Back to California, after a long, parched, uncomfortable but uneventful flight. I’m worn out, but happy to be back in my room, watching desperate flight of the last (I hope) of the ants that had taken up residence in my computer.

Notes from Manila:

It’s been a brilliant exit from the Philippines.
Absolutely torrential rains, and a completely flooded out street. (On the plus side, you know who your real friends are when you kinda really need someone to go out into the flood and find a taxi for you so you don’t have to take your bags to the corner in the rain).
I’m flying Philippine Airlines, which has its very own international terminal. Meaning, no mitigating factors for the PAL experience. Over an hour wait to check in. Nowhere to get a magazine apart from the Christian Bookazine Corp. , and you can’t even buy a bottle of water past security to take on the flight.
And then the power goes off. They’ve got some kind of generator, but it’s still incredibly dim, and apparantly bathrooms are not a priority area. Best of all, the fancy, “hi-tech” sensor-controlled toilets and faucets do not function, and have no manual back-up (except for the charming attendent who ran out to get dippers full of water).
The power’s come back, hence the wifi. But, ach, it’s like packing into three hours all the things I hate, but will invariably feel slightly nostalgic for, about the Philippines.
Next stop, San Francisco.
[editors note: true to form, the touted free wifi does not actually work. So this won't actually go up until California]