dear Bro Merlin
Must compliment u for the excellent write out. Yr command of the language & vocab make up a nice, descriptive story presented in the most refined & elegant manner which is hard to come by, Keep it Up, KUDOS to u !
Awaits for more……………………. but not too long pl
Part 2
The queue to the custom was staggeringly long. To make matters worse, the air conditioner seemed to be choked. Cold air was not felt at all. It took me more than 30 minutes to get to the counter after making strategic moves to change queues twice.
I met Benjamin at the conveyor belt after I cleared the custom. “Hold on to your luggage tag from Singapore. They might check in case someone else takes your bag.”
With that, I ransacked my little pouch I kept inside my pocket for the piece of luggage tag and finally heaved a sigh of relief after locating it. Our luggage arrived after extensive waiting and we quickly swept our feet out of the airport swiftly. The air port outside looked so dreadful that I thought I travelled back in time.
“Welcome to Manila!” Geoffrey came out of the surveying crowed across the zebra crossing. He will become the catalyst who will trigger my awakening into the dimension of discreet debauchery.
He grabbed my hand and shook with vigour, “You must be Jack! Welcome Welcome!” I reciprocated his hospitality with a wide smile and we headed towards his vehicle. Indeed, the eye opening experience commenced the moment I stepped out of the aircraft. I was all the more intrigued with the effects of corruption while I walked deeper into Manila.
Part 3
Some men came over and grabbed our luggages before shoving it into Geoffrey’s SUV. These self made unofficial porters then sheepishly asked me for money. Geoffrey dispensed their presence by giving them some tips. They disappeared as quickly as they appeared once they got their money.
“Is this your first time into Manila, Jack?” Geoffrey asked.
“Yes it is!” I answered carefully not to offend our prestigious customer by expressing my bad impressions of Manila.
“It’s OK, this place is very lousy, dirty and very badly maintained. Unlike Singapore, right?” Geoffrey’s capacity to read my mind was remarkable. But probably he shares the sentiments of many others who visited Manila.
As we steered out of the airport, we came face to face in the worst jam I have seen in my entire life. Right before the windscreen was a whole layer of cars and mini buses and occasionally some motorcycles will weave between traffic.
“The traffic here is the worst so far,” Benjamin commented without restrain. To my surprise, Geoffrey immediately responded by concurring with his statement.
Part 4
Our conversation started to take off while in the car as we spoke about the issues faced in Manila in regards to our business. Geoffrey expressed his concerns over the worrying trends of competing brands and our imitations. Rivalries as such cost him significant losses and Geoffrey was determined to stamp them out once and for all regaining the majority market share like the good old days.
“No choice,” I said,” competition from China is really threatening everyone in the region. Products like ours made in the western countries definitely cost more even though our quality may be better.”
Geoffrey however begged to differ, “Unfortunately, customers in this part of the world care less about product quality. So long the machineries work, the origin of the product does not matter.” He went on to quote the price difference which was an astonishing 50% of what we are offering sometimes.
“I have invited many of my major customers to the seminar tonight at your hotel, maybe you can explain to them that our products are better.” Geoffrey said. I absolutely acknowledged his concerns.
“But now, I am bringing you two to the duty free zone for some shopping. Do you still have your boarding pass?” Geoffrey asked. By now, the vehicle was halfway through the congestion and Geoffrey was making his way by creating the 3rd lane in the 2 lane road.
It was more than 20 minutes before we arrived at the duty free zone. I took down my personal laptop and alighted with Benjamin while Geoffrey parked his SUV at a nearby lot.
We walked towards the entrance when Geoffrey returned. And there before me was a security counter and a notice on the wall which sent chills down my spine.
Part 5
‘Please surrender all firearms and deadly weapons at the counter’
“I told you this is a cowboy town right? Firearms are allowed here.” Benjamin quietly spoke to me when he saw the bewilderment written all over my face. I started to look around for suspicious people fearing for anyone who might go berserk with a firearm while Benjamin said, “people here rob with uzi and AK47.” His elaboration did nothing to alleviate my fear.
We cleared the security like a breeze making myself all the more worried.
“Be careful of what you say and do in public. And be alert.” Benjamin continued to make me feel uncomfortable with his consistant explanation.
