Week 3 - Manila Becomes Online

Every week I sit down behind my ipad and write for an hour about the previous week. Every time I end up sitting in my room and laughing to myself at everything that has happened (both good and bad). What I also do is worry that the next week will not live up to the times that I have had so far and the stories would stop coming like they have been in the short time I have been here. A worry that it seems just shouldn't exist!
Enter James Salter-Duke (JSD), the second James to arrive in Manila and the second double barrel. Rumours from the UK that he would also be the second ginger just weren't true as we met in the office; probably a good thing or I would start wondering if this whole thing was just one big wind up!
Each of the training classes had begun to take calls by this point and what with us giving the Team managers online experience as well it meant that Emma and I were rushed off of our feet helping. Admittedly Emma more so as she was our lead floorwalker. Work became tough, the focus on getting this right first time right from the start had reached the people we had trained and the queries came flooding in. It soon became obvious that we needed extra support so with a quick review with JSD Kyle was called for.
Kyle “The Jerk” Francis is a colleague from Newport who was due to come out in February. It was great news that he would be coming earlier as in an office which is 90% female it would be good to have some male support out here. He would be coming to us on Wednesday.
After a very tough day in the office and the arrival of JSD it would have been rude not to relax with a couple of San Migs in the evening and get to know JSD a little bit better out of the office. This would prove to be a massive mistake. We went to the local bar, a place that I have spent way too much time in within the last fortnight but it wasn’t long before “This is boring lets go to Makati” came from the other side of the table. It was Monday night at approx. 2am and JSD soon had us hailing a taxi for Makati, the nearby party part of Manila. I think JSD had made the mistake of reading too many books about the nightlife in Manila and it being crazy wherever you go, this isn’t the case but even so we were soon in a “taxi”. I asked the driver to recommend somewhere which was 1. Busy, 2. Had Booze and 3. Had Music. “Ok Sir Ok Sir OK Sir” was what I heard back and apparently he knew just the place. The first mistake on this journey was to NOT take the skyline. This is a flyover for the whole city which includes a small fee but cuts your journey by 2/3rds. The road towards the bar reminded me slightly of Bangalore City Centre (India). The roads and pavements did not seem finished, the buildings were more shacks and it was dark due to a lack of street lighting. It wasn’t the nicest of experiences. On the way to the bar we were in the fast lane following a car that must have been driving at approx. 30MPH. I told the driver to get on the horn or go on the inside. One of these things he did, he tooted and began to speed up. Instead of going on the right side of the road on the inside and easily overtaking the maniac pulled across onto the other side of the road into the oncoming traffic – Maniac! And I thought the driving was crazy in India!
Forgetting the journey we arrived at “Airforce one”, paid the driver and got out of the car. We should have known something was up as the driver reversed so fast away from us it was suspious. We were approached by 2 young lads to be told that this “Bar” was closed. We were then also approach by a guy who seemed to be what I would describe as an AK47 in his hand from a doorway with “Health SPA” above the door. One of the guys said “Would you like a massage sir??” Ummmm no you’re ok thanks. Where on earth had we found ourselves! Those of you who are interested Google “Airforce One, Manila” and you will soon find out where we were going to end up if indeed it had been open, believe me this is not what we wanted!
It soon became very obvious that we needed to get out of there and back home and we were soon flagging down another Taxi. Why we chose the most suspicious taxi ever seen I really don’t know. This car was literally crawling along the side of the road but we are white, and white apparently means money! On the way back to the hotel the taxi stopped 3 times at 3 different petrol stations. Once the Boot was opened, next the bonnet was opened and lastly we got petrol, 200 Pesos worth (Approx. £3). Not sure how far this takes someone but I can assure everyone it’s further than back home! We should have probably been more scared than we were but we were just happy to get home… Alive and without getting roped into a place we didn’t want to go. JSD – A lesson to be learnt and welcome to the Philippines!
Due to how busy and pressured work was I could not go and meet Kyle at the airport. The liability would have to find his way to us on his own. I’m surprised but also happy to say Kyle made it all the way without any hiccups. Sean, Mandeep, Jovs, JSD and I had gone to Alabang City Centre after work to celebrate Mandeeps Birthday. Mandeep is the First Source general manager and had moved here from India, we went to the “San Mig” bar which needs no explaining but as normal the drinks were flowing. Kyle came straight to us from the airport without any sleep in 2 days. This evening will be remembered for a few reasons, one of them being the guys discussing various ginger jibes. I can’t actually write on here most of them but in fairness it was very funny!
Back down to the 24 hour bar we went to celebrate not only Mandeeps birthday but also Kyles arrival. Only problem was there were 6 of us to fit in the one car. I offered to go in the boot but we finally decided to put 4 in the back. Jovs the First Source centre manager decided he would sit on Seans lap (Sean is the First Source manager). Obviously being blokes with a drink inside us the jokes started flowing. However the quote of the week has to be (sitting on Sean's lap) saying “Boss I can feel your respect growing on me”. Absolute classic but I guess you had to be there.
Back in work something quite amazing was happening. Our current performance was actually out performing every other site in our area including both the UK and India. We weren’t going to get carried away but the initial performance of what we were seeing is very encouraging. This is thanks to the trainers we have here both from the UK and Manila and also the hard work we were putting into both the advisors on the phones and the managers, we are working very long hours out here and it was a great feeling to seeing it pay off.
The team bought Mandeep a birthday cake and another thing that the UK have got wrong = Awesome Spaghetti. Apparently this is normal and definitely something I will hope to bring into home when I return. I stayed behind in work on Thursday to talk to a few of the managers. They were firing questions at me about the UK. The looks on their faces prove that they are so interested in learning our culture and understanding the people who they are speaking to. To be honest this was quite hard because if the truth is known the people, the places, the atmosphere and the environment here is so much nicer than the UK. There’s no greed, no jealousy, minimal trouble and people are generally caring and nice to even their most distant stranger. I learnt today that we have sleeping quarters in the office, before any jokes start this isn’t to be naughty but for a few of our people to stay as they live so far away. Just another fact which proves how much these people want this job and to be part of this.

