In Maui and Beyond...

On Saturday, the 24th, I left Hong Kong at 11 A.M. and flew to Manila for about two hours. Later in the afternoon, I took another plane to Honolulu and then a puddle-jumper over to Maui where I was to hook up with my oldest daughter, Chimene, her husband, John and my two grandchildren, Jasper and Kiana. Because there's an 18 hour difference between Hong Kong and Maui, I actually arrived in Maui at the same exact time that I left Hong Kong: 11 A.M. on Saturday, the 24th. My grandkids did not know that I was going to be there so it was a huge surprise when I showed up at the baggage claim area. My daughter and her husband rented a stunningly beautiful one bedroom condo on the western beach just north of Kaanapali with an outstanding view of the islands of Molokai and Lanai. We're just a few yards from the water's edge. We all went to one of the obligatory Hawaiian luaus that they have around here. This particular one (the Royal Lahaina Resort)is so successful that it pulls in several hundred tourists a night...seven days a week. Lots of great foods, traditional dances, fire displays and great fun for everyone.
My friend Gino is still in the US and emailed that he will be flying from San Jose to LAX tomorrow evening so there's a chance that we'll be able to hook up in L.A., too. It's amazing that I've seen this guy in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Hong Kong and now in Los Angeles. What a great new friendship we're forming!
Well, my friends, I'm going to be signing off for a while. I'll pick up the blog again when I get back on the road in another month or so. Hope that you've enjoyed hitchhiking along on my adventures.

The last party...

Steve and I took the MTR over to Lan Kwai Fong on Hong Kong Island. It's actually a one square block area that's been shut off to vehicular traffic. Along both sides of the streets, there are many dozens of bars and restaurants (mostly bars) that cater to both the locals and to the tourists. Since they are contiguous to each other, you can easily swagger (or stagger) from one bar to the next with no problem whatsoever. The Lan Kwai Fong area is on a hill, so you are required to either walk up or down the streets looking for...well, for whatever you want. I'm quite sure that everything that you're looking for can be found here.
Looking at them from the street, most of the bars are about 25 feet wide but they appear to be at least a hundred feet deep...maybe deeper. Lots of contrasting music blares out from each of these establishments and the entire atmosphere in this area is electric and even celebratory. Naturally, there are a lot of Westerners walking these streets and enjoying the in-your-face kind of ambiance. The street, itself, is only about 30 feet wide (remember, there are no cars) and so everyone uses it to freely wander between bars...both uphill and downhill. Additionally, there are many other notable bars which have rented rooms in the floors above the main streets so you have to also "think vertically." Yes, this place has to be experienced at night after 9 P.M. on a weekend to be fully believed. Lots of fun and very extraordinary. However, since I had to leave at 7 A.M. tomorrow, Steve and I had an early sushi dinner, a few beers with another friend (Tim and his girlfriend, Jessica,) and then we left for home so that I could begin to pack. Tomorrow, I'm off for Maui. More later...

Last day in Hong Kong...

Since today turned out to be an absolutely glorious day, Steve and I decided to take the ferry over to one of the outlying islands around Hong Kong. There are about 235 of these islands with Lantau (the home of Disneyland, their new international airport and the Giant Buddha statue) being the largest(about twice the size of Hong Kong Island.) We had both been to Lantau Island before and so we decided to go over to Cheung Chau, another much smaller island about one square mile in size. It's got a large expat population living here and the principle industry is tourism and fishing. The waterfront area has a lot of shops and restaurants that cater to the tourists and the energy here is very low-key and noticeably quite different from the frenetic energy that pulsates in Kowloon and on Hong Kong Island. Since this was my last night in HK, after a swim back at the apartment, Steve and I headed out to the local "party central" on HK Island...a small several block area known as Lan Kwai Fong. More later....

Jackie Chan....

