Coming to the Philippines

The shortest distance between two points is a line.

If you were to dig hole from Brazil through the center of the Earth all the way to the other side, you would end up in the Philippines.

I arrived here about a month ago, and it was quite the journey - definitely didn't take that shortest route. This is my story....



Coming to the Philippines

It started in Rio where I woke up on the top bunk in my dorm room with a handful of dirty shirts hanging off the railings and toiletries randomly scattered across the foot of my bed. It occurred to me that I was not packed and yet I had a flight to catch that night at 11pm. But that's not the best part. My flight was departing from Sao Paolo which was still a casual 7 hour bus ride away. YES! Plus no time to shower cause I didn't want to risk it. It was gonna take a half hour to get to the Bus Terminal, and I still had to purchase a bus ticket for Pete's sake. Filth rides it is! I packed my things, and gave my farewells to Jeff B., Wave Hostel, and Rio.

When I arrived at the Bus Terminal in Sao Paolo, I took a cab to the international airport - another solid 25 minutes. Total travel time thus far = 8 hours and I'm still in Brazil . I scurried over to the AeroMexico stand to check in. Departing at 11pm, I knew that they probably wouldn't serve a meal for a 9 hour red-eye flight to Mexico City. I had just enough time to grab a ham & cheese croissant and a bottled water (sem gas) to flush it down.

On board, all the flight attendants and several passengers were wearing face masks. While everyone was living in SwineFear, I was having a ball of laughter watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S.


Chandler is hella sarcastic.


And I was right about AeroMexico not serving a meal for this overnight flight. They actually served 2 all-out meals. Plus, beer & wine is always complimentary. AeroMexico rocks! Surprisingly, I was awake for both servings.

1. Dinner


2. Breakfast


After 9 hours of eats, sleeps, and a 10 minute attempt to watch "Bride Wars" (FAIL), I arrived in Mexico City at 7a.m. where I had a 9 hour layover. Oh what to do for 9 hours in the city of Swine? I located the money changer to pick up some Mexican pesos and hit up the airport cybercafe. I checked my email and saw that I had received a couchsurfing reply. Two days earlier, I had sent a last minute message to the CS group in Mexico City along the lines of "what would you do if you had 9 hours in Mexico City?"

I've said it once, and I'll say it again: The couchsurfing project is the coolest!
In her reply, Maria gave me very detailed information on how to find the metro station so that I could take a 35 min. train to meet her near her place in the southern part of the city. She also left me instructions on where to pick up a phone card so I could contact her. I gave her a call at 8 in the morning to confirm that I had arrived. She definitely had the sleepy wake-up voice.

On the way to the Metro Station...


At the metro station, they were handing out blue masks to wear. I picked up a map of the metro and quickly studied it to figure out which way? what way? how? I hopped on the non-AC train with my small backpack and I was off to the races...





I gave Maria another call to let her know that I had arrived at her station. She told me that she is wearing a face mask and is in a light gold Renault Clio. I had never heard of a 'Renault Clio' but I assumed it was some kind of clothing apparel. I just told her I was wearing a blue jersey with yellow numbers. I later found out she was talking about her car. OOF! Apparently there were two separate sides to EXIT the station and of course I went out one side while she was waiting on the other. It took us a short while, but we finally found each other and cruised around her neighberhood in her light gold ride.

National Autonomous University of Mexico - biggest university in the country. Classes were canceled because of Mr. Swine.


Me & my favorite place to be - the library. Hezziopurs.


Olympic Stadium - Summer games 1968


Maria knew I was a fan of Mexican food so it was her idea that we gather up some grub at the local supermarket and cook at her place. Here she is picking out some peppers. Also on the list: beans, avacados, blue-corn tortillas, CHEESE, onions, tomatoes.


The Panaderia


We picked up some traditional Mexican treats as well.


QUESO Oaxaca!!!!


Fresh Guacamole


Buen Provecho! - Quesadillas in Blue-Corn tortillas, beans, mexican rice, and FRESH guacamole. This definitely beats sitting in the airport for 9 hours.



2 stops away -> Cabo San Lucas > San Diego, CA.


American Pit-Stop

I touched down on U.S. soil in sunny S.D. My Ate Jen-Jen fetched me and we went straight for the gusto - CAF - Carne Asada Fries. I threw in a Carne Asada burrito for fun. I missed a lot of food when I was abroad and this was only the beginning of Eat Fest 2009. I had 1 week in SoCal (S.D. and L.A) before my next move.





I couchsurfed at the Fuentecilla (TRF, Jen, Amor) computer lab/household in Bonita, CA and I got my own room and they even provided me with a normal terry cloth towel. They feel so much better than the microfiber one I've been traveling with. In Gardena I was couchsurfin' with cousin J & Salve, Salve, Salve.


It was tons of fun hanging out with family again doing what we do best: overeat, Poker & Beer, Keep eating, go to church + Sunday Lazies, visit the ocean, watch Paquiao fights, NBA playoffs, bbq, naps, watch movies "Notorious", and listen to Amor's Ipod when nobody knows any of the tracks.

Big UP's to Ninang Ang for making the BIG trip downsouth.


On Demand - Chicken Adobo


Green Eggs & Ham - Hotel del Coranado
That's my silly Goddaughter Trinity aka TRF. Last time I saw her back in August, she was only saying like 2-3 word phrases. One of the first things she asked me was "Ninong Mark, why your hair looks different?" She also asked me a lot of "How do you say _____ in Spanish?" like trees, cars, hands, and of course Tinkerbell. TRF is crazy like that and I love it.



pass outs.


Imperial Beach


I think I gained about 8 pounds in this one week.





The weeklong pitstop flew by and after a night of 3 pitchers of beer between me and J and a Laker loss in the playoffs, I was in LAX catching another red-eye flight to Asia. All the flight attendants on EVA airlinnes looked like Evelyn Leung.  Happy 1 month bday to Lil' Landon!

14.5 hours later I arrived in Taipei, Taiwan (2 hour layover)
I didn't get a chance to exit the airport but it was definitely modern times inside.







I liked these casual safes where you can charge your phone for free.


Just chill.


The Home Stretch

The 2 hour flight to Manila was cake. I arrived safely and swineless. Of course my luggage was one of the last to come out. As I made my way out of the terminal, across the ways in a sea of Pinoys, I saw a white posterboard with my name on it all black caps: MARK. I can't believe I actually saw the plain sign being waved around that my Dad was holding up.


And speaking of Dad, I wanna say WELCOME HOME to my Kuya CanaDad and Family. We'll see each other soon but for now I see you all on Lola's mantle of grandkids...