The Itinerary Designed by Road Runner

Written at Gate 12 of Honolulu Airport, 10:57am.

The past week had been a frenzied flurry of activities for me. I have logged in more flying time in a week than some people do in a whole year, and believe me, while it was an adventure, it wasn't always fun.

There were times I would slump over the toilet seat at the airport restrooms on layovers, too tired to even go number one. My body clock is now completely screwed up, having gone through 4 different time zones for the past 7 days. I don't know what this will do to me when I finally land in Manila and getting back to my daily routine (I'm writing this at the Honolulu airport, waiting to board for Tokyo/Narita.) I'm hoping my irregular sleep and eating habits will save me from horrible jetlag.

At LAX airport while waiting for the Mexico City flight, my eyes were shutting down involuntarily that I had to stand up while waiting, otherwise I was afraid I wouldn't be able to wake up and get on the plane. I never bothered to change the time on my watch - i'll be gone only for a week anyway and it would be silly to adjust every 2 days. Whenever I need to know what time it is I just pull out the World Clock of my cellphone or iPod, it's more convenient that way since it would show 5 cities simultaneously.

I witnessed sunset and sunrise with only a 3 hour difference while on the plane. I got an 8-hour afternoon transiting from LAX to Honolulu. I had to ask the Filipino hotel shuttle driver what day it is. I was that disoriented. My body tells me it's 4am in Manila and yet the sun is shining here in Hawaii. My meal times were not disturbed at all, since I don't have regular eating hours anyway. I eat when I'm hungry.

I took the Greyhound shuttling between LA and San Diego, and on the way back the bus made like 3 stops - Santa Ana, Long Beach, and another one that escapes me at the moment. It took quite a long time to make it to LA but I was thankful because I got to see more of South California. It was also a little surreal to walk around downtown San Diego with Fifi, eating pizza at Little Italy and scavenging bargain bins at H&M.

And because I don't care if my baggage goes straight to Manila without me, I went to Honolulu on a golden ticket. Overnight stay with free hotel and meals is enough bribe for me to get to see a new place. I was able to walk around Waikiki Beach and see the nightlife, the surfboards, and the topless surfer dudes jogging on the streets. Life is good.

There are a lot of stories to tell, and it will come trickling in when I finally get enough sleep in my own bed. Right now I feel incredibly sleepy and the sunlight is hurting my eyes, and I think I'm hungry. Boarding in ten minutes. Aloha Hawaii, thanks for having me.