State-Hop (Mis)adventures

Dos, eto na! Haha!

I was okay listening to stories about my friends' travels out of the country and I would often wonder if I'd be sharing my own story someday. Let me tell you, 2008 has never been better! After tons and tons of patience, I'm finally getting my most-awaited break of travelling in the US for both business and pleasure... too formal eh? Thought so. "State-Hop (Mis)adventures" sounds more like it; hence my entry title. So here's the first installment of the 4-part series. Happy reading!

-oOo-

State-hop (Mis)adventures 1: Lost In Pennsylvania

Out on a business trip, I'm having my very first travel out of the country. Yeah I hear your "no way???" just like everyone else hehe. But yes, it's my first time to go out of the Philippines. My beloved friends are so excited to hear about it (I luuuve em!!!), especially when they learned that I'm going to the US.

My first stop is Hazleton, PA. Needless to say, it was a loooong flight. It just so happens that I can get myself to sleep almost if/when I want to. The last plane I took was a small one from Detroit. The weather's kinda unfriendly so the flight was bumpy. I enjoyed the thrill though hehe. When I stepped out of the plane, it was so cold! Temperature's in the 50's. Brrrr

Because it's mostly suburbs, there wasn't any public transportation available so I had to hire a limo service for my transfer from Wilkes-Barre airport to the hotel. When I saw my ride, I thought, "Hoowaw! Sowshal!". It was a jet-black Lincoln town car waiting for me right there! Too bad I wasn't able to take a picture of it (turista haha). Off we went to the hotel and I was taking pictures of... well... trees on the left, trees on the right, and a mountain up ahead. It's like a really huuuuge Camp John Hay in Baguio.

At Corporate Drive. Conveniently, the office is just right across the street from where I'm staying at. It took us 20 minutes to get there (that far!). The people are so friendly. There were hardly anyone who I'd randomly meet who wouldn't say "Hi!". Oh yeah and I think I'm the only Filipino in the area hehe.

After taking my first complementary breakfast, I got ready for work. It was still cold on my first work day. They asked where I'm staying at and how I'm finding the weather. I said, "I'm staying just right across the street... but it's a painful walk from there to the office!" It was drizzling and windy. The temperature dropped to 30's, if I remeber it right. Thank God the next days got up to 60's.

Click the pictures to view a larger version.
Clockwise from top-left: Holiday Inn Express breakfast, Lounge, View from my window, On the way to work.

I had a great time with the business part of the trip; but even had a greater time bonding with our Training counterparts. When we're not talking about business, we're talking about lotsa things under the sun. And I remember one of them, Craig, telling me that eversince I got there, they've all been having lunch together. (Yeah, because I would pop up from nowhere to ask them where everyone's going for lunch.) So I told them how I've been accustomed to have company while taking lunch through the 4am Sessions.

Another trainer, Laura, invited me for some drinks one time after work. I gladly said yes, and met more people during our night out. I nursed just 1 bottle of Miller light while she had 3.

And then there's Jason, who I really clicked with from the group. Feeling ko mahal na nya ko hahaha! He even volunteered to visit and teach a course here. Aba naman! We would seriously talk about business but later on, throw random jokes. He had fun beating me at foosball, and I had fun accusing him of eating dog treats when he was grubbing on Slim Jims beef sticks.

I was also delighted to know that one of our friends, Bong, lives and works in the same state; and he's actually just 5 minutes away from the airport. I ym'ed him before I left for the US. Haven't seen him in three years, I think. So on my Tuesday in PA, he fetched me from the office and we had an awesome time hanging out. He took me to Wal-Mart in HZ, where I kept on saying "hoowaw!! hahaha" while seeing more of Hazleton's suburbs. At 8pm and the sun is still up, we drove back going to Scranton to grab some coffee from Starbucks. Then we noticed that we were passing through narrow streets with small houses that seemed empty. And everytime we turn, it's like we're passing through the same streets. It could only mean one thing-- we're lost! I said, "Friend, nabe-Blair Witch na tayo! Hahaha!" But after some 15 minutes of figuring out where to go and testing our sense of direction, we finally made it to Starbucks. We got our hot coffee and hopped to Barnes & Noble to chill. At 10pm, we decided to call it a night, so Bong drove me back home.

The adventure never stops. It was a smooth drive going back to Hazleton, and we were relying on the street signs to take us there. Upon seeing a sign that said turn right to Hazleton, we took the turn not realizing that we're going the wrong way. When we didn't recognize the place, we started looking for a spot where we can turn the car around but ended up going inside a high-end residential area; we can tell from size of the houses and their cars. As we were slowly driving, we noticed a car following us. It was a police mobile. Uh-oh! But they weren't making any signal which tells us we're not in trouble- or not yet anyway. It was just following us the entire time. But Bong wouldn't let them stop us. So he kept the car steady at 20 kpms and drove as if we know where we're going haha! He took more turns, and then we stopped infront of a garage of a house, and turned off the engine hoping we'll get rid of the mobile. "Kunwari kilala natin yung nakatira hahaha!" After 5 minutes, we saw the mobile going away. We laughed so hard.

So yes, it was a relief. We went out of the village and took a right turn hoping we'll not come across the mobile again. We're finally going home. I'll never forget that street we took- Old Turnpike. Again, we were looking for a spot where we can turn around. But the street was long and narrow, there were only trees, and the only thing that lights it was the one from our car. We got lost for the second time. Ahahaha!

Geez, Old Turnpike sure is a long road. It took us about 5 minutes before we saw an intersection. At the intersection is a street sign and we both screamed "Corporate Drive!!!!" upon reading it on the sign. Thank you Lord! Hahaha! We finally turned left and soon enough, we reached the hotel. What a ride! I miss Bong now, hehe!

On my last day, we all had our last lunch together, and had our pictures taken. I felt like a celebrity haha.

Clockwise from top-left: Craig putting hot sauce on his fries, Jason and Laura with their Nachos, Joanne and Ryan, Me and the Hazleton Training Team.

My limo service was already waiting for me outside when we were taking pictures. That day, they were also having their culminating activity for their top performers. I wouldn't be able to stay and watch but I told them that I'll go and peep for a few minutes. To my surprise, their big boss who was hosting the event called me infront to let me introduce myself. I got a lot of applause. Sabi na nga ba artista ko' eh.

Time to go. It was sad to leave and I miss everyone there. I hugged my new friends goodbye and left in "my" limo ride. I'm off to another state tonight so I had the limo take me to the Greyhound station. The bus will take me to Philly where I'll take the plane to my next destination.

Must say, the week's been awesome. I miss this part of PA; especially the people in it. Next stop: Weekend In The Windy City. Stay tuned :-)