Wanderlust Heaven!

Welcome to entry #40. There’s no special significance to that figure, but this entry does see me back on the road again. My time in the States went by quickly, probably because I did a million things while there. Let me recap my last few days in Boston…

Caught up with my ex-colleague and old friend Eric at Pizzeria Regina in Boston. Eric and I used to work together on projects all over Asia-Pacific, and we made a pretty good team. We still fondly recall our projects together in Sydney, which came on the heels of a brutal project in Japan for me and a series of forgettable projects for him. We went to Oz to work on an 8-week project, fell in love with our situation there, and sold follow-on work that took us through year-end – including the 2000 Sydney Olympics, which we attended. When that work ended Eric and I reminisced about it and agreed that it would be very difficult for any project to top that one.

That prediction turned out to be true. Eric’s still with the firm, in an internal capacity, and is in Boston for a while on an assignment. He’s from Manila, and might get back here while I’m still around.

Before I left Boston I moved most of my stuff into storage. Brother-in-law Dave helped me out and we were finished in a few hours. Dave’s a huge U2 fan – he claims that he’s just a fan while his brother Steven is a fanatic, and that’s probably true, but I think the margin is blurry. After lugging the boxes around we went to his house in Hopkinton (listening to a fair bit of U2 on the way) to relax for the rest of the weekend. On Sunday morning my sister Bonnie had an emergency patient to take care of, so Dave, nephew Jacob, and I went out for breakfast. Went to a classic little diner in Westborough – I do miss places like these when overseas, I haven’t found many real diners outside of the East Coast of the States. We stuffed our guts on fatty fare and had a few cups of coffee. Our waitress was a local and had a major league Boston accent. She took one look at my blonde-haried, blue-eyed nephew and pronounced him a ‘little chahmah’ (charmer). I love it. I’ll be needling Jacob about this when he’s 30 years old…

The Super Bowl was that night, and we went over to some friends of Bonnie and Dave for a small party. Gary and Stacey brought in barbecue from Redbones in Somerville – this place opened up when I was still in school at Tufts, just around the corner, and it’s stood the test of time. My intestines were blocked for a couple days after this meal, but it was worth it. It’s difficult to find diner food abroad – it’s pretty much impossible to find this type of barbecue anywhere outside the States. So I availed myself of it and settled in to watch the game.

Which wasn’t that gripping. It was perhaps the first rainy game in Super Bowl history – and it certainly was the rainiest if it wasn’t the first. Players were fumbling the ball, falling down, screwing up, and it was too messy for my liking. I also didn’t have any mental or monetary investment in the game…my beloved New England Patriots had lost and weren’t playing now. So I mostly played with nephew Jacob and his little friend Mia and only glanced at the screen now and then. Indianapolis won the game and that was that. Wait ‘till next year.

Dave drove me back to Newton that night…I was flying out the next day. Did my final load of laundry, finished packing my backpack, and hit the sack. I felt like I was in the right place: I had spent a lot of time with family and friends while in Boston, I had taken care of a few remaining tasks, and I had more or less behaved myself while home. That said, I was ready to roll. The road was beckoning, and I was continuing to be conscious of feeling most happy when I’m self-sufficient. There are two aspects at play here: one, I’m not good about doing things just to please others and be a good householder – read, taking out the trash, lifting up the toilet seat, etc. etc. I can deal with these things for a bit, but they make me feel stressed, like a task machine who’s walking around on eggshells – and after a while I need to move on. Two, I have a misanthropic streak that I keep fairly well-hidden – and which might surprise some people. I’m generally very good about seeing family and friends (see below for some evidence), and I go out of my way to travel long distances to see them…but I soon need my privacy and can’t go long stretches without tearing through a book. So when I’m surrounded by people for a long period I get shpilkes (Yiddish for ‘ants in the pants’).

So my next journey loomed. And on Monday, I took a cab to Logan Airport and got on a plane to Dallas, the first leg of several that would get me to Manila by mid-week. The cabbie was from Trinidad, had a great island accent, and knew his political and sports history, having spent 20 years in the States. We were both bitching about the weather – it was about 15 degrees Fahrenheit that day – and we both agreed that Trinidad or Manila sounded much better.

