Story Behind the iPod

Yes I did buy the latest iPod - 60GB white 5G video. I bought it on my first day in Chicago after my fly back and on the first day of the year 2006.

I do admit buying one raised lots of eyebrows and sparked discussions about "why pay the extra 10-20 bucks to get an iPod when you can get the cheaper but equally effective one?". My reason is simple. It's an iPod.

But this purchase is a little more complicated than that.

Flashback to a few years ago. I was the JSE working for the support team. I was the "by the book" programmer who was having trouble grasping the ways of our support team. I was having trouble adjusting. It was that one night after Kat left when I told myself that given the chance, I'll turn things around, I'll do good and when I'm good enough, they'll send me onshore and I'll be in Chicago where I'll be with Czar (who was our onshore liaison that time) and I'll buy me an iPod... IF given the chance.

For some unexplained reason our manager did. Until now I couldn't understand why but she did and I promised myself she wouldn't regret it. I stayed.

Last October, I was sent to Chicago. Last January 1st, I bought the iPod. Last Thursday (Jan 19), Czar was sent here.

The iPod is more to me than just an mp3 player or a hard drive or a leisure item. It's a little white thing constantly telling me "told ya we'll make it"... and that I owe someone something.

That's one monkey off my back. :)

Isterling

"Isterling"

Ang mahiwagang gusali ng Sterling sa Chicago
Kung saan natutulog, nagsasama at nagkukuwentuhan
Maraming nangyayari, maraming nagmimilagro
Maraming bagay na di ko talaga maintindihan

Bakit kami nakukuryente sa handles ng revolving door?
Bakit laging may puting aso na nakabantay sa aking pintuan?
Bakit amoy pritong isda tuwing bababa ka sa 15th floor?
Bakit nga ba talaga dito madaming nagkakatuluyan?

Bakit may kanya-kanyang paraan ng pagyosi?
Bakit sa gym na ito naisipan magworkout ni Goldberg?
Bakit habang nagbubuhat ay nanood siya ng “The OC?”
Alam nyo bang walang ka-rhyme sa Tagalog ang “Goldberg”?

Ilan lamang ito sa mga pinagkakatakahan ko,
Bakit araw araw parang parati na lang may sunog?
Bakit ba mga tao ayaw magpagupit o parating nagpapakalbo?
Bakit yung mga Polish cleaners marunong na magtagalog?

Mahiwaga nga naman talaga ang gusaling ito
Maraming kakaiba at magagandang alaala
Iba iba ang itsura at isipan ng mga tao
Ngunit bumubuo ng isang malaki at masayang barkada

Nges Hu

Got this one from Jaye... thanks! :P

Minsan, umuwi ng maaga si Mister para sorpresahin ang kaniyang kabiyak. Dahan dahan siyang pumasok sa kanilang bahay at hinanap ang kaniyang Misis. Nakita niya itong abala sa pagluluto at di namalayan na siya ay dumating.

Maingat siyang lumapit sabay takip sa mga mata ni Misis sabay sabing "NGES HU!!!"

Sabi naman ni Misis, "Lintek, nges-hu, nges-hu ka pa diyan ikaw lang naman ang ngongo dito!!"

Arnie and the Solutions Factory

The average height of people in the US is 5-8 to 5-10. I’m just basing it on observation and not on any scientific fact so you statistics geeks can back off. People here are tall. Some are er… wide. In other words, compared to the Filipino onshore people here (sans Enrico), these guys are giants.

The onshore people here are a happy crowd – always laughing and singing even without Debbie’s karaoke mic thingie. Some dance in their own weird way. Me? I dance with two staplers in my hand usually after resolving a job failure.

A bunch of short people, singing and dancing while working for this big company in a place known for chocolates for people taller than them and eats disgusting (to others) stuff like fried shrimp paste.

"Oompa Loompas"… :P

(Go watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory if di nyo na gets :D)

Random Thoughts

One of the best ways to annoy the people in your office is to turn up the volume of the speakers and ask lots of questions from your friends through AIM, Yahoo and MSN. Once your friends all reply back almost simultaneously. You will be labeled as an instant nuisance. Apparently the sound of IM’s coming in already has a instinctive effect on people very much like hearing the text tone of your cell phone which makes you automatically grab for your phone even if you already know it’s not for you. Hey I haven’t done this before but I was sure wrongfully accused for it once.

