Text Messages

Call me anal. actually don't. but i hate text messages that are gramatically incorrect or use abbreviations or single letters. Why do people write "u" or "y" when two more buttons gives you the right word? I'm also a big fan of using periods and spaces after those periods. Otherwise, these texts rarely make any space. A recent text message (from whom I won't reveal for sake of embarassment): "See u in fv next time mon" What does this text mean? Did he just develop a Jamaican accent and call me "mon"? Or did he mean Monday? There are so many questions after each text. I guess the best question would be, "why not just call me instead?"

Happy Mother's Day

 
Happy Mother's Day to everyone. Actually I don't technically have any friends who read this blog and are mothers, but nonetheless Happy Mother's Day. I've spent almost five weeks with my mother in another country and I still don't get sick of her. I can't say that about most people (i.e Carrot Top, Sean Hannity, Ravi Dehar).

Picasa

 

I don't know why I never learned about Picasa earlier. It's an amazing tool (much better than iPhoto) that allows me to tinker with my photos, blog, make movies, share, and organize. Although I would like a Facebook tool, Picasa is still pretty awesome. I just spent hours playing with these photos. Here's one of my favorites.

What is 5-Star?

I never thought that I'd stay in a 5-star hotel. The nicest place that i've stayed in has been at the MGM Grand at Las Vegas, where they don't utilize the "star system." So I can't really say what is or isn't 5 stars. But when I was told that we would be staying at five star hotels in China, I was ecstatic for a few minutes only to be disappointed when we arrived. The Sheraton in Xi-an, supposedly 5 stars, reminds me of a Howard Johnson. Not that I'm putting down Howard Johnson (I stayed there one night in San Francisco and showered with a roach...twice), but if this is considered 5 star by China standards, never stay in a 3 star hotel. The beds sheets reek of cigarette smoke, the carpets are stained, cups aren't clean, mildew on the showers, and $10/hr for the internet. Although I will say that there is a woman that stands in front of the elevator and she stays there from morning to night. I guess that's where my $10 is going.

Macau aka Asia's Las Vegas

When my dad told me that we'd be taking a 80 minute ferry ride to visit Macau, I immediately responded with, "What is there to see in Macau?" It was an honest question given that we would have to travel on a boat (I hate the sea) and that I really wanted to watch the new X-Men movie which came out three days earlier than in the states. He replied, "Oh there are some nice buildings and good food." I'm a sucker for good food so I went with him and endured the rocky waters. As soon as we docked, I immediately spotted Casinos galore and felt I was transported to a Las Vegas removed from the desert and placed right in Asia. The similarities are striking. The Venetian Macao carries the same architecture including those Grand Canal shoppes and Gondolas that no one ever rides. The Wynn Macau has the same bronze building only much smaller with a waterfall entrance that reminded me more of the Grove than the Bellagio. Here, people like to smoke (The Duty free Tobacco store was the only store with a line) and play baccarat. I can completely understand, because that's my dad. Only, he removes the hair from his moles. (I still don't get it)

Hong Kong

I've been to HK before, but that was before I saw "The Dark Knight" on IMAX and wanted to revisit the city. I have to say that I'm pretty impressed with this place. Imagine NYC but cleaner and more organized. Of course, there are lots of people here and there are many questions I have (why is their pinky fingernail so long? why don't they cut the hair growing out of their moles? why does it always smell like Fried Chicken and noodles?). But in the end, I have a great appreciation of this city for the cleanliness and sheer beauty of the city. Skyscrapers aren't just big here, but beautiful and great to look at. The skyline is not smog-ridden nor is the Subway system a waste dump. There is energy in this place and I appreciate every minute.

The Metric System

The metric system confuses me. I don't understand it and spend too many minutes doing the conversion in my head. When we here heading back to Manilla from Bacquiao in the countryside, the highway sign said "450 km." After the sign, I started beginning the conversion in my head. 1 meter is three feet, there are 5280 ft in a mile, and there are 1000 meters in a km. By the time, i had finished the conversion there was another sign that said "420 km." I kinda gave up because my conversion was wrong. The gym, the highway, and the grocery store all use the international metric system. I hate it and reminds me of how much I love America.

Jollibee

The best fast food restaurants have a limited menu. For example, In-N-Out Burger has at the most five things on its menu, three of which are burgers. Of course, there is the secret menu but let's pretend that it doesn't exist for this discourse. In the Philippines, Jollibee is the King. Taking a page out of the In-N-Out Book, Jollibee has only five things on its menu: Burger, Cheeseburger, Spaghetti, Pancit Palabok, and Fried Chicken. That's it and although we have one in Los Angeles, I only first tried this place when I was starving and in the food court at the mall near our hotel. I decided to try the Fried Chicken (of course) with my mom having the pancit palabok. My dad was sleeping already (he likes to do that a lot here...his excuse is that it's too hot to go outside). The 3 piece chicken meal comes with steamed rice and a side of gravy and your choice of soda. The entire cost of the meal, including my mom's pancit palabok and a side of fries, was about 220 pesos which is the equivalent of about 4 dollars. And despite the price, the food wasn't that bad. There was a minor after-taste, but i'll ignore that if it means saving five bucks and not going to KFC...again.

Back in the PI

Tagalog is a difficult language. Instead of putting together a subject and verb like in the English language, Tagalog is composed of phrases and words that have double meanings. I'd like to think that I'm capable of "hangin' with the locals" and of surviving in the Philippines on my own. And I am capable of surviving, primarily because everyone here already speaks English. English is a required language in grade school and used in all of the news reports and television shows. When I went to the mall to watch "Fast and Furious," everyone from the box office to the concessions knew English. (Movies cost only 3 dollars, with unlimited popcorn at one dollar, and the theaters have reserved seating) I do know Tagalog and occasionally I'll throw out a "salamat" or "mabuhay" to maintain dignity. But if push comes to shove, I'll just say "thanks" and move on.

China-Day 9 thru 11

These days were the most uneventful of the entire trip. We have been on a cruise of the Yangtze River and it has been extremely foggy that we haven't been able to see anything on this trip. The entire cruise has been leading up to a visit to the Three Gorges Dam Project, a 28 billion dollar venture to create an electric infrastructure in China. It's a nice sight if it wasn't so foggy. I think that I saw the Dam but I had to constantly refer to a picture and imagine what it would look like without the Dam Fog (get it). It's one more day in Xiamen and then return to the Philippines. My stomach is holding up well but I really miss my HD television at home as well as a Taco or Burrito from Chipotle.