Nescafe instant coffee.
At least one good thing that came out of my failed attempt to extend my visa the day before was that I bought coffee to make at home. It’s instant coffee, but, I guess it’s better than nothing. It’s funny to go from high end, imported gourmet espresso coffee that I had often in the US to the lowest, almost embarrassing form of coffee. In fact, I think most people that know me are shocked I’m actually drinking instant coffee. In the morning, I drank a few cups of coffee. Drinking the instant coffee requires good amounts of sugar and instant cream because drinking it otherwise is suicidal.
Themistocles Inting (?), the officer in charge verifies my passport
As before, I dressed up and made sure I had everything for the Immigration office. There still was a slight chance of the office being closed because it was Friday and taking off today would yield a 4 day weekend. To my delight though, the office was open. Getting my visa extended was a simple, no questions asked, procedure. I didn’t need proof that I can afford to stay, or they didn’t ask me why I was extending it. The only problem was that I could only extend it for 39 additional days when I was hoping to get at least 6 months. When my new visa expires though, I can extend it for another 2 months.
After the Immigration office, I made my way to BQ mall to eat lunch. I ate at Mongolian Bowl and had a chicken Mongolian bowl for 58 pesos ($1.40 USD). Afterwards I saw the movie Iron Man which was a lot better than I expected. I did a few other things like getting groceries at the market before going back home.
Along the road back home, I passed through several fiesta celebrations. The road was decorated with colorful flags, stages were built for performances, and basketball courts were set up with large sound systems for disco at night. After dropping off my groceries at home, I went to Alona Beach to check email and socialize a little. I ate dinner at Oops bar again and while there I met Ed and Abby. They’re originally from the east coast in the US but live and teach in Hong Kong.
Abby, Sara, Ed, Me, and Martine hang out at Oops.
Both Ed and Abby convinced me that Hong Kong is better than I thought. Ed even made me a list of things to do if I ever visit Hong Kong. Now I have another place to visit before going back to the US. Fortunately, flying to Hong Kong is fairly inexpensive and is only a 2 hour flight from Manila. My only concern though is how crowded it will be and raising prices because of the Olympics. Hm, maybe I should go to the Olympics. How often can one do that?
Disco lights illuminate the sand at Jasz.
Sara and Martine joined me at Oops because we were going to check out a nearby fiesta disco. After a couple drinks, Sara, Martine, Ed, Abby, and I went to Jasz bar where there was live music. It quickly ended though once we arrived and then it began raining. Sara, Martine and I then went to Trendi’s and hung out there for a while hoping that the rain would subside. It didn’t, and so, they followed me to my house where they planned to spend the night.
Flowers under orange ball lights.
It was great having friends come over to my house to hang out. The last time I hosted people at my house was over two months ago in the US. There, I would always have friends visit. When I stayed at Genesis Divers, it never felt like my place. I guess, maybe, it’s a sign of actually being settled in.
- jason
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