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Mar. 9th, 2004 01:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
geebsOkay, here's what you've been waiting with baited breath to read, my misadventures in Flipland, the first week anyways:
2/21: Left for Kennedy airport between 7 and 8. Between our luggage and the balikbayan boxes, had to use two vans. Balik-what now? Basically, its this filipino tradition- when you go visit relatives in the Philippines, basically you are required to have a big box full of stuff for them. Anyways, we rode in the minivan, and Aures' bf Corwin had some guys on his work crew drive our luggage in one of his vans. Had to take a funny way to Kenedy, since the van had commercial plates and thus not allowed to drive on the GCP for some reason. Anyways, Aures, Corwin, Tita Nette,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
durlxnemesis, and the little kids Alex and Angelo saw us off. (oh, I went with the parentals and durlxnemesis' mom). Killed time at the airport by finishing up that Wish series turdburgler lent to me.
Oh well, it was around a twenty hour flight, NY=Anchorage, Anchorage-Seoul, Seoul-Manila. The flight there was pretty cool, the seats had a personalized TV screen and a neat little controller. Got to see some movies I hadn't seen, Jackie Chan's "The Medallion", and that Rock movie that had Stifler. And as I was browsing their music selection, heard the Brassy song. Was wondering why they'd have such an old song, but apparently its on the Intolerable Cruelty soundtrack. But really, could there be any more meals on the flight? I think I was served four meals in addition to the snacks.
2/23- With the international date line thingie, ended up in Manila on Monday morning. Went our separate ways from Tita Julia and got picked up by my aunt and my cousins Al and Monique (and their cousin, whose name I can't remember) Didn't do much that day. Checked in to the hotel, had to get some black shoes since I only had my ratty looking sneakers and my parents wanted me to have some decent shoes for my grandma's b-day that was coming up. So went to some department store with Pops and Monique. Heard this weird dance song that sampled the Price is Right theme and had someone singing "Come on Down" over and over. It was quite strange, because of all the things to sample for a dance song, The theme to The Price is Right is one of the last things I'd ever expect.
Anyways, that night had dinner at this buffet called "Dad's" with the parents and my uncle and aunts and Monique and her sister Meg, who no longer wears glasses. My dad's friend was also there, alas not with his cute daughters but his son. Last time I saw him I was still living at 23rd street and he was a kid. Now he's like all grown. I remember my parents getting him the M.A.S.K. vehicle Gator for X-mas that year. Anyways, the fatigue from the trip hit me and I literally passed out during dinner. Oh, forgot to mention the buffet place was at this huge-ass mall by the hotel. Didn't really get to check out the place until the next week, which was disappointing since y'all know how much I love the mall.
2/24- Boring day, had lunch with my mom's cousin's family. That was okay, but then I got stuck in the car for FOUR hours in traffic as I went with Monique and her mom to pick up the video camera we left at the hotel and do some errands they needed to do. That really sucked.
Oh, and I forgot to mention how traffic is insane in the Philippines. I don't think there are traffic laws or lanes or anything. I mean, there are traffic lights, which seem to be followed for the most part, but the lane designations seem to be more of a suggestion thatn anything. Well, at least that's what I think Filipino drivers there think since people just drive where there's an opening. Lane mergers in Flipland are ridonkulous!
2/25- Took a flight to Grandma's in Iriga. gran was happy to see me since she hadn't seen me since the 2rd grade. Oh, it was also Ash Weds, so I couldn't eat meat and we had to go to church. Alas, we had no car, so we had to take the tricycle. Another popular mode of transportaion in Flipland, its basically a motorcycle with a giant sidecard to cram a bunch of people in. I think its silly and scary, given the crazy way people drive there. Yeah, I really wanna be crammed with six other people into a motorcycle while buses and trucks weave around me at 80mph. And no, I'm not exagerating about the amount of people they carry. I went to mass with my parents and my second cousin Mindy and her two daughters Cristabelle and Vanessa. That's six right there, not counting the driver. And the ride back, we were even sharing it with some other person. That's insane, eight people on a motorcycle?! And I've seen peeps there cram even more, hanging from the sides and backs of the sidecar or wherever they'll fit.
2/26- Got a driver to drive us around to Naga city. Went with the aforementioned plus mindy's son Kenneth. But he just stayed in the car the whole time, so its almost like he wasn't there! Saw a church, and some volcano in the middle of a lake, and hit a mall! I may be half blind, but I can still shoot well if I can see the target. Was playing some two gun action on the House of the Dead machine at the arcade. Even with my vision impared, I can still pull off the double head shot on the axe-guys about to kill the docs at the start of the game. Later that afternoon, went to some Hot Springs (sans Kenneth). Of course, they weren't actually hot springs, turns out it was just some heated pool. But swimming around was fun.
