Hanoi Diary December 1

Manila-Vietnam. December 1, 2010. Today was a wasted day. I left the house at 8am coz I needed to pass by the Business Mirror office to pick up some cheapskate pocket money. Took us two hours to get to Chino Roces where the BM offices are located. Had I taken a cab, it would have been difficult so my brother drove for me. Took another 20 minutes to get to Centennial Airport via EDSA/Pasay.

The cool thing about going through immigration is not having to pay for any taxes because I was officially accredited by the Philippine Sports Commission since I am the official media officer of the Philippine National Men's Football Team! Cool ain't it? Yes, I am from now on. At least until I relinquish that spot or Dan Palami or Nonong Araneta think I'm a slacker.

But back to the wasted day. The flight was at 1240 and the flight is roughly 2 hours and 15 minutes. There was a two-hour layover from Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh (formerly Saigon). I spent that time chatting with a Filipino who has been living here for the past five years working for a multinational. My next flight was at 510pm and that was another two-hour flight up north. By the time we touched down at Noi Bai in Hanoi it was around past 7pm. I was already woozy from all the waiting and traveling. I waited for an hour but the guys on the national team staff were kinda late so I took an airport cab that cost me 600,000 Dong! Holy cow. That's US$30 for you right there. But I did change a US$100 and that netted me more than a million Dong! I'm a frigging millionaire here! Haha. 

Anyways, it's a 45-minute drive to Sheraton so my body's in pain already from all that traveling around. But arriving here. I'm excited. Dinner at Hemispheres was pretty good. Carbo loading for everyone.

I missed the press con and the first day's matches. The Philippines plays Singapore tomorrow at 5pm. I guess they are showing that on Star Sports/ESPN.

I'll be prepping advancers and other stuff about the team tomorrow. Breakfast is at 8am and they limber up at 10. There's a fine for anyone who's late. But that's good isn't it? Need some discipline.

I hang out with team management and the coaching staff that has its nightly meeting. We talked about the ongoings with the PFF and the Suzuki Cup. We're all excited about it. Hopefully, we can spring some surprises.

Can't wait to dive into my bed and sleep (love my room which is real spacious and just homey). Am real tired and I didn't get anything accomplished today. Nyt!