Service sucks

Police were ticketing people for not having proper vehicle registration. Apparently, it's really interesting.

I woke up today and didn’t recognize my surroundings--“where was I?”. I ended up sleeping pretty well in my new room. It’s a little hot but I do have an air conditioning unit I can use. For a few hours in the morning, I went through my photos from Japan to see how they were. While doing this, there was a loud knock at my door--it was Eilaine and her sister! It was a pleasant but odd surprise because I only vaguely told her where I lived and she had to pass through a locked gate to get to me.

It was her birthday so I ended up giving her present which was a shirt she wanted from Japan. After chatting a little bit, we walked over to her place where she lives; she only lives a few houses down from me. After hanging out at Eilaine’s place, I cautiously drove out towards Tagbilaran.

I wasn’t 100% sure how to get there but that’s part of the adventure. I needed to get gas and so had to ask a few people where to get gas. One can get gas at either some local small stores (measured by the liter in Coke bottles) or at a gas station with pumps. It’s not clear which small stores sell gas though. I got gas at a Petron station where for 93 octane it was 48 p/liter.

I actually managed to make it to BQ mall in Tabilaran without getting lost. I was hungry so I ate at Pizza Hut. I realized I needed to rush and make it to the bank by 3 pm because that’s when they close. I needed to get a lot of cash in order to pay for my stay and diving at Genesis. I ate quickly (for me anyway), paid, and made it out to the bank by 2:45 pm.

The teller told me that I couldn’t withdraw cash because the machine they use to do it runs only until 2:30 pm. And she said, it was “already 3.” What the hell! I was 15 minutes after the fact and even then why does it close early? The teller wouldn’t make an exception even after I pleaded with her. I was so disappointed because this was my second time trying to get money, and driving to Tagbilaran is at least a 40 minute drive. I had to withdraw money from this bank because it was the only one where you can withdraw a large sum with just an ATM card. I left frustrated from the lack of service and wasting my time.

I went to BQ department store to return a duffle bag I bought before my trip to Japan that I didn’t use. I bought it 10 days prior. A security guard told me to take it to the cashier. The cashier looked at the item and the receipt and told me they can’t give me a refund but I can exchange it for something. I had to find enough things to total or exceed the cost of the bag (460 pesos). I didn’t really find anything I needed at the mall so I spent at least an hour looking for things -- sunglasses, towels, etc. It was a pain because there are 4 floors with registers on each floor where you’re supposed to purchase the items on their corresponding floor. This makes it hard to collect all the items I needed to add up to the exchange amount. I eventually took everything I had to another cashier to do my exchange.

At the cashier they told me that I couldn’t do the exchange because its was too long since I bought the item and that their return policy is one day. I was frustrated because the other cashier said I could exchange and shopped for at least an hour. After arguing with them, they eventually agreed to do the exchange. They totaled up how much I had to buy in exchange and it came out to 10 pesos short. They wouldn’t just give me the 10 pesos, I had to go back out to find something to buy. I found some scissors for 30 pesos. Obviously, customer service is not their thing.

I went down to the BQ grocery store and bought a nice motorbike helmet. It was $60 USD and seemed like it was up to standards. I also bought a lot of bath and cleaning things I needed for my house. Time to disinfect!

Finding my way out of the city was half successful. I was almost out of the town and then I took a wrong turn somewhere and got lost. Eventually I went the correct direction but took the road back to Alona instead of Doljo. Oops, well, I need to drop by anyways.

I went to the ATM and pulled out cash to pay Rubi what I owe her for renting her bike. I hung out at Coco Vida and had a mango shake then visited the girls at Oops. It was happy hour but I didn’t order any drinks because I was going to drive the bike (I think this bike will actually make me drink less!).

Eilaine (right), her two cousins, and sister (left)

I left, picked up a BBQ chicken (Lechon Minok), and drove back to my house. After dinner, I walked to Eilaine’s place to celebrate her 18th birthday. We ate cake and ice cream and hung out and talked. I met a lot of her relatives which were all nice.

- jason