WEEKEND WRAPUP

What a long week! We spent Friday afternoon talking to our clients, and taking one of them through some detail in our methodology. We also made the case for hosting a workshop, which they confirmed that we would do in Hong Kong next week. Finally, after wrapping up the day with some interviews, we had our client’s head spinning enough to want to take us out for a drink. Oh, I almost forgot! We experienced an earthquake here (apparently it was a 6.6 on the richter scale). Even though buildings here are constructed with cement, we're safe becuse this island is pretty much on a rock that is solid. Not sure if that means it moves with the earth, or if it stays still when there's an earthquake. Either way, it's safe.

After work, we went to a place called M Café at Greenbelt, which is a very swanky mall. The mall has a section of restaurants that are pretty good (and pricey for local standards). During drinks, we met up with another one of our client’s close friends, who also works for an NGO, but more on the private sector side as a lobbyist. In the Philippines, if you host a high post at an NGO, you are somebody big. For example, one of the board of trustees for the NGO that I am working for is also on the board of the country’s biggest bank. It makes sense, since one of the assumptions in our models is predicated on the fact that the board and CEOs of the countries that are part of our fund will do their part to “open doors”. Essentially, this is the function they serve. After drinks, we left and got ready for a fashion show.

The fashion show was by a very well known designer (in the Philippines at least), Kate Torralba. We got to hang out with her, as well as some guy who owns two separate restaurant chains here. Turns out the guy also owns a culinary school, is a civil engineer, and an accomplished lawyer who has argued cases in front of the Philippines Supreme Court. The rest of the night we spent hanging out with the management of our property and getting to know them better (perhaps they will hook me up with extra soap next week – kidding).

One of the connections we made on Friday night was to an American girl who was now working in the Philippines doing some grant work. She has her Masters from GW, and she recently moved here to pursue an opportunity in conjunction with the World Bank. We met her and her crew at the Oceanarium, which is an aquarium right on the harbor, and a perfect place to see the sunset. There is no shortage of irony in the fact that the sunset is beautiful due to excessive air pollution. We also hung out with a dude named Carlos, who runs a tour business. He’s also a bit of a local celebrity, and is even featured in our Lonely Planet book. We also met a group of people who were from Boston University and were wrapping up their masters in Public Health, and were down for a semester doing research.

We ended the night going to a place called Penguins, in a part of town that is a bit more what I was expecting the Philippines to be like. We saw an incredible cover band there (seriously, they were amazing!) and also met a ton of ex-pats. Through random chance (and random encounters), I ended up meeting the other “ADP-er” in the Philippines. She’s from Washington and on a project here with the Asian Development Bank. Although she is a part of our Finance & Performance Management practice, she ended up doing some org role, and was not having as great of an experience as we were. Between my colleague and I, we have some experience so we will meet with her later and help her figure things out.

The most ironic thing about our down time away from the office is that we end up meeting a lot of the social elite here. Everyone is connected in some way, and it’s not easy to see how corruption is rampant. It really is all about who you know. In meeting people, the conversation often turns political, and at almost a whisper, natives will admit that the president is a puppet and that the military really runs the country. That’s a long story, though.

That just about wraps up my weekend!