~~

I was able to catch Chronicles of Narnia early this week, the movie that I was anticipating ever since I saw its trailer early this year. (note: may contain spoilers ahead). Since it’s based on a children’s book, I’m not expecting the storyline and the acting to be somewhere similar to Lord of the Rings. Most critics loved the performance of the main characters though I didn’t. I thought it was kinda cheesy but I think maybe because the child in me didn’t come out when I was watching it. A few funny/interesting scenes though…

• The heroes were given weapons by… Santa Claus/Father Christmas?!? Compare that to how Harry Potter got his wand or how Aragorn got the Anduril Sword. After that scene, I was honestly expecting Humpty Dumpty walk on by with AK-47’s or Mother Goose with molotov cocktails.
• The polar bears pulling the witch’s chariot looked familiar. Weren’t they drinking coke just a few minutes ago?
• Near the end, Susan shot the witch’s servant (I think he was Ginarrbrik) with an arrow. Was that scene really necessary?!? That was the only scene where Susan used her arrows against a live target. Then again, I might just be comparing her to Legolas too much. I think this was just a late addition to the movie after the writers discovered that she was given such a cool weapon but never to use it yet in battle. (“Make her shoot something! How do you expect the toy version of that weapon to sell?!?”)
• They weren’t able to recognize the lamppost but they recognized the professor?

~

What’s wrong with MSN Messenger?!? One of the applications I heavily rely on just conked out on me. For some reason I appear offline to others, they can’t send messages to me and I can’t messages to them eventhough I’m really online. It was also encountered by other people here in the office so it must be a network virus thing.

Damn virus.

One Nasty Christmas Surprise

It was 2 in the morning. December 22. My mom and dad were asleep in their bed. Lights were out. A dark hairy figure emerged from the shadows and crawled between my mom and dad.

The dark hairy figure stupidly stepped on my mom's leg and now my mom was awake groggily staring up to this faceless person. She's thinking it was probably my brother but it couldn't be cause he was standing by the door.

"Sino ka?" she asked.

The faceless person replied with a sound... not a word... but a distinct sound that only one weirdo from the family is able to pull anytime he wants...

quack

Mom screamed. Dad woke up and screamed as well (like a girl). My brother flicked on the lights. The dark hairy figure was a pale person who hasn't had a haircut in months and smelled like an airplane chair in the economy class. Mom was crying. Dad was still screaming like a girl.

They didn't know I was going to be home for the holidays. ;)

Allowance!!!

"Eight digits can turn your onshore life from bad to good"

I'm talking about my personnel number. I was just assigned one which means now I can charge my per diem allowance!

Finally...

• Hindi na lahat ng groceries ko "Jewel" ang tatak. Jewel paper towels, Jewel laundry detergent, Jewel butter, Jewel pancakes, etc etc... (side note: Jewel-Osco is a grocery and the Jewel brand is very much like "Bonus" ng SM Supermarkets". If di nyo pa rin na gets, tawa ka na lang kunwari then read on)
• Hindi na lahat ng shampoo at sabon ko "Bridgestreet" ang tatak. (side note: BridgeStreet is this company that handles our housing in the US. They provide free stuff especially toiletries when you first arrive in your place. Madami pinamana si Glenn sa kin noon bago siya umuwi).

(Kailangan ko pa ba talaga i-explain lahat ng jokes dito?!?)

• Hindi na lahat ng damit ko galing sa Old Navy (specifically sa clearance section)
• I can stop drinking my "will expire in one week kaya naka sale" milk by the shot glass
• We can stop ending up in parks. Free eh. And we need the fresh air. (plus we're cheap)
• We can stop eating at the Atrium Mall (Thompson's) and mutter after paying for our meal na "alammo... sa Jewel magkano lang ito...)
• I won't go straight to the clearance section when shopping at Old Navy and Gap.
• After minutes and minutes of deliberating where we will have our dinners everynight (McDo, Portillo's, Singha, etc...). I won't end up eating a ham and cheese sandwich on stale bread.
• I can now go big time in McDo!
• I can stop using that useless $1.69 gloves I got from White Hen. It's as useless as a solar powered flashlight

