Day 1 (June 26, 2008) – New Orleans
Grueling travel experience. Super long time to reach New Orleans. I slept at 1:00 AM, woke up at 2:30 and was at the airport before 4AM. Our plane left Manila at 615 AM. Landed in Nagoya for a stopover that lasted for about 2 hours. Boarded again to go to Detroit. Flight time was 10 hours, then waited in Detroit for another 2 hours or so for our connecting flight to New Orleans which took around 2 and a half hours. Kaloka, I was wearing heels because my mom insisted that I wear them kasi daw I am travelling in business class. Gosh! Overrated ang image ng mga taong sumasakay sa business class. Sure, there were a few who were wearing ties and long sleeves, but most of them wore casual clothes na. Most westerners are even wearing sandals – tsinelas!!! My gosh, sumakit ang paa ko dahil heels daw should be worn for such flights – times really have changed … my mom needs to know that, dapat ilibre nya ako ng foot spa. Na-harass ang mga paa ko kakalakad. Oh well, as if naman ang taas ng heels ko hahaha!
Its my first time to fly in business class and kaloka! Sosyal ever! Aside from having your own video terminal, food and drinks abound. The meals were not the usual “do you want chicken or beef” fare chorva you get in economy but you get the whole gamut! May choice ka pa rin kaya lang kumpleto na eto, mula appetizer hanggang dessert! With overflowing drinks at may meryenda pa. What I love most is the reclining seat. You can almost lie down straight! Plus the fact na alang sumisipa sa likod mo habang natutulog ka.
Teka, rewind pala muna sa airports. The airports and customs officers were all nice, from Nagoya to the US. Mukha yata akong nawawalang bata at people here were extra nice to me haha! How do I know kasi I saw the difference when they talk to me and to the person before or after me … I may have a certain charm that I don’t know I possess … hmmm… or maybe I was just plain lucky that the people I happened to come across with are all super nice. One funny incident was in Detroit. The officer was all business telling me to remove my laptop from my bag, take off my jacket and my shoes… tapos when I placed my shoes on the tray, he looked at it and said “nice shoes” sabay smile … my gosh, my shoes were nice daw! At least they got noticed kahit na they almost killed my feet haha!
Fast forward to New Orleans… when we got there super harassed ever ang feeling ko – super pagod. Pero super gutom na din. We are booked in the W New Orleans – cute name di ba? The W stands for whatever/whenever and the people here are super nice. Dapat lang, the hotel is kinda pricey, good thing roommates kami ng boss ko. The room we are staying in is nice and adequate but not what my boss expected. Oh well, her previous hotel list includes the Marriott so she has higher expectations than I do. What I like about the room is the bed – ang lambot pramis! Tapos dami ko pillows!!! Adik eto … and we have a plasma TV na super laki … nice =) at may plantsa!! Hahaha – adik talaga eto … kaya lang, times are really hard now at mejo ramdam ang onset ng inflation kasi ultimo tubig may bayad … OO, may bayad eto … alang complimentary water di tulad dyan sa pinas. Super mahal ng tubig sapagkat ang tubig na nasa room ay galing pa sa Norway!!!! Biruin mo, tumawid pa ng ilang bundok ang tubig na yun bago makarating dito. Samantalang nasa may likod lang namin halos ang Mississippi River.
Speaking of tubig na may bayad … pati sa restaurant, ang house water ay may bayad na $0.25. sosyal! It’s a little over 10 pesos, eh satin may 500 ml ka nang bottled water nun. Super mahal ng tubig dito, ang 1 liter na bottled water ay $3.26. My gas! Parang isang gallon na ang presyong ito satin sa Pinas! Hhmmm… ala naman ako masyadong poot ano … lumalaklak pa naman ako ng tubig by the gallon .. tinitipid ko tuloy ngayon ang tubig. Mas mura pa ang COKE!!! … hhhmmm … coke … mag-adik na lang kaya ako sa coke?!? Hahaha! Pinagdala naman ako ni mama ng sandamakmak na antacid eh … kesa naman mauhaw ako to death (OA! – to justify the coke drinking spree I am planning to embark on sa mga susunod na araw, dapat mejo dramatic ang effect – bawal magreact blog ko to hahahaha!).