On Friday morning I woke up with a horrible pain in my ankle. I didn’t have a clue what had happened but it soon became clear something wasn’t right. I have added a picture below of how it looked when I woke up. Anyone who has ever strained ankle ligaments in sport will understand how it look and felt. I had no idea how it had happened. Thanks to mum I had cream for it and the team gave me some tabs. I managed to forget about it for a while. Not for long though. Anyone who knows what bites are like will know how good it feels to itch it, really good! I soon found that whatever it was wasn’t just my ankle and that it felt good to scratch up my leg as well. I had to have it seen to. Not only do we have a brand new office here with brand new office equipment, computers, desks and technology but we also have 2 young nurses full time on site. As you can imagine it was an absolute chore to go and see them! As much fun as that sounds my face soon dropped as they told me they were ringing an ambulance. At first I laughed it off but it soon become obvious that these girls were serious. I had been bitten by a COCKROACH. Who knows where, who knows when who knows where but some little fucker feasted on my juice at some point.
After 15 mins or so the docs from the hospital advised that I use some strong lotion and sleep on it. I would be picked up in the morning at 9AM. Bit of a bugger working UK hours as this is actually 1AM to my body clock.
Mum will go nuts when I say this but I just wanted to forget about the Bite as it did actually shake me up somewhat so what could I do to take my mind off of it………….?
The next thing I know I am in the bar with the guys with a huge tank of lager next to me with JSD forcing it down my throat. All I can think of is when the locals shake my hand saying “Welcome to the Philippines”(Pictures of this below). A random drunk welsh guy approached us in the bar with a very attractive bride in tow. He asked me if I was Welsh which obviously I said “No but Kyle is” as soon as I made this comment I got the biggest smack across the back of my head followed by laughter. He was the stereotypical UK idiot abroad, then again when he asked Kyle if he spoke welsh Kyle responded “I don’t but I know what ARAF means”. (Everyone in Welsh will understand how silly this sounded).This would only happen here. I didn’t stay late this time. After being hit on by the local gay I was home relatively early as I knew I was going to the hospital in the early hours.
For everyones reference Kyle and JSD stayed up until 8am in that bar. So whatever anyone says about me there is proof that the influences around me haven’t been helping.