Last night, (Wednesday) Lorraine, Steve and I went to Dan Ryan's Chicago Grill down near the Star Ferry station at Central. Very nice atmosphere and it reminded me of many of the great restaurants that I have been in around my home town of Chicago.
Thursday morning, Lorraine had to pack for her quick 4-day trip to California. She's leaving at 11 P.M. tonight and won't be returning to HK until Monday. This afternoon, though, she had to play host to the film star, Jackie Chan. Today, he was the Guest of Honor at the Design School (which Lorraine heads up) at Hong Kong Polytecnic University. This afternoon was their formal graduation for the year and, with Jackie Chan in attendence, the Hong Kong Press was out in full force. There must have been more than fifty reporters and cameramen present from every local TV station...all vying for Jackie's attention. He was incredibly patient and gracious with everyone and took the time to make sure that everyone had an opportunity to take photographs, etc. Jackie is considered to be a full Professor at the Design School and has always been one of its biggest supporters. In fact, he stated that he, himself, had designed the clothes that he was wearing today. Lorraine, Steve and I (along with the University President and a few important CEOs of Design around HK) greeted Jackie when he arrived at the University and Lorraine provided the general introductions. Before the ceremony, I got a great shot of Lorraine and Jackie together and, later, the Webmaster who handles Jackie's website asked me for a copy so that she could put it up on his website.
My time in Hong Kong is getting increasingly short, and I'm acutely aware that, 48 hours from now, I'm going to be somewhere out over the Pacific on my way back to the States. (Sigh.) Well, as we all know, whatever has a beginning, though, must also have an ending. More later. After all, there's still one more day to enjoy in this very fascinating city.

Victoria Peak

The Peak Tram (originally steam powered) starts its eight- minute scenic climb just across the street and around the corner from the American Consulate. It makes its way up to the summit of 1305 feet to a breath-taking view of the harbor below. The Peak is still the most fashionable place to live in Hong Kong and the real estate prices are astronomical. For example, the average rent here is around HK$50,000 a month or more. (That's about US$7000.00). The tram has been in operation since 1888 and has only stopped for typoons and during World War II.
Since Wednesday turned out to be fair and clear, I thought that it would be a good idea to take the tram up to the top again. As usual,I took the Star Ferry across the water in order to get over to HK Island, and then I hoofed it up to the bottom of the tram. I had been up to Victoria Peak twice before...once in 1988 and again in 1998...but the view there is so incredibly spectacular that I wanted to see it again. Everytime I go up there, there are more shops and attractions for the tourists. Now, for example, there's a new four level shopping center (the Peak Galleria) with many new shops and restaurants to attract the tourists. (Yes, even McDonalds is up there, too.)
After I took the MTR back to Kowloon, Steve and I went for a swim and a jacuzzi in the courtyard pool. Tomorrow, Lorraine's taking us to some kind of function over at HK Polytechnic University to meet Jackie Chan. Should be fun. More later...

Over to Macau...

Today dawned fairly clear and so I decided to head on over to Macau. As I had mentioned in an earlier post, Macau was initially a Portugese colony (much like Goa was in India) and, in fact, they still accept their currency over there. Many of the signs posted around are also in Portugese as well as in Chinese and English. I took the Star Ferry over to Hong Kong Island and walked a quarter mile to another terminal where I caught the turbojet catamaran to Macau, a trip lasting about an hour. Since you're leaving Hong Kong proper, you have to go through immigration to get your passport stamped in and out of both HK and Macau. When I was in Macau back in 1988, I think that they only had one or two casinos. Now, however, there are about 23 of them....including two huge ones currently being built by the MGM and by Steve Wynn...both of Las Vegas. They should be opened by the end of the summer. The boats run between Hong Kong Island and Macau every 15 minutes so there's no problem in getting a seat.
The money in Hong Kong is colorful but a bit confusing until you understand that the same denomination bills often look very different from each other...not because one is the newer version of the bill but because the official HK money is actually put out by different banks in the area. However, it's all considered to be legal tender.
Another thing that impresses me about HK is their incredible ability to move people from one place to another. Not only is their subway system second to none in the world, (my opinion) but they have also constructed miles and miles of well-lit walkways above the traffic that are used to funnel pedestrians away from street level by allowing them to walk for many many blocks without having to hassle with the street traffic below. For example, when I took the Star Ferry to HK Island a few days ago, I was able to walk all the way to Wan Chai on one of these walkways...almost a mile away...without ever going down to the street at all. It's incredibly convenient. They also have created an elaborate system of pedestrian tunnels to link subway stations and key points around HK. There are some new buildings on HK Island that are so beautiful that you just have to reach for your camera. Needless to say, I think that, on many levels, Hong Kong is a very impressive city. More later...

Lazy days in Hong Kong...

