Monday, September 28, 2009
hmm im back from manila. thank god. what a hectic race back to singapore.
it was a depressing 7 hour wait outside the airport. the sudden rain in the wee hours of the morning only grew more aggresive as the morning daylight rose upon us. by the time we left the hotel for the airport, 2/3 of manila was covered with water at least knee high. damn ondoy typhoon. the bus we took had to detour twice to find alternate routes to the airport due to massive floodings. the first two steps of the bus on the inside was filled with water seeping through the doors and as much as it seemed fun, i was pretty panicky on the inside. though quite amusinglu when we drove past what initially was the huge canal for their waste water to flow, it looked just like a road on the same level as us. that was how high the water level had risen to. it kinda looked like a super empty expressway which nobody bothered taking. as more water seeped into our little bus, weighed down with tons of bowling equipment, taxis floated by uncontrolably and village children, underestimating the floods, came out to swim the great ondoy olympics. it was really quite a sight. when we finally reached the airport, we were relieved, it was on much higher ground than any other place we were before. though there was one problem. the massive floods have caused some landslide ding dong thingy which tripped the entire airport into a haunted pitch black building. yes a blackout. and pardon me, i was in this super distressed and tired condition from the sleepless night and casino time the night before. i resulted into taking a 30min nap outside the airport with what i can only describe as the world's most uncomfortable and back-breaking 'mattress'. yes. i slept with my feet hung up on the railing, jacket all zipped up, unglamourously lying down on 4 bowling balls in a tote bag and a 2 ball trolley. nonetheless, it was really quite an experience. so desperately looking for comfort. hungry, tired, restless, and needing to pee, after a 6 hour wait, we were finally allowed to go into the recently evacuated airport for our MANUAL checkin. yes you heard me. a dozen helpful pinoys trying gallantly to tug and pull our crazy motherheavy bowling equipment onto the conveyour belt (which wasnt working) and down to the chute to the plane. with proper sanitation in sight, i pinched my nose and walked in to take a piss (: ahhh. delightful! walking towards our gate and passing all the different airline lounges in dimly lit corridors, we found our gate and what seemed to look like a huge refugee camp. man it was one hell of a hectic journey. thank God the flight back was homely and half empty. we had the luxury of having three seats to ourselves (: i love SQ.
on a much lighter note, i didnt bowl well this trip. didnt make the finals and it was rather depressing watching my entire team of 7 bowling the finals. while i just sit, i mean stand, there and try to be another pair of eyes for em. coach told me that he could tell i havent been competing in awhile because my shot making wasnt as accurate as it used to be. oh well. i guess i have to worry about all that after army. hopefully, i come out in one piece! great to be back and i've just a week left before shaving my head and being a common recruit. gonna make the best out of my time.
typhoon ondoy have moved on towards vietnam and my entire family is there now in hoi-an. by the beaches and apparently the winds are outrageously strong. pray they have a safe journey back tonight. okay world, time out for cyber space!
express yourself! {15:51}
bowler