The bite is ok, apparently it will die down and become less irritating over the next few days, however the last comment to me was “if you get a fever or a bad stomach you must act immediately as there is a small possibility that it has laid eggs under your skin”… THANKS
Saturday came, time to relax and reflect on a hard, challenging but rewarding week. Saturdays are the only time that the training team can all join us operations guys socially so we usually make the most of it. We went to “Outback” an Australian Steak House. The one thing I missed when working in India was a good steak, and this was good and well worth the visit. There is a photo of us all below. (Beverley I won’t go into what happened to you after 3 bottles)
A few of the ladies decided to go home leaving 5 of us to hit the town. Jimmit the trainer wanted to introduce us to “Republiq” in Manila City. A 20 minute taxi drive along the skyway got us to a huge complex. This place was huge, shops, bars, clubs and a huge casino. We soon made our way to the club, this place was smart. Some of the most beautiful women were going in which all seemed great until……………. We were rejected as JSD was wearing shorts. So not only does he take us to a brothel on his first night in Manila but he also causes us to get turned away from one of the cities most well known clubs. He tried to blag the bouncers and then searched for a shop to buy Jeans but it was a no go. I am sure we will return although it was tempting to leave him behind and go in anyway (JOKE).
So beers and the casino it was. The casino was massive, everything you could want from a casino. Kyle and I hit the Blackjack tables. It’s been a while since I had been in the casino. Many drunken nights in Torquay had led me to the casino down there but this was primarily for the freebie munchies they provided. I won £40 within 10 mins or so and then went back to the others at the bar. We spent a good 3 hours in there before heading back.
Again, were we going to get home without any trouble?? Just a nice cab back to the hotel surely? NO! Emma, Kyle and I hailed a taxi and got in. “Alabang please”.. “Sure sir”.. It had all started so well but all went wrong so quickly. First it became apparent that this car had no headlights. Bear in mind we are in the middle of the night I assume this was breaking some traffic laws.. if there are any here… but still we just wanted to get home. We took a slight left turn and I mean slight and the whole of the right hand side of the car scraped the road. It was a horrible sound and it felt like the car was literally going to fall to pieces. Then the driver told us he needed petrol, not an unreasonable thing to need of course but what was unreasonable is the fact that we drove at least 4 miles off course to go to one particular filling station. Once we had got there apparently the nozzle was broken so we needed to go to yet another. We took a sharp right turn into a side road I didn’t even realise was there and we literally crawled between buildings. This road was the kind of road I would expect Jason Bourne to be sneaking along and with no lights this was something you couldn’t write!
We finally got petrol and after Kyle looking round and saying “This guy doesn’t have a clue where we are going lets just get out” we were back on the road. The idiot had missed the Skyway which would have had us home in less than 30 mins and before we knew it we were back in the towns with no lights, no air con and a car which scrapes the floor when it goes round corners. Could this get any worse?? YES.
Suddenly I see these eyes looking at me in the mirror, I knew something was about to make this even more surreal than it already was;

“Siiiiiirrrrr ccaaannnn yoooooooouu drrriiiiiiveeee???? I’mmmmm Sleeeeepppy”

Yes that’s right… I was being asked by our taxi driver to drive a burnt out old car with no lights on the wrong side of the road because the driver was falling asleep, and he wasn’t joking either. The worst part of all of this is that I was actually tempted as he was all over the road. Thank God Emma the trainer was with us as she sang to him and asked all about his family to keep him going. It took us over an hour to get home that night. Phew!

So again another week passes which has been full of eventful in work and out of work activities and stories. Today we went to Greenhills shopping mall. I have never seen so many replica designer labels for such cheap money. Rolex watches for less than £10, Trainers for £5, Shirts and hand bags at a complete snip. Upstairs there were iPhones, ipads and headphones all at amazing prices. It’s an amazing place and somewhere we will definitely return. Work had been a huge success performing way above expectations and even more important I had had a KFC (which by the way sells mash potato and rice). Although I miss a few people at home this place is amazing and as already mentioned the job that I am here for has started very well.

This week I have learnt

Not to drink with JSD
Not to follow JSD on any future nights out
Not to get into any taxis that haven’t been moving quickly
Fumigate my hotel room
Be careful with the £1.20 a litre of vodka

Finally thank you all who are reading and sending good luck messages. The hit counts on this earlier today were 314. I never knew so many people were interested and it means a lot.

