My Asian Adventure, Day 14
I woke up hungry, so after a shower I went down to the "bar" and ordered a breakfast.
After breakfast I went back to my room, and sent some sms.
Tey had asked if we could meet @ Ayala @ 4pm, which was fine with me... Around 2:30 I got another text asking if I could come to the other mall, SM, as Tey was sending some mail there.
I did arrive shortly after 4.
Apparently the package being sent wasn't as simple as Tey thought, as we found eachother just shy of 5pm.
In the meantime I had been kept busy, partly through the t-shirt I was wearing:
I went to look for a refreshment, and found it at a milkshake kiosk where I was served by 3 girls who declared themselves to be kangaroos after reading my "no kangaroos in Austria"-tee. They did not hop around, but the pineapple shake they made (with real pineapple!) was as lovely as they were.
Going back to the main hall of the north wing of the mall I busied myself with acquíring internet access and emptying the milkshake. Given that for configuring internet access on a touchscreen phone you need at least two hands, doing both is difficult. But I managed.
There was another caucassian guy in the hall, who decided to start a conversation with me. Again my t-shirt became the topic, followed by clearcut Australian topics: culling incestuous kangaroos and rampant camels.
Next topic was holiday, followed by owning a call center and other business opportunities.
Hard to believe, but we did manage to part our ways.
By now my milkshake was gone, but the random encounters had not yet ceised. Next up were two girls with a questionaire. Nothing was said about my t-shirt though...
After the questionaire was filled out, I went looking for a bin to leave the empty milkshake container...
Contrary to Ayala mall where there were three (organic, recycleable and residual) at almost all corners, a dustbin was hard to find in SM. I did finally find one though, and got rid of the trash.
coming back from a little trip up the stairs, Teyette found me, and, after a quick trip to the bakery, we set off to the Taoist temple. One of three late goals I had set in this very leisurely and therefore inactive holiday.
Tey was convinced that a taxi would take way too long to get us there, so she decided we take a jeepney and afterward ride a motorcycle (as a passenger). Now things get funky...
We waited for the jeepney, entered it almost at a run, and "crawled" inside, finding a place among the people already present. We had just found a spot when a few things happened in short order:
My reaction after finding out what had happened (Getting into the jeepney was enough for my brain to be occupied by): "*This* is why *I* take a taxi, normally."
A little note about the different modes of transport here:
Reaching a barrier we were told the temple had already closed for the day (which is normal around 5:30pm...)
We went to the temple anyway, and made a few pictures around the outside of it.
Next stop: back to town to meet up with IK and if possible April.
We walked to yet another mall, and met up with IK. Since I hadn' t met with April yet, I had to choose whether to have dinner with IK or with April. I chose April. Turned out IK had also discussed this with April, and that was the plan they had agreed upon too. Off to whereever April would be!
Getting a taxi to that place turned out to be yet another chore: plenty of taxis driving by, but none that wasn' t occupied.
After about 10 minutes IK finally did find a taxi. Shortly after me entering the taxi the driver was waved to the side by a police officer. Apparently he stopped somewhere illegal... He got away with a warning though.
April had given me an address of the restaurant where she would meet with me. She was going to a team outing, but I was welcome too, as long as I paid for my own food... 8-) Not a problem.
I arrived 10 minutes after the meeting time, but April had not yet...
Eventually, after another 20 minutes, she did. She had warned me about bringing her son and nanny.
We had some food while the rest of the team was talking and giving eachother presents. April's son wanted to go outside with another child that was brought by its mother, but about 5 minutes later nanny and son came back, April's son having fallen and sporting a cut on his nose.
April immediately decided her son should get a tetanus shot, so she rushed him off to the hospital. There I was with a room full of people I did not know, a beer in hand.
Eventually, after all the gift giving was over, I joined the others, and we exchanged cultural "drinking" habits:
I was told it is normal here to share a glass among people with beer (the only reference) being replenished when needed. I told them that we normally just put the money together and everyone gets their own glass/bottle/beverage, when required (the so-called round). I did mention the habit of cannabis-smokers to share a joint, but that apparently is a global habit...
Around 9.30pm everyone was on their way out. I wasn' t finished with the day yet, and my new buddy Luis, who didn' t have to work on wednesday, went on into the evening.
In the taxi I discovered I had forgotten my "Dutch" phone, and we went back. The people at the restaurant had put it away, so 2 minutes later we were outside again. The taxi, thanks to Luis asking, had waited. Next stop: the ATM. we were going to go to a night club, so I needed some spending money.
I had a nice evening in the night club, made at least one new friend, and spent less than 100 euros in the process. This will be repeated before I go home. My new friend has her birthday on the 30th, after all. The night ended when the club closed, at 3am. Only 10 hours before my flight to Butuan to visit Marie and her family.
After breakfast I went back to my room, and sent some sms.
Tey had asked if we could meet @ Ayala @ 4pm, which was fine with me... Around 2:30 I got another text asking if I could come to the other mall, SM, as Tey was sending some mail there.
I did arrive shortly after 4.
Apparently the package being sent wasn't as simple as Tey thought, as we found eachother just shy of 5pm.
