In Philippines

It is 10.33pm.. I'm in Manila and I'm in the office..

I got here yesterday at about 4pm...luckily at about 6 something in the morning I remembered that I could do the web check in and change my seat. So i got up at about 7am and went to do it. Thank God that i managed to get a seat at the front near the exit. I found out later that the flight was only half full (By God's Grace I am sure since every trip I have made to Philippines on a Sunday flight is always full!)

So the flight itself was ok. A bit bumpy due to turbulence but other than that ok. They showed High School Musical 3... Since I got out of the plane fast I avoided the long long looonng queue that the Manila airport is famous for, got my baggage even quicker (it was among the first 10 bags out the ramp), grabbed a cab and got to the hotel. Truly truly Gods grace!

So got rested up and then met Jean to do a bit of shopping. She took me to Market Market another mall that I havent been too before. But besides being a mall, they have an open air area with fountains for people to hang around and some interesting stalls. I bought this Yema bun which is basically buns with condensed milk in it.. sugar overload man! Then we went to have Philipino food for dinner which of course consisted mainly of pork!

After that we just walked around for awhile then I came back to the hotel. Watched Beautiful Girl - the movei starring Fran Drescher and that girl from Hairspray (i forgot her name). It was a nice show. Tried to sleep but had trouble - because my baby not with me la :-( I got up at about 6am+. After having my shower and getting dressed, I went down for breakfast and then caught a cab at about 7.40am. Reached office in 10 minutes and was amazed to realise that one of my staff was here at 6.15am! Wow!

So the rest of the day was a busy day of meetings, emails, checking up on work, dealing with issues. I couldnt resist so at about 10am I went down to Starbucks (which is at the ground floor or our building) and grabbed a Strawberries and Cream Frap! I tasted it last time I came. Its delish!!! I dont know why they dont have it in Msia!... Oh well...At 1pm, Jean and I went to PLDT (the local Telecoms) to get the phone lines sorted out. We got back to the office at 2.30pm and went to Paseo Centre to have lunch at Inangsal, one of their franchise chicken places.

Then back to office where Jet the accountant was supposed to come see us at 3pm but she only showed up at almost 6pm!!! Anyway, I was too busy to notice or care.

So after my meeting with her, I carried on with work. The APAC team finished their sales brief with Wayne and then went home. At about 7pm+ Jean and I went to Landmark. I bought a pair of jeans and a top. Checked out a couple of bookstores and then we came back. I grabbed some McD's and came back up to the office to continue with work. The US team were here already.

Had a discussion with Marc, ate my dinner, had a meeting with the US Sales team, another discussion with Marc and Jen and now blogging.

I'll probably go back about 12am I think. I dont think I can last longer. I am pretty stonned at the moment. I am dying for a caramel macchiato but I have got to keep my Starbucks to a limit of one a day :)