was silk. We’ve been killing time by walking around, playing dice games and eating at Qdoba which was serving breakfast burrito at midnight. Go figure.
Thankfully I’m escaping from the drama on my life at least for a lil’ while. Hopefully I’ll have a great time to recharge my soul and ready myself for a long winter in Seattle.
September 7th 2008
“Hello Kitty”
A 12 hour flight that crossed the international date line had us arriving on Sunday, the 7th. Arrived in Taipei without incident. We aren’t leaving for another 4 hours. Again, we’ll walk around the airport to exercise our cramped legs from being in economy class seats. Nothing like the business or first class sections that we passed on our way to our seats. I noticed a strange fixation by the Taiwanese for Hello Kitty items. The onsite nursery and play areas was themed, colored, and all about Hello Kitty.
Walking around we found a Zen room, art galleries, prayer rooms, internet cafes, and capacious amounts of duty free shops. While sleeping on a MacGyver’d bench my boarding pass fell out… momentarily worried me. I hit up an EVA air rep and he reunited me with it and the stern warning to hang on to it.
“You Have Arrived”
Our landing at Manila Int’l Airport was a grip hot, but any that you walk off the jet is acceptable! Days before Dad texted me instructions on what to do upon landing. Go to baggage claim, clear Immigration, then Security, and they’ll (Dad and Luz) be waiting for us. Now I tried to unlock my phone with T-Mobile to let me use my phone over there. Yeah right. After 30 minutes of frustration, 50 pesos spent on 2 borrowed cell phone calls, and some luck we found them stranded outside of Security.
We exchanged pleasantries briefly but we needed to get to the Manila Domestic Terminal for our final flight to Tagbilaran. Only a couple of hours to wait for our flight. Once checked in, we all posted up in the bar for much needed brews. I kept wondering if a Waterjet ride and/or a Jeepney will be involved.
[hours later]
Upon arrival Dad walked 2 blocks to his house and picked up car. Finally! We have arrived after 20 + hours of continuous travel. The house is no bigger than my downstairs area of my current house; 2 bedrooms and 1 bath. Right now, 9 people occupy it. Not that I mind a full house but privacy is an after thought. As you can imagine the majority of the time will be preparing for the wedding on Saturday.
I’m so done like dinner. Off to bed!
September 8th 2008
“Monday’s Madness”
I jumped online to discover the world I know is a day behind me. Sent an email just to verify that I am alive and well. My sisters have left for school, leaving the adults behind.
[later on]
Dad and Mom (Filipinos generally ignore titles like “ex” and “step”
dropped Dave, Johanna and yours truly off at the Island City Mall in order to search for a wedding gift. While we didn’t find it, we accomplished other errands. They picked us up. Instead of returning home, they asked if we wanted to do some sightseeing. First stop was the Tarsier monkey habitat. There were bats, and flying lemurs. So cool!! We were able to handle the Tarsiers because they are no bigger than the palm of your hand! Next on the cavalcade of fun is the Bohol Python. The naturalist was a tranny name Mari-Mar. WTF?! She, he, it gave us the canned speech about the python… thankfully not it’s snake. After that lil’ episode we decided to take off for home… we laughed the entire time home.At home, we just talked and got acquainted with each other. My sisters (Johanna, Jenna Mae, Jea and Nday) and my mom (Luz) were very curious about us since Dad talked us both up. Some of the information matched and yet other pieces were confusing.
September 9th 2008
“Back To The Beach”
Dad wanted to treat us to some fun before the madness of the wedding started… so it’s the family outing to the beach. Poor Nday… she had exams today that she couldn’t get out of. We loaded up the car and jetted off to Alona Palm Beach Resort. They allow walk-ins to pay a fee for day use. Kinda cool. The beach was white sand, and sugary. J The property itself has a pool and swim up bar which we DEFINITELY had to rock up. All day long we lounged in the sun. I noticed that a mini golf course was spread throughout the property. So I treated my uncles (Dave and Jr) and my sister (Johanna) to a round of mini golf. SO HILARIOUS!! First time golfers and they all were pretty good on this janky ass course.
[later on]
Eventually it was time to go home for dinner. After dinner, it was off to Luz’s in-laws. We had a kick back over beers and snacks.