Geoffrey and Benjamin made some purchases in the super market after getting some liquor and we headed out to make payment. It was then I realized that many leading Philippine malls accept US currency. After making our final payment, we went to Geoffrey’s SUV and helped him to load his groceries. As we made our way out, the rain started to pour spontaneously. It did not abate until we were about 45 minutes away from the duty free zone. This was when it dawned upon me the dreadful road condition was giving me considerable backache.
Potholes were abundantly available. Sometimes the road will suddenly sink inches lower for the rest of the stretch and revert back to the previous height without warning making it a chore to endure the treacherous car ride.
I looked at the roads and began to wonder if the constructors used inferior quality materials to pave the road. Perhaps the proportion of sand and gravel was poorly made. Perhaps it’s some ‘made in China’ nonsense again.
Part 6
Out of curiosity, I blurted out my question, “Geoffrey, why is the road condition in Manila so bad? Were the road makers trained?”
Geoffrey replied without hesitation, “Because of corruption.” His reply sounded like a retort. Sharp and straight to the point.
I was dumbfounded for a moment before regaining my composure to his totally unexpected answer.
“Wait a minute, what has corruption got to do with the road quality?” I asked naively. Obviously, the days I spent as a mummy’s boy didn’t help my life in the later part of my adulthood.
“Jack,” Benjamin turned around, “The road quality in Singapore can be considered as the best in the whole region. This is because corruption is minimal and we pretty much check and balance in the way money is spent in Singapore compared to Manila.”
“Yes, that’s why I prefer Singapore more than Manila if I were to put my son for study. When he’s bigger, I am going to send him to Singapore to study there.” Geoffrey added. The statements made by Geoffrey somehow incinerated the combustible passion inherent and made me proud of my nationality momentarily.
Part 7
While Geoffrey slowly negotiated round the crowded main roads, he came to a halt at another congestion. Here, I noticed several children running into the roads at the traffic lights retailing items that would probably help drivers.
But what caught my attention was an uncanny deplorable spectacle. A very dark woman tremendously reduced to skin and bones was seen carrying an infant in her weak embrace. It seemed apparent that she was going to lose grip on the baby as she struggled to walk from car to car stretching out her hand hoping someone will sympathize her predicament and give her something to feed her baby. She moved from car to car slowly while I maintained my vision on her. Still stuck in the appalling jam, she came to Geoffrey’s car. But instead of looking at the driver, she came to my window.
Blankly staring into my eyes, I could feel the images found only in Times magazine manifested into an abomination before me. Yet, I couldn’t break my eye contact with the miserable woman. Her hollow stare induced grief to surge from within my emotions and as bereavement was brimming, she broke off the brief eye contact and moved on to the next car. It was in reality only for seconds but I thought it felt like eternity.
I’ve never seen such anguish and hopelessness in my whole life.
“Are such people everywhere?” I asked Geoffrey.
“You will get used to it,” Benjamin interrupted, obviously he had the same impression during his first trip to Manila.
Part 8
The distress accompanied my emotions for the rest of the journey and to the hotel. I see undernourished children and sometimes adults going to cars to beg as soon as we run into a stagnant junction. The overwhelming woe gripped my mind while I come to terms that the heart wrenching images are part of the city landscape. I can never imagine seeing such sorrowful sights in Singapore.
This trip felt like a harbinger of reality into my life. Indeed, I think a sheltered lifestyle I led was an understatement. Blinded to be oblivious to the prevalent problems in the less privileged communities, I guess that’s apparent within the well to do Christians in Singapore. Scorned people who ride motorcycles and people who did not make it into universities. Showed contempt to people who cannot afford their next meals or to those whose entire accommodation is the size of their massive bathroom. Going to church felt nothing more than networking. And occasionally some churches had management who showed concern nothing beyond the dollar sign.
The journey from the airport to my hotel proved to be disturbing. However, I had to concentrate on the seminar I had to conduct tonight. After tipping the hotel bellboy, I started to unpack some of my clothings.
The hotel telephone rang halfway through and I picked it up only to hear Benjamin’s voice and laughter in the background. “Hey! Are you done? Geoffrey is going to bring us for an early dinner. He also have something to ask you.” And he went on to giggle while Geoffrey loudly exclaimed, “Wait! Let’s meet up first before we discuss!”
