Once More, With Feeling…
Was met at Cebu’s port by a most unusual sight – a metered taxi whose driver actually used his meter. Usually these guys ask outrageous sums for the shortest of rides – and even though you can bargain them down, the process leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Imagine arriving somewhere and getting robbed upon arrival – that’s how it feels.
Checked into my old fave, the Kiwi Lodge, for the weekend. Most of the staff there are long-timers and we all know each other fairly well by now. And I can practice my crappy Visaya (dialect) on them and they give me a hard time…
Went out that night with Faith, whom I’d met the previous visit. We met at Ratsky’s, a music pub in Ayala Mall. Then we went to K-1 karaoke but the placed was booked out, so we moved over to another karaoke place Faith knows. She has an incredible voice – as I’ve often written, Filipinos are musical gods. While I enjoy singing, I’d rather listen to Faith belt out a number…
Had a few new and lingering electronics problems to sort out, all related to my new Treo 680 ‘smartphone.’ The Palm Desktop software hadn’t really been working – the usual dropped ball between Palm and Microsoft (Vista). Not the end of the world, but I couldn’t replicate my calendar and contacts, except to a SD memory card. Also, I had installed a program called pTunes which allowed streaming Internet radio – which was quite cool, you just opened the program and put the Treo headphone in the jack. The problem is that this jack is unbelievably poorly designed – I had never used this on my previous Treos so I was not aware of this. The issue is that the Treo can get ‘fooled’ into thinking the headphone is plugged in even when it’s not – so the regular phone sounds that come from the speaker are disabled, and you can’t make a regular call without using the headphone. I got online and tried to find a way to fix the problem – one guy suggested putting the headphone back in, twisting it around, and removing it. Tried that – no dice. Another idea: get someone to ring you, then put on your speakerphone – that worked for one guy. Not for me. Finally, when I was starting to think I’d need to get on the horn with Palm and order a replacement (torture), I tried the twisting headphone approach again – and it worked. I vowed never to use the jack again, and emailed pTunes for a refund. Not their fault, but if I can’t use the jack I can’t do Internet radio.
It is jarring to realize how poor many manufacturers are with product design and with after-sales support. I had emailed Palm about the Desktop issue, and got a reply 10 days later saying that they had suspended email support on April 30 – which was well after my original email to Palm. Thankfully, Palm released a new version of Desktop – which still didn’t work perfectly, I had to get back online and download a nifty little program called DbScan which cleaned up some hanging calendar entries, presumably. Then I was able to replicate. And don’t get me started again on the headphone/jack fiasco – how can a manufacturer put out a product that gets confused/broken so easily??
Got up early the next day and went down to breakfast. The entire restaurant was full of shouting Kiwis and Aussies – they had a rugby match on and the Aussies were winning big. This was the Kiwi Lodge, mind you, but as with the larger world, there are many more Aussies than Kiwis and that was evident in the bar. I sort of like rugby, but wasn’t that inclined the watch the entire blowout – until Ken, the owner’s son, rang the bell above the bar and that meant he was buying beers for everyone there. Nice one. Mind you, it was only 10 a.m. or so.
I wrote last year about a gent who comes early every day to the Kiwi Lodge bar, sits there, and orders beers all day long. Well, he’s still alive and still there…looking a bit more desiccated/cirrhotic each time I see him, but there’s something oddly reassuring about sighting him. Continuity in life, I suppose…
Read in the local newspaper about the ongoing rice crisis. The piece counseled Pinoys about how to conserve their rice – pretty depressing. Isn’t rice a basic grain and shouldn’t it be nearly free? There was something else I read recently about ‘rice extenders,’ which are even more basic foodstuffs that you can throw into your rice to make it go farther. Rice extenders – my god.
Had a good chat with Dick, the owner of Kiwi Lodge. Last year he had couriered my phone charger up to me in Manila after I had left it plugged into my room at Kiwi Lodge. A very nice guy, and quite savvy about things. He just started a ‘beach house’ to the north, and has been spending much of his time up there, it’s near Antipolo. The advert highlights the 3 most important things – bed, bar, and boat. No argument there.
Went out again that night, Saturday, with Faith. I asked her where she wanted to have dinner…she said Larsian, the outdoors BBQ extravaganza that I also love. Met there at 8 (well, she was a bit late), feasted on blue marlin right on the stick, and some pork and chicken. I swear this place is one of the best eating places on the planet, if you liked BBQ meat and fish.
We then went over to El Gecko, where Mark the owner and Dean were hanging out. I had met those two at the impromptu wedding back in mid-2007. Dean was already a few sheets to the wind and was chatting up a cute lass who appeared to be Korean, but maybe wasn’t. Faith and I had a margarita (her first ever), then played pool upstairs (her first game ever). I played out of my head and impressed her…sometimes I can truly rise to the occasion.
