field notes: travel

Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts

Saturday, August 04, 2012

Philippines

Because, if nothing else, I'm a completist, here's a photo diary (of sorts) of the last leg of my trip, about 7 months (!) late. My sister and I met up with a few cousins and spent a few days on Boracay, my favourite beach of the trip!

Vietnam

Day: 67
Countries: 7
Stops: 25

Two minivans took us to the Cambodia-Vietnam border, and this border seems more normal, although security and organization still seemed much more lax than the Singapore-Malaysia or Malaysia-Thailand borders. Then it's a quick minivan trip to Chau Doc, on the Mekong Delta. First order of business was a boat trip on the Mekong Delta, where we got to see (another) floating village. Then a motorbike ride up Sam Mountain for sunset! It was a fun ride, with lots of photo stops along the way. the last leg of the ride was pretty crazy as well with sharp uphill turns on a speeding motorbike! The sunset was also very pretty, and we stayed to have a drink at the top of the mountain before heading down and visiting a local pagoda on the way back to the hotel.

Life on the Mekong River, at Chau Doc

Sunset over the Mekong Delta, at Chau Doc

Cambodia

Day: 53
Countries: 6
Stops: 20

Currently sitting on our last overnight train, on the way to our 2nd to the last stop of the trip! But first, let me try and remember what we did back in Cambodia, over 2 weeks ago...

Malaysia and Southern Thailand

Day: 46
Countries: 5
Stops: 17

Two weeks went by so fast, and yet somehow Singapore seems so long ago, let alone Indonesia or China. I'm currently in Bangkok, waiting for my sister to join me at the hotel, so I finally have some time to catch up on the updates.

As I mentioned, we arrived in Melaka in the afternoon of Nov 14 (that's Day 33). Our hotel was in Chinatown, so we had a quick lunch at the nearby food centre that consisted of a few different vendors with their stalls and portable kitchens, and a number of tables and chairs at the ground level of a small building. Essentially, you go out and order your food, then you either take it back with you if it's ready, or they'll come and find you when it's cooked. Drinks can be ordered at the table separately. You pay for the meal once you get it, then you just eat your meal and leave when you're done. Average price was about $5 per meal or less, and the food was pretty decent if you're willing to eat local. After lunch, we went on an orientation walk through Jonker Street and the riverside, then during our free time, Morven (my roommate) and I went to explore the Istana Ke Sultana, which is a reconstructed timber palace with no nails. Afterwards was a trishaw tour, going out to a Malay village (Kampung Morten) to see a traditional Malay house, and a few other historical sites by the river, before dropping us back off for dinner in town.

Istana Ke Sultana

on the trishaw with Morven

Singapore

Day: 33

Countries: 4
Stops: 10

Arrived in Singapore at around 2pm and took the airport shuttle to the Hangout @ Mt Emily hotel. Checked out the lounge and the rooftop lookout, and decided to stay in and plan the next few days (with a quick trip for dinner at the food (hawker) centre at Tekka Centre in Little India. Essentially, there are all these stalls of various food items (or a selection of them), each for under $5 SGD, and you just pick one, line-up (if necessary) and get your food, find a table and eat, then when you're done someone comes and takes your food away. Drinks and dessert are usually separate from the mains...you have to get buy those from different stores. Really cheap lunch or dinner option, although they always try to talk to me in Chinese....

Yogyakarta, eastern Java, and Bali

Day: 29
Countries: 2
Stops: 9

OK, so I guess I'm a little (a lot?) behind. I'm actually in Singapore at the moment, taking shelter from the rain, but I want to save that for another post. Let's see if I can remember as far back as Day 14...

Jakarta and Pangandaran

Day: 13
Countries: 2
Stops: 4

OK, so I guess we're finally up to speed. My flight from Beijing to Jakarta was long...including a 4 hour stop over in Guangzhou, but otherwise smooth sailing. It was kind of interesting though, the flight from Beijing to Guangzhou was on this ridiculously large plane, with 2 decks and room for over 500 passengers. In contrast, the Guangzhou to Jakarta flight was on a small plane, the kind you'd be on from Calgary to Vancouver, but with the old school entertainment system. Anyway, Getting the visa on arrival in Indonesia was fairly painless, and so was getting the taxi to the hotel. Finally arrived at the hotel around 10pm, so I pretty much just crashed.

