Bright lights, party city

Days are spinning by in the summer heat of Manila. Just in from a night out on the town with friends. Hanging out with my gracious hostess with the smell of baking in the room, I'm finally clean after a day of being chronically sticky with sweat rolling off me as if I were in a sauna the whole time.

After running errands for baking goods (and for some pasalubong (souveneir gifts for others back home), I took 2 LRTs from the end of P. Tuazon Boulevard in Quezon City, Tuazon, to Santa Cruz Church, then the Pier Jeepney to The Manila Cathedral. I was to meet Carol at 6pm. Got a coffee at 7-11 (yes, it's all over the world from Winnipeg to Chicago to Manila) and sat down on the ledge of the water fountain in the park in front of the Cathedral to wait. And wait. She texted: her cab had been caught by police. Oi vey!

But the park was nice, well lit, and with a security guard. A friendly couple from Angono, Rizal province started chatting with me, telling me of all the sights to see. They were celebrating the woman's birthday: every year she attends mass at a nearby church as she has since she was a little girl. They told me of the art museums in Angono: Lucio San Pedro, Francisco Botong, and the cave with petroglyphs, the oldest in the Philippines.

Finally, Carol and Joel appeared! It was so nice to see those familiar faces once more in person. We headed to Illustrado, a fine-dining restaurant in the Intramuros area, not more than a few blocks away. We caught up over mango shakes, a San Miguel and a latte until Omay, Cocoy, and JB called, then headed to Barbara's, the fancy restaurant next to my favourite gift shop that sells paper art, under the museum of the restored Spanish house.

They had a reasonably-priced buffet with cultural entertainment. The place was full of tourists and when the performers invited people to try dancing the Tinikling (ankle-crushing pole dance), my friends ensured that I got picked on!

The buffet was nice - lumpia, and other stuff (traditional meat dishes) - hey, I'm not a foodie - and a coffee-jello dessert with cream and tapioca balls that looked like it was trying to be taho, my favourite street food of soft tofu, syrup and tapioca, served hot.

Where to go next? The hopping nightlife at MOA - the SM Mall of Asia. The entire length of it along Manila Bay is crowded with people, restaurants, bars, booths, games, and rides: zip line, train ride, ferris wheel. I'd seen it last year but in the morning when everything was dead.

We settled at Padi's Place where a terrible cover band was yowling out covers of One Direction and Aerosmith. The boys took turns passing Omay's egg shaker around and they ordered a group drink of gin and green grenadine syrup: a tall test-tube-like decanter, about three feet high.

All good things must end and folks had to work the next day so we walked back to the cars and they put me in a cab. I wrote down the license plate number and Omay covertly took a photo of the driver. I locked both doors and they told me to text them as soon as I got home. The ride was so long that they phoned the instant I got inside the Maniquis compound: "Are you home? Are you okay?" "Yes, yes, it was a very long ride!" All the way from Pasay to Quezon City. Traffic was actually not that bad but it was just far.

And now time for a rest!