As a result of simultaneous business trips, Cissy and me are staying in Manila this week, more specifically in Makati City, which is the financial and commercial centre of the country. We are very conveniently (and cost-efficiently, and least for GaiaX and me) sharing a room in the luxurious Mandarin Oriental that Citybank likes to book for its employees. I have to admit that I am feeling a little uneasy in this high-class hotel and am somewhat shocked by the intensity of security precautions here: Armed guards (and we are talking really big guns here) are posted at the entrances of all buildings in Makati, and they check the bags of everyone going in. Cars driving up to hotels and shopping malls are also searched. This is apparently not a recent development triggered by terrorism, as the Philippines have quite a history of commercial kidnappings, piracy, and political assassinations.

On the plus side, everyone speaks English, and everything is cheap. In fact those are the two reasons that brought me here since Oracle University seminars in Japan are available only in Japanese language and at five times the cost (even including flight and hotel still about twice the cost). Plus, I get to eat a lot of fruits here.