And so to Manila....

To be honest I cannot really give any insights into my first day in Manila, I have been at work all day and spent the majority of the day with my boss so no real experiences….however, we did go out to lunch with the team…they were insistent that I try local food….so we did….I had been warned before I arrived that being a particularly fussy eater it may not appeal….to a certain extent it didn’t although I have to say that the desserts were good…the grass jelly with coconut milk was similar to enough other SE Asian dishes to be familiarly good and there was a cake, the name escapes me at the moment…sort of nutty, meringuey and creamy but so tough and chewy I almost sprained my wrist cutting a piece off…anyway it was yummy…

The one thing that did strike me from talking to a few members of my new team is that they all seemed to think that outside of The Philippines there are only negative thoughts about this country…there seems to be an almost national inferiority complex…I realize that this is a fairly sweeping statement to make after only talking to about 15 people…but never before have I had 15 people quiz me on the negative impressions I must have had before coming to their country….

Other than that…the brief drive to the restaurant showed a city that seems to have an enormous number of eateries, bars and the biggest shopping malls….and coming from HK that’s really saying something!!!

I see from CNN that a survey they carried out showed that out of 600 people 57.5% felt that Arroyo should resign…I have to say, from the little I have read, that there doesn’t seem to be any really qualified candidates out there…I am probably wrong and no doubt that will be reflected in the comments…..