Off the land of thousands islands again...

My flight was delayed which was going to cause me to miss my connecting flight to Tokyo. It also cost me a day of vacation and hotel room for the day. After being rerouted on a flight 14 hours later in LA then to Hong Kong, I finally arrived in Manila. It was around noon by the time I got my luggage and made it through entry and customs. I grabbed a white and head to my hotel.

I should probably confess at this point that the reason for this trip was to meet up with my girlfriend Pam and get introduced to her family. We had kind of kept things under wraps but it was time for us to announce it to all of our family members and friends. We are planning on making this a permanent relationship.

Anyways, Pam was coming down from Angeles City to join me. I arrived at Best Western La Corona expecting her to already be there since she left for the bus as I was boarding the plane in Hong Kong. She wasn't there yet, so I got checked in and went up to the room. As I opened the door the phone rang. Pam had arrived. Excellent timing.

There was a J. Co Donuts just down the street so we decided on a little treat for the afternoon. A six pack of mixed donuts and ice coffee. I must tell you the hype of this place is for real. One of the best donuts I have ever tasted.

J. Co Donuts

 As the evening came it was time for dinner. We ended up at a rather unique resto/bart called The Hobbit House. I actually planned this out because of the outstanding beer selection they have from around the world, mainly Europe. But Pam doesn't shy away from a drink now and then either. The entire establishment is themed in the style of JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. And the place is ran by litttle people. The beer selection was great for the Philippines and the food was plentiful. We got stuffed. It was also open talent night so we were entertained by several musicians.

Hobbit House

After a couple of hours we left and went back the hotel for the night. I was rather exhausted from my crazy travel schedule and had not hardly slept in several days.

The next morning we had the buffet with many choices, packed, and left for the bus stop. La Corona was a nice hotel for the right price and in a good area of town. If I ever need to spend time at the US Embassy or want to check out this part of Manila in more detail , which is what I wanted to do originally before my delay because of all the parks and museums in the area, then I would stay here again.

We had a two hour bus ride to Angeles City then jumped on a jeepney from terminals in Malacabat to Walking Street, where we grabbed a trike to take us to Elyseah Condotel. We decided on this place because of the price and it's an apartment style hotel with a small kitchen/dining area. Since this whole trip was sort of not planned in my budget, we were trying to save money. Figured cooking a few of our own meals would help. Plus a studio style apartment is better than a congested hotel room. The pool is also kick ass! We ended up really enjoying this place. We will try to stay here again. It's a hotel with limited rooms and it always seemed to be full.

Elyseah Condotel

After getting checked in and chatting with the owner for awhile we decided to walk to SM Clark Mall for supplies. Another bonus of the hotel is the mall being a five minute walk away. Pam and myself grabbed some lunch, walked around in the AC as it is super hot and humid this time of year in the PI, and went shopping. We cooked a nice dinner then watched a little television before falling to sleep early like an old couple.

Truth be told, I was a tad nervous as the next day I would meet her immediate family. Her mother, her two older brothers with wives and kids, and her older sister with husband and kids. Pam thought going to a water park would be a great idea and something the whole family would enjoy. They all rearranged their work schedules to come spend the day.

We went to Villa Alfredo's for the day. Pam's brother Asper and wife Rochelle (and son) picked us up at the hotel. We waited for her brother Spencer and Irene's family, her sister Lany and husband Marvin's family, and her mother Mel to arrive (I wont attempt the nieces and nephews names... though I believe that I name them all with ease). I paid for the gazebo and the family brought a feast of food. We spent some time getting to know each other and eating. Then the kids excitedly went out to the one of several different pools.  Pam and me walked around for awhile to check out the animals, fish, the banzai trees, look at all the different pools, and have ice cream.

The Big Wave Pool

Did I mention how hot it is during the Philippine summer. I was a sweat box. So eventually we got into The Big Wave pool near our gazebo. Most of her family was already enjoying it. The Big Wave pool simulated ocean waves once every 90 minutes. It's a fun time and I stuck out as a mismatch. Bright white skin from being covered all winter long in a seas of colorful brown Filipino skin. One old guy was poking friendly jabs at me.

After battling the waves most of us went back to rest and eat some food. The kids wanted one more go at the water before leaving. I sat and talked to Mama Mel for a bit as myself and the ladies started cleaning up the gazebo. Around five, it was time to leave. The family said goodbye and thanked me for the great day. To which I thanked them all back. Asper took us back to the condotel. And battled tremendous traffic on the way there and even worse on his way home.


