Monday, April 30, 2007

Rewarding Seattle

My flight to Seattle wasn't the best as I was sick right after that NY flight so I'm a mess during Seattle flight. The pressure won't get released and my head felt like exploding. I wanted to cry during landing time but my jumpseat was right across passengers so I can't. Imagine a flight attendant crying? Nyahaha. And I was doing announcements so it'd be weird to say, "Ladies and gentlemen, *sniff* welcome to Seattle Tacoma *sniff* international airport..."

Anyway, while still on the flight, I already decided I won't go shopping--or window shopping--on layover. I'm alone anyway: the team consisted of Korean crew, two Japanese crew and then there's me. I'd eat at the diners outside the hotel, work out hopefully, and get plenty of R&Rs.

But then I remembered we're arriving at noon of Saturday, I have the whole Sunday and leaving noon on Monday. Sunday. Hmm. I miss going to church. Rarely do I get to have a Sunday off-work. So I call the hotel's concierge and ask for the nearest Catholic church. Sure enough there's one like eight minutes away and there's a mass as early as 8:30.

Jet lag and all, my eyes opened up at 5am, way too early for the 8:30 mass I'm targeting but anyhow I go prepare. (And go online to kill time.) Got down to the lobby at 8, had the concierge call me a cab and I'm off to church. I spent $10 for the cab ride, but it's okay, I'd rather spend it to go to church than go shopping. (Naks!)


The yellow cab pulls over outside a church, surrounded with...trees. Very quiet, I can't even slam the cab door shut coz I'd disturb the peace! There's a Catholic school beside the church. I go inside and was greeted by an old lady and a middle aged man; the lady instantly asks me if I need a ride back to the airport area. (How could they know that? Haha) People are very warm and friendly and the lady said she'll find somebody who could take me back to my hotel.

Uh, yeah. If I were not in that church, I would've said no. But this time I go for it. So okay, then the mass started shortly after the rosary ended. I love it. Really. I was thinking, "Wow, it was such a great decision to go to church than go shopping." Loved, loved, loved it. It's so rewarding.

So, no, I didn't see the Space Needle. I didn't go to the Boeing plant. But I had fun in Seattle. By myself.

[Ed's note: Part below was added hours after I saved the draft.]

The Space Needle

Seattle at night

I did see the Space Needle after all. Somebody took me out for a drive the night I drafted this post.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Present-ing

It must've been because of the half-month off in Manila this April that' s making me soo homesick. The last time I experienced this was Christmas. I can't really think of anything else but to go home. Been counting how many more flights before I go 701 (that's Seoul-Manila flight number).

Anyway, my birthday's fast approaching and I'm getting greetings as early as now. Dad even asked what birthday present I wanted. I can't think of any. I guess being with them and having a dinner with my whole family would be enough. Really. I miss them too much.

Hmm. Well anyway when I really thought about it, I had a few things in mind if anybody else asks what present I wanted. I asked kuya to buy me the cheapest set of good sound quality (like, iRiver-quality) compact speakers he could find which I could bring to Seoul and connect them to my laptop for an instant soundtrip session when on a day off. I guess PhP500 is enough for that? (But kuya says he's broke so...) Oh and I want a pair of comfy PJs. Yes, I am cheap. I never really liked expensive gifts; I feel like someone's buying me off or something.

Also, I'm thinking of what gift to get myself. Except for a vanity day (which is like, almost every month naman) of massage and the likes, I'm really thinking if it's the right time to get myself a DSLR I so wanted since college. But I'm torn which to buy (and which lenses). I have my eyes on Nikon D50 though. And, I'm also undecided where to buy. Hidalgo Street in Quiapo? Singapore? Or wait til mid-year (June) sale in the US? Or [worse,] Thanksgiving Day sale in the US? Suggestions please?
I'm in Seattle, by the way. But I gotta go to church now so Seattle would be another post.

Friday, April 27, 2007

New York (and Jersey)

New York, the flight is no fun at all. Being 14 (and sometimes 15) hours long is no joke, my legs hurt like hell. And upon arriving at the layover hotel (the one we're temporarily using is in New Jersey!) my feet and legs are all veined-up. Much like a hundred-year old tree with roots webbed. We have it in our genes, well Lola has it and Lolo and dad, to have severe cases of varicose veins so mom always tells me to put my feet up as long as possible after work. You could imagine me falling asleep with my feet up on the wall (and headboard) and waking up cursing because they hurt so much due to lack of blood flow (and feet as white as snow).

Anyway, upon arriving at Hilton Fort Lee (New Jersey), I do just that after washing my face and brushing my teeth. Switched the TV on and tried to find MTV or something to serve as my background music, but lo and behold I got stuck watching United 93! In the end I cried and cried and cried. Must've been buckets of tears. I'm glad I didn't watch it at the cinemas coz I'd be a disaster. Haha.

