March 3, 2016
What the hell have I done? I want to hide in my room for 25 days and then go home š I am now faced with a bunch of chores, along with surviving the onset of the Humboldt Crud I incubated with 17 hours of flight time and 8 hours of total exhaustion. My chore list for the day:
1. Shower and get a massage by the masseuse they have on staff (no funny stuff, and cheap). My back, actually whole body, is tight. I have thrown my back out early in trips before and don’t want my tight muscles to claim me again as their victim.
2. Find a case of water and put it into my mini-fridge. I’ve had a quart of water this morning from the tap, sterilized with a TravelMate UV filter. I hope I don’t get traveler’s illness (the water is not safe here).
3. Take a taxi to a local mall and purchase a phone ($30 US). Buy a sim card and load it with time. Cell phones are the lifeline of the Philippines (or so I’ve read).
4. Reorganize my stuff into what can be stolen by hotel staff and what is locked in my bag (sadly, the locks are for show—my online research tipped off by my friend Eric, shows that a pen can be inserted into a plastic zipper, opened fully, and then closed as if nothing happened). It will be pain locking up my computer and CPAP machine every time I leave, but it has to be done (or so I’ve read).
5. Oh, Yeah….I need to get an adapter for the power plugs they use here. The $25 set of plugs for all around the world didn’t have one for the Philippines…or at least the ones used in my hotel. Great.
6. Change up more American dollars to Philippine pesos…at the mall.
I got 7 hours sleep last night and am hot and tired, but ready to putter through the day. I am looking at today as a rest and recuperation day with errands.
What the hell have I gotten myself into?
Part II: The reality
I never made it out of the hotel. I slept in until 9 AM (7 hours sleep), showered, watched tv, took 3 or 4 hour nap, and fell asleep at 10 PM and woke up at 8 AM—21 hours of sleep.
After my nap I made it down to the lobby and got a bottle of cold water for 40 P (90 cents) for a 1/2 liter. I had been treating warm tap water in a nalgene 1 L bottle with a UV sterilizer. Tasted horrible with the Nalgene taste. (They also have a restaurant downstairs with entree, rice, vegetables for 200 p, about 4.25 US)
I drank the water, sterilized another liter of tap water, poured it into the 40P water bottle to put into the mini-fridge. There was no room BECAUSE the mini-fridge was stocked with 6 beers, 5 waters, 3 coca colas, and 3 Del Monte juice cans. AARRGGHHH. Distilled cold water was available all the time (for a price)
The TV is good…mostly american stations with HBO and Cinemax. I asked the desk where I could get money changed and she suggested an outdoor market. I checked into Ayala Mall (the biggest mall around) and they closed in 2 hours so I didn’t want to rush it. No travel for me today.
In bed at 10 (exhausted) (and I’m eating only trail mix), and on to day 3.