Thanks and I miss you JLB

Week 2 - Part of the Family

Week 2 already, it feels like i have been here for months, not a matter of days. The apartment now feels like home and i have forgotten what it feels like to be in my flat in Newport. I have also forgotten what it feels like to wake up in the morning as now early afternoon (Filipino time) is now the new morning for me. It has been hard getting used to this but there are positives. For example if i go to MCDS and want a big mac meal i dont have to wait until after 1030 as its already the afternoon (i'm sure a lot of us have been in mcs wanting a normal meal before they serve them).
Work is going very well, the training has been received well and we have only lost a tiny amount of people. We are way ahead of target regarding the number of people we need which is one worry out of the way. The first part of the week was fairly painless. Reviewing the performance of the managers from last week, beginning to get processes in place for when we go live and dealing with weird and wonderful issues such as a manager calling herself "KitKat". This is one thing that is quite unique over here. People have nicknames and this is how they are addressed by their friends and colleagues. Another classic i heard this week was a young lad who called himself "Toxic". I'm not sure my bosses would be too pleased if this is the way we greet our customers when they call us! (anyone who wants to know why i think Toxic is part of his online gaming name).
As many of you may be aware the Philippines is a place where gay and cross gender people is commonplace. Again we have a slight issue in the fact we have a "John" who is in the process of becoming "Abby". Each to there own and all that but it does cause a slight issue with which name we use at work because customers on the phones like to know exactly who they are talking to! I think we are going with Abby :-). The first of our 5 expert process team arrived on wednesday morning. Emma travelled on her own so i went to the airport to pick her up with our hotel driver. Manila airport as you can imagine is not like the airports in the UK, it's quite disorganised and noone has a clue where they are meant to go. So i arrive at the airport just in time. The driver tells me that we pick people up from area "F". I was soon to find that area F was in exactly the same place as ABCDE and the place was just full of Filipinos waiting. There is a picture below of what it looked like. So baring in mind that the average person out here is probably a ft shorter than in the UK there i was stood in the middle of hundreds of 5FT people stood right in the middle. I'm sure you can imagine with my complexion and hair colour i stood out an absolute mile! There was certainly no need for me to stand with a big sign for Emma to see. It was kind of embarrassing. It's nice having a friendly face arrive and it was also nice showing the first of many around the local area and where to find essentials such as Starbucks and MCDS, this was me a couple of weeks ago.

Martin our transition manager left this week, it would have been rude not to have gone for one last drink in the La Verdi bar (The bar from the previous weekend). Martin is a local celebrity there and not only are we going to miss him being in the office doing the fantastic job he does but we will also miss his endless desire to socialise with the locals. So Sean, Emma, Martin and i had a few that night and it was sad to see him go. As always though the night didn't pass without something else crazy being seen. A girl joined us at our table, she was Martins friend and came to say goodbye. She brought her food over to the table too. People who know me know i like my food, but there was something about this dish that i hadn't seen before. "What are you eating there" i asked her as she chomped down on this chopped up mixture. The reply was not expected; "Pigs Face"..... Yes Pigs face is on the menu. I didn't even bother asking if she was telling the truth as i looked closer i could see a small ear on the plate. MMMMM! Those of you who would like to try this i have been told the cheek is the nicest cut from the face - I wish i was joking.
Thursday brought a trip to the supermarket. Chocolate stores brought from the UK had run out and it was about time i put some food into my fridge and cupboards. The market is literally a 10 minute walk away and although we have a driver i wasn't going to be that lazy so i walked. It must have been 31/32 degrees and just the walk there felt like a workout. There are pictures of the supermarket below. It was similar to the UK but obviously different brands and some of the well known brands were quite expensive. The meat is all just thrown into a big fridge in a huge pile. I'm sure its good, very edible stuff but you wouldn't see it like this in the UK. It is also your responsibility to make sure that the food is still in date. If it looks good you eat it, if you slip up and get food poisoning it would be your own fault. We shall wait to see how long i last before i mess that one up.
So having spent approx £40 i get to the till. 2 assistants immediately rushed to pack my food for me but it soon became clear that plastic bags don't exist here. My shopping was being put in a box, a second hand box which they reinforced with tape right in front of my eyes, baring in mind i had walked this could have gone very wrong. The assistant carried the box (which was almost the same size as him) to the door and asked me where my car was - i didn't have one, so i picked it up and started to walk in the blistering heat back to the hotel.
I approached the crossing at the road and by this time i had sweat dripping off my face, i was probably also getting sun burnt and my freckles were multiplying by the second but i could hear something to the side of me. There was a man on his hands an knees painting the curb of the pavement, he was looking at me in the eye and laughing out loud at me. This guy had a mini umbrella stuck to his head to guard him from the sun, ridiculous as that sounds he was still ruining me - i guess it was kind of funny.
Work came and went without too many issues. Apart from my laptop still being broken everything seems to be going according to plan - so far. We are now 3 weeks away until we officially begin. We are certainly on count down now. Below is a picture of the management team onsite. These people have been handpicked and are the best out here so lets hope everyone meets their expectations - Including me!

