Location Notes:
I arrived this morning in Manila just shortly after midnight. It was pouring. I like Manila; it is a big, dirty, bustling place that is full of interesting sites – basically, my favourite kind of place. I travel to Manila about six times per year on average. I do not remember a single time, however, when it was dry in Manila. I understand that it is in the tropics, but warm rain is still wet! Singapore is closer to the equator than Manila, but I am convinced that it rains more in Manila than in Singapore. All of this rain has the advantage of washing the garbage away … and this city produces a huge amount of rubbish.
I once read in an article that Singapore is the only city in Asia that has cleaned up its waterways and waterfront. This is almost certainly true. None the less, Manila at least tried once. On Manila Bay there is a truly dreadful looking amusement park that Imelda Marcos created in order to promote tourism to the city. I suppose that Imelda had fond memories of visiting Coney Island or Blackpool because she tried to copy the look and feel. There is a promenade with a boardwalk that leads pedestrians to this rather seedy looking and derelict relic of a by-gone era. There must be a joke in there somewhere about Imelda Marcos and her amusement park like, “Question: what is the difference between Imelda Marcos and her amusement park? Answer: One is a derelict relic of a by-gone era and the other is a piece of condemned property – hard to tell which one is which, really …”
Speaking of Imelda Marcos … she still has a fan base: middle-aged white guys from Dallas. She is back in parliament here in the Philippines and last year she was on the campaign trail in Manila. A senior delegation from Sabre (my company) was in Manila at about the same time for executive meetings. The team was having lunch when Imelda walked in … OK, she is pretty recognizable. None the less, this group of middle-aged white guys were more excited than if Sarah Palin was performing a private table dance for them soliciting PAC fund donations! They insisted on having pictures taken with the former first lady and they proudly trot out these pictures as evidence of their brush with fame. It’s a bit sad, really, if you ask me, but that is Americans … There is a cult of celebrity in the USA.
Back to Manila … It is a sprawling, chaotic metropolis with too many beat-up cars, fancy painted buses with more chrome than the Chrysler Building, potholes in the roads the size of town homes (two up, two down) and deep puddles everywhere. Then there are the girly bars that are everywhere in this city … From the airport to the hotel, we must have passed thirty neon-signed bars promising paradise in a pint-sized package (and I’m not speaking of a beer, right?) and I’m staying in the upscale part of town! The Spanish colonized the Philippines in the early seventeenth century and the American’s replaced the Spanish at the end of the Spanish-American war in the late nineteenth century. Throughout most of the twentieth century, the Philippines were a protectorate of the United States. The locals have a saying about the Spanish and then the American colonial powers, “Three hundred years of the virgin followed by one hundred years of the whore!”
Here is a little known fact for my readers today. William Howard Taft was the first American Governor-General of the Philippines. Taft was assigned the job by then President William McKinley in 1900. Then, Theodore Roosevelt recalled Taft to be his Vice President when Teddy became president following the assignation of McKinley. Taft remained the Vice President when Roosevelt was elected in 1904. The Vice President is the Chairman of the Senate in the United States. After being Vice President, Taft was elected President in his own right with the support of Teddy in both 1908 and 1912. After being president for two terms, Taft was a Chancellor Professor at Yale. Finally, Taft ended up his career as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Thus William Howard Taft was the only man in the history of the United States to lead all three branches of government (Legislative as the Chairman of the Senate, Executive as President, and Judicial as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court). By the way, Taft was also over 140 kgs (300+ lbs) … so, “Fat boy done good!”
I keep diverting, sorry … back to Manila. I am staying at the Peninsula Hotel which is one of my favourites in the region. The “Pen” has a faded tropical cool that is undaunted by the fact that the lobby was shot up badly in a coup attempt in November 2007. I try not to think about it too much, but security is pretty strong coming in and out of the hotel as a reminder of this event. I was not surprised when I heard about the Hong Kong Tourist bus hijacking here last week. Manila is a city with a huge variation in income amongst its inhabitants and all of those inhabitants are mixed together in a seething melting pot of humanity. I arrived after midnight last night and the lobby was still lively with old Western guys and lots of young Filipino women (more about this below). The counter staff seemed surprised that I was arriving this late – and alone. They had obviously already given my room away on the Executive Floor so they scrambled to find another room. I waited patiently while reading email messages on my iPhone. I am a top-tier member of the hotel’s loyalty program – I had no concerns. After about ten minutes, the Night Manager apologized for the delay and then upgraded me to a three room suite complete with a private butler. He asked me whether I preferred city view or pool view, I replied, “Whichever is the nicest room”, so he gave me a room with both views. I just love their way of handling “little problems”!
Here is my quick guide to Manila:
Where to Stay: The Peninsula, of course (tell them I sent you!) or the Shangri-La, which is literally right across the street here in Makati.
Where to Eat: My favourite restaurant in Manila is the La Regalade French Bistro – the owner is a Michelin star rated chef and the food is just excellent with a tremendous wine list.
Where to Party: I like to relax at the Ayala Center in Makati which is full of high-end retail shops, restaurants and bars (but not the girly type). The atmosphere is relaxed but dressy and definitely upscale.
Where to Shop: the Ayala Center has many different shopping areas, but I prefer the Greenbelt. It has good stores, an indoor/outdoor feel and a beautiful park at its core.