Eventhough I was so tired and sleep deficient, my eyes automatically opened up by 6am. I was like, Oh man, jet lag! By 9:30 I was out waiting for the shuttle (to Manhattan) with two of Manila crew seniors, Ms Beige and Ms Claire, and a Japanese senior, Aya-san. Traffic jam. Such warm welcome to New York, eh? In the Lincoln Tunnel, everything became too smoky and I felt like I'd be helpless if there'd be a bomb attack; I'll just sink together with all those cars in the tunnel. Sorry, that's not a good thought but that really was what I thought of.


Manhattan. First off, we go to brunch at the Manhattan mall, had Subway wrap and then went on to the real subway and bought ourselves day passes. Headed Downtown and visited Ground Zero. I fell silent and remembered scenes from United 93. (It's now World Trade Path Station, by the way.) A few photos and I just stood there looking at the murals/memorabilias. Whew. (Insert "shopping" here.)

We're supposed to go to Staten Island to take pictures of the Statue of Liberty but we got the wrong way so we ended up walking towards the waters but not really near to it. I captioned one of my photos, "We were this FAR." Haha.

Went back up and bought Coldstone ice cream, where you choose a plain flavored ice cream and the choice of whatever to add to it is yours. Everything imaginable is available: nuts, fruits, candies, brownies, syrups...a lot! I had Chocolate Devotion: chocolate ice cream, choco chips, chocolate syrup and brownies, on top of a waffle cup. Yum!

Walked and walked, and voila, we're at Times Square already. It's as billboard-flanked (and LCDs) as I expected it to be. Somewhere on an island, there stood the Naked Cowboy from MTV, with his guitar and all. And a few more steps there's this "statue." (See photo from previous post.)

More walking. Rockefeller Center. Why is this famous? No, really, I'm asking. Anyway the flowers around made my day. There are like a lot. I can imagine if it was in the Philippines, for sure people have picked them already and sold em at Dangwa. Haha. More walks and we're outside Saint Patrick's Cathedral. It's nice to find time to pray through all the hustle and bustle of the city. (Shopping.)

Saw the Empire State Building from afar and took (lots of) photos while they're inside an H&M and Victoria Secret store shopping. And then walk some more and then there's another shop where they went to while I was outside taking photos of Madison Square Garden and Macy's. And then there's yet another shop they just had to go in to so I still stay outside and I found a souvenir store and bought three NY shirts (yes, I bought an I [heart] NY one for myself) and a ref magnet. That's pretty much what happened. [They did] too much shopping and I'm so tired of walking but my photos make me feel less tired, really.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

NYC


I'm back from hiatus. Hehe. Back from New York, my first US flight. I'm still too tired from the 15-hr flight so let this photo be my post right now.

Friday, April 20, 2007

Gush of Sadness

There's a sudden gush of sadness in me right now. Sadness, depression, loneliness, homesickness, etc. I don't know which one, actually. Or maybe I'm just really tired. The London flight made my lower back hurt so much that every spare minute I get, I go stretching at the galley.

This London's different as it's sunny, warm and it's GMT +1! For the first time in my entire career, I didn't get bored. I did not experience too much jet lag (like waking up only to find out it's just 3AM), actually, I slept all day. The only time I went out was to buy myself loads of healthy food (roasted chicken, eggs, milk, wheat bread and fruits) from M&S. So fed up with instant noodles and canned goods that I bring with me during layovers, I decided I'd rather spend on healthy food than spend a fortune for meds when I get sick on too much preserves and MSG.

The stupidity came out when I figured out I forgot to activate my internatinal roaming services before I left the Philippines. Good thing I had that Vodafone SIM with me so I just paid for a top up and SMS-ed mum to call up Globe.

And then I watched the telly nonstop (or listened to Capital Radio) and got really updated on the Virginia Tech shooting by an Asian-looking green card holder person. At first I thought he was Chinese, but then when his name appeared on the screen I'm like, "OMG he's Korean!"

My heart breaks everytime the news comes on (which is like, every hour) with few updates every now and then. I can't imagine how difficult it is for the families of the victims. To be randomly killed. I pray for the victims' souls. And their families'. And Cho Seung-Hui's.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

May RQ

My dayoff sched request for May was not granted. I requested for a Manila flight on the 8th (my birthday) and exactly 9 days after, on the 17th (mom's birthday), I should be going back to KR. That could've been perfect, two birds with one stone. Or three, actually. Election day. And the long weekend holiday it would cause.

