Day 2 of the last week

The day for the agents went fairly well. I had more than the usual challenges. The A/C was barely working. We had some technical issues as well as some other issues that kept the agents from putting all their training into practice. A personal problem ended up being the biggest headache. I had left my cell phone behind at the office by accident that morning. I had it out to get a phone number to call back in the USA. It had been found and left with security, so no worries (or so I thought). Trying to get it back has been a major hassle. I'm still waiting for it. No one seemed to have a clue where it went. It was like everyone got amnesia about who they got it from or who they gave it to. I'm supposed to get it back tonight. We'll see.
I had a chance to have a short conversation with a former boss in our old Illinois office; who is the director of our offices here. We'll be getting together for breakfast on Friday.
To top it all off, when I got downstairs there was no car to pick me up (not the first time for this to happen). No phone, so back up to the 12th floor I go to have someone call the hotel to get the car over here. The driver came zooming up to the building. I swear he was getting out of the car before it came to a complete stop and practically jumped over the trunk to open the door for me. I should have been ticked off, but I nearly laughed at the sight and let it all go. It probably wasn't his fault in any case.
I slept a little better this morning. I made it to about 11:30am. I may try to sneak a nap in later this afternoon or early evening.
I'll be trying to do a little sight-seeing before we leave. Saturday morning will be here before I know it.

New day and new shift

The adjustment to the new schedule wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I didn't have any trouble getting to sleep either. The trouble was staying asleep. There was the usual daytime noises in the hall and outside as well as the continuing renovation on the facade and some renovation to a room a couple of doors down. There was a call from the office about an hour into my sleep as well. I got about 3 hours or so of sleep altogehter before I got up. I was toying with the idea of going to the breakfast buffet, but I didn't arrive until right at their closing time. I went over to the local auper market to get some baked goods to take back to the room and to take to the office later tonight for a snack. I made some tea to go with my impromptu breakfast before posting this. I'm feeling my second chance at some winks coming on and will climb back into bed to get ready for another over-nighter.

Sunday-the missing day

Going out Saturday night with only 3 hours sleep really whacked me out. I spent most of the day dozing or trying to stay awake. I begin my new shift at 8pm, so after having brekafast and walking to the office to make a few calls this morning, I'm going to go to bed.
I'll post the outcome of the first night when I return.

Last day for the nestlings - time to eat!

We finished our last day of training. It went well, all in all. Everyone is hard working and very conscientious. One more week of assisting; then home to Dallas. I got about 3 hours sleep right after work, since we were meeting some of the agents for dinner. We met at the Mall of Asia. A huge place with open air throughout. It was packed. Saturday is the biggest shopping day for a country that loves to shop. It's right on Manila Bay and has a great view. It was getting dark by the time we got there and was raining, but the view was still a pretty sight. We were met by Tsai and Arbi and wandered around while we waited for others to join us. We picked a spot to sit down to wait and enjoy the cool breezes coming off the bay. While looking around, I spied something that needed to be checked out. Sure enough, they had the Chicago Mix. I bought a bag to introduce my Filipino friends and one Texan to a northern treat.


















We finally were finally a near complete group when Ahbi and Dan joined us and headed off for a bayside seefood market called Dampa. It's like any fish market, full of all varieties of fish from the familiar to the exotic. It's as loud and raucus as any fish market, too. You have two gaunlets to run. The hawkers for the nearby restaurants and the fish mongers themselves. That's Dan in the middle of the first picture doing some of our shopping.











The ladies hawking crabs were the most aggressive. That's them below. They were hanging out by one hand, waving their crabs at you with the other hand. After walking by, I looked back and they back to their relaxed positions waiting for the next mark.











After picking your food (pounds and pounds of fish, shellfish and some meat-all for a few dollars), you go to a restaurant that weighs your food for cooking (prices are based on the weight and how you want it prepared). The agents took care of that for us, making some good choices. That's Ahbi on the left in the picture below. Ian, another agent, and a friend of his joined us at the restaurant to round out our party.

