My trip to Makati Philippines

7 June 2008 - 17 June 2008
Makati, Manila, The Philippines

After 3.5 hours flight, we reached Philippines!


First thing that greeted me, poor luggage system


Luggage jammed and no one is doing anything about it

More and more people waiting for their luggage and I waited 30 mins for mine!


Still jammed!!!


Finally I got my luggage and proceeded to find a taxi to bring me to the apartment



Took the metered taxi, the fare is so cheap!


This is the road name of the apartment where I stayed. L.P. Leviste in Barangay Bel-Air. According to my colleagues, this is like River-Valley in Singapore.


High rise apartments


7-11 and MiniStop conveniently located within vicinity


After unpacking our luggage and rested for a while, we went for our dinner in this family-run Korean restaurant. The noodles are delicious! I couldn't stop complimenting the noodles while i was eating it, and throughout the entire trip. Unfortunately, I did not bring my camera because we were going to club that night, as I didn't want to misplace it.

After dinner, we went to Malate, the area with a lot of clubs and bars, somewhat similar to Mohd Sultan or Boat Quay. No pics, but we enjoyed ourselves, the alcohol were cheap and we drank to our hearts content!

On Sunday, P brought me to Tri Noma in Quezon City, one of the newest malls there and apparently quite high end. Like the Paragon of Singapore. We shopped, and shopped and still shopped.

Bench, People are People, Euro Edition, etc, so many nice brands there, great for shopping lovers!

We both agreed that somehow the shopping in Tri Noma can replace Hong Kong because the quality and design of clothes there are as good as (or close to) Hong Kong, but you pay less!

I bought a pair of Euro Edition jeans for about 4000 Pesos, which is about SGD$130, and the design is so nice, I love it! A pair of jeans like that could have cost me SGD$200-$250 in Hong Kong or Singapore?


Look at the embroidery!


All in all, I spend SGD$300-400 or 9000 Pesos in TriNoma? I lost track, will wait for my credit card bills.

Monday, went to Philippines office located in Makati City. One word. BEAUTIFUL!

Their small group morning briefings


Listening attentively


Dinah


Getting ready for work


A view of half the call centre


Individual work station, fully computerised


9.30am sharp, start work.


I like this, their Coaching Station



Trying to take a picture of the full view of the call centre. However, because the area is too big, I did not manage to do that.


Locker area, for them to lock their belongings. No handphone rule applies.


Having some discussion


Smile . . . this is a quarter of the team


First lunch in office, KFC delivery. Regretted the moment my food was served to me. No chilli. Sauce is bland. Argh. No more KFC in Philippines!


Quality board.


One of the top agents there


Pantry


Interview waiting area


Training room for new hires



Monday to Friday was all work, auditing, interviews, training and coaching, etc.

During the week itself, tried out different restaurants. Realise there are a lot of Korean restaurants in Philippines. By the way, if you are a chilli lover, DO BRING ALONG A BOTTLE OF CHILLI WITH YOU IF YOU GO TO THE PHILIPPINES, OTHERWISE YOU ARE GOING TO REGRET! You cannot find chilli there. Yes, not even fast food restaurants.

This is a monkey that is chained outside the premises of a Korean restaurant I dined in twice. This Monkey is so interesting. Looking at it makes me happy.






Video


The Korean restaurant I was talking about. Ma San Garden. Food is disappointing.


The lady boss dressed in traditional Korean costume


Delectable "looking" side dishes


The super bland, super unsatisfying Kimchi instant noodle.


Dumplings


Beef Bulgogi


Another restaurant Super Bowl of China


Snacks before meal is served


Every table has this Tsingtao beer on it. Just wondering why they are not promoting their local beer St Miguel or Red Horse instead of Tsingtao?


Roasted Chicken


Exterior of the restaurant


Max's Restaurant


Delicious half spring chicken with garlic rice


Greenbelt, they have 1-6 I think. So so only. Restaurants there have no air-con and they charge restaurant prices, so you can give this place a miss.


On Thursday, met up with Jennefer and Noel and they drove us to Fort Bonifacio, another high end residencial and shopping area.

I found a World of Fengshui by Lilian Too there and got very excited.


The waterfront area



We ate in Brothers Burger


Every burger description on this menu is super tempting


Burger presentation is nice too. But, turn out the burger is really quite normal. I still prefer my McSpicy burger from McDonalds!


Krispy Kreme, the donut franchise every Filipino would rave about.

Mall of Asia in Pasay City. The largest mall in Philippines and third largest mall in the world. So how could I leave Philippines without taking a look at the mall.

