ok, i've been here for a little over a month now. one part of my trip has ended: the part where i accompany my dad and help him out. after that, i'll be going off on my own starting the end of july till november or december. i decided that the best way to summarize that past month would be by giving awards of the different places i've been to. we've been to five cities so far: St Louis, Virginia Beach, Austin, Mandeville (which is around 30 miles north of New Orleans), and LA. And here are the awards, with the different cities rated from worst to best:

*BEST ROOMS:
- 5th place: Mandeville. Our hotel room was alright, i guess. It wasn't that different from St. Louis or Virginia Beach, but it had this weird smell. The whole hotel did actually. Also, our wireless internet wouldn't work there, so we were pretty bummed by that. But it was alright I guess.

- 4th place: St. Louis. Same as Mandeville, without the smell and with working wi-fi internet access. Woohoo!

- 3rd place: Viriginia Beach. This hotel room wasn't that different from the other two, except that the beds and covers were nicer. They were so soft, you could kinda sink into them. It's a pity we only stayed there for two nights.

- 2nd place: LA. This room is pretty big, which is always good. It also has a microwave, stove, and ref. Unfortunately, the housekeeping here is once a week so Pop and I have to keep things clean, which I really don't mind doing, but still....hehe.

- 1st place: Austin. Big room so there's a whole lot of space. And two tv's! Enough said. hehe

*Best Hotel Trolley
- 5th place: Virginia Beach. It's a shame that this nice place had huge and clumsy trolleys that turned on their own and were so hard to maneuver.

- 4th place: Austin. Same as Viginia Beach, but the way was more straightforward so I didn't have that much of a problem with it.

- 3rd place: Mandeville. This one moved a little lighter than the first two, but was still cumbersome.

- 2nd place: St. Louis. This one had adequate carts. I have no complaints about it.

- 1st place: LA. Man! The carts here are the best I've ever tried! They're so light and manueverable! They turn so quickly and without taking up that much space. The wheels are obviously well-maintained because this thing starts moving with the slightest push. The hotel may not be the best, but the carts are 5-star in my book.


*Best Weather
- 5th place: Mandeville. It was hot, muggy, and rainy. It was like being in Manila during the rainy season.

- 4th place: Virginia Beach: It was almost as hot and rainy as Mandeville.

- 3rd place: Austin: It was hot, but not rainy, just hot in a dry way.

- 2nd place: St. Louis: This was sometimes warm, but mostly cool and colder in the evenings. It rained a few times but not enough to get you down. (or cheer you up. For some reason, rains can do both.)

- 1st place: LA: This weather is just wonderful. It's like Baguio in the cooler season, like January or February. This is fun because it's cool, but you still get the sun. It's absolutely perfect.


*Best Food:
- 5th place: LA: This isn't really fair because we've been eating tv dinners here. If we had tv dinners anywhere else, that'd be 5th place too. hehe. I did have Vietnamese food a few times, which was really good.

- 4th place: Austin: This was a tough decision. I had some really good food here in some really great Mexican restaurants. One incident stands out. A friend of ours brought us to this hole-in-the-wall Mexican place that was run by real Mexicans. It didn't seem that clean, but boy was the food wonderful. Unfortunately, we also had some boring food here too. So many restaurants here are the same, and American food (you know, the Friday's kind) tastes the same everywhere.

- 3rd place: Virginia Beach: We had some really good food here, some really fresh oysters, wonderful soup, and great pasta.

- 2nd place: St. Louis: I have some lengthy entries discussing the food here. Enough said.

- 1st place: Mandeville: Great, great, great, great food! Super flavorful and fresh! We had this friend seafood platter which had crabcakes, oyesters, crawfish, and onion rings....This other time I had some fresh, soft broiled fish (i forgot what it was) with lemon juice which gave it a bit of a tang and served with roasted pecans. I'd go back for the food anyday.


Naturally, there's so much more to say. But it's too daunting so I'll do it some other time.