Day 1 – Manila Hotel

Damn im sticky. And tired. Ever since we arrived at 3am this morning (September 3rd here in Manila), my aunt and I have been fueled by our adrenaline. At this point I think my aunt’s adrenaline has been used up because she just KO’ed, dead asleep on her bed. 12 hours after our arrival we finally settled into our room. It’s 3pm now.

My aunt decided last week that we’d be spending our first few days at the Manila Hotel, a very old hotel with huge wood-laden interiors preserved from the Spanish-era. This place reminds of the movie “The Shining” so enough of that.

The children whom she’s been waiting to schedule surgeries for will be arriving tomorrow night. And we are very excited for that.

We spent our first 12 hours here making the usual post-arrival errands like buying sim cards, buying pesos, getting fat, sweating, and meeting our driver Alex.

As my aunt scoped the Malate area for cheaper hotels closer to the hospital, Alex “educated” me on some minor tidbits in the area. He pointed out the D.O.M’s with their G.R.O’s (Dirty Old Men with their “Guest Relations Officers”) as my aunt teased that I should look for a G.R.O myself. No, I don’t think so.

It’s been a long time since I felt I was doing something novel. Soaking in all the new information, absorbing the new smells, directions, Tagalog words, way of life, sounds, and starting a completely different diet, helped me remember that a human being can actually withstand a tsunami of information to the senses. So this how its like to feel alive. Im also guessing that this was how it was like being born.

Im still debating whether to take an airplane (an hour ride) or a boat (a 24 hour ride) to Bohol for my 2nd and final leg of my trip (the boat ride is much cheaper). If there is anything I learned from my aunt today, a person I barely even know, its that finding out things as you go is way more productive than finding out nothing as you do nothing.