Touchdown Chicago!

After weeks of stress, of training and practicing answering questions in front of a mirror while maintaining a smile (ala beauty pageant), of indecisions and one week of panic buying... finally I'm here.

I will (and already do) miss so many things back home - my family, my hamsters, my car, etc... which is why I arrived here not entirely happy but I didn't wanna come here and just sulk on my decision of leaving home. I came here to work to, enjoy as much as I can and to try not to let MyScheduling blow up.

For all those na di ko nasabihan pala... my apologies. Everything happened so fast, as in faaaast. I'm here in the Chicago... and if I owe you something in Manila, I'll pay you back in a few months. :P I

As usual, the journey was excruciating. The checkin line for Northwest in NAIA was a mile long, I terribly lacked sleep and I had to carry around a clunky laptop bag and a full sports bag all the time (note to self: either carry a light bag or make sure it has wheels). I just wanted to make sure I do everything right so Che and I don't end up in China (or Timbuktu). By the way, we ran into Cindy who's my S20 blockmate back in college (what were the odds of that?!?). First time I saw here since... Gokongwei days. :)

Finally we were out of Manila and arrived in...

Nagoya,Japan!

Well, there wasn't anything special here. It was only a 30 minute wait


[Nagoya] Cindy and some handsome fellow...

After that it was the horrible, turbulent flight to...

Detroit, Michigan!

It was one of the most horrifying sights in my life... the wobbling wing of a Boeing 747 as the plane violently shook up, down, left, right spilling flight attendants' coffee and tea filled pitchers. Oh, did I mention I love watching "Aircrash Investigations" in National Geographic? It's not a good idea to watch that before your flight. Anyways, I only got a few minutes of sleep because of that. The movie was kinda good though: Monster in Law, XXX 2 (The movie ha... di yung rating), and March of the Penguins. There was an oldie show earlier but I ditched that for my Calvin and Hobbes comic book. Upon reaching Detroit, my legs were wobbly, my eyes were puffy and my tummy was like "what the hell was that?!? there's no way that was beef". Cindy went ahead to her next destination while Che and I had to wait for almost 2 hours for our next flight, which I didn't really complain about - we needed rest.


[Detroit] The view from the seat where I was waiting...


[Detroit] Che and the same handsome dude...

Detroit airport is cool. A walkalator and a mono rail! The shops were good though it was expensive as expected. My first purchase was... a $1.75 bottle of Sprite. hehehe

After 2 hours, we left and was finally in

Chicago, Illinois! (aka the Chinese village of Tsi Ka Gaw... sorry Karlene hehehe)

We were too drained to take pictures already. Weather was good. Not hot, not chilly... just right. The welcoming committee of Ceej, Ann and Arves were there which was a welcome sight. The cab driver who drove us all the way to our apartment was interesting. He looked like a musician. Inside the cab was a poster for a Brazilian Latin music group's CD launching or something. The person in the center looked familiar... wow! he WAS a musician. Kaya pala pag sakay namin nag play agad sya ng latin instrumental CD. Maybe he was plugging it hehehe. Shrewd. Finally I met some of things I heard so much about but never saw in real life... The Sterling, The apartment (which I believe was the apartment also of previous onshore people), our office building and the "Oh my God, cell phone yan?!?" MyScheduling Chicago Primary Support phone. Also, now I understood Mahar's latest blog entry... it did smell like chocalates here. (I can now imagine my dad making a joke where the punchline will be "Chicogolates"). Just a few hours in and I already owe Che 20 bucks and Ceej a burrito. (Thanks Ceej! Sorry natulugan ko kayo...)

Haaay... after months of preparation and stress, we're finally here. For now I can only sigh and smile. :)