The Story so Far (1) - Getting there

So we left Carouge on the 26th of May. We had a last drink of wine at the Carouge Market, where some of you were able to join us, on the morning of our flight out.

As we were finishing our wine, Joelle offered to take us to the airport and drink a glass of champagne with us after checking our bags. We accepted with great pleasure and so it was done.

We took off at 19:30 and had 18 hours of travel on the way out - two changes in Frankfurt and Bangkok. We had no time to spend our money during the changes as things were fairly close considering the distances needed to walk, the inevitable security checks each time and in one case the late arrival of a flight.

We arrived at 19: something, local time, at Manila airport - 24 subjective hours after we left. With the almost physical blow of tropical air that most of you will be familiar with.

Pete decided not to buy some favorite single malts at the duty free in Geneva, arguing that with two stopovers it was foolish to carry them all the way. Something he was to regret later.

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 We were, to our delight, kindly met in the baggage collection area by Nick, head of the Manila Shared Service Centre, where Soph was going to be setting up her team. He guided us smoothly through the arrival process and got us loaded up in the appropriate type of taxi to house our copious luggage. We agreed to meet a a short time later in the lobby of our hotel. And so we set out along the Skyway to our destination in the city night that had just fallen.

Going for a drink with Nick after meeting in the Lobby we selected a bar close by and on entering we were greeted by loud Sunday evening Karaoke which incited us to go to the first floor to able to talk, where, however, the music was scarcely quieter. We ordered two whiskies (with ice)  and a bottle of wine which turned up at room temperature ( about 26°c degrees) and asked if they had anything cooler. The response was to bring an ice bucket in which the wine was placed with little effect.

We also ordered a few snacks ( the theme of the bar was New Orleans ) and sat around chatting, drinking and eating for an hour or so and then bid good night to Nick and repaired to our hotel... but that is the beginning of the next post.