Things I Love About the Future, Part 1

1. Google is confused about where I am. My email still comes in US time, but everything else seems to know I'm in the Philippines. I mean the search page comes up in Tagalog. Or what I assume is Tagalog. So...yeah.

2. Having my bed made for me six days a week. It's one giant duvet so it's not like it's difficult, but somehow it always looks perfect when I get home. My other favorite part? This:

I certainly don't line my shoes up like this.

3. San Miguel and Coke Light.

4. Everyone has been really friendly, the folks at work especially.

5. Say it with me: two hour massage. Yep, you can be jealous. It was totally worth the trip across the globe.

Manila American Cemetery and Memorial

We stopped at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial after work on Friday. It is very close to the office, and the sun was shining so it seemed like a good time to stop.

There is a beautiful little chapel, and the bells were playing the Hallelujah Chorus--definitely the most interesting version I have ever heard.

The sun was out and I spent some time walking around. The memorial walls include the names of more than 36,000 soldiers missing in action, including the names of both American and Filipino soldiers.

The state seals are all along the path. Here's Minnesota:

The memorial also has mosaic maps that give detail about WWII in the Pacific. I really don't think they taught us much of this in school...I think Stillwater History might be pretty similar to Stillwater Math.

The memorial was very quiet and peaceful even though quite a few people were walking through. I always find places like this very humbling. It's hard to imagine the scope of WWII seventy years later. There are 17,100 headstones in the cemetery and 20 pairs of brothers.

This seems like a fitting end to this post. Inside the small chapel it was covered with mosaic tile, and on one of the walls was this text:

O LORD SUPPORT US ALL THE DAY LONG
UNTIL THE SHADOWS LENGTHEN
AND OUR WORK IS DONE
THEN IN THY MERCY 

GRANT US A SAFE LODGING
AND A HOLY REST 

AND PEACE AT THE LAST

Friday from the Future

Good news, everyone--Friday is gonna be awesome! That's the scoop from the future, anyway.

I slept for almost 12 hours last night (in part thanks to my friend Tylenol PM). Still feeling weird about the time change and everything--I'm never hungry at mealtimes, but I'm trying to stick to a normal meal schedule, hoping that will make it easier to adjust. I'm told I'll probably be fine by Monday and I sure hope that's true!

Went into work again, of course, and I have now met most people, though I definitely don't remember names. The office here is nice--all of the cubes are much lower than the ones we have in the US, and they're all brightly colored which makes everything look cheery.

Laura, Aida and I tried to go to lunch at a Chinese restaurant near the office, but it was busy since it's payday Friday here. We ended up eating at Starbucks since it was right there! There are several restaurants within walking distance of the office. I'm happy to report a grande nonfat iced latte tastes the same here as it does at home.

On the way home from the office, we stopped at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial. It is a beautiful cemetery very close to the office. More on that and pictures later--off to poker night at Laura's!

First Days in Manila

I am getting settled in after a couple of days. Still haven't adjusted to the time change--I only slept about 5 hours last night despite all the walking around AND doing a Jillian Michaels workout in the evening. I woke up at 2:45am and couldn't fall back asleep!

Laura showed me around yesterday and we spent hours and hours walking around. There are a TON of malls here. There are more than 10 malls within walking distance of the hotel. Everything is connected, and the walkways are covered, so even though it rained pretty much all day, we didn't have to carry umbrellas. We also went to the three grocery stores that are nearby and I got some groceries to start out.

Here are a few pics of the hotel...

The view from my window.

 From the living room looking into the dining room/kitchen.

Kitchen!

Living room.

Today we went to lunch over near the office with Aida, the Group Manager here. I had some delicious halibut with avocado & mango salsa. It came with brown rice and couscous (also delicious) and onion rings. It was a pretty amazing pairing, if you ask me. :)

After lunch we went to the office. I am set up in a cube and finally got to meet all the people I have been working with! Everyone is very nice and welcoming. I am excited to be here for the next month. Since I slept so poorly, I left at 4. Unfortunately that meant I had to miss the fashion show at 6...yes, there was a fashion show at the office today. My teammates made me this great sign--look who I get to look at in my cube! I've already informed them that he's my future husband, of course.

The sun was out when I got home so I decided to check out the pool. It was nice--I was actually a little cold sitting outside after I swam. There is a nice breeze by the pool and I sat there watching the clouds roll in and take my sun away. The forecast for the next 10 days looks like this:



Now I'm back at the hotel trying to stay awake until 9 or so. Hoping to sleep longer than 5 hours tonight!

Thoughts on Time Travel (and Regular Travel)

My first thought as I landed in Tokyo yesterday was "I can't imagine how disconcerting time travel must be." Needless to say, regular travel across a bunch of time zones has made me further question everything I think I know about time...clearly I watch too many awesome sci-fi shows. Nerd alert!

It was pretty flying into Tokyo. Someday I'll have to actually spend some time in Japan (although I doubt I'll ever be able to make a long flight again in coach). The airport was much less tricky than I had anticipated. I had to go through security again, but my gate for the next flight was just a few down from where we landed, and the Delta Sky Club was just up a floor from there. Nice to have a place to hang out in the airport. The flight from Tokyo to Manila was a little bumpy, so I ended up sleeping most of the way (even though I was trying to stay awake). I finally landed in Manila about 9:30 local time and made it through customs pretty quickly. I was checked into the hotel by 11pm or so.

The apartment is nice--actually bigger than my place at home. I'll post some pictures later.

Weather is rainy--there is a tropical storm and we are under a #2 signal in Manila, which means there could be flash flooding. I have heard stories about this from my coworkers during other storms! I am going to have to get up to speed on these tropical weather patterns...

All for now. Time to finish unpacking!  

Manila, here I come!

Well, my bags are packed! Of course there will be one last Target run in the morning and then I'll be off to the airport. I am looking forward to business class, a little curious about what 12 hours on an airplane feels like (I'm guessing it isn't the most amazing thing ever--but it will definitely be an experience), and quite excited to finally be in Manila and meet all the lovely people I've been working with for the past 2 years. I have been looking forward to this trip for a long time.

Manila is 13 hours ahead of Central Time, so I am headed to the future! I would like to politely request that you all think of me as Future Marta while I am away, mostly because it makes me laugh. I'll try to send wisdom from the future when I can. This wisdom may or may not come in the form of lottery numbers.