just passing through guayaquil

*** 2/26/17

it's 8:30pm and i'm currently in the city of guayaquil inside a cuban piano bar on the outer rim of las peñas district. i just finished a 2-hour trek surveying the countless steps and dim lit alleyways of las peñas, which let me just say are countless. it's easy dismiss these alleyways as only just such; these are the front door porches of the people who live in these favela like mounds of cinderblock and rebar, which at that moment i was intruding. kids and young lovers conducted their business as i interjected my dark and sweaty mass of flesh through their world, but thankfully my parents taught me my native tongue and even though the years have chipped away at it, it still manages to get the job done.

i'm glad i made it to the top of las peñas because this club negra would've tasted a little less satisfying. why am i in guayaquil? funny story, i'm already supposed to be in galapagos but being the smart that i am, i booked myself on a flight with a 20 minute connection. did i mention that i was a smart man? deep down i knew that i probably wasn't going to going make it but thought why not give it a shot. that's been kind of my mantra most of my life and it doesn't seem like i'll be letting it go anytime soon. 

well, it seems like the mediocre piano player is getting warmed up now and with that i hold up my glass. 

Patagonia Day 2: Perito Moreno

perito moreno is an hour and half long bus ride from el calafate, argentina and the road is riddled with many dips, twists, and turns. when perito finally shows its face, it just doesn't make sense. your mind just does not want to accept it; its kind of like someone telling you about "the matrix" for the first time. and as if the sheer magnitude of it all wasn't enough, what makes perito moreno even more special are its many traits that loudly compliments its whole. 

the dark and light blue colors trapped inside the ice

the incredible sharp and jagged mountain backdrop that holds perito moreno up 

the eerie sound of mountains of ice free falling into the murky lake 

time flies when you're out here and you can easily spend hours starring at the silence. but without warning the silence is pierced by a faint crack like that of a massive tree thats about to fall. a few seconds later an unseen explosion deep within the belly of this icy giant belches and then a wall thousands of years old begins to slowly tumble before your eyes. with this wall now floating on the lake a new wall never seen before emerges displaying a bright blue glow. a beautiful sight and all and i was very blessed to have witnessed it. 

i'm not sure how much longer perito moreno has. scientists say the planet is getting warmer at an alarming rate. i hope there's enough time to correct our ways; who knows, maybe when i have kids i might be able to share the same experience with them. 

alone in rappongi

my squinted eyes are fixed on the bright opening from up above. it's the first sign of light i've seen in what seems like years.
it's funny how eyes quickly distinguish the light of dawn; nothing like it.
i remember the feeling of finally reaching the top of reppongi metro station. a brisk and gentle breeze pecks my face; at my shame
150 yen in my pockets, but sadly not 170. 

all i need is 20.

for a second i contemplate begging but the thought quickly leaves as i begin to walk.
to where? not sure. but i keep walking because in this moment, it's the only thing i can do
i usually carry a good internal compass but right now, it's completely shot. 

i glance at my phone. it's alive
i spot a coffee shop.

it's like an oasis in the middle of a japanese sahara. i frantically walk. 

the coffe clerk spots me: a shady, bearded mess of a man. 

i flick through my phone's settings and check the wi-fi. nothing

i lean next to the building and inch closer and closer to the invisible halo. signal!

the jubilee fades as i begin the trek. i've been in this situation my mind keeps telling. 

nothing new, ain't no thing. 

determined to get there as soon as possible, i develop a good pace but shortly after, my senses dig feet. 

the sound of japense children saying goodbye to their parents.

the glow of the october morning sun breaking through the misty japense dew.

i approach a cementery and notice the regulars in their cold, concrete homes.

it's eerie but i can't hear anything anymore. i am underwater and the only thing i hear are muted sounds. my vision all in vignettes 

a low hum slowly catches my attention and just like that i'm underneath shibuya subway station. 

everyone walks past and around me. speedy little people 

i approach 5-corners intersection and instantly i begin to recognize.

the trek is over

i walk-up to my apartment with hope of finding my friend phillip, sprawled all across the deck. 

nothing.

i worried for a few minutes but sleep overcomes me.

a few hard pounds on the door was all it took to get me up. what time is it?

i open the door and there he is, wearing the face of a disgraced marco polo. i look at him 

an anger slowly begins to catch.

--sentence remnants woven together--

and in this moment it hits me 

all i see is faces, expressions. and 

the only single sense that functions is sight  

but i can't stop and absorb

instead it's replaced by 

reppongi's face. 

land of the rising sun via tijuana, mexico

i must've been a boy since the last time i flew out of tijuana's general abelardo l. rodríguez international airport. 

as a kid, i would fly out of here frequently. i used to have a fear of flying and i would say that it was a legitimate one; mainly because my family booked our family trips to southern mexico on an airline called aero-california. 

to those who are not familiar, aero-california was probably one of the worst maintained airlines in mexico. since then, it went bankrupt, twice, and the only remnants of their existence are the skeletal crj remains strewn across the lancaster/palmdale desert. 

i can still smell the smoke of cigarettes in the cabin and the grimy nicotine covered seats. 

for some reason i'd always get stuck with the window and as we climbed higher through the sky, i would sink deeper and deeper into my seat with sweaty palms clinching the armrests.  

my attention would shift and look at the wing, which jolted back-and-fro during turbulence. 

back then i didn't know that it was normal for wings to bend but when i looked at the wings, i couldn't help but notice the splotchy tar stains around the region where the wing and fuselage met. add the imagination of a 8-year old mexican kid to the mix and well, let's just say i was a wreck. 

so now, 20 years later, i am back. 

i never thought i'd be flying to tokyo from this place but i guess it seems fitting. 

i no longer have a fear of flying and as i sit on my window seat, i'm staring at the beautiful wings of aeromexico's brand new boeing 787-dreamliner. this is actually aeromexico's maiden voyage using the dreamliner, so in a way i'm kind of pioneer of sorts. 

our flight to tokyo was supposed to leave at 02:00am but typhoon whipa would have none of that. this category-3 typhoon delayed us about 8 hours. to our fortune, aeromexico's staff has been nothing but phenomenal. 

they kept us informed and even offered us entrance into their premiere lounge for the night where i was introduced to a comfy couch and bohemia's obscura. 

in about two hours we will be landing in narita. according to google maps, it takes about 2 hours by train to get to the apartment we booked on air bnb. 

i'll be lying if i said that i wasn't nervous/scared. the same exact feelings i had back when i was a boy are starting to come back. what did i get myself into?

i'll keep asking myself this question a few more times until the moment we land. from there something usually else takes over. 

but till then, all i could do is sit tight and try and enjoy the ride!