• Travels,  USA

    My FIRST International Trip

    March 25, 2024

    Yes, we’re going to North Carolina, USA, finally to visit and spend some time with my nephew. Yeah, this is my FIRST international trip, and I wanted to document everything.

    We arrived at the airport really early at 12:30 am. Better to be early than miss the flight. We spent our time on the benches near the check-in counter until it opened. We hurried to line up as soon as the counters opened. They asked me to pay the travel tax, which I had not done because my sister said that it was included in the ticket. Turns out it was not the same tax mentioned on the ticket. After checking in, we were immediately assisted by the assistance service. Everything happened so quickly after immigration; we were already sitting on benches near the gate. The wheelchair assistance was a great help; there were no long lines in immigration, as they took us straight to our gates.

    Our trip was from Manila to Hong Kong, New York, and finally Raleigh. I will never forget what happened in Hong Kong airport. After being dropped off at the gate, I went to the restroom. When I returned, there were barricades on my way. But there was no other path, so I lifted it and walked through. A staff member approached me. I told her I went to the restroom, and Mom was sitting in the front row. Her approach was a bit odd.

    Another unforgettable experience moment was at the New York airport. My bag kept on going back and forth through TSA, which made me very nervous. It turned out to be my nephew’s J&J cologne I packed. We also had a long walk to our gate. I cannot imagine myself traveling alone and navigating the huge airport.

    Finally, we arrived in Raleigh. It was quick, and soon enough, my sister and her family welcomed us. I finally got to see my nephew—he’s the cutest, and I really miss him.

    After our mini reunion, we went straight to eat. I ordered shrimp, and there were so many in one order. I thoroughly enjoyed them. We went to Walmart for groceries after our meal and then went home.

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  • Travels

    Sales and Engineering GOES to Pangasinan

    January 15, 2024

    January 12

    I can say, finally, it’s time for the Sales and Engineering Teams to unwind together! This outing was supposed to happen last December, but due to many being unavailable, we had to reschedule. Organizing outings is not easy, but we managed. Since many of us had not been to Pangasinan, we decided on Hundred Islands for Day 1 and Bolinao for Day 2.

    After work, we headed straight to Sir Chino’s place. We hit some traffic along the way, and I ended up falling asleep in the car. We had dinner there. Thanks, Bokkii. We left Bulacan around midnight with the rental van.

    January 13

    We arrived super early and had breakfast at McDonald’s. We had hoped for something hot, like goto or mami, but no luck. Thankfully, our Airbnb host allowed us to check in early so we could finally rest for a bit. I was really sleepy by then.

    Around 8 am, we set out in our island-hopping attire. Our tour guide was super energetic, making the experience even better. For lunch, we bought Bilao thinking it might be cheaper than buying on the island. It turned out to be the same price, with the only difference being the Coke, if I remember it correctly.

    I won’t list all the islands we visited because I cannot remember them all. We took lots of photos, thanks to Ma’am Julia’s phone. We also tried the banana boat. I was hesitant at first, but I decided to go since they needed one more person.
    In the late afternoon, we made a quick stop at Bolo Beach. We had our snacks there but didn’t swim—just a quick visit to take in the scenery. Afterwards, we headed to the market to pick up ingredients for dinner.

    After dinner, instead of the planned liquor session, some of us were too tired and went straight to bed. As for me, I decided to catch up on some Netflix instead. It was a relaxing end to a long day.

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