I checked my next month's sched today. I go home through Manila...on the fourth! HAHAHA! So who cares if my request wasn't granted? At least I'm still home on the day I turn 21. =)

Thursday, April 12, 2007

ROTFL

Over a year ago, I received an intelligence quiz through email. Said to have been from Mensa, a society for bright people, the only qualification for membership of which was a high IQ (the word literally means "table" in Latin, which stands for a round-table society, where race, color, creed, national origin, age, politics, educational or social background are irrelevant) but I don't really know. Anyway. Me and dad instantly tried to outdo each other.

According to the 33-question cryptic quiz, if you get 1-5 correct answers, you're "Average," 6-11 is "Somewhat Intelligent," 12-22 is "Intelligent," 23 or more correct answers and you're a "Genius." Yeah right. Whatever. In the end, dad got 26 and I got 25. I couldn't believe it, we got the same questions except for one: 3 B M (S H T R)

And then two nights ago dad reminded me of the question, teasing me that he's a question more intelligent than I am. I was already frowning when the answer dawned on me. Only my sister could tell how shocked my facial expression was. Hahaha. My jaw dropped, eyes wide and screamed, "@#$! Alam ko na!" Hahaha. After that I was literally ROTFL (rolling on the floor, laughing). How simple! I should have thought of that.

Here's the quiz. Try it for yourself if you haven't yet. (You may also try this site.) I've colored the questions that I still haven't answered until now.


Sample: 24 H in a D = 24 Hours in a Day

26 L of the A
7 D of the W
7 W of the W
12 S of the Z
66 B of the B
52 C in a P (WJs)
13 S in the U S F
18 H on a G C
39 B of the O T
5 T on a F
90 D in a R A
3 B M (S H T R) <-- the culprit!
32 is the T in D F at which W F
15 P in a R T
3 W on a T
100 C in a D
11 P in a F (S) T
12 M in a Y
13 = U F S
8 T on a O
29 D in F in a L Y
27 B in the N T
365 D in a Y
13 L in a B D
52 W in a Y
9 L of a C
60 M in a H
23 P of C in the H B
64 S on a C B
9 P in S A
6 B to an O in C

1000 Y in a M
15 M on a D M C

Note: The answers are available if you Google them up, but where's the fun in that? Please DO NOT place your answers as a comment for the sake of others (like me, I'm still trying to answer them all). Have fun!

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Insecurity Attack!

Thanks to all the well-wishers for kuya's health. [Heartfelt thanks to __, Niko, Jaiskizzy, Aisha and ate CheChe.] X-ray results proclaimed a negative remark on TB. Yey! For that we celebrated (on the eve of Easter Sunday) through a quiet and peaceful dinner at Dulcinea at Greenbelt 1, with kuya's girlfriend.

+ + +

I stumbled upon this blog-slash-comic-strip called Kisses. I love it! You've got to check this out for an instant mood lift. I found myself laughing all by myself. (Make sure you start from the first strip.)

+ + +

Quite honestly, I seldom get insecure. But right now after I've just finished looking at my photos posted on Friendster...insecurity attack! I feel so ugly right now. Aaagh! Way too heavy, too chubby, too everything. Waaaah.

+ + +

The bitchy effect? PMS pala. *wide toothed grin*

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Abnormal

I've been a totally bitchy girl these past few days.

Well, more like an undeniably snobby snob.

Like, raised eyebrows, eyes rolling, sarcastic smiles type of me.

And I don't know why.

But anyway I'm proud to say I'm back to my old self now. x)

+ + +

I'm supposed to go with my 'rents to the hospital later this morning. (I just got home so I can't.) Kuya was advised to go for an xray since he's been sick for over two days and the doc seems to think something's up with lungs (I guess). I can sense an air of seriousness regarding his sickness; he and dad were talking earlier that it might be [I'm sorry I didn't hear what illness they were talking about] and if it's the case he'd have to go on leave for like six months to undergo medication. The suspense is killing me.

I hope he gets better soon.

Monday, April 02, 2007

Solemnity


What do other people do on Holy Week? What do you do on Holy Week?

I grew up doing what I thought all people do during this sacred week:
- Palm leaves on Palm Sunday mass
- Bisita Iglesia on Holy Thursday
- Procession on Good Friday
- Salubong on the midnight of Black Saturday-Easter Sunday
- Hear the Easter Sunday mass

Weeks back, I got so excited that I'd be home for the entire Holy Week that whenever anyone asked me when's my dayoff schedule for April I'd go, "I'll be there the entire Holy Week." And then flash a really big smile. And the moment they ask, "So where would you be?" my face instantly crumples up.

I'm disappointed that some people see this week as an escape. Fun, laughter, celebration. Riiiight. Jesus just died and people are all out partying and so drunk at Bora? C'mon. I wouldn't mind if people went out of town for a more solemn Holy Week, but those with other itineraries in mind...ugh.

Not a game person?

Manila. Hooked on The Impossible Quiz. Back in Seoul after two weeks. Yey.