So, while talking to my coworkers who had been to Philippines previously, they all said that there wasn't much to do there. Somehow, I didn't believe them. I mean, Manila has 20 MILLION PEOPLE! HOW CAN THERE BE NOTHING TO DO?
Well, the long and the short answer is that there's a lot to do, but you don't want to do it. Why?
TRAFFIC.
That whole 20 million people thing.
We'd end our typical day at 6 AM, eat some breakfast and then figure out what to do for the day. We were in Eastwood, Quezon City, by the Pasig river (The Pasig goes through all of the town). It takes about 30 minutes to get to the business district if you're not in high traffic.
But if you are, it could take 2 hours. Paying for a 2 hour taxi ride is a bit lame.
If you wanted to go somewhere around 8 AM, when the city formally opens, you'd be leaving at rush hour, which means you'd be waiting about 2 hours in traffic to get to the touristy part of town or to the Bay, which has a lot of historic features. Alas, you'd get there at 10 AM, walk around for awhile, and then have to come home, thus getting stuck in daytime traffic again, and ending up with no time to sleep before work. Alas, we opted to not go anywhere except on the weekends.
The replacement item for not traveling or sightseeing during the day is to work out at the gym on the top floor of the hotel. It also had a semi-peaceful pool when it wasn't crowded. I did, however, start to notice that nothing smelled like chlorine. In my paranoia, I opted to not swim in it at all after the second week. Too many kids could pee in it. And if I can't smell purifying chemicals, it's not worth the risk at all.
So instead I went on the treadmill. At that time, I hadn't really worked out consistently for awhile--I'd marathon trained, but that was over in June and I didn't pick up working out again until August/September for this trip.
The gym was great, though. There were people on staff to give you tailored work outs. It was like getting your OWN PERSONAL TRAINER EVERY DAY! The best part was at the end of the workout, they would stretch your muscles, everywhere, for you. And massage your head and shoulders through your towel. HELLO, I love this! I started to spend about 2 hours a day at the gym and by the end of the trip, it had paid off. (a little)
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
The Hotel
It has, of course, occurred to me that it would be nice to post photos. But I have so many Philippine photos that I get swept into them and then don't write about the trip itself.
Anyway, the hotel!
The last several batches of coworkers who came to Philippines had a hotel with a kitchenette and their own laundry.
The company didn't want to spend that much money again, which I understood, due to budget cuts. But it seemed that we were going to be placed into an apartment instead of a hotel. We looked at tons and tons of apartments with the vendor, looked at signing a 1 month lease, with two people to each apartment. It was good and bad. Good because we'd have a kitchen and washing machine. Bad because we'd be cooking our own food, purifying our own water, doing our own laundry.
That makes us sound like snobs, I know, but when you know your coworkers didn't go through this, it is less exciting. I resigned myself to it either way, but not everyone in the group was as enthusiastic. The showers in the apartments were not ideal.
Eventually, it came back to the fact that we are not allowed to sign contracts in foreign countries and we could not make the lease work. So we were at the hotel the whole time.
The hotel employees were VERY NICE--but the hotel wasn't that great for a long term stay. There was a tiny fridge...and that's it. The walls were very thin and I could hear *EVERYTHING* in the room next to me, which frequently included a crying baby, who did nothing but cry.
As an expectant mother, I understand that babies cry. Even back then, I told myself to get used to it, since it would soon be my future.
But when you work all night and should sleep all day, a crying baby is a bad combo. There were also parties in the room next to me whenever there weren't babies. You might recall earlier that the hotel asked when I wanted my room cleaned. I am not even sure what I said, but the time was usually in the middle of the day when I was sleeping, so I changed the time, but then my body clock would change. Consequently, they were always trying to clean my room when I was in the shower or asleep. Which meant that I didn't get my 2 bottles of water that I needed every day. Yes, I could call and ask for them, but that meant another tip and feeling too much like a princess ordering around a hotel staffer-and maybe I just like to complain about not having water.
Also, the hotel didn't provide bathrobes, another exceptionally inconvenient thing about being awakened with housekeeping or laundry.
These things would be Ok to adjust to if we were all used to this experience--but everyone else had gone before and usually stayed at 3 star hotels or better--and this just wasn't that great. So I guess you could say our standards were just too high. We were not snobby Americans, though, I promise--the hotel was nice, we tipped well, we paid a lot, we were very nice to the employees, but we were all expecting quiet rooms and bathrobes, and it just didn't happen.
The beds were soft, though, and that helped.
I promise the next blog entry will be happier and nicer. Maybe the complaining, whiny ones are easier to type.
Anyway, the hotel!
The last several batches of coworkers who came to Philippines had a hotel with a kitchenette and their own laundry.
The company didn't want to spend that much money again, which I understood, due to budget cuts. But it seemed that we were going to be placed into an apartment instead of a hotel. We looked at tons and tons of apartments with the vendor, looked at signing a 1 month lease, with two people to each apartment. It was good and bad. Good because we'd have a kitchen and washing machine. Bad because we'd be cooking our own food, purifying our own water, doing our own laundry.
That makes us sound like snobs, I know, but when you know your coworkers didn't go through this, it is less exciting. I resigned myself to it either way, but not everyone in the group was as enthusiastic. The showers in the apartments were not ideal.
Eventually, it came back to the fact that we are not allowed to sign contracts in foreign countries and we could not make the lease work. So we were at the hotel the whole time.
The hotel employees were VERY NICE--but the hotel wasn't that great for a long term stay. There was a tiny fridge...and that's it. The walls were very thin and I could hear *EVERYTHING* in the room next to me, which frequently included a crying baby, who did nothing but cry.
As an expectant mother, I understand that babies cry. Even back then, I told myself to get used to it, since it would soon be my future.
But when you work all night and should sleep all day, a crying baby is a bad combo. There were also parties in the room next to me whenever there weren't babies. You might recall earlier that the hotel asked when I wanted my room cleaned. I am not even sure what I said, but the time was usually in the middle of the day when I was sleeping, so I changed the time, but then my body clock would change. Consequently, they were always trying to clean my room when I was in the shower or asleep. Which meant that I didn't get my 2 bottles of water that I needed every day. Yes, I could call and ask for them, but that meant another tip and feeling too much like a princess ordering around a hotel staffer-and maybe I just like to complain about not having water.
