A Short Fly-Back

The thing about being an expatriate without a work permit in the Philipines is that you only have about 21 days to stay, and after that 21 days are over, you just have to go back to your home country. Something that I was looking forward to.

And the thing about my being an expatriate was that...it was quite fun actually. Never thought that I would ever call myself that.

No matter, back to my fly-back story...

It was quite a long flight from Manila to Jakarta, since the plane had to go in transit in Singapore. So a friend of mine and I planned to go back on a Thursday evening, stay overnight in Changi airport (in Singapore) and fly to Jakarta the next morning (Friday). By doing this (instead of taking a morning flight on Friday, going through only 2 hours of transit in Changi instead of a whole night), we would save time and still have a full day on Friday to take care of things.

So, was it a good plan? Hell yeah, it's the first time ever I stayed over night in an airport. And it was Changi, one of the best airport in the world. Being inside Changi was like being in a very big shopping mall. It was fun...watching all those people walking by...shopping, catching their planes, goint places...it was great being among those people. And to see the airport never actually went to sleep, always busy with people going here and there...

And of course, there's Burger King...

We stayed overnight in an airport hotel, which is quite decent. The hotel was more than what I was expecting. We made a mistake by not making a room reservation as soon as we landed in Changi. Because of that we had to wait until 2 o'clock in the morning to get our own room. But still it was a great experience...

So, in the morning we flew back to Jakarta. At the airport my mother was already waiting. How I missed her. As we went home, I told her everything I went through in Manila, all the ups and downs (mostly ups, since everything was new and exciting for me). I enjoyed every conversation we had during my fly-back.

And the next two days (Friday and Saturday) was a blur of activities:
Conversing with my mother, father and brother (how I miss my family),
going to the office to pick up and drop off a couple of things (LAN cables, fiscal reimbursement),
having conversation with colleagues at the office and asking about the latest news (Wow, lots of people have been rolled off from my previous project),
having lunch with my mother (Bakerz Inn, a nice place),
buying groceries and supplies (I needed pore packs...),
going to places with friends (showing off my NDS, and trading stories),
buying some DVDs for souvenirs (the Philipino were watching older seasons of the best series),
celebrating my brother's and father's birthdays (only 1 day difference)...

The next thing I knew, I was at the airport in Jakarta, ready to return to Manila...

It was a packed weekend. I didn't have enough time to enjoy it. Yes I did enjoy it, but it just wasn't enough. I wish I had more time with my family, my friends, and myself.

But, it was all good. It was all new. I'm alive, and what could be better than that? I'm looking forward to my next fly-back. And the time I will have won't be enough.

I miss home. I wanna go home...

This song might not really describe how I was feeling at the time I was writing this, but it's close...

'Home'
by Michael Buble

Another summer day
Has come and gone away
In Paris and Rome
But I wanna go home
Mmmmmmmm

Maybe surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Babe I miss you, you know

And I’ve been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you
Each one a line or two
“I’m fine baby, how are you?”
Well I would send them but I know that it’s just not enough
My words were cold and flat
And you deserve more than that

Another aeroplane
Another sunny place
I’m lucky I know
But I wanna go home
Mmmm, I’ve got to go home

Let me go home
'Cause I’m just too far from where you are
I wanna come home

And I feel just like I’m living someone else’s life
It’s like I just stepped outside
When everything was going right
And I know just why you could not
Come along with me
That this is not your dream
But you always believed in me

Another winter day has come
And gone away
In even Paris and Rome
And I wanna go home
Let me go home

And I’m surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
Oh, let me go home
Oh, I miss you, you know

Let me go home
I’ve had my run
Baby, I’m done
I gotta go home
Let me go home
It will all be all right
I’ll be home tonight
I’m coming back home