Simply No Place Like Manila.

September 26, 2008, 6:30AM MNL


I’ve been home for four whole days now. I stepped onto Philippine soil at precisely 10:30pm last Monday, September 22. The days seem to fly by so fast despite the fact that I have been getting up really early since I got back home (No, I have not magically turned into a morning person. It’s just the time switch.). The good thing is, I’ve managed to get a lot of things done in the past 3 days and should have most done by today. Hurray for Paid Time Off!

People have been asking why I haven’t blogged about what it’s like to be back and what I’ve been doing. So, below is a brief summary chronicling what I have been up to since I got back home.


Day 1 (Tuesday)
After a sleepless night, I gave up on trying to catch some Zzz’s and rolled out of bed at 6am. I went downstairs and decided to fix myself some breakfast. I boiled some water for coffee (yep, the parents are into instant coffee), then fried some eggs and red hotdogs. Parents got up around 7am and we all sat down to have our first meal together. Finished eating around 830am. I started looking around the house and planning my unpacking strategy. After realizing how much stuff I need to go through when I saw a boxed labeled “Kaye 29”, I just went back downstairs to chill in front of the tv. It is too much to deal with too soon.


After flipping through the cable channels from our new provider, Destiny Cable, I realized that I wasn’t feeling groggy. Half the channels were really speaking a foreign language! The awesome thing is that it has TVE and I am hoping to get a glimpse of Rafa on it once in a while.


I had planned to go get my nails done on Day 1. Thing is, my head was swimming after lunch. I was so sleepy I was incoherent, so I did what all women my age do when they need to recharge: I curled up into a ball next to my mom and napped in her arms. Woken up by my mom at 8pm because my dad wanted to go to sleep and I was on his side of the bed. I was then force-fed dinner by the maternal unit, before being shepherded upstairs to continue my sleep.


I woke up at 2am feeling sheepish because I had let jetlag spoil my plans for Day 1. Read a book, then slept again until 7am.


Day 2 (Wednesday)
Got up with a little bit more resolve to get things done. First item on the agenda, set up the wireless router so I can stay connected to the cyberworld that I have grown to love. Once I was done with setting it up, I had to spend around 30 minutes of my morning answering my dad everytime he asked if there was connection in different parts of the house.


“Sa study table mo, meron?”
“Aba, sa kama mo meron din?”
“Sa baba, meron?”
“Sa kitchen ba?”


The thing is, he genuinely just wanted to know. As much as I wanted to jump off our new veranda, I just tried to stave off a screaming fit and just kept nodding until I felt my neck muscles cramp up into knots.

Then I unpacked my suitcases. There is something extremely relaxing about unpacking that is directly proportional to the stress involved in packing. It took me the rest of the morning to put everything where I wanted them. Then it was lunch.


The afternoon was spent with the mom at the salon where we got manicures, pedicures, and a footspa. I still can’t stop marveling at how much better professionally done toenails look compared to how I haphazardly just swipe on polish. Afterwards, I went to my dentist for a check-up and a professional cleaning. Healthy teeth? Check. Healthy gums? Check.


Dinner at Chowking at around 9pm. Despite the fact that I was walking around in a zombie-like state at this point because I was so tired, I was still ecstatic about dinner at Chowking. I had rice, siomai, and kangkong. Yum.

Slept at 10pm.


Woke up at 2am and chatted and surfed until 5am. Tried to get some more sleep and managed to get 4 more hours until the mother hen barged into my room (note to self: lock door) at 9am with a high pitched morning greeting of “Kayeeeeehhhh!”


Oh, Lordy.


Day 3 (Thursday)
My books are staring back at me, asking me why I have not yet taken care of them. I stare back at them with shame, asking them to wait patiently as I am still unnerved by the fact that I have a ton of shi… stuff to unpack.

I ran downstairs to find suman (a form of rice cake) on the table with some coco jam. I wolfed down one and a half before someone could remind me I had a lot of “Popeye’s Chicken Weight” I needed to lose. After breakfast, I called Forex to track the boxes I had shipped home. Then I called The Spa to schedule an appointment with them. Then I called my hairstylist to make an appointment with him as well.


He will not like the fact that I colored my own hair or that I cut my own bangs. He will not be happy that the US haircut I got was not layered enough and had no swing to it. He will throw a bitch fit over the state of my hair with a tantrum reminiscent of Jack McFarlin from Will & Grace… then proceed to talk about his girlfriend. As long as I walk out with nice hair, all is cool.


I just chilled out the rest of the morning, then had lunch with the parents. Their never-ending stream of conversation is starting to get to me a little bit. I guess I got used to living alone afterall. I just grin and bear it because I know they just missed me and have all these things they couldn’t wait to tell me. Still, I was starting to feel the familiar throbbing of a headache at my temples.