Also, the hotel didn't provide bathrobes, another exceptionally inconvenient thing about being awakened with housekeeping or laundry.
These things would be Ok to adjust to if we were all used to this experience--but everyone else had gone before and usually stayed at 3 star hotels or better--and this just wasn't that great. So I guess you could say our standards were just too high. We were not snobby Americans, though, I promise--the hotel was nice, we tipped well, we paid a lot, we were very nice to the employees, but we were all expecting quiet rooms and bathrobes, and it just didn't happen.
The beds were soft, though, and that helped.
I promise the next blog entry will be happier and nicer. Maybe the complaining, whiny ones are easier to type.
Breakfast and Working out (1 year ago)
I should clarify a few things:
Breakfast was fun with everyone, just one of the few times we were all together and united, even though there was a lot of one-upping that seemed ridiculous.
I got swept into the desire to prove myself in corporate America and show the one-uppers that I was just was awesome as they were. I think people who resort to talking about their HS activities and how rich their parents are to make themselves feel good must be deeply insecure in some ways.
Typical comment from my coworker to me, " Don't you love how my shoes are more comfortable than yours since they cost so much more?" (she was wearing designer shoes and I was wearing a crappy $8 pair from the flea market we visited)
To my discredit, I am too polite and merely smiled politely and gave a pat response.
But who says stuff like that?
The bad thing about being in the Philippines was just that there were only 4 of us and it was hard to escape the bad things about our coworkers. Also, I didn't have a cellphone while there, so I could only Skype with Dan--and that's it. I could IM with my family and if they had Skype, I could say hi, but that was all, no venting of emotions or frustrations. That part was probably the hardest.
Our class of trainees was full of great personalities and people trying hard, but with all of the sicknesses, it was hard to stay on track. And I was told that everyone would be overachieving, that they would stay late and come early and over-study and treat it like an extreme competition, but this was not the case at all. People would doze in class and more people quit. Two of us were assigned to each class, and it wasn't really a good use of time to have us train a small batch of people. Also, it became really clear really fast that the training materials DID NOT MATCH the phone call content.
Anyway, talking about work sucks.
Let's talk about the hotel.
Breakfast was fun with everyone, just one of the few times we were all together and united, even though there was a lot of one-upping that seemed ridiculous.
I got swept into the desire to prove myself in corporate America and show the one-uppers that I was just was awesome as they were. I think people who resort to talking about their HS activities and how rich their parents are to make themselves feel good must be deeply insecure in some ways.
Typical comment from my coworker to me, " Don't you love how my shoes are more comfortable than yours since they cost so much more?" (she was wearing designer shoes and I was wearing a crappy $8 pair from the flea market we visited)
To my discredit, I am too polite and merely smiled politely and gave a pat response.
But who says stuff like that?
The bad thing about being in the Philippines was just that there were only 4 of us and it was hard to escape the bad things about our coworkers. Also, I didn't have a cellphone while there, so I could only Skype with Dan--and that's it. I could IM with my family and if they had Skype, I could say hi, but that was all, no venting of emotions or frustrations. That part was probably the hardest.
Our class of trainees was full of great personalities and people trying hard, but with all of the sicknesses, it was hard to stay on track. And I was told that everyone would be overachieving, that they would stay late and come early and over-study and treat it like an extreme competition, but this was not the case at all. People would doze in class and more people quit. Two of us were assigned to each class, and it wasn't really a good use of time to have us train a small batch of people. Also, it became really clear really fast that the training materials DID NOT MATCH the phone call content.
Anyway, talking about work sucks.
Let's talk about the hotel.
English is hard
You'd never know that I thought I was good at writing or not changing tenses and not making grammatical mistakes by reading my last entry.
This is absolutely why people proof-read before publishing. Holy Smokes. I do feel bad for anyone who read the last entry and got completely confused by my less than stellar job.
At any rate, I'll just pick up where I left off:
The first few days in the Phillippines were sort of a blur. I read our entire company training manual, read everyone else's diaries of previous trips, talked to everyone I knew who had been there.
And yet, I was unprepared.
In case you don't know, I was there to train other call center employees. No, no Americans were fired for this. Yes, Americans are still doing the same work at my company. There's just also a Philippines center or two, which really works well for contingency planning.
This was our first time working with this new vendor. The call center culture overseas is pretty much like working here, you know people from other jobs, you find your friends and recruit them to a new company when you find a better job, and eventually, after 10 years, you find yourself working with some of the same people from your prior company at ANOTHER new place, and so on.
So one call center class there was pretty much all recruited to join by one guy. They left E-trade together and came to our vendor firm.
My class was not that class.
I spent a lot of time trying to remember everyone's name, and nickname, because you're not Filipino if you don't have some type of nickname, which doesn't always relate to your Christian name. I also just sat at my computer and tried to figure out what I would be doing.
The other groups of employees going over had very large classes and the other person was always working on catching up the people who were sick or missing. In our class, we were small to begin with and people were sick a lot. Some days, there were only 3 or 4 people. And before I came over, two or three people had quit. So it was sort of a bad sign for the class right away. Usually the center hires about 2x the number of employees they want because they know people will quit during the process, but this vendor promised us employee attrition was not a problem. Obviously they were mistaken.
So anyway, talking about the work part of it is full of political barbs even for me now, one year later.
Let's talk about the hotel!
The hotel was "The Richmonde Hotel", it was only 1 year old in this brand new part of the city. It's a private development squashing the slums and building a posh neighborhood on top of it. We were attached to the shopping mall, a ton of restaurants and stores. It really just felt like Las Vegas or Downtown Disney: Just a planned place to congregate, with corporate buildings nearby.
Restaurants in the Philippines are cheap. By their standards, too, even. If you're looking for a high class, expensive place to eat, you aren't going to find it near our place, though we did go out for a nice steak dinner twice. WHat you will find is a lot of mall food and Johnny Rockets.
Naturally, we ate at our hotel most of the time. And because we should have been sleeping most of the day to get ready for work at night, our quick co-worker plan was to eat breakfast together after our work shift was over.
