My breakfast is included with the room, and so I enjoy the buffet. All of the usual things--omelet station, fruit, meats, breads, Filipino food, rice, etc. Today D is having a late lunch/early dinner get together at her house. She sends her driver to come and get me at about 2:30. I offer to take a taxi, but she says no, the taxi driver will never find her place. When I arrive I see that G is already there, along with M and her husband F, and their two children. Also there was A, a lawyer, and D's friend H. Soon we were joined by R, the head of the Houses Without Steps charity that I had met on Tuesday, and also by E, a flutist with the Manila Symphony, and A, a former dancer and musician. We had a really great time playing music (I played some piano and accompanied E on a couple pieces) and a wonderful dinner. D is really a great hostess!
I caught a ride with E back to the hotel--he lives nearby. At about 9:30 I met R and her sister M at a nearby Starbucks. I had met R the previous night at Café Havana. She is a chemist by training, and is a manager at a plastics plant. The three of us walked a few blocks to Bay Walk, which is the wide sidewalk along the bay. It runs for about a mile, and there are many restaurants and shops. We sat and ordered some soft drinks from one place while we listened to the live band performing at another place just a bit further down the Walk. It was a very pleasant place. The constant parade of people, the music, the balmy might air. But time slipped away and R had to get up for work at 6:00 AM, so we soon said goodbye. I took a taxi back to the hotel.
It was about 11:00 PM when I arrived back at the hotel. I ducked into the bar/night club near the lobby to see that was happening. There was a small band playing grown-up music with a really terrific female lead vocalist--a great voice, smooth professional stage manner, and a wide repertory. I ordered a coke and enjoyed the rest of the set. Afterwards she walked thru the small crowd and I was able to tell her how impressed I was with her performance. Her name is Leeza. She told me that she is actually a website designer by day. What a talented lady!
I am planning on flying back to Hong Kong today, but I do not yet have a ticket. In the original package of tickets that I had obtained before my trip I had a return ticket to Hong Kong for Saturday, and a return from Hong Kong to San Francisco for Sunday. But I extended my stay in the Phillipines, and as of midnight Sunday, Nov. 30, these tickets evaporated and lost all value. So I had to make my own arrangements. I had called a couple travel agencies over the weekend but they were closed until Monday. I had saved some ads in the Sunday paper, and this morning I make some calls. I soon find a one-way ticket to Hong Kong on Cebu Pacific for $175.00.When I go to the agency to pick-up the ticket I meet two young ladies who are planning to travel to Macedonia soon! Yes, the world really is getting smaller!
I go directly to the airport from the travel agency, have lunch, read the paper, and finally board the plane about 4:00PM. As we fly north I watch a very beautiful sunset. By 6:30 PM we have landed in Hong Kong, and by about 8:00 PM I am back home. Just after I had arrived at the HK Airport I received a call on my cellphone. It was W, my flight attendant friend from Taiwan. She told me that she has just been assigned a trip to Macau for tomorrow,and would I like to meet her there for lunch? Well, this sounds like an offer I can't refuse!
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