Day Dreaming

Dad has been complaining about not having places to go other than the malls around my hotel.  But we have been going to places with his friends...  Every other day, we go out to eat with his friends after work and I have been exhausted.  So on Saturday, I had the hotel breakfast buffet, came back to the room, started surfing on the web for interesting sites to visit.  I day dreamed about having cocktails on exotic beaches, hiking through the mountains, riding in a jeep with other tourists, and I started wondering about travel safety and how I could fit in.  "Maybe I should learn some Tagalog first?", "if I just look like an American tourist with a cap and backpack, I would look like a poor student?", or "maybe I should join a tour?"

I fantasized about my journeys each time when I found a different travel blog or new advertising page for the Philippines.  Then, Dad popped my bubbles with his infamous questions, "where are we going to go today? staying at the hotel again?"  I get so annoyed with him whenever he asks that question, I am just so exhausted from work everyday, why would I want to go anywhere but just chill out at the hotel?  Then, irony presented itself - all the searches for amazing beaches, mountains, and tours require me to get out of the hotel.   Maybe a little exploration wouldn't hurt?  I got ready, herded my parents out of the hotel, took a taxi and arrived at Little Tokyo in Mikati.

The restaurants formed a little Japanese restaurant village which provides outdoor seating for the patrons in the square / garden.  We picked the yakitori specialty restaurant and devoured 18 meat sticks, 2 sticks of grilled chilies, a Japanese asparagus salad, a cold tofu dish (my favorite), and two Asahi beers (my second favorite).  A Japanese guy walked in with a book, sat down at the bar by himself.  He lit his cigarette after ordering his food, and started reading.  I like it that eating alone in a Japanese restaurant is the norm not the exception and I also like that the cigarette smoke was sucked into the vent for the yakitori.  After we stuffed ourselves to the brink, we visited Greenbelt 3 for further exploration.

This morning, dad didn't ask the 'annoying' question that I anticipated that he normally asks.  But I am asking myself, "where do I want to go today?"  Visiting new places is just as much fun as day dreaming, but a lot more filling and delicious!!!