Pam has a close family who spends much time together. I was honored to be a part and accepted into the fold as I will be seeing much more of them all in the years to come.


The next morning we decided to go to Magalang, which is where Pam lives along with Spencer's family. She wanted to show me her house, Asper's business OneTrueSolutions, and go the local tiangge or bizarre/market since it is right down the street from One True Solutions. Off on a jeepney we went.

The market has lots of seasfood, fruits, and vegetables as well as many clothes and supplies. It is table after table and stall after stall for blocks. It happens every Saturday and is a cool thing to witness and walk through. And you can find great deals. Dont forgot to haggle!

Afterwards we spent some time with Asper and Rochelle. Then decided to head to her home. We jumped another jeepney to get close. Irene and the kids were home. Her and Pam made lunch and we spent some time there before heading back to the city. We decided to stop at Marquee Mall to waste some time and get out of the heat for a couple of hours. We got back to the condotel and relaxed in the pool for awhile. We decided to have a lazy night watching movies and eat the remaining food we had left in the fridge.

The next day we were heading back to Manila. It was my last day of a short trip. Pam asked me if her best friend Jen could come and join us for the day. I didn't care so we met her at the bus terminal and caught a bus to Manila. This time I wanted to stay in the Makati area. A lot of this area seemed to be much nicer and cleaner. Maybe because it's in the middle of the business district. It's known as a party district too with lots of bars. We got to the Makati Palace Hotel and luckily a room was ready for us. We decided to go to the Greenbelt Mall to walk around and eat lunch. Part of it is an upscale mall with several different buildings. The other part of it is a normal mall.

view from Makati Palace Hotel

 After a few hours we went back to the hotel and hung out for a bit before Jen had to leave and get back to Angeles. Jen gave me a gift. Two pairs of hand knitted socks. They are very comfortable.

At some point during the afternoon I started to feel not so good. I went to the 7-11 across the street in hopes of finding meds. Success! To my dismay though, it did not help. I laid on the bed sweating and not able to cool down. I must have been running a fever. On both of my trips to Philippines these same symptoms have happened. As much as I wanted to go out and explore the area and treat Pam to a nice resto meal, we laid bed all night while I was ill. And ordered room service which was decent.

The next morning I still did not feel great but it was time to go. We grabbed a cab and headed to the airport. I waited and delayed as long as could as me and Pam stood outside the entry both not wanting to leave each or say goodbye. She watched as I walked inside the airport and she left in a cab for the bus terminal. After I got through the long lines of ticketing and existing, we were able to chat via facbook as we normally do while I waited to board.

It was another long flight back to the US and I could not shake this cold and was out of medicine. I landed in Chicago and got through customs in decent time. While I walked around O'Hare like a zombie it started snowing. Hard. My immediate thought, due to all the other troubles I had the week before, was my flight better not be canceled. I found the arrival/departure board. My flight was canceled.

I was steamed. Both flights back to Fort Wayne that night were canceled. I found a booth and asked the attendant what was happening. I was rebooked for 9am flight the next day. It was 6pm. My choices were to battle Chicago traffic and snow and drive back, if I could get a rental car, which would out me home maybe around midnight or get a hotel and 1/2 off voucher from the airline. As angry as I was, the hotel won out. Only because I was exhausted and the cold was kicking my ass. And I could not get my luggage because it was in being stored until the next day.

I managed to get one to the hotels listed on the voucher and catch their shuttle. Roads were getting back. I would have rather been home but staying over was the correct call. I grabbed meds and food then headed to my room. I called work to inform my manager of the situation. A long, hot shower later and I was off to sleep in a comfy bed.

The next morning, I got up early and put on my dirty clothes. Off to the airport I went for the usual process. Much to my surprise the flight landed and took off on time. I arrived back in Fort Wayne around noon and headed home. Finally.

Now I get to battle with American Airlines about all the delays and cancellations and broke luggage which occurred on my travel. But that's a different post...






Observation of An Illogical mind by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.seankimmel.com.
Please feel free to share the link but contact me for any other uses or publication. Thanks.