China

Day: 10
Countries: 1
Stops: 2

Still cheating over here. By Day 10, I had finished the first leg of my trip: Mainland China. Spent some time with Emma, Brad, and the boys in Shanghai, which was quite nice, and somehow still managed to see some of the highlights of Shanghai, including Yuyuan Gardens, Tian Zi Fang, the Bund, Jing'an Temple, Jade Buddha Temple, Nanjing Dong Lu, and even shopping for Dan's LV bag at the fakes market in Pu Dong! But the highlight was really spending time with the kids and seeing how much they've grown, and how fast too!

Pudong skyline at night

with Richeille and Emma at the Bund

Asia Tour 2011

Day: 0
Countries: 0
Stops: 0

OK, so I'm cheating a bit. By the time I'm writing this, I'm actually a couple of weeks into my trip already, and it might be a day or two before I actually get to post it. But I wanted to start things off properly, so here you are: my itinerary.

Oct 12 leave Calgary
Oct 13 arrive Shanghai
Oct 17 Shanghai to Beijing
Oct 21 Beijing to Jakarta
Oct 22 Indonesia tour of Java and Bali
Nov 10 Bali to Singapore
Nov 13 Singapore, Malaysia and Southern Thailand tour
Nov 28 Cambodia and Vietnam tour
Dec 17 leave Hanoi
Dec 18 arrive Manila
Dec 19 Manila to Boracay
Dec 22 Boracay to Manila

And finally, in early January 2012: Manila to Brisbane!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Japan

OK, so the flight from Manila to Tokyo was relatively uneventful; I arrived at Narita a bit early, so I just waited around for my friend who was supposed to pick me up. Went to change 200CND at the airport and man, did I ever get ripped off! The exchange rate at the time was approx. 75JPY per 1CND, but they were only giving 65JPY per dollar at the airport! I calculate my loss at approximately 20CND! Argh!

Anyway, my friend Sanrio finally arrived around 3pm, which was when we had decided I'd probably get through customs and immigration and such. I wasn't sure we'd recognize each other, since we hadn't seen each other in 15 years! She was my best friend in elementary school, and I left for Canada pretty much right after we graduated from the 6th grade (yes, there was an actual ceremony), whereas she and her family migrated to Japan about 5 years later. We had kept in touch occasionally via snail mail, sent the occasional birthday and Christmas cards, and a couple of years ago she finally joined the rest of the world on the internet and got herself an email and Friendster account, and more recently, Yahoo messenger. So this visit/reunion was a long time coming, but wasn't possible until recently when we've had more regular communication. Anyway, somehow I did recognize her, and after the happy reunion, we were off to take the bus to Kashiwa City, where she currently lives and where we would catch the train to Umesato, in Noda, where her parents live and where I would be staying during my time there.

The first night was pretty quiet. Her stepgrandfather picked us up from the train station and dropped us off at Sanrio's parents' house in Umesato. We had a sushi dinner at what appears to be a Japanese equivalent of a restaurant franchise, which is to say relatively western/modern decor, bright lights...kind of like dining at a Pizza Hut or a Denny's back home. Even so, their sushi was still way better than what you could get home at a more traditional style Japanese restaurant.

Sanrio slept over that night, and the next morning (after a lazy breakfast and some picture taking out on the balcony, where there was a nice view of Mt Fuji), we were off to Tokyo via the Tsukuba Express train, which took us to Asakusa in about 15-20 minutes. Because of where the train station was, we didn't exactly enter the shrine through the famous Kaminarimon gate (with the big red lantern), but we did walk part of the Nakamise-dori, which was lined with shops selling touristy souvenirs and traditional Japanese foods and other items. After seeing the shrine (where we 'blessed' ourselves with the incense smoke, washed our hands with the water, and threw a coin in and made a wish/prayer, and where I also pulled out an omikuji (fortune), which turned out to be good, yay!), we walked back out to Kaminarimon to take pictures and had an excellent lunch at a traditional style tempura restaurant (where the waitresses were older ladies in kimonos, and where we opted to sit on the floor at a low table, rather than western style. After Asakusa, we headed over to Akihabara to get my sister's request at the huge Yodabashi Camera electronics store (which consisted of about 8 floors of electronic goods), walked around a bit and peeked at a "maid cafe". Then it was off to Ginza to, you guessed it, walk around some more and gawk at the city lights and huge department stores and famous brand name stores (no, I didn't buy anything). By this time it had started raining, so we walked back to the station (after a stop at the Krispy Kreme store near the station, where apparently people line up out the door just to get in) and took the train back to Umesato, where I got to meet the rest of Sanrio's family - her stepfather and half brother.

