QM2 and QE2

The largest oceanliner doing its maiden voyage was coming to Sydney and I just had to see it just like everybody else that's making a big hype about it. The so-called "Around the world in 80 days" inaugural voyage of the largest and grandest ship of its time reminded me of the Titanic. Not that I'm hoping this will go down, too!

Queen Mary 2 remains the largest oceanliner but second to 'Freedom of the Seas' as the largest cruise ship. It towers over most of the buildings by Garden Island where its docked, too tall to go through the Harbour Bridge, and too long to fit at Circular Quay. Regardless, its only stop in Australia was in Sydney and it happens that Queen Elizabeth 2 was also arriving in Sydney Harbour. The last time these two ships actually met in Australia was back in the 1940s when the original QM1 and QE1 met up in Sydney.

So I went to Circular Quay, took a ferry, and got to meet the Queens. (I've read a Queen Victoria ship is also in the works for the Cunard Line). And the night ended with a splash of fireworks to celebrate this historic meeting. Hooray!!!

Philippines 2007 - part II

Beach#1 – Surfmaid resort in San Juan (San Juan is the surfing capital of Northern Ilocos – ata?!?!). The guy renting our house took us out to lunch (FOOD)…na libre na naman. Tsibug na naman. Hehehhe. We went to this new resort that was owned by some Danish guy. When we met him, mama recognized right away that he used to rent our house, too! Small world talaga.

After lunch, we got dropped off at Reveal salon where I spent 5 hours of more pampering. Tita Emily was getting impatient na coz we had a 630pm dinner party to go to at Mng Gidang’s place… and I didn’t get out of the salon til 730pm na…ooops! While at the salon, guess who comes out of her own massaging…si Tita Florie!!! Funny, we end up seeing each other pa dito sa Philippines. So we go to the party (FOOD AGAIN), endless eating, and after that, I told mama, “let’s go to plaza and try some of their hotcakes (MORE FOOD)” – ako pa na kagagaling from food poisoning!!! So Tita Emily, mama, and I dropped off the car at the house and went galavanting…kuno!

Beach#2 – Tita Florie invited us to check out her new beach house sa Bauang. Meron kasamang bahay kubo worth P30,000 = $600 USD. Ok no? Complete with lounge area, bedroom, and a small sink. We had morning merienda (FOOD!!!).

Beach#3 – Horizon’s View. After Tita Florie’s, we had lunch (sigh! More FOOD) at the Aquino’s. After lunch, because it was Valentine’s Day, lola gave us a surprise (sorry, only those present were concerned…should I say what the surprise is?). Well, just look at the picture. Then I pretty much spent it all when I went for my afternoon massage.

Beach#4 – Bali Hai. Again, I sort of held up everyone coz I was at the parlor. We had Valentine’s dinner (should I say more how much FOOD intake I’ve had since arriving in the Philippines?) with the Aquinos, Ortegas, mama and lola. Ngek! Doon pa naman nag-date sila Tito Andy and Tita Carmeling. Hahaha!!!

There’s a pattern here: Beach (I never actually set foot in the water), FOOD (which I had a lot of), and not enough pampering.

PAL Flight# PR209 – MNL to SYD

Enough that I had to sit next to a talkative 3yr old kid for about 9 hours from Sydney to Manila. Flying back from Manila to Melbourne, to my left sat an 80+ year old woman and to my right was a couple who had a < 1 yr old baby. Somebody kept farting and it had to be either the old woman or the baby…I couldn’t figure out which one. Thank goodness that didn’t last the whole flight. Whew!!!!!

When I got to customs here in Sydney, I had declared food. I brought with me on my hand carry a box of polvoron and another box in my check-in luggage. The lady said, “Sorry, I have to take the polvoron” – in my hand carry. But I guess she didn’t notice the one inside my other luggage. Hmmmp, nakursunadaan ata nila yung polvoron. Pang merienda!!!

Packaged ukoy – ok
Packaged hopia – ok

Maybe it depends on who’s checking. I didn’t want to bring any more food at masita but I didn’t undertand the packaged polvoron (maybe the milk in it?). Can anyone explain???

