paradise

So...

This is from about 3 weeks ago- a wonderful experience.
Tuesday night I went to work from 10-7, and from 7 am-9am I had a break to fill, so I texted Daddy O for recommendations as to what places would be open at that hour. He said “Holiday Inn Clark opens at 6.30am, or McDo”( as they call it over here). So, obvs I picked Holiday Inn, which was so amazing.

The Holiday Inn Clark is very lavish, a five star resort with a huge pool, several gourmet restaurants, etc. The buffet was the largest, most lavish buffet I’ve ever seen, with 5 types of juice, French press coffee, toast, an omelet station, meat station, fruit station, waffle station, pancake station, and pastry station. All the food was fresh and gorgeously presented. It was a splurge ( 700p), but I had eggs, melon, two mini croissants, a mini Danish, two cups of coffee, and bacon. It was worth every penny. The espresso cup was fine china, the food to die for, and it was a much needed “spa” experience after a hard last few days.

I sat at a high back bench and just took in the atmosphere- rich Asian businessmen, Westerners with their flat- sounding voices( the largest group I’ve ever seen, swanning around with bored- looking faces and saying things like “so that melon thing is a no-go, huh?”, the Pinoy waiters all chattering away in Tagalog and hanging all over each other, as they do.

Afterwards I went to the CDC ( Clark development center) for my visa interview (which just determines that you haven’t been here all along and are just now applying for your visa). I plan on going back later this morning to take pix because it was so beautiful there- the old army maneuvers mall, the gorgeous gardens. About 8 am is the best time of day over here- not too hot, just beginning to stir, sun rising, everything is quiet, less traffic, sleepy guards just completing their shift. If you can, look up pix on the internet of Holiday Inn Clark ( of course I didn’t have my camera with me!! But I’ll be back in a month or two for a treat).

After breakfast I bought “Rogue” magazine at the lobby shop and curled up in the lobby to watch the drug dog sniff the baggage of incoming guests (!!)( and the cute police man play with the dog between guests) and wait for the car service.

I ran into Stefan, who works for [company project], he’s from Germany and [company] is putting him up at the Inn. He was just coming in from work, tired but still totally put together, natch. He told me stories about going to Pinatubo in his charming German accent, of course peppered with profanity since that’s the first thing anyone learns in English.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he grins delightedly and flings his long, tan, European self into a chair for a good chat. Today is his last day, but he’ll be back in “Chanooary”, so all of us “over here” are to “keep in touch”.

So, having a lovely long luxurious breakfast and seeing a part of Clark I haven’t seen restored my good spirits, and I feel much better than yesterday.