Japan Day 1

The night before, it was decided that we would go on a day trip to Nikko, which was supposedly only an hour away, so Wednesday morning, Sanrio, her stepfather, half brother, stepgrandmother, and me piled into their SUV and drove what turned out to be over 2hours on the expressway to Nikko. Nikko turned out to be a small-ish town with an extensive shrine complex up a mountain, so of course we took a lot of pictures! Later in the afternoon, once we've finished looking at everything, we drove some more to Chuzenji-ko, where there was a nice lake and very high waterfalls. We had a very late lunch at a small diner type restaurant across the lake, where I had cold soba noodles with tempura (yum yum) and also where we had an encounter with a snow monkey that somehow got into the restaurant and made off with some food before being chased away! I thought that was cool, but I guess Sanrio didn't really like monkeys so she was more frightened and annoyed. After viewing the falls (Kegon-no-taki; we barely made it in before they closed), we drove some more on a crazy winding road to an onsen up the mountain, where I had my very first Japanese onsen (hot springs) experience. It was pretty deserted and we were the only ones using the hot springs at the time, so going in naked was a little less of a problem for me than it might have been if the place was crowded.

Japan Day 2

Sanrio was working on Thursday, and I initially suggested going to Ueno Park myself, since it was an easy train ride from Kashiwa and full of museums I could enjoy by myself. However, they seemed worried about leaving me by myself, so Sanrio's stepgrandpa volunteered to take me. This proved to be an experience, since he spoke little English, and I spoke next to no Japanese at all. But somehow we got through it, and ended up checking out the Ameyoko shopping area in Ueno (after a quick ramen lunch at the train station - more yum yum!). I was hoping to walk around the park a bit, but since it was raining and I didn't want to be a pain, I didn't mention it. After a bit, we got back on the train and went to Marunouchi and walked around a bit around the Imperial Palace gardens. Again, it was rainy so the pictures weren't very good. There wasn't much to see there aside from the bridge and a view of the palace, so we were off again, this time to Roppongi and the National Art Center. They had 2 free tickets to the Picasso exhibit so we went in, but I guess he wasn't that into Picasso, so I hurried through it a bit. After the art gallery, we walked to Tokyo Midtown in Roppongi...I think he was looking for a place to eat, but we got distracted by the illumination (basically a Holiday light show) and took pictures of it. We decided to head home after that and eat at Kashiwa station instead, so that's what we did, and he treated me to a pasta dinner (yes, I know, western food, but it was excellent nonetheless).

Japan Day 3

Friday, we had decided to make the trip out to Hakone to get a closer view of Mt Fuji, and Sanrio got us the Hakone Free Pass and booked us seats on the Romance Car, which leaves from Shinjuku Station. So her mom dropped me off at the Umesato train station at 7am, where I took the train alone to Kashiwa to meet up with Sanrio, and off we went. We managed to catch an earlier train to Shinjuku, which was good because the rain caused train delays. Got to the station on time, but for some reason we thought the train on the platform when we got there wasn't the one for us, so we hung around for a while and bought snacks before finally realizing, at the last minute, that it WAS our train and that it was about to leave! So we ended up running to catch it, and laughing at our own stupidity! But we managed to get on and find our seats, and enjoyed the 1.5 hr ride to Hakone. From Hakone-Yumoto station, we decided to catch the toy train going up the mountain (train switchbacks! that was cool!) and got off first at Chokoku-no-mori, where there was a cool open-air museum - the sculptures were out on the garden! Luckily the rain had stopped by this time, although it was still a bit cloudy. We spent a little too much time here, because by the time we finished it was almost 2pm (and sunset was around 4:30)! So we got back on the train and got off at Gora, where we switched to a funicular to get to Sounzan, where we rode a ropeway (gondola/cable car) to Owakudani, at the top! Owakudani is famous for its eggs boiled in the hot springs! So we got off here to climb some more and eat eggs while enjoying our view of Mt Fuji and the hot springs. The 5 eggs, split between the 2 of us, turned out to be our lunch, because by the time we got back on the ropeway and down to Togendai, it was 4pm and the last "Pirate ship" that would take us across Lake Ashi to Hakone-machi (again, with good views of Mt Fuji) was about to leave! So we found ourselves running again and somehow managing to catch the ship. Once at Hakone-machi, we found that the last bus that would take us back to our starting point at Hakone-Yumoto was timed perfectly with the arrival of the last ship, so we didn't get to spend much time in Hakone-machi. Once back at Hakone-Yumoto, we decided to take an earlier train back, and spent about 30minutes checking out the shops in Hakone and buying my sister's OTHER request (a wooden puzzle box from Hakone) and some more eggs to bring back home. At Shinjuku, we went out for a bit in search of a Citibank (I was running low on cash so I needed a cash advance on my credit card -- this turned out to be a better idea than currency exchange at the airport, since when I got my bill it was approximately 75JPY to the CND), and since it was a Friday night and all the izakayas (Japanese pubs) would be packed, we decided to hold on until we reach Kashiwa before having supper. It was 8:30pm by the time we reached Kashiwa (keep in mind we've only had snacks on the train, some eggs, and another light snack at Owakudani), so we ordered lots of food (best avocado/shrimp salad ever! plus a Japanese interpretation of bibimbap, some sashimi, Japanese crackers dipped in chili sauce, and bacon-wrapped cheese, all to go with some yummy Japanese beer! There was also potato wedges with cream cheese and sweet chili sauce, but they weren't very good compared to the rest so we sort of ignored them). The people sitting next to us appeared to be on a goukon (think group blind date), so Sanrio and I had a fun time observing them and making wild guesses as to who wanted to be with whom! We also had fun just chatting about our lives, and that was the closest we got to "partying" during my stay there! Later, when she dropped me off at the station, her husband called as he finally finished work, but unfortunately Sanrio's mom was already going to pick me up at the station at the other end, so I didn't get a chance to meet him at all. :(