Philippines 2007 – part I

1 luggage, 1 hand carry

I arrived 9 hours later direct from Sydney to Manila through PAL and seeing for the first time PAL’s “new” terminal. Pretty modern but used only by Philippine Airlines. Another portion of the airport is being built but has been halted due to politics…not surprising! Sayang!

Cousin Marc picked me up at the airport after about an hour of waiting. Sorry, Marc! Tagal kasi lumabas yung mga luggage. With one plane arriving, I can’t believe it took them so long to get all the luggages out. At least I had company talking to a few people including one of Andre Dulay’s friend who happened to be on the same flight as mine, which, unfortunately, was not able to meet up with the night before. Di bale, Andre. We’ll get a chance to see each other when we visit Melbourne. I’ll bring along LJ with me.

We only had a few minutes (actually, make that an hour – because of traffic) to go home and get changed, then meet up with the cousins in Greenbelt, Makati at Mr Rockefellers restaurant – specialty: OYSTERS!!! I also had some nachos, pasta, orange juice, at beef. Hay naku! Too much food! Pero sarap naman. Then we had dessert…halo halo na. Ice cream, cheesecake, etc.

The Espeletas drove me to the Lloren’s place at Verdana. Very nice house, tita Evelyn! Very beautiful garden, tito Oscar!!! I felt like I was at a hotel staying there. Breakfast was ready in the morning with bangus, salted eggs, and carabao mangoes. Sarap na naman!!! (I usually don’t eat breakfast, ha!)

Then we’re off to SFLU. On the way home, we stopped over at “Isdaan” restaurant in Gerona where we had more food and I had a drink of green mango juice. Yum yum!!! This is the place where you’ll also find the Filipino Elvis!!! Kaya mun? Walang patalo mga pinoy!!!

About two hours later, my tummy started to grumble. Ano kaya yun? Oh shit! I had the shits, man!!! Buti na lang, nakaabot pa kami sa Agoo for my second stop. Doon pa kami sa restaurant called ThaiKee (as in “tae” kee or “tae” ko sana). We were gonna stop at Jollibee’s but Tito Oscar said, “there’s too many people there.” Hahhahaa. Buti na lang. Then I pretty much vomited the rest of the food. Man, those laxative mangoes are dangerous (I’m staying out of mangoes for a while). It can’t be the oysters from last night coz everybody had some and nobody else got sick except for me. It must have been the green mango juice, maybe with ice from dirty water, and me not used to eating this much!!! Nabigla. Anyway, we were about less than one hour from reaching home. And we decided (including Dr Tito Andy Astom – naku, everyone was involved na) I’m going directly to Bethany hospital – I’m having food poisoning and was dehydrated. Next thing you know, I was being poked with an IV on my hand (which hurts sooo bad not to mention, I get really “weak” with needles. So what do I do…I cry like a baby!!!). They can’t get the IV right on my left hand. Because I was dehydrated, it kept collapsing. My left hand didn’t work. Hmmm, let’s try the right hand. OUCH!!!!!! Repeat: So what do I do…I cry like a baby!!! I was hoping mama would get to the hospital quickly coz she always says her hospital would always ask her to do IV coz she’s good at it. But too late!!! One more, one more…they had to check my blood. So I get another poking. Aray!!! Isa pa pala. Next day, they needed to get more of my blood so that’s another hole in my body. Ouch!!!

Ano ba yan? Nya met ten!!! Next day, the doctor said, “well, if you feel better, you can go home now if you want.” Heck yea!!! I’ve got three days left in SFLU. So we were out before noon, went home to grandma’s (lola) house. I was gonna go directly to the salon for my first installment of pampering but lola said to go home first. I haven’t even seen her and I’m already out galavanting especially just coming out of the hospital!!! Ay yah!!! Hahahha. Di ata pwede yan!!! Had lunch at home, took a nap, then I woke up with a fever! What the heck??? What about my haircut, shampoo, hair dye, waxing? Priorities, hello!?!?!? I took some Tylenol and mama and I were off to the salon (the heck with the fever, right? It went away anyway after taking the medicine but I was really pushing it). We get out of the salon in the city and we see our neighbor passing by. She asks me how I was, am I ok, blah blah blah. And I was thinking, this just happened less than 24 hours ago…how quickly did the neighbors find out about this.

