Went to the Quezon City circle for a run with Sir Lem, we also ran on the way there too. Although it turns out that running past stray dogs isn’t a wise idea. After a decent few laps of the circle we took a break and I suggested a race around the oval. It was completely exhausting but most satisfying to fly by all the joggers for a lap.

Nearby Zumba was playing ultra motivational one direction music, I’ve had my cynical thoughts about Zumba but the way the leader was going at it left no doubt it was burning calories like wildfire.

The monument itself was very impressive. There was a bit of litter around the place from a recent event though. But be honest and tell me it doesn’t remind you of the tower of Sauron? Or something else out of the lord of the rings?

Those clouds are straight out of a Greek myth….

And then when the sky had lightened up a little:

Went for a walk around the park explaining the geocaching concept and how there was apparently one in this park. The Philippines are rather devoid of geocaches but I’m sure I’ll get down to finding one at some point in my trip here.

We then decided to visit Pure Gold (not the worst shop name I’ve ever heard) to shop for something that Sir Lem couldn’t remember. I just ended up buying more Gatorade as I hadn’t brought along my “emergency bottle” for the run.

As a side note it seems that waving to teenage girls here makes them scream. I’m English. Waving is our second language. But good grief they made a fuss out of it.

Sir Lem and I wandered over to Savemore (definitely not the worst shop name I’ve ever heard) constantly ribbing each other like there’s no 9 year difference in our friendship. A full day before 8 o clock I’d say.

Back at the dorm I envisioned a day of rest. After all….No classes today! Yay! There was a bit of dorm cleaning to do though. I got down to using this funky looking broom. I call it the bed hair broomstick.

Due to the absence of a piano in the dorm I went back to college to do some singing practice like the diligent student I am. Sweet Irish melodies spilled from my lips. It got all over the piano actually… What a mess.

After defeating a strange attraction to eating potatoes for lunch I made some tuna and sweet corn sandwiches with a bit of mayonnaise. I could live off this stuff and I might end up doing just that. Dormitory life has given me a healthy appreciation for food that is cheap, food that is easy and food that is quick. Sandwiches and toast have become my staple diet. Not that this has changed much from when I was in Australia.

While I was eating pudding (a cinnamon ring) I got talking with 2 Chinese fellows and being the language lover that I am I started to question them. However, it was soon clear that they spoke 2 slightly different dialects so naturally I entertained myself for 20 minutes by asking them about various phrases and listening to the ensuing argument. Normally this was accompanied with much dramatic hand waving and frenetic shaking of heads. By far Chinese is seemingly the best language to argue in. It just sounds excellent, like every other word is a curse word or an expression of exasperation. In the end one of them imparted this wisdom to me: “If you want to learn Chinese, never ask two Chinamen at the same time”.

While I am here I might write a book. The art of sleeping and nap times. In this country I know that the comfort of the place you sleep matters not compared to how hot or cold it is. Hence I slept for 3 hours on the floor of the dorm with a fan over me. No mattress or blankets. Just a floor and a fan.

When I arose from my slumber it was just about time to don my formal trousers and set off for the prayer meeting. A black cat joined in the service too but got scared off by the hymn singing. After that I continued a bit with my piano practice before deciding it was about time to be going to bed. If only I knew how difficult that might be…

The key I was supplied with didn’t work. This led me to pacing back and forth wondering what to do. In the end I decided that since the bottom door was locked perhaps the balcony one had been left open, so I climbed up onto the balcony by using a metal gate as a stand and scaling the cult church wall (useful for something apparently). Parkour will never fail me. So yay, I made it up there. Sadly the dorm lads had been thorough and locked the balcony door to stop people like me getting in. So I ended up “trapped” on the balcony. At least I had the time to set up my bed, and once the room leader returned he let me back in (but was slightly confused as to how I had magically teleported up there).

Finally for my dinner Sir Lem showed me a restaurant where it was established that I had no head whatsoever for spicy food. I couldn’t even handle the hot sauce… we also had this random guy come us and conveniently sell us some pudding (shown below) in the middle of the restaurant. It’s a biscuit which tastes remarkably like apple pie, it’s definitely got cinnamon in too. Take a look:

I’m really hoping that tonight is the night I get a good fulfilling rest.