The Temple Street night market is a shoppers' paradise. Everything of interest to the tourist is offered here at the stalls that stretch down both sides of the street for about five blocks. There are, naturally, lots of Westerners, lots of noise and lots of heavy-duty body heat that's generated by the wall-to-wall crowds. At one end of Temple Street, there are also dozens of psychics and fortune tellers, etc. who will be happy to read your face, palms, tarot, astrology chart, etc. to predict your future. As modern as Hong Kong is, they still put great stock in mystical/magical traditions that border on superstition. For example, a few of the most modern buildings near the water here are constructed with large holes through the entire building. These holes might be several stories high and, perhaps, a hundred feet across and they're actually designed into the building in order to assure that the powerful Dragon (a very important symbol in Chinese lore) has direct access to the sea.
The weather in HK is still a bit overcast, and so I'm going to tentatively delay my trip to Macau until Wednesday. Also, I came down with a case of larangytis from the combination of super-cold air conditioning and cigar smoke that we had to endure a few days ago at "Joe Bananas." Consequently, I've decided to take it slow for a few days in order to rest up before taking the hydrofoil over to Macau on Wednesday. More later...

A room with a view...

Steve and Lorraine have graciously allowed me to stay with them during my remaining days in Hong Kong. They live with their daughter, Alexa, on the 43rd floor of a luxurious apartment building in Kowloon that's about six blocks from the water. Their apartment looks south across the half a mile of water that separates Kowloon from Hong Kong Island. Like the other rooms in the apartment, the bedroom where I am staying has an unobstructed view that is truly breathtaking. For those of you familiar with the area, we're directly across from the Convention Center on HK Island and about halfway between the two piers where the well-known Star Ferry has operated since 1888 between Kowloon and the Island. Across the water and to the right, we can see Victoria Peak and the tram. In the harbor below, there is always boat traffic with ships of every size (including the Star Ferry, of course) providing an ever-changing kaleidescope of activity out on the water. At night, the lights in the buildings across the water transform the entire panorama into something almost mystical and other-worldly...particularly if there's fog or low-lying clouds.
Yesterday, Steve and I went to see "The Omen" which turned out to be a re-make of the original 70's film with Gregory Peck. Not too bad, if you like that sort of thing. Last night, I took the Star ferry across the harbor to meet up with Cedrick in Wan Chai. This tourist/ex-pat area of the city, (filled with bars, pole-dancers, restaurants, bistros, etc.) became well-known as the backdrop of an old movie with William Holden called "The World of Susie Wong." Cedrick and I went to Joe Bananas, a popular hangout for ex-pats and watched a bit of the World Cup with Peri, one of his co-workers. Frankly, after traveling in southeast Asia for the past three months, I had not seen so many westerners gathered in one place. As you might expect on a Friday night, the HK "working girls" were out in full force in Wan Chai. Cedrick had to email some information that evening to Gino so he and Peri went on home around 11 P.M. while I continued to drift around until after midnight to sample more of the colorful ambiance of this fascinating area. The Star ferry stops working that late, so I took the MTR (subway) back to Lorraine's place. Like it is in Tokyo, the subway system in Hong Kong is clearly marked with directions/instructions in both Chinese and English. Consequently, it's very easy to travel through the maze of inter-connecting subway lines with a minimum of concern. Everything is very clean, bright and entirely safe. The crime rate in HK is amazingly quite low...especially considering that there are about 8 miliion people living here. The Triads, however, seem to exert a lot of control over the local businesses and even pressure the local merchants to pay protection money. Another oddity: although HK is a thoroughly modern city, they still use the traditional bamboo scaffolding in order to erect and maintain their high-rise buildings. After dinner tonight, we're all going to visit the Temple Street night market which is famous for offering a wide selection of very inexpensive items displayed for the shoppers in a maze of stalls. Cedrick and I are still planning to take a boat over to Macau tomorrow and Alexa is leaving for Atlanta, Georgia, on Monday. The weather in HK remains hot and humid. More later...

Hong Kong Polytechnic University...

When I was hanging around the university today while Gino was attending various meetings, I noticed that Hong Kong resident, Jackie Chan was giving a lecture in the Jockey Club Auditorium about his long relationship with the movies and with his interest in promoting tourism in this area. Since he was speaking in Cantonese, they gave me a headset for the translation. He's very funny and genuine in his presentation and the audience thoroughly enjoyed his talk/interview. Later on in the evening, we had a working dinner at the restaurant on the 14th floor of the university. Gino and Lorraine were there, of course, but joining us for the roundtable discussion were: Ian, Frank, Derek, Myle, Stewart, Merle, Phillip and Cary. The discussion centered around the ways that each of us could create future courses for the university that would focus on helping the students to expand both their creativity and their consciousness.
I noticed that the restaurant provided everyone with two different sets of chopsticks: one black and one white. When I asked about it, I was told that they had started that practice during the SARS outbreak several years ago. The idea was to use the black chopsticks to move the food placed on the lazy susan to your plate and then to use the white chopsticks to actually put the food into your mouth. Although their concern about SARS has passed, they are still following this practice at the university restaurant.
Tonight, Gino is taking a late flight to LA and I'm moving over to Lorraine's apartment closer into the city and within walking distance to the university. Cedrick and I are still planning to head on over to Macau in a few days. More later...