Chinese Garden of Friendship

I was running out of places to see in Sydney and my friend had told me it wasn’t really worth it to check out the Chinese garden at Darling Harbour. But I went anyway to see what its all about...being the adventurous me. And with my student ID (many times I’ve mentioned on my blog the usefulness of a student ID), I got a bargain.

The garden symbolizes the friendship between the states of Guangdong, China and New South Wales, Australia. An opportunity to see and share a part of Chinese culture. From the Chinese art of “Penjing” (creating miniature landscape such as bonzai plants), to carved Chinese lions guarding the entrance (Foo dogs – always in pairs, female with a cub guards the left, and the male with a ball of chi guarding the right), to golden carps swimming in the lotus pond, traditional moongates, pagoda, waterfalls, rickshaw made out of pure jade used to carry emperors, and the serenity the garden offers while sipping the perfect tea at the teahouse.

Check out the teahouse for traditional Chinese tea and sample authentic dumplings, pastries and steamed buns while relaxing and enjoying the beauty of the garden.

Bring a book on a Sunday afternoon, sit under a nice shaded area while listening to the cascading waterfalls. Enjoy the sound of peace and calmness that surrounds the garden located in the middle of the city. Maybe I’ll see you there next time! Don’t forget your student ID.

Have you lost your cell phone before?

I never had a cell phone until I was in college. I didn’t think I really needed it. Who’s gonna call me? How important can I be?

I lost my cell phone this week (fortunately, someone turned it in to the lost and found department. Maybe because my cell phone is so basic who would want to steal it? Although, they could have used it to make ridiculous phone calls from all over the world – don’t get any ideas! Well, I’ll find that out later when I get my phone bill). Even worse, I haven’t had internet connection at home. No communication with the outside world!

So what have I learned or experienced in the past few years of having a cell phone and internet:

- if you’ve forgotten your house keys or car keys, a friend is just a phone call away to let you in or pick you up
- if you’ve lost signal for a few hours (or people cannot get a hold of you), its good to let them know you’re ok
- if you cannot get a hold of someone, its good to receive a message on your phone that they are ok
- in an emergency situation, just dial 911 / 000
- if someone is stalking you at the train station for about a year, a phone can be handy (yes, it has happened to me)
- credit card bills that’s almost due…online payment!!!
- free phone calls on the internet to anywhere in the world just to hear your family and friends’ voices
- a happy birthday phone call is always nice
- a message that says, “I’m pregnant with my third child and I’m turning 40! What was I thinking?”
- counting down until the new year comes with someone who’s halfway around the world
- calling someone who has the same birthday as me and waking them up early in the morning forgetting the time difference between Australia and the US
- stock trading on the net (although its always 15 minutes delayed)
- blogging and reading family and friends’ blogs
- paying bills in the US while living in Australia
- chatting with dear friends from all over the world
- receiving and sending unexpected messages just to say hello
- downloading music in less than 3 minutes – I don’t think I can live without music!
- online shopping…how can I forget!!!!
- checking out your pictures on kodakgallery, snapfish, walgreens, or Costco
- three-way, four-way, conference calls with friends from different parts of the world…and its FREE!!!!
- text messages about them being late! Ugh!!!!
- making sure you have enough $$ in the bank

I’ve also realized after losing my phone, to make sure you save all the phone numbers separately somewhere else. Like today when I called my lost phone. I needed someone to pick up my phone before the lost and found department closes at 4pm (that’s just impossible for me!!!). Good thing I have my friend, Bart, who works nearby. Unfortunately, I didn’t have his number anywhere else. So I had to ask the lost and found department to go through my address book. Well, I didn’t exactly know Bart’s last name either so I had put him on my address book as “Bart Simpson”. I don’t know if the guy on the other line gave out a chuckle. But now I know Bart’s last name (I had to give his full name so he can be ID’d when he picks up my phone). But I think I’ll keep “Bart Simpson” or maybe I can hyphenate it. What do you think?

I don’t think I can go back being without a cellphone or the internet. But just make sure you make a life outside of it, too!