Japan Day 4

Sanrio was working again Saturday, so her mom got off work early and took me to Kashiwa to see Sanrio at work and do some shopping! She took me to Daiso, which was their equivalent of a dollar store, and I did most of my shopping there! They had so many cool and cheap things, it was awesome! Later on that night, we all went out for sushi and karaoke, and yes I did sing a couple of songs, but I suck and definitely nowhere near as good as Sanrio and the rest of her family!

Japan Day 5

Sunday was reserved for Harajuku and Shibuya, so again I met up with Sanrio in Kashiwa around mid-morning. Our first stop was Meiji-jingu, which is a park and shrine right in the middle of Tokyo. It was pretty peaceful inside, and since it was a Sunday, we got to see a couple of wedding parties and some little boys and girls in their kimonos! Outside was a different story; Sundays are busy days in Harajuku, and Takeshita-dori, the famous street, was packed! Good people watching, though, and good cheap clothes I wanted to buy (but didn't, because a)I wouldn't be able to wear them back home, and b)I didn't want to use up all my cash). I managed to find a nice purse for Richeille, who specifically asked for one from Harajuku, and then Sanrio and I split a crepe (which was excellent, btw). Then it was off to Shibuya (we decided to skip Omote-sando because of the intimidating crowd, and also since I wasn't in a shopping mood anyway). We walked there and checked out shops along the way, as well as the famous street crossing outside Shibuya station. Sanrio's sister, Angel, met us there and, after searching for a foreign exchange bureau (which turned out to be closed on Sundays) and the Citibank to get some cash out, we went to an okonomiyaki (kind of like a pancake/omelette with veggies and meat/seafood inside) restaurant, which turned out to be this old English style pub but which served okonomiyaki! Sanrio's other sister, Gay-gay, met us there along with her friend, and after eating, we checked out the shop where Angel worked. We hung out there for a while, passed by Love Hotel Hill along the way, then decided to make it an early night and head back home.

Japan Day 6

Monday afternoon was my flight out of Tokyo, so in the morning, Sanrio's step-grandparents showed up wanting to take me back to their place so that grandma can show me what a Japanese tea ceremony is like. She teaches tea ceremony and ikebana, so at their house there's a tea ceremony room. So that's why there's lot of pics of me drinking tea and eating the traditional sweets that comes with it. It was a bit surreal for me, but a great way to finish off my trip! Sanrio finally showed up around 1pm, so off we went for the 1.5 hour drive to Narita. Got there just in time to check in...we were hoping to grab some lunch with her grandparents (who drove us there) after I checked in, but the long line ups at the baggage counter made that pretty difficult, so after checking in, we said our goodbyes, and off I went to find my gate.