The "ladies" that waited on us were very attentive; shall we say. They seemed to have a finer appreciation for older gentlemen. I was flattered, but left it at that.
Nothing beats fresh seafood and this was very good. I posted some videos of it on YouTube. We ordered some sides of rice and our drinks. I had San Miguel, one of the local beers. It was a great meal and good company. We had to roll out of there we were so full and we still had food left over. We gave it to the agents to share among themselves. They put us in a cab and we said our good nights. Then our taxi ride back to the hotel through the back streets of Manila.
My sleep cycle is all messed up now, but it was worth it. We got to spend some down time with our agents, soak up some local color and have a terrific meal.

Another good day today. One more and then we prepare for our last week. Hard to believe it's going to be winding down soon.

The hours are starting to catch up with me. I was getting very tired late this morning as the shift ended. The rain held off today, so I was planning to do some sight-seeing. The downside of no rain is the sun can get pretty warm. It was blazing hot this afternoon when I left the office. Too hot to go out and do anything. Even some of the locals are walking around with their umbrellas to get some shade. It's clouding up over the bay as well, so we might have some heavy rain. All the more reason to stay in to take it easy and order some room service.

The agents want to go out tomorrow night. Staying in will let me rest up for what might be a long night.

Just dinner

Today was a long day. It started out with no coffee. When I got to the office I was informed that our reservation software was up and down. There were a lot more calls at the start of our shift as well. Not good timing. Things eventually eased up and our technical problems were resolved. The coffee machine was broken. I could have cried. My in house assistant was missing for a couple of hours. I needed her desperately, so I could get out for some coffee. She eventually came around looking like she hadn't slept at all. As it turns out she hadn't. I felt so sorry for her.

I got my coffee, the calls evened out and all was well for the rest of the day.

Shortly after I got back to the hotel it started to rain hard. That put an end to any plans I had to go out. I did some work for the office and was thinking of what to get from room service when it stopped just as quickly as it started. As I was getting ready I heard a lot of clamor outside my window. It was the guys working on the facade of the hotel. It seems some of the stone is loosening and they are securing it. I took some pictures to show what the life of laborer in Manila is like. That's a steel frame and wood box they are working in. The blue plastic tarp is to keep the rain out. They have to manually haul themselves up and down. OSHA or anything like it is unheard of over here. I don't know what they get paid, but it's not enough.



I wandered over to the other mall called Greenbelt and found a Thai restaurant for dinner. I had a papaya salad that about took my head off and pad thai shrimp that was very good.

I am now back at the hotel to enjoy the last of my expensive Coke and more of my cheap rum.

Shopping & dinner

Today went well. I felt rested for the first time. I went to bed at about 7:30pm and slept straight through to 3:00am. I dreamt a lot (I can never remember about what), so it was a good deep sleep.

The agents had a fairly quiet day again. They did better than yesterday. They never seem to have enough money to treat themselves to something extra, so I went to a local supermarket to get something for them. I asked one of the clerks for some advice and she steered me to some kind of assorted candy. I hope she wasn't pulling a sales job on me. I'll find out tomorrow.

While I was there I looked around. It was a huge store, called Landmark. I was looking for something to take with me for breakfast. I couldn't make out what was what, so I went with some breakfast bars. I wish I had somewhere to store fruit. the selection was amazing. I stumbled across the liquor department and remembered what a co-worker (my California training drinking buddy) had told me about the cheap alcohol. Boy, was she right. I bought a pint of local rum for 32.25 pesos (about 71 cents) and a 16 oz. bottle of Coke for 21.75 pesos (about 48 cents).









Is this a great country or what? I found some Lone Star beer as well. It's the real deal, but it's brewed here in Manila. It was going for about 32 cents a bottle. It was light; otherwise, I might have tried it. All the beer is sold by the bottle or can. How about this country?