September 10th 2008
“Ubay”
Today we’re embarking on an intra-island adventure to pick up Luz’s parents arriving on a ferry in the city of Ubay (pronounced in U-bye) Not quite sure how the living / bedding arrangements are going to work out with 11 people in this house but we’ll see.
[later on]
It ended up being an all-day trip. We bombed out of Tagbilaran, bound for Ubay. We stopped several times along the way for my Kodak moments. One stop was very interesting… a conveyor belt measuring 2 kilometers long stretched from a mine in the mountains down to the sea for export. The product? White rock. After picking up the parents we had lunch at Chicken Ati Atihan. It’s a popular BBQ chicken eatery. Tastes grub too! Then the entire gang visited the Chocolate Hills, most popular tourist attraction on the island. Next stop was the Tarsier monkeys, which was great because the first set of photos were blurry and had Japanese tourists in them.
We were met w/ much fanfare due to a long time between visits. Everyone was delighted to be reunited. Dinner was a feast fit for kings. Then Jea had a gig at Atmosphere which we were all invited to attend. I drove the family in the Avanza for first time!! Goodness. That was an experience. Unabated speed, ignored the lines, and basically owned the road!! It was sweetness behind the wheel. We had a great time drinking, dancing and kicking it w/ my family. Hell, Dave even got up to dance! Due to the housing situation, Dave and I were bumped to a local hotel called Dao Diamond. So that’s where we crashed for the night. I feel we got the better deal. Hot and cold shower, TV with cable, 2 beds, and free breakfast. I was so crunk after 20 bottles of San Miguel Pilsner. I couldn’t get cooled off, and a headache that was imploding my head. Eventually I succumbed to a chunder shower next to my bed. Thankfully I had the foresight to place the garbage can in the collateral damage area. AND my uncle didn’t even wake up.
September 11th 2008
“Never Forget”
9/11/01 the day the world will not forget. 7 years later… I still haven’t forgotten. And I haven’t forgotten last night either. No sir. Breakfast was certainly interesting as I struggled through 2 pancakes, an egg, and coffee. Surprisingly the pancakes were fluffy and nice. Instant coffee is ghettofabulous but choices being as they were, I took the lesser of 2 evils. This morning Dave and I were hell bent on finding a wedding gift as the rehearsal is tomorrow and the wedding is swiftly arriving.
Diamond offered a ‘shuttle’ to (motorcycle attached to a trailer / carriage) to the ICM. They call this contraption a talk-talk. At any rate, we found a few candidates but wanted to continue researching our options. I discovered that my traveler’s checks are a pain in the ass. In Visayan that’s masakit puwet. Traveler’s checks were not accepted anywhere I visit. Speaking of visits, I visited the bathroom which is referred to as the comfort room or C.R. for short. Public CRs do not have TP. Nope, not even a device to have TP on it. I often wondered why Papa also had a roll of toilet paper in his backpack when traveling to and from the PI. NOW I know!!
Dad loaned his cell phone so we can use. Too bad there was no reception in this area of town. Beautiful. So we walked the kilometer and a half back to the hotel. We hopped in the car that Dad loaned us. Inside the car I received a text from Wang Wang (Johanna) asking when we were picking her up. Once we picked her up, she directed us to Sayong Furniture, a custom wood furniture store. Perfect! One of a kind, wood working, and my parents can really appreciate it for years to come. We lounged around until the rehearsal at 6p. Dave, Dad, and I introduced an American tradition of treating the wedding entourage to dinner. What I didn’t realize that ALL of the peeps would be invited… OOPS! My bad, Dad. We kicked it at the homestead until late with karaoke madness until late. Dave and I bombed back to the hotel, this time no hurdling for ‘los.
September 12th 2008
“TGIF”
Dave and Jr were asked to drive back to Ubay to pick up more out of town guests; Luz’s brother and sister. According to Filipino tradition it’s a bad omen to have the bride or groom traveling long distances before the wedding. After breakfast at Diamond, Dave dropped me off at the house.
[much later]
Dave and Jr returned and deposit the family safe and sound at the house. After a meet and greet, Nday, Jr (yes another one of each), Cherry, their son Junrick were coming back with us to Diamond. We karaoked until Jea’s next gig at Bohol Tropic with her band Muddcake. The club name at the hotel is Lazer.