Breakfast quickly turned into a 2 hour affair every day. The staff at the hotel knew us well, (the employees learn your name on Day 1, it's like "Celebrity Cruises". Going home is not the same, honestly!
We'd eat. And eat. And gossip about work and quickly realized that we probably didn't have much in common.
I was ready to settle down and have a baby. Tim is a private, gay dude who loves to work. Marnie (not her real name) was ready to see all of her friends, since she was born and raised in Philippines, and Kayla (not her real name) was also ready to work hard and prove that she was better than the rest of us.
But these were the only 4 people we knew and thus we had to stick together. I nearly went crazy sometimes when people bragged about what they did in highschool or what they did in college or how much money their parents made.
Seriously. I thought I'd left highschool and college behind. What did I do in HS? I worked a lot. I was in a lot of activities and then my junior year, I switched highschools and tried to rebuild my life, become popular, all while crushed with crippling depression, low self confidence and being my brother & sister's primary daycare source. At least, that was my memory of it. I don't really care if you were in the dance team in college or highschool, or were on the swim team. It's great if you were. But it's not a focal point of adult conversation, but suddenly I felt like I was trying to come up with a great resume for Highschool Achievement. My academic record was pretty strong and on paper, I did a lot of things, but there were plenty of days where I am surprised I made it out of bed and plenty of times where I wished I could just vanish from sight.
Anyway.
We had little in common, but we ate breakfast for hours. Then we went to the gym. And then we went to sleep. Every day--for a few weeks.
This is absolutely why people proof-read before publishing. Holy Smokes. I do feel bad for anyone who read the last entry and got completely confused by my less than stellar job.
At any rate, I'll just pick up where I left off:
The first few days in the Phillippines were sort of a blur. I read our entire company training manual, read everyone else's diaries of previous trips, talked to everyone I knew who had been there.
And yet, I was unprepared.
In case you don't know, I was there to train other call center employees. No, no Americans were fired for this. Yes, Americans are still doing the same work at my company. There's just also a Philippines center or two, which really works well for contingency planning.
This was our first time working with this new vendor. The call center culture overseas is pretty much like working here, you know people from other jobs, you find your friends and recruit them to a new company when you find a better job, and eventually, after 10 years, you find yourself working with some of the same people from your prior company at ANOTHER new place, and so on.
So one call center class there was pretty much all recruited to join by one guy. They left E-trade together and came to our vendor firm.
My class was not that class.
I spent a lot of time trying to remember everyone's name, and nickname, because you're not Filipino if you don't have some type of nickname, which doesn't always relate to your Christian name. I also just sat at my computer and tried to figure out what I would be doing.
The other groups of employees going over had very large classes and the other person was always working on catching up the people who were sick or missing. In our class, we were small to begin with and people were sick a lot. Some days, there were only 3 or 4 people. And before I came over, two or three people had quit. So it was sort of a bad sign for the class right away. Usually the center hires about 2x the number of employees they want because they know people will quit during the process, but this vendor promised us employee attrition was not a problem. Obviously they were mistaken.
So anyway, talking about the work part of it is full of political barbs even for me now, one year later.
Let's talk about the hotel!
The hotel was "The Richmonde Hotel", it was only 1 year old in this brand new part of the city. It's a private development squashing the slums and building a posh neighborhood on top of it. We were attached to the shopping mall, a ton of restaurants and stores. It really just felt like Las Vegas or Downtown Disney: Just a planned place to congregate, with corporate buildings nearby.
Restaurants in the Philippines are cheap. By their standards, too, even. If you're looking for a high class, expensive place to eat, you aren't going to find it near our place, though we did go out for a nice steak dinner twice. WHat you will find is a lot of mall food and Johnny Rockets.
Naturally, we ate at our hotel most of the time. And because we should have been sleeping most of the day to get ready for work at night, our quick co-worker plan was to eat breakfast together after our work shift was over.
Breakfast quickly turned into a 2 hour affair every day. The staff at the hotel knew us well, (the employees learn your name on Day 1, it's like "Celebrity Cruises". Going home is not the same, honestly!
We'd eat. And eat. And gossip about work and quickly realized that we probably didn't have much in common.
I was ready to settle down and have a baby. Tim is a private, gay dude who loves to work. Marnie (not her real name) was ready to see all of her friends, since she was born and raised in Philippines, and Kayla (not her real name) was also ready to work hard and prove that she was better than the rest of us.
But these were the only 4 people we knew and thus we had to stick together. I nearly went crazy sometimes when people bragged about what they did in highschool or what they did in college or how much money their parents made.
Seriously. I thought I'd left highschool and college behind. What did I do in HS? I worked a lot. I was in a lot of activities and then my junior year, I switched highschools and tried to rebuild my life, become popular, all while crushed with crippling depression, low self confidence and being my brother & sister's primary daycare source. At least, that was my memory of it. I don't really care if you were in the dance team in college or highschool, or were on the swim team. It's great if you were. But it's not a focal point of adult conversation, but suddenly I felt like I was trying to come up with a great resume for Highschool Achievement. My academic record was pretty strong and on paper, I did a lot of things, but there were plenty of days where I am surprised I made it out of bed and plenty of times where I wished I could just vanish from sight.
Anyway.
We had little in common, but we ate breakfast for hours. Then we went to the gym. And then we went to sleep. Every day--for a few weeks.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Getting off of the plane
I promise that eventually time will speed up as I recount life from last year.
BUT!
Here is how I got off of the plane. They told me about the ramps, customs and process for getting off the plane, which is of course, ridiculously easy. I don't remember customs or the passport stamps or checking my visa, but I know all of those things happened.
I was just trying to pay attention to the airport. It was mostly how I expected it, things smelled different and not so good. And it was a little dirty.
Truly, I'm not trying to bash on the Philippines here. The people in Philippines are way better than most of us, truly, but it is not a first world country.
So I strolled myself and my 3 suitcases and 45 azillion carry-ons through the airport and did as Tim suggested. Take a deep breath of the steamy, humid air.
Steamy yes. Humid, yes. Not really like the midwest at all.
Tim is the coworker who was going to pick me up at the airport. I was arriving at about 1030 PM, which is basically when everyone else is going to work (We worked from 10AM -6AM, through the middle of the night). We'd last talked the week before about my arrival, which was midday Thursday. And I didn't see Tim.