In the meantime I had been kept busy, partly through the t-shirt I was wearing:
I went to look for a refreshment, and found it at a milkshake kiosk where I was served by 3 girls who declared themselves to be kangaroos after reading my "no kangaroos in Austria"-tee. They did not hop around, but the pineapple shake they made (with real pineapple!) was as lovely as they were.
Going back to the main hall of the north wing of the mall I busied myself with acquíring internet access and emptying the milkshake. Given that for configuring internet access on a touchscreen phone you need at least two hands, doing both is difficult. But I managed.
There was another caucassian guy in the hall, who decided to start a conversation with me. Again my t-shirt became the topic, followed by clearcut Australian topics: culling incestuous kangaroos and rampant camels.
Next topic was holiday, followed by owning a call center and other business opportunities.
Hard to believe, but we did manage to part our ways.
By now my milkshake was gone, but the random encounters had not yet ceised. Next up were two girls with a questionaire. Nothing was said about my t-shirt though...
After the questionaire was filled out, I went looking for a bin to leave the empty milkshake container...
Contrary to Ayala mall where there were three (organic, recycleable and residual) at almost all corners, a dustbin was hard to find in SM. I did finally find one though, and got rid of the trash.
coming back from a little trip up the stairs, Teyette found me, and, after a quick trip to the bakery, we set off to the Taoist temple. One of three late goals I had set in this very leisurely and therefore inactive holiday.
Tey was convinced that a taxi would take way too long to get us there, so she decided we take a jeepney and afterward ride a motorcycle (as a passenger). Now things get funky...
We waited for the jeepney, entered it almost at a run, and "crawled" inside, finding a place among the people already present. We had just found a spot when a few things happened in short order:
- The jeepney stopped;
- I pulled in my backpack (it hung outside the jeepney, through the makeshift "window");
- a man walked past the jeepney on the opposite side of the jeepney;
- the woman across from me yelps;
- the "pusher" sets off after the man that just walked past the jeepney and disappeared into the traffic.
My reaction after finding out what had happened (Getting into the jeepney was enough for my brain to be occupied by): "*This* is why *I* take a taxi, normally."
A little note about the different modes of transport here:
- The Jeepney: an altered transporter with a seating capacity of approximately 10. I have seen people hang on the back of several though. A trip costs 7 pesos (13 eurocent)
- The taxi: well-known around the world, it should normally have a meter. The basic fare is 30 pesos, fare going up with 2.5 pesos every... kilometer? Or maybe 5 minutes, I'm not sure.
- Motorcycle: a man, a bike, and you as the passenger. The two trips I made were comparatively short (5 mins) and cost a mere 10 pesos (19 eurocent).
Reaching a barrier we were told the temple had already closed for the day (which is normal around 5:30pm...)
We went to the temple anyway, and made a few pictures around the outside of it.
Next stop: back to town to meet up with IK and if possible April.
We walked to yet another mall, and met up with IK. Since I hadn' t met with April yet, I had to choose whether to have dinner with IK or with April. I chose April. Turned out IK had also discussed this with April, and that was the plan they had agreed upon too. Off to whereever April would be!
Getting a taxi to that place turned out to be yet another chore: plenty of taxis driving by, but none that wasn' t occupied.
After about 10 minutes IK finally did find a taxi. Shortly after me entering the taxi the driver was waved to the side by a police officer. Apparently he stopped somewhere illegal... He got away with a warning though.
April had given me an address of the restaurant where she would meet with me. She was going to a team outing, but I was welcome too, as long as I paid for my own food... 8-) Not a problem.
I arrived 10 minutes after the meeting time, but April had not yet...
Eventually, after another 20 minutes, she did. She had warned me about bringing her son and nanny.
We had some food while the rest of the team was talking and giving eachother presents. April's son wanted to go outside with another child that was brought by its mother, but about 5 minutes later nanny and son came back, April's son having fallen and sporting a cut on his nose.
April immediately decided her son should get a tetanus shot, so she rushed him off to the hospital. There I was with a room full of people I did not know, a beer in hand.
Eventually, after all the gift giving was over, I joined the others, and we exchanged cultural "drinking" habits:
I was told it is normal here to share a glass among people with beer (the only reference) being replenished when needed. I told them that we normally just put the money together and everyone gets their own glass/bottle/beverage, when required (the so-called round). I did mention the habit of cannabis-smokers to share a joint, but that apparently is a global habit...
Around 9.30pm everyone was on their way out. I wasn' t finished with the day yet, and my new buddy Luis, who didn' t have to work on wednesday, went on into the evening.
In the taxi I discovered I had forgotten my "Dutch" phone, and we went back. The people at the restaurant had put it away, so 2 minutes later we were outside again. The taxi, thanks to Luis asking, had waited. Next stop: the ATM. we were going to go to a night club, so I needed some spending money.
I had a nice evening in the night club, made at least one new friend, and spent less than 100 euros in the process. This will be repeated before I go home. My new friend has her birthday on the 30th, after all. The night ended when the club closed, at 3am. Only 10 hours before my flight to Butuan to visit Marie and her family.