Hanging around Hong Kong....

On Friday evening, Gino and I met up with Lorraine Justice who runs the School of Design at Hong Kong Polytechnic University and is considered to be one of the world's most influential designers. A thoroughly delightful evening at every level.
When I first visited Hong Kong in 1988 (and again in 1998), I remember how surprised I was that so many of the aparment buildings...often 50, 60 or 70 floors high...were also so incredibly thin and narrow. If you were going to build something that high in the US, they always seemed to create a much wider base. Or, at least, taper it up towards the top so that it was not like a straight-edge. Not so over here. The streets in Kowloon and on Hong Kong Island are packed with very thin, narrow high-rise buildings that shoot straight up to dizzying heights with absolutely no break in their outward shells. Some of them look like they could tip over in a major typhoon.
On Saturday, we hung around Gino's house and went swimming with the kids. On Sunday, Lily (Gino's wife), their three kids, and I took a 2-hour hike into the hills overlooking the city. Although the weather is still remaining a bit rainy, the views along the walking trail are still very impressive. Afterwards, the whole family and I joined Lily's family at their weekly Sunday brunch at an exclusive country club nearby. Excellent food and I got a chance to meet some of Lily's siblings as well as her 85-year old father (the patriarch of the family) and her stepmother. On Sunday night, we had a private dinner with Lily's parents and one of her sisters (a professional actress and singer) at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University where Gino is an Associate Professor. Afterwards, Gino and I went over to visit Lorraine and her family at their apartment on the 43rd floor. They live in a super-modern apartment building with an absolutely outrageous view of the city and of the harbor beyond. We had some wine and enjoyed a fascinating conversation with Cory, a friend of Lorraine and Gino's. Monday was a "work day" so we went into the Gino's office so that he could handle the myriad of things that he still has to take care of before he leaves tomorrow for two weeks in the US.
After work, we took a bus to an area of the city called Mong Kok. This is the best place to purchase anything of an electronic nature: cell phones, TVs, Ipods, video games, gadgets, headphones, etc. etc. They shut streets off to vehicular traffic and so the pedestrians take over until very late in the evening. The atmosphere is energetic and even celebratory. With the bright lights coming from all of the electronic stores and malls, it seemed as bright as midday even though it was close to 11 P.M. by the time we left.
After Gino leaves late Wednesday evening, I will probably begin staying with Lorraine and her family in their high-rise apartment. Meanwhile, Cedrick (Gino's employee that I had first met in Kuala Lumpur) and I are tentatively planning to head over to Macau (via boat) this weekend for further adventures. Macau was originally a Portugese colony (much like Goa in India), and is the closest thing to Las Vegas that China has going right now. In fact, Steve Wynn is currently building a US$1.1 billion dollar casino there right now. I remember doing some lightweight gambling in Macau when I first visited there in 1988, but I'm sure that things have grown a lot since then. Happily, you don't need to have a Chinese visa in order to visit Macau, and the place is considered to be extremely safe with the residents there all enjoying a very high life's expectancy. Tonight, we're going to all get together with Lorraine again for further fascinating conversations.
Meanwhile, though, I'm acutely aware that my three month trip around southeast Asia is slowly beginning to wind down...at least for a while. As it stand now, I've scheduled myself to fly to Maui (via Manila) on Saturday, June 24th, in order to spend a few days with my vacationing oldest daughter, Chimene, her husband, John, and their two kids, Jasper and Kiana. After that, it'll be back to California. More later...

Back to Hong Kong...

