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Published: August 8th 2007
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The Real Last Supper
We're all ready now. Getting Down to Business As expected, our last day is about getting stuff done that must absolutely get done while we’re in Manila. This includes reading hundreds of pages of information and policies from Harbor-UCLA and filling out paperwork that must be received before the end of this month. We have to leave all the signed documents with my mother so she can mail them from L.A. So, unlike all our other breakfasts, this one is spent with plate to the side and mounds of paper in the center. All that legal stuff delays the rest of our day, which we wanted to begin by 10am. Instead, we all head out at 11:30am for the nearby Galleria mall (again) to get our hair did. Leroy wants his hair shaved off, one length (keep it simple), or else it will get unruly before he can get it cut in London. I guess he doesn’t trust barbers in Vietnam or Thailand to cut his hair. No surprise, he doesn’t take chances with his cuts. I’m going to get my hair conditioned in the hopes that it will one day be straight like it used to be, instead of this frizzed out mess that
The All-Carb Diet
Terran defies all the experts and eats only cheese and carbs at Cafe Med... a prelude of his culinary preferences to come at Hossein's. I attribute to turning 30. The quick stop turns into a four hour excursion - hair, lunch at Café Med, book browsing, shoe shopping (oh heaven, we all have a little Imelda in all of us), and some grocery supplies.
We finally get back to the house in the afternoon, and I jet upstairs to the air-conditioned room to continue working on my research. Leroy, in the meantime, pops Talladega nights into the DVD player and somehow gets my mom to watch some of it with him.
Eating at Hossein’s and Trying to Walk It Off at High St It’s a Mediterranean kind of day. Dinner is at The Fort, the complex where Embassy is. Hossein’s is known for its powerful garlic sauce. There is too much food as usual. Sam and Moe impress us with their ability eat (as does Leroy, but that’s old news). After dinner, we drive across the street to the new shopping area called High St. The cool thing about it is that it’s outdoor, like Santa Monica Promenade, except wider and definitely hotter without that seabreeze. At night, it’s pleasant out. The stores are all brand names -- Crocs, Havaianas, CK, Nike,
Crumpler, Krispy Kreme, etc. I don’t know why Crocs or Havaianas are so popular here. I can’t imagine paying these insane prices for the same flip flops I bought in Brasil for $4. In fact, when I pointed out a Brazilian flag to my cousin, he said, “Oh yeah, the Havaianas logo.” What??? There is a lot of grass, which is refreshing to see in Manila. Terran goes ape the minute he gets on the grass. It’s like he’d never seen it before or something (he has!). He just ran and ran and ran. At least someone was exercising his dinner off! The High St. plan was really just so that my mom and Tita Reena could go to the Crocs store, so the rest of us just hung out on the grass. I took a stroll with Sam to check out the rest of the stores and gawk at the big Nike ad with Kobe and Ronaldinho (again). I found a classic gaming store where they had a Risk board, but I figured I could buy it for cheaper in the U.S. Once we all regrouped, I said my goodbyes to Tito Raffy, Sam, and Moe. I won’t be
seeing them for a long time, but I know I’ll hear from them on the family listserve. Or if they ever comment on this blog!
Once we get home, Leroy is out. Tiring day of eating? I start packing all my things, knowing that I will still have a lot to do tomorrow morning. Good night, Manila.
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bett
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sad..
i feel like i'm saying good bye to the fam too...PI sounded tremendous...good eats, sights, and family time :)