Where in the World is Andy?: The Brighter Side of Hazy Hot and Humid

Hot humid days in a crowded and rushed city suck. Especially when I am in a hurry and under pressure. But on the weekend, when work is done and the city is just a residential area, it's a whole different experience.

Today, I took a walk...I walked very slowly, and Makati -- Manila's central business district -- became a neighborhood.

I strolled to a local outdoor food market (no pictures, sorry)...a tropical version of a US city's farmer's market. Overflowing with 2-foot-long jackfruits, tiny calamansis, sweet bananas, and another dozen fruits that I couldn't name. Breads and jams, lotions and potions (yes, really), and about 100 different cooked food stands, mostly local food, but including chinese, french, and more. I opted for the Cebu Lechon, which is slow-roasted whole pig, chopped and nicely sauced. Mmm...Reminds me of North Carolina barbeque, without the smoke. A much cleaner, pure fresh pork taste.

I wandered across the street to a Starbucks. (I swear, there's one on every block) and indulged my need for the home taste of coffee. Then wandered some more into the midtown commercial area. I found myself at Ayala Tower One, a landmark city building. I wondered into the covered plaza area, a very modern construction, where I saw a crowd of people running around furiously. On further investigation, in was a firemen's training class in hose techniques. You can't make this stuff up.

I thought the formality of it all was overkill. After all, hoses are just hoses, right? Here's one of the things I learned today: Before hoses are rolled up, they are folded to half their length, so that the ends are next to each other. When there's a fire, *2* firefighters each pull one end of the hose, and it unrolls in 1/2 the time. Seconds count. There were other subtleties to the process, but I won't try to expand on them here. I'll just be grateful for people who think of this stuff.

Here's a view from the plaza when you turn around and look in the other direction. A lot of attention was paid in planning out this city area.

Then around the corner to this little gem...

Looks like a little country house, yes? It's actually a library. But the interesting thing is that the building used to be the Manila Airport Control Tower. All of Makati -- the business district I've been describing today -- used to be the airport.

And look at the blossoms on this tree in the middle of the city...