Monday March 7th, 4;45 AM local time.. (My Sunday afternoon)
Hello All!!!!
Here I am once again at my home away from home.. The Shangri La Makati here in Manila. i left Friday at 6:30 in the morning.. and just a mere 30 hours later.. my friend and co worker Marie from Philly arrived here at 1:30 AM Sunday. The trip was a little longer than usual due to some changes at Delta. The negative changes are longer layovers in Detroit both coming and going as well as 2 hour later departure here in Manila. The positive change was for the first time we were on a NEW Boeing 777.. so different than the old airbus.. which is bigger (has the upstairs) but was an old NWAir plane. So this trip I actually watched a movie.. That kid movie with Annette Benning and Julianne Moore.. was good.. and 3 episodes of Weeds Season 4 which was nice. I slept most of the rest of trip thanks to Valium.. Love Dr Stern!!!
The last 4 hours from Nagoya Japan to Manila was dead.. no one in my row so was nice to stretch out and be really comfortable. Poor Marie tho didn't sleep at all.. So I haven't seen her since we got here so she probably has been laying low most of the day.
We got in and I unpacked everything which is my normal routine, I put everything away, ironed all the folded wrinkles out of my shirts and slacks and set up my little house. I am on the 28th floor which is the top floor.. great view and also a member of the Horizon Club (Diamond member) which is based on all my time here. So yesterday morning at 5:00 I went to the gym, did my 3.2 Km walk, stretched, and sat in the steam room for 20 minutes.. Then I showered and instead of eating in the restaurant in the hotel I ate in the Horizon Club which is so much nicer.. I am being a little more unsociable this time around. I am going to try to really enjoy myself more. I weighed myself in the gym and I have gained the 3 lbs I lost in February.. so back to eating good again. So for breakfast I had fresh mango, fresh pineapple, watermellon, chedder and swiss cheese... which is the creamiest cheese they get from New Zealand. Also had some fresh proscuitto, 2 eggs, ham, with a piece of wheat toast, small portion of poached salmon, and pork and beans.. not the van camp variety, but fresh with herbs and spices and it was so good. Along with carrot/orange juice and capoucino.
After breakfast since the sun was out I went out to the pool from 8:30 to 11:30 and enjoyed the warmth of the sun and cool water in the pool. From there I went shopping for a few items I either needed or forgot and then headed over to The Spa at 1:45. I had the works again.. Exfoliation with Sea Salts, then a shower, a full hour body massage, a hour facial, manicure and pedicure which came to a grand total of 145.00 including tips for the 4 young women. I was sleeping thru the massage (she said I was snoring).. but it felt so good. The best 3.5 hours I ever spend in this country.. (Thanks to my friend Erick Ducut for this find!!!).
I meandered home and got into bed for a 3 hour nap. I got up at 9:00 last evening, showered and headed over to Greenbelt Malls for a dinner at the Chattuah 1774. I had this wonderful tomato based seafood soup, with little clams, scallops, white fish with a sauce that was made with sweet fresh tomatoes and herbs.. little toasts with some kind of pate.. For my main meal I had the best Pork Scallapino again the marinara sauce was made with the fresh sweet tomatoes.. and the pork was lightly breaded with something homemade and oh so delicious.. No desert.. :) I got back to the hotel tonight around 10:45. Puttered around the room for a little while, then went to Starbucks and saw my night crew friends, got my coffee and some banana bread and returned back to the what I fondly call the lobby of the hotel ..."my livingroom". Basically at the midnight hour, the grand lobby of the Shangri La Makati becomes me, my staff of many ... front desk people, the front drive up people, the security people not to mention the flower guys. A note to this weeks arrangement. the main "green" thing that makes up most of the arrnangement took 10 guys to get that up from the floor on to that pot. Last weeks was grandiose compared to the basic and bland of this weeks.
Now some antedocts of the day. Everyone here was so welcoming yesterday everywhere I went.. the people at The Spa even were excited to see me.. :) I must have had Carl Jevring on the brain today.. Carl is my "Swedish" friend that was in Philly for some years before transfering with Ikea to Amsterdam this past summer. There were 2 guys at The Spa that reminded me of Carl. The first one didn't speak and really looked like Carl so not sure where he was from. The 2nd guy had the face of Carl but not the blond hair. He was from France and very talkative and outgoing.. NO ONE at The Spa ever talks.. :) So Carl. I was thinking of you today. I am so relaxed and ready for the start of a hectic work schedule. Tonight in the living room I went on my work computer and got caught up from being out of the office on Friday, so now I am so ready to hit the ground running tonight at work. I also got all my personal finances up to date, and EVEN started my next voucher for this trip. Now I am getting the blog updated, and need to get out of here soon.. My "living room" is going to become a lobby of a 5 star hotel very soon.. and here I sit in blue gym shorts, Ptown t-shirt, with a cord for my computer stretched over the sofa to the outlet.. Back to the reality of where I am.. I really like it tho as my living room with a major staff.. Oh how I could be rich .. and LOVE IT !!!!!!
I am going to try to download a few pics.. Last weeks flower arrangement I took when I first got here, and then tonights flower arrangement for this week, along with a picture of Carl if i can find one.. So this week.. work, hopefully pool after work each morning if the sun is out, and the gym... walking 3.2 Km (2 miles) before work.. and running after work somewhere.. and then sweat in the steam room and enjoy my 5 star life..
To get you caught up on the future of my travels. April Tim and I will be going to Florida (Ocala) for the family reunion. Nancy and Garris have a rance with some beautiful animals.. The picture of me and Silk are from our last trip there. Come May I will be going to Paris and surrounding areas staying with my neighbors that have a house across the street from us in Philly (Dave and Rosemary), and then a week to see Carl Jevring (my Dutch Friend) in Amsterdam.. another reason to try to find a picture of Carl. Those trips are all scheduled, and basically paid for. In June it is looking more and more that I will be returning to Manila for 3 weeks, and then in July off to Ptown for Bear Week, and then to Capetown South Africa with Tim who has an International Education Conference. I am waiting on his itinerary for his flights so I can try to get on the same flights returning with him to Philly. Then that all will be done and all set.. YEA!!!!!
So with that. enjoy the week, and really really stop and take time to smell the roses, enjoy your view whatever that may be.. don't go thru life missing 1/2 of the trip in anticipation of the final destination..