I stopped at a Vietmanese restaurant by the hotel on my way back. I was kind fo worried about the lack of buiness, but it was late afternoon. There was no problem with the food. I had some spring rolls with shrimp and pork, a seafood noodle soup and tapioca with some kind of coconut pudding for dessert.

When I got back to the hotel I stopped by the Front Desk to order some ice for my rum and Coke. A few minutes later a tub of ice arrived. This is an example of the service around here. Ask for it and you will get it in spades.

Now; I'm going get into bed, enjoy my cocktail and wait for the sandman to come get me.

Nothing to report for Monday. I had a long leisurely breakfast, but something didn’t agree with me. I went back to bed for a while. Then I got up and walked around the area for a bit. I wandered over to an upscale neighborhood where the A list folks live. There was an US embassy property there as well. I didn’t video any of that since there was security all over the area. It started to rain fairly heavy, so I get out of there by taxi. A 1 mile ride cost 32.50 pesos (about 72 cents!).

We started our new shifts this week. Today was 4am to 1pm for me. Next week we’ll swap schedules and I will work 8pm to 5am. Everything went well although it was very quiet. It was a nice introduction to the agents. They were stressing this day a lot, so the easy breaking in suited them just fine. We faired a lot better than the first group; which had a lot of technical problems.

A big problem for me was how to get coffee in the morning and what to eat for my lunch break. Most places don’t open until 10am and there’s nothing open at 3:30am. When I got home I decided to stay up until about 7pm or so tonight and then try to sleep straight through until I have to get up for work. We’ll see how that goes.

I did get some good news from my doctor. I emailed him a while back asking for help to sleep when I got home. His reply said he would have some sleeping pills waiting for me at my local pharmacy when I got home. That will be my last stop from the airport. Ah sweet sleep!

Tonight I had some dinner at a local restaurant. I tried some more of the local cuisine. I need to write down the names of the stuff I eat. I can never remember what it is. I did have a drink called Galumat a Sago (or something like that). It’s a kind of sugar drink with tapioca (sago) and a jelly that’s in pearl size balls. It came with a real thick straw. It was an odd sensation slurping that up. Then I had a dessert called halo halo (pronounced hollow hollow). It’s an odd mix of shaved ice, evaporated milk and all kinds of fruit and beans on top that have been dried or boiled. It’s served by itself or with ice cream. Both were very sweet.

Now I’m back at the hotel sipping my chamomile tea as I type this, before I call it a night.

A walk around Manila

I saw one sight today, the oldest church in the Philippines, Nuestra Señora de Gracia Church. Ground was broken in 1601 and completed in 1629. The hotel told me it would be fine to take the public train called the MRT to the stop for the church, but to take a taxi from the train station. I asked a policeman at the station where was the best place to get a taxi. He told me to follow him. After a bit of walking I asked him where we were going and he told me we were going to the church, "It's my service." I saw why after we turned the last corner to the church. It's in a very run down part of the city. His name was Leo and he said I would be fine after I got to the church and to take a jeepney or taxi to the hotel. He must have felt sorry for me because he stuck around (he wanted to say a prayer he said) and walked me back to the station. We had a nice chat to and from the church. He wanted to know what he had to do to find a cop job in the USA. I had no idea of course, but he wanted to give me his phone # and email address. I took it figuring it wouldn't hurt to have a police contact while I was here. I'll try to get some information to him of course. It's the least I can do. The pictures are of the church, the policeman Leo and the street.

The church was interesting. It's run by the Augustinian monks now. It's one of the most popular places in Manila for weddings. They were getting it ready for one when I walked in. I tried to video the statue of Christ that was in the back. They parade it on feast days. On certain feast days all the ladies where pink and the men wear light blue as those are the colors of the Virgin Mary.