And I didn't see Tim.
And I crossed the street with all my crap and walked around, with no luck. And there were no other international exit terminals.
And so I walked myself to the taxi and overpaid, even though I knew that would happen. I think my trip for a 30 min cab ride was about $27 dollars. Which is too expensive.
Got to the hotel and checked in. They asked me all kinds of questions I couldn't answer: What time do you want your room cleaned? was the hardest.
I just wanted to check in and take a shower for work, but instead I kept letting them take 400 photocopies of my passport and credit card and then got to my room, where I logged into the wifi and updated my facebook status. It was something along the lines of "I am in Manila, safely, at the hotel."
Of course, Tim was frantically looking for me , checking to see if I missed the flight in Narita, and they were happy to know that I was safe. I took a fast shower and ran to the lobby.
Tim took me to Starbucks, where we learned that it IS NOT A 24 hour starbucks. So if you want caffeine after 2AM, you're stuck. No can do. I figured coffee would be my friend early on, so I took it and ran.
Got the tour of the office, which was really confusing to me. They told me it was just a big square, and it was, but I was too tired and confused to really understand. I met my class, gave away the presents quickly and realized...I didn't have enough presents.
And then I went back to the hotel to get settled in, after breakfast.
I realize now this was a pretty lame entry. But it was scary--and I didnt even mention the first impressions of the country.
BUT!
Here is how I got off of the plane. They told me about the ramps, customs and process for getting off the plane, which is of course, ridiculously easy. I don't remember customs or the passport stamps or checking my visa, but I know all of those things happened.
I was just trying to pay attention to the airport. It was mostly how I expected it, things smelled different and not so good. And it was a little dirty.
Truly, I'm not trying to bash on the Philippines here. The people in Philippines are way better than most of us, truly, but it is not a first world country.
So I strolled myself and my 3 suitcases and 45 azillion carry-ons through the airport and did as Tim suggested. Take a deep breath of the steamy, humid air.
Steamy yes. Humid, yes. Not really like the midwest at all.
Tim is the coworker who was going to pick me up at the airport. I was arriving at about 1030 PM, which is basically when everyone else is going to work (We worked from 10AM -6AM, through the middle of the night). We'd last talked the week before about my arrival, which was midday Thursday. And I didn't see Tim.
And I didn't see Tim.
And I crossed the street with all my crap and walked around, with no luck. And there were no other international exit terminals.
And so I walked myself to the taxi and overpaid, even though I knew that would happen. I think my trip for a 30 min cab ride was about $27 dollars. Which is too expensive.
Got to the hotel and checked in. They asked me all kinds of questions I couldn't answer: What time do you want your room cleaned? was the hardest.
I just wanted to check in and take a shower for work, but instead I kept letting them take 400 photocopies of my passport and credit card and then got to my room, where I logged into the wifi and updated my facebook status. It was something along the lines of "I am in Manila, safely, at the hotel."
Of course, Tim was frantically looking for me , checking to see if I missed the flight in Narita, and they were happy to know that I was safe. I took a fast shower and ran to the lobby.
Tim took me to Starbucks, where we learned that it IS NOT A 24 hour starbucks. So if you want caffeine after 2AM, you're stuck. No can do. I figured coffee would be my friend early on, so I took it and ran.
Got the tour of the office, which was really confusing to me. They told me it was just a big square, and it was, but I was too tired and confused to really understand. I met my class, gave away the presents quickly and realized...I didn't have enough presents.
And then I went back to the hotel to get settled in, after breakfast.
I realize now this was a pretty lame entry. But it was scary--and I didnt even mention the first impressions of the country.
The Plane Ride
I skipped my workout today so that I could blog.
Not really. I skipped my workout because I don't have the energy to do it and I don't feel like it. And I'd rather walk outside with the natures and the dog and my hubby than while watching shitty cable news on the treadmill. And my workout buddies have all given up working out or changed their schedule.
Wait, this is all about the plane ride, right?
I mentioned before that I've never made it to First Class. There's an upperdeck for only first class passengers, but my seat wasn't there. Instead it was near the front and no one was near me. They gave me a package of items in addition to a pillow and a large blanket.
So I examined everything.
I now had socks, chapstick, shoe polish, acetone, a blind fold, ear plugs, a shoe horn, lotion and a toothbrush and toothpaste.
I felt like the luckiest girl alive. I'd really just settled in with my full kindle charged (this is important for later) when I was offered my first alcoholic drink. Wine? Champagne?
REALLY? I thought.
Then they brought out a basket of fruit and chips and snacks. Have as many as you want. Whenever you want it. As much booze, too.
Ok, champagne, that sounds good.
My predecessor coworkers all warned me to SLEEP on the plane. You won't get sleep later and it is hard to adjust if you don't. My flight was 16 hours--13 to Narita and 3 to Manila)
OK! I said. I will sleep on the plane. The champagne will help me get there. And everything about jet lag says to avoid booze on the flight. But one little glass is OK. (Writing this now, I think I'd kill to drink again!)
We took off and accelerated to a nice cruising speed. I texted a few people from the plane about my packet of delightful items. A SHOE HORN! I said. About 20 minutes into the flight, I grabbed Game of Thrones, book 5, and started to read on my kindle. I charged the kindle ALL NIGHT LONG for this flight and the battery life is about 1 month. Dan asked me about it again before I left. "No problem, it will last forever, I said."
For-E-VER.
It was already dead. Turns out you need to turn wifi "off" or else it will search for a signal. That doesn't work very well 35K feet above ground. I panicked for about 5 minutes. NO READING? NO READING? MY BOOKS ARE GONE? (First class does not offer chargers or outlets, sadly). Then the blinking movie light options came at me. I had my own TV in my own seat. I could watch whatever I wanted at any time. So I turned on the movie about the surfer who has her arm bitten off by a shark in Hawaii. And I reclined my seat. And I extended the foot rest and the head rest---so I was almost laying flat. The seats would go to 170 degrees flat--which later would prove to be quite vexing.
