The First Week Home
I arrived two hours before the traditional midnight Christmas dinner. Home is about 30 kilometers from the airport, my parent’s house and the intention was to surprise the folks who weren’t aware that I had been able to rebook my flight earlier. I zoomed through immigration and customs and was in Francis’ car by 10:45 PM and then we literally took off for the trip home. Somewhere along Coastal Road I waited for the gears of his car to shift to take-off mode and to lift-off from the ground – man, he has a mean car!
We pulled in front of the house and surprised my parents. My mom was so surprised she kept screaming for about half a minute, unbelieving that I had made it in time for Christmas. THIS, I realized makes the 18 hour trip and the hassles to get out of transport-strike stricken Manhattan worth it.
The first thing you appreciate upon coming home to Manila is the weather. I had walked from my house to midtown on my last day in New York in 20 degree weather and my face had the freeze-dried patches to prove it. Being home meant a chance to thaw and then after a few days the appreciation wanes as you get sticky and sweaty. Oh, I am a woman of constant discontent, huh?
On Wednesday, Francis called me up to tell me that two classmates from our elementary days were in town and that they were camping out at Angge’s restaurant, Aurora’s (which makes the best pancit in the the world so don’t forget to pass by when you are in Cavite!). Winnie is from Zamboanga and Joel is based in Japan and so after a brief phone discussion we decided to organize a class reunion – for lunch the next day! Amazingly, we had quite a good turnout. Good meaning there was enough laughter for major stomach ache after. We reminisced about old days and the way we had grown fatter, balder or just plain older, not necessarily wiser. And of course, we had to gossip about classmates who weren’t around. That is the spice of life.
Classmates
On Friday, I drove to Manila to do our grocery shopping at the Pricemart near Macapagal Blvd and afterwards, watched the Pyro Olympics which was being held at the Mall of Asia. The fireworks were breath taking but it felt like the whole of Luzon Island had converged on the 8-lane strip of the boulevard to turn it to a giant parking lot. Still pretty familiar how frenzies like these always end up to be, I told my parents that we ought to start heading out of the area after the first batch of fireworks were done. And true enough, those who stayed until the end (around 10:30 PM) didn’t get home until 4AM!
Last night was New Year’s eve and once again everywhere in the Philippines we did our own version of the Iraq war scene – firecrackers were everywhere and the sky was lit with colorful fireworks.
The handmade cannons from PVC which I will write about in my next blog! Filipino ingenuity!
Welcome 2006!
We pulled in front of the house and surprised my parents. My mom was so surprised she kept screaming for about half a minute, unbelieving that I had made it in time for Christmas. THIS, I realized makes the 18 hour trip and the hassles to get out of transport-strike stricken Manhattan worth it.
The first thing you appreciate upon coming home to Manila is the weather. I had walked from my house to midtown on my last day in New York in 20 degree weather and my face had the freeze-dried patches to prove it. Being home meant a chance to thaw and then after a few days the appreciation wanes as you get sticky and sweaty. Oh, I am a woman of constant discontent, huh?
On Wednesday, Francis called me up to tell me that two classmates from our elementary days were in town and that they were camping out at Angge’s restaurant, Aurora’s (which makes the best pancit in the the world so don’t forget to pass by when you are in Cavite!). Winnie is from Zamboanga and Joel is based in Japan and so after a brief phone discussion we decided to organize a class reunion – for lunch the next day! Amazingly, we had quite a good turnout. Good meaning there was enough laughter for major stomach ache after. We reminisced about old days and the way we had grown fatter, balder or just plain older, not necessarily wiser. And of course, we had to gossip about classmates who weren’t around. That is the spice of life.
Classmates
On Friday, I drove to Manila to do our grocery shopping at the Pricemart near Macapagal Blvd and afterwards, watched the Pyro Olympics which was being held at the Mall of Asia. The fireworks were breath taking but it felt like the whole of Luzon Island had converged on the 8-lane strip of the boulevard to turn it to a giant parking lot. Still pretty familiar how frenzies like these always end up to be, I told my parents that we ought to start heading out of the area after the first batch of fireworks were done. And true enough, those who stayed until the end (around 10:30 PM) didn’t get home until 4AM!
Last night was New Year’s eve and once again everywhere in the Philippines we did our own version of the Iraq war scene – firecrackers were everywhere and the sky was lit with colorful fireworks.
The handmade cannons from PVC which I will write about in my next blog! Filipino ingenuity!
Welcome 2006!