US Stopover

I hate airports. Make it double when destination displays USA: that would mean added security measures and more customs blah-blahs. Triple the hate when I couldn't make my wi-fi connection work at the airport for I don't know what reason. I'm a techy illiterate.

But well, there's more to my US trip other than hating the airport.

Customs

Come on, tell me, you know somebody in Pennsylvania, right? You just don't wake up one day and say 'I'd like to visit PA'. There's nothing to visit there. Hehe, I just re-entered the US with my 10-year tourist visa and I just couldn't tell the officer I'll go here for work. Bad girl. So I told him I'd visit PA on my own and it's a strategic destination to get closer to NY without paying NY prices. Well, I probably sounded convincing, the officer wished me 'Enjoy your stay in Pennsylvania, darling.'

Work

I spent the whole time working with men infront of a dirty machine. I let them work, of course. But that nevertheless kept me busy. It seemed that I work pretty fast for their taste, they now call me 'slave driver'. Well, I have to say, I ask a lot. I need loads of results within my 10-day stay and I need to keep them moving. When I said goodbye to the big boss this afternoon, he said he's been hearing good reviews about me. I know he said that to be nice to me but that nevertheless made me feel great. Feeling ko tuloy, ang ganda ganda ko hahaha.

American Hospitality

I was pampered. A colleague met me at the airport. Drove me to my hotel. Fetched me from the hotel and drove me to the company. And vice versa, not allowing me to take the rental car. He made sure I had everything I needed, up to the maps I needed to go to Jersey City. He paid almost all my dinner bills. I even pleaded to pay once, otherwise our department might think I don't spend anything, they might want to send me outside of France all the time. He wanted to show me the way to Jersey City. He wanted to accompany me back to the airport. I guess he will search for a Filipina wife soon. I made a good impression. But honestly, tinataguan ko na sya after my first week. Shhhh.

Business with Pleasure

What do Analyse do on weekends during business travel? I do visit!

I drove from PA to NJ to meet my HS friend who lives in Jersey City (thanks to the GPS, I got direct to her place without getting lost). We're supposed to watch Les Mis on Friday night but I was caught on a traffif jam for 2 long hours. As they said here, there are two seasons in PA: winter and road construction. I guess you know what season is it now. We spent the whole night catching up instead.

Saturday was spent walking around NY. This city is grandiose. And with the 1€ = $1.36 change, even a shop-a-phobic-me couldn't resist shopping. We wanted to visit the Statue of Liberty but we backed out when we saw a queue of about a mile. Next time na lang. We climb up the Empire State Building instead.

We dined out at Arthur's Landing where we had good food and a good view of Manhattan by night. Sarap. And to make the night even more special, Kat joined us there. It's my 2nd EB among blogger friends. What's good about meeting a fellow blogger is that, we seem to know each other already even if it's the first meeting. Thanks for being there Kat, even if it was for only a few minutes. Hope RSB's ok now.

Sunday was like, rest day. We had late breakfast at Little Quiapo where I had Tapsilog. We then played Badminton. After a 2-hour play, we headed back to NY to finally watch Lea Salonga in Broadway. Sarap. That made my weekend extra special. We did not wait for Lea to come out as I still had to drive back to PA. Watching her play is more than enough for me. We ended the day dining at Red Ribbon where we continued looking back at our HS days. Hay, sarap balik-balikan.

So now you understand why I was too silent and hiding behind the scenes. I was just too darn busy with work and gala. And I missed my baby so much. To all those who greeted me Happy Mothers Day. Thanks a lot. I really appreciated it. Happy Moms Day too.

Oppps, getting my luggages done now. Flying back to France tomorrow. Bon voyage to me.

Pictures: Billboards 5th Ave, Ground Zero, Times Square, Central Park, Manhattan by night (view from the restaurant - picture taken from their site), Kat and moi at Arthur's Landing, Moi resting at Rockefeller Plaza.


Blogging at the Airport

I'm bored. Still an hour before the flight and my Frenchguy doesn't even answer to my text messages. Buti na lang Haze is there to keep me company. I'm disturbing her from her loads of housechores hehe. Sa sobrang bored, pati luggages ko, pinag-trip-an ko no hehe. They're actually payatot when they left France. Look at how bundat they are now. Obvious ba na mega-shop ako? But of course, I limited myself to what my luggages could contain. I don't check them in kasi. I don't like waiting luggages at the airport, so if I could avoid it, I try to avoid it.

And know what, I was raging before as I couldn't make wi-fi work. I finally discovered. Sus dali lang pala. Techy illiterate, right? So now, I could blog and bloghop anywhere I want. Just hoping I have enough batteries to accompany me up to my next stop in Atlanta airport. Di kasi direct flight, kainis. Anyways, I'll go bloghop now. Ciao.