I stretched out my new blankie, which was big enough for my whole body. I cried at the movie about the surfer because her family was so nice and supportive and I couldn't imagine mine being like hers at all. I'm pretty sure if a shark bit my arm off, my parents would have yelled at me and blamed me for it. They definitely would never have let me cook dinner for them with my feet. And they'd probably mock me the whole time for having one arm. They definitely wouldn't have built a surf board designed for my new disability and been that encouraging.
I was given a menu of what to eat mid-flight. Now I can't remember the choices, but it was all really nice items that you don't usually see on an airplane. (Side note: I flew Delta and they were great to me), I don't remember what I ordered because I slept through the meal and had to eat it later. The flight attendants were happy to help me reheat it and serve it.
The next movie I chose to watch was Jane Eyre. I fell asleep during that one, too. Or tried to sleep, but mostly it was in and out of sleep. I was forcing myself to sleep at around 5-6 PM, which was not natural, so I had another glass of booze. Wine this time. And thus my flight went on and on and on and on. I did get to the point where I thought it would never, ever end. When 170 degrees is not the same as 180 degrees and you slide around and move. When you have to brush your teeth again and your lips are dry. These are all petty complaints though, and eventually I landed in Narita and then in Philippines.
My boss instructed me to just enjoy the flight and prepare for the experience.
So I did.
Now that this entry is over, it seems like I've blogged about the flight before.
Oh well. I will blog about getting picked up at the airport and the rest of the trip later.
Not really. I skipped my workout because I don't have the energy to do it and I don't feel like it. And I'd rather walk outside with the natures and the dog and my hubby than while watching shitty cable news on the treadmill. And my workout buddies have all given up working out or changed their schedule.
Wait, this is all about the plane ride, right?
I mentioned before that I've never made it to First Class. There's an upperdeck for only first class passengers, but my seat wasn't there. Instead it was near the front and no one was near me. They gave me a package of items in addition to a pillow and a large blanket.
So I examined everything.
I now had socks, chapstick, shoe polish, acetone, a blind fold, ear plugs, a shoe horn, lotion and a toothbrush and toothpaste.
I felt like the luckiest girl alive. I'd really just settled in with my full kindle charged (this is important for later) when I was offered my first alcoholic drink. Wine? Champagne?
REALLY? I thought.
Then they brought out a basket of fruit and chips and snacks. Have as many as you want. Whenever you want it. As much booze, too.
Ok, champagne, that sounds good.
My predecessor coworkers all warned me to SLEEP on the plane. You won't get sleep later and it is hard to adjust if you don't. My flight was 16 hours--13 to Narita and 3 to Manila)
OK! I said. I will sleep on the plane. The champagne will help me get there. And everything about jet lag says to avoid booze on the flight. But one little glass is OK. (Writing this now, I think I'd kill to drink again!)
We took off and accelerated to a nice cruising speed. I texted a few people from the plane about my packet of delightful items. A SHOE HORN! I said. About 20 minutes into the flight, I grabbed Game of Thrones, book 5, and started to read on my kindle. I charged the kindle ALL NIGHT LONG for this flight and the battery life is about 1 month. Dan asked me about it again before I left. "No problem, it will last forever, I said."
For-E-VER.
It was already dead. Turns out you need to turn wifi "off" or else it will search for a signal. That doesn't work very well 35K feet above ground. I panicked for about 5 minutes. NO READING? NO READING? MY BOOKS ARE GONE? (First class does not offer chargers or outlets, sadly). Then the blinking movie light options came at me. I had my own TV in my own seat. I could watch whatever I wanted at any time. So I turned on the movie about the surfer who has her arm bitten off by a shark in Hawaii. And I reclined my seat. And I extended the foot rest and the head rest---so I was almost laying flat. The seats would go to 170 degrees flat--which later would prove to be quite vexing.
I stretched out my new blankie, which was big enough for my whole body. I cried at the movie about the surfer because her family was so nice and supportive and I couldn't imagine mine being like hers at all. I'm pretty sure if a shark bit my arm off, my parents would have yelled at me and blamed me for it. They definitely would never have let me cook dinner for them with my feet. And they'd probably mock me the whole time for having one arm. They definitely wouldn't have built a surf board designed for my new disability and been that encouraging.
I was given a menu of what to eat mid-flight. Now I can't remember the choices, but it was all really nice items that you don't usually see on an airplane. (Side note: I flew Delta and they were great to me), I don't remember what I ordered because I slept through the meal and had to eat it later. The flight attendants were happy to help me reheat it and serve it.
The next movie I chose to watch was Jane Eyre. I fell asleep during that one, too. Or tried to sleep, but mostly it was in and out of sleep. I was forcing myself to sleep at around 5-6 PM, which was not natural, so I had another glass of booze. Wine this time. And thus my flight went on and on and on and on. I did get to the point where I thought it would never, ever end. When 170 degrees is not the same as 180 degrees and you slide around and move. When you have to brush your teeth again and your lips are dry. These are all petty complaints though, and eventually I landed in Narita and then in Philippines.
My boss instructed me to just enjoy the flight and prepare for the experience.
So I did.
Now that this entry is over, it seems like I've blogged about the flight before.
Oh well. I will blog about getting picked up at the airport and the rest of the trip later.
Manila
ok, time to write about it.
It's been one year, give or take two weeks, since I left for Manila.
Before I could get on the plane, I got us out of our lease, packed the apartment and moved and unpacked us into the house we'd planned to close on in September. Dan dealt with all of the insurance bullshit. Of course, after all of our claims and burglaries in KC, no one would insure us up here. It was almost a disaster--you can't buy a house if you can't insure it--but we found a company and life went on.
I went through all of the visa filings and went to Iowa to say goodbye to my family for the next 12 weeks.
It was hard to say goodbye to Dan. The longest we'd ever been apart since he moved in January 2005 was about 2 weeks while I was in Greece. It was hard to even make the decision to go away for 3 months, but it was also a great opportunity to see another country and travel in Asia for work. And we were able to afford to send Dan with me for a week, and we'd end up on vacation in Philippines for our anniversary.
So after a lot of talks with my boss, I got on the plane. First class travelers get 3 suitcases and unlimited carryons, I found out. After a 10K plane ticket, you'd damn well better get that. I brought an extra suitcase for Melody and some other items for Kaili. I carried with me a wedding present for another friend in the Philippines.