The next morning I chatted with Dick a bit, read the paper, and packed. There was an article in the paper about the Cheap Drugs Act, which now appears set to pass into law. Finally. This law will allow importation/distribution of generic/cheap meds that are currently barred or hard to find here. Readers may recall that I looked into starting a company to do just that, but decided to sit on it while the government got its act together. Of course, now that the government may actually be getting its act together, I will probably do nothing. If there’s any real money to be made from this change, you can bet the vested interests are already well in line to grab it…
Flew up to Manila for a couple days, en route to Hong Kong. Checked into Citadel Inn in Makati City and did a few errands. Took a cab to SM Mall of Asia…there was a transport strike called by one of the jeepney companies and the roads were virtually empty. Hallelujah! For once I got somewhere ahead of schedule. My driver, Steve, was chatty and told me about the time he had a Fil-Am (Filipino-American) businessman who dropped his wallet in the cab when exiting. The wallet had around US$7,000 in it. Steve collected it, went to a TV station, where they announced the missing wallet on the air, and eventually it got back to its owner. Talk about honest – Steve looked like he needed $7,000 just for his dental work. But what a good-hearted fellow – I do enjoy meeting people like that, it restores a bit of faith after reading about Burma and Zimbabwe…
Watched Filipinos ice-skating at the mall rink. Fascinating. Most couldn’t get more than a meter without stumbling, but there were a couple virtuosos out there and it kind of reminded me of my childhood days skating at Loring Arena in Framingham, Massachusetts.
Took a cab back to Makati. This driver was a different sort – seemingly up-to-date on world news, but not really. He had worked for 10 years in Saudi Arabia in construction, and had obviously been exposed to the usual Protocols of the Elders of Zion nonsense. He opined that Jews were all rich and ran America. Oh yeah? I told him that was crap and that Jews worked damn hard for any money they had…and that his former bosses over in Saudi were the real money-spinners. I don’t think anyone had ever poked holes in his weltanschauung before…hopefully it stuck. As I’ve said many times, I feel like I’m fighting a propaganda war one man at a time out there.
Filipinos are not the most aware people in the world. At times that can be charming – they’re not fraught with a huge amount of psychological baggage, unlike us. But it’s annoying when you hear from them tales that are ridiculous/outdated and want to refute them…it’s like having to repeat a test or assignment.
Manila is, for me, a city of memories. I enjoyed the 6 or so weeks I spent there in early 2007. The place has lots of ghosts, from the old Spanish days, from WW2, from the Marcos years. Probably my favorite place is the Spanish restaurant Casa Armas, where I spent my 40th birthday. This place has terrific, authentic Spanish food and drink, and the bar is often held up by a few folks of Spanish descent.
I walked in and right away saw and was greeted by Jun, the headwaiter who’s pleasant beyond belief. It was like I had just been there a week before…Chris the bartender and Mavic the manager were right there too. I sat at the bar and ordered, and soon starting chatting with a lively fellow next to me by the name of Jaime. I’d seen him in there before, but hadn’t spoken with him. Turns out he’s half Spanish, has lived in Spain, the US (Hawaii), and Manila, and is a hell of a character. We sat there for 3 hours telling each other stories and trading book tips. He had some real zingers about the Franco years – I wish I could retell them here but we drank so much red wine that my brain erased itself when I left the bar. Anyway, I fully intend to look him up when next in Manila – which should not be difficult to do, he’s at Casa Armas several times per week. Meeting random, out of the ordinary people like Jaime is a major reason why I’m still traveling, two years after setting out.
Took a cab back to Makati. Saw that Ciboney Bar is no more – I had heard that Johnny, the owner, had sold up and was now focusing on his rental car biz, but still it was sad to get visual confirmation. Ciboney was one of my favorite places and I had spent the last few hours of my 39th year drinking there. Oh well, things change…but I wish the good things were around for longer.
Drove past Sam’s Bar, still alive and kicking. I spent a few early hours of my 40th year in there. Also drove by Malate Pension, where I’d stayed back in 2006 for a bit. It’s an OK place, a bit dorm/prison-like though. I much prefer Ralph Anthony Suites, and Jaime had also told me about Adriatico Arms nearby, which I will check out at some point.
En route to Makati, I thought a bit about the women in my life right now. This is far from a sudden revelation, but I realized that the women I’m most attracted to aren’t necessarily the most stunning from a classical point of view. I’m more attracted to the ones with whom I have a more biological affinity, i.e. smell/taste. All the stuff I’ve read about pherenomes is true, as far as I can tell. Marnely is tall and lovely – but I don’t think I truly connect with her at a fundamental level, she doesn’t really turn me on. Faith is another story – she’s short and less to look at, perhaps, but I like the way she smells and tastes, I can’t get enough of her. Of course, managing all of this is a different story…but I am realizing that I need to be with someone who flips my inner switch and gets me going. Does that make sense?
Spent some time the next day getting my HKG, China and Mongolia travel plans in order. Mongolia is such a mysterious place – and there’s not that much info I’ve found on it. Still, I am trying to research it as much as possible, I’d hate to go there and miss something cool. I will probably spend 3 weeks in-country just to make sure I experience the real deal.
