writing from the PI.

i'm sitting here upstairs at my cousin's pediatric clinic in obando, bulacan, so i've made it. the dial-up is kind of painful, but i think it has been pretty good that i haven't been on a computer since saturday morning.

my trip went very smoothly, but it was long. the in-flight service on JAL was amazing -- seriously, no matter how much customer service training you give the folks at air canada or any north american airline for that matter, you will not be able to match the graciousness of the crew on JAL. maybe the fact that they don't speak any english might be another reason. anyways, it was very pleasant, especially considering the fact i was in a 747 packed with a tonne of japanese children, not all of which were well behaved.

anyways, i had to change planes in tokyo, and it's funny all airports kind of look the same after awhile. what kind of sucked was the fact that we all had to clear security again after coming from a 'secure' plane. anyways, the flight to manila was great. also a 747, but this time, nobody on the plane. i was able to sleep across three chairs, but not after i had an asahi.

i finally make it to manila, and as soon as i walk out of the plane, i could feel the scorching heat. the line up to go through customs was pretty long, but all in all, despite all of the horror stories i was told to prepare for, everything went very smoothly. no one checked my bags, no porter harassed me, customs was nice. it was nice of me for my cousin, ate ces to greet me with her husband, kuya willy and my mom's oldest brother, daddy narcing.

i look forward to reconnecting with all of my family over the next two weeks.