“Closing Time”
It’s 2a and time to kick the shoe home. The remaining playas were Dave, Nday (my sister), Nday (my aunt), Jea of course, and yours truly. As typical we were in search of late night eats. We arrived at a tented area that serves BBQ chicken. Dad calls all of this monkey on a stick. I wish I left it that way. As I ate I asked my lil’ sister Jea what each item was. First one was chicken liver. *gulp* And then chicken intestines… so I decided to just stop eating altogether.
September 13th 2008
“The Big Day”
Wedding day?! It’s at 2 p.m. but from previous experience that preparation starts well before it. By 10a it was full blown. The girls are having their hair and nails done. The boys are still posted up at the house, chilling like villains. Then the photographer and video guy showed up for their bizo. By 130p, it was off to the church. The ceremony was a Catholic Filipino style so it was beautiful and definitely long. Seemed longer in barongs (Filipino tuxedo), 90 plus weather, and no A/C. Finally it was off to the reception!! That was a blast. A few new events before entering the reception. Releasing of doves, which was hysterical to watch Dad. Then hung up high was a metal cage, with ribbons tied on. The children were gathered up under it. Then Dad and Mom on opposite sides pull on the ribbons, the bottom of the cage opened and dropped it’s contents on the ground. Candy and pesos. Oh hell, it’s on like Donkey Kong!
[later]
After eating dinner, the speeches, and the standard events were all done. The boutique toss, the garner toss, and gifts. Then of course time to tear up the dance floor?! We partied until 8p, then dragged it back to the house. I stayed momentarily in Lazer but realized quickly that the everyone was expecting me to pay for the bill. Peace out on that. I bounced to the house instead.
September 14th 2008
“Sightseeing Sunday”
Dad decided to take all willing participants to Sanbayan Peak in the Chocolate Hills. Mom, Jenna Mae, Nday, Jr (Mom’s brother), Cherry, Junrick, Dave and yours truly hopped in the very cramped Avanza yet again. It was great. There was a butterfly dome that was pretty much off the hook. A water park was also attached but we skipped it. Then Dad drove us out to the Chocolate Hills for their benefit. All that sightseeing took all day. Thankfully, no time left on the boards for the Bohol Python and the tranny.
After dinner we all jetted to the ICM for gifts for Nday’s (sister) birthday tomorrow. We were done like dinner after that.
September 15th 2008
“Happy Birthday”
Nday’s 19th birthday is today. Dave and I came to the house to drop off the Avanza for Dad and Mom to clean up the wedding bizo. Nday, Dave, and I literally got fat on the couch while watching TV and movies all day long. Dad treated the family to dinner at Bohol Plaza Resort and Restaurant. For our dinner purchase we could swim in the pool. WTF?! Glad we brought the swim gear. In the end, the boys discovered only Jea can swim. The rest of the girls can’t and were regulated to staying in the shallow end of the pool. Lemme get this straight. They live on an island, that’s surrounded by water, and yet they don’t know how to swim? WTF, again? Apparently, they never learned or taught. I digress.
Since it was a birthday celebration and farewell dinner for Dave and I, we continued the fun elsewhere. We dropped in on the local karaoke bar called Myx. Totally fun. I actually did karaoke for someone other than my family to hear. Yep, yep. Stayed with Ice, Ice Baby and We Like To Party. I didn’t “sing” per se, but I had the mic.
September 16th 2008
“Manila bound and Down”
We tried to figure out flights from Tagbilaran to Baguio but that just wasn’t happening. Instead of just flying from Tagbilaran to Manila for us to catch up to our flight home we decided to road trip to Manila!! So Dave and I woke up and kinda puttering around thinking it was before 9a (we didn’t have a reliable time keeping device) We went downstairs for breakfast to find Dad and Mom were there already!? It’s 910a and we’re late. We tried to rush through breakfast and that didn’t work either.
Stage 1: Ubay and the Roll On, Roll Off
To the north end corner of Bohol and port city of Ubay that I’m damn near sick of. We boarded the Roll On, Roll Off (RORO) bound for Tacloban. Essentially it’s a passenger-car ferry… the first 2.5 hours have been logged to Ubay. And another 2 hours on the RORO.
