Manila Hotel

On Wednesday night I went to the Manila Hotel. The Manila Hotel is one of the huge old style hotels located downtown Manila on Manila bay. Very posh. Very very posh. And for the first time in 2 months I at my supper with a knife and fork. It was a spacey moment for me to pick up a knife instead of a spoon. Oh man, it was a book launching done by a Christian German NGO. So the food was western fare buffet (the kind with a 3 foot tall ice carving at each end of the buffet). They had 6 types of fish, there was a Caesar salad(?!). Chicken Cordon-bleu (cheese is a unknown commodity here in RP). Pasta. And then only a few small dishes for our Filipino friends - a curry squid dish, a chicken dish to be had with white rice. Dinner including a monster buffet table of dessert. Filipinos are crazy about sugar snacks so dessert is a score. But the piece-de-resistance for me was the blueberry cheese cake. Ya all free.

In the Philippines we eat lots of rice. Generally with a small splash of meat in sauce, rarely with veggies. Last night I had more protein than I have had in months. All in one meal. Like rare roastbeaf rolled around baby asparagus spears. Holy Cow. And the smoked Lapu-Lapu was yummy. It is some kind of white fish.

However there was a down side. Even though I am now part of an "inner club" of expat executives living in posh conditions...It hurts my being. I find it difficult to settle in and "become" one of them. I feel better in squalor and dirt. This type of 'intrinsic' living has the ability to quickly buff away external expressions of need...and take us all down to the same level. It allows me to escape my white skin and be at one with humanity.

I am afraid, however, that this kind of life grows quickly on people. I would hate to wake up one day and realize that I have developed such a comfortable existence that I am now incapable of living in a 'normal' way.

Or maybe... I need to learn to meditate away ego. Learn to "be" and not create problems before they become problems. I could be trying to justify my skinflint tendencies...