Secret Womans Business (Manila)
I like the Philippines, I really do. The people are lovely, always smiling and nodding (mostly because they dont understand what you are saying but they will smile and nod as if they do) but still its nice seeing everyone smiling all the time. The food and alcohol are cheap as, and usually they are pretty good. There is always something to do here, 24/7 Manila barely stops - I saw Midget boxing with a new friend over here at like 5 in the morning for crying out loud...I mean where else in the world can you do that???
The daily commute to the office, its just like a legal demolition derby on these roads. Holding your breath as you rocket forward at 50kmph towards the flood of brake lights signalling the end of the banked up traffic, You can watch as the motorcyclist in front of you swerves to the right and squeezes between two stationary vehicles - his kness so close they scrap along the doors of the cars either side... and then suddenly your taxi driver swings to the right and your up on two wheels trying to make it through the same path the motorcyclist just went through... its Exhilarating! I know some people complain about the traffic here - but the way I look at it, the hour and a bit that it takes me to go from my home to my office is the perfect time to catch up on all the zzz's you missed cause you were up all night drinking with your internations buddies.
Yep It is more FUN in the Philippines... and i am loving it...
I am however in this situation where I have left my husband behind to run the business back in Australia, and I have come across to Manila to handle things at this end... this means that we dont get too see each other that often... so of course when he to visit... well lets just say i want everything nice and tidy downstairs... TMI for some of you I do appologise... and those that are squemish please stop reading now...
Ok still with me??? So today I says to myself "Myself its time for a trip to the nearby spa".. so off i wander downstairs and book myself in for the full treatment... now when i say nearby spa, I am not exactly talking some little salon on the street corner, we are talking about a big flash fancy looking place that has multiple locations and charges 3 x's the amount of any 'normal' spa. It looked reputable, it charges a lot of money - must be a good service... well at least that makes sense to me...
Now i am not going to go into the nitty gritty details here but I will say, that while Manila certainly has kept up with world in many respects, waxing and womens sanitary items are still in the Protected content technology... and let me just point out that back in the Protected content I dont think the 'Brazilian' was a popular waxing option, in fact I am fairly certain back in the 60's it wasnt even on the waxing menu...
I honestly cant say it was the therapists fault here, (although i did feel as if she should have been wearing black leather, thigh high boots and carrying a whip because this girl certainly wasnt going to be gentle with me) In this case though it was just simply a matter of outdated training and methods. Honestly I gritted my teeth and bore with it because I figured that surely they have done this sort of thing before. I mean I cant be the first woman to enter that salon and ask for a brazilian, I dealt with it when they tried to tear that little man right out of the canoe... but there is only so much that a person can handle and when they drew blood for the 47th time.... well that was the last of it for me... Suffice to say I hope my husband has a sense of humor when he arrives in Manila.... because... well the gardener was sacked mid job... :)
Now this hasnt exactly put me off waxing in Manila forever because its certainly a hell of a commute to fly back to my regular umm 'stylist' every 4 weeks, but I can be fairly certain next time I attempt this will be with at least a third of a bottle of tanduay put away before hand...
I wonder if my Internations friends might be able to point me in the direction of spa's that might be slightly more up to date on their waxing technology... and less likely to have therapists who moonlight in darkened rooms, dressed in leather, holding a whip and calling themselves Mistress Payne!