Snow Stories

Friday night is laundry night. I love doing laundry here since all you have to do is place your clothes in the washer (if you're OC like me, you have to sort them whether they're "machine wash warm" or "machine wash cold"). After 50 minutes of senseless whirring, you pop them to the dryer, place this fabric conditioner tissue like thingie then hit another button. After a few minutes, your clothes come out clean and pressed. Well, not fully pressed but close enough so you whip out your iron ... (comment: hey arn, get to the snow story!) ok fine fine...

This Friday night, I ran out of detergent while preparing my second load. It was already late (10:15pm), it was freezing outside, snow was everywhere, I was already in my sleep wear and there were probably lots of mitis outside so I thought I'd just drop by Jewel tomorrow morning. That sounds logical, I was pretty tired and I wanted to rest already. Then I realized I'm out of Krispy Kreme donuts...

So I was outside in my jogging pants, my trust ol' Lebron shoes, a thin air cool shirt and a cotton jacket - no thermals, no thick jackets. Hay, the things I do when I run out of donuts... one time I went out with in my shorts... Nicole found it funny and crazy... anyways.. that's another story. After going through the revolving doors (no static this time), pucha ang lamig pala. I was crouching on the ground because of the cold deciding whether to run for it or go back to my apartment, get a thicker jacket but risk not being able to reach Jewel before it closes. (If you still haven't figured it out... Jewel is a grocery here... punta kayo http://www.jewelosco.com/ if you're curious.). I decided to run for it... donuts yun... walang lamig lamig if donuts are involved. I ran past CVS, ran through a red pedestrian light, and ran through Kinzie between Clark and Dearborn - huge mistake because that area is filled with icy patches. I slipped thrice before I got to Dearborn. On my way, lot of people thought I was nuts because I was going jogging at 10:30 pm with temperature well below the freezing point. Hahahaha! No I wasn't. I'm just out in jogging pants running to the store to buy detergent and donuts. Normal right?

Jewel was still open. I grabbed a Jewel detergent container but there were no Krispy Kreme donuts on the pastry rack...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! (overhead view of Jewel with pigeons flying away).

