"This is India, Irene" (Part I)

She'll get it.


My college (and beyond) friend from the US visited me as part of her "world tour"-- a global Odyssey that included stops in London, Northern India, and finally the Phil for 6 days of fun in the sun (literally).

I'll try to give you the details while they're still fresh in my mind--- but I might go back and add more later.

Wed: Irene arrives, looking fresh as a daisy off a 24 hour flight (I on the other hand am wrung out, after working a full shift at work before picking her up), and we taxi back to the house to drop off her stuff. Then it's off to eat and have some cocktails- I picked on of my favorite places, Sala Bistro, for a late afternoon pick up of flat pizzas and mojitos. We wandered to a few bars as the sun set, while she caught me up on all the places she's visited in India and various events that I've missed in the last 3 years. We had one final cocktail at Thai Silk (lemongrass martini) and talked about culture shock and traveling, then off to bed.

A full 12 hours later, we went to Apartment 1B for breakfast, then home to pack to go to Palawan for island hopping for 3 days and 2 nights. We took a plane to Palawan, checked into the hotel, then got a beer and went for a dip in the rooftop pool. (I have exceptionally good karma when picking hotels--I'm a hotel ninja). Irene picked a restaurant from Trip Advisor, La Terrasse, and we ate a very nice meal there. Off to a small local pub for a nightcap and then early to bed since we had to be up at 6 AM for the island hopping tour we had planned for the next day.

The island hopping trip goes to three spots: A coral reef that you can swim and snorkel around, Starfish Island, and Pandan Island. Irene was totally jazzed, myself less so, since I am not a strong swimmer and I've never snorkeled, but I champed it out and tried it, and while I can't say I enjoyed it 100%, I can see the appeal.

The main issue was this: the guide asked if anyone was a weak swimmer and I was the only person in the group with the stones to raise my hands and embarrass myself. Well, if you're a weak swimmer they give you a boat man who swims with a life ring and basically tows you around. I deliberately waited until a few people from other groups had gone before getting in the water when sure enough these two JERKS from my party swim up and literally push me out of the way to HOG the life ring and kick and push me the entire time. Uh, exsqueeze me? Baking Powder? I believe I was the weak swimmer here?

Anyway, it was a snorkel mosh pit. Had I rented flippers instead of swim shoes I would have swum out on my own, but as it was I wasn't feeling super confident about my swimming so I just gritted my teeth while some entitled b**** next to me jostled me around a World UNESCO Heritage coral reef (that was very lovely, however.). I can say that next time (if there ever is such a time) I'll go on my own, or with a much smaller group.

After the coral reef, we hopped to two more islands, Starfish, where we could feed the fish, swim and snorkel, and Pandan, where there was a bar, kubos, and tables, and a large beach and swimming area. We had a picnic lunch and got some sun, while the island cats and dogs (all very well fed from left overs) wandered around. These island cats were so large they looked like a miniature pride of lions sauntering around in packs, king of all the surveyed, bopping the Labradors on the nose when they got to close, and generally looking tough.

We checked out a super cute little place called The Gypsy's Lair Art Cafe

 for dinner, which was a great choice, and then went home and crashed. Breakfast was at the same place (it was super good) and Irene hung out there for a bit while I went souvenir shopping and then it was back on the plane for Manila.

That was Sat AM.

PM and part 2 later!!!

I thought that's just what people did when they came back from the war...

Just to get it out of the way, for those that might be somehow behind the curve....there's no more boyfriend, but it wasn't epic, or anything. Just another victim of the 24/7 work culture and Indian work- a- holism combined-- I just couldn't do it anymore, no matter how good it was, and it was good. There were other factors- he had this distance that almost all Indian men from India have- this odd combination of doting on you, adoring you, and yet somehow not really caring a whit about you, your thoughts, feelings, and opinions. It's hard to explain unless you've been there. Anyhow, it's for the best- although it's hard now, it's okay in the end.

Anyway, onto more exciting topics, like the events of the past few weeks- my birthday dinner and a few other ex pat events.

Birthday Dinner: It was at Lusso, and the attendees were: Haydn and Dee, Mark and Beth, Nimmi, and her two friends-- Shah and his wife Maria. Shah and Maria are from Pakistan (at least I assume she is, since he met her there and NO ONE visits Pakistan on some kind of vacation). We already know the aforementioned  men and their ladies (Haydn and Dee, Mark and Beth) so let me describe the latter 3. Nimmi is a new friend I met a few weeks ago. She's a banking exec by way of Dubai, with a warm, bubbly personality, and she's one of the few women who's ever successfully "Listen, cookie-d" me (She warned me to just have fun with Allwyn, as there was no way it was going to work. And lo, she was right!). She's always impeccably dressed, as ex pats from non European countries often are.

Her friend Shah is from work- they've known each other 8 years or so. Shah is a great example of the reason that I'm sort of screwed on the dating front-- I probably will never go back to American guys of any race after being exposed to the other types I've met "out here", but neither are these other types a good match (NOT that he's on the market, he's just a very distinctive type I've met here). There are many completely unique, different from any American I've ever met,  men here. (Well, I can think of one American who is unlike any man I've ever met, who I'll never forget, this dude Mike Lair, who was my muse for about 3 years, but he is the exception to the rule).

The self possession, power, control, deep sensuality, self mastery, confidence, and global views these men have FAR surpasses anything any American I've ever met has ever had, and this includes extreme high roller businessmen. Now, Americans, including me, have a sweetness, innocence, and openness about them that extremely attractive to worldly, powerful, old souls like these guys, which is why I've been landed on like a piano about 8572 times in the last 2 and a half years. As I told a friend recently "These men make most white guys look like children." And they do. Shah himself is tall, and not super exceptionally good looking, but he has made the most of what he has to an almost laughable degree: perfectly fitting clothes, an excellent hair cut, and all of his details are managed- his skin, nails,and teeth are all clean and correct. He has a deep dimple on one side of his face that gives him a rakish charm, and he also has what I think of as "an aristocratic lisp"-- just the slightest hint of a lisp that international types often carry.

However, despite these considerable charms, this guy can make your blood run cold with hints of his nature (which he did not choose, it was instilled in him by his culture). A primo example is how, at last night's outing, he read the tapas menu at the bar (ignoring both me and his wife waggling our fingers for it) and declared there was no vegetarian food so "just eat at home". AND THAT WAS THAT. Menu back to the waiter, with that devastating dimpled grin. (We three were the only vegetarians at the table). He handled all the interactions with the waiter, and let me tell you, at this table were super high powered women, some of whom were older and more powerful than him. No matter. He had the one thing that really matters over here: the "cash and prizes" that comes with being a man. This is just how it is. These guys make you feel simultaneously like a million bucks and half a lottery ticket... from yesterday.


More later...