Alize

On Tuesday night, after a 12 hour day, we hit Greenbelt Mall for dinner and took a different route home through the mall. One of the restaurants had bottles of liquor displayed on the bar and there were some that caught our eye as being different. One was Alize (accent mark on the "e") Gold Passion. "What was that?", we wondered.

We passed another bar and they had Gold Passion and Red Passion in the window. Cool. The restaurant manager talked us into coming inside for a drink. Sure!

So we had Alize on the rocks. Brett and Emily wanted to try the Red Passion. I thought Gold would be better. Wow! It was sweet and the taste of cognac wasn't noticeable in the Gold, although it was evident in the Red. The bottle said it was 16% alcohol. Holy cow! It was a French liquor. We really liked it!


Fast forward to the morning when an email from a friend tells me how ghetto Alize is. LOL! Even better was the link to the website, which shows just how Alize is in the US. Take a look and see for yourself - http://site94.synbeta.com/ECard/

What's funny is how this liquor is marketed to blacks in the US, but not in the Philippines. We just thought it was a girly drink. The bartender told us it's best drunk on the rocks and he too said it was more for women (and at 16% alcohol it's an easy way for women to get drunk!).

So I guess we have to enjoy drinking Alize in the last night we have together in Makati City because we doubt we will drink it in the U.S.

Wednesday night is now history here.... we have one more day remaining before my team heads home to Michigan and my vacation here begins.

More stories and photos to come from Palawan Island. If you want a preview of where I'll be, check out this website - http://www.elnidoresorts.com/ I'm staying at Lagen Island Resort. They tell me that wireless internet is free so I should be able to continue posting.

More shopping

And when the weather is still bad, we shop....which is an experience in itself here.

After spending more $ today at the mall, it's time to write about what shopping is like in one of the department stores here (think an equivalent to Macy's or Kohl's). There are a TON of people standing around to help.....but they're usually bored and are talking to each other than helping. Or they're following you around as you're browsing. But they're only responsible for a small section of the store. It could be a brand or type of clothes. And if you're interested in buying something, they have to go with you to the central cashier (there are usually a number of them on a floor).

At the check-out desk, there is usually only 1 cashier whose sole responsibility is to use the cash register. So on a busy weekend, there's quite a backlog of clerks with their customers. In one store, I probably waited 10 minutes or more to check out. In one store, we walked past a number of check-out stations before we found someone working at the register. It requires patience to check out.

Emily and I were checking out at one store (I found inexpensive belly dancing skirts!) and for whatever reason they had to ring her 2 blouses separately. We have no idea why. And they put her purchases in 2 bags. Made no sense.

But the prices are pretty good for non-US branded clothing. There are plenty of US-based stores such as Gap, Zara, Lacoste, Mango, but the prices in them are no bargain. On the other hand, the department stores or the local boutiques have some really nice clothes at much more reasonable prices.

I keep on saying that I'm tired of shopping, but yet my purchases continue. I'm so glad I brought my larger suitcase and had lots of extra room in it!

Only 4 more shopping days before I go on vacation!

Tropical Storm Cosme

A tropical storm in the area has wreaked havoc on our weekend plans. We weren't able to go see the volcano as it would require taking a boat to the island and the water is too rough and the weather is too bad for us to do so. It's also impacted the weather in Manila. Lots of off and on rainstorms for most of the week. :-( NOTE: Cosme killed 8 people in the northern part of the island we are on (Luzon). My sympathies to their families for their loss.

When the weather is bad, we shop. We returned to Green Hills Mall on Saturday to buy more pearls. Green Hills has a middle section of the mall where it's 2 floors of stalls of vendors selling stuff - knock-off purses, tourist items, clothing, cell phones and accessories, furniture, and pearls. The photo below doesn't quite convey what it's like, but just imagine the image x 50. There are lots and lots and lots of vendors. Everything looks the same after awhile, but upon close inspection are some product differences between vendors.

Bargaining is expected here. I admit, I'm not very good at it. But to me, when you're haggling over a one dollar, it just seems silly. It's still cheaper than what you'd pay in the US.

I need another strand of pearls like I need a hole in my head. Shopping tip - go to Shanghai if you want to buy inexpensive freshwater pearls, especially since the designs are more creative than they are in Manila. But I did buy a bunch of bracelets for gifts.....now let's see who will be on the receiving end???

Security, Part 2

The Philippines has had its share of terrorist activity by Muslim separatists in the southern island of Minandao. But there have also been isolated incidents further north as well. So security here is pretty tight, with armed security guards and bomb sniffing dogs *everywhere*. Since Makati City is the business center for the Philippines and contains lots of ex-pats, security is even tighter than other parts of the city.

Our hotel and office has a good view of the flight path. I noticed 2 black military helicopters hovering around the airport area. Apparently they escort certain planes (maybe international flights or flights coming from a certain city?) landing at the airport. It was pretty amazing watching the plane land, then the helicopters landed as well. I haven't seen the escorts often (a lot of international flights arrive in the evening) and don't see them with departing flights.

That's how serious security is in this country.

Friday Night in Makati City

It's 2 pm and I'm recovering from my Friday night.

We (yes, all 3 of us!) started with a series of facials at a clinic in our building after work. Everything from a facial to microdermabrasion to oxegenation peel left us with clean faces that were smooth as porcelain. All for $120. I even tried a laser resurfacing technique. The changes were quite dramatic. Who knew our faces were so filthy to begin with (although we knew the pollution here doesn't help)?

