north america → united mexican states → mexico city, distrito federal
hola señora y señor! i’m here already in the land of telenovelas, burritos, and tacos!! the flight was uneventful and everything went fine except for the taxi that attempted to rip me off!! he asked for more than 3 times the usual fare!! i’ll go in detail soon as i’m dead starving already. it’s 3 in the afternoon, and the only food i had is a kiddy cereal bowl breakfast courtesy of northwest…and a banana..
so, adios for now! hasta la vista!!
north america → united states of america → minnesota → st. paul
i always find myself in this situation. just finished packing my backpack for tomorrow’s, later’s flight to mexico. one time, i was sleeping peacefully before the plane even left manila, and when i woke up, it’s ‘hello hong kong’ already! unknowingly missing the tuna croissant from cathay.. i know i know i lack preparation and planning, but things just turn busy this past few days. mylene (HS mate and my sister’s friend) and her friend, cherry from down texas, are in town at the moment..and been with them friday night and the whole day today…although we got back to the apartment around 7ish earlier.. i just got back from the ultimum temptation of all time, a DOTA tourney, from the other room. it was a colleague’s birthday pool party today, shame that i even missed the pool part so catch up on the tourney. we won!! wuhoo..by a boastful score of 2-0. warlock rules!!
anywho, i better quit now so could still catch an hour or 2 rest. ciao!
‘been doing last shopping for pasalubongs to bring back home. the ever present pasalubong of all time, chocolates, plus some spam, soaps, etc… why do filipinos always ask for chocolates as pasalubong. taking note the fact that cacao, a main constituent of the brown confectionary, is being cultivated in the philippines widely. the country even ranks in the top 20 producers of cacao worldwide! apparently, the ample quantity of goya, chocnut, curly tops, and flat tops in the grocery is being ignored. we filipino should support our own products! show patriotism and be nationalistic even in that tiny sense! so, stop asking for imported chocolates from homecomers, oke?
the box is almost full, and it’s damn heavy. i’m not sure if it could hold on that much weight so will have to tape it all around for extra strength. northwest changed their luggage allowance rule recently, and because of that, i have to divide weight proportionally in my 2 check-ins. one is a luggage, and the other being the carton box.
however, this move is incomparable to my last year’s move from hong kong to manila where i brought home some ~140 kilos garbage all alone on my slender frame.
i forgot to mention that this weekend will be a break for me. september 1st is a holiday (labor day), and republican congress will be held here so most people will be either working from home or taking leaves. of course, i opt for the latter! since i’m already this far from home and chances are i may not go back here in the near future or at all, i decided to make a short trip below to the land of telenovelas, burritos, and tacos! i’m leaving by the weekend, so i might be gone for a few days ’cause i’m not bringing this laptop. hola!!
one of the biggest fair in the united states, the minnesota state fair. we originally plan to see the first day, with 3 doors down+hinder+staind concert, but we missed seats!! i’ve missed a lot of music shows that i’ve wanted to see here. first is gavin de graw in minneapolis last july. also sick puppies live free concert last independence day celebration in harriet, and now the state fair concert! not to mention coldplay concert this coming november, which by then, i will already be home half across the globe…so we just went last saturday for some strolling, food tasting, carnival games and rides. we took the bus 10ish in the morning from downtown saint paul going to como area (the same area as the como lake and the como zoo i’ve biked a couple of times). entrance fee to the fair is not a cheap $11. well, if you keep on converting (at the moment, 1 USD = 45 pesos) everything will seem to be expensive. for food, tried sirloin burger, a tall classic rootbeer, a bucket of fries, pronto pup (which is similar to corndog, a-must according to a colleague), and all-you-can-drink white milk or chocolate for $1! (that’s the only cheap thing in the fair, you’ll want to know later why..)
the state fair area is huge, and the event will continue until the labor day (first of september). concerts are held in some nights, and last saturday’s was backstreet boys (of course, i did not watch)
they also have rides, some classic carnival rides like ferris wheel, roller coaster, and swings. i tried 3 rides, and all were good!! they’re not the typical rides you can see from most amusement park. one ride, called techno power, has this loud hippy music and lightings, goes round and round, seats slightly tilt, and moving very fast in tune with the music! yes, i know i described it bad. so here’s a youtube link…-> here another is this one , which is really random once you’re up there, you can’t feel whether you’re swinging left of right as it’s fast..they also have slingshot, a human slingshot where you sit an a ball-like metal frame (duo) and up it goes in the air, well, like a slingshot, hence the name dumb…but it’s crazy expensive!! $25 for a single ride! so i passed on that one…
there are animal exhibits, barns, and a cow show giving birth live. they sat the bovine in the center of an enclosed arena and people watch, patiently waiting for the very moment, which to my opinion, is very unpragmatic. perhaps, still engrossed by animalistic affairs as recently been to minnesota zoo and como zoo, i did not see all the other barns and horses.
with all our coupon gone (coupons are used for rides, and carnival games), we headed to the milk station where i devour 3 full paper cups of dairy products (2 chocolate and 1 milk). then on our way back home. it was just early evening, and still full from milk, i had a nap and in the whole course of my dreamless doze are abundance of tiny farts. man, my room stinks when i woke up!! that’s why the milk is very cheap!! hahaha
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my time is running so fast. last weekend was my last full weekend here. i got a carton box in the pantry this lunch, and will start packing my things. the biggest burden in my carriage is a16-set of victoria’s secret bottles for my sister. i’m not sure how strict the airport check-in here, i hope i don’t get excess baggage because if i do, sure that would be expensive as it’s trans-pacific!
because i noticed the word “minne” is so ubiquitous in names of places here, i was intrigued by its meaning. the state of minnesota, having abundance of fresh water from lakes and river, coined the word minne in several of its proper nouns. minnesota, minnetonka, minnehaha, minneapolis, etc.. Minne is actually an indian word for water. enough said.
about the latest…i left the office early yesterday, a little past 3pm, and went out cycling to como zoo. it’s a free park and zoo some 7 kms away from the apartment. although i’ve been to como lake and surrounding park before, i didn’t notice the zoo and conservatory section. they close at 6pm, so the trip gives me only a short circle around. but still, i saw some animals here that i’ve never seen before, specially in the primate section. Large gorillas, lemur, sloth, spider monkey, and tamarin (indeed, a close relative of ewok and yoda). lots of exotic animals, there are tall and smelly giraffes, lions, zebras, cougar, flamingoes, crane, and storks…nearby is the marjorie mcneely conservatory, a big greenhouse garden that first opened in 1915. shame there’s no enough time for me to check it out apart from taking photos of its large full glass frame exterior. so, i might come back.
i believe that the tamarin is a small obsessive compulsive primate superb at grooming…
