Friday 23 November 2007

yet another weekend

Thursday was a washout. This morning at 10am (Friday) I decided to get the train.... sort of fast subway.... to the furthest station which was North road... I didn't have a clue where it was but went there anyway. It wasn't easy as they aren't very good when it comes to making life easy for users.... there was no maps of routes or schedules etc at the station so I had no Idea about anything.

Anyway I ended up at this station and had a look around the local area and decided that I would walk back to Makati, basically trying to follow the train line which was on a track above the road.
I walked and walked and walked.... I walked past the national police station, I looked through a 12" hole in the wall as I could smell marijuana.... believe it or not there were about 12 policemen in full uniform standing there smoking... I can't say that I saw any reefers in their hands but they were smoking and I could definitely smell marijuana, as I was looking one of the cops looked straight at me and stared, I was thinking of taking a photo but when he put his hand on his gun I swiftly moved on !!
Before anyone asks how do I know the smell of marijuana... no I haven't tried it but I shared a flat in the 80's with guys that did, I can never forget that pungent smell.

I kept walking and stopped occasionally to have a look around at different things, I also stopped sometimes to pop into somewhere that had aircon so that I could cool down for 10 mins, after 4 hours I gave in and completed the last part of the journey by train !!

One good thing about the train stations here is that on the platforms there is a blocked off area with an armed guard, only females, the elderly and the disabled are allowed into this area. I think this is good practice as it makes those people feel safe, to be honest I always feel safe when I see an armed guard so I didn't need that area.

Sad to say but a 52 year old scotsman was killed this week in Manila, he was walking home when he was attacked and stabbed to death... there but for the grace......................

It wasn't too hot today, the sun shone as usual but the temp was only around 80*, probably still better that the UK where I believe it is getting colder.

I hope you all have a great weekend

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Gerard,

Thanks for the email. I have replied to the email as I think there must be something wrong with my computer as I have answered all your blogs.

I have asked similar questions to Mary.

Hope you are feeling better and got rid of the bug, you must be a bit better to go such a long train journey today.

Is the badminton season over, can you still coach? Is the peso governed by the American dollar and do you think it will recover.

Hope all went well at the hosp. I know its only routine.

I am glad you are not going to Mindanao until the New Year at least.It would be better if you had some company. Is there a filipino who could go with you, or would they think you were mad....

Take care and hope you receive this OK.

LOL

Anne xxx

gerry said...

Hi Anne, I think it may have just been yesterday that I didn't have a comment from you, it seemed longer because of the time difference and me posting a day behind.
I feel better but still not 100%. The badminton season is never over here, they don't have seasons like us. No the peso isn't governed by the dollar just affected by it as all of us are.
I don't go to hospital til the 27th so I can't say that it went well yet !!
I am unsure when I travel to Mindanao but one thing is I will be going on my own through choice. I wouldn't dream of asking any of my friends to come with me unless of course it was a young beautiful female !!! I prefer to travel alone.