Stage 2: Tacloban, Leyte
We landed in Guadalupe, Leyte ready to rally to Tacloban!! Dave, Dad and I traded off driving duties (Mom doesn’t know how) We’d stop periodically for Kodak moments, gas, or food. We’d joke that our sponsors are Caltex (gas) and Jollibee (fast food) and we could only use them. After 2 more hours on the road, we arrived on the outskirts of Tacloban. We posted up in the “Budget Hotel”. Certainly was that – 2 beds, TV, shower, and toilet. Clinically white walls, floors, and linens. YIKES! NO karaoke tonight. We finished Dad’s Johnny Walker outside on the balcony.
September 17th 2008
“On The Road Again”
Stage 3: Allen, Samar
We blazed outta there early since we gained an hour getting to this point. What we didn’t know was the road conditions on this island. We were 4x4 on what they called roads for the same distance but took us twice as long to cover. Still… Caltex and Jollibee kept us moving!
Stage 4: RORO to Luzon
Once we arrived in San Juan, Luzon we kept on trucking another 65km to the city of Sorsogon. Now we’re dependent on ourselves; no more ROROs. We posted up at the Arica Hotel for the night. Mom was hungry and no Jollibees in sight! The Mango Grill was nearby. Dad didn’t want to retire for the night so we stumbled over to the hole-in-the-wall, no signed bar. We got blazed, and sang more karaoke. I tried my turns on rap songs like Vanilla Ice and Eminem which didn’t work out. I decided to attempt to sing. YES… actually sing, with notes and a beat. I decided on Over You by Daughtry. At first I was weak, but several seconds in all the frustration, anger, hurt, and sadness just came flowing out in the form of this song. I felt great and thought I did a solid job. I scored 90 out of 100, the highest at that time in the evening. Then we continued to keep the place open 2 hours after close.
September 18th 2008
“Manila Or Bust”
About 2 hours after we returned from the bar, I heard a knock on the hotel door at 2 a.m. Mom is standing there in her nightgown. She woke up and can’t find Dad. Ah, shit. When he’s crunk like tonight, he sleepwalks. I calm her down by going back into the room and surveying the situation. His smokes, lighter, car keys, cell and dentures were on the dresser. He obviously didn’t get far nor intend to. Maybe he locked himself in the car below? Or out of his room? We checked all the open rooms on the floor. No Dad. I grab the car keys and roll to the car. I accidentally set off the car alarm which ironically made Dad show up on a 2nd floor balcony in his boxers from his hiding place. FINALLY! He’s in trouble, and everyone else can go to sleep…
[a few short hours later]
Stage 5: Manila
We piled into the clown car for the final time! By the 14th hour we were still 129 km south of Manila and we stopped for dinner because it was 8 o’clock. We ate at (WAIT FOR IT) Chow King, sister company of Jollibee. We rolled into Manila around 1030p, still lost. I took control of navigation after Dad barked at Mom for not knowing the cityscape after 20+ years. We finally decided on the Pinoy Club for the night.
“Excuse Me?”
The room Dave and I had was interesting… a one-poster bed. Yep, not 4 or 3 or 2. Just one. Oh and mirrors on the ceiling too. Then Mom and Dad had a bed shaped like a Spanish galleon. No lie!! Mirrors on the wall, and strategically place on the ship bed. Complete with a mast and ropes, etc. We ordered room service beers and bullshitted each other until late.
September 19th 2008
“My Bags Are Packed…”
Time to go home! Our grand Filipino adventure is at its’ end. Mom and Dad dropped us at the airport to begin our long, long journey home to Seattle. We have a short flight to Taipei but an 8-hour wait for our Taipei to Seattle flight. Good luck to us…
[much later]
So I must admit, my ever silent friend, that once I purchased my ticket for this trip I was hell bent to make this trip about me with the wedding being a secondary item. Two hours upon my arrival at the house in Tagbilaran I tossed that game plan out the window. And now, 2 weeks later I realize that this trip was about family and unconditional love. Certainly nothing to do with selfishness. I opened myself to the entire experience. I’m grateful I was able to. I caught up with an uncle that unless he was visiting Dad I didn’t speak to him. And of course, used the two weeks to get to know my step-sisters, and step-mother. All are very sweet, caring ladies in their own way. My uncle, Dave, is pretty damn cool, too. I planned on measuring my success of the trip by how many ladies I slept with. In the end, it was a great trip with my new family so I slept with a clear conscious instead!
Until next time, keep diggin’.
‘los with the most
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