Much to my dismay, broadband internet access at my family’s home has been down ever since Typhoon Milenyo, and PLDT DSL has been dragging its feet on getting things back up and running again. All we have at home right now is painfully slow dial-up access, charged by the minute, on my mom’s computer, a crotchety old Toshiba Satellite prone to “fainting spells” where the screen randomly blacks out until the little “laptop-closed” sensor nub is jiggled. This is pretty much equal to not having any access, and restoration of home broadband is looking like a pretty remote prospect for the duration of my visit, so I must instead leech whatever wireless I can get in my travels. Comments and trackbacks will have to stay off for a bit longer, thanks to the wonders of third world connectivity.

The morning after my arrival I went to a dentist to get a couple of small fillings, and it looks like I’m going to need my wisdom teeth out soon. My schedule doesn’t really allow that, but I could get an operculectomy as a stopgap measure. Either way, it sounds like great fun!

Went to a Simbang Gabi (actually more of a Simbang Umaga) at 6am this morning with relatives, followed by a massive breakfast buffet of all manner of wonderfully greasy Filipino breakfast viands: tapa, tocino, tuyo, danggit, and more. Tonight I met up with a mixed group of college and grade school friends, who have managed to mix up with each other in throes of romance and matrimony.

(Now I am in a quandary as to how to tag this post. Do these mundane postings from a trip home for the holidays still count as “travel,” or do they fall more under the “journal” category? Certainly it counts as a “philippines” entry as well. I guess I’ll go with “travel” since I’m still away from my routine and in another country.)