Friday, April 14, 2006

the penguin returns

It's been a long time since my last post because I don't want my posts to overlap and I still don't know how I will write my adventure or rather misadventure in my trip going back home from tucson. Well I guess I need to start somewhere, so here goes...

the reason
I was notified that I need to go back home immediately because my I-94 card expired, it's the one where the immigration puts up to when you could stay in their country. At first I didn't know what to think because I had lots of plans in my mind (especially the one where I start doing exercises again to lose weight... darn chocolates... darn snickers...) to do this April but after contemplating and then some more contemplating I realized that it would be better to leave than to stay and risk myself being blocklisted in the states. So after two days I was as good as gone.

I've been to Las Vegas!!!
Airport nga lang
the flight from Tucson to Vegas was pretty much uneventfully I just read a book till we landed to Vegas. Because my next connecting flight to San Francisco would be more than five hours I was required to check-in again my luggages. So After getting my luggages from the whatchamacallit luggage drop-off point I was struck dumb on where to check out my luggages, btw they are both around 45-50lbs each plus 17-19lbs of hand carry bags, and lessen my load. So I was standing for around 20mins til I decided that I really should get going. I asked the info boot h on where the check-in counters are and then needed to lug around my luggage across a street and I really could feel that I was way out of shape.

After waiting in a long line I was informed that I can't check-in my bags for another 1hour, so I just sat on some corner near the counter so I could easily go back there. I tried reading but wasn't able to concentrate that much because I heard some grumbling sound in my midsection which went on till I was able to check-in my luggages.. wheeew...

rerealization
is there such a word?
I was off to tour myself inside the Vegas airport and buy some snacks in the process. I bought a 1L bottle of water instead of the 500mL one because I know I would be needing a lot of fluids while strolling around and a chicken bacon wrap and also Allan's Dr. Pepper request. After eating and looking around for possible pasalubongs and found none or rather realized I really am kuripot so I just decided to go to the waiting lounge of the gate I was assigned to.

Kapkapan blues and the case of the missing Dr.
Before I could enter the lounge area I was entitled a free body inspection because I don't look american enough... este.. I don't look american, period. So after the routinary body inspection one of them asked why I had two laptops in which I promptly replied that the first one is for business and the other one for pleasure.

Moving on to find the right seat where I could waste around 4hours I realized that I was missing a plastic bag with Allan's request of Dr. Pepper and my 1Liter bottled water. So I concentrated and a series of forced flashbacks went into my head. I left the plastic bag inside the CR just before entering the gate for inspection. So I guess I need to say goodbye to my boomerang pasalubong from Allan.. huhuhuhuhu... T_T

to Sunny Californyaaay kapagod
So after some reading and a little shut eye and some reading still I was now in a plane to California airport. Thank God I don't need to carry my luggages anymore because it would go straight to my plane to Manila. All I need to do now is to carry my 2 hand carry (some pun intended) and myself to the ticketing counter for some verification stuffs. Let's just say that my supposed short walk to the counter went into a full tour around the airport which I could say was roughly more than an hour because I was like carrying heavy loads around 17-19lbs each. All of this happened because I went into a long turn. What was supposed to be a simple left-right turn from the entry gate became a series of left-left-right-right-up-down-up-down-and-i-don't-really-remember-turns.

because of that series of unfortunate turns I had little energy left to roam around the airport so instead I tried to wardrive myself for a wifi hotspot which wasn't successful because no free wifi could be found. I was planning to chat my way through the hours but again my plans went fruitless.

mga kababayan ko at ang paguwi sa bayan ko
as i was one of the early birds for the Philippine bound flight I saw little by little that almost all of my travelmates, or whatever you call them, are Filipinos. I also saw a child version of her and the semblance was so uncanny... naaliw lang ako... I would have took her picture to post it here but I don't want to risk them thinking that I'm a perv or pido or something... hehehehhee...

inside the plane I again unfortunately was seated in a chair with problematic A/V system. Last time on my flight to Tucson I had a defective LCD and this time around ,so destiny could balance things up, I had a defective control panel leading to no sound in my headphones. Arrrgh!!

So I just finished reading all the remaining stories in the book and then had small chats with a nun that had 2 divorces and another balikbayan who starts his sentence with 'hey men' or 'ye men' or 'men'.

Home at last
So after 30hours of travel I finally made it home around 4:30 in the morning. I really could feel that I'm already in the Philippines because I was sweating like a pig the moment the plane entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility. bwehehehhe

Anways, everything went well in the end and then I had a very wonderful evening...

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