Embassy Suites at Bloomington, Minneapolis

With the cancellation of our Atlanta-Narita flight and our plane landed in Minneapolis/St. Paul airport last May 23, Delta booked us (about 400 stranded passengers) in different hotels. I was among those who went to Embassy Suites at Bloomington. We arrived there late, around 9:30pm.



The hotel looks like a medium-rise cube from the outside but inside, it’s a beautiful structure with an 8-storey-high roof with a fountain at the base.



And this the view from the top (8th) floor. In front of the fountain is the lobby and check-in area. The fountain is bordered by coffee tables around it and flowers. Nice view.



Not far from the fountain is the bar, where we took our late night dinner. Delta gave us $12 dinner voucher. The cheapest food is a sandwich for $11 but it’s big enough for 2 people perhaps. Beer is at $4.50.



Now to my bed… homey 2 beds with 2 large mirrors on the side and a wide flat tv in front. Very comforting and inviting to relax or sleep. Internet connection in the room though is not free, $10.50++ for 24 hours. No need to pay for that service as I only need an hour or less and there is also a free internet at the business center beside the check-in area.



What I like further in my room is that there is a sala, with another flat tv. There is a dinner table and mini-kitchen in the sala. This is the view upon entry at the door.



There is also a pool and sauna at the ground floor. I do not know how much is the room rate per night (with free breakfast) in this hotel, maybe $150 as it is not in a downtown area and there are no commercial establishments beside it. But it sure is a good and spacious place to stay.

Radisson hotel, Narita

This hotel is about 20 minutes from Narita-Tokyo international airport by car or hotel bus. Situated in a non-crowded area, so it has a wide space. The entrance is perhaps 50 meters away from the main road. I checked in here last night, along with other stranded Manila-bound passengers from Delta Air.



The lobby is wide, spacious, high ceiling, and not crowded. The hotel staff are very efficient and very fast in processing incoming guests. Upon presenting my passport, boarding pass for tomorrow and the hotel guest form, I was out of the check in area in less than 2 minutes, the staff gave me my room card and 2 meal vouchers for buffet dinner and buffet breakfast.



There is a flowery lounge next to the lobby. The flowers are colorful and growing robustly.



The elevator is very quiet, and has a nice glass design ceiling, like this.



My room, ahhh, another big and comfortable bed! If my family were with me, I’m sure my daughter will like this bed, for her to jump-jump-jump like a trampoline. A flat tv beside it, Toshiba – at least not Korean tv, as in the case of most hotels in the US.



My working table. With free internet, wow! On this table, there’s a sign, “Our goal at Radisson is 100% Guest Satisfaction…” For me, I am 101 percent satisfied!



Japan and Korea, being technology-advanced countries, are known for their hi-tech toilet bowl. I remember when I went to Seoul in 2006, the toilet bowl has several buttons – to clean our behind. One can choose to use cold or warm water, one- or multi-direction water cleaner of our behind, a warmer bowl seal or not, all through buttons. That was very impressive for me.

Here, the buttons are on one side, not on the seat bowl. Pretty neat! One can choose the strength of the water spout from his/her behind – weak, strong, stronger… Really cool!



Our buffet dinner last night was impressive. I assume the buffet breakfast later this morning will be equally impressive. Really a wonderful way to start the day, and perhaps start another round of queuing again in the airport?

10 boarding passes in 12 days...

The past few days were possibly my busiest and craziest foreign travel experience. I took Delta Airlines. To accumulate more mileage. The sponsor of my conference in Chicago, Heartland Institute, paid for my plane fare and hotel there.

May 15, 2010:
1) Manila – Narita/Tokyo; change plane
2) Narita – Minneapolis, Minnesota; US immigration, re-check baggage
3) Minneapolis – Chicago, Illinois; attend a conference May 16-18

May 18:
4) Chicago – Detroit, Michigan; visited a Filipino friend in Monroe, he toured me around Detroit city

May 20:
5) Detroit – Atlanta, Georgia; change plane
6) Atlanta – Houston, Texas; visit another Filipino friend

May 23:
7) Houston – Atlanta; change plane,
8) Atlanta – Narita; on the way back to Manila

Plane encountered some mechanical troubles, made a U-turn when it was probably above the Canada-Alaska border, went back to Minneapolis. So the flight became Atlanta – Minneapolis.

Delta brought us in some hotels in the city. I went to Embassy Suites in Bloomington, Minn. Nice hotel. We arrived there around 9:30pm, had dinner and rested. Checked out 8:30am after breakfast the next day.

May 24:
9) Minneapolis – Narita; arrived Narita 3pm of May 25, 400+ passengers on a B747.
Narita – Manila was over-booked as the flight yesterday was cancelled, our plane that came from Atlanta was supposed to be the plane that will go to Manila.

May 25: we were stranded again in Tokyo. Delta brought us to Radisson hotel, not far from the airport.

May 26:
10) Narita – Manila; via Philippine Airlines (PAL).

My consolations in those 2 days of aborted flights were the following.

a) I was able to get out of the Minneapolis airport (yesterday was my 3rd landing/arrival in that airport), stayed in a nice hotel.

b) I was able to get out of Narita airport today for the first time (landed and departed from this airport several times, at least 8x), had a “shore pass” Japan immigration in my passport, and stayed at an even nicer hotel, Radisson.

There’s a saying, “When life gives you lemon, make a lemonade”.
The past 2 days, I just did that 

The various queuing though, were very tiring:

i) Get a hotel and dinner voucher in Minneapolis airport, May 23 (about 1 ½ hours).
ii) Get a new boarding pass at Minneapolis airport to go to Narita, May 24 (almost 2 hours).
iii) Get a new plane booking and boarding pass for flight the next day + hotel booking, Narita airport, May 25 (about 3 hours).

Johnson space center, Houston

Yesterday, my hosts in this city, Ronald and Glo, brought me to the Johnson space center in Houston, Texas. This facility maintains the control system for NASA, as well as training ground for astronauts. I was very curious to see the rockets used by NASA in the past, especially the Apollo where 3 American astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Collins were the first humans to set foot on the moon, sometime in July  1969.

This is the entrance to the facility, replica of two small airplanes.



There was an audio tour of the control panel during Apollo trips to the moon, but it did not interest me much. Then the tour continued.

This time, to the real rockets. Here’s the smaller rocket



And the bigger one.


But the “main event” is the visit to Saturn V, a huge multi-stage liquid-fuel expendable rocket used by NASA’s Apollo and Skylab programs in the late 60s to mid-70s. Here’s the view from the outside.



And inside, a giant reclining space vehicle is displayed. View from the rear.



And view from the front.



A visitor from Manila posing at Saturn V’s rear rockets :-)



Beside the giant rocket are pictures and brief chronology of NASA’s space programs during that time.



I like these 3 guys – Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins. Hoopss, there’s a 4th man, a non-astronaut :-)


Btway, another "moon walker" who arrived at the moon via Apollo 17 was Harrison "Jack" Schmitt. I have met him twice, in NYC last March 2009 and last week in Chicago, both during the Heartland Institute's 2nd and 4th International Conference on Climate Change, respectively. He's a big and tall man, very friendly and most importantly, does not believe in the man-made warming scam.

At the main entrance after getting the ticket (about $20 perhead), there are play areas for children, like this one.



Or a huge game, “clone wars”.

Thank you Glo, Ronald, for that wonderful tour.

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.