On my last night in the Philippines, I checked out the local TV and was surprised to discover that the actors on some of their shows would switch back and forth between speaking Talagog and English...sometimes right in the middle of a sentence. Rather odd and a bit disconcerting.
In the morning, I took a motorbike at 5 A.M. from the hotel to the boat landing for the 20-minute ride across the bay to Caticlan. From there, I had to get a 3-wheel motorized tricycle to the airport for my one hour flight back to Manila. From there, it was off to Hong Kong.
Although the weather was mostly clear, the trip across the open water in the 747 was the bumpiest that I had ever experienced on such a big plane. Pretty intense for a while. Anyway, we landed without incident at Hong Kong's relatively new international airport. I had been to Hong Kong twice before (1988 and 1998) and was looking forward to seeing it again. I bought a ticket on the Airport Express...the fast train that goes into Kowloon and Hong Kong...and called Gino to tell him when I'd be arriving. The exchange rate here is about 7.7 Hong Kong dollars to one US dollar. Because of Hong Kong's long history with England, the traffic here all drives on the left. Once you leave Hong Kong proper and enter what was once "mainland China," however, the traffic flow quickly switches over to the right for the rest of the country. Gino and I hooked up at one of the restaurants at the City Center where I met an old friend of his named Matt Hutchison. After that, Gino and I took the train back to his house, and I finally had a chance to meet his charming wife, Lili and their three brilliant kids ages 6, 4 and 3. Gino showed me some of the nuances of the outrageous sound system that he's set up in his home, and I quickly developed a new appreciation of Pink Floyd.
On Friday, their driver drove the three of us into town where Lili had to be dropped off for a meeting. Afterwards, Gino and I went over to the Merecl office on the seventh floor of a super-modern building overlooking the bay. A magnificant view with floor-to-ceiling windows facing the water. The weather today is bit nasty with lots of thunder, lightning and rain. Since it started storming last night, hopefully, it will improve later on tonight. More later...

Last day in Boracay...

The weather yesterday (Tuesday) was spectacular and I took advantage of it by swimming for several hours at the section of beach in front of my little hotel. The water is warm, crystal-clear and the steady onshore breeze created just enough wave action to make it interesting. I had heard that there were a few noisy night clubs at the north end of White Beach. Being naturally curious, I took a motorbike over to the area to check them out. Lots of blaring music, open bars, dancers of every age all gyrating to the pulsating beat of western music from over-sized speakers. Out on the beach and fairly close to the water, they had placed dozens of low tables and cushions for people to sit on. Each of the tables, big enough to have four people or more sitting around them, had a lit candle-lantern. With the pounding music, the frenetic dancers, the shimmering moon reflected off of the water, etc., it was, as they say, a real moment: chaotic and beautiful at the same time.
Today, (Wednesday) I went with a few locals to the bat cave that a reader of this blog had mentioned in his Comment. Wow! What a trip that was. After bouncing around in a motorized tricyle for 20 minutes, we still had to hoof it through the jungle to the cave itself. Although I had been in many caves in my life, all of them had been "prepped" for tourists. This bat cave, however, offered no such accommodation. You had make your way down a very treacherous opening. Everything was pristine just as all caves are before man intrudes and commercializes them. At the bottom of the cave, (a descent of about 75 feet,) we walked over to an area to the back and saw pools of clear turquoise water. The pools were exposed to the sunlight coming from an unseen source beyond, and it gave off an other-worldly glow. The bats, of course, hung from the ceiling and remained mostly out of sight. In the water, there were small fish about 5 inches in length, and we even had a glimpse of several poisonous sea snakes. The air was heavy and humid at the bottom of the cave and everyone was sweating profusely. The trip out of the cave was equally dangerous since we only had one flashlight among the three of us. Luckily, we all made it back unscathed, but I'm quite sure that other visitors to this particular cave aren't always that fortunate. Tonight, I plan to get an outrigger to take me out on the bay to better view the awesome sunsets that they have here on a regular basis. Tomorrow (Thursday), I'm scheduled to take an early flight to Manila and then to head over to Hong Kong to hook up with Gino again. More later...

Is Boracay Paradise...?

