sleeping in airports

airports are big factors to any traveller.

with train tickets being more expensive and ships just taking too long, not to mention it's seasickness factor, flying has been easier on the pocket for the distance-hungry. although, hard-core environmentalists will burn me at the stake for endorsing flying more than any other transportation. that is until teleportation is in reality. (<--dork) i also endorse hitchhiking! but that really isn't a form of transportation, technically speaking. anyway, enough with the brainfart babbling and back to airports.

airports give the first impression to the place we are going to. surely, there are those business types who spend more time in airports/in transit. (like George Clooney in that movie which i haven't seen yet!) the other countries have realized that need and so why can't the philippines do so too. (forgive me for being stupid in disregarding more pressing matters the gov't needs to focus on, we do have a sector for tourism and that's what im trying to reach)

not to leave out the fact that airports are supposedly good candidates for traveller's spending the night. instead of waiting for a red-eye flight by paying overly priced airport hotels which never are worth it, airports should always be an option in this modern age.

this website "the Budget Traveller Guide to Sleeping in Airports" puts Manila International Airport(NAIA) to be in the world's worst airports list. one review by Brenty says,

"the worst airport on the planet. It has to be experienced to be believed. Think of a bombed out ruin and you'll get some idea."

more on the website http://www.sleepinginairports.net/asia/manila.htm

it's sad how Manila's Airports are crap.

personally, i have flown to better low-cost airline airports in europe and asia while the Manila International Airport has loads of good airlines landing on shit. I swear if i were the head of tourism back home, it'd be my first thing to fix. Sure, we have Centennial and that new one which has the ceiling collapsing on it before it even opens. but centennial only has Philippine Airlines to cater its services to. and while, yes, the terminal 3 is beautiful(flew out of it with a domestic flight to Boracay and international flight to Shanghai) i can't say i trust how long it will be maintained to be beautiful let alone standing with it's previous luck. also, there is that thing where a lot of people just for some reason bring the whole barangay to pick up or send off someone. it's endearing and charming. it makes for a good and heartwarming sendoff too. but the crowds and the way that they make themselves at home in a public place is just not helping with the productivity of the place. if there weren't such big crowds in it, things would move smoother.

there are those crooks too. and bribery. baah. there's too much to fix.

goes and wanders

another one of those The Beach entries

before anything, i am going to assume you've seen the movie, The Beach. i have been rambling about it on some entries before as i recall.

do you know that scene when Richard(Leo di Caprio) had to go back to the mainland with Sal(Tilda Swinton) because they needed supplies(they referred to it as Rice Run)? when, after being in "paradise" he is thrown into the mess of superficial, short-lived happiness of the city? (yeah, what's your point?)

As i was walking through the streets of Paceville, the party/clubbing center in Malta, i felt as if i was in Richard's shoes at the very same scene in the movie. I was walking around and hearing his voice-over playing in my head while drunk and probably drugged up tourists were making fools out of themselves.

RICHARD  

Now I understand why no one wants to come 

for the rice. 

INT/ EXT. BAR. NIGHT.  

The bar opens out to a street just back 

from the beach. It is busy.  

Sal and Richard stand at the bar with their drinks.  

SAL  

So how does it feel to be back in the world?  

RICHARD  

It's not like I remembered it. 

SAL

It gets worse every time.

i don't remember when i started to not enjoy that scene. i don't think it was because of one event that turned me. i say it was more of a gradual acceleration of disgust. though, i feel older with these feelings. i feel like i am thinking way too much. wanting to just kick back and relax instead of spending loads of money for happiness that lasts barely until the next drink of the night. i never did an every weekend party/clubbing thing. if i did, it's more for the company that i'd go out. it's sometimes makes up for the hassle though. sometimes, it can be a good night out but compared to how many times it's just mediocre-bordering-bad, my judgement is that it's really not worth it.

it's not the way i travel as you have seen from past entries. i never put a night out because there really hardly is. though, i try. Amsterdam, Berlin and Barcelona are supposed to be known for their party scenes, so i figured why not try. one thing though, it's not good to go out at night when you're travelling alone. safety measures alone should keep you from doing so. i may have been drunk(more passed out) once during this whole trip. i posted it here to commemorate it, the one with me passed out on the train after an event in Venice.  also, i was under the influence of a muffin in Amsterdam which in retrospect was one of the stupidest ideas i've had.

i am not criticizing those who like it. in fact, i envy them that is if they truly enjoy it and that its not only for the 'coolness' that is associated with it. 

anyone want to go out tonight?

goes and wanders

RICHARD (V.O.)  In fact the more I thought about it the more I realized that none of this world made any sense to me. I'd left it behind. We all had, and in its place we'd found somewhere special, and we were determined to keep it that way.

bumming it

so i've been bumming it...

not totally but in contrast to my past few adventures, i have been bumming it.

i have just been in italy for 2 months already. or even more.