Travel Plans:
My streak of having a travel plan without changes is over after the second day. I had to make a change today. I’m staying an extra night in Manila before heading to Singapore.
o Thursday, 2 September 2010: Manila at The Peninsula Hotel
o Friday, 3 September: Manila, staying at The Peninsula
o Saturday, 4 September 2010: Manila - Singapore, staying at the Conrad
o Sunday, 5 September 2010: Singapore - Tokyo, staying at the Strings Intercontinental
o Monday, 6 September 2010: Tokyo
o Tuesday, 7 September 2010: Tokyo
o Wednesday, 8 September 2010: Tokyo - Sydney
o Thursday, 9 September 2010: Arrive in Sydney and check into the Holiday Inn at the Airport
o Friday, 10 September 2010: Sydney ... returning home via Dubai
o Saturday, 11 September 2010: Dubai - Larnaca then home to Tseri
o Sunday, 12 September 2010: Home in Tseri
o Monday, 13 September 2010: Working from Home in Tseri and meeting the arriving teams in the evening for the EMEA Sales meeting
o Tuesday, 14 September 2010: Larnaca, Cyprus for the EMEA Sales meeting
o Wednesday, 15 September 2010: Larnaca, Cyprus for the EMEA Sales meeting then leaving in the evening for Dubai in route to Sydney.
As usual, these plans are subject to change …
Rant:
What is it with old guys that marry young Filipino women (except for the obvious, of course)?! The Pen is full of men that are walking hand-in-hand with women that are 20-30 years younger. In the airport yesterday, I saw many 20-something women with young mixed-race children. I believe that there are limits to what is acceptable with an age difference in marriage – at least in most cases. The fact that a man can find a really young woman does not mean that he should.
Where do these men find these women? Is the hotel a procurer? Are they searching for a spouse on the Internet? Do these guys hang out in girly bars? If they do, is this the way they decided to attract a wife? This is a puzzle to me.
I can understand the motivation of many young Filipino women. They are attracted to the life that a comparatively wealthy older man can provide. As I stated above, there is a very large income differential in this city. Many of these Filipino women are attractive and they view a Western boyfriend or husband as a ticket to a much better lifestyle. This doesn’t mean that the Western man needs to be wealthy. As a friend commented about this situation, “The guy doesn’t have a have a large bank account – all he needs is a refrigerator!” I can even understand the allure of these Filipino women to the older men. The women are attractive, exotic and they treat these “older gentlemen” well.
The racial differences make no difference to me. Rosa and I are from different countries and different backgrounds and this doesn’t bother us – it is not something that I even think about with any regularity. Rosa looks much younger than me even though our ages are within five years. I believe that there is much to be said for the combination of cultures and experiences that result from “mixed marriages”. I struggle, however, with marriages that are the result of very large age and socio-economic differences.
Here, an old man looks ridiculous not virile with a wife that is 30 years younger. Similarly, a young woman looks slightly sad showing a public display of affection for a man old enough to be her father. I like to watch the crop of next hot starlets as much as any man alive, but I am more attracted to Halle Berry, Salma Hayek and Uma Thurman than a 20-something playboy model. Speaking of celebrities … Many celebrity men have married much younger celebrity women including: Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rod Stewart and Rachel Hunter, and Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes to name just three couples (or former couples). I don’t find these couples ridiculous because the relative socio-economic standing of each mate in the relationship is similar. By the same token, the abusive relationship between Ronnie Woods and Ekaterina Ivanova was just sad. Does anyone think Anna Nicole Smith truly loved J. Howard Marshall II?
Maybe that is the crux of the matter… If an older man marries a younger woman when they are both of the same socio-economic position or influence then this is fine. A man that is much older than his wife and from a vastly different socio-economic condition is a predator or the prey.
Humour Section:
In honour of the topic of my rant, I offer the following story today:
An elderly man was taken by his young Filipino wife for a check-up at his family doctor. The doctor gave the pensioner a full physical and found him to be very fit especially for an 80 year-old. The doctor told the elderly man, “That young wife is keeping you strong, Mr. Jones. She is helping to keep you young.” The old man replied, “Yes, she is great, but the reason I am so fit is because God shows me special favour!” The doctor replied, “Well, I think that it is also great that religion is such a large part of your life …” The old man interrupted, “It’s not about religion, I receive God’s special favour … He turns the light on for me when I go to the bathroom every night!” The doctor was startled by the old man’s comments and asked to see the young wife alone.
The doctor questioned the young woman, “Has your husband been showing any signs of forgetfulness or dementia?” The young woman replied, “Oh no, he is as sharp as a tack!” The doctor persisted, “Does he seem to have strange visions or delusions?” Again the young wife responded negatively. Finally, the doctor stated, “I ask because he told me that he has God’s special favour because God turns the light on in the bathroom for him at night!” The young wife showed her instant displeasure, “Did he tell you that? That means the old bastard has been peeing in the refrigerator again!”
Last Blast:
I have been accused of being cynical even if I do not believe this to be the case. I wonder, however, how many people know about the origins of the philosophy of cynicism. The cynics were a school of philosophers that started in ancient Athens in the third century BC. The cynics rejected all forms of materialism and then berated their fellow citizens who were wealthy. Because this berating sounded like a yapping dog, the philosophers were called “cynics” whose root in Greek means “dog”.
The most famous cynic was most certainly Diogenes. Diogenes was a dirty hairy beast of a man who walked naked, except for a loincloth, around Athens carrying a lamp which was lit during daytime because he was “looking for an honest man.” Diogenes was reputed to live in a large broken urn which he rolled around the cobblestone roads of Athens while he taught pupils.
When Alexander the Great was annexing all of Greece he visited Diogenes. Alexander was the most powerful man in the world by this time. Alexander asked the philosopher, “What do you want from me? Ask anything, anything at all and it is yours. I can give you fame, riches, land … whatever you would like.” Diogenes looked at Alexander and said, “Anything? You will give me anything that I want in the entire world?” Alexander nodded his assent to which Diogenes replied, “Then please move a little to the left, you are blocking my light.”
So, I’m not a cynic … but I wouldn’t mind being a little like Diogenes.
I hope you all are happy and well until we meet again …
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