Leaving for Denver

It looks like blogging will soon be a problem for me. There is just not enough time! Sometimes I will just journal first and upload this later.

6:54 PM Los Angeles Time
10:00 AM Manila

(Struggling to keep awake at an airport terminal. I keep sliding off the leather seats)

I am now here at gate 71B United Airlines in the Los Angeles International Airport – waiting for my flight leaving at 8:30 PM. I am excited to be in Denver, yet very anxious because my bags weigh so much. (As in nahuhubaran ako sa bigat!) – Even the laptop is hard to pull out of the bag.

It turns out they check all laptops for explosives … so whenever I pass through security, I had to pull it out of the bag before they run it through the xrays. Then they will have to wipe it down – Earlier, the inspector guy broke my neoprene laptop sleeve straps. Sigh – he said sorry and he didn’t know how it worked so he just ripped it off. Kaines!

Just a short rundown of my July 5 shopping list:

Swimsuit – my old one got color bled by my orange sarong and it looked so dirty

Walking sneakers – I brought my high cut sneakers along – but it was quite hard to get them on and off during airport security checks so I bought slip ons instead. I have to get used to them tho because my feet hurt a bit after a lot of walking

Waterproof jacket – left my Brazil one in Cerritos and got a more dirt-resistant one on sale from Ross ($98.00 marked down to $12.00!)

Tylenol Allergy – love these! I get allergies from everything.

Body Spray – got some cucumber-smelling cologne. Left my ginger one at home.

Make up – we’re required to bring our own makeup for the show. Hassle! I don’t know how to put them on, and I feel like they’re just extra weight!

I am scheduled to arrive at the Denver International Airport at 11:30 in the evening. Rafael was nice enough to offer to wait for me there (for at least 2 hours) so we can ride the shuttle to the hotel together.

Next Stop: Hollywood!

Rafael Cardoso from Brazil was my first groupmate in UWP (together with Zeljka Banicek from Croatia) -- we did a sort of a getting to know you activity together. Soon after that, we learned that we will be flying from LA to Denver on the same day and on flights scheduled next to each other. Rafael was really excited to suggest that we go visit the "footprints" in Hollywood before we fly to Denver.

By "Footprints" he meant the Chinese Mann Theater in Hollywood -- where famous stars had their prints taken. It's situated near the Kodak Theater (where they hold the Oscars), the famous Walk of Fame, and a variety of interesting Museums like Ripley's , Guiness and the Hollywood Wax Museum. There was also a cinema that opened Ratotouille (did I spell that right?) and it looked so nice! We did not watch though.

So armed with a sign that said "Rafael Cardoso" -- Tito Conrad, Tita Girlie and I was in LAX to pick up Rafael. I was amazed at how few his stuff were! But he reassured me and said "Womens are different." He was such a nice guy and I admired him for being so excited and curious about everything!!

From LAX we went straight to Hollywood to take advantage of the thin crowds early in the morning. Amazing that Rafael Google-Mapped all destinations (even UWP ones, I was soon to learn later) and practically dicatated how we have to navigate our way in LA to get to the "Footprints"

I found someone who takes more pictures than me ;-) It was a fun day!

The "Oceans" Gang had pretty new prints. Here's Matt Damon's

Hey, I didn't know I had a star!!!!

I am sorry Sam, I met a hunk in Hollywood! ;-)

They were selling these puca Made in the Philippines shell and coconut necklaces in Hollywood for $6.00! Crazy. I brought some with me which cost P10.00 each. ;-) Perhaps I should sell them.

A huge strawberry-banana malted milkshake. I had to go to the bathroom a LOT after !

Please see more photos at http://bananaspinuwp.multiply.com/photos/album/4?mark_read=bananaspinuwp:photos:4

Will try to blog more. It's getting harder to get Internet access!