berowne.com

Thirteen hours from Detroit to Nagoya. Two more hours sitting slightly comatose while the plane fuels. Three more hours to Manila. Customs. A taxi. Finally, the New World Hotel, a few hours of fitful sleep and suddenly, Sunday morning.

One day of respite before two weeks of business. I wake up in Makati City, which could be Palm Beach. The weather is sunny and steamy, and the pool beckons. After some lazy laps and a luncheon cigar, I attack one of three books I’ve brought for the trip.

The New World Hotel keeps meticulous records. It seems every employee has been informed that I’m a returning guest, and I’m treated with “Sir David” at every turn. It takes some getting used to, but not too much. Knighthood is good.

I wander the Greenbelt shopping mall, huge and impressive by any standards, NY, Singapore, HK, you name it.

All in all, it’s shameful. This is not Asia. I need to move south, toward the equator, the rain forest and the agricultural bounty I’m here to inspect and purchase.

And so I will early tomorrow morning.

This entry was posted on June 23, 2013 at 3:37 am and is filed under Travel with tags Greenbelt, makati city, Manila, Philippines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.