Wrestling Time In The Big Easy

My yearly excursion to hang out with friends and watch some wrestling landed all of us New Orleans. The place where I spent nearly three weeks working around Mardi Gras. The excitement for the city had rubbed off for me but not the joy of hanging out with a group of people I see on limited basis throughout the year.

The trip started out as the worst flying experience of my life. The benefits of a small, regional airport are quick check in and security. You can arrive about 45 minutes before you plan boards and be golden. The downfall of a small, regional airport with limited flights is when things start getting bad and canceled, then you are stuck.

I arrived about an hour before my flight to Dallas was suppose to take off and it was immediately delayed. As we waited, there was an emergency landing for a plane going from Columbus, OH to Chicago that landed and got canceled due to mechanical trouble. A flight to Atlanta was canceled due to mechanical failure. My plane finally arrived and was delayed longer due to mechanical issues. Another flight to Chicago was canceled because of the storms. Finally my plane was canceled. The fourth flight in under an hour. I go to stand in line. And I know that I am not leaving Fort Wayne this night. And I am correct. I get rebooked on the next flight to Dallas, 24 hours from now. I lose tickets to a wrestling show and my share of a hotel room for the night. Not to mention a wasted vacation day. I get home and email American Airlines Customer Service department.

The next day, I head out to the airport once again. Upon arrival my flight is already delayed and will cause me to miss my connecting flight in Dallas. The earliest flight I can get on to New Orleans will arrive at 11pm. I will miss another wrestling show. I think about canceling the trip all together. I make some calls and it's simple not feasible. Mainly because I am flying to the Philippines directly after New Orleans. So I wait and get to Dallas and wait more. In all about 8 hours sitting around the airport. However I am able to get on a flight which arrives at 9:30pm. However, my luggage will not arrive until my original flight. When I finally land in NOLA, I make arrangements for my luggage to be delivered. The airline says it will arrive by 6am. Great, I have no change of clothes in my backpack or essentials until then. I head out to the hotel. Maybe a hot shower and a cold beer will help.

I am miserable. I am tired. I am angry. And all my friends are at the wrestling show. I get to the hotel and get my room key, a room which I am sharing with four other people. I open the door and an immediate funk hits my nostrils. Then the light reveals a whole different disaster. This room has been trashed and smells like cat. I am confused. I open the bathroom door to urinate and see the serving tray with kitty litter spread all over it (complete with cat turds) and cat hair surrounding the shower drain. Baffled, I walk out and see open cans of cat food surrounding the TV and dry cat food sprinkled in a trail along the edge of the floor. And there are clothes thrown all over.

I am raging. I throw my backpack in the closet and head out of the hotel to go find drink and food in an attempt to calm down. I text my friend Jeff and ask what hell is going on. The room is a wreck and I cannot sleep in there because of allergies. He says one of the other guys, Paul, let an independent wrestler stay in the room since I could not make it. I really want to reveal his name as he is a veteran and from a fairly famous wrestling family. But I wont... (unless you ask me then I will say it's Teddy). Apparently the guys knew nothing of this wreckage as they left at noon and the wrestler was going to leave shortly after. However Paul, who let the wrestler and his girlfriend stay, should have turned him away once a cat showed up in the mix. The wrestler took advantage of the situation and Paul should have said sorry other guys paid for this room. But none of that happened.

They get back from the show and started cleaning up the room while I sat at bar across the street with some other friends who showed. Paul came in and said things are cleaned up the best we can and house keeping can tidy up in the morning. It's as good as it's gonna get tonight. So we all drink. Around 1:30am, Paul gets a call and goes to meet the wrestler so he can pick up his things. He asks if I want to go and to which I laugh. Currently I am feeling better, but I might punch the guy if he crossed my path. They get back and we drink more. People start fading out. About 3:30am, it's time to try for some sleep. Jeff and myself head back to room and we find Paul asleep. The fourth guy who is sharing the room is nowhere to be found. My luggage still hasn't arrived so I decide to wait for it. I open the closet to get my backpack and it's gone. My calming mood goes into instant anger. I yell at Paul and say did the wrestler take my backpack. He's drunk and doesn't know and says I will get it tomorrow. I say no, we will get it now. My money, my electronics, my camera, and my passport is in the bag. He grumbles and makes a call to get the hotel address. Jeff says we are taking your rental car Paul. And we head out to retrieve my items at a hotel on the north side of NOLA. We get my backpack and all its belongings and get back to our hotel about 4:45am. My luggage has arrived. Only I find out a wheel has been snapped and I cant wheel it around and the handle is bent and wont extend. This is the second time the suitcase has been used.

