We got up at 6 and made ready for leaving for Quezon City. An hours commute if everything is in order. In the Philippines. Fat chance.

We headed over to the Jeepney street, as we’ve named it, where we know they will take us to the train station for the Metro. We dread how crowded it would be, but as the first full Jeepney passed us the second came along as had plenty of space. The driver looked like an actor playing the role of a villain in any good Hong Kong movie, and probably the bad ones to. He drove like a mad man while he constantly talked to himself. A bit scary, but mostly entertaining.
We got off at Guadalupe and went up to the train. We thought that most people ride towards the center and fewer towards the suburbs. That might be true, but it doesn’t change the fact that lots and lots of people are heading in our direction.
As we entered the train I learned from the guy in front. Set your back to the crowd in the coach and push backwards til you’re inside. I almost lost a body part when the doors closed.
Standing pressed into the door is not a problem, but the roof is considerably lower just by the door. As the driver sped up or slowed down I bled my head in the warning lights. To much amusement from the few of my fellow passengers who could see it.
As we closed to our station, the second to last on the line, the pressure softened. Out, get taxi, go to gym – time 1:15. Not bad for tourists.
We had requested Balisong (butterfly knife) and gun situations with Allan today. He gave us a crash course in guns, linked into his system and how it’s all connected, but we spent the most time trying to conquer the Balisong. I have basic knowledge of one -1- move, and Katja none. At the end of the session we could do lot more. Let’s hope we can find some training blades while in Batangas, as that is the home of the Balisong.

Then we went to Tough Guy Shooting range. GMAllan, Jojo, Katja and I all did 25 shots 9mm and 25 shots .45 cal. It’s a long time since I shot with a handgun, and then it was .22 cal. I did alright and form of with mostly center hits, and Katja did very good for a first timer. Both Jojo and Allan are seasoned shooters and produced good scores.
As the pictures show is there a guy with a cowboy hat on top. I tried to hit mine first, and missed by a lot. Jojo did OK, Allan nailed it. Guess that settles the final score.

We did this simultaneously as a lot of the wanna be armed guards where there to take their shooting test. We all rank Katja as a decent shooter compared to a lot of these guys. It was handled in a professional and secure manner, but a couple of the guys had never held a shotgun before and winced as it hit them in the shoulder. They did 2 rounds of shotgun and 5 rounds of 9 mm. I don’t know if there is a minimum score, but if it is… a few flunked. Nice to know when you pass by armed guards every 50 meters in this town.
Then it was back to Makati and we tried to get on board the train, but had to let the first one go. When we got off at Guadalupe we made the stupid mistake of walking in direction of lunch. We got tired, hot and grumpy. I say we, but it was mostly me as the nights bad sleep caught up to me.

Anyway, with no one hurt we got us to the Corner Tree Cafe and had a great lunch. From there we had got our mojo back (still me I’m talking about) and we set out to find a ticket handler for AirAsia. We did, she charged a lot, we’re trying again by ourselves later. Taxi back to room, shower, muuuuch needed after bein sweat so many times – power nap. Aaaaaaah.

We got up again and started on project “Let’s get tickets to Myanmar and from there to Hong Kong”. All is well and then the payment doesn’t work. Hopefully we’ll make it later tonight.
Then we went out to a restaurant of Korean look and feel. It was a it like the buffet the other day, but with a lot more class. They had the BBQ on the table and servings of a lot of different things, as side dishes to the meat we ordered. Among the things we got as sides I mention here:

Quayle egg
Radish
Dried sardines
Tofu
Sweet potato
Sesame oil with salt and pepper
Soy bean paste
Salad leafs
Marinated Bok choi

The waiter did the barbecuing of the meat at our table, we did what we wanted to the other stuff. It was very good, and with lots of great tastes. Katja was especially happy for trying out the small dried sardines and finding out they were very good, not scary like she taught.

Happy and content we did a little water shopping (damn, those bottles empty fast) and some fruit for tonight’s snacks.

Now we’re getting a post for a couple of days back ready with pictures and will once again try to order tickets. Fingers crossed.