They arrived at about 5pm so it was obvious that they would be staying the night but there is not room to swing a cat. We chatted in the room for a while and then went out shopping. It was only then that they explained that they had to give up their IDs when they entered the apartments and I became rather angry again, in my opinion one's ID is sacrosanct and should never be retained (unless you are being arrested by the police). "Don't stress yourself, Steve," said Nomel. I exchanged WhatsApp messages with the owner in Dubai and she was equally shocked and agreed that they should never be retained. Finally next morning, I got them back.
We managed to squeeze into the room, the three of them sleeping in what is laughably called the bedroom. There is a double bed and a third bed, a mattress pulls out from under the bed. I didn't sleep very well, I was sleeping in the "lounge" area on a foam mattress which we bought in the shopping mall and I will give that to them for their home when I leave. I also bought a double mattress for their home also. Next day, Monday, we went out shopping again but most of the time we were in the room. I don't think I will be seeing very much of Manila, not that there is much to see anyway. I came here to see my friends.
I'm writing this on Tuesday morning. Last night we went out for a meal near to the shopping mall, it had an outdoor terrace which was great. The temperature was very warm but not as warm and humid as Bangkok where I was bathed in a permanent glaze of sweat! After the meal, we went to a disco and drank beer from buckets, half a dozen bottles in ice in a bucket. The sound was extremely loud and powerful and I was fearful of my hearing being damaged. For a lot of the time, I held my fingers over my ears. I cannot describe the vast blows of sound energy hitting my fragile eardrums, it was terrible. But we had a great evening and even danced for a short while. We got back at about 1.30am. This morning we all woke at about 8am because we were hungry but we were so tired that we all went back to sleep and slept till 1pm!! Which is when I am writing this.
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| Having breakfast! |
Yesterday, almost by a whim, I decided to book the four of us to go to Cebu. How can I come to the Philippines without visiting one of the superb beaches? And I thought previously that I can't come here without organising at least one major excursion. And the "team" is now established: Me, Nomel, Joshua and Nomel's mum, Mila. She is very sweet and she looks great, the photos of her than Nomel sent did not do her justice. So this is the A Team. I checked flights with Philippine Airways and also Cebu Pacific which is the low cost airline here. In common with most flights, the prices varied a lot from day to day but I found a great combination on Cebu Pacific, leaving next Tuesday at 9.40am and coming back the following Wednesday which is two days before I go back to Spain. Originally, we were going to book for one week but we are actually going to the island of Bantayan which involves first a 2 hour bus journey and then a short boat trip after arriving in Cebu. So one day at each end of the trip will be eaten up by travelling. I saw that the return flight one day later on Wednesday was cheaper so I grabbed that! The price for the 4 of us was about 330 euros. I spend that just for myself going to Ukraine so I was happy about that. I did fall for the oldest trick in the book! I paid a little extra for seats together but, on my small laptop screen, I missed the insurance check box which was obviously defaulted to "yes". It was very complicated, picking the best flights, entering the passenger details so I forgive myself for that small mistake. Always there is the fear that, after entering all the details and submitting payment, something goes wrong on the website and I have to start all over again. But, success!! The payment was accepted and I have the confirmation. The A Team is going to Cebu!
This evening, they are going back home and will come tomorrow to the first apartment, Redwoods. And then we will stay there until we go to Cebu. I know it is totally crazy to have two apartments running at the same time but, if ever you come to Manila, you will understand that the traffic and the size of the place makes getting around very difficult and time-consuming. And I had to choose a place on Booking.com simply based on photos. Bangkok was easy! I booked into the Ibis and it was indentical to all the other Ibises that I have stayed at. At it is so easy getting around Bangkok. And I made a mistake and chose a place too far away. But my friends have now come round to seeing that, really, The Redwoods was fine. Two bedrooms, so we all get a bed! But this cheap room was useful in its way but it caused me so much stress on account of the draconian and antiquated security system. I wish I had the job to do something about it. At the very least, each entrance, for example on the walkway to the shopping mall should be equipped with a simple computer terminal,then they can check people in and out quicky and efficiently. I have to show two sheets of A4 clipped together. Admittedly we are temporary tenants and long-term residents have a card. But in these days of Airbnb and Booking.com which is moving towards the same thing, they should be able to cope with short-term residents without driving them up the wall!
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