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continued from part four.

i arrived in the Narito Airport on Friday and went through the usual motions through immigration and security before meeting up with my Aunt, who lives there. i was already in such awe. japanese writing all around me, it was just amazing to be in yet another place. my aunt really likes taking pictures too, so she took a bunch of me just at the airport, and again in the train station. i was so excited to be taking the subway, that i took pictures too, one especially of an oncoming train, my flash going off. i was later scolded by the driver as he got off the train and switched shifts.

the rest of the afternoon was spent with my cousin Yugi, desperately trying to find an ATM that worked. i didn’t get a chance to pull out any cash from the airport in Manila, so i was running low on funds. i had plenty of money in my bank account, just no ATM that would accept my american debit card, one especially that doesn’t have a visa or mastercard logo. it was also an interesting experience because Yugi is just barely learning english. so we tried our best to communicate, all the while teaching each other english and japanese respectively.

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continued from part three.

the plane we took to Calbayog was small and dated. you can tell that it was pretty old by the way the interface above you looked. it had those old push buttons to call for the attendant, big red ones with the springs below the button. there wasn’t any meal trays on the backs of the seats and the curtains and seat material reminded you of a 70’s/early 80’s tv sitcom, much like “Three’s Company”.

it wasn’t a long flight. and since the plane was so small, you can feel every bump in turbulence. but it was bright outside, and the view below was amazing. i took as many pictures of the passing islands as i could. the clouds were bright white and fluffy against the bright blue sky. i love views like that. contrasted with the luscious green foliage of the islands below, it was just a perfect sight to see.

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continued from part two.

when we arrived in Cebu early in the morning. immediately i noticed the change in weather. the view from the plane was breathtaking. crystal clear waters, with a hint of bright blue, luscious green hillsides. the weather went from hot dense humidity to a dryer sort of heat. the skies also seemed to be a little bit more blue. we were in tourist country.

we drove up to the marriott to drop our stuff off at the hotel and headed off to the church of Santo Nino, the infant Christ. the architecture was amazing. in front of the building was the Magellan cross. and inside, a courtyard to light candles, and the massive church grounds. it was at this point that the battery in my camera died and i wasn’t able to take too many pictures of the church, but not before getting some nice shots of the candles in the courtyard and before being told not to take pictures.

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continued from part one.

most of the day wednesday was spent in the air conditioned room watching battlestar galactica. again, that fragging show comes up and yes, i do love it. i was content in spending a lazy afternoon inside, but luckily my aunt came in a grabbed me to go with them to yet another mall. my mom and another aunt went off to get facials. they were gonna meet up with us later.

at SM, this particular mall, there were lots of electronic stores. it was a tiny mall, basically one hallway with lots of stores all through. in L.A., i had lost the back cover to my phone. so i kept my eye out for cheap knock-off covers to replace it, and possibly get a new look for my phone. i have a sony ericsson W600i, and the only covers i’ve seen so far are the dark blue and orange it comes with. it wasn’t really that important that i replace the cover, but it was something to do. my aunts and uncle were shopping for a guitar. my uncle, my mom’s cousin’s husband from japan (did you follow that?) is actually a classical guitar player and was helping my aunt (my mom’s cousin - the sister of the cousin with the husband from japan - now, did you follow that?) find a guitar; she’s a music teacher here in the philippines. keep in mind, i love guitars and musical instruments, but they were taking quite a long time. so i ended up wandering around.

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my trip halfway ’round the world begins in southern california. i flew in to Long Beach after work on Thursday and got the chance to spend sometime with some friends. i partied it up a bit in West Hollywood with Wes on Friday, and Saturday had an amazing time at the Angels game with Missa and the crew. we tailgated it in the parking lot and spent most of the game being drunken fools with cameras and foot-long hot dogs. to be followed by Guitar Hero and more beer at Missa’s new pimped out pad. as i got home the next morning, it was off to the airport.

LAX was a crazy mess. Northwest Airlines had this long line that was out the door and down two or three airline check-ins. it didn’t even look like a line. it looked like a crowd of people waiting to get in. we went in and i asked one of the workers from NWA and she just pointed out the door and said that’s where the line is. after much confusion, my mom and i finally went outside and stood at the very end. it wasn’t long after, that another NWA worker came through the line and separated us into two somewhat decent looking lines based on the correct flights. it’s a good thing we went out there and stood at the end, because not long after we did, the line nearly doubled behind us.

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