So here I am in Manila. As I waited to board the plane, I saw the long lines and crossed my fingers that I’d get an upgrade. I handed my ticket to the lady at the gate and asked, “Upgrade? Upgrade?” She didn’t even look at me, let alone respond, but sure enough, as she put the ticket into the machine, it flashed red, spit the ticket back out and she handed me my business class boarding pass.

For my first night, after going to the Landmark Supermarket to stock up on Reeses Peanut Butter cups, I went to an old reliable spot, Cafe Havana. I like their take on spareribs. As I sat outside eating, a number of girls sitting at other tables tried to catch my eye. But I realized that I’m not in a mood to pay someone to pretend to like me. (Okay, I thought about what I just posted and am imagining the comments people will leave based on that. No need. Go back to where I posted the lyrics to Marquee Moon and think about it a bit.)

After dinner, walked over to check out the Manila branch of Spicy Fingers but the place was almost a ghost town. So walked back to the hotel. Along the way, at least six girls hit me with the “where you going?” line – one, after I rejected her, called after me, “I’m not a ladyboy!” “I know, but I’m still not interested!”

So up to the room, put on a movie, Street Kings – Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie. James Ellroy gets the story credit and a co-writer’s credit and it’s directed by the guy who wrote Training Day. It got a 33% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and I think that was generous. Yeah, there’s some intense action scenes but it is such a jumble of cliche upon cliche, very little that you haven’t seen or heard before – you figure out the “gotcha” at least halfway through if not sooner and it’s hard to keep a straight face at some of the bits in there.

Then it occurred to me, I wonder if Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanomo Bay is playing here yet? Guess I’ll have to check the newspapers tomorrow. Unless there’s a screening of Iron Man or Speed Racer that I could worm my way into.

Hongkie Town
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