Posting From The Land Of The Free

Hollywood Walk of Fame. Thanks to my mom for this picture.

Well, it's been more or less a week already. We've been to two (no, make that three) states already, and tomorrow we'll be flying to San Francisco and will be be staying there until our return to Manila.

Traveling is not all fun. There's waking up early to catch our ride (and maximize the day), walking all day, constantly packing and repacking our baggage, missing your loved ones, and the worst part, the expenses. Add to that, my brother's netbook isn't the best for photo editing, as it cannot support my RAW files (does not meet minimum resolution). But the experience is all worth it. Oh yeah.

I already have lots of photos from the past few days. Most are JPEGs since traveling means being trigger happy, and I can't seem to copy my RAW files (they just appear as duplicate JPEGs). Hopefully in the coming days I'll be able to post my pictures, and some insights as well.

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Speaking of my brother's netbook (Asus Eee, Celeron processor type), it's really slow and typing can sometimes be a pain. Plus I can't post process my photos, no RAW support, and I'm not too familiar with Windows Live Photo Gallery. Add to that a short battery life.

But on the upside, it's fun to use because it's small, I can literally toss it to my mom whenever she needs to check her email. And it's light, I never miss carrying any of my laptops with this one. It's also sturdy, since I accidentally dropped it once (sorry bro) and not even a single scratch surfaced.

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Okay, some more thoughts. Staying in Las Vegas is expensive. The only thing cheap is our hotel (Circus Circus), but everything else is highway robbery. $12 for 24 hours Internet access, which was free when we were in Los Angeles (how I wish I maximized that). But sales tax here in Sin City is lower (around 7% compared to California's 9% average). But if you do the math, the difference is very little.

And just to add, I already lost $3 on the slot machine. Thankfully, I'm not a compulsive gambler.

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One last thought. People here in the US are really nice (well, most of them). And it seems like everything has a system, and they work. Also, there are lots of Filipinos here, especially in Los Angeles. The night we arrived, it seemed like we never left home, because even though we were already on American soil, you can still hear people conversing in Tagalog. Oh, and I think most of the immigration officers are Filipinos.

So there you go for now. Time for me to catch some much needed sleep. Until my next post.