A Return to Normalcy

I finally snapped a nice shot of the little Shangri-La ensemble this afternoon when I was passing by on the balcony. Not bad accompaniment to your afternoon tea.

After four consecutive days of blurry agony I feel almost whole again. Since Monday and through this morning I’ve battled a nauseating headache and an ugly case of the spins. Even this morning towards the end of it all, I was still not out of the woods. I spun around in the elevator area to figure out which of the eight was ringing at me for a ride to my floor. I was so dizzy from one spin that I had to bend over and catch my breath. Sadly this caused me to MISS my elevator. Yikes. And if that doesn’t convince you, I haven’t had coffee in four days. For those of you who know me well, that says it all.

Then as I left the hotel doors an uneasy sight. Outside of my hotel there currently sit what appears to be half of the Makati Police Force. For the record Makati is the portion of Manila in which I am staying. It is essentially the Financial Capital/Beverly Hills of Manila, and the area where virtually all foreigners live and stay when in Manila. Knowing this it is also the most heavily policed and guarded. I usually see a lot of police and guardsmen around, literally on every corner. But this was different. Across the street were approximately 20 Police Vans, another 20 or so Police Motorcycles which I wasn’t able to capture on film. I always feel a little uneasy snapping pictures of large groups of heavily armed men. One picture was nerve racking enough. The last thing I need is to lose my third camera to confiscation. The security detail for the Pakistan Foreign Minister a few weeks back paled in comparison. For fear of stirring up any more worrying that I already have with this paragraph I’m leaving it at that. Even though I have a hypothesis or two.

Anyway I’ve decided, due to my return from the darkness of ill health, to treat myself to a Dampa Fish Market feast. On the menu for me today, steamed Lapu Lapu with soy glaze, one large crab in chili sauce, and upon the insistent recommendation of a visiting Yahoo Customer Service Executive last week I also ordered grilled squid, no spices or fancy sauce, just grilled. As I imagine you can tell from the pictures it was scrum-didily-umptious.