The train was no problem. Lots of people on it; although I don't know where they were going. Almost nothing was open. Everyone was very quiet and minded their own business. It only cost 10 pesos each way (about 25 cents). It was clean and ran well. It was as good as any train in Dallas or Chicago.

After 10am most of the stores are open, but very few tourist sights. I had gone to the hotel concierge for some advice and they told me they would call me tomorrow with my options. I decided to go over to the Glorietta Mall to check things out and go to one of the super markets to pick up a few things I was running low on. It's just as well. The day stayed sunny and it got super hot. This will be the first day it hasn't rained at all.

I've gotten some requests for pictures of the hotel. I posted a video of the outside of the hotel I took while I was leaving this morning. I'll post some more. All the videos are at YouTube. My ID is jimtexan1. In the meantime, check out the website for some pics: http://www.shangri-la.com/en/property/manila/makatishangrila
The pictures there will be better than any I could take.

Sunday in Manila

Saturday was a non-event. I slept most of the day. I got up at 7pm, ordered some room service and then went back to bed at 11pm. I slept until almost dawn. I had a long leisurely breakfast at the hotel before heading out for a walk to explore the city.

Unlike last Sunday, this day was more kind to me and my walking tour. It was fairly cool with a light breeze, but very very humid. I was dripping wet by the time I got to the office a few blocks away. I went there to make a few calls home and, my luck being what it is, no one took my calls. Saturday night back home is not a good time to call, I guess. I’ll give it another try in a day or two.

I took some videos while I was walking. The city is so quiet on a Sunday morning. The vids were taken around 9-9:30am. Almost nothing was open. It was a bit odd seeing a major city all closed up at that time of day. Thankfully there was a Starbucks open near the hotel. I was able to get a frappuccino (with jelly aka tapioca). I’m posting the videos today-of my walk, not the coffee.

I came back to post this and cool off before I head off for more sight-seeing. I’ll share more when I return.

By the way; the date stamps of these posts may be confusing compared to the times and days I reference in the posts. Manila is 13 ahead of us in the Central Time Zone. For example when I was trying call earlier this Sunday morning, it was early Saturday evening back in the US.

Day 4 and complete

The last day of training is over. It was a long day, but the trainees seemed much more confident. We treated them to pizza for lunch and had cake for them to celebrate completing the week. They were a good bunch of people and I have high hopes for them to do well.

We have the schedules set up for next week’s work on the phones. The team will be split up in two for closer supervision and coaching. The times for the teams will be 8pm to 4am and 4am to 1 pm. Mare adjustments to be made to the sleep schedule; just as I was starting to get used to the old schedule and time change. Ugh, here we go again.

It took me a while to wind down this morning. I slept well once I did get to sleep. They are doing some construction on the exterior of the hotel and that kept waking me up, but I slept pretty good in spite of that.

I was too tired to go out or do anything by the time I woke early this evening. I ordered room service and watched some TV. Sorted my laundry/cleaning and caught up on emails and other work.

I’ll get out and about tomorrow to see some sights. I hope it doesn’t rain too hard!

Day 3 of training

This session was a bit more difficult We were reviewing the most important aspects of the trainees new privledges and responsibilities. It was rough going for a while, but they slowly started to get it and the pieces fell together.

I'm still impressed with the creativity of their presentations. They have so much energy and enjoyment in the production and participation. I have been shooting videos, but I forgot to charge my camera and the battery died right as the first presentation of this session began.
I'll be sure to be charged up for the last of the presentation tonight.

Tonight is our last day of training. We'll be surprising them with a meal and cake to celebrate their completion of the training. They were so excited when I told them not to bring any food. It's going to be fun to treat them.

Day 2 is over

The second day is over and went fairly well. The rain had let up after a big lightning storm last night. Traffic back to the hotel in the morning was horrible; the worst I've seen since I've been here. It took almost 30 minutes to get back from the office.