Japan Day 7

The flight back to Vancouver was pretty interesting; I ended up chatting with my seatmates and got very little sleep on the plane. All in all, it was a great trip...I only spent about 3 days in Tokyo, but that was fine since my main reason for going was to see Sanrio! It was great to finally see her again, and I'm glad that after all this time, we can still talk and laugh as much as we did 15 years ago. My one regret is probably not getting to eat as much Japanese food as I wanted (ramen and cold soba with tempura is still my favourite, but Sanrio's mom's shogayaki (basically gingered pork) was so good that I'm going to try to make it at home!), but I guess that's something to look forward to for the next trip, which apparently has to include a trip to Kyoto!

Philippines

Alrighty, I think I've finally settled on a template, for the time being, so I'm finally putting up trip pics! For those I haven't told, I went on a relatively last minute trip to the Philippines for my grandmother's 83rd birthday. It was something I had been thinking of doing for a while now, but the final decision (and flight booking) didn't happen until about mid-October, which for me is last minute considering the distance and scale of the trip.

Around Metro Manila

My family, my hometown

Fun times with the cousins

We left Calgary Nov 7 and arrived in Manila Nov 8. It was a crazy flight, both Air Canada flights (to Vancouver and then to Hongkong) were late, which meant that I got bumped off my Hongkong to Manila Cathay Pacific flight and put on a later flight. Which also meant having to run around the Hongkong airport to find my dad (who was taking a later Philippine Airlines flight from Hongkong) so he can call my uncle who was supposed to pick us up! Whew! But somehow after several tries, he managed to get through and so everything turned out fine after that.

Our stay in the Philippines was fairly low key, since our main purpose was to see our family in the province and attend my grandma's bday on the 15th. We went to the city (which was really only about 20km away) a few times to run errands for the grandparents and to have dinner/drinks with my cousins - I stayed over at my cousins for a couple of nights in Quezon City - and one time for a trip to see the new Ocean Park and also the new-ish Mall of Asia, but for the most part we stayed in our town, catching up with our many relatives and generally hanging out. For some reason we were waking up early in the mornings (around 6 or 7am, which is early if you're on vacation!), so we'd sometimes go jogging around 7am at the cemetery (which is pretty much the only quiet, no-traffic zone in our town these days). The bday party itself was pretty fun, there was a mass in the afternoon followed by an early supper. Afterwards, the kids (that's me and my 1st and 2nd cousins) went to Tagaytay City at my cousins' place there to do some drinking and hanging out. The adults (that would be my dad and his brothers and cousins) stayed in town and had their own drinking party.

The only other event worthy of note was my laptop issue...which is turned out to be a non-issue at all! When we first got there, my laptop wouldn't turn on at all! I asked my cousins' advice since they were in the IT industry, and followed their suggestions to no avail. So we finally took it to the HP Service Centre in the city, where the girl (woman?) did exactly what my cousins suggested, and, lo and behold, it worked! Weird...and a waste of an hour waiting my turn, but hey, at least my laptop is working!

We were basically just there for 2 weeks. Both my dad and I left on the 24th, my dad back to Calgary and me to Tokyo for a week before heading back home!

Monday, December 08, 2008

Fall

Yep, this is indeed a long overdue post. Been a quiet few months so not much to tell...still looking for jobs, although I did finally finish those habitat photos I'd been working on. Probably the high point though is a brief trip to Cancun in September. Mom was bored and I didn't have anything going on, so she took me with her on one of those all-inclusive vacations.

Mexico

It was nice to finally go on a trip and stay at a high-end hotel (the Gran Bahia Principe Coba), eat good food, drink free alcohol (hehe), and lie on the beach all day (although there were some swimming and snorkelling involved). Although to be honest, that feeling lasted only a few days...midway through the trip I started to get antsy and wished I could go walk around town instead of being stuck in a ginormous resort (big enough to get lost in, and to have to take trams to get around). This wasn't exactly an easy feat, since getting to town would involve catching local transport out on the highway. Granted, that seems simple enough...if I was travelling, and not on vacation. Somehow, the mentality was different. In any case, we did manage to get out for a quick afternoon visit to nearby Tulum! It was hot and sticky, so walking around the ruins wasn't very enjoyable, but the quick dip into the ocean at the beach below the ruins totally made it worthwhile! I also decided to cough up some extra money and pay for a tour to Coba. It was just under $100Cnd, but included a tour of the ruins, lunch, a trip to a real Mayan village (apparently, part of the money goes to help the local village, which I liked), and a trip to a cenote. I did go alone, but that was fine since there were plenty of other people on the tour to talk to. Coba was pretty extensive, and the highlight was getting to climb to the top of the pyramid! It was another hot and humid day, but I didn't exactly go all the way there to NOT climb the pyramid! The view was amazing, and totally worth the muscle pain I suffered over the next few days from having to climb down the pyramid (up was hot and exhausting, but down just about killed my knees and thighs!).

