Singapore Speed vs. Moving Through Mud In Manila
Techno future-state Singapore was a delight on many levels. After Thailand's (highly enjoyable) chaos, it was jarring but nice to return to a land of crosswalks and rules. Singapore has stunning architecture, amazing public green spaces, lots of public art, an interesting history, and a variety of delicious foods reflecting the crossroads of cultures it is. Also, unlike most of the places we have been, the systems for entering the country connected seamlessly with the coved testing, store, and restaurant check-in systems, minimizing data re-entry.
I never thought I would welcome rules as much as I did in Singapore
Of course, that kind of effectiveness is also creepy, as we got text reminders that the kids were not supposed to leave the hotel room until they got their 24-hour COVID test, along with a convenient list of facilities where they could get tested, and some nasty threats about what would happen to us if we did not comply.
Every single establishment used a check-in app, but the tech was good enough to let us check-in as a family, so it oddly made us feel safe.
Singapore also had the added joy of our friends, who had been moving from Bosnia to Singapore when we were in Sarajevo, welcoming us with open arms and good wine. Their kids and our kids got on as famously as we adults did. So it was with a heavy heart that we prepared to leave Singapore anyway.
When Sophia tested positive for COVID, we were incredulous. She was a little tired and sniffly, but so uncomplaining that we made the facility test 2 more times - antigen and PCR - as well as a home test before we believed.
“Kids, go find mom! She’s that way.”
So, as is now our SOP, the uninfected assembled the 8 million forms we needed for the Philippines and headed that way.
From the outset, the inherent contradictions of the place created an odd dissonance. There was an immigration app to which all of our documents had to be uploaded, and then separately retyped multiple times. No one looked at it. Paper copies were also required, closely examined, and then some of them rekeyed into an apparently different system.
After multiple lines, we retrieved our luggage and exited. The taxi stand was basically hidden in a corner of the airport, but the short line belied a long wait - the community-oriented Filipinos were basically aghast that no one has meeting us.
Our Airbnb was beautiful, but our host was an more than an hour late to meet us, despite communicating with us several times to check our progress. He neglected to inform us that as guests we basically couldn't use the beautiful amenities (probably Filipinos could blend, but we are a touch conspicuous). The building itself was awesome, close to the old town and looking over the famous Park Rizal, but also highly controversial among locals because of the clear corruption involved in its permitting.
A lovely view, though in a controversial near a lot of amenities we couldn’t use and museums, parks, aquariums, and planetariums that were still closed because of COVID
Everywhere we went, the contrast between intended well-regulated order and coherent rules and the lived experience of near-total chaos (albeit very friendly and welcoming chaos) created essentially the worst of both worlds. A 15-minute walk to the planetarium - clearly open on google and according to the guards we asked for directions - became a frustrating and scorching hour-long walk to a shattered building.
The Ava-sized door was an amusing coda to a frustrating attempt to see the sites.
Even the "mood-lightening" treat of American-style fast food was a total fail, as the menus and tastes were just different enough to disappoint the kids (bones in the chicken, soggy fries, etc.).
Jollibee is like KFC crossed with Hardees
The one real highlight has lunch with my B- School roommate Cody's in-laws. who with us as the excuse, called together an army of interconnected uncles, aunts, cousins, and business partners who treated us to a multi- course feast of traditional Filipino food and a delightful conversation that spanned history, urban planning (or lack thereof), and politics. They departed for a political rally (go Pink!) leaving me feeling much better about the country.
We had some other adventures, mostly trying and failing to varying degrees to see the sites. After dragging Paul and Ava through to heat to the famed Ft. Santiago (which I had read so much about), it was such a disappointment (facing a container port, bordered by a driving range, even the Lego exhibit was run-down looking) that I gave up and took them to the mall for lunch (on a Tuk-Tuk, which was cool). We ended up at Philippine equivalent of Applebees, which had the virtue of being just fine.
If this were a movie, our final morning would be a comedy montage: cancelled Uber drivers, a late landlord, the Uber driver who finally arrived getting confused and going to the wrong spot, a belligerent guard not willing to return my ID in exchange for our guest pass until his manager arrived, a furious, fed-up giant American looming over said guard and ripping it out of his hand, basically daring him to shoot me. After followed 2 hours in 6 lines at the airport, 1 of which was the wrong line, a tired child refusing to eat (even though this inevitably means nausea) until exasperated Dad say, "eat the doughnut or I'm leaving you here!” before we finally get on the plane.
It can't all be beautiful beaches.
