A typical day in Manila

“Ebany?”
“Yes?”
“Are you ok?”
“Yes?”
“What are you doing up there?”

Mom peers round the doorframe with a sleepy/perplexed look of concern on her face.  I do believe there are stranger things than finding your 25 year old daughter perched on a bathroom sink in the middle of the night, hunched over a laptop and manically typing away, curly ringlets galore. I quite literally have an afro right now, it’s that humid.

“Writing.”
“Ok, well don’t kill yourself with any electrical appliances.”
“Ok.”

And so starts the narration of my day.

I have been struggling to come up with a suitable topic to introduce the Philippines, which has proved to be more difficult than expected. Somehow, I’m finding it a challenge to gear myself up enough to write about shopping malls and bad traffic with enthusiasm. So I’m going to write about myself. And my day. And the most exciting thing that has happened since I ARRIVED HERE. Which is…drumroll please…the arrival of my little sister, Inti and thus the promise of countless hours of entertainment. Finally.

I’m telling you, it does not take that many visits to malls (supermarkets included) to fill up my shopping quota for the year.

So what does a typical day in Manila constitute?

9:00am – Wake up drenched in sweat. Fanny about for 15 minutes trying to disentangle self from bedding. Hair looks AWESOME. Drink water.

10am – Yoga followed by much needed hydration and shower.

11am – Make breakfast for self. Sweat lots. Half an hour later mom comes into kitchen asking “What’s for lunch?” Make lunch for parental unit.

12-2pm – Hottest hour of the day. Will hide in coolest, darkest room to do computer work, usually the tiled bathroom or the floor. Needy cat finds me and decides to make sure as much of its fur as possible sticks to the human. This is not very difficult for him and very annoying.

2:30pm – Mom rushes into deep dark cavern yelling something along the lines of “We’re late! We have to go!” Before I can say “Wh-”, I am rushed half-ready, already thirsty and hungry into an impatient car. Hair not so awesome.

2:40-3:40pm – Stuck in traffic.

3:50-5pm – The supermarket/mall experience.

5-6pm – Rush hour traffic.

6pm – Arrive home starving, needing immediate hydration. Unload car and run away to dark cavern before Mom looks at me and says “What’s for dinner?” Sometimes this is unsuccessful and I end up making dinner.

7pm – Dinner

8pm-10pm – Collapse on sofa exhausted after a day of nothingness. Computer time.

11pm – Shower, and bed.

11pm-1am - Lie in bed wide awake sweating, wondering why I can't fall asleep.

2am - Sleep.

Repeat this everyday for two weeks.  Such fun! Tomorrow we’re going to China to rediscover the family roots, so will keep you posted on any adventures.