Leaving the Philippines

Here I am, with this bitchin new haircut, comfortably enjoying my time in the Philippines…Until the very next morning when I arrived at work with an email instructing me to return to Des Plaines ASAP to prepare for my next assignment in…Yokkaichi, Japan! (allegedly)

Of course my interpretation of ASAP is packing up my things on Friday to spend the weekend relaxing and partying in Manila before leaving for the US on Monday. Why would I want to travel on the weekend when I could be doing it on a work day???

On Saturday we took a trip to Manila to stay in Makati and have fun for the weekend. Ben, Javier, Princess and I did my last weekend right with a relaxing afternoon in the hotel, a trip to Green Hills Mall, followed by a club in Manila called the Fort. The Fort is a group of clubs, actually, and we spent the evening at a club called The Embassy. I’m not really a big club guy, but Drunk Tom is a club guy, and Really Drunk Ben is definitely a club guy (I’m Rod, I party).

There were more foreigners here, but still it was like a female Asian fashion show and a series of bad pseudo-mullets on douche-bag guys who were basically showing off/challenging portions of dance routines. I think someone “got served” and it was “on” at some point. Princess pointed out a few recognizable people in the VIP section, such as dancers or some girl who was allegedly on Pinoy Big Brother. As the night progressed, it turned into a pretty fun time with that same beat all night long (seriously, at one point the DJ said “SCREAM” over the music. People screamed….I’ll scream.) I think I was standing in the woofer. We were definitely in the Manila hot spot and had a really good time.

Manila Pictures

We got some Shakey’s pizza for lunch the next day, which was delicious. Advertisements on the wall claim that Shakey’s has “the best pizza in the world.” I guess I don’t have any physical evidence to the contrary, but I have been to Italy and I lived in Chicago, so I have eaten some pretty good pizza. But, if Shakey’s claims to be the best in the WORLD, who am I to refute it. After a quick trip to Greenbelt Mall, it was time for Ben, Javier, and Princess to head back to Bataan while I stayed another night in Manila to catch my flight early the next morning. I was sad to see them go since we all had so much fun together.

In retrospect, this was a great assignment for a number of reasons. I learned a lot, saw a lot of the country, met some great people, and we had a good crew. I had a great time with Ben as we did so much traveling together, playing billiards, and generally keeping each other company. I was really glad Javier got to come out for the last weekend since he works WAY TOO HARD and needs to take more time off...and in general is just a really great guy. You'll never find anyone who doesn't like Javier. It's science. Come on Javier, take some more time off! And of course I had the most fun with Princess Panget! learning Tagalog phrases and hanging out in coffee shops. Here are a few other pictures from the end of my assignment.

I woke up really early on Monday and took a taxi to the International Airport, and after a 4 hour maintenance delay, I left the Philippines. I would really like to come back sometime. The only place I really wanted to see that I didn’t get a chance to go is the Boracay. I had to leave so quickly that I didn’t get to see those beautiful beaches. Maybe next time…