Friday came, this meant one thing.. drinks we in order in the evening. This time it was kept quite chilled, i cant say the same for one of our trainers (who will remain unnamed). Her whole training group went to the bar straight after work. She was still going into the early hours. A fatal mistake would be proved the next day as it was Beverleys birthday. Bev is one of the trainers from Middlesbrough so food and drinks were again in order.
We went to Sophia's resteraunt. It was very nice and sold every kind of food you can imagine. It was the first time i managed to hunt down a chicken Madras... i miss my curries! Below is a picture of us all. We are already saying its going to be a shame when the training has been completed and they leave. We have become like a family here and its made the whole experience that much more enjoyable.
Approximately £90 for 11 of us to eat starters and main including drinks tells you how much a good resteraunt costs over here and the quality was good. Especially the chicken wings you can see infront of me in the picture :-).
Down to La Verdi bar again where we had a table reserved especially to embarrass Bev on stage, only problem with this was that it seems she enjoyed the happy birthday songs and dancing instead of being embarrassed which was the plan. Sean decided that instead of buying everyone a tequila it would be more financially feasible to buy a whole bottle, so there it came, possibly the most disgusting straight there is in that bar and we had a whole bottle of it. No wonder everyone plucked up the courage to sing when the band stopped and Karaoke started. I am ashamed to say that this included me. The microphone was shoved into my hand and the words came up on the screen. "you are not alone" my Michael Jackson. Deary me one of my main personal objectives for the rest of this time here is to never, ever have that microphone in my hand again!
Once again it was a great night mixing with some of the locals and getting to know the team a little better. One question remains from this night. Where exactly did Jimmi go for that 20 minutes??? (people who are here will understand).

Another late night and several drinks meant it was again 7am ish when we got in local time. Straight to bed when i got in was a must and i was out for the count in seconds... unfortunately for me i didn't put my "do not disturb" on my door so the cleaner rang my doorbell 2 hours later. I was exhausted. What followed would only be done by me; I wasn't wearing too many clothes in bed (sorry if that offends people) so i walked with my eyes half closed towards the door. I didn't have the speed of mind in that state to grab a towel so instead i grabbed a hoody and tied it round me to cover the area noone should ever see. I opened the door and asked the cleaner to clean but to leave the bedroom. Without thinking i turned around and walked back to my bed. I lied down and i suddenly realised that by turning around i had just displayed by entire backside to that poor lad, i'm not sure i will be able to look at him straight in the morning!

Tomorrow sees the arrival of Mr Salter-Duke the one guy on the BT directory who beats my double Barrel. James Salter-Duke will become my new boss soon and its going to be great to meet him after several good conversations over the last few weeks. It will be good to have another UK manager on board to help make this place a success and i am sure there are lot of fun and exciting times ahead too!

Below are a few extra pictures mentioned plus couple more from this week. Week 3 starts tomorrow and i am already looking forward to seeing what this will bring.

Miss you all as ever

JLB

Finally well done to my bro on passing his driving test, look out everyone on the roads of Tiverton!

And well done to Jo for having a great report from the school inspectors, makes all the hard work worthwhile.

:-)

The First Week

I have been here a week now and i'm sorry to say Mum that if this week is anything to go by i'm not going to want to come home.