I'm tired and just want this day to end. I get to the stinking room, take a hot shower, and crawl into bed about 5:30am.

I wake up around 9:30am and cant take the smell any longer. I change and go the lobby and wait around. I met up with friends for breakfast at the NOLA institution The Ruby Slipper Cafe. There are some decadent meals here but I went basic and simple. Decided to spend the day walking around with people and checking out the area. We took a ferry across the river to see a historic part of town. Then came back and walked through the French Quarter, complete with a stop at Cafe Beignet. We went up to St. Louis Cemetery, unfortunately it was closed, and back down for a stroll down Bourbon Street for a beer before deciding it was enough.

Some people in the group decided to go the wrestling shows. I did not as none of the shows for the night, neither Ring of Honor or Dragon Gate USA, really interested me. Instead I went to Barcadia for a buger and beers. Some people joined me shortly afterwards.

After a couple hours, our friend Greg was hosting a gathering so that's where I went. There was still a few people I had not seen yet due to my late arrival and wandering around all day. Spent a couple of hours sipping drinks and hanging out with group of good people and catching up. Eventually it was time for bed.

I got back to the room and it had not been cleaned. One of the guys forgot to hit the "please make room" button. So I try to sleep for a few hours. One again I wake up early and walk out the room.

Sunday was going to be a lazy, wasted day. I had planned on watching Wrestlemania in room. I walked around and had brunch with friends. As people left for the show, I got a call from Larry. He said to get over to Greg's room ASAP. He has a ticket for you. Now I really did not want to go but I hate turning down nice gestures from friends. So I got to the room and Greg asked if I wanted to sit in the skybox with him, Larry, and Jon. It was his treat. Again, how could I say no. And we headed out to Wrestlemania XXX.

 

Deciding to take Greg up on his offer turned out to be a great decision. Not only was Mania one of the best of all time and had many, many great moments but how often will I ever set in a skybox with free food and booze. Plus it's always great watching shows with Greg, Larry, and Jon.

We walked back towards the hotel and I started the usual goodbyes with everyone and making the round as I was heading the to the Philippines in the morning. After a few hours of sleep, I headed out early in the morning to catch my flight.

And naturally, as every flight on this trip, it was delayed...
(to be continued)

Observation of An Illogical mind by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.seankimmel.com.
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Work and Mardi Gras...NOLA Bound!

I had a chance to go back to the city of New Orleans and work back in March. I had not been there in several years, pre hurricane actually, and was rather excited about going back. What I was not excited about was driving a box truck down there from Indiana and all the hassles that go with a truck. Not to mention we had back to back events right in the middle of Mardi Gras. It created so many extra headaches and delays. My frustration level was at a very high level.

I did notice on this trip that the city was cleaner than I remember. And there were a lot less panhandlers. Both are good things. But for Mardi Gras time, it seemed rather tame compared to what I have witness in the past. Though it was very cold and rainy most of the week and I did the majority of my drinking during the day on my down time and far away from the French Quarter where I was working. However, if people want to expose themselves to the populous for cheap beads then I say let 'em. I will always take a look at boobs.

view from my room at Roosevelt Hotel

The first work week was at the historic Roosevelt Hotel, which is just a couple of blocks from Bourbon street. It was a long week for the two man crew. But we, as always, preserved and made the client happy with the AV portion of the event.  I love the architecture of this hotel, but it a pain in the ass to work in for a conference. And the capper of it was the last night, after we loaded the truck and was ready to drive it back to the convention center parking area, the streets were shut down due to the parade. It was after 1am before I was able to move the box truck.

I had a few days off before the next event moved in. Unfortunately I could not find any reasonable hotels downtown being the big weekend before Mardi Gras. I reserved a room up in Metarie and stayed there for the weekend. I did make a trip to the French Quarter on Saturday to met up with a friend who came into town for the weekend. Nothing like drinking at 9am! When you are hitting up the Absinthe Bar before noon, you know it will be an interesting day.

My friend Burke had never been to NOLA. So we walked around, drank, and ate all day. Caught a part of parade too. But as more people flocked around and darkness neared, I felt it was time for me to head back north to my hotel.

