Eto Naman ang New Zealand Adventure ko

This is the first time that I’ll be away from my family for a long time…the first time that I’ll be traveling overseas alone – on a 16-hour journey, with two stopovers. Now, don’t ask me how I’m feeling during that time, OK?

Day 1, 10 January 2006, Tuesday – 1745 at the airport, Gate 7 of NAIA terminal 2. While waiting for the flight attendants to call the passengers for boarding, I can’t help myself from crying. I took off my hankie at pasimpleng nagpapahid ng luha sa magkabilang sulok ng mata. Lalo pa akong naiyak habang nakaupo na ako sa loob ng eroplano. Wala na talagang atrasan ‘to. Iyak pa rin ako while texting my friend, saying goodbye, telling him to take care, I’ll miss him and to look after my daughter while I’m away. Then I turned my phone off.

1950 HK time when we arrived in HK International Airport. Upon arrival, lakad agad ako papuntang boarding gate naman ng susunod kong flight. I have to be there at 2045. Grabe, ang ganda ng HK airport. Malinis at malaki. Anyway, I thought I was early enough pero dahil ang laki ng airport, inabot din ako ng 2045 sa paghahanap. I was just in time for the passenger boarding. Kung sa MNL-HKG flight, marami akong pinoy na kasabay, sa HKG-AKL, apat na lang yata kaming Pinoy. Di pa nagkausap-usap.

Day 2, 11 January 2006, Wednesday – 1315 NZ time. T’was a delayed flight. Ok lang, 1300 pa ang next and last flight ko. What’s important is nasa NZ na ako. Problem comes when I realized that AKL is my point of entry to NZ so I have to present my docs to their immigration, have all my bags checked, and what’s worse, my connecting flight is not Cathay but Qantas and I don’t know where their checkin counters were. Ok lang, I said to myself. I can always ask around. Before claiming my HEAVY checkin bag, I passed by the NZ immigration booth and have my passports validated. Ok. No problem. Now to the checkin bag carousel. Haaay, 15mins had passed before my bag got out. But that’s not the end of the story. Before I was able to leave the airport, I have to go through the customs officers to check my Passenger arrival card – if I declared something there. Since I have not declared any questionable goods, I proceeded to the X-ray for the final test (to check if I’m lying about the declaration stuff). But I passed. Thank God.

The next problem arises. Where is Qantas Checkin Counter? Ive asked around and I have learned that it is in their Domestic airport which is a bus ride away from the international airport. Huwaaat??? It was already 1420H. Boarding time for my next flight is, I guess, 1430. And I have three bags then – 23, 8 and 4 kgs, plus two jackets and a small bag for my camera. Gosh! How am I gonna carry all those bags? To think that I still have to ride a bus to the domestic airport! This is trauma!

The bus came after 5 mins of waiting. Of course I can’t carry all my bags so some people, a Chinese and a Kiwi, I think , helped me get on the bus with all these bags. Going off the bus? Gosh, I needed help too. But walking from where I got off upto Qantas counter, I did it by myself. Gosh, my bags are too heavy.

Upon seeing my ticket, the attendant immediately issued a boarding pass and checked-in my heavy luggage. She said I have to hurry because it’s boarding time. I’m glad I still made it to my flight.

Tired of reading? Marami pa…

1405, I arrived at Wellington airport. Nervous and excited, I tried to look around for my boss (who’s the one to pick me up). Good thing that he was able to recognize me. He’s with an officemate at they both took me to the apartment (prepaid accommodation provided by the company). We took a short walk passed through the shops along Lambton Quay and The Terrace. After that, uwi na si Boss and I went back to the apartment and try to contact a friend. I need to contact someone (preferably a Pinoy!) after all these!

Ayun nga, ok naman kasi I got to meet familiar faces na. I had dinner with Mon I and his family. Konting kwentuhan. We tried to connect to the internet para makapag-chat or email ako sa Pinas. Kwentuhan ulit. Picture-picture. Medyo gabi na nun kaya hinatid na nila ako pauwi . Namili lang ako ng kaunting food for breakfast then I went back to my apartment. Watched some tv, then higa na. Iyak muna, syempre. I miss my family na agad kasi e.

Day 3, 12 January 2006, Thursday – 8am akong gumising. Konting ayos pa rin ng ilang gamit. Then around 10am, punta ako sa Westpac bank. Along Lambton Quay, walking distance lang daw. Yeah, long walking distance! E dulu-dulo ng Lamton Quay yun e. Malas, umuulambon pa. Brrrr, ang ginaw! Pagdating ko sa Westpac, they require me to present a proof of residence (or booking reference). Wala ako nun so I have to go back to the apartment and ask reception desk about it. Kung mga 1km ang layu ng apartment sa Westpac. It means, I’ve walked 3kms in 20mins! Way to go, Rhose!

1130 natapos ang transaction. Ok naman. But the thing is, di pa ako nagla-lunch and my boss will pick me up at the apartment around 12noon. First day…I mean first half day ko kasi sa Telecom. Huhuhu. Umabot naman ako sa apartment. Wala pa si boss so I had time na ayusin ang sarili ko – and to realize na 4 and not 3 kms ang nilakad ko.

1215, tumawag si boss. Meet ko na lang daw siya sa Westpac dahil malapit daw yun sa office. Nooooo! 5kms in roughly two hours. Not to mention the weather and my angry stomach. Gosh, I think this is my day. Pumayat na nga yata ako eh.

Anyway, my first day at work is not bad. I get to meet my team mates. They are all accommodating – welcomed me well. My boss is nice. Check this out…I was given my own cellphone, my Telecom email account, etc. Gosh, this really is my day. Hehehe.

Ikukwento ko pa ba? Wag na kaya? O siya sige na nga, mapilit kayo eh.

I got home around 5:30pm. ‘Just dropped my things and went to my next adventure – shopping. I have no food back in the apartment so I have to get some. New World Supermarket is highly suggested by my friends so I went there – with all my money, my cellphone, an extra jacket and a map on my hand.

New World Thorndon is big. It’s not that hard to find, too. I just picked some stuff that I need and went to the counter to pay for it. You know that “SOME” I was talking about? 22 Items weighing about 10kilos or more! Huhuhu. After paying for it, I realized that this is too heavy for me to carry – considering that it is roughly 1km away from my home. Tatawag sana ako ng taxi kaya lang umiral ang kakuriputan ko – baka kasi sa taxi lang mapunta ang naisave ko – so I decided to walk back home. Grabeh, ang bigat ha. Buti na lang walang Pinoy sa paligid. At kaunti na lang ang tao – maga-alas otso na nun. Kundi it’s either maawa sila or matawa sa hitsura ko. Para akong tibong kargador. Iniisip ko na lang ang linya ko just in case may magtanong sa akin kung bakit naglalakad ako with all those heavy stuff. I’ll just say…”I’ll just deliver this to the customer.” Hehehe.

Good news naman paguwi ko kasi, I received a call from the Philippines. It was my friend! I was so happy to be able to talk to him again. Kahit on the phone lang. Miss na miss ko na siya. Of course, my baby, too.

Wala munang pasyal-pasyal. Baka ‘di rin ako makapag-enjoy. Ala ang mga mahal ko e. Ay sus, ala daw oh! Sa Saturday ngapala, mukhang me pasyal with some Filipino friends. Syempre sasama ako. Wala akong gagawin dito sa haus e.

O siya inaantok na ako.