Chicago’s Marriott Magnificant Mile

Back in Chicago! Arrived here several hours ago from Manila. My first and last time to be in Chicago was in late April 2004 and my recollection of the city now is a bit hazy.

I came here to attend the 4th International Conference on Climate Change (4th ICCC) sponsored by the Heartland Institute (www.heartland.org) which will start tomorrow here at the Marriott Magnificent Mile, downtown Chicago. It’s a big and tall hotel although the lobby is not very big. There’s a bar in the middle with 6 TVs on 3 different channels, and all the few tables are filled with people unwinding the day.


While Heartland will pay for my room accommodation for 3 nights, I will have to pay for the incidentals – in case I will make a phone call, or use the internet in the room, etc. Since I don’t have a credit card, I said I will just make a cash deposit. I was expecting they would require a deposit of something like $75 to $100 a day, but they required only $20/day. Thanks!

My room will be on the 27th floor. I took the “low floors” elevator that run from the lobby to the 28th floor. The “high floors” elevator would run on the 29th to 46th floors. Inside the elevator are lighted pictures of the restaurants and bars in this hotel. And there’s a small tv monitor that flashes some news updates. So guests can get entertained even while riding the elevator!


Marriott NY Marquis, where the 2nd ICCC was held last year, also has the same fast elevators with tv screen inside, flashing some news updates.

This is my bed. Nice and very comfortable. Should be nice to rest and sleep here.


And here’s my table, nice to read and write here. But oopss, the flat tv is also very enticing. Upon opening the tv, it was “Bourne Ultimatum” that was shown on one channel. If I didn’t watch that movie, I would have posted this note much earlier. :-)


From my room, there’s a good view of Ohio Ave, a busy street. It’s Saturday evening (around 7:30pm and see the high traffic volume. Which means that on regular working days, the traffic build up could be a kilometer long or more?


And here are some of the buildings on one side of the building, view from the 27th floor.


After the movie, I went outside and walked a few blocks. The hotel driveway is also not big. Notice the limousine outside which perhaps can’t fit in the driveway curve. That limo is waiting for me. Hehehe.


A building next to the hotel has a Harley Davidson motorbikes shop.


I have not explored the hotel yet, like the meeting and function rooms, swimming pool, etc. Will do that tomorrow. For now, posting this note at the hotel lobby with free wifi. And after that, time to go back to bed and zzzzzz….

Mayflower hotel, Washington DC

Finally reached my hotel, 4 hours ago. It's nice, the lobby is not so big but elegant and bright. Here's the hallways, 4th floor, to my room.

From the time I entered Manila airport (NAIA) yesterday until the time I got out of the Reagan DC Airport, it was exactly 24 hours. But this is shorter than my previous trips to NY (last March) and Atlanta (April '08) of 27 hours, also via Northwest. Both via Narita-Detroit. Today, it's via Narita-Minneapolis/St. Paul. The waiting time for my connecting flight at Narita was short, less than 30 minutes after coming out of the Narita security check. Also the waiting time at Minneapolis for the flight to DC was also short, only about 1 hour. In my earlier trips via Detroit, there was a long waiting time in-between connecting flights.

Renaissance Mayflower Hotel will be the venue of the Atlas’ 2009 Freedom dinner and conference that will start tomorrow until Tuesday noon. Then there will be an Atlas’ Think Tank 101 seminar after that until Wednesday.

Below is my bed, it looks very comfortable and very nice to sleep. Unfortunately, I have other things to do tonight, so I will still cut some sleep and enjoy the bed only for a few hours this evening.


The TV is nice, but it’s not a flat tv yet. Maybe they have flat tv in luxury and more expensive rooms. Not a problem for me either, as I won’t watch tv either.


Outside my room, nothing much to see. There's an office building probably 10 storeys high.

Btway, outside the Reagan airport, I went to the super shuttle. I waited for more than 10 minutes as their staff was busy coordinating a ride for a group of travellers on a seminar or what. They said that the fare is $14. I got impatient, I went to the taxi. I queued for only about 2 minutes. The hotel is within the 4.5 miles zone fromu the airport. It was a short drive (well, it's a Sunday early evening), and I paid $16 or $2 more for a faster, no hassle ride.

