caught in a whirlwind of travelling

finally some respite. of all places, on a chinatown bus. on the road once again. this time to delaware for half the weekend to see my mom off back to the airport. no rest for the road-weary, i guess. for the past few weeks, been caught in a whirlwind of travelling—

this time last week i was in dallas, spending the weekend with my sister there and my mom who's visiting. aside from spending time with family, highlights were seeing the jfk museum, eating at some brazilian churrascaria (meat place), spending a day at the texas state fair and an unflattering souvenir cold sore from a full day's sun exposure. dallas was interesting to see. lots of big open spaces that gives you a bit of middle nowhere feel, the drawl in their speak, and a huge percentage of people on the heavy side what with all that meat.

very early monday morning, was off to the next stop, chicago. from o'hare airport, headed directly to the hotel for a quick check in. not only was i at the famed drake hotel where oprah's guests are usually holed up, i also found out that i got a free upgrade to my room. from the hotel, i headed to the market research facility for work. it was a business trip after all. the clients were there and 2 other officemates. we spent a whole afternoon behind a one-way mirror, observing people's reactions to next year's ad campaign. snacks, sandwiches and sushi were overflowing. and once we were done for the day's work, we finally headed back to the hotel. where holy effin crap i finally got to see the room i was spending the night in. sweet—all that unnecessary luxury all for me to not use.

after being struck with awe at the hugeness of each of our rooms, my officemates and i reconvened at the lobby to walk through the winds to a nearby sports bar for some beer and barfood. called it a night after 2 rounds coz we were up early the next day. woke up a bit earlier than everyone to get some needed exercise at the hotel fitness room. quick shower, checkout and cab ride after, we were back behind the mirror for a half day's worth of work. by noon we were done, and managed to book ourselves earlier flights at midway airport to avoid the long wait and delays caused by impending bad weather. downtown chicago was nice to see. although there wasnt enough exploring, i must say it's quite similar to new york (minus the attitude). i loved the fact that the cops there were on segues—how very un-midwestlike. heck, even that beats the NYPD being on those stinky made-for-tourists horses. also, it was good spending time with the clents—especially that i seem to get along with them, i guess all the more am i now indispensible.

we arrived in detroit late tuesday night. at the airport, hopped on our rental van. made our way to southfield, driving through depressing rows and rows of denny's, mc donald's, white castle, big boy, and all that crap. after getting lost several times, we eventually found our way to the hotel. as expected, nowhere close to the drake—a marriot. after 15 minutes of checking in and refreshening up, we were back to the lobby off to morton's—some pricey nearby steakhouse. oh the joys of being on business trips. considering that i hate shrimps and crabs, the seafood appetizers were great. the filet mignon i had was just the right huge size and the perfect tenderness to it. the bottles of cabernet went well with the dinner as well. and it certainly loosened up the atmosphere a bit. although it's always a tricky thin line, laughing at and laughing with the clients. over dinner, was decided that we were changing flights again to try to get out of the city sooner.

wednesday morning, was up way too early again to check out and head to the research facility there. spent a full day behind the mirror, by then, our brains and interest weren't as sharp as before, especially with the news in the afternoon that a plane had hit an upper east side apartment in new york, setting it to flames. and myself, feeling a bit under the weather at that point, with my dallas cold sore and chicago sore throat. by around 6, we were at the airport heading our separate ways. i hopping on a northwest flight to laguardia. irritable as i already was, got into a bit of an argument with one of the obese TSA personnel at how much a waste it is having me throw away my toothpaste when ive been already through 4 airports prior without them having any fuss with it. anyway, to add to the fudged up situation, flights were delayed because of the bad weather. and couple the bad weather with the fact that it wasnt the biggest plane ever that i was on, i was one impatient passenger. PLUS, i was seated across this annoying old japanese guy who kept coughing without covering his mouth. after an hour of circling round laguardia because of air traffic, we finally landed. finally, home sweet new york home. and at the baggage claim area, a driver holding a sign with my name on it. eventually leading me to my ride back home, a black S500 benz. sweet.

thursday & friday i was back in the office. somehow it felt great just sitting at my desk and running from one meeting to another instead of an airport to another. only thing that kept my enjoyment in the office though were my cold sore and sore throat. was hoping to spend this whole weekend nice and chill at home to recover a bit. but instead, here i am saturday night, back on the road again. sore throat is almost sore no more. cold sore isnt that much of an eyesore as well. just a bothersome runny nose now but i can live through that.

needless to say, the roadtrip continues. instead of heading back to new york, i actually hop on the the train to head further south to washington DC on monday. after that, to baltimore tuesday night. wednesday night, im back to new york. i can't wait. well, actually i might actually fly back to chicago november 2nd for an art show but i just might take a pass on that, especially that the big hong kong–manila trip happens the week after that.

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an hour or so more and im finally at the bus station. headache with this typing is already killin me. but before i logout, some bit of good career news. returned into the office with a voicemail from some other agency's HR. they got an opening which might be right for me. also, i got invited by the art director's club again to run the advertising workshop but unfortunately couldnt coz ill be out by then. best news though is that i finally heard from the grapevine that im getting a promotion in january. nice. ok, enough.