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
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