Dan helped me check in and then...we were at the security gate. I suck at saying goodbye. I'd already nearly cried in the grocery store because I was going to miss him a lot for 3 months, and he would be in our new house and I would be.....somewhere else.
And there I was, at the gate, with my coffee and realizing this was it, Dan can't come any farther with me. I turned to him, kissed him and said I'd see him soon. And then I walked through security with my 40000 carry on suitcases and fully charged kindle.
Alone.
It's been one year, give or take two weeks, since I left for Manila.
Before I could get on the plane, I got us out of our lease, packed the apartment and moved and unpacked us into the house we'd planned to close on in September. Dan dealt with all of the insurance bullshit. Of course, after all of our claims and burglaries in KC, no one would insure us up here. It was almost a disaster--you can't buy a house if you can't insure it--but we found a company and life went on.
I went through all of the visa filings and went to Iowa to say goodbye to my family for the next 12 weeks.
It was hard to say goodbye to Dan. The longest we'd ever been apart since he moved in January 2005 was about 2 weeks while I was in Greece. It was hard to even make the decision to go away for 3 months, but it was also a great opportunity to see another country and travel in Asia for work. And we were able to afford to send Dan with me for a week, and we'd end up on vacation in Philippines for our anniversary.
So after a lot of talks with my boss, I got on the plane. First class travelers get 3 suitcases and unlimited carryons, I found out. After a 10K plane ticket, you'd damn well better get that. I brought an extra suitcase for Melody and some other items for Kaili. I carried with me a wedding present for another friend in the Philippines.
Dan helped me check in and then...we were at the security gate. I suck at saying goodbye. I'd already nearly cried in the grocery store because I was going to miss him a lot for 3 months, and he would be in our new house and I would be.....somewhere else.
And there I was, at the gate, with my coffee and realizing this was it, Dan can't come any farther with me. I turned to him, kissed him and said I'd see him soon. And then I walked through security with my 40000 carry on suitcases and fully charged kindle.
Alone.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
yep!
The past few weeks, I've been waiting to feel baby baby baby Zebra.
I've felt tons of weird abdomen movements and cramps and pains and bubbles. Since it's impossible to describe a baby's movement to someone else, I just didn't know.
I thought it would be a sharp pain, so for every sharp sting, I was sure it was the baby. And now I know it's not like that at all.
But I have felt her innumerable times now, which brings immeasurable joy. She likes to move in the car in the morning, at night before I sleep and at work.
Which is good, because I think that means she's sleeping at night, right?
__________
I saw a bunch of Sykes employees yesterday, which was wonderful. A girl on my trip from last year is pregnant, too, now, so it was nice to talk about it and have a pregnancy buddy at work, too.
And it reminds me that I haven't blogged yet about Manila/Cebu/Bohol/Tagaytay
I will instead just share the story of seeing my old friend, Katherine Brown.
Katherine and I went to Elementary school together, she was a year older, but her mom was our art teacher, so I knew her my whole life. We had a similar circle of friends, even though we were never in the same classes, but she was in the honors classes like me and in the same band/theater stuff.
Anyway, we both ended up at UIowa together and one day shared lunch that turned into a roadtrip that turned into some nice friendships for the short time I stayed at Uiowa.
Flashfoward 10 years. We hadn't seen each other since 2001, seriously. But I posted on Facebook about being in Boracay (white sandy beaches and famous vacation spot) and she saw it, said she was coming to Manila in a few weeks. I wasn't sure if our trip would still be going because of all of the uncertainty (which is why I was hesitant to blog about Philippines at all!) but we promised to keep in touch for the few weeks and hope we'd end up in the same place/same time.
So Katherine had been spending the last few years in China as a teacher and got lucky surfing facebook through the Chinese firewall traps. And her teachers were on holiday and going together to Palawan (another famous beach in Philippines).
Anyway, it was one day before Dan came and after 4 weeks of not seeing him, time was getting tighter and harder to ignore. Katherine's arrival would be great and a helpful distraction. So we went shopping at Glorietta 5 and walked around for awhile. We had thai food in the mall and gave each other the high level overview on our lives. (I am married? She is still in touch with many of the same CFHSers? She worked in a theatre?)
And then it was over, our 3 hours together ended and I walked back to my hotel, anxious for Dan, but knowing it was still 10 hours away. On the way back, I encountered a fountain in Makati with no one around, which is rare, Manila is CROWDED AS HECK!
The moment was very peaceful...
Then I walked into my hotel room, turned on Harry Potter, ordered room service and waited. and waited...and tried to stay awake so I could adjust my schedule to Dan's.
A few months later (Chinese Firewall blocking Facebook) I heard that Katherine had a great time in Palawan, got to do a ton of things for a low cost compared to anything in China and was slightly sick of the 10 different women she was traveling with (naturally).
More later!
I've felt tons of weird abdomen movements and cramps and pains and bubbles. Since it's impossible to describe a baby's movement to someone else, I just didn't know.
I thought it would be a sharp pain, so for every sharp sting, I was sure it was the baby. And now I know it's not like that at all.
But I have felt her innumerable times now, which brings immeasurable joy. She likes to move in the car in the morning, at night before I sleep and at work.
Which is good, because I think that means she's sleeping at night, right?
__________
I saw a bunch of Sykes employees yesterday, which was wonderful. A girl on my trip from last year is pregnant, too, now, so it was nice to talk about it and have a pregnancy buddy at work, too.
And it reminds me that I haven't blogged yet about Manila/Cebu/Bohol/Tagaytay
I will instead just share the story of seeing my old friend, Katherine Brown.
Katherine and I went to Elementary school together, she was a year older, but her mom was our art teacher, so I knew her my whole life. We had a similar circle of friends, even though we were never in the same classes, but she was in the honors classes like me and in the same band/theater stuff.
Anyway, we both ended up at UIowa together and one day shared lunch that turned into a roadtrip that turned into some nice friendships for the short time I stayed at Uiowa.
Flashfoward 10 years. We hadn't seen each other since 2001, seriously. But I posted on Facebook about being in Boracay (white sandy beaches and famous vacation spot) and she saw it, said she was coming to Manila in a few weeks. I wasn't sure if our trip would still be going because of all of the uncertainty (which is why I was hesitant to blog about Philippines at all!) but we promised to keep in touch for the few weeks and hope we'd end up in the same place/same time.