Early Monday morning, I flew south from Manila down to Boracay, about 90 minutes by plane. I had first learned about this place from Gino and, when I checked it out further, it seemed like it would be an ideal place to kick back for a few days before flying off to Hong Kong. You first fly to a town called Caticlan and then you have to take a tuk-tuk to the docks to catch an outrigger for the 20-minute boat ride over to Boracay Island. Since the boat has to anchor a bit offshore, they have local guys who, quite literally, carry you and your luggage on their shoulders through the water and then deposit you safely on the sand. (All for a price, of course.) The island is famous for its pristine beaches and, indeed it truly lives up to its reputation. The main part of the island (appropriately called White Beach) is well-known for all kinds of water sports: sailing, scuba diving, snorkling, parasailing, swimming and, especially extreme wind surfing. There is an ongoing balmy breeze that flows onshore and, I understand, they have international competition for windsurfers held here every year. The water near the shore is a brilliant turquoise and it laps gently onto the spotless white beach that stretches for several miles. The beach itself is between 50 and 100 feet in width. After that, it's lined with an long section of palm trees and other tropical vegetation that's about 20 feet deep and is often surrounded with foot-high bamboo fences. Right next to this green area is a 25-foot wide walkway of white sand that stretches for miles in both directions to handle the steady pedestrian traffic. On the side that's away from the water, this walkway is lined with shops, picturesque hotels, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, etc. that cater to the many tourists. Among the vegetation, enterprising sellers have erected makeshift stands and are hawking necklaces, postcards, sunglasses, massages, etc. There are also little pedal-driven bicycles with passenger sidecars that transport the weary walkers from one end of the beach to the other...all for about 7 pesos. At night, I imagine that this walkway will become a fairyland of colorful lights, music, and enticing smells coming from the wide variety of restaurants.
In the evening, I found a small restaurant between Station 2 and Station 3 that was owned and managed by a Frenchman. At his suggestions, I tried the chicken curry. As I was finishing up, I noticed an attractive young woman checking out the menu, and I casually remarked to her that the food here was very good. She decided to sit at the table next to mine and, since she was alone, we quickly struck up a conversation. Her name was Julie and she said that she was from Korea. We spent the next 45 minutes talking about a wide variety of different subjects, and we seemed to genuinely enjoy each other's company. Afterwards, several of her friends came by to pick her up since she was flying back to Manila with them in the morning. I gave her my card and she said that she would keep in touch. As I've mentioned before in this blog, the conversations that show up with the fascinating and delightful people that you meet "on the road" are among the greatest joys of traveling. More later as it unfolds....

Around Manila...

Manila has a major problem with traffic. Ironically, the pollution helps to create the magnificent sunsets on Manila Bay. The cars and other vehicles run on diesel and leaded gasoline and you spend a lot of time just idling your engine. The poverty here is out in the open. For example, just walking around the streets near my hotel, you could see whole families stretched out on the sidewalk sleeping. As an obvious Westerner, I was immediately targeted by street vendors and sad-eyed kids looking for a handout. Gambling is legal here, and so I decided to walk through the casino at the Hyatt Hotel. Pretty unimpressive by Las Vegas standards but people seemed to be enjoying themselves. There are a lot of karaoke bars around and the locals never miss a chance to belt out a well-lubricated song for their friends. Lots of great fun for all. More later...

"The Thrilla in Manila..."

On Thursday, I took an early flight from Singapore northeast to Manila. The night before, though, we went to Raffles Hotel, the home of the "Singapore Sling." Gino had to hang around in town to attend some meetings before he was scheduled to fly back to Hong Kong in the late afternoon. My flight took over three hours and was uneventful. I got a good price on the ticket but, as expected, I had to pay for everything extra that I wanted....even bottled water. I took the time to scan the latest Lonely Planet edition on the region. Amazingly, there are over 7000 islands in the Philippines. The currency here is the Peso, and you can exchange one US dollar for about 52.8 pesos. Since there is a lot of traffic and air pollution in the city, a lot of the local residents head for the waterfront in the evening to enjoy the sunset and to eat at the hundreds of tables put up along the quay wall by the mini-restaurants, bars and music venues that extend along a strip here (about 70' wide) for well over a mile. Every few hundred feet or so was another small stage with a live performer or band belting out some familiar western song. As you might suspect, it was very crowded with couples, families, groups of teenagers, etc. and the atmosphere was very festive and even celebratory. Offshore, small multi-decked ships, serving dinner and drinks to the tourists, cruised back and forth along the waterfront.
Today (Friday) I was invited to have lunch with some friends of Gino who own and operate Holy Cow Animation studios. Gino had arranged our cyber-meeting a few days ago, and so they knew that I was coming to Manila. They even sent a driver over to the hotel to pick me up, and I was very delighted to be treated by Marlyn and her husband to some typical Philippine food. Really quite good. In the afternoon, I booked a flight to Borocay, (a resort area an hour by air south of here), for Monday and "Plan-A" is to kick back on the beach for several days. I'll fly back to Manila early Thursday morning and then catch a mid-afternoon flight over to Hong Kong. More later...