The outside area somehow reminds me of Shanghai Pudong, minus the nicer view in Shanghai. P, D and myself walked aroundthe whole stretch of restaurants at the alfresco area of Mall of Asia, and we could not find a restaurant that accepts credit card. Can you believe it? 3rd largest mall in the world, and they still do not accept credit cards? So primitive!

Then we found a seafood restaurant that accepts credit cards and we sat down. We looked at the menu and were surprised that the food was so cheap. Then I saw something suspicious. On the menu itself, the prices stated are the "Cooking Charges"!!! Not the actual price of the food we are going to pay.

In another words, they are cheating and misleading people!!! Imagine if customers walk in and they order a FEAST because they think its cheap, and when the bill arrives, they are going to get a rude shock!

When we found out it was a gimmick, we walked off!

This is the proof.


We ended up eating at "Fish & Co"! Boring to the max. We went all the way to the Philippines and we dined in a Singapore chain.

My not-so-sambal-at-all Sambal Fish

I have to give credit to this very tasty Pineapple Smoothie

Interesting shop name "Dogs and the City". Well, you should have guessed, it a shop for dog lovers.

Their book store, like Borders.

One thing about Mall fo Asia, or rather most of the malls in Philippines, is that they are not fully air-conditioned. Doesn't this look like Chinatown point?

Ok, I love this SM Hypermarket. I bought some toiletries there. CHEAP!

We wanted to take a cab from the taxi stand, and to our horror, look at the freaking queue!

Lucky, they have another taxi service, but its more expensive. Doubled the price, but half the waiting time. Why not?

Like I said, there are so many Korean restaurants, so we ended up in another one during lunch time.

Finally, on the last night before we left Manila, P and I went to this Fine Dining restaurant near our apartment. Apartment 1B. the crowd are mostly expats and rich tai tais.

Mango smoothie


Appetiser 1: Crab Cake

Appetiser 2: Chicken Quesadilla with Salsa

Appetiser 2: Scallops

Main Course: Ribeye steak. (Very nice)

Burger

Cocktail: Cosmopolitan

Damage: 6000 Pesos = SGD$200

Enjoyment: Priceless

Time to go back. Reached the airport early as we did not want to rush. Philippines airport security is atrociously tight. Have to take off belt, shoes, ring, everything. Sickening.

Lunched at this coffeeshop in the airport after checking in

Curry Chicken Rice. Disappointing. I miss the Curry Chicken at Ave 8 near my house. By the time you are reading this, I would have eaten that at least once.


The Philippines government is nicer to their smokers. Short and sweet message.


Bought foodstuff for my staffs.

OMG, this one is so delicous. I regretted not buying more. This is what they call cheese buns or Ensaymana. I bought the salted egg flavour and chocolate flavour, something different.

Philippines famous for mangoes

Chocolate Mallows



My business trip to the Philippines was great, and though I was not used to the food there (no chilli), but I am looking forward to another trip to the Philippines, if there is another opportunity.

Total Expenditure: Approx 30,000 Pesos or SGD$1,000!

To sum up my trip

What I love about the Philippines:

1. Massage is so cheap

2. The people are friendly

3. Shopping is good and cheap

4. Not so fast pace

5. Good looking people everywhere

What I dislike:

1. Pollution

2. No chilli

3. Food mostly bland

4. The ridiculous airport security

5. Taxi drivers always taking long routes

Do visit Manila if you have the chance!

Before and After Marriage

Before Marriage

He: Yes, at last, it is so hard to wait!

She: Do you want me to leave?

He: No! Don't even think about it.

She: Do you love me?

He: Of course! Over and over!

She: Have you ever cheated on me?

He: No, why are you even asking???

She: Will you kiss me?

He: Even chance I will get.

She: Will you hit me?

He: Are you crazy? I'm not that kind of person.

She: Can I trust you?

He: Yes.

She: Darling . . . .

After Marriage

Simply read the same from bottom to top!!! ROFLMAO!

Men are happier than women!

Why is that so? Read the below and see if its true!

Nicknames

If Laura, Kate and Sarah go out for lunch, they will call each other Laura, Kate and Sarah.
If Mike, Dave and John go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Godzilla and Four-eyes.


Eating Out

When the bill arrives, Mike, Dave and John will each throw in $20, even though it's only for $32.50. None of them will have anything smaller and none will actually admit they want change back.
When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators.

Money

A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs.
A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't need but it's on sale.

Bathrooms

A man has six items in his bathroom: toothbrush and toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a towel .
The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify more than 20 of these items.

Arguments

A woman has the last word in any argument.
Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

Future

A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

Success

A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.
A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

Marriage

A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.
A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, but she does.

Dressing up

A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the trash, answer the phone, read a book, and get the mail.
A man will dress up for weddings and funerals.