So Katherine had been spending the last few years in China as a teacher and got lucky surfing facebook through the Chinese firewall traps. And her teachers were on holiday and going together to Palawan (another famous beach in Philippines).
Anyway, it was one day before Dan came and after 4 weeks of not seeing him, time was getting tighter and harder to ignore. Katherine's arrival would be great and a helpful distraction. So we went shopping at Glorietta 5 and walked around for awhile. We had thai food in the mall and gave each other the high level overview on our lives. (I am married? She is still in touch with many of the same CFHSers? She worked in a theatre?)
And then it was over, our 3 hours together ended and I walked back to my hotel, anxious for Dan, but knowing it was still 10 hours away. On the way back, I encountered a fountain in Makati with no one around, which is rare, Manila is CROWDED AS HECK!
The moment was very peaceful...
Then I walked into my hotel room, turned on Harry Potter, ordered room service and waited. and waited...and tried to stay awake so I could adjust my schedule to Dan's.
A few months later (Chinese Firewall blocking Facebook) I heard that Katherine had a great time in Palawan, got to do a ton of things for a low cost compared to anything in China and was slightly sick of the 10 different women she was traveling with (naturally).
More later!
Sunday, September 16, 2012
WoW!?!
A bazillion years ago, I hated my job in KC. I hated the people I worked with (though now I don't mind them so much), I hated my boss, I hated my boss's boss. I hated the ghetto building we were stuck in when there was a beautiful downtown office that could have absorbed us, I hated the crummy cafeteria, and I hated the other managers whom I didn't report to. I hated the job itself.
But people were getting laid off. It was a recession, a new company was buying us out and I had also convinced myself that the problem at the office was all my fault, and though some of it was, I know now that I should have stood up for myself a lot more.
Frequently I begged to quit, but the cash bonuses were always enticing enough to keep staying b/c of the buyout. Plus you shouldn't quit when you have a job and the rest of the world is unemployed.
I watched part of Schindler's List where the prisoners were hiding in latrines to avoid death. I decided that if people could stand in 5 feet of human excrement, and survive the holocaust, then I could go to work every day and get paid. Literally, that's how I managed to get through some days.
In hindsight, I have no idea how bad or good it really was for me. But I begged my husband to quit. I promised I'd find another job soon. I promised I'd cash out my 401k and we'd live on it. I said I was going crazy. I cried a bazillion times at work and couldn't get it together. Sometimes he'd say with a ton of hesitancy that I could quit, but I knew he didn't really mean it. He thought it was a terrible idea, we didn't want to live on less $$$.
Flashfoward: A friend was going through the same thing. She *did* quit her job, after several months of holding on until her wedding & honeymoon passed. She is a lot happier. The salary part sucks, but it is only temporary. Her husband was upset but understood, was scared, but accepted it. I encouraged her to do it and a week later she found a new, lower paying job, but still something that doesn't suck her soul away.
And I was angry--not at my friend, but just at the fact that I didn't have that kind of partnership. I was mad that the hubby didn't understand and didn't care that I was truly miserable. That money was valued more than me.
I learned a lot about what I could handle, though, and the job today is 100% better. I love it & I am in touch with some of the people I used to hate. Coworkers and I have talked through the BS and gotten to a new and healthier place. I adjusted my attitude. Life is good.
The reason I write this now is because my husband just apologized to me for not letting me quit. His words: "I understand now what it must have been like for you. I wish I had gotten it then, but I get it now. I'm sorry I was such a turd. It wasn't worth it."
4 years later, but never too late. :)
But people were getting laid off. It was a recession, a new company was buying us out and I had also convinced myself that the problem at the office was all my fault, and though some of it was, I know now that I should have stood up for myself a lot more.
Frequently I begged to quit, but the cash bonuses were always enticing enough to keep staying b/c of the buyout. Plus you shouldn't quit when you have a job and the rest of the world is unemployed.
I watched part of Schindler's List where the prisoners were hiding in latrines to avoid death. I decided that if people could stand in 5 feet of human excrement, and survive the holocaust, then I could go to work every day and get paid. Literally, that's how I managed to get through some days.
In hindsight, I have no idea how bad or good it really was for me. But I begged my husband to quit. I promised I'd find another job soon. I promised I'd cash out my 401k and we'd live on it. I said I was going crazy. I cried a bazillion times at work and couldn't get it together. Sometimes he'd say with a ton of hesitancy that I could quit, but I knew he didn't really mean it. He thought it was a terrible idea, we didn't want to live on less $$$.
Flashfoward: A friend was going through the same thing. She *did* quit her job, after several months of holding on until her wedding & honeymoon passed. She is a lot happier. The salary part sucks, but it is only temporary. Her husband was upset but understood, was scared, but accepted it. I encouraged her to do it and a week later she found a new, lower paying job, but still something that doesn't suck her soul away.
And I was angry--not at my friend, but just at the fact that I didn't have that kind of partnership. I was mad that the hubby didn't understand and didn't care that I was truly miserable. That money was valued more than me.
I learned a lot about what I could handle, though, and the job today is 100% better. I love it & I am in touch with some of the people I used to hate. Coworkers and I have talked through the BS and gotten to a new and healthier place. I adjusted my attitude. Life is good.
The reason I write this now is because my husband just apologized to me for not letting me quit. His words: "I understand now what it must have been like for you. I wish I had gotten it then, but I get it now. I'm sorry I was such a turd. It wasn't worth it."
4 years later, but never too late. :)
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Work Party
Dan's changing jobs and we just went to the new office party, even though he hasn't started working there yet. I think he'll be a lot happier to be involved with a younger, nerdier crowd.
Last night, I went to the show METRIC, for which I 'won' a ticket on Craigslist. The show was sold out and I tried every live-person sale of the ticket until this one materialized. The ticket was given to the person who was the most deserving and evidently pregnant women is one of the most deserving reasons to give away the ticket.
I LOVED METRIC. I loved all of their songs, all of their energy, the lead singer has really grown into her true stage performer. Was at a show in 2010 when Metric played and you'd hardly believe they're the same band.