Pan Pacific Hotel, Singapore

I attended a free market think tanks' meeting, then the 3rd Pacific Rim Policy Exchange here last October 12-16. A huge and very modern hotel. This photo is from the web, not from my low-tech camera.

I remember a friend brought us for a light dinner at the penthouse restaurant, that protruding structure at the left side of the tower. Beautiful view of the surrounding areas and buildings, also the pool below.

The restaurant/bar near the hotel lobby.

I stayed at the 18/F I think. View from the top looking down to the lobby. Elevator ride is beautiful going up or down, you can see the lobby below, the hallways in different floors.

My bed, huge and comfy.

My work area, good view of the buildings below.

My wife and elder daughter Elle Marie joined me. They moved around on their own, I attended all the meetings and conference events and would see them only late at night when I go back to the room, also in the morning before I go to the conference.

Organizers paid for my hotel and plane fare, wife and I just shared for their plane fare going to Singapore.

SAN MIGUEL (Sa Aming Nayon, May Isang Grupo...)

For those who still reminisce the old bottle (circa 80s) of San Miguel beer pale pilsen, here's one heart-melting story, really dramatic :-)

PALE PILSEN
SAN MIGUEL
EXPERTLY BREWED
PALE PILSEN
AND BOTTLED BY
SAN MIGUEL BREWERY
PHILIPPINES
NET CONTENTS 320 ML

Here now is the story. Each letter of those words meant something. This is a product of many nights of drinking beer with so many friends 2 decades ago :-)

(1) PALE PILSEN
Pag Ang Labanan E
Pabilisan, Ingat Lang Sapagkat Etong Nangyari.

(2) SAN MIGUEL
Sa Aming Nayon
May Isang Grupo Uminom E Lasing

(3) EXPERTLY BREWED
Erbe (beer) at X Ekis (gin) Pinaghalo Eh Rindi Talagang Lasingan Yan
Bawat Round E War freak Eh Di

(4) PALE PILSEN
Pati Ako Lasing Eh
P____ Ina, Lasing Sila, Enjoy Na

(5) AND BOTTLED BY
Ang Nangyari Dito
Bawat Order Tiyak Trouble, Lasing Eh, Dumampot
Buti Yelo

(6) SAN MIGUEL BREWERY
Sampu Ang Naupakan
May Isang Gago, Umeksena Eh Loko
Binanatan, Rumesbak Eh Walang Enabutan, Riot Yan

(7) PHILIPPINES
Pati Hostess Inupakan, Lahat Inupakan, Pati Pulis Inupakan
Nahuli Eh Stockade

(8) NET CONTENTS 320 ML
Ngayon Etong Tangang
COnstabulary Nakatulog Tangengot Eh
Nakatakas, Tumuloy Sauna
320 Masahe Lang.

hehehe.

Hampton Inn, Daly City

April 29-30, 2009

Kris wanted me to be closer to SF City as Rocklin is nearly 3 hours away from this big city. She asked her provincemate from Laguna, Ronnie de Luna, to find me a good and cheap hotel. Ronnie works at Hilton SF, he reserved me a room at Hampton Inn, Daly City. It’s a sister company of Hilton.


The hotel is about 15 minutes walk from Daly City BART station. It’s not big but nice and clean. Ronnie got a big discount, an employee discount. But it was Kris who paid for my hotel for 2 days, such a very kind friend!


It has 4 storeys, the lobby is on the 3rd floor. My room was on the 2nd floor. Big and spacious bed, wide table, wide toilet, wide screen (but not yet flat) tv, I like that place. I don’t know if internet was really free, but Ronnie secured a complimentary internet connection for me. It was a blessing because on my 2nd day at the hotel, I was supposed to roam around SF city, but my tummy wasn’t fine, so have to stay the whole day in my room, composed and posted the various travel notes, read newspapers, watched tv and rested.

There is a complimentary breakfast – bread, fruits, fruit juices, coffee, etc.
For someone looking for a comfortable place to stay, cheap and near the airport (it’s between SF city and the SF international airport), this hotel is good.

