A meeting at a local restaurant was the starting place and Edwin my host brought me for breakfast and we discussed the issues of the day as reported by the local newspaper over a breakfast of bacon, eggs and waffles with syrup!
The RC Church of the Holy Spirit was the hosting club and after introductions and the now familiar photo shoot (well we are celebrities!) we headed out. Natalie and I adopted the relaxed dynamic duo approach which was becoming more refined now from the other vocational visits. Through conversation I discovered that one of the hosts was a former area governor for the northern region of the Central Bank of the Philippines. As a result a visit to the Central bank appeared to be part of the days events.
Traffic was heavier than normal as everyone was heading out of Manila for the Easter break and the AC on the bus was broken so travel was hard going and hot but we made the best of it and the first stop was a tour of the Met which is a cultural museum of the Ph. A trip around viewing the modern art exhibits and the fabulously intricate jewellery and pottery created by the indigenous people of the Ph. After Natalie had finished deciding which necklace she liked best and both of us agreeing that the slipper artwork was the most moving (all the hundreds of flip flops recovered after a flood in the local area and then arranged in boxes - you had to be there I guess), it was time to go.
Lunch of Philippine cuisine was had and then it was time to visit the NBI. On out arrival we smartly pinned out Cheshire Constabulary crests to our tops and were ushered into the most amazing conference room I have ever seen. A huge U shaped table with individual mikes an TV monitors, high backed chairs and everything was polished and gleaming. This was obviously the command centre for some high power discussions of national security and I whispered to Nat that this was going to be another amazing experience. I have to admit that I was hugely tempted to have a chair race as the chairs were those kind on wheels and so instead of being naughty we settle for photographs in front if the seal of the NBI I the wall which started sensibly and ended with the inevitable "wacky!"
Then we sat down and good job as a trio of senior Intelligence officers arrived and greetings were exchanged. We then set about grilling them on all things intelligence with Natalie taking the lead and a few supplementary questions from me. Hats of to her as we normally get a fill PowerPoint experience but these guys just sat down as offered us the floor which was good but put the pressure on us. We must have held up to scrutiny tho as the head of Intelligence handed us both his card with the promise that we could call on his office should we ever need to. Buoyed by this we pose for photographs and exchanged our cards with them all. A few photo shots outside beside the NBI memorial (more PR for all of us) an it wa time to leave.
A trip in the bus and general discussions of the NBI ensued whilst we were conveyed to our final locational visit, the Central Bank. This was not at all arranged in advance but when you have a for are Governor in the car, doors get opened! A full tour of the museum of the Central bank followed with some challenging questions about Western imperialism fielding and deftly and professionally batted off by me. The museum told the story of money in the Ph from early days of shells, stones and gold to the Spanish occupation, then US commonwealth and finally independence, with WWII interrupting for a short period. More photos (again Nat and I plus hosts) and it was time to return to base. Upon meeting up with Amy who appeared to have had an interesting day (see her blog) we were taken for food and a pitcher of beer! A quick change of clothes and we were taken to RC for a quick team meeting before finishing for the day. Another epic 7am to 11pm but so worth it. Anyone reading and thinking all of this sounds like a holiday - trust me it is not at all work but it is hard going at times but definitely worth it and massively rewarding. No down time for me though as Boracay beckons and that promises to up the pace even more! Good times.
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