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
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