Oyster Point fishing Pier, SF Bay

May 1, 2009

On my last day in SF, my new friend Ronnie de Luna, brought me along to their fishing-bonding event with his fellow Filipino staff at Hilton SF. We went to Oyster Point Fishing Pier, near Daly City. This place is made from reclaimed land. It’s not far from the SF airport, so from the pier, you can see the planes landing and taking off.


There are hundreds of boat docked nearby. Ronnie explained that when you go fishing on a boat, you need a license from the government. If you go fishing at the pier, no need to secure a license.

There’s another group of fishermen-hobbyists on the outermost part of the pier. Some of the guys there nearly caught really huge fishes, their fishing rod would be bending hard, it took them minutes to pull the struggling fish in the water. After several minutes of “struggle”, the fish would escape as the fishing line would break or be cut.


One guy caught a stingray. The same long “fight” to bring up the fish. When the stingray was finally hauled up, it was still flapping its wings and wanted to get away, it was making a noise that seemed like it was crying. I pitied the fish. The guys removed the hookline on the fish’ tongue or inner throat, pulled it and dragged it into the edge of the pier and threw it back into the water! The fish immediately swam away.

Ronnie lent me a small fishing rod, I was able to catch one medium-sized fish, nice thrill. By early afternoon, strong winds accompanied the rain showers, we packed up and went home. I was very thankful to Ronnie and his pals – “Kapitan” for the ride, Rey and his wife.

Amtrak trains

(this picture from http://studenttravel.about.com/)

When I moved from Rocklin-Roseville to SF yesterday, I took the Amtrak (Roseville to Sacramento by bus, Sacramento to Emeryville by train, then Emeryville to SF by bus). The Amtrak buses look more modern than the Greyhound buses. It was also good that the bus driver from Roseville to Sacramento was a Filipino. Had a brief chat with him before I went to the train.

This is the first time that I will take the Amtrak. I thought that Amtrak trains are ugly compared to the trains in Europe, because Americans are generally car drivers, not train riders. So when I boarded the train, I was surprised that it was nice and spacious inside. I rode on the upper deck. The seats are clean. I sat on chairs with a table.


Though these seats with a table are spacious, the legroom is not as wide as those in the InterCity Express (ICE) trains in Germany. In terms of speed, Amtrak trains are slow, may 100 or 100+ kph, partly because they are heavy, have double decks, while the ICE can run up to 300 kph.

Riding on the upper deck is nice, wider view of the scenery outside. I won’t see or appreciate those sceneries if I ride a car because there are plenty of trees that can block the view.

When you board the train without a ticket, the conductor will charge a 50 percent surcharge. Well I got my ticket one day before.

Greyhound Bus

In April 2004, I took this bus from Washington DC to Blacksburg, Virginia. The trip was about 8 hours long. It was a good sightseeing activity. Nice to see Virginia’s other cities and rural landscape. I was also surprised to see some drivers in the cars overtaking us, they were holding the steering wheel but their feet were curled up or somewhere else except the accelerator pedal! I was informed later by a friend that cars in the US have sort of a “speed lock”, so drivers don’t worry about speeding or slowing, they just hold the steering wheel.

Last April 29, I took the Greyhound bus again, my 2nd time, from LA to Roseville in northern California, 1:30am trip. Fare was $58, purchased a day before. The same purpose – sight seeing, plus the fare is cheaper.


Greyhound buses in general look old. There’s another bus line I saw in the terminal, Glucero, they look more modern. Well, at least it looks comfortable inside the Greyhound, and there’s a toilet at the back of the bus.

The bus made several stops, 5 minutes on average on smaller cities or towns. Then we stopped for 30 minutes at Fresno. It seems to be a big city. Then the long stop is at Sacramento, about 1:45 minutes, where we got off and waited for another bus that will take me to Roseville. My bus was going to Reno, Nevada. From Sacramento to Roseville, it was only about 35 minutes. At Roseville station, my friend Kris came shortly after. I will stay in their house in Rocklin for 2 days.

The buses run slow, but they always leave on time, they also arrive on time. They are also often not fully occupied.