Malls: again

Lunch at Fish and Co., mom and dad went to Italliano where the most expensive cup of coffee can be enjoyed (hey, the place was air-conditioned so I wasn't complaining) then off for window shopping. Picked up some 'pasalubongs' (gifts) and more snacks. I always seem to be eating...

Wii is a hit!

Ah, the joy of laughter..

Outing: Taal Volcano

Taal Lake and Taal Volcano



Mom, Dad and the grandkids.

















It took us about an hour to get here and guess where all the kids went to after lunch..



















I'm instructed to make sure that Katharine take it easy when trying out food(s) while we're here because (as my wife puts it) her stomach is not steel-lined as mine. Today she tried a dessert called 'ginubis'. She's been a picky eater; currently its been 1:7. Check out this video..

Rainy day? Best for swimming...

The kids had a ball when we took them swimming at The Bellevue, an upscale hotel in Alabang, Metro Manila. The place reminded me of The Highlands Inn in Carmel, CA where stone fixtures were abundant.

Our day trip to Tagaytay (sample picture in this blog's heading) had to be rescheduled for tomorrow due to a scheduling conflict because of a 4pm church service and my half brother and sisters arriving for early dinner shortly thereafter.





Yesterday was Kelly's birthday and we celebrated it with a cake. Our family's tradition is to wake up the celebrant singing 'happy birthday' regardless which side of the globe they live in. Since Kelly remained in Texas, we called her at around 8pm which would be 7am her time. Making the initial call proved to be a challenge since we were experiencing a thunderstorm and the magic jack was having fits. Eventually the connection was made. The cake was a mocha chiffon with hershey kisses.

Malls: A way of life

The goose has cousins Bianca and Ina to hang out with. She's already taught them her craft, lanyard-tying. She taught me too but maybe I'm just not the crafty type person I thought I was.

She's also playing basketball in the backyard with her other cousins and amazingly enough, I thought the warm weather would stop her short but does not seem to affect her that much.











"Mall walking" seem to have been my parents exercise for the last couple of years. Dad walks slower than usual but is very upbeat when it comes time to do this activity. I think its because at the end of his daily walk, sipping coffee and people-watching are now his favorite pastime. I've never thought that the latter can be interesting. Man, was I wrong! Filipinos have always been casual with what they wear in public. I myself with my recent affinity for skulls and jolly roger shirts have had second thoughts about them here. I have time.. we'll see..

Christmas in July

Arrival and Day 1

Mom and Uli picked us up at the airport. It is not as hectic and crazy as I remembered it to be. In the past, hoards of friends and neighbors in jeepneys and vans would welcome one arriving passenger. The new airport policy prevented this by having arriving passengers go down one of two ramps to the parking lot. You chose the ramp which your last name (alphabetical) would fall into.





Seeing my parents definitely was the highlight of the day!

Flight Update (2)

We arrived in S.F. with time to spare and meet up with my sister and David sometime before midnight. Our plan to go and have dessert outside of the airport is out of the question since the next leg leaves at 1:20am. Chitchi brought me snacks to take onto the plane while David and I had a quick game of chess at the terminal. (He's been taking lessons apparently.)

We check in at the Cathay counter and was notified that they had upgraded us to Business Class. Wow, what a difference! You get to fly in recliner-type chairs, noise-canceling headphones, and as much food and drinks you want. It seemed too much at one point because the dinner and breakfast came in two or three servings each. Vacation has certainly started! Any plans to lose weight went out the door when flying Business Class. Oh well. We arrived in Hong Kong sometime around 5am.

Our last leg from Hong Kong to Manila was to leave at 8am. We realized that we were only 2 hours away from concluding the trip. Whew...

Flight Update

We check in at the American Airlines desk with apprehension that a repeat of Saturday would occur. Needless to say, it went smoothly - so far so good. Katharine was already homesick knowing she'll be away from mom. I'm proud of Kelly as she continued to encourage Katharine about all the things we'll be doing when we get there trying to discourage negative thoughts that lead to separation anxiety.

Our flight to S.F. was to take off at 7:20pm. While taxiing on the tarmac, the pilot announced that we need to head back to the gate since a brake light indicator had come on and needs to be looked at and reset by plane mechanics. He stated that he does not know how long the delay will be. I called Kelly and texted my sister Chitchi in S.F. about this developement. To make a long story short, we were taking off at 9:20pm. 2 hour delay. . To be continued...

Rebooked!

I finally received confirmation this afternoon about our rebooked flights. We fly out of DFW on Tuesday (7/21) at 7:20pm, ending in Manila at 9:50am on the 23rd. We lost 3 days. I've decided to keep the original return dates to make sure we're within the 21-day limit on visa requirements.

The agent seemed knowledgeable enough of what occurred with the original itenerary. It did not take him long this morning after receiving a copy of my bank statement where it showed my payment of almost $2700 to make the replacement booking 'pending approval from his supervisor.' I've also requested for upgrades but the agent stated that he is not authorized to do this on his own but has notified his supervisor of our request. He added that I will not know until I check in at the San Francisco counter for our SFO-MLA-SFO flights.

So.. looks like we're in for a redo tomorrow. Can't imagine what we'll do if there's a repeat of this..

Problem Encountered..

This is how our day went which started typical of any traveler(s) making sure we have everything for our trip - We do errands to pick up last minute shopping items to bring home; lunch at Aparicio's (wife's current brunch favorite) and back home to finish packing up and wait till we head to the airport. We decide to have dinner at around 7PM so we can be at the airport no later than 8:45. Our itenerary had us scheduled for our first leg tonight from Dallas to San Francisco through American Airlines and connect via Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong and Manila.

First problem: During check-in at the American Airlines counter, the agent first asked me when we were due back to which I stated we were flying back Aug. 12th. He then asked about visas because we were going to be out for 22 days, not 21 days which was the max to not have one. I looked at Kelly and saw the dismay and disappointment for our missing an important requirement.

Second problem: All this time while we were talking to the agent, he looked at his computer and said aloud, "what just happened?" He said that our tickets suddenly changed status to 'No-Go'. We asked what that meant and he explained that the reservations would not allow him to issue us our boarding passes. He said he cannot explain what caused the status change and he cannot fix it because it was a Cathay Pacific ticket. He dials the Cathay Pacific 1-800 number a couple of times to no avail. He calls the Los Angeles ticket counter with the same result. He apologized in the end about his inability to correct the problem. He added that if the tickets were issued by American and not Cathay, he would been able to do something - but at this point is powerless to do anything.

He then suggested we continue contacting Cathay Pacific through the weekend and tell them about our situation. He added that since we'll be delayed a day or so, if we keep our return dates, that certainly fixes the '21-day problem'.

I called my parents to inform them of our delay. Both were understanding and said for me to relax and make calls (ask and push for upgrades for the inconvenience and delay caused) but not to worry since they will be there when we get there.

- So we wait and keep calling Cathay... 'hello? anybody there?'...

10 days left and we're there!

The anticipation of going home after 20 years grows as July 18th nears. Mom talks about our arrival; about the nieces and nephews I have not met; the food I've missed; and just plain being with my family. Everybody there is excited that the goose and I are spending 3 and 1/2 weeks with them. Kelly might join us but would depend on her workload and schedule at the law firm. Would be nice if she could but there's always next time.. 10 more days..

I'm supposed to ask my sister if the goose could spend a day (or two) at Bianca's school so she can experience what its like over there. Katharine was concerned that she would have difficulty communicating with them but I told her that though there are at least 200 dialects in the Philippines, EVERYBODY speaks English. That made her feel comfortable... 10 more days..