When we sat down for dinner that first night, Leonel, Pipo and I had our reservations. We didn’t know who would be sharing our table, since we were seated in a table for 6. We had just finished ordering our appetizers when in walked the ladies – Nancy, Tonya any Geniza.

At first, they were a little bit miffed. They had just come from the main dining room on the fourth floor. They were already seated, enjoying some drinks and waiting for their appetizers, when they were unceremoniously booted from their table. The staff informed them that their table was overbooked, and that they would be taken to another table – downstairs on the 3rd floor, with us. We commiserated with them after hearing their story – to be unceremoniously moved when they were all seated and comfortable.

And as the dinner commenced, we continued talking and chatting. And we got louder as time went on, and noisier…we were clicking together, like Dorothy’s ruby red slippers!

By the end of the evening, we were like peas in a pod – chattering and giggling and having fun! This is one of the things that I totally love about the cruises – meeting and making new friends!

So we were left wondering – now that there were 3 of us on this mini vacation, we made a bet as to how many pictures we’d end up with. I figured, with the 3 of us, we’d average probably about 100 per day, knowing that we’re such hams when it comes to memorializing where we’ve been.

Would you car to venture a guess as to how many photos we took, total? Here’s a slideshow of just Day 1 on the boat.

But as fate would have it, Queenie’s flight was delayed in EWR, and did not arrive till 11:15 a.m. So, once we picked him up at the airport, we decided to just head out to the Riverfront area of Fort Lauderdale to do some sight-seeing and photo shoots, as well as have some lunch before boarding at 2:00. Besides, the Riverfront district was also a skip step away from the gay area of Fort Lauderdale – just in case we wanted to hang out a bar for a bit.

Needless to say – we had a blast at River Front. In a span of less than an hour, we had shot a lot of pictures in various poses and combinations! We were such goofballs, laughing heartily, that people were looking at us wondering what the hell the comotion was about!

And that’s what I love about our reunions. Aside from the bonding that we do, and the myraid discussions about our lives, our loves, the ups and downs, we never fail to just throw caution to the wind and have a hilarious, gay ol’ time w/ ourselves! Check it out!

After lunch at the River Front, we headed back to Miami to rendezvous with our ship, the RCL Majest of the Seas. Compared to our last cruise in September, the boarding process in RCL was a lot more organized, a lot more sane than Carnival’s. We were in and out in a flash!

I was a little bit disappointed once we got to the room – it was extremely small, and there were 3 of us! I guess it was to be expected, since the Majesty was a lot smaller than the Carnival Valor that we took last September. The room felt a wee bit claustrophobic, and we found it hard to maneuver at first.

But that was just a trifle – disappointed with the smallness, but we dealt with it. Because we didn’t let it get in the way of having fun! Once we dropped our bags and freshend up a bit, we started once more w/ our pictorials!

As time ticked while the baggage came out, I started to worry, as one by one, people started getting their luggage. Mine was not in sight. I started to get a panic attack – everyone save for a dozen of us on the same flight had already gotten their luggage. The carousel was just spinning around, empty, with a bunch of us bewildered passengers milling about, asking the same old question – “You were on that American flight from SF, right?”

The American Airlines baggage agent working there didn’t have a clue, and went to find some answers. And we – the tired, forlorn and baggage-less travelers – were left waiting. As the minutes ticked, my anxiety started getting the better of me. “God, this isn’t happening – I don’t have anything else save for one change of shirt and underwear in my backpack. What am I going to do?”

After about 20 minutes of worry, bags started appearing in the still-spinning but empty carousel. Ah, finally – my bag is here! Woohoo! I heaved a sigh of relief and said a prayer of thanks that the reunion was still going well. The baggage agent was no where in sight – I guess he couldn’t find an answer in time for us.

I immediately went to the Avis rental center, got the car, and sped my way to Fort Lauderdale airport to pick up Pipo. We squealed w/ delight once we made contact, and started gigling and chattering about the cruise as we made our way out of the airport.

We headed to downtown Fort Lauderdale, and started hunting for a place to eat. We were starving and tired, but we were excited still, since in about an hour and half, we would be hooking up w/ Leonel, and be off on our merry way exploring Miami before rendezvousing w/ the Majesty of the Seas. We finally spied an IHOP and decided to have breakfast.

As we sat down, we continued to chit-chat – our voices ringing with excitement about the cruise. This was going to be Pipo’s first cruise, and I told him that he would have such a blast! We talked about the stuff to do on the ship, as well as the adventures that we’d be having in the Bahamas. it was great to renew ties once again (even though I had seen him – albeit briefly – a month before during a trip down to Santa Monica for work).

As we ate our food, our conversation flowed to other things – more importantly about career and love. Pipo was doing very well in his new job, showing me his designs for XOXO featured in an ad in Elle featuring the model Anna Beatriz. Wow! Totally hot clothing – very Beyonce!

