A major point in us hanging about in and around Indonesia is that we had been invited to our mate Brad’s (featured regularly) milestone birthday party in the Philippines. So we returned to the Philippines from Indonesia and met up with a group of people who were similarly inspired to attend.
Before the festivities began in earnest we managed to get a few days catching up with people in downtown Makati.
We got to see some great friends (some long time readers of our travels), met some new ones and got to know some previously casual acquaintances better.
Our accommodation was in downtown Makati and was perfectly reasonable, with a rooftop pool and ideally located amongst the bars and restaurants.
The only issue with the hotel was that it had the slowest lifts we had ever experienced, and that there was no separate service lift for the staff. This meant that every time you entered the lift, there was 2-3 staff members moving about from floor to floor. This included large cleaning trolleys, maintenance staff with tools and ladders, room service trolleys. Virtually every trip in the lift (which fits about 6 people) had at least two staff members in there.
This got even worse when you worked out that floors 3 to 5 were administration floors and the office staff would routinely get on at 3 and off at 4, for the next to get on ad 4 and off at 5. And the same in reverse as you went down. It is a symptom of having old buildings, with no service elevators, but it is something that is very rarely encountered and was more than a little annoying.
A relatively large group of Brad’s friends assembled for the do, with most flying in from Australia. The main party was to be on a boat on the weekend, but the crew started assembling from about Wednesday night. This meant that some pre-party get togethers and catch ups were to take place, well before the actual event.
When the day of the party finally arrived, several of us had already embarked on 3-4 late and liquid nights in a row. This may be fine when we were in our 20’s, but none of us fit that bill any longer. The party boy had arranged (or rather Nora had) for a bus to pick everyone up and take us to Subic Bay and return us a couple of days later. Needless to say, there were esky’s on the bus, and a couple of comfort stops (and a rare appearance of Mike’s legs in shorts)..
Subic Bay
The actual party was to be held on a boat cruising the magnificent Subic Bay. This is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon about 100 kilometres (or 3 hours) northwest of Manila Bay. The Bay is a protected deep-water harbour and has been the focus of maritime conflict for hundreds of years. Subic Bay has been occupied by Spanish, Japanese and American military forces and played a pivotal role in both the Spanish-American War and World War 2.
Brad had us all checked in at a (once) amazingly lavish hotel right on the beach. While not a shadow of its former glory (there were photos) the place was lovely and a great time was had by all there (still not party day).
Finally the day came and we all loaded on the but from the hotel to the marina where we were surprised, nay shocked, to find a tiger on a leash (baby) wandering about the carpark.
It was from a local wildlife park and was a promo to try and get people to attend.
It was an unexpected surprise.
At the marina, a minor miscommunication and panic, followed by a very calm and pleasant boat journey and meal.
The only real issue that was felt was the Philippine contingent’s excitement over singing happy birthday. Having done the song, there was ‘a one more time’ and another, and another. After the fifth rendition the Aussies tapped out and walked away. I believe that there were several more after that.
Party over, back in Manila, some departed on early flights while others hung around for a few more days. Those that stayed, planned an impromptu visit to the neighbourhood of Intramuros and more specifically Fort Santiago. Intramuros was the seat of government during Spanish rule (1571 until 1898). Spain surrendered the Philippines and several other territories to the United States and the American flag was raised at Fort Santiago on August 13, 1898.
In December 1941, the Japanese Army invaded the Philippines, taking the city. In January 1945, the battle for Manila began when American and Filipino troops (including guerrillas) confronted the occupying Japanese force of 30,000. The result was heavy damage on the city.
At one point on the second last day we were seated at a restaurant having lunch and decided to share photographs with those in attendance. This saw Jill and I as the youngest at the table and a bunch of people trying to work out what buttons to push on the technology in order to get the desired result. Needless to say that this was not a quick or simple exercise.
During the conversation the concept of how to make the ‘airdrop’ function work arose and much bumbling ensued. After a while I commented (to an unnamed member of the party) that you needed to turn yourself on first. Within a fraction of a second his darling bride responded with no worries there, he knows how to do that.
Laughter ensued.
