this is the life

december 12, 2003
4:00 p.m.

first time flyer.

my friend found the fact astounding. yes, it is my first time to fly. in an airplane, that is. i am no stranger to choppers. i've been riding in them for as long as i can remember. but planes, never.

living in baguio has its downside. it was so easy for us to just hop into a car and travel. and even when i first went to tacloban, i was unfortunate enough to have a ride a bus. we were to attend the national secondary schools press conference. our school didn't have the budget so we travelled economy. literally. in a bus. baguio-manila-tacloban. my butt was totally numb when i got to the barge. still, it was a fun experience.

so my only chance to ride a plane was thwarted. and i've been grounded since then.

i'm excited. i have come to the conclusion that i like airports. they're pretty nice places to be in.

and flying has always held its fascination. i've been trying to think up happy thoughts, but i've stayed on the ground. so a plane is the next best thing. plus riding a horse at top speed, of course.

got to the airport early. when i was checking my baggage in, the guy simply said, overweight.

what? are you saying i'm fat???? but i didn't say that, of course. i thought it, though. i simply pulled out my wallet but he didn't ask me to pay. he was simply having fun at my expense pala. the baggage was well within limits. my forehead must have said "first time flyer." he made up for it, though, because he gave me a window seat without my asking.

on to the lounge. am typing this while sitting in the lounge.

my laptop's battery is almost drained. will continue after the flight.


~~~~~~~

i flew. or rather, i rode a plane. i was a little apprehensive and i felt mild claustrophobia, mainly because the guy beside me was really big. and my jacket was restraining me somewhat.

the captain announced that we were about to takeoff. and i must say, i like takeoff. :D it was fun, leaving the ground.

soon we were 33.000 feet above the ground. the rest of the trip was uneventful. the stewardess gave us newspapers to read, and some snacks with foreign characters on them. the trip was okay. just like a bus ride. except less bumpy.

i liked landing too. my stomach got left behind somewhere around 19000 feet but that was okay. i didn't mind.

all in all, an okay first flight. except my feet felt funny.


december 14, 2003
6:46 pm


yesterday i had my first boat ride. it wasn't your regular boat. it was the supercat. like a bus. rode from cebu to ormoc. it took almost 3 hours, including a short stop in the middle of the sea. then a 30 minute drive to visca, baybay, leyte.

i am now at my friend's house. her mom is the president of leyte state university (lsu) and they live in the presidential house located on campus. it is an old house. i have fallen in love with it already. the house is about 30 paces from the beach. there's a veranda and a lawn out front with a huge tree (i haven't asked what kind it is, though). it has parquet floors and a panelled ceiling. sigh. old house.


just arrived from tacloban where i held hands with macarthur and had my picture taken while on san juanico bridge, the connecting bridge between leyte and samar. i know, i know. i look huge beside it.

visited an old church in baybay, too. really nice. except they were playing the gregorian chant version of stairway to heaven in between masses, blaring from the speakers near the bell tower.


oh. will continue this later. dinner and a massage daw. how can i resist?


december 15, 2003
12:43 pm

where was i? oh. got a massage and promptly fell asleep after.

went jogging this morning. ran on the beach. it's got a lot of stones, but the water is so clear it more than makes up for the lack of sand. from the beach i went around campus, almost got lost, but got home fine.

then we went swimming after breakfast. there are no waves, and the water moves just enough to lull you to sleep. my friend's mom had the area declared as a fish sanctuary so it's illegal to fish there. the fish swim near the shore and i saw one or two of them actually jumping out of the water about 2 meters from the shoreline.

when i went into the water it was so clear i could see my feet even though it was a little over five feet deep. and there was a cute fish with a blue nose swimming near me. you could see my smile from a mile away.

good thing about the beach, too, is that it was deserted. ditched my shirt and swam in my tank top and shorts. and nobody was there to yell "whale!!!" ah. bliss.

wish i could've gone to school here.

anyways, more of that later. i might yet get to take my masters here.