side story: the next day, I went back to Jewel with Ann. Andun pala sa likod malapit sa dairy section hehehe :-P

~~~

It snowed the entire weekend and snow on the ground is now 2 inches thick. Great for snowballs! I was making one when Gezelle wacked me with one from behind. The whole afternoon we were just exchanging snowballs but I think in our official score she was still ahead. Kainis, I missed one at point blank range. 4 -seam fastball grip pa naman yun.

Snow! Snow! Snow! :D

Today will mark the third time I've experienced snow in the US but this was the one with the heaviest snowfall... 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch siguro.

The first time was a very light flurry. It looked weird cause it looked like confetti. It took me a minute to realize it's snow pala. It wasn't heavy enough to cover the ground white though. I was walking along N La Salle gazing up with stupid smile on my face when I saw another person also gazing up. Pinoy to malamang... pinoy nga! It was Marco from KMAD. "Woooow pareee... isnooooww!" "oo nga eeee... huwaaaaaawwww".

The second time was the Friday afternoon after thanksgiving. I was napping after dragging Che all over State and Michigan ave for the thanksgiving sale. When I woke up at 6pm, there was the white stuff all over but it wasn't snowing anymore. The next day, when Che and I went out, I belted her with lots and lots of snowballs. Poor Che.

Today, it was really snowing. As in white flurries all over and a thick layer of snow on the ground. I went to the office with Ann then sabay pa kami ng hirit "wow snow! wow snow! wow... whoa! ayyy... madulas pala". I didn't throw lots of snowballs at Ann though. Isa lang... and it sailed over her head. Siguro later pauwi na lang hehehe... sana she's not reading this before she goes home. >:-D

Revolving Doors

One way to find out if you're already in downtown Chicago - revolving doors. Almost every establishment has 'em - our apartment, our office, restaurants, hotels, shops. I think 95% of all buildings here. I'm not really sure why but my theory is that revolving doors are designed such that there won't be any wind drafts whenever someone comes in. In case a building doesn't have revolving doors, it has two automatic doors instead just a few feet apart. It's automatic because you just bang this big button the size of a notebook and it opens. Convenient for people bringing luggage and other stuff. They're pretty cool since we don't have them in Manila. In my 1 and a half months stay here, I've already compiled some interesting stories using these things.

• In Sterling, during my first week in Chicago, thinking that it was already the open section, I walked right through the round plastic wall. Ouch. My face made a print on the plastic thing.
• In Old Navy, I was shocked by static electricity.
• In Sterling, naipit ko si Gezelle. Sorry Ge... :(
• In Thompson Center, I tripped while going through the door. Someone came in suddenly and spun the doors fast.
• In Accenture, my gloves got caught in the handle and natanggal. Paglabas ko... tingin sa hand sabay "huh?!?". Then all the people behind were pointing at my gloves na naipit sa handle.
• In the "Gallery of Shops" in Lake and Dearborn, after going through the door I still pushed the doors hard so it would spin fast. I didn't know someone was in it. Napatakbo tuloy. Buti di nagalit.
• In McDondald's, I was trying to go through the doors while carrying a paper bag and a takeout tray for drinks but it stopped in the middle.
• I learned from Che to push the revolving doors with your elbows. More sanitary and less prone to static shocks.
• I'm not familiar with revolving doors etiquette. Do you let the lady go first kaya lang she has to push the doors all by herself until you enter on the next section? Do you go first and push it hard so she doesn't have to push (kaya lang parang ang bastos naman if mauuna pa ko...)
• In CompUSA, I was trying to push the door. Sarado pala.
• In Sterling, it's funny when you leave through the door then midway, you remembered that you forgot something so you ride the doors all the way back then midway again, you realize that you don't need it pala. Hinihintay ko nang sigawan ako ng "Stop playing fool!".

Damn revolving doors.

Thanksgiving 2005

Thanksgiving! :D

So many things I learned about thanksgiving just days before the actual holiday:

1. Thanksgiving is the most important holiday in the US where families and friends fly home to their home towns to be with their families.
2. The thanksgiving spread always include pumpkin pie.
3. It happens on the last Thursday of November.
4. It's the longest holiday in the US since you get both Thursday and Friday off. (well, some don't get Friday off...)
5. Plane ticket prices double.
6. Most stores are closed on Thursday. Just like during holy week back home.
7. Thanksgiving sale! It occurs at 5am on Friday and lasts only until 11am. Some stores carry over the discounts through Sunday. Some lower the discount rates in the afternoon while some wipe it off completely.