Alas – love was a different matter, since he was still hurting from his break-up w/ Drew. It takes a lifetime to forget, as I told him. At least he had Drew. I’m still single and looking!

While we were eating and chatting, Leonel texted us – a couple of times. The first text he sent – while we were just starting our breakfast – mentioned that he was still on the tarmac, due to a slight delay. The next text was a little more ominous – it was already 8:30 a.m., and they still didn’t leave the ground. The flight – a 3-hour journey from NYC – was expected originally to be in Fort Lauderdale at 9:15! He called up, and we sensed he was already ticked off – IRITADA!

Once we finished breakfast, Pipo and I made our way in search of a place where we could hang out and rest. We wanted to hang out in a beach area, since we were in Florida. I remembered seeing a sign with Dania Beach close to the Fort Lauderdale airport, and headed out there. We found it fairly easily, and spent a good bit of the morning parked at the beach, taking a nap since we were very much sleep deprived. We awoke around 10:00, and explored the beach, taking a few pictures along the way.

And here they are…very A4A, don’t you think? I don’t have any of me, since I think Pipo took them on his camera, and we didn’t have a CF reader to extract them out of his camera. >sigh< Oh well...

Last Sunday evening, the day that I had arrived, the entire family went to San Jacinto restaurant to help celebrate both Tita Josie’s and Donna’s birthdays. There were 18 of us there – not the entire kaboodle (Tito Joey, Tita Gina and Dani were in HKG). We feasted on a 12-course Chinese lauriat…times 2! Tita had ordered 2 of everything for the entire family, so there were a total of 24 dishes on the table! Needless to say, we were rolling out of there, since the food in San Jacinto is quite good!

I don’t know if I can remember all twelve course, but I’ll try – we had Bird’s Nest soup, a platter of Chinese cold cuts, glazed beef w/ kropeck (shrimp chips – YUM!), salt and pepper prawns (and when I mean prawns, I mean the large ones that we have here in the Philippines, not the small “prawns” you get in the US), Pancit Guisado, Yang Chow fried rice, Pata Tim, Lapu-Lapu in ginger sauce, ground beef in cabbage cups…god, I can’t remember the rest…you could say I was in a food coma after that!

And every morning, for breakfast, I’ve been indulging in sinangag (garlic fried rice)! Yum! I haven’t indulged in this on a daily basis in ages!

Oh yes, I finally even got a chance to have lanzones! It wasn’t sweet – it was a little tart, but I still enjoyed it! I have not had it in more than 20 years! Ah! Life is good!

Yes, home. I can’t help it – when I’m in SF, I always miss Manila. And when I’m here, I miss SF a lot. It’s crazy, but I think I can call both places home…unless I can find another place that has the qualities of both!

The trip was uneventful, to say the least. Although, I did get upgraded to Business Class, thanks to mom’s connection at Philippine Airlines. I got some really good pictures as we took off.

Even though I was in Business Class, the seat was still uncomfortable – especially for a 15-hour direct flight. Thank God my brother gave me a sleeping aid – I slept for about 12 hours of the flight (although I still kept fidgeting since I couldn’t find a good position to fall asleep in). I only was awake for the dinner that was served after we took off, and breakfast that was served just before we landed (mind you – it was heaven – garlic fried rice, bacon, sweet cured Filipino pork (tocino) – YUM!)

I landed in MNL at 4:20 a.m., and was out by 5:00 (cleared immigration, got my bags, and cleared customs in about 20 minutes – the shortest I think that I’ve experienced).

And now I’m enjoying the nice warm weather! Not too humid, but mind you, just enough humidity to make my skin feel naturally moisturized! No need for creams, since my skin doesn’t look scaly/flaky!

And the food – my god! I’ve been enjoying it since I got home here in Vernida. I had bought some freshly made bibingka and puto bumbong this morning after church, and they tasted heavenly after not having some for ages!

And not to mention the bananas! Oh my gawd – so many varieties just hanging at the fruit peddlers’ stands. I had me some La Tondan and Sabah today, and they were bursting w/ flavor. Unlike those generic chiquitas that you get in Safeway or Albertsons. The La Tondan has what I would describe as a complex sweet and sour flavor. The Sabah, while not good raw, was excellent just served parboiled, and in one case, served as banana fritters.

I can’t wait to get my hand on the other varieties of bananas, as well as the other fruits that I’ve missed. I’ve already indulged in mangoes as well – the Philippine kind that’s smoother than canned peaches but tastes hundreds of times better than the champagne mangoes we get from Mexico while in the states.

Bummer – I just missed the lanzones season – it would have been a blast had I got to taste some. Pity I missed it by a few weeks.

And now, I was heading back to it for a date on the Carnival Valor! Woohoo!

It had been 2 years since I had traveled for a vacation. The last time I did it was a short 4-day trip to Vancouver in between my jobs at Planet Out and VMware. That was in September of 2004. And now, I was heading to Miami/Fort Lauderdale to meet up with Leonel for the cruise that we had been looking forward to since the year began.

