Philippines | Click here to view photos on Flickr
After our week in Manila, my mom and I went to Iloilo, where we reunited with most of my mom’s side of the family and met my three-year-old adopted sister, Loren. She’s very cute, smart, and has a phobia of any room or building that looks like a hospital. (She had a traumatic experience in one.) After spending a week there, we went back to Manila, where we reunited with my mom’s aunt and uncle. We stayed at their house for a few days, went to an open market, and took lots of pictures of my mom’s aunt’s cats and roosters. Back in Manila, I met up with Audrey, who I met on the Muse messageboard. We met up twice – the first time, we had lunch; the second time, we walked around a nearby SM (their chain of huge malls there), since traffic and weather foiled our original plan of going to the zoo. The day I came home, I had a scratchy throat, which usually means I’ll be getting a cold. My suspicions were correct.

(I should mention that I have another sinus infection. A month later. My immune system sucks. And no, it’s not the swine flu.)

Las Vegas and Grand Canyon | Click here to view photos on Flickr
A week after arriving from the Philippines, I flew to Las Vegas with Yvonne and Jon – two good friends from high school – and my sister Lori. It was our Memorial Day weekend vacation we had planned out for ourselves; it was my sister’s first time on the mainland. (She’s traveled to Europe before traveling to the mainland!) We stayed at the Sahara. We rode the rides and did an old-school Western-themed photo studio session at Circus Circus. Got to see a Cirque du Soleil show (Ka) at MGM Grand and the Tournament of Kings show at Excalibur. Spent half a day at the Bellagio, taking photos, relaxing and enjoying dessert at Jean Philippe Patisserie. Sunday was our road trip day to Grand Canyon; driving back took longer because of traffic at the canyon and at Hoover Dam and we ended up missing Dane Cook’s show at the Palms. (My sister and Jon were particularly looking forward to that one.) We spent the last day checking out the California Hotel to see what the buzz was about with that place; it really does host the entire Hawaii tourist delegation. They had a good breakfast buffet and I actually won $1,000 at a couple of their slot machines there. (My luck has been unusually decent these past few months…) We walked around Fashion Show mall, where outside, facing the Strip, the iPod Touch ad featuring “No You Girls” played in an almost continuous loop. Good thing I like Franz Ferdinand and Apple. If it was any other ad, I would’ve been really annoyed. By the time we left to check out Paradise Island across the street, I was… borderline annoyed. From the new logo to the change of its feature show (pirate fight replaced with siren musical?!), I found it strange that Paradise Island (“P.I.”) has been obviously trying to add a dose of “hip” to its image.

Back Home | Click here to view photos on MobileMe
Back at work… been making websites. After six months of being in my office, I finally hung up some framed posters and a couple of nice boards with photos from my recent travels. I’ll post a photo later. I’ve been taking driving lessons with Kermit Brown, who is an awesome instructor; my road test is on Monday. Saw Up and Star Trek with some friends and my sister. Had some good food a couple of times with Tracy, who I met at the Franz Ferdinand gig. My good friend Yvonne announced she was moving to Florida, so some friends and my sister (I take her around everywhere!) celebrated with a day of bowling, Fun Factory, and seeing Up in 3D. (Yeah, I saw Up twice. Good movie!)

So as you can tell, it’s been a fun-filled month or so! Lesson learned: I need to update this blog more regularly to prevent making summary posts like this!

Yesterday also marked my first experience driving a manual transmission vehicle. It was my dad’s old ’80’s-ish Toyota pickup, which is great because if my sister or I ever crashed it into anything, it wouldn’t be a horrible loss. The windshield’s cracked on the driver’s side as though someone threw a rock at it. The entire the truck is covered in dirt, including the interior, indicating its use (or lack of use?) on our farm. Its alignment is ridiculously out of whack. You get the idea. Combine that with the bumpy, dusty, open space of our farm, and the whole experience becomes more comedic than nerve wracking.

Lori went behind the wheel first. She’s slightly ahead of me in this department, as she’s driven this truck a few times before around the farm with my dad. Yesterday she was working on switching from first to second gear. On her first attempt, I believe she released the clutch too fast and/or put too much gas and consequently, we went sailing for a few seconds in a big circle on our farm. Screams and laughter ensued, as my sister brought the truck to a halt.

Then it was my turn. I was surprised at how fast I caught on with starting the truck, balancing the clutch and gas to make it go. After a few rounds of driving in first gear, I attempted to switch it to second gear… and of course, I killed the engine. A few more tries, and I successfully switched to second gear mid-drive.

It was funny seeing my dad standing to the side with my mom and grandma, making hand and body motions suggesting we “hot rod ‘um.” Like running in place and kicking a leg. My dad is usually a quiet man, so seeing him like that is even more laugh-out-loud worthy. The analogies he uses (“imagine a rainbow when you’re turning”; “pretend the engine is a little boy begging for a cookie”) are equally hilarious.

Reversing was our final lesson of the day. Lori was able to make an almost complete circle in reverse. Me? Not so much. First I reversed too fast and almost backed into a papaya tree. Then I backed into the one grassy area in the middle of our farm and couldn’t put the shaft back into first gear. Of course, I thought I had broken the truck, but it had run out of clutch oil.

Hence the finale, where Mom, Dad, and Lori pushed the truck out of the long grass while I steered. Nice way to end a long weekend.