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Psychics, Freeways, and Space: Impressions of Houston

Houston Pics

Alright, sorry it's taken me this long to actually update. Since it has been a while, I'll be relating impressions more than actual details. So, to start with, leaving Wolfville on Thursday was a bit of hassle, but unlike the last time when I went to Halifax for a job interview, this time I decided to call a cab rather than walk 45 min to get to the bus station. Once there, it was a matter of waiting for the bus, taking that long ride to the airport via Halifax (this time I took a pill, so as to avoid being carsick even before my trip started :P), then killing time at the airport waiting for my flight, which included a connection Toronto. Finally got to Houston at the appointed time, waited with slight anxiety until my cousin finally arrived to pick me up! The first meet was definitely interesting...it had been almost exactly 4 years since we had seen each other last, and even then only briefly and we didn't really get a chance to hang out, and hadn't really kept in touch very well since, but seeing each other again after all that time, I was expecting it to be more awkward but it really wasn't! I remember when we were kids and they'd come to visit on weekends, or I would go see them on holidays...there'd be an initial period of awkwardness when none of us would make the first move to talk to each other or start playing, but then after a while we end up playing and talking non stop and at the end of the day, we were having such a good time that no one wanted to part. This time, maybe it's because we've all grown up and are more socialized, no longer the shy kids we were (hey, we're from the same family...some traits run true, haha) -- or at least, we PRETEND we're no longer the shy kids we were -- there wasn't as much awkwardness. Just started talking and catching up as if no time had passed at all! I loved that whatever else has happened, however much time has passed, we can still relate to each other comfortably like that, no pretense, just acceptance. Nothing beats family, I guess!

Anyway, KC and I ended up staying up later than intended just chatting easily and watching a bit of TV. The next morning, since Wowie couldn't get up, I went with KC to pick up more cousins from the airport: Miko, Juris, and Paolo! Everyone was tired and jetlagged, of course, so the day was spent quietly at home resting, sleeping, playing video games (for some), working (for others), and a brief foray into the outside world for some fast food takeout. Evening included a trip to downtown Houston for dinner and an impromptu shopping trip to Target (LOL) to check out some souvenir gifts to bring back home. The next day must have been pretty much the same, since I don't remember much of it, except for, again, going out to dinner with everyone (see pics). The following day involved another trip to the airport to pick up even more cousins (Leo and Sarah!), and again the rest of the day was spent at home resting while KC finished writing the last paper for his degree! This paper was submitted the following day, which meant we got to see his campus! Also went to the Museum of Natural Science, which was really the only thing on my list of things to see in Houston because Lucy(!) - that's Australopithecus afarensis to my anthro geek friends, and NOT the actress - was there. But everyone was nice enough to accommodate my request (THANKS EVERYONE!), and we did end up watching a 3D IMAX flick while we were there so it wasn't a complete waste (I hope). Now, I can't remember exactly, but I think the next day (which was Tuesday, at this point, if anyone was keeping track), the rest of the contingent from the Philippines arrived, which included my aunt and uncle, and KC's, Miko's and the rest of the gang's Grandma. At this point, I should probably make the familial relationships clear for those who don't know. KC and Miko are brothers, their dad is my dad's older brother. Everyone else I've mentioned thus far are KC's and Miko's cousins on their mother's side. But it's cool, since we spent enough time in each other's company as kids that we were, essentially, one big happy family (figuratively speaking).