The people here are the most friendly and welcoming people i have met. Everyone smiles and says "hello sir" as you walk past. As i will explain later my name in the bar nearby is "Sir James". I have told them that they don't need to call me sir but its just the culture here and the normal for these people to do (somehow i don't think i could make this stick in Newport ;-)).
I have settled into my office, its just like being in the UK with branded logos and banners. I have a VOIP desk phone meaning i can call the UK for free and the network connection is spot on.
The managers here spent a day online (taking calls from the lovely british public). Unfortunately for both me and them it meant that i had to roll back the years and floorwalk. The guys were great, very excited and surprisingly confident. Their accent is like the USA and i was very impressed with the performance seeing it was the first day, in fact it was probably me that struggled the most!
I also took the opportunity to go into the training room and meet the advisors. One part of the Filipino culture i have already learnt is that they love to ask personal questions and it didn't take long for me to get;

1. How old are you?
2. Are you married?
3. Do you have Facebook?
4. Do you smoke (They love to smoke)

All of the above are normal. One lad told me that he's going to make sure i try a unique Filipino gin, i don't think that is such a good idea. What was really nice about the classrooms is that everyone was smiling and paying attention to me, i really felt the sense that they want to be here and they want to do a good job... time will tell!

Sean Harnett is the manager of First Source who are our supplier. He has moved here for 2 years with his wife and 3 children. His house here is amazing, 6 bedrooms and a swimming pool. The best thing i have learnt about Sean though is that when he asks if you fancy "a couple of beers" he actually means 10. And thats what we did on Wednesday with Martin our transition manager. Martin is from India and also likes a drink it seems. What it does mean though is that outside of the pressure of this job and the home comforts that are being missed there are people here just as far away from home and its nice keeping each other going.

Thursday & Friday gave me the chance to get to know our trainers a little more. We have 5 trainers here from the UK. They are here until mid february and Its been fantastic having them here right from the start and also in my eyes very important to make sure we get this right.
However nice as the above sounds here comes the down side... they lead you astray. On Friday we went to Whistlestop - a 24 hour resteraunt which sells everything from steaks, and fajitas to salads. It a nice quiet place. and after eating we fancied somewhere a little more lively. We went to an area called Green & Grills which has a selection of 24 hour bars. There are quiet ones, loud ones, Karaoke, bands and clubby bars. The place is literally alive around the clock as even when british companies are working they bring in the american company workers, its a great place to meet all sorts of people from around the world.
So the drinks flowed and flowed, bucket after bucket of San Miguel Lite. San Miguel Lite isn't lite because of the alcohol content (5%) but because its low on calories - something that will be doing me a big favour over the coming weeks, AND believe it or not it is 40p a bottle. I know a lot of people back home who would be in a bit of trouble living out here because of that fact alone!
Martin introduced me to the locals who as i'm sure a lot of you will find funny were intrigued about my hair. But unlike you horrible sods in the UK these guys love it and see it as "Golden". It wasn't long before i hear a shout of "Sir James, Sir James a drink for you". Very nice of them but it was a whiskey with an iced tea chaser! Not really my cup of tea but it would have been rude not to accept wouldn't it? I must have had 3 or 4 of them within an hour which was nothing compared to the fact 6 of these guys were sat round the table with the bottle continually topping themselves up. It's fair to say i was quite merry.
The bar had constant entertainment, predominantly from a double act. I have added a photo where there is a group of us and i have my arm round the "lady" i think you can tell why that is in commas ;-). They are lovely though and very very funny. Just wish they would stop trying to get me to go on stage!
Suddenly before i knew it it was light outside. This is another tough thing to get a grasp of out here, we are 8 hours ahead but working UK hours. So if we work 9-5 UK hours we are actually working 17:00 - 01:00 over here, and similarly if we then go out although it might be midnight in the UK its 8am here! Still going home in daylight still felt very wrong.
If the above wasn't enough when i woke up there was an invite from the trainers going for "food and drinks" Deep down i knew what this meant, it was a meal followed by another night of several San Miguel's. The food is really good out here, you can get anything you want whenever you want, in fact MCDS and KFC both deliver! I don't know how these people remain so small !
Saturday night became a re-run of Friday night only this time they knew what to expect. I was greeted by a girl saying "sir James would you like a bottle of Jack Daniels"? Thankfully for once i made the right decision and turned that offer down. My only regret from this night was that i didn't get more evidence of everyone dancing like there was no tomorrow, i was very reserved but i can't say the same for the rest. Eating Chicken + bones, talking in an annoying irish accent and talking to some elderly ladies doing their shopping the next day (As again it was daylight before we went back to the hotel) will all be funny memories from this night. It was a very tiring but amazing weekend. Welcome to Manila!
Once i was back i rambled to a coach of a baseball team that are staying in the hotel from the US. I am pretty sure i was showing off my "home run action" in the road outside, i bet he was very impressed.

