Posts by brownpau
HKG-ORD-IAD
A few notes on the trip from Hong Kong back to DC: We were originally supposed to fly through SFO on a 777 but at some point United did a schedule change and it became a 747 to ORD. The change meant departing an hour earlier, and our seat reservations were wiped. We lost our [...]
Oceans and History in Hong Kong
After leaving the Philippines we spent a few days in Hong Kong before heading back to DC. This is our third time doing so, as United usually flies as far as HKG en route to MNL (I usually book the HKG-MNL trip separately so it’s cheaper), and it makes for a convenient “decompression” stop after [...]
Dive Log: Wrecks of Coron
Coron Wreck Diving photoset Coron Wreck Diving video Rocksteady Dive Center Coron’s main draw for scuba divers is the fleet of World War II Japanese shipwrecks sunk around the Calamian Islands by US bombers in September, 1944. Around an hour by boat (give or take a few minutes depending on which wreck) from Coron proper, [...]
Holiday in Manila and Coron
We were in the Philippines for about a week and a half — in Metro Manila for Christmas, then in Coron, Busuanga after Christmas through New Year, and back in Metro Manila for a few more days onward.
IAD-SFO-HKG-MNL
Our adventures started the night before, with United changing our seat assignments without notification, then disabling Amy’s online check-in. Then, some excitement on departure: a transformer blew up at the corner as we left in our taxi.
Notes on Elderly Cat Care
Pandora the Cat is now 20 years old, and still enjoying a reasonably good quality of life, but her advanced years have seen many feline health difficulties common to cats her age.
New Twitter, First Tweet
I’m not a big fan of #newtwitter, partly because I don’t like client-side-scripting-heavy content delivery interfaces with hashbang URLs, and partly because the redesign still fails to address a long-standing problem with archiving. Old tweets are still not organized in any kind of list or dated format; there aren’t even next/previous buttons on individual tweets. [...]
Overheard at HKG
Filipino family at Hong Kong Airport airline transfer desk, answering some questions due to some missing paperwork. Gate agent: “Country of origin for this trip, ma’am?” Saucy Pinay lady: “United States of America, which is our home.” “And what city?” “Texas.”
Sick Days
Been a trying time health-wise; a sore throat from last week blossomed into a full-blown bronchial infection with fever, sinus congestion, and painful coughing. I took sick days off from work to recover but my condition worsened, and with an unavoidable travel deadline looming a trip to the doctor was needed. Two days of clogged [...]
Costco Safari
I suppose membership with Costco is an inevitable step in my ongoing Transition to Suburbia, and despite having lived in the USA for almost a decade now, trips to big box warehouse-type stores still hold an almost anthropological fascination for me, a cultural exploration of the types of consumables — and crafts-turned-consumables — that retailers [...]