8. The NFL plays their major games just like what the NBA does on Christmas day.

Back home, Thanksgiving was just actually a time to stuff chicken with mom's great stuffing recipe and call it turkey. My bro and I pronounce it "Tar-key" for some reason.

I had thanksgiving this year with Tito Roger's family and some onshore people like Debbie, Chardi Bacardi, Jaye, Analou, Shay, Amy, Jon and Joahn. Damn, it was cold that night. Good thing I was able to bundle up. Earlier in the afternoon, I was suckered by the high afternoon sun which made me think of going to Grant Park and take pictures with just a shirt, jacket and jeans - no bonnets, no thermal shirts, no gloves. It was a stupid stupid stupid move as I was only able to reach Millenium park and froze. Going back, I had to make pit stops in White Hen and other open establishments just to thaw my hands and my nose. The Wacker-La Salle clock showed -7C. This is the first time the cold has actually prevented me from going somewhere.

Thanksgiving at Tito Roger's was cool and I had my first rice meal and first real dinner in November (long story...). So this was Thanksgiving all about... what a way to know all about what it means.


(clockwise from the left) me, Chardi, Tita Violy, Shay, Joahn, Amy, Debbie, Analou, Tito Roger, Jaye

I'm thankful for my friends and my family back home. I'm thankful for this career opportunity. I'm thankful for having great friends here, most of which I was only able to meet here. I'm thankful for the great office mates I have. I'm thankful for tito Roger and tita Violy who I hope to get to know more and spend more time with during my stay here. I'm thankful for the onshore people here - the GSPS girls, Glenn, Debbie and Chardi Bacardi. I'm thankful for Mags, my guardian angel in Manila. I'm thankful for Kat though she still has stories to tell. I'm thankful for Mahar, who talked me into getting into the thanksgiving season. I'm thankful for Gezelle, someone who I just met 2 months ago but already a close friend who teaches me a lot about life . I'm thankful for Ann, my shopping, grocery and pasyal partner. I'm thankful for Che for still resisting not to strangle me.

Thanks! :)

Bakit nga ba?

One of the questions I always ask myself here...



Bakit iba itsura sa box?

My cap... My Beautiful cap...

Nodding to the beat of a song stuck in my head
While strolling down the magnificent mile at night
Loving the ten o clock chill; Longing for my bed
Smiling as a cool breeze brushes me from my right

But it's one of those days when they're just plain mean
The weather gods playing with the power they have
As the breeze turns to gust leading to a bad scene
My Red Sox cap in the middle of Michigan ave

"Oh gosh, darn it!" my face smiling, my head shaking
As I wait for the nearby stop light to turn red
But yellow's not showing and cars started zooming
As my cold face was now starting to fill with dread

"Oh syet, damn it" no more smiling, head still shaking
A car running over it like it was road kill
"Ay putek, NakNgTokwa" green light still showing
Another car, then a van, head was now just still

Was ran over... again and again and again
Yellow light appeared but a car wanted to race
Beat the red light, swerved left, crunched my cap, "...and again"
Peeled it off the street and went home with a big scowl in my face

State Quarters

I first heard it as a gag bit in the Conan O'Brien show, which I always watch to put me in a good mood before I sleep. These state quarters are part of a program by the US Mint from 1999 through 2008 wherein each year, they release 5 new designs for the US quarter dollar. These designs are symbols and/or text that best describes the state in a nutshell. For example, in the New York state quarter, there's the statue of liberty, the text "Gateway to freedom" and an outline of the entire state of New York. Out of the 50 designs, 35 have already been released and as predicatable as I can sometimes be, I'll try to collect them all. :D

Here's what I've got so far:

1. California
2. Connecticut
3. Georgia
4. Illinois
5. Kansas
6. Kentucky
7. Louisiana
8. Maryland
9. Massachusetts
10. Missouri
11. New Jersey
12. New Hampshire
13. New York
14. North Carolina
15. Ohio
16. Texas
17. Vermont
18. Virginia
19. Wisconsin

Hey, I have to have a hobby here that won't cost much (well, not until I receive my personnel number so I can start receiving my allowance!)

19 down, 16 to go!

City of Lights

Aurora, Illinois!

The City of Lights, the first one to use electric lights for publicly lighting its streets, the second largest city in the state and the home of the Chicago Premium Outlet Mall! :D

The outlet mall wasn't bigger than the one I went to back in Cali but it had lots of cool stores. It had two long paths connected at both ends and a food court in the middle. Since it was an outlet mall, it had branded stores that directly sell goods to shoppers with heavy discounts.

