For some of us it’s a rest day today. That means me. Katja went of to yoga as I went back to bed to, as I just wrote, rest.

Katja came back and we did a little work before heading out to the city. We have been trying to get to a place called Satinka to eat, but never actually found out when they’re open. Today we found a telephone number on Facebook, called and verified that they now are open.
We got into a cab and can quickly confirm that there are no minimum standard for the taxis in this town. This gotta be the worst piece of crap car we have been into so far. All of us, that includes the driver, though for a periods that the gearbox had died and it’s a miracle we came to our destination. Luckily the traffic moves so slowly that there are really no big risk in such a situation. Crashes in the city are rarely fatal.

We got to Satinka and the first thing that hit me when entering was a delicious smell of Rosemary. Two thing about that made me smile: the smell of rosemary, and the fact that I could smell anything. I must be getting better, and I immediately write that up to my extra hours in bed in the morning. Hey, it might as well be that as anything else!

I got served my blueberry shake, and immediately noticed the straw. This is what every restaurant and homes should use. The washable and reusable straws. May they be of glass or metal like this, but the reduction of plastic is important.
The Rosemary chicken was a huge success. It’s the best meal so far in the Philippines, only tied with the BBQ meat from the Buffet at Boracay.

We got ourselves a taxi and headed over to Mall of Asia. Wow. Just… WOW! It’s the largest mall in Asia, but saying that don’t really make you understand how big it is. The info screen at the entrance we used corresponds quite good to the mall’s size. If you can’t find what you want here it probably don’t exist. I think you could wander off in here and probably not come out until New Years. Broke, loaded and weighing twice of what you went in with.
We walked around and looked. I honestly get a bit overwhelmed with this much people, sounds and offerings. I’m not a shopper, unless it’s online where I can do research, read reviews and shop around for a bargain. Having to go into stores (specially clothing) is just annoying. Having to try anything on is even worse and coping with the brain dead youth who tells me I “look good in this” whatever I try is outright torture. It’s enough with one shopper in the family. Katja happily goes into store after store while I find resting places to read, blog and surf. Being patient has it’s benefits, but I would like to find a Cinnabon around here somewhere. I must admit to that.

And to emphasize this we walk into Gap. I pick up one t-shirt, try it and buy it. Katja tries a number of products and uses 10 times the time. Buys nothing and still had a better experience than me.
We continued to walk through the mall (part of it anyways) and Katja went into one shop after the other without really buying that much. This is a shoppers Mekka, no doubt. I know friends who would leave with the need of another closet after being here.

We got hold of a taxi and was tried hustled, but you know us. Out of that one and into another with a driver who was so positive, I haven’t met his match. He gave us great stories on the way back and we ended up paying him more in tips than the hustler wanted from us. Reward the nice guys.
We shopped some bread and spread and ate in the room for dinner. Heavy lunch – light Dinner.
Now it’s time to get some sleep before we’re heading up to Quezon City to Master Allan for training in the morning. We’re gonna check out the public transportation during rush hour.