Natural

Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed.
Women somehow deteriorate during the night.

Offspring

Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favorite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.
A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

LASTLY,

A married man should forget his own mistakes.

There's no use in two people remembering the same thing!

(This is just for humour, pls do not take this seriously...)

What is your Life Path Number?

Marc's Life Path Number is 3

Your purpose in life is to express your unique self. You are a creative and artistic person with an interesting view on life. Witty and outgoing, you enjoy sharing your crazy ideas with anyone who will listen. A total social butterfly, you're the life of any party. In love, you inspire and enchant your partner. You are often an object of fantasy and desire. While you are very talented, you sometimes lack the ambition to put your talents in play. And while your wit carries you a long way, you occasionally use it to mask your true feelings. Your natural abilities can bring you all the success in the world ... if you let them

What Is Your Life Path Number?

10 Ways to know if your BF (Best Friend / Boy Friend) is GAY!

(Original content from Marc, pls do not copy)

Suspect your best / boy friend is gay? Well, if your friend possesses 80% of the points mentioned below, likely he is tilted towards the other side.

1. He strongly believes that platonic friendship between girls and guys exist.

2. He loves to shop, especially in high end fashion boutiques.

3. He is comfortable even though he is in the lingerie department with a gal friend.

4. He does not believe in marriage.

5. He looks into the mirror or reflection whenever there is an opportunity to check himself out.

6. He gets emotional watching soapy dramas or sentimental movies.

7. He hates soccer!

8. He does not talk about girls, and when a group of guys start discussing girls, he gets bored and turns away.

9. He watches Manhunt and other male beauty pageants without leaving his seat throughout the entire show.

10. He rolls his eyes when he is unhappy or sarcastic.

Sounds familiar? Hmm . . . .

It rained money in Indonesia!!

The day it rained money as £6,000 thrown from plane to Indonesia's poorest

Money fell from the sky in Indonesia today... and into the waiting arms of the country's poorest residents.

The mad dash for the cash -which was thrown from a plane in a marketing stunt -left many cut, battered and bruised.

A girl of 13 collapsed and had to be taken to hospital.



The 100million rupiah, or nearly £6,000, up for grabs amounts to a fortune in the South-East Asian country.

Those who managed to snatch a few notes took home more than they could earn in a month.

The money was dropped by author Tung Desem Waringin as a stunt to promote his book on business motivation.

With the cash bundled in bills of 1,000 and 5,000 rupiah (between 5p and 25p), he set off in the light aircraft to fly over a football stadium in Serang, 40 miles from the capital Jakarta.

Rumours of the stunt had been circulating for at least a day and the stadium was filled with the city's poor.

On the first and second runs, the notes fell 500 yards from the stadium, so the crowds dashed from the ground to scoop up what they could.

On the third run the money fluttered down into the stadium so they all had to scamper back into the arena.'



(News extracted from Reuters)

Can some "feel-rich" authors do the same publicity stunt in Singapore please?

When your mobile phone rings, it can wake the dead!

The "Pls switch off your handphones" teaser for Money No Enough 2. Its quite funny!



Remember to catch Money No Enough 2!

10 ways to know you are no longer a GIRL but an AUNTIE

Original content from Marc, pls do not copy.

1. When you pass by a place with a long queue, you join in the queue as well. You do not even bother to find out what the queue is for, because you believe if there is a queue, the people must be queueing for something good.

2. When you see someone giving out freebies like tissue, sanitary pad, magnets or key-chain at a roadshow, you intentionally walk towards the person so you will get the free gift. Sometimes you even attempt to walk over a few times so you can get more designs or colours.

3. When you are waiting for the train to come, you stand right at the centre of the platform screen door so you will be the first to go in.

4. When the platform screen door opens, you rush in, at all costs, to make sure you get a seat. If you see an elderly who needs the seat more than you do, you quickly close your eyes and pretend to be sleeping.

5. On the bus, you put your "barang barang" on the seat beside you, so that no one else can sit there because you like to sit alone. Also because you want to make your bus fare worth every cent.

6. You go around asking strangers in a shopping mall for receipts they do not want because you want to take part in the "Lucky Dip" organised by the shopping mall. Every $50 gives you one dip, so you accumulate more receipts for more chances.

7. You talk loud on the phone regardless of where you are, because you do not care what others think about you as long as the other party on the phone can hear you loud and clear.

8. You bargain everywhere, even if its for just 10 cents.

9. You rather shop in sub-urban neighbourhood shops because the clothes in town are too "loud" for you. Moreover the clothes in town do not have those flowery patterns you want.

10. You like uncles.

:P

(Nang me!)