I was heading to Manila/the Philippines for a few reasons. An old friend had enticed me to help him think about starting a small business in the country – and he had promised me a solid chunk of change and part ownership if it took off. I wasn’t interested in signing on for a real job, but was happy to help him for a month or so. I can’t divulge the nature of the opportunity here – I signed a non-disclosure agreement – but if it takes off I’ll say more in these pages or elsewhere.

I was also heading back to the RP (Republic of the Philippines) to island-hop, scuba dive with a friend who owns a dive shop in Dumaguete, and to work more diligently, with modest distractions, on my book. In 2006 I made slow progress on the book, largely because I was traveling at a frantic pace. This year I want to slow it down and give myself a couple long stretches in one place, to get into a routine of writing, exercising, and relaxing. We’ll see what really happens…

So there you have it. I really don’t need any excuse to travel, but I have a few anyway. That said, the series of flights from Boston to Manila tested me. I used frequent flyer miles, and many of you know how the airlines have moved to make using your miles more difficult. I had to stop in Dallas, Vancouver, and Hong Kong en route. Door to door the entire trip took 40+ hours. Long even by my standards.

A recap of the highlights and lowlights:

• When I got to Logan I found that I couldn’t get a seat assignment right away on the flight to Dallas (the subsequent 3 flights were all fine). My entire round-the-world flight package was in business class, and I anticipated easy check-ins and all that. But American Airlines had overbooked business class (and the flight in general) and bumped me down to economy. I complained and they gave me a $300 flight voucher – which was alright, but I don’t have much use for this given my overseas traveling for the rest of ’07. But I took the voucher and sat in my cattle car seat for the 4-hour trip to Dallas.
• At the risk of stating the obvious – flying on a carrier that has been in Chapter 11 (bankruptcy/restructuring proceedings) is depressing. The mileage of the plane could probably be expressed in light-years…the only food in economy class was crappy sandwiches for $5 apiece…the flight took off late…and the flight attendants weren’t exactly eye candy. The passengers were even worse. The couple across the way both wore plaid flannel shirts and spoke to each other loudly the entire flight. The woman asked an attendant for a ‘seatbelt extender.’ I wasn’t aware those existed – and they probably shouldn’t exist. Only in America. The fellow sitting next to me – in the center seat – was a fat slob who immediately fell asleep, allowing his arms to slide into my space. He only woke up to buy a $5 sandwich, scarf it down, and read a hot-rod magazine. Then back to sleep. I spent the entire flight pushing his arms away – felt like I was losing a World Wrestling Federation match. He also didn’t smell pleasant. Thinking back, I should have demanded a $1,000 voucher for being bumped to economy class – it was that aggravating.
• The only saving grace was the book I was reading: Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville. You could call it a fantasy/sci-fi work – Mieville created his own world and the story was just captivating, after a somewhat slow start. I got through the 600-page book in a couple weeks and it blew me away. He’s got a couple follow-ups: The Scar and Iron Council, both of which I’ve got with me and I’ll probably plow through those at a similar pace. Go check it out.
• I spent some time looking out the window, in an attempt to forget that the slob next to me was compressing my body into a tiny space. We didn’t seem to be flying at a particularly high altitude – I could usually see the ground. We flew west over the lovely cities of Buffalo and Syracuse, which were covered in snow. It was actually a fairly interesting view, given all the snow – almost like looking at a Google Earth shot or some other satellite map view. So between the book and the view I somehow survived the flight to Dallas.
• Had a short layover in Dallas-Fort Worth Airport – nothing interesting to report. Got into the American Airlines lounge, had a couple drinks, and took it easy. Next flight was to Vancouver, and I was in biz class – it was still American Airlines, but much better. Four more hours and I was in Vancouver, a city I’d only visited briefly once before. This time I had a long layover – 5 or so hours – and took a cab into the city to have dinner and drinks. Didn’t know anyone in Vancouver, but I remembered that Granville Street downtown was a cool stretch and went over there. Hit a couple places, then back to the airport. Cabbie was a Somali refugee – I guessed his home country and he liked that. Had a good talk about politics and real estate prices. Vancouver is very multi-culti – walking around downtown was a real lesson in diversity. I think that Vancouver is a ‘Pacific city’ – huge Asian presence and an eclectic feel.