2/27- Dad's cousin Marito took us around with his wife and cousin Al to see the other enarby town whose name I forget. We saw some volcano and the remains of a church that got buried during the last eruption. Tito Marito kept on telling me he was gonna introduce me to some nursing student at grandma's party the next day. Also met cousin Glanda and Jures for the first time. Glanda kept talking about feeding me some weird gross-sounding delicacy that's basically an egg, but instead of a yolk inside, its an almost formed baby chick. Gross!Her brother Jures is a big computer gamer and kept talking to me about computer games. That night went out with them and cousin Al and Monique and my other cousin Jude, and my second nieces (the aforementioned Cristabelle and Vanessa). Well, we didn't really go anywhere since there's nothing around there really. Rented a bunch of VCDs, SWAT, the Italian Job, Freddy vs Jason, and the Recruit. Only got to watch SWAT that night, which I hadn't seen yet.
2/28- Gran's b-day! Had Lechon, which was slow-roasted pig. It was really good, it practically melted in your mouth. And fresh too, they showed me the pig when it was still alive just a few days before! I guess I was out when they butchered it. Anyways, there was also a Karaoke machine. It was a little inappropriate also, because instead of the normal landscape backgrounds, the backgrounds were scantily clad hotties walking around in thongs and showing off their breasts. WTF?!
Anyways, got 2 100s that day, one for singing The Corrs "Runaway" and Spandau BVallet's "True". Also went with my usuals, Air supply, Kenny Rogers, The Bee Gees, Chicago, Britney Spears. Oh, my uncle introduced me to that Nursing student, who turned out to be only 18. She's a third year nursing student though, since in the Philippines high school ends at 16. She was cute, but I don't think we really clicked, especially with the language barrier and all. Also watched some more videos with the cuzzes, Freddy vs Jason and the Italian Job, which I had seen, and The Recruit and Daddy Day Care, which I hadn't. I was skeptical about their choice of Daddy Day Care, but it wasn't half bad.
Owel, this post is long enough, I'll continue with the rest of the trip later, especially since its time to clock out and its been hard to breath typing in this position.
2/21: Left for Kennedy airport between 7 and 8. Between our luggage and the balikbayan boxes, had to use two vans. Balik-what now? Basically, its this filipino tradition- when you go visit relatives in the Philippines, basically you are required to have a big box full of stuff for them. Anyways, we rode in the minivan, and Aures' bf Corwin had some guys on his work crew drive our luggage in one of his vans. Had to take a funny way to Kenedy, since the van had commercial plates and thus not allowed to drive on the GCP for some reason. Anyways, Aures, Corwin, Tita Nette,
durlxnemesis, and the little kids Alex and Angelo saw us off. (oh, I went with the parentals and durlxnemesis' mom). Killed time at the airport by finishing up that Wish series turdburgler lent to me.Oh well, it was around a twenty hour flight, NY=Anchorage, Anchorage-Seoul, Seoul-Manila. The flight there was pretty cool, the seats had a personalized TV screen and a neat little controller. Got to see some movies I hadn't seen, Jackie Chan's "The Medallion", and that Rock movie that had Stifler. And as I was browsing their music selection, heard the Brassy song. Was wondering why they'd have such an old song, but apparently its on the Intolerable Cruelty soundtrack. But really, could there be any more meals on the flight? I think I was served four meals in addition to the snacks.
2/23- With the international date line thingie, ended up in Manila on Monday morning. Went our separate ways from Tita Julia and got picked up by my aunt and my cousins Al and Monique (and their cousin, whose name I can't remember) Didn't do much that day. Checked in to the hotel, had to get some black shoes since I only had my ratty looking sneakers and my parents wanted me to have some decent shoes for my grandma's b-day that was coming up. So went to some department store with Pops and Monique. Heard this weird dance song that sampled the Price is Right theme and had someone singing "Come on Down" over and over. It was quite strange, because of all the things to sample for a dance song, The theme to The Price is Right is one of the last things I'd ever expect.
Anyways, that night had dinner at this buffet called "Dad's" with the parents and my uncle and aunts and Monique and her sister Meg, who no longer wears glasses. My dad's friend was also there, alas not with his cute daughters but his son. Last time I saw him I was still living at 23rd street and he was a kid. Now he's like all grown. I remember my parents getting him the M.A.S.K. vehicle Gator for X-mas that year. Anyways, the fatigue from the trip hit me and I literally passed out during dinner. Oh, forgot to mention the buffet place was at this huge-ass mall by the hotel. Didn't really get to check out the place until the next week, which was disappointing since y'all know how much I love the mall.
