Blog about nothing

So. I'm a little preoccupied with my India trip. I still have to run through my presentation to myself this afternoon and with some colleagues tomorrow. Tonight I'm gonna start packing my stuff. I've got my suits dry cleaned and my shirts boxed up for wrinkle-free travel (props to my dry cleaners); I checked out the international company phone, sent my presentations for publication, and my equipment for shipment. I'm excited!

On to my 2006 goals, I hope I can exercise while I'm in India. I don't want to lose track of my goal for April 30, 2006: 15% body fat and 180 lbs. I'm at 17.5% and 195 lbs right now, on track for a 5 lb/ month loss, which is now harder because I'm reaching plateaus. But I'm resolute on this goal.

I also plan on taking up French language and cultural lessons more seriously. I'm going back to Paris in April and I plan on being more inured when I get there. I'm buying this cook book to learn how to whip up French dishes and pair them with wine. Given the time that I have and the money that I can spare, I'm planning on investing on basic French cookware. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about.

Ok, that's it for my nothingness post of today? I'll try to finish my Europe travels too and come up with the chronicles India.

To end with something graphic, here's a pic of a 45-Euro French version of fish and chips.

Speed

I'm beginning to see how fast my life has become. I've barely recovered from jet lag and sickness when I'll be traveling internationally again to India. Many things to do, but I'm excited!

1. Reach Bangalore on Feb 4.
2. 6th. Travel around Bangalore for work.
3. 7th morning fly to Hyderabad.
4. 7th & 8th. Travel around Hyderabad for work.
5. 8th evening- fly to Delhi.
6. 9th & 10th – Travel around Delhi for work.
7. 11th Agra, Taj Mahal (the only chance to relax)
8. 12th, 3am, leave from Delhi
9. 12th, 7am, arrive Frankfurt, Germany. Explore Frankfurt for 4 hours.
10. 12th 2pm, leave Germany
11. 12th 4pm, arrive SFO.

In 1 day, I'll be in 3 cities in 3 continents. Catch my brake light if you can ;-P

Rome 1

I landed at the Rome Fiumicino airport at 10 am on Monday, 10/10/2005. I tried to call my hotel to ask them how to get there, but instead I got a recorded message in Italian, providing no information in English (or Tagalog) whatsoever of how lost visitors who have no maps could get there without flagging a taxi. I just consumed my last Euro for that call so I walked over to the money exchanger and did what I had to do - rob them. Just kidding. While the attendant counted my money slowly, she remarked something in Italian to her co-workers that made them laugh. I felt self-conscious for a second, but realized quickly that they're just probably admiring my astonishingly good looks. I proceeded to run my fingers through my locks. . .

As I left the money exchanger, my self-assured, lion-hearted swagger slowly returned to the normal overweight-characteristic left-right-whimper stride that has always cursed me since adolescence. As I started walking down the unimaginably long aisle with my 45-lb duffel bag and my 20-lb backpack, I made a mental note: enough of this backpacking look, next time, must use rolling luggage! Within a few minutes, I was doing the suffering-march.

I deduced that since everyone took the train to the Roma Termini station, I might as well join the ride. The ride could save my back another 30 years of service and save my face for 30 minutes. I arrived at Roma Termini station, but when I saw how long the tunnels were... well you know. Anyway, minutes later, I got hold of a map, finally, and located the tiny street where my hotel was located. I walked up to Information and asked the best way to get there. The lady advised bus 215, so I made sure not to look for that. As I trudged through the sun to get to the bus stations, not only did I find out that I was supposed to board bus 64, but also nobody wrote or understood English! It was through my savior and lord Jesus Christ (Praise the Lord!) that I found a nice couple who volunteered to tell me when I had to get off, through gesticulations of course.

