They Call Me Galvez

Here is another entry from my first travel journal in 1995.

May 12, 1995
Well, here goes another entry into my “journal”.  Yesterday was kind of boring.  My nephew, Paolo, came over to my uncle’s house yesterday morning!  After breakfast we played for a while.  At around 1PM, we went to the mall in Makati: Quad and Shoemart.

Nako! Maraming tao doon! Mayroon mga magandang dalaga rin! Pumenta tayo sa bookstore at mga clothing stores.  Bumili akong mga libro may “Pilipino culture”.  Bumita ako tagalog libro.

OK, enough Tagalog.  I figured I should practice it a little since I am in the Philippines.  I tried getting in touch with my other cousins from the States that were also visiting, Eileen and Janice.  They were out until 10PM last night.  (This was before email, texting, voicemail!)  What’s crazy though is that I went to bed at 9PM!

(I’m noticing that whenever I travel overseas, I got to bed early and wake up early!)

I’m noticing that this entry was a “filler.”  Not much to talk about… they do get better (I hope…) here is another entry

May 14, 1995

On Friday, I finally got to meet up with my cousins Eileen and Janice.  I went over to their Uncle’s house for dinner,  We ended up watching a video of their 25th Wedding Anniversary Celebration.  It seems like the Filipino here are a lot like the ones in the States:  lots of food, laughing, and loud screams of joy.  It was kind of funny looking at everyone’s reaction at seeing themselves on TV.  After that, we ended up going to a night club in Makati:  CATS.  Actually, it was like “Asian Persuasion Thursdays at Nectos” in Ann Arbor, only it wasn’t.

The next day I had to get up early to go to San Pablo.  On the way there, we stopped at the Galvez resort:  “Balik Bayan”.  (I think my Aunt owns another one in San Pablo, “Makiling Breeze”.) When I finally got back to San Pablo, I wanted to do some site seeing.  Actually, this entry sucks cause I don’t feel like writing anything now.

HAHAHA!  I had to force myself to write stuff down back then.  The early stages of something that would eventually lead to a blog.  At 19 years old, my main interests were in going out and meeting pretty girls.

The second entry from my journal… It was one long flight to the Philippines!

May 10, 1995 (cont)

Captain’s log, supplemental (I was/am such a geek!)  My voyage to the Philippines has just begun.  I arrived in Manila at 2100.  God, I was so tired when we got to Osaka for our connecting flight to Manila.  I was just waiting to get on the plane and fall asleep.  When we boarded the plane, we were greeted by the most beautiful flight attendants I have ever seen.  They were all Filipina + cute too!  Wow, I was in shock!  Me, being the “stud” that I am, flashed them a flirty smile in return I got a bunch of giggles.  That’s cool, but too bad it didn’t actually happen like that.  I always act really stupid around pretty girls!  The whole 4 hours I couldn’t sleep, partly because of the gorgeous flight attendants and partly because I was really excited to be back in the land where my parents were raised.

When I stepped off the plane it was so damned hot.  It didn’t help that the walk to the baggage claim was like 30 miles away and I was carrying 3 tons of carry-on baggage.  The second I noticed was the smell in the air.  There is no other smell like it in the world.  It’s hard to explain but it’s really “thick” and hard to breath, yet it fills your lungs like a good meal would fill your stomach!  I don’t think it was smog, but I’m not completely sure it wasn’t.  I’ve breathed smog before in NYC and Paris, but this was different.  Oh well, I gots to get some rest!

I have a few more entries I’ll post while on vacation… they get more interesting..

I found this old journal while cleaning out my room.  I was going back to the Philippines with my Lola (Grandma.) I was in college and traveling overseas for the first time as an “adult”. This was my first overseas “adventure.”

May 9, 1995

Well, I’m on my way to the Philippines again.  The last time I was there was when I was in the 6th grade for my Grandma and Grandpa’s 60th wedding anniversary.  I stayed there for only a month.  This time around, I’m going back with my Lola (my other grandma.)  I guess she’s going back and staying there for good. (She actually moved back to Canada for health reasons.)  When I first heard about her plans, I jumped at the opportunity to go back with her!  I don’t know… I guess there’s a part of me that’s looking for something back there.  Maybe I’m looking for an escape from the “real world” or some sort of cultural enlightenment, or maybe I’m looking for a wife… j/k!  Right now I’m on the plane to Osaka (Northwest airlines)  God, this is boring.  “Jurassic Park” is on, and everyone is asleep.  Looking after Lola is so weird because she was the one who always looked after me when I was little.  It’s kind of strange how things come full circle in life.

Stay tuned for more old journal entries…