let's see. in terms of new cities i've set foot on, i have added Trieste, Florence and Siena. I have also been to the beach quite a few times. Jesolo and Chioggia. and also a pool here in Padova. the heat is just amazing. i dont remember philippines to be this hot. this year, as everyone says, has been the weirdest summer and winter...i can just hear global warming protesters agreeing with me on this one

i probably will be seeing more of italy as i just found out this morning i can't leave for Munich with Philipp next week as i dont have my permit yet! one month they say but its been 50 days already! great. blame it on the summer. they said cos its summer, work has been pushed back. ugh. bureaucracy really just makes everything worse. Italian bureacracy specifically! i've managed to walk out offices, raise my voice, slam doors, etc. my patience has been tested far too many times here in italy.

anyway, Genova/Cinque Terre is one place i'd really want to go to! its a bit pricey to take the train but theres no way i can take the plane. hitchhike probably, but its just too hot to just wait by the side of the road. also, i have found sites that are most probably a hit and miss but i've been lucky with serious travellers...its like the german car sharing thing but not only german. hehe. there's hitchikers.org and taxistop.be...the first one is more flexible and covers more countries...the taxistop is the one which is based in belgium but a lot of travellers are using it so there is a chance to hitch a ride anyway...i was supposed to hitch a ride from bologna to ancona then take the ferry to greece but had to back out because of my permit...

Padova is dying slowly. the town is already emptying to nothing. all the students are running back home to their mummies and daddies because their backs are all wet with sweat and they need to be given a bath. its sad. only a few of us erasmus students are left here and in a week, they will be leaving me here! all alone. bah.

this post is just pathetic. all ranting and negativity! don't worry. ill be travelling soon! youre going to see more of italy. blech..

goes and wanders

Life seems nothing more than a quick succession of busy nothings

so a lot of travelling has been happening...on this couch.

sitting on it, lying on it. bathroom break.

nah, ive been at home for what feels like forever. ive already managed to get to baking cinnamon rolls, arranged the spices in the cupboard(which is why i realized i have tons of cinnamon for the rolls!),

created a 25 Schengen travel grid,

and watched a whole lot of movies...and yet i still haven't finished my papers for Italian Cinema and History of Cinema. I've managed to translate into italian what i have written with the help of google translate but after hearing i can extend it, the urgency of finishing it disappeared. why the hell do we procrastinate?! or at least why do i? it's not like i have other things to do...

there was another trip after barcelona though...we went to Udine! that's a misleading exclamation mark. it's not at all an exclamation of delight as you would've probably thought. im not sure, maybe an ellipse would probably be more apt to capture the feeling of so-so towards Udine. anyway, the trip to Udine and from Udine was cool though. Philip drove with his topdown car with me, Fran and Owen as his passengers...

we went to Palmanova after Udine. its a star shaped city but the thing is, when you're in it, the fact doesnt really impress you that much. so the googling of the image of the actual city from above had to happen and this is it. we were smack in the middle got in one of the roads and out the other.

hoping to find more stuff to do soon...plus i wish the weather stops getting so gloomy. though it is actually giving me a reason to just stay in...

goes and wanders

gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

i have been following thesartorialist for years...officially with this blog, just a few months ago...but yeah, i knew the blog existed way before this travel blog was born...i was a GQ follower and always looked forward to his columns. then one day when i was updating this blog in barcelona, i saw his update that he's coming to Barcelona! spent the last hours in Bcn in Santa Eulalia in Passeig de Gracia waiting for him....the wait which i initially calculated to be 30 mins became 6 hours. i came in and asked if i can just leave my luggage til he came. the people there already got familiar with my face coming in and out of the store, checking if he'd arrived... this lady down here is supposedly some bigshot in the Spanish scene...she took my picture when i went inside the store! i was talking to her and i told her i liked her outfit, it was some Annie Hall-ish get up and she told me she liked mine! then she started asking why i was in bcn, etc...Mahala Almazora, i think her name is...i wonder where my picture will be in though. haha. let's hope mr.schuman decides to grab it off her! cross your fingers for me!

i had met the owner of the store, Luis Sans...he's like the 4th generation of his family to take control of the store, a fact i just knew a few minutes ago when i checked the history of the store in http://www.santaeulalia.com/ Luis was the one who introduced me personally to Scott when he arrived and gave me a free copy of Scott's book for it to be signed...all this time, i was very excited but at the same time nervous of not catching my flight...i had already let one bus go since i figured i can wait a few more minutes and i am glad i did.

goes and wanders

barcelona high

its been amazing here in barcelona.
ive been living on the yacht for a couple of days now...apart from the feeling of swaying even on land, its been too cool! haha...

ive seen most of the sights and am not really doing anything touristy anymore...im sure there's more to see though...just yesterday, when i got 'lost' i found this beautiful road while i biking to the center...i really can't share with words how the feeling is being in this city. its a you-had-to-be-there thing...

i also have a friend who i hosted through CS in Padova and she's coming to barcelona and staying on the yacht as well! though im moving out tonight to Luis' ill meet with her and catch up.oh and im sunburnt...i feel like i've changed my ethnicity already when i look in the mirror. i really should stop feeling like a white boy and not go sunbathing like them.

goes and wanders

RnR

its as if i havent had enough RnR for this semester of basically doing nothing!
haha anyway...time is running so why not when i can right? Barcelona here i come again!
here's to a safe flight and no stupidities/charges to experience

goes and wanders