In Manila but Really Quezon City
Chapter 8:
A twelve-hour flight from New York City to Dubai! Then another 10 hours from Dubai all the way to the Manila Hotel (literally!) room. So, my body was expecting 12 noon but since I arrived at around 12 midnight and missed a day in the calendar, so I had to force myself to sleep for another 7 more hours. But wisdom told me to have melatonin, so I can quickly remove my jetlag because its July 4, 2007 in the Philippines but my body tells me it should have been noontime of July 2. Its rainy when I arrived and no welcome party, except a certain lady who waited for me when I saw her flashing my name, Vincent Jaiveer.
She introduced herself as Veronique, which coincidentally starts with V as my first name does. However, I introduced myself as Jaiveer and insisted to be called Jaiveer or even JV and not Vincent.
She led me to the chauffeured Mercedes Benz where she sat beside the driver and I sat at the back. One suitcase is all the chauffeur had to lift to assist me.
Veronique gave the instructions and we speed away.
Incidentally, she's very beautiful for a chaperon and at this time of the night, I wondered why she was sent and not another guy. She can pass for a beauty queen: tall, slim and confident. She stands straight and walks with that beauty-queen gait. I wouldn't mind having her as a girlfriend even if I do not have one in the US. She must have noticed me staring at her that she felt uneasy later. "May madumi ba sa mukha ko? (Is there something on my face?)."
I said, "Yes," and she looked surprised. Then I smiled, "there something on your face and it's called beauty."
She did not appear affected by what I said but rather deflected the conversation.
"You can understand Tagalog then?" She asked.
In which I responded, "Konti lang (a little), but I can understand much of Tagalog although I am not confident in speaking it."
"Marami ka pang kakaining bigas (you still need to eat more rice)" then she smiled back at me, almost naughtily.
"Saan ba tayo ngayon? (where are we now?) "I asked.
"Manila Hotel muna tayo, sir Jai," Veronica replied. "Makapag-pahinga ka muna, Sir Jai. One day ka muna diyan then ita-transfer ka sa mas malapit na hotel sa PBN, sa Quezon City – also called QC." (She said I need to rest first before I get transferred to a nearby hotel in PBN at QC)
I feel uncomfortable being called, 'Sir Jai' but I've been briefed by my parents years ago. A Filipino would call anyone 'Sir' as a sign or respect, especially if they recognize a person's stature, authority or seniority in which I do not feel qualified.
Anyway, I am more amazed at my quietness and excitement at the same time seeing Metro Manila at night on a rainy day.
About less than 60 minutes, we arrived at the Manila Hotel. A classy hotel room probably with more stars than the Hotel I stayed in the Big Apple.
Since its past midnight already, the quietness of the hotel is a bit eerie but the place is really good.
Veronique booked me in a Grand Deluxe Room with a window overlooking the pools below. Its rather large with some old-style panels, almost Hispanic style room. A room with a living room inside!
Even if my body tells me its just one o'clock in the afternoon, the travel tired me a lot, so when Veronica left, she gave the keys to the Hotel attendant, carrying just a single light luggage. We then waved each other goodbye.
Inside my rather brightly lit room, I started changing my clothes in front of a large mirror.
I still wonder how on earth I got here. I am not heavy looking at all, but closer to athletic build. Since I normally wear underwear or sometimes nothing while sleeping, the doorbell rang at so I covered up with a bathroom towel available and opened the door. A male attendant gave me a small box, saying it's a hotel courtesy.
I took the box, which of all things contains some snacks, a welcome card, small figurines. The figurines, are nice (native people statues), there's two of them so I just decorated them in my room and a small bottle of wine. It even has coffee sachets too. Nice!
I drank a little bit of the bottle of wine and immediately took to bed.
No sense roaming around now, all I need is to relax so I can look fresh tomorrow. No phone calls today, just all the time to relax after a long waiting day.
I forgot to switch the lights off and also forgot to turn the aircon to a slightly colder temperature, which made wake up later and found myself in the middle of the bed, completely naked. I must have been so tired that I forgot everything.
I went back to sleep, covering up a little with the blanket after switching the aircon to a colder temperature and tucked myself in the beddings, still completely naked.