***

Hay salamat natuloy din! This Aurora gimmick has already been moved twice. Ann, Che, Ceej and I boarded the train to Metra train to Aurora - my first train ride that didn't loop around in circles for 5 minutes. Syempre at the Union station, we were obviously first timers and when I saw the train.... "whoa, that thing's huge!" I thought the train would look like our MRT but it looked more like... like... our MRT... only bigger (I'm really bad with describing things...) . It didnt go that fast though since we stopped every 10 minutes. After almost an hour we were finally in...

Auro... oh wait nabanggit ko na pala kanina...

***

After arriving at the mall, I strayed away from the group. We have contrasting styles in traversing a mall. The three liked the "slowly but surely" method. One time visit lang sa mga shops then slooooowly move on to the next shop. It's like reading "The Hobbit". I employ the Iteration method. Round 1 is scouting. I check all shops, see what they have, look at some stuff, maybe try them on but I won't buy anything unless it's THAT much of a bargain. Round 2 is the actual buying, comparing with similar stuff I found on other stores and prioritizing. Round 3 is the cleanup. Final visit sa shops and buy stuff that were not important or not on sale. See, pati sa pag shopping CI methodology pa kong gamit. (Note mo yan Edward ha... best practice!)

***

A lesson in percentages. 60% discount is big. I was at London Fog looking for a trench coat which had a 60% clearance discount. Wow! I thought I'd buy two. I checked the original price and it cost 300+ dollars. I tried to do the math but.... why bother? It still cost a lot. LESSON: Part of huge crap is still crap.

***

Went to Brooks Brothers with the same sign: 50% off. Checked inside and the coat cost 500 bucks. I tried it on, it fitted like it was made for me, then placed it back. "Di kasya e".

LESSONS: You can do scouting of items from the outside. If mahal, don't bother going in. If it costs too much, it doesn't fit.

***

Another quick lesson: Since you're already scouting the items from the inside, make sure that the store carries items for guys. Haaaayyy... kakahiya...

***

I bought a BoSox cap and wore it right away. A few minutes later, this stranger walked up and said "Boston Red Sox huh? Well they didn't quite make it this year". Puro "yeah" na lang ako... tapos hirit ng "stupid white sox". Buti natawa lang. Delikado din pala mga BoSox cap dito...

***

I had this grilled chicken with lettuce, fries and coke for lunch! mmmmmm.... mahal nga lang :( Dali lang kaya gumawa nun?

***

Still havent charged for allowance so we are still in tipid mode, which is not an ideal mode when shopping in an outlet mall. It's torture to find the perfect product on a discounted price but STILL have no money to pay for it. waaaahh... sige balikan na lang...

***

A few hours later, all shopped out, we boarded the Pace bus and went back to Aurora transportation center. Wala nang pansinan. Higa na lang. The train going back was scary though. It was making this weird sound of metal grinding into metal. Overall it was a good gimmick. Sana lang we had more money para we could have bought more stuff. Well, next time.

When I arrived home, the other onshore people are there...

"Nold, alis kami, sama ka?"
"(pagod na) *yawn* san punta? pagod ako e"
"Hooters."

Magic word e. How can I say no to that? :P

Onsyor Blues

Don't you just love it when you can find the perfect song to what you're currently going through?

Ako ang nakikita, ako ang nasisisi
Ako ang laging may kasalanan
Paggising sa umaga, meeting ang almusal
Bago pumasok sa opis
Kapag nangangatwiran, ako'y pagagalitan
Di ko alam ang gagawin
Ako'y sunud-sunuran, ayaw man lang pakinggan
Nasasaktan ang damdamin.

Ako'y walang kalayaan
Sunod sa utos lamang.

Paggaling sa opis, diretso na ng Sterling
Wala naman akong aabutan
Wala doon si Arvin, wala doon si Ceejay
Si Glenn ang naghihintay
Pagtawag ng barkada, sa kanila'y sasama
Lagot na naman paglarga
Kapag nangangatwiran, ako'y pagagalitan
Di ko alam ang gagawin.

Ako ang nakikita, ako ang nasisisi
Ako ang laging may kasalanan.

Brewed Iced Tea?

The Chicago office pantry...

I like it better than the one back home. Water and ice dispenser, brewed coffee (may decaf and french roast pa), and Swiss Miss hot choco packets. There's one thing though that I still can't figure out:

Brewed Iced Tea.

First time I was there, I pulled a 16 oz styro cup from the dispenser on the wall, poured out some brewed iced tea and added ice. Nilagyan ko pa ng straw.

Pwe! Ang pait! Yun pala tea lang yun. na may ice. (Iced tea nga naman diba?).

I had to put in lemon juice and sugar pa pala (stupid). In Manila kasi you just get it from the dispenser then drink agad. Here, tinitimplahan pa... and it's not iced tea mix + water + ice. Here it's brewed tea + lemon juice (in packets) + sugar + ice.

My second stab in making iced tea was worse. I put in too much lemon juice. Pwe! Ang asim! It tasted more like lemon juice than iced team. Third try, I added too much sugar. Inistraight ko na lang para di sayang.

