Early bird gets worm! Worm does not turn!

A full day before noon!

Since I arrived in Manila, my social life has experienced a definite upswing, but it’s been a bit of work, as those who’ve been following my blog know. There’s been some ups and downs, and the same hustle that one would have to follow in the US to make and keep new friends/ contacts is applicable here. You can’t really rely on someone else to be dazzled by your awesomeness enough to just keep texting and emailing you.

I actually must hang my head in shame on this since after a pretty good start, I’ve let a few things slide. Firstly, in promoting my blog I joined an expat blog ring that I *never* check the message boards for. When I did check it after a few months (!) of neglect there were actually a few invitations from ex pats there that are now hopelessly out of date. ‘I’ve got wine!’ one even caroled promisingly, making me very sorry indeed that I let that go. (Sadly, it’s still being let go. I just never got in the habit of checking it when I pop into internet cafes, and an early “troll” experience made me a bit nervous about checking those messages.)

Secondly, after a few delightful outings with some of my newest friends, I slightly dropped the ball a bit and hung back, from a combination of being overwhelmed with work/ personal life drama, and being just broke enough that going out was not an option on those nights when I was remembering about my new friends. (Why am I broke? Manila is like NYC- when you get here you gotta bring your GAME and that means a lot more money is going into transportation and personal upkeep. Throw in a 200% raise in my rent and the loss of a stove for cooking cheap meals, and hello Greenwich Village in the 1970’s!)

Well, a few weekends of hanging around the house with just my puzzle and “Spy” wine coolers to pass the time, and I was back on the “making friends” merry go round real fast.

The first step I took back on the friend path was actually about a month ago- I got a tip from I’m not sure where to check out the American Women’s Club (it may have been in this little book “Silvia’s Book”--- a kind of yellow pages/ address book for ex pats in Manila- hello, where have you been all my life, book?!--so I checked it out on the web, and found that a bi weekly “Arrival Survival coffee morning” was coming up. These informal gatherings are hosted at the home of an AWC member, who was kind enough to open up her house to the unruly gaggle of ex pat ladies in need of coffee cake and a friendly chat.

When I got the confirmation email that stated the coffee was set up through the church and kids were welcome, I must admit I was a bit wary. Visions of awkward Amway/ Tupperware parties I’ve attended flitted through my mind. But I persevered, and it really worked out well. The house itself was in DasMarinas villages (Dasma to those in the know) one of the toniest neighborhoods in Manila- a gracious enclave of lovely 1950’s and 60’s California Cool/ Mediterranean houses set back from beautifully landscaped lawns and protected by piqué iron gates painted immaculate white- a kind of mini Beverly Hills, without the flash and the sparkle factor.

There were about 6 ladies there, 3 of which were over 40, with the rest of us scattered through our early and middle 30s. (unless I miss my guess!). The hostess was a mom of 3 who looked fresh as a daisy but not annoyingly put together, and she put on a very nice spread- coffee, coffee cake, fruits, tea, water, you name it. We congregated in the living room, which was refreshingly minimal, without some of those oversized monstrosities you see in some suburban homes- multi seat couches, huge looming lamps, sofa sized pictures, etc. Through the sliding glass doors a small turquoise pool sparkled in the intermittent sunshine. It was the picture of understated, homey, comfortable elegance. Naturally I was beset with “I must move here- itis”.

We all had a nice chat, for about 2 hours, just giving tips, laughing at some misadventures, and sharing stories. Just delightful.

The hostess was nice enough to loan me her driver to take me over to the church, where the headquarters of AWC is, so I could fill out an app and stick my head in the door. The office was manned by two Filipinas who were nice enough, but for one startled moment we were both caught off guard as I looked around trying to make sure I was in the right place.

After that, it was on to phase 2 of the day: Travel Plans!

A surprise four day weekend caught most of us here in the Philippines with our travel plans pants down, so like everyone else, I thought I was doing something “clever” by rushing to the travel agency yesterday (yes, they still have them, more on that later) to try to book a flight to somewhere with white sands, hollowed out coconuts with floating umbrellas in them, and endless sunsets. Two hours and wall to wall booked flights, “well, we still have our Swarovski crystal champagne heart velvet room left, for 200$ a night…”, and a rapid shuffle through Plans A-D and I was looking at a serious retreat for retrenchment.

Operation Tropic Thunder was out. Plan Z had to come in. On my “Philippines” bucket list is visiting a World Heritage UNESCO site called Vigan; a perfectly preserved 15^th century cobblestone adorable-zone WAY up north (about 10 hours by bus. And by 10 hours I mean 14- 16). It’s also accessible by plane (albeit there’s a plane ride and then a bus trip, but a much, much shorter bus trip). I booked a hotel, then scooted back to the travel agency earlier today (Thursday) after my let down yesterday (Wed) when I discovered that anyone with half a brain had already taken all the available seats on the Fiesta CharterMobile Prop Plane to El Nido. (My first choice destination).

Success was mine! A few minutes later I was the proud owner of a round trip ticket to Laoag airstrip and back! Whee!

Things you need to know to make this story come more alive:

1)The quaint little bustling travel agency of your dreams, circa 1962, complete with perky secretaries, walls of travel posters, overflowing file cabinets, ringing phones, multiple clocks showing the hour ‘round the world, and so on, is alive and well here in the Philippines. It’s not even a “cottage” industry. With an archipelago of 7000 islands, and with so many people opting to jump over to another island for a vacation, the travel industry is booming. Throw in a majority of people who use cash only and can’t book tickets via the internet or over the phone and who don’t know how to do it in any case, and you’ve got yourself an industry that’s not going ANYWHERE anytime soon.

I booked my entire trip to Cebu last year through an agency, and I actually really recommend it, especially if you’re in a foreign country.

Number one, save yourself the headache of screaming your name and email one agonizing letter at a time to someone who can’t really get it the first 50 times by letting a local do the talking for you. Number two, you get your tickets right then and there, no worries about “did this transaction really push through?” on the ‘net.

2) Air Fare to other islands is pretty cheap. I mean, it’s not taking the Greyhound (or in this case the “Victory Liner”) which is like, 10 dollars for as far as you can imagine, but if you don’t need to hole up at the Ritz at your destination, you can afford to drop everything and jet off to another island for a few days for less than 300 dollars, all said and done.  And the best part? With little island hopper planes you bring your luggage on the plane with you (usually overnight bags, since there’s a weight limit of 40lbs) and you get to use a STAIRCASE to get on the plane after crossing the tarmac-- no “umbilical cord” causeway thingie connecting the gate to the side of the plane. So glam! Just what you mentally picture when you think “I’m just going over to _____ for the weekend”. Packing up a bag and hopping on a flight, movie star style, hair whipping photogenic-ly in the wind created by the engine as you alight on the stairs to the plane.

G-L-A-M-OUR-OUS. The fast lane, that’s where I’ll be!