During these down days I managed to make it to some unique spots like the Avenue Pub (a famous craft beer bar), Stein's Market & Deli (great deli sammys & very good bottled beer selection), Jackson Square, all around the French Quarter popping in and out of bars.

one of the daily parades

 The second week saw us down at the Riverside Hilton. So much easier to have the truck on site and not have to fight through traffic. Especially since load in was on Fat Tuesday. Again, another long week but successful event. Even managed to get out the hotel a couple of nights to find some more eateries. Happy clients are great for business but even more than that our company (I can say that because Markey's is now employee owned) wants to form partnerships with every one we work for. Enough of the business plug.

I've always loved Creole style cooking and ate plenty of it on this trip. Now we had to take another off day in order drive back to Indiana. We camped out in Slidell at a hotel and did not do much of anything. The journey home was long and eventually filled with snow. I am hating this winter.

the muddy waters of the Mississippi

New Orleans is a fascinating and unique city in America. A person is bound to be charmed by what it has to offer. If only I could have spend a little more time exploring. Guess it's a good thing I will heading back next month for Wrestlemania.





Observation of An Illogical mind by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.seankimmel.com.
Please feel free to share the link but contact me for any other uses or publication. Thanks.

San Diego Sunshine!

Back in January I had the opprotunity to out to San Diego and work for a week. This was second trip out there. And though I have yet to really explore outside the Gaslamp District, this one of my favorite cities. A place I would move to if the right opprotunity presented itself. In the meantime, send me here to work often. Especially in the winter months.

My time spent here consited of a lot of long days. However I did manage to get out and enjoy some great food and beers in the area.

The Local Eatery and Pub - Good food and nice beer selection. A friendly bartender made it a point for a little conversation even though the place was packed.

Neighborhood - An awesome selection (including Pliny the Elder on tap) and gret atomosphere. The place filled up quickly and I am glad to have found a spot nestled up at the bar.

Hopping Pig Gastro Pub - Extremely good food and another place with a great selection of craft beer

So that was basically my wrap up to San Diego this time around. Soon I am going to take a real vacation out there to explore.





Observation of An Illogical mind by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.seankimmel.com.
Please feel free to share the link but contact me for any other uses or publication. Thanks.

My Filipino Tour: Manila (again)

We had a two hour, basicly non-stop ride to the bus terminal in Manila. We drove right through the heart of Quezon City and Manila where I really able to view this large and populated city.

We got dropped off a few blocks from our accomodations for the evening, The Heritage Hotel. I had to lug my big ass suitcase down the sidewalk and up the over pass. It was a pain in the ass.

Upon arrival we were lucky they had a room ready. It was on noon. We had trouble deciding on how to spend the afternoon. I was very indecisive and not feeling well. And P didn't really care what we did. So we ended up back at the SM Mall of Asia for lunch at a Japanese Tempura restaurant. We walked around and then went back to the hotel.

A cople of hours later decided to go to the Global Beer Exchange. A neat little shop that serves and sells craft beers from the Philippines, which has a small but budding scene, and other craft from around the globe. It was a neat little place. I tried a local Fat Pauly's Pale Ale, a Hitachino from Japan, and grabbed a local brew to bring home.

With my beer craving content, we walked around and found a place to eat dinner. Another good meal consisting of sising. Then it was back to the hotel.
 
Early morning came and we jumped in a taxi. P wanted to come with me to the airport. I was dropped off at Terminal 2. We said our goodbyes and P left for the bus terminal. I breezed through security. Take note, there is a 550P exit fee to leave the country. About an hour later, I was on my full flight to Tokyo.

I had a five hour Layover in Japan. I walked away the terminal mindless for a couple of hours. Then waited. Eventually board the very packed plane for a twelve hour flight to Dallas. A very angry baby cried almost the entire trip. My headphones could not drown out the noise. Poor kid.

After landing in Dallas it took about an hour to get through Customs. Not bad really as I expected longer. I had a couple of hour layover so I grabbed food and a beer. Eventually boarded my plane for Fort Wayne. A couple of hours later we landed. I grabbed my luggage and drove home.

I was exhausted.

I was happy, for more than one reason, about my trip.





Observation of An Illogical mind by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.seankimmel.com.
Please feel free to share the link but contact me for any other uses or publication. Thanks.