Asian Patent Attorneys Association Convention

The past weekend was an important assignment for eight of the Mabuhay Guides assigned for the Asian Patent Attorneys Association. The schedule for the Three day itinerary was to begin on the 13th (Sunday) until the 15th (Tuesday). The 13th was to merely convey guests  from Shangrila Hotel in Makati to Sofitel for a welcome dinner reception. The 14th was a full day's tour for the guests to relax in Tagaytay Highlands. The 15th was to transfer guests from Dusit Thani Hotel to another dinner reception at the Manila Hotel.

The assignment sounds so simple, right? Not so... As it turns out, lawyers can be finicky about everything from punctuality to the minutest details as the weather... yeah, right... like we can control it... Luckily, the surroundings were magical enough to let the complaints on the slight drizzle slide by...

Anyway, the schedule for the 13th was to bring the guests to dinner from the convention venue of Shangrila Hotel to the Sofitel. We were at the Shangrila by three in the afternoon in our suits. One by one all the guides were given their coach captain's names and corresponding contact numbers. Since it was the day of Manny Pacquiao's fight and a Sunday at that, there was no hint of any traffic jams to contend with. However, due to the volume of the number of buses, all twenty of them, loading guests was painstakingly slow.

But eventually, all the guests were loaded up on the buses and brought to the pool deck for the guests to experience the famed Manila Bay sunset. We were all at the parking area chatting busily along as the fireworks display started. And then, just as the evening event had started, a few minutes after our meals were handed out, the fireworks started again to mark the end of the festivities. All the guests were shuttled off to Shangrila again for the Hospitality Suite. Those who were too tired to attend the after party were brought to all the other official hotels. Most of the MGs ended their duty at around ten p.m.

The next day was an early call for the Mabuhay Guides as we were bringing the participants to a special  full day trip to Tagaytay Highlands. Nestled on the  ridge overlooking the volcano, all the guests had eagerly awaited the excursion day. We left Manila at 7 a.m. and arrived at 8:15. Once there, the participants were free to partake of all the native delicacies being offered by the highlands: fresh coconut, puto bumbong, bibingka, balut, sapin sapin, etc. They also had the freedom to participate in any of the games and the Amazing Race style game to cap the afternoon. All the guides were holed up in the China Palace. We weren't allowed to be seen loitering around the area.

At three p.m., most of the guests wanted to be back in Manila to continue with some meetings and squeeze in some time for shopping. So we gathered our guests and headed back for the official hotels. But I managed to take some snapshots of the great views of the exclusive club.

No matter how well-planned some events are, some kinks are bound to come up once in a while. On the 14th, we all got messages asking us to be at our assigned hotels earlier than 4 p.m. But when we got to the hotel, we were told the buses don't leave until 6 p.m. so we were forced to wait around. I didn't mind the wait but since it was raining, we knew there was bound to be traffic jams everywhere. So a 6 p.m. departure was dangerous. True enough, some of the guests came late as their buses were stuck in traffic. Some irate guests were so peeved they didn't even feel like having dinner anymore. However, after the party, they all settled down and eventually got to enjoy the ride back to their hotels. Some of the buses left Manila Hotel a little before midnight. All in all, we delivered. We stood out. And we convinced our tour operator we're worth every cent.