2/24- Boring day, had lunch with my mom's cousin's family. That was okay, but then I got stuck in the car for FOUR hours in traffic as I went with Monique and her mom to pick up the video camera we left at the hotel and do some errands they needed to do. That really sucked.
Oh, and I forgot to mention how traffic is insane in the Philippines. I don't think there are traffic laws or lanes or anything. I mean, there are traffic lights, which seem to be followed for the most part, but the lane designations seem to be more of a suggestion thatn anything. Well, at least that's what I think Filipino drivers there think since people just drive where there's an opening. Lane mergers in Flipland are ridonkulous!
2/25- Took a flight to Grandma's in Iriga. gran was happy to see me since she hadn't seen me since the 2rd grade. Oh, it was also Ash Weds, so I couldn't eat meat and we had to go to church. Alas, we had no car, so we had to take the tricycle. Another popular mode of transportaion in Flipland, its basically a motorcycle with a giant sidecard to cram a bunch of people in. I think its silly and scary, given the crazy way people drive there. Yeah, I really wanna be crammed with six other people into a motorcycle while buses and trucks weave around me at 80mph. And no, I'm not exagerating about the amount of people they carry. I went to mass with my parents and my second cousin Mindy and her two daughters Cristabelle and Vanessa. That's six right there, not counting the driver. And the ride back, we were even sharing it with some other person. That's insane, eight people on a motorcycle?! And I've seen peeps there cram even more, hanging from the sides and backs of the sidecar or wherever they'll fit.
2/26- Got a driver to drive us around to Naga city. Went with the aforementioned plus mindy's son Kenneth. But he just stayed in the car the whole time, so its almost like he wasn't there! Saw a church, and some volcano in the middle of a lake, and hit a mall! I may be half blind, but I can still shoot well if I can see the target. Was playing some two gun action on the House of the Dead machine at the arcade. Even with my vision impared, I can still pull off the double head shot on the axe-guys about to kill the docs at the start of the game. Later that afternoon, went to some Hot Springs (sans Kenneth). Of course, they weren't actually hot springs, turns out it was just some heated pool. But swimming around was fun.
2/27- Dad's cousin Marito took us around with his wife and cousin Al to see the other enarby town whose name I forget. We saw some volcano and the remains of a church that got buried during the last eruption. Tito Marito kept on telling me he was gonna introduce me to some nursing student at grandma's party the next day. Also met cousin Glanda and Jures for the first time. Glanda kept talking about feeding me some weird gross-sounding delicacy that's basically an egg, but instead of a yolk inside, its an almost formed baby chick. Gross!Her brother Jures is a big computer gamer and kept talking to me about computer games. That night went out with them and cousin Al and Monique and my other cousin Jude, and my second nieces (the aforementioned Cristabelle and Vanessa). Well, we didn't really go anywhere since there's nothing around there really. Rented a bunch of VCDs, SWAT, the Italian Job, Freddy vs Jason, and the Recruit. Only got to watch SWAT that night, which I hadn't seen yet.
2/28- Gran's b-day! Had Lechon, which was slow-roasted pig. It was really good, it practically melted in your mouth. And fresh too, they showed me the pig when it was still alive just a few days before! I guess I was out when they butchered it. Anyways, there was also a Karaoke machine. It was a little inappropriate also, because instead of the normal landscape backgrounds, the backgrounds were scantily clad hotties walking around in thongs and showing off their breasts. WTF?!
Anyways, got 2 100s that day, one for singing The Corrs "Runaway" and Spandau BVallet's "True". Also went with my usuals, Air supply, Kenny Rogers, The Bee Gees, Chicago, Britney Spears. Oh, my uncle introduced me to that Nursing student, who turned out to be only 18. She's a third year nursing student though, since in the Philippines high school ends at 16. She was cute, but I don't think we really clicked, especially with the language barrier and all. Also watched some more videos with the cuzzes, Freddy vs Jason and the Italian Job, which I had seen, and The Recruit and Daddy Day Care, which I hadn't. I was skeptical about their choice of Daddy Day Care, but it wasn't half bad.
Owel, this post is long enough, I'll continue with the rest of the trip later, especially since its time to clock out and its been hard to breath typing in this position.
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Date: 2004-03-09 05:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-10 05:33 am (UTC)