Back to normal no and back into work. My laptop has decided to die at possibly the worst time in the worst place BT do business, this is going to be a problem. We had a visitor today from another part of the business who gave really good feedback on the setup in Manila and the resources that are in place. Its safe to say the eyes of the company are on us and we must make this work!

FInally we are arranging a trip to Borocay Island, those of you who are interested if you google it and click on "images" you will see that it is paradise. From what i understand there was a frost in the UK this morning, feel crazy that we were at 31 degrees.

Hope everyone is well. Lots of love

PS, I miss my best friend, family, JH, SP, AGR, and Heinz Baked Beans

JLB

Arrival

So the waiting is over. On Sunday I flew to Manila from Birmingham via Dubai. Who knows what the next few weeks and months will bring.
The flight left Birmingham 1.5 hours late, normally this would be a nightmare but the endless supply of free Bacardi and Coke and endless after eights made it all worth while! The flight was good, having sunk a few glasses of wine tiredness hit, the next thing i know i am being woken by the captain "Please prepare for landing, welcome to Dubai". 7 hours of my life disappeared just like that.
The business class lounge in Dubai is amazing, other than the free food and drink you can have a hair cut, shower or even have your shoes polished, i didn't have time for any of that though due to the delay so i contacted a few loved ones and was on my merry way.
I must have had about 5 seats to myself from Dubai to Manila and it soon became obvious the hosts and hostesses wanted me to feel very "comfortable" topping my wine glass up whenever it got anywhere near the bottom of the glass.
Again the flight seemed to fly by, suddenly i was on the other side of the world, and suddenly i was 8 hours ahead of home.
My car had not turned up to pick me up which was a nightmare but after a couple of phone calls a guy with "Ledgerwood-Barr" appeared from nowhere, its about 30 minutes from the Airport in Manila to Alabang the modern Suburb that our office lies. I was so tired but excited to explore my new surroundings, i should have probably gone straight to bed but i didn't... something i would later regret.

The hardest part about being out here is going to be the time difference. We work UK hours (GMT) and the fact that we are GMT+8 here means that generally work begins at 4pm and ends approx 1/2am. Its quite tough to get my head round this. Especially when people at work say good morning when actually its nearly tea time!

The weather here is very hot and also humid. 30 Degrees at night time - as a ginger this is going to be quite tough as i begin to see places and go on trips at the weekend. The opportunities are going to be endless. Flights to Hong Kong are £50 and its only a little further to Bangkok although i don't think this is such a great idea with liabilities such as Kyle Francis rocking up over the next few weeks.

Unlike India the Philippines is very much a 24 hour country with bars and clubs open around the clock. MCDS is just around the corner and Starbucks are very common in this area, traffic is pretty crazy with there being a countdown at any traffic light. As you can imagine with the lights on green counting down to red everyone speeds up to try and make it through.. whoever thought that that was a good idea is just mad!

So the job, a new site, a new centre, new people and a clean slate - we are still at the recruitment and training stages at the moment so not much to talk about, there is definitely a lot of excitement around the place and people just want to get going.
The office is brand new, new PC's new phones everything. These people are very lucky but with all of this investment comes pressure to make this work.
Attached is a picture of the rooftop pool here at the Parque Espana, there is also a rooftop bar beside it which i am yet to sample... I'm sure this won't take long.

I miss everyone back home, especially the people who already know will be missed even more so. This adventure is going to fly by and i am sure the stories will begin flowing very soon.

JLB