it's 4:07 pm and am still at the o'hare airport.

my american airlines flight to LAX has been delayed for an hour due to faucet leak at 2 lavatories. it's a 4 hour-flight and i wonder whether it would be better that they simply fly the plane even with 2 closed lavatories as there are 2 others that are working anyway. i don't know. am just pissed because we had to deplane and bring out our carry on bags once again.

am supposed to meet up with my sister's husband at the LAX for dinner since my layover at the airport for my connecting flight to manila was 5 hours (now shorter). let's see whether it would still be wise for us to meet up considering that this faucet fixing is taking forever.

AM GOING HOME!

in 30 hours i will be in flight.
the traveling, including the waiting at airports, would be for over 24 hours.
it will be draining, i know. but at least i'm comin' home.

loved my stay here with family. loved that we re-bonded with cousins, most especially. will miss cheka and the boys.

but am going home to papa, my sister, and the 2 girls. and to my badminton boys. i surely hope i still know how to play after 1 month.

one thing i learned here how to do and enjoy best: drinking. ok, anybody up for a drink?

see you.

failed to post about downtown boston while i was in boston.

went on a ducktour with M, B's sister who drove all the way from hartford, connecticut. she was super nice to do that and spend the whole day with me. we went on a city tour on an amphibious vehicle that brought us boating on the very pretty charles river.





we saw the old buildings of boston. that city had a lot of history. there are buildings that have been preserved in their old condition, save for an airconditioner that butts out through the wall.





the trinity church:



we also walked along the fancy newbury street where victorian houses were converted into shops with pretty window displays.




we tried watching a baseball game at fenway park but the ticket booths were closed at the time we tried to get tickets. oh well.
photo op na lang.



after downtown boston, M and i went to the acquarium area and had a perfect lunch at legal sea foods. of course i had the authentic boston meal, the clam chowder and lobster. legal sea foods' clam chowder has allegedly been served at all the past 7 inaugurals of the president of the united states.







after a day of walking and exploring downtown and cambridge, M and i went to a local pub somewhere near harvard square and drank, surrounded by locals, students, professors, beautiful and bright people.

the 21 year old and up issue

last night we went to this cuban resto in DC where it was salsa night. it was my fault and i should've brought my wallet, but decided against it due to kikay reasons. my black purse could only accommodate so much and the wallet had to be left behind. ergo, no ID. no ID, no entry.

so we explained that i was visiting, i left my wallet etc etc. the cuban dude called the manager who told me i should be out of the resto by 10 pm and that i must not drink alcohol. of course we agreed and got inside. a little later they put a wrist band on me, a tag that i was not allowed to drink. i told them i'm way old but they said it was the law, and they were just following it. while the cuban guy put the wristband on me, i kidded him that i might as well order hot milk. he didn't say anything. i then said that i should have some candies displayed on the counter. tigas ng ulo.

so we had dinner, and watched as some of the asians danced with the whites. my friend j told me that the asians in DC are mostly educated ones, and that they are considered "hot". she's asian yet her hubby won't benefit from the "prestige" of marrying an asian because he himself is pinoy. funny.

later on we transferred to a bar that was in an apartment. we came prepared this time. j gave me her driver's license as she had another ID. it didn't matter that her photo was on the card, the door-guy only had to turn on his pinlight on the date of birth written on the card. c said that all they check is whether the card is a fake or not; it allegedly doesn't matter whether your ID had the right identity, photo, birthdate. all that matters is that it looks legit.

here we are, 4 law school classmates thousands of miles away from Diliman:



here i was drinking my margarita, and then i was complaining that j was so slow in taking my photo:





with c, the harvard kid and world bank hotshot:



with j, same description as c's:



and finally, with j, one of my bestest friends in class and mother of ellyce. that, by itself, is worth more than a million dollars.



i know about the blouse. don't tell me.

Stop: Washington, DC

Am now in Virginia, just arrived at my good friends and classmates' conjugal home. I also visited them in September '06.

Will soon be going out to have dinner with the couple and our other classmate, who also works in World Bank. I should post here our photo from 06 and the one i will take tonight.

I just gotta say, the flight coming here was a scary one. Bad trip, literally. The plastic cups were flying off from the turbulence. And the pilot never addressed us to let us know what was happening. 20 minutes before landing, the pilot said we had to prepare for landing. It took forever for the plane to reach the ground. I had wondered whether i was going to go that way. And in my "dying" moments, I burrowed into my heart and came up with the truth, so accurate that the prospect of death did not even make me want to do a wager with Him.

