Had a great sleep to catch up on the extended flight from Halifax to Manila. I was out like I had been punched by Manny Pacquiao. Got up, enjoyed the hotel breakfast and took a quick walk. Very busy area even on a Sunday morning. Lots of "Jeepny" drivers offering me a ride but I will take a pass for now! Maybe later with a group since this is a "must do". This is a very unique way to get around for many Filipinos, along with motorized tricycles and the pedal versions.
We check out and head to our final destination of Santa Rosa shortly after 10am checkout. We have a couple of vans, lots of luggage and Waya is driving as well. My buddy Brian and I join Waya and Jeanette Bruce (She represents Australian Business Volunteers as a Project Manager) in her vehicle. We make great time on the highways from Quezon City to Santa Rosa but as we hit the city it slows down noticeably.
Traffic is considerably slower going through downtown Santa Rosa. We look at the bustle of people and vehicles and ratio of cars to non cars seems to have shrunk. We notice some of the little things and signs along the way. After seeing a barber sign advertising a haircut for 100 pesos (approx $2.50 ) I comment on where to go to get a good haircut. Waya cautions against going for the lowest price and jokingly points out to a big "styling spot" as we pass it....called "Tres Bien". Hey should be good enough for me and my fancy boy ways. We continue to drive along for what seems like another 30-45 minutes....we should be getting to the hotel now. We head up the street and Brian sensing a franchising opportunity points out another "Tres Bien" spot. "Gosh darn it" says Waya (I am paraphrasing this). It appears we may be lost(there is only one "Tres Bien" apparently) but on the plus side we got the tour of Santa Rosa twice; Waya must think we are special!
A few conversations with Tricycle drivers and a few 180's later and we are back on track and at the hotel to join the rest of the team for 13:00. Not since Gilligan's Island has a 3 hour tour been so much fun!
We finish lunch and then start the rest of the Team Orientation after check in. Waya and Jeanette take us through a last run of the 4 projects we will be working on and what to expect and the final logistics. We will be attending an event at City Hall tomorrow to introduce ourselves to the mayor and our customers so the should be action packed day.
Waya and Jeanette take us out to do some shopping, get supplies and treats us to a Filipino meal at The Kanin Club in Nuvali shopping area. It is a terrific meal and a great cross section of foods. I forgot my camera so I am hoping to add a few pictures of some of the items later.
Great way to cap off the day and memorable for many reasons. Thanks Waya! The work begins for real tomorrow, so time to get ready. Our home base over the next 4 weeks will be at Santa Rosa City Hall. More to come on the nature of the projects and the people we will be meeting along the way.
#ibmcsc philippines
Traffic sounds familiar. Was the jeepny inone of the pictures? the 3-wheeler sounds like the Indian "autorick". More pictures, keep 'em coming. Am guessing the blog pace will slow down once the work starts.
ReplyDeleteThe 3-wheeler in Thailand is called a tuk-tuk. It's interesting to see how ubiquitous they are.
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