It was weird to go to a concert with a random dude and have to talk to them but he was nice enough and talked about having his two young kids. He actually didnt like the baby phases at all and is happy his children are older, but hey, at least he's honest.
I do think some things about having a toddler will be boring, like playing the same game ad nauseum but I know once the child is older, we'll have a lot of fun. I'm not saying I can't or won't be capable of playing such games, but I just acknowledge now that it might bore the hell out of me. Short attention span & all.
But holding and rocking and cuddling our infant baby girl will not bore the hell out of me. In a few more weeks, we'll be at the viability point if something happens--and in ONE MORE WEEK, I will be at the halfway point.
I've gained about 7 lbs so far. It's too much--I need to stop with the sweets and keep working out.
Last night, I went to the show METRIC, for which I 'won' a ticket on Craigslist. The show was sold out and I tried every live-person sale of the ticket until this one materialized. The ticket was given to the person who was the most deserving and evidently pregnant women is one of the most deserving reasons to give away the ticket.
I LOVED METRIC. I loved all of their songs, all of their energy, the lead singer has really grown into her true stage performer. Was at a show in 2010 when Metric played and you'd hardly believe they're the same band.
It was weird to go to a concert with a random dude and have to talk to them but he was nice enough and talked about having his two young kids. He actually didnt like the baby phases at all and is happy his children are older, but hey, at least he's honest.
I do think some things about having a toddler will be boring, like playing the same game ad nauseum but I know once the child is older, we'll have a lot of fun. I'm not saying I can't or won't be capable of playing such games, but I just acknowledge now that it might bore the hell out of me. Short attention span & all.
But holding and rocking and cuddling our infant baby girl will not bore the hell out of me. In a few more weeks, we'll be at the viability point if something happens--and in ONE MORE WEEK, I will be at the halfway point.
I've gained about 7 lbs so far. It's too much--I need to stop with the sweets and keep working out.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
The Book Thief
Thoughts on reading it for bookclub, so far:
1) Another book about the holocaust? Really? Can't we go back to Diary of Anne Frank and NIGHT for young adults?
2) The bolded observations from the Angel of Death are stupid and a better author could have interwoven it into the text without the stupid disruption.
That is all.
If I can choose a book myself next time, it's going to be the Jeffrey Eugenides book, because he's awesome.
1) Another book about the holocaust? Really? Can't we go back to Diary of Anne Frank and NIGHT for young adults?
2) The bolded observations from the Angel of Death are stupid and a better author could have interwoven it into the text without the stupid disruption.
That is all.
If I can choose a book myself next time, it's going to be the Jeffrey Eugenides book, because he's awesome.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
WATER
Went to the Summit Beer Festival this weekend. It had 5 local bands that we like a lot, so we went to the beerfestival.
I think I must have been the only pregnant woman there, but I doubt pregnant women are the primary demographic of a beerfest. So anyway, since everyone was drinking beer, a lot of people must have been really thirsty for water, too.
And they drank all the water. There was none left for me.
And then there was no Sprite left for me.
And then I panicked.
If I was there alone, I'd just go home. I'd drive to a gas station. But I was the sober driver for 4 other people who wanted to stay. So I found a can of San Pelegrino, SICK-0, but I drank it.
Soda is evil, evil, evil. The liquid is full of syrupy corn and chemicals and carbonation.
Water is pure and delicious and crisp and clear.
After a few hours, a vendor showed up with more water and my problems went away.
I was scared!
I think I must have been the only pregnant woman there, but I doubt pregnant women are the primary demographic of a beerfest. So anyway, since everyone was drinking beer, a lot of people must have been really thirsty for water, too.
And they drank all the water. There was none left for me.
And then there was no Sprite left for me.
And then I panicked.
If I was there alone, I'd just go home. I'd drive to a gas station. But I was the sober driver for 4 other people who wanted to stay. So I found a can of San Pelegrino, SICK-0, but I drank it.
Soda is evil, evil, evil. The liquid is full of syrupy corn and chemicals and carbonation.
Water is pure and delicious and crisp and clear.
After a few hours, a vendor showed up with more water and my problems went away.
I was scared!
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
A girl dragon
Having a baby, it's a girl!
I goofed our ultrasound appointment today. It wasn't at 12:30 PM after all, just 2:30 PM. Talk about a let down.
But at 2:30, I came back. The ultrasound lady was tired and ready to go home for the day.
Yes, I said, it's my first baby and my first pregnancy.
Great! She said.
Then she jabbed me a bunch of times until we could see everything we wanted. She was pretty active and wiggly, according to both the doctor and the ultrasound lady. I wonder if restless leg syndrome is passed to her genetically?
Then we saw little baby Zebra on the screen, with a brain and a 4 chambered heart, and a little face, 5 fingers and 5 toes on each hand. She had her legs crossed for some of the time, but she is definitely female.
And now I have about 14 photos of arms and legs and head and face. They said this will be my only ultrasound if things go well--but I want to see her again and again and again and again and again.
Instead I bought her a banana outfit.
She weighs 8 oz and I got to skip ahead 5 days of pregnancy. I am officially 18 weeks pregnant according to the clinic and my due date is 2/6/13. But we will hope for 2/2/13, because Groundhog Day is awesome.
I goofed our ultrasound appointment today. It wasn't at 12:30 PM after all, just 2:30 PM. Talk about a let down.
But at 2:30, I came back. The ultrasound lady was tired and ready to go home for the day.
Yes, I said, it's my first baby and my first pregnancy.
Great! She said.
Then she jabbed me a bunch of times until we could see everything we wanted. She was pretty active and wiggly, according to both the doctor and the ultrasound lady. I wonder if restless leg syndrome is passed to her genetically?
Then we saw little baby Zebra on the screen, with a brain and a 4 chambered heart, and a little face, 5 fingers and 5 toes on each hand. She had her legs crossed for some of the time, but she is definitely female.
And now I have about 14 photos of arms and legs and head and face. They said this will be my only ultrasound if things go well--but I want to see her again and again and again and again and again.
Instead I bought her a banana outfit.
She weighs 8 oz and I got to skip ahead 5 days of pregnancy. I am officially 18 weeks pregnant according to the clinic and my due date is 2/6/13. But we will hope for 2/2/13, because Groundhog Day is awesome.
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