My 2nd overseas business trip: Manila

When I was given this assignment, I was thrilled as I have never been to Manila before. I search the web for info on Manila and was disappointed to find that there is actually nothing to look forward to. Most of their places of interest are religion related, and the only thing that interest me a bit is that there are about 3 casinos in Manila. At least I can have some entertainment when I'm free.

The hotel I stay in is Manila Hotel. The hotel was great, room was spacious and all my meals paid for by my customers. The hotel may look old from its exterior, but its interior look clean and tidy. And I heard charges per nite is around US $100. Cool! Was suppose to stay for 5 nights but have to check out the 2nd day as customer think it will be more convenient to stay onboard the vessel. Knn, damn disappointing, cos that means I will not get any entertainment at all! What entertainment can you get onboard a vessel at anchorage??? And you know what? The cabin was so damn small and I have to share with a Sweden Engineer from China office. And the toilet stink for no reason. And to add salt to my wound, the Sweden Engineer socks also stink. And can you imagine how it is like to cramp myself in a cabin with stinking toilet and stinking socks? Try staying in a smail toilet with a load of salted cuttlefish for 3 nights and you will understand how I feel.

But luckily, I left the vessel on the 4th night after finishing my work and check in into Manila Hotel again. Wow, fresh air and spacious room! And after dinner, I immediately hail a cab and went to Hyatt Hotel, where I believed the largest Casino in Manila is housed. Casino was not that crowded as compare to Genting. Atmosphere was relaxing and they even have live band performance. Was trying to figure how much each colour chip represent and the minimum bet before jumping into the gambling pool. Didn't manage to get a nice seat and landed myself at a jackpot seat instead. Was actually trying to play to past time and you know wat, my initial bet of 1000 becomes 6000! I won 5000 inside 30 min! haha! Errr, in this case it is 5000 pesos, so roughly around $170 Sing only lah.. haha! See see look look and play a bit more and left the casino a happy man!

Not much about Manila, except that the traffice is a mess. Almost every min you can hear a car honks! And my taxi driver, an old man around age of 60 plus, horn 10 sec non stop juz because the cars in front is not moving. And he waited only for 10 sec! I remember reading a newspaper article which say Singaporeans are bad drivers. Wait till that writer goes to Manila and witness himself and realise we Singaporeans are not as bad as he thinks! Cheers!