• My next flight was on Cathay Pacific (partner of American Airlines) to Hong Kong. What a difference – I got in line and right away a (pleasant) Cathay rep came over to take care of me. Sorted everything out and went to the Cathay lounge – where I found a couch and passed out. It was midnight and the flight was leaving at 2 a.m. Slept there for 90 minutes, fitfully, then got on the HKG flight. Business class on Cathay is a real treat – the seats were comfortable (although they didn’t recline fully – bummer), the staff is very classy, and they just do things right. Doesn’t feel like they’re out to make an incremental $5 off every passenger. I have to say that I enjoy – and crave – the service levels and luxuries of Asia. Sometimes it costs you, sometimes not…but the value you get is unbelievable high compared to North America. My aforementioned friend Eric, from Manila, has enjoyed his stretch in Boston but is looking forward to going home – where he has a great apartment, a Mercedes, a driver, and random other luxuries that would cost a fortune in Boston.
• On that same note – I caught up with some ex-colleagues upon reaching Hong Kong. Had lunch with my friend Sam, with whom I stayed when in Hong Kong in August ’06. Sam and his wife have two kids, and they have a fulltime maid to help them out. These maids only make about US$500/month in Hong Kong – but compared to what they can make in their home countries (the RP and Indonesia), it’s a great situation. There are around 250,000 (perhaps many more) overseas maids/domestics in HKG and from what I’ve seen it sure beats sleeping 4 hours a night and doing all your own household chores. I might sound like an imperialist/capitalist pig here, but I’m completely serious.
• Had coffee with Nicole and Jessica at Monitor’s office. They’re both doing well, working reasonable hours and expanding their non-work activities. Jessica’s taking an HR management course at a local uni, Nicole is deep into her yoga and also planning to write a novel. We compared notes and exhorted each other to get a move on. I mentioned earlier in this posting that I try to make an effort to see people wherever I go…which is true. I had thought about getting a shorter layover in Hong Kong – there are numerous flights to Manila – but wanted to go into town, despite my exhaustion, and see these folks. And I’m glad I did.
• That said, when I touched down in Manila I was beat. I felt like a merry pilgrim returning to a promised land – but really needed a nap. Took a taxi into the city, checked into my ratty hotel, and slept for 3 hours. As I drifted off I reflected a bit on my love of the dimensions of our world…there aren’t many feelings like dropping into a place, either for the first time or as a repeat visitor…and while the trip had exhausted me, I wouldn’t choose to compress the distances by a single mile. Might sound naïve or corny, but hey, that’s what makes me tick.

Took it easy that night – went out for a few beers but stayed away from the sordid stretch of go-go bars along P. Burgos Avenue. I’m sure that in some post last year I touched on the irony of this street – its full name is ‘Padre Burgos Street’ and the chief industry is girlie bars. What would the good father think?

Went to a 7-11 to get a phone card (you can reach me at +63-928-717-5698), some water and toilet paper. When I entered the store, the security guy (there were actually two of them) was putting his pistol into a drawer. Gulp. But Filipino 7-11 stores are great – you can buy any sort of booze you want, and they have a full range of toiletries – this store had a big Oral-B display area. No need to stock up on toiletries in the States any more…most of the key stuff is available here.

Last thing – I’ve been complaining regularly about this blog hosting site, and finally did something about it. Call ‘em up, told them I was thinking of switching, and they raised my photo download capacity from 20 gigs (which I obviously already filled – hence no photos for the past couple months) to 200 gigs – which should hold me for the indefinite future. So I’ll probably stick with Boots’n’all for the time being. But if you’ve tried another site, or know someone who has, let me know. I’m keeping my eyes open for a better deal. We Jews are good that way. Over and out.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 7th, 2007 at 11:43 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.