Better Than Books

My desk looks like one of those promotional tables you see in front of most bookstores - a collection of crisp titles that have been leafed through, maybe a chapter read, two at most, but never really finished.

Just when I said I would suspend any new book purchases and focus on the ones I already have, a new Malcolm Gladwell book is coming out Tuesday. There goes. News like this gives me a weird mix of anticipation and dismay. That's anticipation for what it offers, dismay at the likelihood it will just add to the pile.

Those that know me know that I like giving books. I am equally delighted to receive books on my birthday or on any holiday. Books always rank high on my Christmas wish list. This year though, there is one other item that will certainly rank higher than any interesting titles - a little time to actually read them.

Best Election Recap

Having been glued to the election cycle for so long, it is refreshing to have found one really insightful recap, not from any network or daily, but from the crass eloquence of South Park. Randy's party tantrum and the Ark built by McCain-Palin supporters aren't just hilarious ideas - they are doses of sarcasm that bring us back to reality.

For the most part, we will wake up and the world will neither have ended nor turned perfect. And while this was truly a historic and inspiring week, change is as much our job and our promise as it is Barack Obama's or whoever we vote for in whatever part of the world.

The whole Ocean's thing on the other hand is just plain insane. Watch the full episode here.

NAIA Terminal 1 Moving Up

I'm blogging from an airline lounge at terminal 1 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. I traverse the Detroit-Nagoya-Manila-Nagoya-Detroit route twice a year and NAIA has always been an eye sore when juxtaposed with the two other airports. But you read the title right - NAIA is getting bumped up a class.

For starters, the departure entrance from the roadway has been enforced and enclosed in a non-colonial-era fashion and looks more like an airport now than the flee market it used to be. Unlike other airports I've been to, you still have to print out your ticket and present it at the gate, something I forgot to do this morning. The guards helped me out though by going inside and asking the NWA counter to print out an itinerary for me, enough to get me in. Just a few years ago, I think I would've been in procedural limbo.

Here at the lounge, the amenities are quite quaint and ten times better than the NWA lounge at Reagan National. Obviously, the wifi is working just fine and that's always a plus. The hors d' oeuvres aren't too fancy but you can make yourself a nice bowl of chicken arroz caldo, which for me will beat crackers or pastries any day.

Of course it isn't quite the Hongkong International Airport yet - nowhere near there really - but after years and years of flying in and out of a building trapped in the 70s, these little changes are quite refreshing. Now if they could only get rid of that eerie "foot bath" at arrivals...

Dinner and a Movie on a Manila Budget

It's great to be back in Manila, even for just a few weeks. My fiancee Chum and I are reliving our favorite Manila pastimes. We saw the newest Hellboy for a nice $6. The quality of the widescreen and the surround sound system trump any theater I've been to in the US. For a movie like Hellboy, that matters a lot. We then headed to Claw Daddy where we had a sumptuous helping of clams, mussels, prawns, crab and lots of lobster - not the measly trace you would usually expect from a seafood platter - all for only $24. An evening like that could easily set you back a hundred bucks in DC.

You Know You've Arrived When...

..you see a line like this and you don't really mind.