Missing In Action

It's been a long time since I have posted anything here and it's not because the past two months have been uneventful. I was actually drafting an entry after I returned from Singapore last April, but I caught a bad strain of flu that hindered my, already impaired, ability to write. I was also preparing for a trip to Perth during the same week, but it got postponed due to my state of health and some logistical problem. I bought a ticket without realizing that my VISA for Australia has expired. Normally, it takes two days to have it renewed, but in this case, the embassy returned my passport a week after the departure date on my ticket. I was too sick to get stressed out, so I just rescheduled my flight and spent the next several days watching CSI re-runs while trying to recover.

On the day of my departure, I was informed at the check-in counter that I was prohibited from traveling because my passport expires in less than six months. I was required to fill-out an Irregular Travel Certificate. which is actually a waiver absolving the airline of any liability, should I get deported, or even detained at my destination. I decided to see things positively and considered it another opportunity for adventure, so I filled out the form and continued my trip. I checked the flights from Perth during my stop-over in Singapore and the earliest plane back to Manila was 7:30 AM the following day. If things turned bad, I would only need to spend a night at the airport. I just hoped that they would have a bed wherever they would detain me, although I am not really new to sleeping at airports. When I finally arrived, I was somewhat disappointed that it took less than two minutes for the duty officer to glance at my passport, punch in the number on her computer, gave it a stamp, and shouted next.

I was planning to get myself back in shape by doing some running and biking while I was in Perth. Unfortunately it rained the whole time that I was there. I was stuck inside the house, which would have been a perfect time to catch up on some work. Of course, my luck was not about to take a good turn. First, I could not connect to the home wifi, even if two other laptops in the house, with the same exact settings, didn't have any problems. Before I even started working, I accidentally dropped my laptop and smashed the LCD Monitor. I finally gave up, and just spent the rest of the time either reading, listening to my iPod, or watching Australian daytime soap.

On my return flight to Manila, I had a 4 hour stop-over in Singapore, and I wanted to do a quick trip to the city, have a Biryani in Little India, and perhaps have a cup of coffee with one of my friends who might happen to be free. I was still unlucky. I was told by the immigration officers that I could not enter Singapore due to the discrepancy in my passport. So I spent four hours pretending I was Tom Hanks in Terminal. I eventually ended up buying new earphones for my iPod (in-ear with enhanced bass) just to stave off my attention span deficiency.

A few days after I arrived in Manila, I had to cover the Off-Road Duathlon Challenge organized by the Ayala Mountaineers, and leave for Mindanao to do an assignment for Marie Claire Philippines. I was completely exhausted when I returned, so decided to take a break and stay in Manila for a bit. It's was also the 2008 Euro Cup season. For several weeks, I stayed awake from 12:00 MM until 5 AM fto catch the live coverage of the games at the bikers bar in front of my building.

The Euro Cup ended with Spain winning the finals. I've been in Manila for more than a month now, and I am itching go somewhere.