I had a little bit of a drama moment the day my departure. Weeks earlier, I had asked dad a favor of taking me to the Oakland airport on Saturday, Sepetember 16. On Friday the 15th, I was supposed to stay over night in Foster City with the family, so that they could take me to the airport the next day at 6 a.m. since my flight was at nine in the morning. However, I ended up with more stuff to do that day – both work and at home, that I wasn’t able to go to Foster city at the original time that I had said I was going; some work issues came in via e-mail (I was working from home), and I had to do impromptu repairs on a toilet seat that had just broken that day as well.

Anyways – to make a long story short, Dennis called me up and said that dad was not in a good mood because I had not yet made my way to Foster City at the supposed time I was going to be there. He suggested I make different arrangements for getting to the airport, since dad’s mood was making him unreasonable.

“I don’t need this shit.” That’s a phrase I said (and always say) to myself when things don’t go as planned.

Well, I was busy trying to get everything ready for the trip, aside from finishing work, that I had decided to take everything into my own hands. I had had told Dennis that I would just stay at home, and make arrangements on my own. In the back of my mind, I told myself that I would just drive myself to the airport, and just pay for long term parking. No drama, no hassle, no incovenience.

I was readying to go vacation. I don’t need the extra drama. End of story? Not quite.

Mom called after Dennis, and insisted that she would drive me to the airport. In the back of my mind, I was telling myself, that I did’t want to deal with this anymore, because if dad was in a foul mood, this would even make him more so.

So I kept on insisting to her that I had made arrangements already. I even fabricated a story that I called in a favor from a friend who I had picked up from the airport before at an ungodly hour, and that she would drive me the next day to the airport (FYI: the picking up of a friend at ungodly hour was true; her driving me to Oakland for my trip was not).

But mom, the person that she is – didn’t listen to what I was saying, and kept repeating the same thing over and over again – that she would take me to the airport, and I kept telling her no need, to the point where I was already raising my voice and getting angry at her (mom hears, but, of late, never listens to what we say to her at face value, and it really gets to me that I have to repeat something a dozen times before she finally shuts the f* up or moves on to another topic).

Finally, she said OK, but insisted that she drop by and see me before I flew. At this point, I just wanted to get everything done with, and really didn’t want her to come. But then, she’s mother – what can you say to her? She doesn’t listen anyways, and by that time, I was too tired to argue.

So, she came while I was having dinner. We chatted for a bit, but it centered around dad’s foul mood. I just let things go in one ear, out the other, and say “uh-huh.” Eventually, she left after “chatting.”

Dad eventually called 30 minutes later after she had left. He told me that things were taken out of context, and was still very much willing to take me to the airport. I had told him everything was fine, that I had already made arrangements. So, he left it at that, and wished me a happy trip.

Ah, finally, peace and quiet. I was so looking forward to leaving already, and like I said earlier – I didn’t need this shit, and needed this break. At that point, I definitely felt good, since now, it was just me-time – no hassle, no worries, no inconveniencing of people, no dealing with drama, etc.  I didn’t even care about how much I would pay for long term parking – to me, it was a great deal for a whole lot of peace and quiet to start my vacation.

I guess they knew I was coming! Look at the welcome sign they put out for me!

So, for this trip, instead of booking via the travel agency at work, I was told to book via Hotwire and get a good deal on the Intercontinental in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. The rate: $82/night. And let’s just say, it’s a big steal! Napakasosyal!

The room is just sumptuously decorated, with luxurious fabrics, and very clean, refined wood furniture. The bathroom has separate tub and shower. I’m just overwhelmed with lots of small details that you’ll only find at 5-star establishments.

For instance, while I was downstairs having my dinner, the housekeeping staff came in to do turn-down service. They had a small chocolate on my pillow, and the had ice and glasses in the serving area all set for any type of beverage that I wished before going to bed. Now that’s service!

Of course, I’m making the most out of this gig. After 6+ hours of flying and airport time, I took a very nice warm bath in the tub, and just lay there for about half an hour relaxing. For dinner, I went to the downstairs restaurant, and had the most scrumptious meal of grilled scallops on a bed of arugula and mushroom risotto with a balsamic vinegar reduction. Abolutely divine!

Now why can’t all business travel trips be this good? I even jokingly texted Leonel “Heto, babuyin! Kulbam!”

For example, they said the Olympics was such a big joke if you were there. One of the folks who I chatted w/ sad that a famous news commentator remarked “These were good games” as opposed to “These were the best games.” This commentator only said it about Atlanta in all the years that he’s been covering the Olympics. Talk about a diss!
Dee and Leonie even told me their experiences – it wasn’t the best. Think promdi but w/ a US context – redneck hicks, small world thinking.

OK – I think I’m setting the bar lower now. We’ll see when I get back…