Bookstore Encounter

I was at Robinson's Place Manila around lunchtime having some digital photos printed. I had to wait at least an hour for the prints to be done.

What to do?

I had myself a light brunch then headed to National Bookstore. Window shopping doesn't work unless youhave money to burn... Scrap that!

I went in to buy a batch of Manila envelopes to store the pictures in and then did the rounds of the bookstands finally ending up in the language books. It's kind of funny how when you're looking for a pretty decent language book, a saleslady shows you a dictionary of some language into English... Or they give you Berlitz language CD with a phrase book to go along with it.

Anyway, while browsing two tall foreigners walk along the same aisle and start pulling books out of the shelves. While in animated conversation i could hear them excitedly blurting... Palawan... yaddah yaddah yaddah... Bohol... yaddah yaddah yaddah El Nido... yaddah yaddah yaddah... Ilocos...yaddah yaddah yaddah Boracay... All the while, they were pulling out maps from shelves and leafing through pages...other people in the same aisle were starting to look at them and I couldn't really concentrate on what I was looking for anymore... then people in the aisle were staring to move away from the two...

Then finally, i couldn't stand it any longer. Where are the sales-ladies when you need assistance for foreigners, anyway? This guy seemed to be asking noone in particular where the Philippine guidebooks are... I finally pointed a finger and pulled a book out saying "questo!" They go "aaaahhh! Bounno!" Then the ball started rolling...

Nicolas and Sergio are in town for a holiday. They will be here for ten days and they haven't decided what to really do except head for the beach. Nicolas is Milanese and Sergio is Roman who stayed in Madrid for some time... so when my Italian wasn't quite enough it was alright to make up for it in Spanish. You should have seen the faces of the other Pinoys in the bookstore looking at me as though I were a pariah. Apparently they had heard that they should visit El Nido, Palawan, Bohol, Boracay... neither knew anyone in town and didn't know how to get there. I told them I was a guide so they were relieved.

I asked what is it they wanted to do? Sergio said they wanted to see the beaches but be able to move around town and explore. Scrap El Nido! It's private and secluded but too far away from Puerto Princesa. They wanted to see famous beaches they had heard about but not the touristy ones. Scrap Boracay! Now that Holy Week is drawing close people are beginning to flock there... Madness and mayhem for Holy week!

I asked them what their budget was... hah! Money was no object to these two. They did say they wanted to explore... OK! BOHOL IS IT!!! I gave them some tips on how to get to Bohol. I pointed out the nearest Cebu Pacific which was in Robinson's Manila. I warned them to get their tickets at the soonest or they'll run out of seats by the time Holy Week comes in. The exodus begins this Palm Sunday. They're flying out first thing tomorrow morning, they said.

I also gave them tips on what to see and where to go. I even gave them Department of Tourism representative Chito Vano's contact number should they need assistance. Then they asked what other options are open to them. I told them that from Bohol they could take a fastcraft to Cebu and enjoy the other beaches there as well that should keep them busy for ten days.

They were profuse in their thanks for my assistance. I was relieved they had some idea of an itinerary no matter how informal it seemed. At least they were on their way. I left the bookstore with a sense of accomplishment. I had done my good deed for the day and left them to attend to my other errands... Then my phone rang! It was Nicholas on the other end of the line and he was asking for a good Pinoy restaurant where they could try Pinoy food. I showed them Dencio's Grill as they were so casually dressed in flipflops and t-shirts. They wanted something more than that. They wanted to try a fine-dining restaurant... not some beer joint!

The nearest I could think of was Mangan or Cabalen. I have no idea which one they went to after that. Then I went to Kameraworld to pick up my print jobs...

All in all, it was a fun day!