When The Daylight Comes

"Here I am waiting, I'll have to leave soon. Why am I holding on?"

The song has been playing endlessly in my head for the past few days. Couldn't believe that it's already been 5 weeks and that I was leaving soon. I was both excited and sad to be going back home. Of course I miss Manila and all but there's still so much to see and places to go to and Broadway shows to watch! Super bitin! Nevertheless, I felt really blessed that I was given the opportunity to travel, that the project was not that stressful and that I got to work with really nice people and sooo thankful that Candice was there. Haays, I'm sure gonna miss New York.

"We knew this day would come, we knew it all along. How did it come so fast?"

Arrived at the JFK International Airport around 10am. Walked around for some last minute purchases and looked for something to eat. Had a plateful of scrambled eggs, bacon, potato bites and buttermilk biscuit from Sbarro. That was the heaviest breakfast I've eaten while I was there. Coz I usually got by with just a pack of Skyflakes or Inipit. Hehe.

"This is my last glance that will soon be memory..."

Boarded the plane around 12pm. Got an aisle seat beside someone who frequents the washroom like once every two hours. Looking at the bright side, at least he's Pinoy coz I could really use someone to talk to without suffering any blood loss. Hehe.

Him: "Hi, are you Filipino?"
Me: "Yup, I am."
Him: "You speak Tagalog?"
Me: "Konti lang. Joke lang. Oo naman!"
Him: "Haha. Ayun naman pala! Kanina pa kita ine-English!"

The guy's a seaman from Davao. He's going back home for a short vacation and would be heading back at sea after a month.

Sleep was quite elusive so I just took advantage of the inflight entertainment. I enjoyed "Wreck-It Ralph", sat on the edge of my seat watching "Argo", and I fell in love and cried watching "The Perks of Being a Wallflower". I also managed to eat almost all of the chips that I bought from the hotel's vending machine. Despite the roller coaster of emotions I strapped myself into and all the junk that I fed myself with, I just tossed and turned in my seat the entire flight unable to drift away to Lala land.

After being airborne for approximately 13 hours, we had to deplane at Narita Airport in Japan. It sucks how sleep would come at the most inconvenient times and the most unlikely of places. The moment I sat at the airport's waiting area, I just passed out. Didn't care if I was occupying more space than I should or if I had drool dripping out of my mouth. I wanted sleep, I needed sleep, so sleep I did.

Boarded the plane again after a couple of hours. Wasn't feeling all too well when I got to my seat. Tried to continue my slumber but I couldn't find a comfortable position. Food was served and I once again stuffed myself with as much as my stomach could handle. A few minutes after I finished my food, the plane hit some rough air. Felt like I was gonna faint and throw up at the same time. Good thing I still had a bag of M&Ms with me so I quickly downed some sweets to push back whatever that was that wanted out. Yak! Haha.

After what seemed like forever, I was finally back in the Philippines. Never had I felt so relieved to be on solid ground. My phone was dead and never coming back to life (An excuse to get a new phone? Hehe), so I had to come up with ways to inform my parents that I was already at the pick-up area. Like a smoke signal or something. Wehe. Approached one cab driver and asked if I could borrow his phone to contact my parents. All I needed was one text message but he urged me to give them a call instead. I was very thankful, I almost forgot that everything comes with a price. Another kuya approached me and asked if I was able to contact my parents. Then he asked me flat out if I have a few dollars to spare. It turned out that the call that barely lasted 10 seconds costs $5. Oh well.

Caught sight of our car after a few minutes. Waved at my parents with much excitement. OFW lang ang peg. Hehe. I was kinda hoping to find my siblings and our puppy inside the car but it was just my mom and my dad. Shared all my photos and experiences and stories on our drive home. My siblings were still up when we arrived. They were waiting for me daw. Aysos!

Me: "Namiss niyo ba ako?"
Mico: "Oo! Nasan na pasalubong??"

Grabe ha! I felt really missed! Hahaha.

Me: "Ito sayo, DingDong!