Overseas work travel turned out to be more tiring than normal work and that is the reason I can only write this post after I am back. In fact, I am just done with doing laundry, unpacking my luggage, and changing my bedsheet so I am feeling a bit more relaxed to blog.
I was more mentally drained with meetings and discussion for the past full 3 days. Most of the things are new to me so it was really a hardwork for my brain to process all the information. The biggest challenge was actually keeping awake. Some things were beyond my comprehension and my imagination that I simply switched off. So perhaps this was my first and last overseas work travel since I was dozing off despite sitting next to my boss. Hahaha.. I shall stop here for the boring part and let's remember about the more exciting stuff: food and sightseeing. Lol.
Tuesday
For lunch on Tuesday, I tried the mixed rice stall which I found very cheap: 120 peso (that is less than $4) for rice + 2 dishes (even ok for 2 meats) + a choice of noodle or coffee jelly dessert. I have no complaint about the taste but the food was rather cold which made eating more difficult.
In the evening, my boss brought me to the shopping malls near Ayala Triangle. There are few interlinked shopping malls such as Greenbelt, Landmark, Glorietta (which has 5 malls on its own), and SM although we only had time to check out Landmark and Glorietta. From the interior, I guess Landmark and Glorietta were built in 80s-90s as they remind me of the old shopping plazas rather than the modern shopping malls. Having said that, they are very well maintained and 'refreshed' unlike many old shopping plazas that I see in Jakarta or Singapore which simply lose out to newer shopping malls and have sleazy dingy feel.
Dinner was at Max's Restaurant and I got Beef Caldereta which reminds me of rendang minus the spiciness. Initially I wanted to try Lechon but the only Lechon in the menu was for 2-3 people. No way we could finish that. The vegetable dish (pinakbet) was not remarkable and not for my taste buds. I bought their caramel bar since it was not super sticky and sweet as those Mars bars. We also went to supermarket since I did not mind to start buying souvenirs. Well apparently the souvenirs that my Filipino ex-colleagues used to bring are not that readily available. My biggest surprise, however, was bumping into someone I knew there (not exactly a friend since he was 2 years younger and we just knew each other when we were in VS hostel) who was also in Manila for overseas work travel. Seriously what is the odd of meeting someone you know when you are overseas?
I also checked out the laundrette, the gym, and the pool of the hotel. The pool looks good for dipping and relaxing, rather than for actual swimming, and there is jacuzzi too. One of the laundry dryers was down and the gym was too small. Perhaps the most disappointing of all is that these facilities close at 10pm. So forget about doing laundry and it was a waste of space to bring my gym attire and shoes.
Wednesday
We had team lunch paid for the company for traditional Filipino food and my favourites were fried squid stuffed with spinach, sisig, and dinuguan. I had a good chat with few people and one advice which I found very amusing: forget about changing diet, change clothes instead. Haha.. I think one fun thing about Filipinos is that they really embrace their delicious food culture and weight is secondary.
I did not really have dinner as in the evening, I went with some team members to a Mexican restaurant for drinks. There was happy hour so I ended up with 2 glasses of rum tea. Good thing that the alcohol was not that strong and it tasted like lemon tea to me. So yes achievement unlocked for me to finish 2 glasses of alcoholic drink. Haha.. the irony was among the happy hour list, the waiter said that the rum tea was the strongest. Stupid me did not bring my credit card so I could not take the opportunity to pay for the bill. I did not dare to pay with cash since I did not really count how much pesos I had left and I did not want to risk running out of cash.
I slept later than on Tuesday as I kept running to the toilet to pee thanks to all the water to 'dilute' the alcohol in my body. However, the saddest thing was the news of the passing of Aloysius Pang. I read about his injury on Saturday and his passing was a shock after the update that his surgeries after the injury went well and he was conscious to speak to her mother. I only knew him from the movie Young & Fabulous since I don't follow Channel 8 and although I am not a fan or something, I actually bothered to pray for his recovery when I first heard the news of his injury. I have a friend who knows him which makes the whole thing feel somewhat 'closer'. With the memorial planned for tomorrow, it is going to be a sad weekend and I can only offer prayers that he shall rest in peace and those who are left behind be given the strength and consolation throughout this grieving period.
Thursday
I had a burger and chocolate milkshake at an American restaurant just next to my hotel. The burger was definitely better than burgers from fast food chain. After that, I finally got to try cheese-flavoured ice cream. It was my first time seeing a cheese-flavoured ice cream so I was rather intrigued. It is not something that I will try again since it felt like eating a cheese cream rather than an ice cream.
A colleague and his girlfriend brought me to BGC (Bonafacio Global City) which is definitely a newer and modern city compared to Makati. The buildings are newer and have more modern designs, the traffic is more organised (i.e. cars stop when the traffic light for pedestrians to cross the road is on), and I saw more expatriates. We visited a night market. It was not as jam packed as I imagined but there was no vacant table so I could not try lechon. I tried a street snack (egg wrapped in flour and deep fried) although I was worried since there were flies flying around when the food was on display. I decided to buy since the food would be fried first and thank goodness no diarrhea until now. Haha..
My colleague suggested Marugame Udon for dinner and there was a long queue so we went to a Chinese restaurant instead. I ditched my diet and ordered a salted egg fried chicken with rice. Well it was worth the acne ba. Haha...The sweetness and the salted egg flavour was great and I also ordered Chinese and Japanese siomay. Both were not great compared to Chinese siew may or Indonesian siomay. Haha.. I felt so paiseh so I asked for the bill to pay for the dinner but my friend and his girlfriend spoke to the waitress in Tagalog and the waitress gave the bill to them instead.
Apparently it is quite difficult to find souvenirs in the city so with time running out, I just bought whatever I could find at Kultura at nearby SM mall.
