TORONTO CALLING...

May 11, 2009. 10:00am. All the props are packed, ticket printed out, and I'm ready to go.

Bogart in the car with me on the way to airport. He kinda knew I was going away. The look on his face in the rear window as the car drove away from the airport curb was almost enough to make me stay. Almost.

The plane that is going to took me there. It's amazing how many people commented about moving to Canada. When I chatted with the clerk behind the counter or with my seatmate, the Surigao lady married to an oil rig engineer in Alberta, they all assumed that I was migrating. I'm pretty sure most folks on my flight were on a one way ticket. Let me reiterate, I have no desire to give up on being Filipino. I really like our new maroon colored passports now.

Needless to say, PAL has great people and service but WOW - their amenities super suck. I used to love PAL food but their afritada was inedible at best. And the flight kitchen forgot to pack salt and pepper ON ANY OF THE TRAYS. Not a single seasoning on board. And my toothbrush fell apart after six strokes. What the hell, Lucio? PAL is like a faded beauty queen who just decided to let go. It really kinda feels like the airline is giving up in many ways. They even phased out First Class.

May 11, 2009, 10:00am - Same day on the other side of the International Date Line. Nice airport. You can see they are really giving it some spit and shine in time for the Winter Olympics 2010. After a cup of coffee and a few hours, I boarded AC 0026 for Toronto.

The flight entertainment system was down. But it was cool with me. They instead gave away free drinks to make up for it. Perfect for watching the LED lights of the cabin change color. Groovy, dude. Air Canada. The trippy airline.

May 11, 2009, 10:00pm - After more than 28 hours of travel. I arrive in Toronto. Nice. Let's see how this goes.