Sakit pa din ng paa ko pero sama pa rin ako sa kanila paglabas then we walked around the area after dinner. Papaiwan ba naman ako eh lakwatsa yun!?! At kahit na naka-slacks at blouse ako with matching ribbon sa may leeg ala may-ari ng hacienda o di kaya plantasyon and effect (Damian!!! … tara na sa vineyard!!! Dalhin ang karwahe!!), nag-tsinelas ako!!! As in! pero in fairness, mejo formal naman ng konti ang tsinelas ko (hehehe – justifying!). Napabili tuloy ako ng black walking shoes =) (justifying muli).. sale naman eh, tsaka super comfy yung nabili ko. The purchase was for a higher purpose – to ease the pain of my feet (justifying 3x).
O sya, tama na ang sapatos chorva, day 1 pa lang may sapatos na ko … MUST … RESIST … SHOPPING … yeah right … God help me … PLEASE?
Alang wifi sa room. Meron pero may bayad … sa lobby lang libre. Masubukan nga bukas. Di tuloy ako naka-online. Sa mga lola at kaanak kong hindi ko nachika kanina .. para sa inyo ang chika sa blog na eto =) para di nyo mamiss ang kadaldalan ko haha! In truth, di ako masyado makadaldal dito, mejo pa lang. What with the thunderbolts and lightning around? Bunso na naman ang drama ko, literally. Hindi pala bunso .. naliligaw na bata. Buti na lang dadating si Nini sa Sabado, at least may makakasama na ko maglakwatsa after the convention at dumaldal (during and after the convention .. hehehehe).
Antok na ko … pero nakita ko bigla ang deal or no deal at ang kalbong host nila sa TV.. nawala antok ko .. naalala ko si Kris Aquino … hiwalay na nga ba talaga sila ni James Yap?!? Yan ang huling tsismis na nakuha ko sa prof ko. Totoo ba? Someone confirm it please!!!!
Wish ko habang andito ako eh masilayan ko man lang si Fafa David Cook. Malay natin pag nakita nya ako ma-realize nya na kami pala ang soul mates hahahahha! (warning : bawal magreact – blog ko nga to eh hehehehe! Isa pa, masakit ang paa ko, pagbigyan na ang mga ilusyon …). Super sayang kasi parang ayaw kami pagtagpuin ng tadhana. The day they will do the Idol tour concert in LA, yun yung araw ng pag-alis ko papuntang Washington. The day they will do the concert in San Jose, ala pa din ako dun, parang a day or two days bago ako dumating sila pupunta dun … ano na???? Hay … dead ang plano kong makapanood ng Idol concert tour … hahaha … all for the sake of David Cook (Go Cookies! Go Word Nerds!).
Nagugutom ako … teka, kanina we ate sa Crazy lobster sa may Mississippi River. Sarap!!! Kaloka ang seafood dito! Sarap nung soft shell crab (tita asela!!!!! Super namiss kita bigla … buti na lang may Claritin akong baon, just in case). I ate Cajun crawfish etouffee (tama ba spelling ko? Basta its pronounced as EH – TU – FEY – sosyal!) sarap sya! =)
Nagugutom pa din ako … buksan ko kaya ang cookies na baon ni m’ed?? Hehehehe … sabi ko pa naman kanina hindi ako gutom … need … to … sleep … na….. may convention chorvaloo pa kami tomorrow. Buti na lang late na ang start.
Day 1 ends with aching feet, a plateful of crawfish with spicy sauce and rice and the ever expensive 1 liter of water … will enjoy the goose down feather pillows now … sleep beckons … blag … zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz …..
