Day Five (and Six)

Day four flub:
I wrote that on Day four we were hosted by the national Folk Company but that was day three. See what happens when one writes while drunk. LOL Day four dinner was at a Filipino restaurant where I had my first taste of Crablets, which are mini whole crabs that you eat in their entirety (shells, legs, head and all). Tasted like chicken! We also had the best Crispy Pata ever which is piggy on the bone, succulent, with crispy fried skin. From there we went to Air Force One.


Day Five: Last day of aikido, seeing Mom again, party in the Hamptoms

Waking up this morning was much more difficult than the others. After all the physical activity then booze on top of that, I was exhausted but I still managed to my Filipino breakfast in. After washing up we headed back to the training area. One of the Filipino aikidoists walk past me and asked how I was doing. With my hand on my knees, slouched over, I said I was tired. Sensei was also walking past me at that time and with a smirk he said I know why you are tired and continued past me. I was unsure if he was referring to all the uke work I did the day before or whether he knew we went to Air Force One or whether it was just the fact I got inebriated. He knows us in Chicago like to party so it could be that.

The seminar ended after another 3 hours of aikido giving me an hour and a half to wash up and go out with jay’s mother and sister once again. They wanted to feed me again, and I was more than happy to except. We ended up at the Mall of Asia for a light lunch which ended up being Crispy Pata (again), calamari, and bbq pork belly (absolutely remarkable!). After that light lunch we took a boat tour of Manila Bay. It was a perfect way to spend the afternoon after all my previous activities. Jay insisted to his family they get Breadtalk for me to take back to him. Breadtalk is the name of a bakery. He loves their bread. Trying to find parking in this mall was insane so Jay’s sister Lyle left his Mother and I alone in the car parked along the bay while she hikes back to the mall to purchase Jay’s demand. Mom and I smoked and laughed the entire time. She is going through a rough patch now because her “husband” has been on the unfaithful side so she is fed up and wants to start a new life. That new life is to move in with Jay which was planned for mid January. Jay currently lives with his ex wife. Are you seeing the 2008 living picture….? Jay, his Mother, ex-wife, and ME!!! Won’t this be worth a newsletter rebirth or more fitting…a Guylicious blog? FYI: Things have changed…jay’s mother is coming in next weekend. Lyle returned and it was time to get my ass back to the hotel because we had one more final evening event to attend.

I thought it was going to be held at some restarant but it ended up being in Las Pinas, a gated community considered part of metro Manila. This is where jay lived and where his family currently resides. If I knew that I would hve packed my change of clothes and stayed with the family more but that is hindsight now. In Las Pinas, things looked relatively the same, motorized cab-like bikes, traffic hell, but there in the downtown was Starbucks. Strangely we also saw our first jogger and dogs being walked on leashes as opposed to stray dogs fucking on the streets. The homes were beautiful in this gated community. Kind of odd to see this among the poverty minutes away. The homes looked very similar to the Jay’s parents home so I was wondering if I was in the same community or not. It turns out most likely I was. The party was arranged outside in the front lawn which was decked with banquet tables and chairs and a massive food spread including an entire roast pig. I hardly to eat anymore and it appeared only beer was the liquor option. I had two beers and it was doing nothing for me, just bloating me. I ended up sitting with the Malaysian group who I learned were big partiers. In a matter minutes after making a whiskey comment a full bottle of whiskey appeared at our table. Life was good then. No more beer. Needless to say I partook in that bottle. The night was filled with a limbo contest, musical chairs, picture taking, and booze.

The next morning we wanted to get to the airport fairly early for our 1 pm flight out. Manila traffic on a Monday morning was going to e hell and we were advised to get to the airport by 9:00 am so we left at 7:00. We got to the airport earlier than expected and had 2 hours to get through the initial check points prior to getting our boarding passes. We still had 2 hours before boarding but luckily for us we found the Manila Club where if you pay $12 you can drink all you want for free, eat at the small buffet, and relax in real furniture. We certainly got our moneys worth there. The club attendant notified us that our plane was boarding so we left feeling pretty good. 21 hours later we were back in the USA only to find out the the beautiful City of Chicago left me with a parking ticket.