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.