Time Lag

Day #1 in the Philippines. (Author's note: Even if you are seeing this for the first time as of 1/6/11 regardless of the time stamp to conform with updating daily.)

Mommy regrets taking Korean Airlines just to save a few hundred bucks. We had a layover in Korea for two hours where I shopped in the airport. I can now say I've shopped in Korea.

On the flight, I watched some American movie, apparently an indy film from either last year or earlier this year, called Another Earth. I mostly listened to Muse's latest album available on the flight's entertainment.

I had two weird dreams while sleeping on the flight: 1) Cousin Andree and I were practicing punches to the solar plexus. 2) I was in a mall that I didn't recognize. In a bar, there was an open challenge for a four-way brawl. The participants were me, Brandon, and Rez and John from high school. The last two are clique mates in real life. But John would magically transform into Michael, also their clique mate. I won. I remember transitioning from a guillotine choke on Rez and spinning into a rear naked choke on John/Michael. End of dreams.

Cousin Philip and Cousin-in-law Malou picked mommy and me up from the airport. I wore my tall red Christmas hat that I bought from Spencer's last year. We ate lunch at cousin Sheila's in-laws' place before going home to unpack. The one-eyed maid, Linda, clumsily tripped and fell down as she greeted me. Other returning cast of characters from last time: the driver Bernie, dad's former caretaker Apyong, the maids/nannies Lisa and Flor, and baby nieces Samantha and Maxine.

And now time lag - a term coined by Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - as opposed to jet lag. You know, because I left on Wednesday, but because the Philippines in fourteen hours ahead of the U.S., I arrived now on a Friday, thus time traveling over Thursday.

MOMMY: Did you visit your dad's room yet?
RYAN: No.
MOMMY: Go in there and say, "Hi."

I walked into dad's old room, stood in the darkness, felt an unfamiliar sixth sense, and said, "Hi."