I think it only started to taste like iced tea in my 7th try. It still tastes awful though...

Life, Weather, Bridges and Water in Chicago

So many random stories I don't know where to start. So many things have already happened but haven't got time to blog about.

So... where do I start?

Life here in Chicago is cool! Office is just 2 blocks away, we have a nice chilly weather, people are nice and living here also has given me a feeling of self accomplishment since I have to do everything here on my own. No maids, no labanderas, no cooks... just me. I'm not really good at it yet but I'm getting the hang of it.

***

Like I said, the office is just a 2 blocks away and walking there hasn't been a problem for me. I enjoy walking in the cold weather, walking through downtown Chicago, staring at the buildings, breezing through pedestrian crossings, gazing at occassional limos/porsches/bmw's that drive by and just freezing my nose off in the process. I like the cold. I walk outside on a 12 C degree night (plus wind chill factor) with just a T-shirt and a thin jacket tapos sa tabi pa ko ng river naglalakad. This afternoon, I walked all the way to Old Navy to look for an office jacket and I noticed I was the only one with just that attire. The others had fur coats, leather jackets, super kapal jackets tapos I'm still in my "Baguio Attire"...weirdo...

***

I had a blast last night. It was just the second time I actually went out and tried to have fun in Chicago. The first time was when Ceej, Che and Ann (someone I just met but feels like I've known her for years) walked around Michigan Ave. This time, it was supposed to be a big welcoming event for me and Che with all the Accenture onshore people all the way to Chinatown that was reduced into a Kat & Arn gimmick (even Che was busy :(...) Kat toured me though the north part of downtown Chicago and we went to four of the would be my favorite spots here. The first one is the 8-storey Sports Authority building 2-3 blocks from here which has all the sporting goods you'll need. Back in Manila, I looooove sports shops even I'm not yet cleared to play. So many stuff I wanted to buy - caps, New England Brady jersey, baseball mitts and it was the first time I saw skis, skiboards and other stuff that's not available back in the RP. Right across that is the biggest McDonald's I've been to. It has two floors, plenty of seats (some hi tech and some are lounges), a dessert and coffee bar, a McDonald's museum and escalators! Cool! We didn't eat there though... we ate in the other building across that - Portillos. Haay... my first Chicago burger/fries/drink combo. I just ordered for a "cheeseburger, large fries and large coke" which in Manila is just a snack for me but I ended up with a huge burger with everything on it (talo pa Big Mac), a bag of fries and a BIG styrofoam cup of coke. I used to devour these things in under a minute but that one took me a while to finish. To walk off what we ate, Kat and I went to John Hancock Centre just in time before closing time. What a view! It was one of the few places where you can view Michigan, Indiana, Wisonsin and obviously, Chicago. Great place! Cool gimmick though she was just a one-person welcoming committee. All the walking took a tool on my knees though as it was the first time it was stretched for a looong time. Jes' cool!

***

When walking to the office, I always walk through a drawbridge to cross the Chicago river. The bridge has this pedestrian sidewalk that rattles and clangs when cars drive by. The sidewalk is made up of thin steel sheets and there are crevices where you can see the river below. Sometimes I have the feeling that these sheets may not be connected properly to the bridge and stepping on the wrong side of the sheet transforms it into a trap door. One time, I was walking through that bridge, all smiles as usual then suddenly this bus sped by, violently rattling all the metal sheets. Ayan napamura tuloy ako.

***

The bathroom faucet has three settings. There's "Pucha that's cold", there's "Pucha that's hot" and there's just plain "pucha...". I'm still trying to figure it out. I think the cold water is the default water and hot water comes 10-20 seconds late. "Pucha that's cold" setting is my first choice in the morning. Not that I wanted it that way but I always forget in the morning that Chicago water is cold. Manila water is lukewarm (...and dirty). By the way, Chicago water is one of the cleanest in the US. I'm still getting used to drinking straight from the faucet. Anyways, the second setting, "pucha that's hot" is really really hot. Coffee water hot. Yes, it's steaming. Get the idea how hot that is? Now imagine showering with that in the morning... ouch. The last setting is the curveball setting. If you expect hot water, it comes out cold. If you expect cold water, it comes out hot. "pucha" nga naman diba?

Walking through Wacker

Me and Ceej on the way to Che's in Michigan Ave.



Ann, me and Che

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. :)