Packed and headed to the airport to fly to HKG. While in the cab I challenged my thinking about the Mongolia trip a bit…and it dawned on me that I should be more creative about my post-Mongolia plans. I was thinking about heading to Central Asia, starting with Uzbekistan – but then thought, why not take the Trans-Mongolian/Siberian Railway up to Moscow, spend some time in Mother Russia, and then head to Central Asia? Uzbekistan and the other ‘stan’ countries generally require visas and even ‘letters of invitation’ and I think those are easiest to arrange up in Moscow, and not in China or Mongolia. Furthermore, why not try to train it from Beijing to Ulaan Bataar? That would be more random, and less expensive, than the flight. So am now looking into doing that, we’ll see how it goes.
Got into HKG. While waiting in the Immigration line, saw a woman who looked familiar. It came to me that she looked just like my former Japanese girlfriend Mayuko…it wasn’t her, but you could’ve fooled me, at least for a minute.
Eventually arrived at Le Meridien Cyberport, where I’d spent a night a couple weeks ago en route from the States to Cebu. Was using points again this time. Noticed a boutique case in the lobby which had Alain Mikli eyeglass frames. I looked at some Mikli frames before departing HKG in January 2006 – they had a good rep. But I find them chunky and geeky – if I were a bit more adventurous in the style department I might like them, but I’m just too conventional I suppose.
The newspapers were full of pics and stories about the Sichuan earthquake. What a disaster – probably 20,000+ deaths. Some of the buildings, predictably, were ‘bean curd,’ i.e. they were about as solid as that fine foodstuff. Schools, of course, were not exempt from that category, and loads of schoolkids perished under the rubble. Sad that it takes these events to expose malfeasance/idiocy and bring about change.
While I did some errands in Central the next day the streets were full of charities soliciting funds for the disaster. Good to see that – I wonder how generous Hong Kongers will be, given their innate love of money (I know, now I sound like a certain Manila cabbie). Talk about a shit year for China – the awful snowstorms last winter, the Tibet fiasco (admittedly, they flubbed that one), and now the quake. The Olympics are just a few months off. Not the sort of year Chinese leaders and people hoped for. And while I do fault China severely on the Tibet matter, I also wish them well – I hope the Olympics come off OK, and that the Chinese are not humiliated by the West yet again. The world does not need a humiliated, angry China. The West does of course need to pressure China about Tibet, Darfur and Burma – but I think doing so behind closed doors is the best route. China reacts in a strongly negative way to public criticism, and doesn’t seem to change as a result. I say all of that, but yet I’m not entirely internally consistent – I was happy when Spielberg pulled out of the Olympics.
Applied for my China entry visa – Jessica at Monitor’s Hong Kong office helped me. The cost: HK$1,540, nearly US$200. Ugh. And to be honest, I’d rather not spend time in China this year, it’s way too crazy. But you can’t fly from HKG to Ulaan Bataar, so my options are limited. Anyway, I’ll stay at my old b-school buddy Craig’s place in Pudong, Shanghai and see some other friends while there. And I’ve heard there’s a great French store called Decathlon in Shanghai that has all the gear I’m likely to need for Mongolia, at rock-bottom prices. Eggsellent.
Got my hands on the latest Lonely Planet Mongolia guide, it was just released this week. Quite timely. Also bought the Russia/Belarus and the Trans-Siberian Railway guidebooks. Will have to lug them around, in addition to my currently large set of books, but it’s worth it. Got the books in Bookazine, in Shui On Centre, a few floors below Monitor’s offices. The manager/clerk recognized me from the old days – she asked where I’d been. I told her my story, she thought it was kind of cool. I guess two or so years isn’t really that long when you think about it…
Had a call with John, my American friend in Shanghai with whom I’m going to Mongolia. Had been trying for weeks to speak live with him, he’s been pretty busy. Got our plans in order and will now make travel bookings and trek arrangements. We’ll use a UB-based outfitter called Nomadic Journeys, I’ve been in email contact with them and they have some unusual tours to the Gobi and to the Khentii mountains. Yaks and camels, my friends, yaks and camels.
Went to dinner with former client Steve, who runs a major pharma company’s HKG subsidiary. He’s doing well – seems to enjoy his job, and loves HKG. We met at Agave for some Mexican food (and several margaritas), then moved over to Amazonia, which relocated recently but didn’t warn me. The new space is great – street-level, with a large stage for bands. The house band is, naturally, Filipino, and the guitarist was brilliant. They played ‘Comfortably Numb’ by Pink Floyd and I swear David Gilmour himself would have been impressed. We stayed out surprisingly late – Steve can’t have been too happy the next morning at work. Good catching up with him, we’d been through some wars together in Tokyo back in the day.
Now sitting in my boxers typing this posting. Gotta check out of the hotel and move over to friend Sam’s flat in an hour or so. Hopefully my China visa will come through and on Saturday I can fly to Shanghai for a few days, before making my assault on the Mongolian border. The Mongol Empire may be finished, but Genghis Khan’s memory lives on – perhaps most prominently, in Genghis Khan vodka, a product I yearn to try as soon as I touch down in UB. Over and out.
Tags: Travel
mbsloney
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