We found a restaurant in our building that is now our favorite place for lunch. It's called Gaster Deli and it's never busy. We're able to get a great meal (e.g., wagyu burger, pasta, salad, sandwiches) quickly and with great service. On Friday nights they have a wine buffet for $14 per head (for some reason they don't say "per person" here...it's "per head"). Last night it was 4 wines from Argentinia's Santa Julia winery and 2 from Spain's Rene Barbier. And canapes of tuna kebab (very tasty), smoked sirloin, eggplant bruchetta, salmon and egg crostini, etc. "Buffet" meant that we could eat and drink as much as we want, which we quickly realized was going to be a problem.

The first 20 minutes had us flying through 4 wines and at least 2 or 3 plates of food. Every time we finished a glass, our waitress (this was our third meal in 2 days here) was there replenishing. We were feeling pretty good! The favorite wine was the Santa Julia Shiraz/Malbec, which we could buy for $7. Either the exchange rate is really good or this was an incredible value. Too bad I just bought 15 bottles of wine from my Sonoma wine trip in April.

To top off a great meal and wine, we found out they sell Cuban cigars. Since I've never had a Cuban, Brett had to introduce me to them. So I had a Punch Coronation and Brett taught me how to properly smoke a Cuban (in the 4 times or so I've smoked a cigar in my life, no one really showed me how - thanks Brett!).

The wine plus the cigar buzz = me having to put my head on the table as the world was moving just too fast! An hour of drinking water while laughing with my head on the table (there are photos....not sure if I'll post them), I felt much better. At least I didn't pass out or get sick. Yeah, the Filipinos walking by were staring, but so what?

Here's a photo...I'm not that embarrassed about this b/c I was not passed out and I do have a smile on my face. :-) I needed to use Emily as my post. Probably the world was spinning to some extent. LOL!

Brett bought Romeo y Julieta cigars for the road since the restaurant closed at 11. We then proceeded to the Hard Rock Cafe across the street since we heard a decent band covering Journey the night before. The Hard Rock has a nice smoking section with closed circuit TVs to watch the band. The first band was decent. The second band was the Filipino of the Pussycat Dolls. Beautiful women, skimpy clothing, suggestive dancing and the same songs to boot. They also favored singing Fergie and getting people to dance with them. We have photos and videos of the girls...how could we not? Here's a link to a video shot by Emily.

http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=ngsqhk&s=3

Addendum: The group is called Mocha and they're considered to be one of the hottest girl groups from the Philippines. They're made up of girls named Mocha (lead), Bambie, Hershey, Grace and Bez. LOL!

We closed the joint at 2:30 am and the cigar buzz returned with a vengeance. I couldn't sleep. I felt like crap. Plus my room was freezing because I turned on the A/C before I left since they sprayed my room for cockroaches earlier in the day (I've seen 2 and had to complain). Luckily our volcano tour was canceled today due to rain and I finally got some sleep. I just woke up at 2 pm, feeling much better.

Not sure what we'll do this afternoon and evening. May be doing some shopping since there's not much else we need to see in Manila. We hope the tour will take place tomorrow. Let's hope for better weather!

Food, food, food

We've now been here for a week and a half and have eaten so many different foods. Tonight we had shabu shabu (Japanese style of cooking thinly sliced meats and vegetables in broth) after an evening at the spa (facials for the girls, foot massage for the guy).

Some observations about food thus far:

• We had dinner the other night at a Chinese noodle shop for less than $15 for 3 people. Two bowls of won ton noodle soup and seafood chow mein and we were full. Plus 2 watermelon shakes (very refreshing) and a can of San Miguel Pilsner. The beer cost less than the shakes.


• The Filipinos must love garlic. It seems to be everywhere. On the breakfast buffet we've seen garlic rice and fresh corned beef with garlic (it would've been perfect without the garlic). Even the butter at Outback Steakhouse had garlic in it.


• Pork is also plentiful, but we understand that they raise lots of pigs here and not many cows.


• Iced tea tastes like it was made from powdered Lipton iced tea. The fruit shakes (no milk) are much better than the tea. I had a pineapple one tonight and it tasted like pineapple sherbet. I had a watermelon, strawberry and grape shake this weekend and it was a great combination. I need to try a green mango shake before I leave.


• The country controller thought we were staying late at work last night and brought us hamburgers from a Filipino burger chain. It was good but loaded with a very heavy mayo. And it was a little on the sweet side and I don't know why.


• They have Shakey's pizza restaurants here and they're quite popular for lunch. I haven't seen or eaten at a Shakey's since growing up in Hawaii. The thin crust pizza is really thin and pretty darn good! Made for a great lunch.
  
  
• Starbucks has something called coffee jelly, a sweetened iced coffee shake with small coffee cubes (similar to bubbles in bubble tea). Apparently they're only available in the Philippines.

A number of people have been trying to get me to try balut, which a Singaporean colleague describes as "a half cooked duck egg that is about to hatch." Now doesn't that sound delicious? I'll try magenta salted eggs, but I don't know about this!

This post needs a photo....here's one of Brett at the ATM. Note the raised platform he's standing on because the Filipinos are rather short (5'3" is the average for women). Brett is 6'2" so he would have to bend down to see the screen.

Jeepneys

What the heck are Jeepneys you ask? They're made in the Philippines (we'll go on a factory tour next Saturday) and is the public transport for most Filipinos. It costs 7.50 pesos (about 18 cents) to hop on (literally) for a ride.

They're everywhere. Some are really pimped out. Others are really plain. Because they run on diesel, the pollution here is terrible. My eyes are bloodshot every morning.

The license plates here are pretty.

The monument to Jose Rizal, on which the license plate commemorates. Rizal was executed for treason against Spain on December 30, 1896. His execution inspired a revolution for Filipinos to fight for their freedom.