Friday
Nothing much happened today since it was only going to airport to fly back. I am so lucky to whack buying things at Kultura instead of betting on getting something at the airport since the prices were crazy. Yesterday I spent about 1400 pesos for 4 packets of banana chips, 2 boxes and 5 packets of Polvoron, 1 packet of dried mango, and 3 packets of dried mango dipped in chocolate. In the airport, 1 packet of banana chips is easily 300 pesos o_0
Flight was delayed about 15 minutes and I felt so happy that this time the flight was with the newer A330 which had in-flight entertainment. Forget about sleeping throughout the flight and I watched Ant-man and the Wasp (which I missed) and the Avengers: Infinity War.
After arriving at Changi, I went for a little bit of detour to terminal 3 to see the Harry Potter and yup it was shitty. Haha.. The decorated area was small and the cardboard decoration was just eww...
Work-wise, honestly I still don't know what is going on. Haha.. Perhaps this will be my first and last overseas work travel since I kept falling asleep when my boss presenting her slides and I was sitting next to her. It was kinda obvious too since my Filipino colleagues also noticed it. Lol.
I also checked out the laundrette, the gym, and the pool of the hotel. The pool looks good for dipping and relaxing, rather than for actual swimming, and there is jacuzzi too. One of the laundry dryers was down and the gym was too small. Perhaps the most disappointing of all is that these facilities close at 10pm. So forget about doing laundry and it was a waste of space to bring my gym attire and shoes.
Wednesday
We had team lunch paid for the company for traditional Filipino food and my favourites were fried squid stuffed with spinach, sisig, and dinuguan. I had a good chat with few people and one advice which I found very amusing: forget about changing diet, change clothes instead. Haha.. I think one fun thing about Filipinos is that they really embrace their delicious food culture and weight is secondary.
I did not really have dinner as in the evening, I went with some team members to a Mexican restaurant for drinks. There was happy hour so I ended up with 2 glasses of rum tea. Good thing that the alcohol was not that strong and it tasted like lemon tea to me. So yes achievement unlocked for me to finish 2 glasses of alcoholic drink. Haha.. the irony was among the happy hour list, the waiter said that the rum tea was the strongest. Stupid me did not bring my credit card so I could not take the opportunity to pay for the bill. I did not dare to pay with cash since I did not really count how much pesos I had left and I did not want to risk running out of cash.
I slept later than on Tuesday as I kept running to the toilet to pee thanks to all the water to 'dilute' the alcohol in my body. However, the saddest thing was the news of the passing of Aloysius Pang. I read about his injury on Saturday and his passing was a shock after the update that his surgeries after the injury went well and he was conscious to speak to her mother. I only knew him from the movie Young & Fabulous since I don't follow Channel 8 and although I am not a fan or something, I actually bothered to pray for his recovery when I first heard the news of his injury. I have a friend who knows him which makes the whole thing feel somewhat 'closer'. With the memorial planned for tomorrow, it is going to be a sad weekend and I can only offer prayers that he shall rest in peace and those who are left behind be given the strength and consolation throughout this grieving period.
Thursday
I had a burger and chocolate milkshake at an American restaurant just next to my hotel. The burger was definitely better than burgers from fast food chain. After that, I finally got to try cheese-flavoured ice cream. It was my first time seeing a cheese-flavoured ice cream so I was rather intrigued. It is not something that I will try again since it felt like eating a cheese cream rather than an ice cream.
A colleague and his girlfriend brought me to BGC (Bonafacio Global City) which is definitely a newer and modern city compared to Makati. The buildings are newer and have more modern designs, the traffic is more organised (i.e. cars stop when the traffic light for pedestrians to cross the road is on), and I saw more expatriates. We visited a night market. It was not as jam packed as I imagined but there was no vacant table so I could not try lechon. I tried a street snack (egg wrapped in flour and deep fried) although I was worried since there were flies flying around when the food was on display. I decided to buy since the food would be fried first and thank goodness no diarrhea until now. Haha..
My colleague suggested Marugame Udon for dinner and there was a long queue so we went to a Chinese restaurant instead. I ditched my diet and ordered a salted egg fried chicken with rice. Well it was worth the acne ba. Haha...The sweetness and the salted egg flavour was great and I also ordered Chinese and Japanese siomay. Both were not great compared to Chinese siew may or Indonesian siomay. Haha.. I felt so paiseh so I asked for the bill to pay for the dinner but my friend and his girlfriend spoke to the waitress in Tagalog and the waitress gave the bill to them instead.
Apparently it is quite difficult to find souvenirs in the city so with time running out, I just bought whatever I could find at Kultura at nearby SM mall.
Friday
Nothing much happened today since it was only going to airport to fly back. I am so lucky to whack buying things at Kultura instead of betting on getting something at the airport since the prices were crazy. Yesterday I spent about 1400 pesos for 4 packets of banana chips, 2 boxes and 5 packets of Polvoron, 1 packet of dried mango, and 3 packets of dried mango dipped in chocolate. In the airport, 1 packet of banana chips is easily 300 pesos o_0
Flight was delayed about 15 minutes and I felt so happy that this time the flight was with the newer A330 which had in-flight entertainment. Forget about sleeping throughout the flight and I watched Ant-man and the Wasp (which I missed) and the Avengers: Infinity War.
After arriving at Changi, I went for a little bit of detour to terminal 3 to see the Harry Potter and yup it was shitty. Haha.. The decorated area was small and the cardboard decoration was just eww...
Work-wise, honestly I still don't know what is going on. Haha.. Perhaps this will be my first and last overseas work travel since I kept falling asleep when my boss presenting her slides and I was sitting next to her. It was kinda obvious too since my Filipino colleagues also noticed it. Lol.
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