Home Sweet Home
The final two weeks winding to my trip home had been hectic. I had to shop for stuff to bring home, see friends to say goodbye and wish them well for the holidays and then help put together our office Christmas party. I was lost in the flurry of activities that I didn't really get to pack untill the last minute. And since the office party was the night before, I had barely 4 hours of sleep when I headed for JFK for my flight.
It was a fifteen hour, twenty minute trip from JFK to Hong Kong and because I was a good one week early from the exodus home, the plane wasn't full. Unlike last year when I was able to score good cheap tickets for business seats, my agent this year wasn't as resourceful and so ended up having no choice but to fly economy. My only consolation should have been that I was also getting the seat next to me to myself until I had to give it up to a man whose TV monitor in his seat wasn't working.
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Infamous Manila traffic
It was a fifteen hour, twenty minute trip from JFK to Hong Kong and because I was a good one week early from the exodus home, the plane wasn't full. Unlike last year when I was able to score good cheap tickets for business seats, my agent this year wasn't as resourceful and so ended up having no choice but to fly economy. My only consolation should have been that I was also getting the seat next to me to myself until I had to give it up to a man whose TV monitor in his seat wasn't working.
Passing through Siberia on the way to Hong Kong
At the Hong Kong airport I was able to shower and freshen up before the final leg of the trip which was a quick 2 hours. As the plane descended into Manila, the lights in the cabin were dimmed so that when the passangers looked out the windows, the astonishing sight of a city's modern skyscapers and lighted thoroughfares flowing with traffic was in clear view. Definitely, Manila. And definitely, I was home.
The clearance through immigration was fast but it was the retrieval of checked in luggage that took ages. As we had been warned on-board, bags were passed through x-ray machines before they were released and so delays were anticipated.
My parents and my daughter were on hand to meet me and it was a surprise as when I left New York, Francis and I agreed that it would just be him to fetch me so that the parents could rest at home. My dad, he later told me, refused to stay home and wait and so the last minute change of plans.
At the Hong Kong airport I was able to shower and freshen up before the final leg of the trip which was a quick 2 hours. As the plane descended into Manila, the lights in the cabin were dimmed so that when the passangers looked out the windows, the astonishing sight of a city's modern skyscapers and lighted thoroughfares flowing with traffic was in clear view. Definitely, Manila. And definitely, I was home.
The clearance through immigration was fast but it was the retrieval of checked in luggage that took ages. As we had been warned on-board, bags were passed through x-ray machines before they were released and so delays were anticipated.
My parents and my daughter were on hand to meet me and it was a surprise as when I left New York, Francis and I agreed that it would just be him to fetch me so that the parents could rest at home. My dad, he later told me, refused to stay home and wait and so the last minute change of plans.
I have a lot of things lined up for the long holidays at home. This year I will be seeing more friends than I did last year. I have contacted Lizza and Allen, Vicky, Dado, Mayet and my former boss Rose to set up lunch or dinner with them. Ana, of course will come visit with her girls after the New Year's.
On Saturday morning, I arranged to have breakfast with Lizza and Jai and met up with them at the Starbucks at Greenbelt, a short walk from the condo unit where I was staying at the BSA Tower. Nicole joined us in the reminiscing and the updating and in the midst of our giggles we must have caught one Starbucks client's attention. Lo and behold and it was Camille, the daughter of one of our previous boss, LDJ. She recognized Lizza but she didn't expect to see me in Makati realizing I was already based in NY. She sat down with us briefly and I was so proud to see how she had matured to be a beautiful and spendid woman who is the manager of a restaurant in the area. I couldn't seem to get over the fact that she was once the little girl in high school who during office workshops would stay in my bedroom instead of her parents because it was more 'cool' to be with Remy and I.
On Saturday morning, I arranged to have breakfast with Lizza and Jai and met up with them at the Starbucks at Greenbelt, a short walk from the condo unit where I was staying at the BSA Tower. Nicole joined us in the reminiscing and the updating and in the midst of our giggles we must have caught one Starbucks client's attention. Lo and behold and it was Camille, the daughter of one of our previous boss, LDJ. She recognized Lizza but she didn't expect to see me in Makati realizing I was already based in NY. She sat down with us briefly and I was so proud to see how she had matured to be a beautiful and spendid woman who is the manager of a restaurant in the area. I couldn't seem to get over the fact that she was once the little girl in high school who during office workshops would stay in my bedroom instead of her parents because it was more 'cool' to be with Remy and I.
Eagle's View of the Greenbelt Mall
A mall in the park
The traffic as expected is horrible. The perfect decision had been to stay within walking distance from the mall so that there was rarely a need to drive or cab to get anywhere. And Greenbelt mall, right across from where I was staying was a mall in the park. Lush greenery surrounded it and it was a perfect balance of modern architecture and efficient lay-outing of stores and restaurants.
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Infamous Manila traffic
New York is a great place to live in but this place, I reaized will always be home to me, even if I will only be more of a visitor now than a resident.