I took a walk after breakfast to find a bakery. I wanted to get a cake for the trainees to celebrate their completing the training. I bumped into a guy that works at the hotel who had the day off and he directed me to a nice place, but put the arm on me to advance a little cash for his sick wife. I had been warned about this. I gave him a few bucks and went on my way back to the hotel for a shower and will get into bed now.

We'll see what adventures tonight brings.

Day 2 of training

We had a brief respite from the rain which has no end. I'm sleeping most of the day, so it doesn't really matter.

Our second day of training is going well. We completed 1 of 3 assessments that will be wrapped up by Friday.

The trainees are composing some hotel presentations for the rest of the class. They are doing a real entertaining job. They are using games or TV shows as the vehicles to make it fun as well as informative. I am taking videos of their shows and will post some if they are ok with it. Two of the leads (kind of like supervisors) presented separate modules from the training manual. They both did quite well.

I think I'll be staying up this morning to do some walking around before I go to bed. That is unless it is raining cats and dogs again.

Finally got a good night's (day's) sleep. I had a big breakfast at 6am and got into bed about 8:30am. Tossed and turned a bit until 10:30am. I should have ate less at breakfast. I slept great until 5:15pm. The phone woke me up, or I might have slept longer.

I had dinner with Chris at a local restaurant near the hotel. We'll realx until we leave for the office at 10:15pm or so.

We have a small group for training, so it will relaxed and much more fun. I'll share more news about the first day when we return in the morning.

First day (night) at the office

7/26 (continued).

This evening went well. We got set-up at the office. There was the usual technical problems, which was expected. I would have been surprised if there wasn't any. Everything got sorted out in the end. The big surprise was our schedule. It has been changed from 9pm - 6am to 11pm - 8am. Oy!

The office isn't very far from the hotel; only 10 minutes or so. Everyone seemed nice. I'm looking forward to starting.

My attempts to stay awake during the night last night weren't very successful. I had breakfast at 6:30am and then returned to the room about 8:00am to doze off and on until mid-afternoon. I went out to get a little exercise and try to wake up. It was a sunny day and even more hot and humid than the day before. I almost wish it would rain again. After the drowning I already got, that's saying a lot.

Tried raising my co-worker, but I think he has his phone off the hook.

We'll be going into the office later tonight to check things out and get ready for the beginning of our training on Tuesday night.

7/25/10

It was dark and stormy day. Hot and humid too.

I went to an art museum across the street. It was raining cats and dogs. The umbrella I had, courtesy of the hotel, was of alm ost no use. I was soaked from the knees down as well as my arms.

It was a nice musuem. Lots of history of the caountry and comtemporary art. Met one of the srtists there; although he wasn't the friendliest guy.

By the time I got doen with that, I was ready to go back to the hotel and dry out. Later that night I went to a mall within a block of the hotel called Glorietta and had some dinner.

I tried staying up that night to get my schedule in sync with work, but didn't have much success.

Adventures in Manila

7/24/10

I am posting videos on Youtube of my time in Manila. My ID there is jimtexan1.

I and Chris, my co-worker (he's the big guy in the vids), finally arrived in Manila at about 11pm. We made good time from Dallas to Detroit; then hit a snag due our connecting plane arriving late in Detroit. We then got delayed further due to thunderstorms. It was midnight Saturday night local time by the time we got through customs and baggage claim.

We waited for a car from the hotel to pick us up. The guy there was very nice; giving us water while we waited. To make up for a long trip, they ordered a Mercedes to drive us back. Edwin, the driver, drove like a bat out of hell because he, "knew all we wanted was to get a warm bath and go to bed." During that quick trip we had damp towels, water and candy to enjoy. A whole army of staff welcomed us at the hotel and made sure we got settled in quickly.

I tried to video the sights on the trip to the hotel, but it was too dark and we were going too fast. I'll post some shots on Sunday.

The other vids from tonight are of our car and the room I have for the next 3 weeks. I'm going to get used this life style real quick.