At the Tower in de-Iholm, we faithfully maintain a to scale replica of the pyramid to Quetzquetalcotl. Then when ever we are planning an international trip we scour the neighborhood for an appropriate sacrifice. As we've increased the numbers of trips we take, we've decided that taking one of our neighbors is probably not going to be politic so I've changed to finding local rabbits and quails when hike. Kind of loses the effect though when you have them on the alter with the obsidian knife. Just not fearsome enough. But, one has to make sacrifices in order to maintain ones traditional faith in the modern age (ha, ha get the play on words with 'sacrifice).
Anyway back to our trip. So I've found that if we can get a halfway reasonable business class with a lie flat seat (very important) for these very long trips, I can pretty much negate a lot of the effects of jet lag. We arrived in Manila on Wednesday evening after leaving Tuesday midday. Son-in-law 2B, consort to daughter #2, Venerable Pulisha, used his diplomatic access to meet us at the gate and usher us through immigration and customs with very little delay. We got to their house at around midnight local time. Using the technique of being as comatose as possible during the flight but not actually sleeping once you were getting towards the local 'daylight' time, Wife and I were able to go right to sleep and sleep for around 6-7 hours. So when we got up we were on local time.
The grandkids were already off to school and #2 was at work. 2B had been telling me about some custom tailors that did a kick ass job with suits and shirts. Based on his advice, because I really need some work clothes, and because I am so tired of off the rack clothes that don't fit my aging physique, I decided to give it a try and get enough to hopefully last me through these last few years of working a lot.
#2 and 2B have told us the the Philippines are a 5-95 country. 5% have most of the wealth and live really, really well and 95% are in poverty. If you're an American, your income almost automatically puts you in the 5%. So we headed off to day and were mostly in the parts of Manila that are in the 5%.
It is really a different experience for us to fly into a totally new country and be completely taken care of. Usually when Wife and I travel we are organizing everything ourselves - the transportation, how we're going to get money, what exchange rates are, how do we navigate, how do we communicate. But I've pretty much left my control freak persona at home and am just taking advantage of this.
#2 and 2B live in a gated village. This is pretty much the standard for the 5% we understand. 2B says we have to kind of hustle in order to get everything done. We have to get our clothes orders in today if they are going to be ready before we leave. #2 and 2B have a driver, a house maid, and a nanny. When they first moved here, they found out that NOT having help is considered to be selfish because you're not passing the wealth on. They've never really gotten used to it.
The driver is ready to take us. Out we go for our first (mostly awake) experience in Manila! I'm so excited.
OK so maybe the 'first' experience in Manila isn't so exciting.
Experiencing the National Pastime of Manila
According to 2B and 2A more time is spent sitting in traffic in Manila than just about any other activity. The way people move in and out of lanes is like a living personification of fluid dynamics. 2B tells us we really haven't seen anything yet.
Getting Suits
It's pretty impressive. You go into the tailor. You pick out the fabric you want. Then he takes down all kinds of measurements. You will come in about week later for fitting. It takes less time than going to an off the rack store in the US. The quality of the fabric is high and you're getting a custom made outfit for no more than an lower to average off the rack item stateside. I decided to get three suits, two sports jackets and four pairs of slacks.
Brunch
We stopped off and had an American style breakfast which is pretty common here in the better parts of town because of the extensive US influence in the Philippines over the last century or so.
The potatoes and bread were excellent.
"Damn freakin' paparazzi!"
Getting Shirts
2B likes a different tailor, a young guy who works out of his apartment for shirts so we went off there.
Picking out fabric
("Don't mind him Abdul. Just the damn freakn' paparazzi")
Grocery Store
Need to make sure you've got enough rice
Can't run out of dried fish either
4 comments:
Wow, you're going to look sharp when you return to the States!
oh man, I want a suit! maybe in HK....
A driver AND nanny? Awesome! Wouldn't mind that at all!!
Impressive that you can get all of that custom made for a reasonable price!
Sounds like an impressive lifestyle for the 5%.
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