Greetings from Makati, the heart and soul of the metropolis known as Manila. This is a city I don’t frequent much, in fact, I normally try to avoid it whenever possible. But as I mentioned previously I had business to attend to at the American embassy and this is where that’s at.

Arrived yesterday afternoon following a harrowing drive through murderous traffic with my crazy driver Donny behind the wheel. I’m staying at the Royal Bellagio hotel this trip as it is conveniently located in the foreigner bar district on P. Burgos street. The hotel contains one of my favorite watering holes (Cafe Cubana) and one of the best damn restaurants I’ve eaten at in the PI, The Filling Station. I wrote about both on my last visit here back in November.

Then it was back to Cubana for more beer and watching the street walkers ply their trade. A couple of them are just bat shit crazy, which is sad. I wondered if they were always crazy or if the life of a prostitute made them that way. I personally just don’t find paying for sex that interesting or exciting. I do enjoy a good massage now and then though.

So, I get up bright and early this morning to make my journey out to the embassy. My appointment was at 9:45 but given the traffic situation I hailed a cab at 7:30. The first guy wanted a flat fee of 500 pesos. I told him I preferred that he just use the meter, to which he declined so I moved on to another cab. This guy turned on the meter right away but as we drove he asked to do a flat fee. At first I declined but then got to thinking it might be wise to give the driver some motivation to take the fastest route. I asked how much and he wanted 400 pesos. “Fine” I told him, figuring I saved myself 100 pesos anyway.

The trip surprisingly took less than an hour (I’d been told it could take 1.5), so I walked around the Manila bay front area for awhile before making my way through embassy security. There I was relieved of my cell phone, Fitbit, and e-cigarettes. A strict no electronics policy was being enforced. It was only 9:00 so I commenced to walking around the waiting area. I guess it made the security guard nervous because he asked me to sit down. I said “I can’t walk?” He pointed to the back of the room and replied “only there”. Fine. My Fitbit couldn’t register my activity anyway.

Once my appointed time arrived, I was allowed to go upstairs and wait for my number to be called, which it was in due course. I had two power of attorney forms to be notarized and Uncle Sam relieved me of $100 for the service. I caught a cab back to Makati and the driver used the meter without complaint. I was curious how much the actual fare would turn out to be. It came in at just under 200 pesos. HaHa! I guess I did get taken for a ride this morning. I tipped the driver 100 pesos and it still felt like a bargain!

Once back in familiar environs I set about looking for a FedEx outlet so I could get the newly signed POA’s off to South Carolina. Google said there was a FedEx store about 20 minutes away on foot. Damned if I could find it though. I did come across a small shipping business that had a sign saying there were an authorized FedEx agent. I hope so, because I paid 2000 pesos ($40) and gave them my papers. Supposed to arrive stateside in three days. We’ll see.

And that’s been my excitement for the day thus far. I’ll head out soon for some more exploring, then grab some food. And beers of course.

And the sign said anybody caught trespassin’ would be shot on sight
So I jumped on the fence and-a yelled at the house
“Hey! What gives you the right?”
“To put up a fence to keep me out or to keep mother nature in”
“If God was here he’d tell you to your face, man, you’re some kinda sinner”
Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?