But really, salamat God ha? i absolutely didn't want to go that way.

may 20th - arrived in boston. explored harvard in the afternoon.

while other tourists had an "unofficial" guide with them (unofficial harvard tours dot com), i had the best guide who gave me inside access. my guide is my classmates' friend who is now teaching at harvard.



at one point i pretended to be a "prospective" student who was then allowed to get inside the Widener library. another time, my guide swiped his card to get inside the law school library and we both entered the room at the same time.

i saw the moot court, the classrooms. the harvard yard, the statue of 3 lies. no, i did not rub john harvard's toe. because i had been forwarned.






the lady up there: that ain't me.

eto ko. see john harvard in the backround.



this is the harvard law school:




when i was inside the library sorrounded by books and students quietly studying, as if in prayer, that old feeling came. that feeling of being important, of wanting to do something difficult and achieving something extraordinary that not everybody can do. i was inside the most prestigious law school in the United States, and i wanted to get in. As in "in".

i know, i know. am just too lazy to write.

but this morning, i had an "i love chicago mornings" moment. i got up while everybody was still asleep (everybody = cousin and her daughter. her hubby already left and my mother and sister slept at my aunt's house last night).

i made coffee, and cooked.

did you know i used to cook when i was in college (read: when i had the time)? i could cook and i cooked pretty good food.

this morning i looked into my cousin's ref and found smoked sausage, onions and pepper. since we have ciabatta bread, it seemed like a good idea to saute the sausage, garlic and the veggies in olive oil.

so i did:



and the product:



it was pretty good. i had ciabatta and fried egg and coffee for breakfast. it was nice, only i ate alone.

later in the afternoon, the family went to the mall and ended up eating at this resto that had a rainforest/jungle theme. highlight for me was this:



notice? ate is smiling in that photo.




this is me and mama posing at the jersey boys poster:



other photos of cousins and the kids:





there are other photos i want to post. next time.

today started off okay. ate jeng and i slept in the same bed while mama slept in the other. i woke at 630, had a good breakfast and went to the grocery with uncle tony. as usual, it was freezing this morning. i was thankful for my trusty leather trenchcoat (the one i got in australia) and the scarf that papa gave years and years ago.

when we returned home we found abby's boys john-john and francis who were obviously very happy to be home with their mommy. we went to michigan lake with the boys where it was even colder. it was fun to be out on a sunny but windy and chilly day and see the boys running around... i realized at that point how it was so MUCH easier to take care of little girls. the girls don't run around as much. i worry about the boys tripping over.

sometime in the afternoon the boys were getting ready to leave. the eldest started crying and the other tried his best not to. then later on my sister came in the room, crying as well. i thought she felt sorry for the boys. it turned out john-john asked my sister "where's your baby?" and she had no choice but to tell him that she was in heaven. being a child, he asked again "did she die?"

since my sister was crying, my mother started to cry too. we were the only 3 in the room and i started to feel really really uncomfortable. i asked for a phone card and called B, whom i knew was up at 630 in the morning.

tonight at nette's place, we had frozen margarita. i've so far had 3 glasses and i'm not buzzed yet. but we're all very sleepy now and have decided to sleep.

today was not a very good day. maybe tomorrow.

now that the conference is over and i have my laptop back (it was used to play some promotional ad for the philippine conference in '09), i can now write about my trip.

but just like in that story where a group of dumb people who wanted to become intelligent figured that the only way to do so was to read books, but they didn't have books and thought that they should write books instead but then they thought:

we have nothing to write.

i have nothing to say.

i have photos in my camera and i've yet to download them.

i just know that i have one more pleading to write. i really gotta write that pleading already.

for now, we're going out. we are supposed to eat here.

dear nette,

since i know you read my blog, am writing you here. ;)

di ba you're supposed to pick up mama today for cheska's monthly birthday party which is tomorrow? di ba mama is supposed to cook her wonderful pansit palabok? i want that. so please please please, also pass by for me at the hotel.

and for the information of all you uzis out there, this is my hotel

i want palabok too. at bago magalit si A of Melb why i am more interested in food, let me explain that my mom's palabok rocks.

funny also that my mom's famous fried chicken has had a great following the day she arrived here. that afternoon, my cousins munched on her chicken and asked the same question:

"mama, how did you cook this stuff?"

my mom's chicken is the best i've ever tasted.

now, going back: nette, please daanan n'yo ko later. thanks :)

just got back from a weirdly-conceptualized reception/dinner at the museum of the science and something something i can't even remember. first, it was out of the way. secondly, the food stations were placed at different areas i didn't even know they were there. thirdly, the queues at the food stations were unbelievably long i had no energy to chat with whomever was beside me. i was hungry and grouchy. And sick.

anyway, at the very least the risoto was good. a little salty but it was good.

that's all i did. lined up for risoto. ate my risoto. drank my lemonlime soda. got on the bus out and went home.

i want to drink my medicine and sleep.

what's wrong with me? am not enjoying myself.

hello from the windy city. been sick since i got here. i've got the flu -- cold, cough and fever. the works.