Things I learned during my recent trip

1) Traveling light is an achievement.

     I contemplated to buy new luggage, but ended up borrowing from a friend when I could not decide which kind I need to buy. Anyway, I was able to fit in that smallish case a week's worth of clothes, two shoes, my camera, toiletries, couple of jackets, electronics stuff. I was proud of the efficient use of limited space. The compression packs I have came in handy (from my old outdoor days). I hand-carried my laptop and another smaller bag for passport, wallet, phone.

2) Airport routine is cumbersome.

     It slightly irks me that immigration officers do not use the pages of the passport in sequence. They flip into a random blank page and stamps on it. My anal-retentive tendency is just not at peace with that.

     When we landed in Sydney, the machine wouldn't scan my passport. The officer had to ask me to follow him into a different scanner. What a waste of time the whole thing would have been if that wasn't resolved.

     It is absolutely a hassle to get through security with laptops. They ask you to take it out of bags and of sleeves. Those velcro straps, those zippers, the pressure that you're in a quick-moving line--aargh.

     On my way home, one of my bags had to go through the x-ray machine three times. I had keychain souvenirs in it and onscreen, the key rings probably looked like grenade pins. I took a peek at the monitor and yes, it really did.

3) The language difference is more of an amusement than a barrier.

    The Aussie accent takes a while to get used to.

    Once, when I was buying a train ticket for Wynyard station, the guy in the counter asked, "One 'y'?"

     I paused and considered whether there was another Wynyard station in the city which was spelled differently.

     And then he continued with, "... or return?"

    "Oh, just one way please. Thanks."

     There was also a TV channel that I thought was named "Guy". I hear the ads saying, "... showing only at 'Guy'!". Apparently, it was "Go" channel.

     Of course, there's also the whole British naming - the elevator is a lift, garbage is rubbish, and the one which blows my mind - the chemist is the pharmacy. I wondered why there were these stalls for chemists. Who would need the services of a chemist so often? Go figure. I mean, "guy" figure.

     During training, the Australian manager could not find the record his American counterpart created. It turns out that he was looking for the keyword "authorised." An excerpt of their exchange:

     "Who in the world spells 'authorised' with a bloody z?"

     "Everyone else in the world who correctly spells."

     "And that is 'spellz' with a z, right?"

4) As a tourist, you have to unabashedly do the touristy things.

     I went to see the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, Darling Harbour. Took lots of pictures from the 360-degree view of the city from Sydney Tower. Sent myself a postcard from the highest working mailbox in the western hemisphere. Saw the kangaroos, koalas, and other wildlife at the Sydney Wildlife World. Went to see the sharks, dugongs, and other aquatic animals in the Sydney Aquarium. Saw the vibrant Chinatown. Went souvenir shopping at the Market City. Had hot chocolate at the Lindt Chocolat Cafe. I have to admit, the birds at the Circular Quay freaked me out. They were humongous. I looked so pathetic ducking whenever one flew over me. Alfred Hitchcock's "Birds" came to mind.

5) "You've never been to the place if you haven't tasted the food."

     They served us snacks and lunches during training. They usually have salads and sandwiches or wraps. Very fresh. The snacks comprised of scones (makes you want to fake an accent when you say "scones") with jam and cream cheese, croissants, and those delicious cake bars made of a coconutty base, custard layer, and chocolate topping. Soooo good. I wonder if I can find that here. For our team dinner, we went to a Japanese place called Rengaya - absolutely the best Jap food I've ever had. The salmon melted in the mouth and the grilled beef was so tender.

     Some other cool find was this fastfood place "Oporto" where they have chicken fillet burger with spicy sauce. I have a very high tolerance for heat, but that was a pretty good hot sauce. Before I left, my relatives took me to a buffet where there were very good grilled fish and vegetables. And though I was full, I was under obligation to try the roasted Australian beef, and I'm glad I did.

     Just a short postscript on food: Red Rock Deli Chips. Enough said.

6) Our South Pacific office is wickedly cool.

     The video conference room opens to the "kitchen", which is a spacious room with an island counter, some tables, sink, a whole wall of refrigerators full of the company's products. The other side opens to a rooftop garden with more tables, and a barbecue grill. We were told that when the weather is nice, some people actually go outside to work there. What a great perk to have. In Makati, that option would be unappealing because of the pollution.

7) Singapore is a good stop for a connecting flight.

     Singapore felt like a Sim City. So polished it almost looks like a model unit of cities, made with Legos or something. The Skytrain that connects all three terminals was cool, too. Changi airport is practically a mall, lined with shops.

     Going back to Manila, I had a twelve-hour layover in Sg. My friends Tago and Abs were so thoughtful to wait for me for three hours at the airport and then let me crash at their flat. There, I had the chance to watch two episodes of the BBC documentary "Life". Anybody else thinks that just listening to David Attenborough raises their IQ's a bit? He could read off the classified ads and there'd still be oooh's and aaah's, I bet.

8) They mean business in business class.

    The company has a business class policy which I appreciated because this was my first trip out of the country and it afforded me a number of conveniences. The attendants were very nice and they keep offering you drinks and hot towels, and food - which was very good, I might add. Full course meals. The space was comfortable, too. Seats that transform to full beds - yeah, Singapore Airlines rocks. Unable to sleep, I got to watch a few movies from the video on-demand. I finally saw The Last Airbender (It wasn't as bad as some of the reviews made me think it would be), Letters to Juliet (a pleasant surprise), The Back-up Plan (I didn't even bother to finish it). On my way home, some executive-looking West Asian-looking old guy was on my left during the Singapore-Manila flight. He was in a suit and drank wine and watched CNN and read Financial Times. I was in my jeans and Chucks, drank my water, and watched Aladdin (An old favorite, been a long time since I last saw it). 

9) All my memories are carry-ons.

     In summary, I couldn't have asked for a better trip. But the best hour of the whole experience was on a Thursday night. The training was done, but I had a few free hours by myself until a scheduled teleconference. I left the hotel and just walked block after block. It was cold and a little windy. I had my iPod on and was listening to Live.

     It was surreal. The anonymity of being in a faraway city was both scary and exhilirating. I'm just a nobody who doesn't know anyone. I wondered about my mother, as I often do. I walk down Buendia Avenue in Makati, I think of her and how she would think of me walking down Buendia Avenue in Makati. And there I was, walking down Walker Street in North Sydney, I think of her and how she would think of me walking down Walker Street in North Sydney. What would she have thought? She would have been glad, I think, but I'm sure my worn out sneakers would have been disapproved.