Whatever it was, I was not prepared to let our customer wait. I took some of my important personal effects and headed off to Benjamin’s room.
Benjamin was still unpacking some of the brochures from his luggage when I arrived. Geoffrey ushered me into the room and started to ask me questions.
“Where do you want to go tonight after the event?” Geoffrey was grinning when he made that suggestive question, “Shall I bring you out for some fun?”
I smiled and told Geoffrey that I think we should settle serious work first.
Part 9
We left the hotel and went to the building next to our hotel in Quezon city for Friday’s.
While having dinner, Benjamin kept smiling while Geoffrey started to ask me about my family. I could tell he was actually leading me into some conversation but I wouldn’t want to jeopardize the quality of our co-operation so answered them carefully.
“Have you ever had any night life in Singapore?” Geoffrey conveyed the turning point question in the whole conversation, “I feel that it’s very expensive in Singapore and there’s not much to see.”
“I am not sure about that. Not really a night walker.” I replied finally getting an explicit picture of his intention. Whatever it is, I put up my usual Christian hypocritical front, “I don’t associate myself with delinquents in Singapore.”
I couldn’t believe such a statement spewed out of my mouth. It was as good as accusing one of our largest client as something lesser than I was. So I pretended not to notice the mistake which could be pivotal when steering our conversation towards a beneficial relationship.
The mistake certainly reduced my leverage to get into Geoffrey’s good books.
Benjamin quickly slided into our conversation and tried to correct me, “I think he don’t understand.” He goes on to wink at me and said, “Tonight we will show you the brotherhood and you will understand our intention.” Still giggling, he somehow extinguished some of the annoyance. I extended the effects by giving a little chuckle.
Geoffrey smiled and said, “OK, let me show you the ropes to brotherhood tonight.”
Little did I expect the impact of my faux pas, intensified Geoffrey’s determination to make things work out his way and recruit a new member into his fellowship of debauchery.
Part 10
The seminar commenced and concluded after much efforts. Many of the customers who attended the event were convinced that they were paying for quality if they opted for our machineries. Some of them even personally went to Geoffrey and Benjamin to arrange for a separate meeting to discuss about extending our co-operation by making new purchases and getting repairs from our Geoffrey who was acting as our authorized repair workshop.
This improvement made Geoffrey extremely pleased. While we were wrapping up the seminar, he came to me and gave me a pat on my back, “Thanks to you, I think I have gotten new sales.”
“This is my job. I am here to ensure you end your evening a richer man.” I replied with a good business attitude. But this opened an opportunity to Geoffrey to raise the issue of recruitment again.
“OK, then it is my job to ensure you end your night a satisfied man!” Geoffrey said aloud while laughing with it.
Geoffrey told me to keep my laptop and go for a shower while arranging to meet me at the hotel lobby in 30mins.
It was about 2 hours before a new day commences when I returned to the lobby refreshed. I waited for a while before Geoffrey and Benjamin arrived to the lobby. He asked the valet to drive his car to the drive through and we climbed into his car headed for our late night entertainment.
Geoffrey started to discuss with Benjamin on where to go while driving on the much jam alleviated streets by now. But instead of going straight to their destination, Geoffrey decided to go for a quick bite along one of the Chinese restaurants.
“There are many clubs here, I think we can try one of them nearby,” Geoffrey said while at supper, “I know the place better so we should feel more at home.”
Although I was not keen to the idea, I thought it’d be rude to decline his hospitality. “I am fine with anything.” I replied.
With that, Benjamin broke into a wide grin while Geoffrey said aloud, “That should be the right way to go!”
Their satisfaction somehow created discomfort within myself, but I thought it’d be wiser to act according to the proceeds of events.
Geoffrey drove us to a club along a busy night street scattered with women walking along the streets very scantily dressed. Sometimes, they’d be accompanied by a man usually of much older age beckoning to the cars who drove up slowly and occasionally pulled over. The club however was well guarded by security whereby such activities had little reach. Geoffrey passed his car to the valet and the three of us walked into the club known as ‘Mystique’.