Back in Manila

Here I am, back in Manila. I am currently typing this on Word as I can’t get any internet connection at the Wi-Fi points in the hotel and I am not going to pay a king’s ransom to get it in my room!!!!

Today is Thursday and I arrived on Tuesday and the big news…. For the first time EVER….I managed to sleep on a plane. Wohoo!!!!! I give all credit to my ‘Cuddle Buddy’ (Now don’t get all excited and get your minds out of the gutter!!!) It is a super squishy pillow that I bought at the airport and it moulds itself around my neck and supports my head when sleeping in an upright position. It is luverly!!!!!

Hong Kong airport was interesting. I was flying Philippine Air this time and they don’t rate and air bridge so we had to get a bus out to the plane in the middle of the tarmac. We were all given a plastic bag as we got on the bus that contained a raincoat. Sure enough as we loaded onto the bus it started to POUR down. We got off the bus into what seemed like a foot of water and had to dash up the steps to get into the plane. It was a bit of a bunfight to get off the bus and onto the plane first. It was really funny. The food on PA was fabulous!!!! I had forgotten how tasty Filipino food is!!!.

At the airport there was no-one to meet me off the plane like last time which was a bit of a shock so I had to tackle immigration and customs on my own. It also made me wonder if anyone would be there to pick me up. I wasn’t very happy really and wished I had never come. However, when I emerged from customs, there was Mike’s smiling face waving at me from beside the car and everything was all right again.

At the hotel, there are the usual misunderstandings that seem to go hand in hand with dealing with the company that we outsource to and I have still got to sort them out but that will happen in its own time (and when I can get on the internet).

Going to work yesterday was interesting, we had a new driver that never showed up. It turned out that he was trying to pick us up from Nova. He eventually turned up and I made the usual first impression by being 30 minutes late for my first day.

The trainees are, as usual, lovely and I have to admit that it is LOVELY to be back in the Philippines. I feel much more at ease this time, there isn’t NEARLY as much culture shock and I think the fact that I know I am going home in just over a week helps a LOT.