I locked myself in my room for some solace. Took a bath and got ready to leave for the spa. It was going to be a glorious afternoon. I had waited for this day for one full year. A massage. Finally. Since my driver’s license expired this year, the father had to drive me Bonifacio High Street. He dropped me off at the driveway in front of Gaudi, so I had to walk the two whole blocks to The Spa. I could not believe what I saw. The strip mall now has Calvin Klein, The Gap, Aldo, and a lot of other extremely familiar brands. I will take some photos when I go back there for you guys to see. Except for the extremely thick tropical air and the extremely friendly security guards (“Hi ma’aaaaaaam.”), it was almost like the US.


Finally, I step into The Spa.


The foyer of the spa was done in dark wood, metal, and glass. On the wall beyond the staircase that led to the lobby was a waterfall structure that looked and sounded soothing. This is how cheesy my mind works. As I walked up the stairs, I can’t help thinking I was on the Stairway to Heaven. Damn you, Led Zepplin.


I got the Refreshing Start Spa Package for myself. It included a full body massage, a foot massage, and a facial. I swear to God, I could not stop smiling at this point. When I opened the door to the actual spa area, I was hit by the smell of aromatherapy oils that I have missed so very much. Someone handed me a white robe, white towel, and white Croc-like rubber slippers, then someone else in white asked if I wanted some ginger tea. My minded drifted off again, this time wondering if this was how the wives of the ancient Japanese lords were treated.


Wrapped in a towel, I headed off to the steam bath. Oh. My. God. I missed the feeling so much, I wanted to break down and cry as the hot steam rolled over me in waves. When I stepped out to cool down a bit, someone served me a glass of ice cold water. Japanese lord. Wife. Nice. Snapping back to reality, I went for another stint inside the steam bath.

20 minutes later, I was ready for my Swedish massage. I was wrapped in a robe and was escorted by my masseuse to the massage room. Then she asked me to lie face down on the bed and proceeded to knead away a year’s worth of muscle pain. There are no words to capture just how wonderful it is to get a massage after not having one for a year. All I can say is that I felt so thankful for the way the masseuse was making me feel that I wanted to put her through college. I was THAT grateful. She kept at it for a full hour, massaging me as if she was put on this Earth with the sole purpose of making me feel good.


Oh. I unintentionally moaned out loud. I guess I really, really, liked the massage. I was so embarrassed, but she didn’t react to it at all so I just took her cue and pretended nothing happened. Then I had ginger tea.


After the full body massage was the Oriental foot massage and the facial. Four hands directing me to paradise all at the same time. The treatment room for this is different. They sit you on these plush lazyboy-like chairs and as if that wasn’t comfortable enough, they put a really nice smelling soft sheet to cover your arms and chest. Cooooozy. Once I was done with the foot soak, my seat was reclined and the girl started to massage my feet and legs. One. Full. Hour. As this was happening, another girl was giving me a facial. It wasn’t the dermatologist-visit-blinding-pain kind of facial. It was soothing and was more about relaxing than treatment. I was steamed, massaged with creams, wiped clean, and massaged some more. It also came with a head, shoulder, and back massage that just about undid me. It felt sooo good. By the time I was done, I felt like a princess. A really relaxed princess. And I then understood why those women agreed to become one of the Japanese lords’ wife. Then I had ginger tea.


Sidebar: There is absolutely no historical data to back up my metaphorical references to Japanese lords and their treatment of their wives. Don’t send me links to Wikipedia explaining how it really is. These are just my thoughts. Kayepedia.


I then met up with the parental units at Hap Chan for dinner. I was quiet and lethargic and was not able to be my usual chipper self. It was still good food, just the same. I’ll make it up to them today and be more fun.


Shortly after dinner, I met up with my triplets Jeff and Phiney. It was amazing to see them after a year and we just fell back into our easy pattern of talking and laughing… as if we were never apart. I love these two to death and I loved them even more so after we finished the
three pitchers of sangria at Gaudi.


I didn’t have keys so we had to call it an early night. We hailed a cab at 11pm and as usual, we all jumped in and asked the driver to make multiple stops. Oh, trivia – Manila cabs now require an additional Php10 on top of the meter as a fuel surcharge. Awesome, just like Chicago with the $2!


So, I made it to my bed at midnight, thinking the red wine in my veins must surely buy me at least 8 hours of deep sleep. Boy was I wrong.


My eyes opened at 5am.


Day 4 (Friday)
Got up and freshened up, but I did not feel like starting my day just yet. I did walk down to check if I was in the mood for a little early morning chow, but wasn’t. My lack of hunger then gave birth to this blog entry you are currently reading. At this point, it has been two hours since I started and I have chatted with RJ, Denise, Neo, Janice, Tessa, and Adam at the same time. Later this afternoon, I will go to the bank then the salon. Should be a fun day!


My stomach just grumbled, so I shall head down and foodificate. If you are still reading this entry up until this point, thanks. But seriously, don’t you have better things to do with your time? J


I will be posting photos of the new house soon. I want to get everything just right before I show you guys how it looks. It’s smaller than the old one, but I like this one a lot. My room has orange walls. How can I not like it?


Geez. Stop reading already.