Dinner that day was a family affair with a home cooked meal, eaten in shifts of course, because by this time there were a lot of people all staying in one place (I haven't even talked about the interesting sleeping arrangements going on). The next day was a trip to NASA, which was interesting mostly because of the tour into the actual facility (rather than just the museum/amusement park/interpretive centre). Other than that, not much to say about it other than being able to check it off my list of places I've been. It was a long drive, too! I felt bad for KC and Miko, who did most of the driving around during our trip. Now, I forget exactly (again), but I think the next day was a trip to an outlet mall, this time without KC since he went golfing with his dad. I didn't buy anything, just walked around checking out stuff and trying to decide if I wanted to buy something or not. I was talking to KC later on and apparently, I'm not the only one who does that...it seems to be a family trait to hem and haw about something for a while before purchasing -- in most cases, we end up with nothing at all, so I guess it's not such a bad thing, except that it's probably annoying for whoever is with us when we go shopping! Not content with that, we ended up in a shopping mall closer to home at the end of the day, where I ended up buying a shirt and a pair of flip flops at Old Navy. I know, for shame! At least I didn't go home empty handed. Friday was spent mostly at home except for a trip to the post office for me, to a storage/moving place to get a box for Miko's statue, and dinner out with us kids and a couple of the grownups. Saturday was the big day, KC's convocation, the reason we had all gathered in one place at one time. Slight confusion with the venue and parking, but everyone made it in time to see the proud graduand walk the stage! A few quick photos at the site, then it's back home for some food and rest, and to get ready for the party at night. The party wasn't that big, just a few of the grownups KC had known during his stay in Houston, and us kids. But it was definitely a lot of fun "drinking" with the cousins, since that was the first time I had gotten together with them as adults (well, ok, I was 23 the last time we saw each other, but we didn't do much hanging out then). It was probably one of the most memorable experience I had in Houston, made even more interesting by an impromptu trip to the nearby Walmart (open 24 hours!) just so we can leave the house and go out for a smoke (or two) away from the grownups. Fun times.

Next day was D-day for me, "D" for departure, I suppose. Not without being able to sneak in a lunch at an all you can eat sushi place though, which was excellent. Can't remember the name of the place now, for the life of me. Anyway, afterwards, they all went off to go somewhere, an upscale mall downtown, I think, while a couple of my Titas' drove me to the airport to catch my flight outta there. The trip home was relatively uneventful...I had booked a cab back to Wolfville ahead of time since I knew I would get in at around 1am (there goes $120). Back in Wolfville around 3, I think, and just crashed.

Now, there were a couple other things we did, but I forget when we did them so I didn't know where to place them in the timeline. There was a trip to a number of electronics places (Fry's, Best Buy, etc) so Miko and Sarah can shop for laptops. At this time I was checking out digital cameras, but didn't end up buying any (again, with the hemming and the hawing). There was a return trip to Best Buy so they can actually purchase their laptops, and also a repeat trip to the mall where I almost bought a watch. There was also a couple of hours spent at a great brew pub with the boys (KC, Miko and Leo) having beers and appys and just talking about life...I learned a lot of stuff about them and their family I didn't know before...of course, we wouldn't exactly be talking about these topics as kids/teenagers. There was also a huge family dinner at a nice seafood restaurant, that was interesting as well. But the things we did and the places we went aren't really that important, in my opinion. This trip to Houston wasn't about sightseeing, but really more of a family reunion (even if it wasn't really so much my family). And the way the trip unfolded kind of reflected that, with most of the time spent hanging out at home with the cousins, doing simple things like shopping and eating and talking with only a bit of sightseeing mixed in. And of course, the most memorable bits about my trip aren't the places I went to, but the conversations I had with everyone and the feeling of re-connecting with the people from my childhood, from home. Sounds cheesy and sentimental? You bet! But if you knew me at all, that wouldn't surprise you...and if you didn't, well, you do now!

I'm missing everyone and wish I could go home to see them again, along with our other cousins in Cavite! Soon, soon, I hope!

PS: I forgot to explain about the psychics. That's probably the other thing I'd remember about Houston, was the number of psychics around. Usually in a house (or converted house, I never actually went inside any of them), with a big sign out the yard advertising their presence. I'd see them mostly along major thoroughfares which was why I could never get a picture of them, although I did see one downtown as we were driving by. Now, the freeways comment is pretty explanatory (Houston is huge! and sprawling! Tita Lou's house was a good 40 min or so away from downtown, and that's using the freeway!), and so is the space part. The other strong impression I got from the limited time I was "out and about" in Houston was its interesting mix of the south (the Mexican influence) and the southern (with the African-American cultural influence and the proximity to Louisiana and its mystique), mixed in with the 'bigness' that is cowboy and oil country. Now, I don't know if that's stereotyping or not, maybe it is, but I thought it was one of the things that made the place unique, and what stuck out in my mind.