The bus barely left the station when I realized how beautiful Rome was. The ubiquitous fountains, the buildings of various shades of yellow, gold and brown, and the cobblestone-lined avenues! But you must know that the devil himself followed me. As the bus rocked along, my face fell smack on an Italian arm pit, as if the devil pushed my head onto it. The Italian body odor is a little bit more raw (can I say hairier?) than the French version and definitely not shy and subdued like the American! I could almost see the E. coli bacteria colony floating in the air and multiplying on my nose. I muttered a muted “sorry!” to the stranger and a screaming one to myself. But I digress. When the kind couple I befriended advised me that my stop was coming up, I delightedly said, “Thank you, I mean merci, este grazie.” I would have won best actor in the Academy Awards for speaking 4 languages in a role (or roll).

Now that I left hell, I was happy to walk again, never minding the stones on my back. I got to my lodging - hallelujah! – and it was snucked in between many monuments, midway from the Colosseum and the Spanish steps. After taking a shower and a quick nap, I set off on my adventure to take night pictures of Rome.

I walked to the relatively youngest monument, the Il Vittoriano, built in the 1800s. I also went to the Piazza Venezia beside my hotel, and took pictures of the Roman Forum, circa 600 B.C. But the highlight of my day was taking pictures of and around the Colosseum. I took day pictures of Roman soldiers posing for interested tourists, international couples romancing and strolling, traveling junkies cartwheeling on the grass, and other day-to-day characteristic moments. I went up to this remote location to take my night pictures and was surprised to find a couple there from my zip code! What a small world. As the darkness rolled in and my stomach began to complain of hunger, I took a moment to reflect how old the Colosseum was. I mean, it just stood there for more than a thousand years! I did my best to capture its silent beauty, if not for my benefit, at least to commemorate its longevity. I took several angles of it, and when I was finally satisfied with my shots, I called it a night. It was a very long day, so when I looked at my map I was glad to see that my hotel was only 500 meters away.

New Beginnings

How do you describe the very beginning of things? Some describe them precisely, like the start of Olympic sprints at t=0s. Sometimes they couldn’t even be defined like relationships that blossom - “they just happened.” When this New Year started, I was in Manila Bay, watching the fireworks spectacle that unfolded in the sky. I tried to capture the moments through video and photographs, but deep inside me I was filled with wonder and at the same time reflection of where in the future my past would take me, and how my future will uncover the past. I was caught in my dilemma that while I entered the New Year precisely at 12am on January 1, I straddled the past and the future as if they just happened. How then do I define the beginning of three new things?

First off, I have a high school friend that I’ve come to like more over the past few years. We exchanged emails, and over the years I started liking her more than just a friend. I told her this when I went back to the Philippines, making it clear that my gift giving, and words of affirmation are meant to go beyond the common bounds of friendship. She asked me, why and how I liked her, and as I tried to rack my brain for processes, lists and priorities, the most coherent answer I mustered up was that “God led me to you.” Imagine, I searched for partners here in America and I kept comparing them to her, 10,000 miles away. God must have done it. I told her I’ll be courting her, to get to know her more, if that was fine. She wanted to give it a try too, but given where we are both in our lives – she in medical school, I to go back to graduate school - I pray for much wisdom and passion. I actually used up my first calling card last night, indicating the beginning of something new in my life. It will be a lot of trial and error, but if it is truly God’s doing, we will see it through.

I also finished my applications to graduate schools. I am strongly lead to go back full-time to pursue my PhD degree starting September this year. I am excited by the prospect but also a bit daunted by the uncertainties. While medical school and law school have set curricula, PhD’s are completely student-driven. The best I can say is that I’ll wait for the acceptance letters first, then I’ll think about this new beginning again later.

Lastly, as I closed the past year, I also confirmed that I have moved on with my past. Moving out of the house gave me a better perspective because when I saw my dad’s new wife(?), half-brother and half-sister in the Philippines, I was completely fine. I can’t say that it’s the beginning of new things between us, because for all I know, I have forgiven much in the past already. Forgiveness is decided at a specific time, but also reoccurs in the future, depending how the past haunts it back. Therefore, it’s not a causal event; and it’s a beginning that’s quite hard to describe.

This quite sums it up. I would like to post another entry about my Philippines trip but there are still some entries from my Europe trip I have to post. I’m quite behind.