Angie's Adventures in Manila: Getting settled in Rockwell, Makati, Manila, Philippines

Alright so I'm getting settled in here and learning my way around the Rockwell area. I've explored the mall across the street and found that the clothing and shoe prices aren't much different than they are in the US, particularly for the name brand stuff. It's also pretty difficult to find anything in my size, I guess since the majority of the people who shop here are smaller than the average American. Guess that's good motivation to eat less and move more!

I also had my first grocery shopping experience at a store called Rustan's in the lower level of the mall. I was pleasantly surprised, there are a lot of American brands imported so it wasn't a guessing game on what I'm buying. What really struck me was that things are available in much smaller sizes than you see in the US. And you can get things as a single rather than a pack of however many. For example, you can buy one bottle of beer - and it's not a 40 oz! In fact, they didn't even HAVE six packs - you just make your own. Another example: I was able to get a little jar of mayo instead of a big gigantic one that would go bad before I could use it up. Then, when I was all done shopping, the kid that bagged my items also walked with me to my condo so I didn't have to lug the groceries here myself. Nice!

I had a massage this morning at the spa that is a couple blocks away. The spa is nice, but it's quiet, there isn't any of that nice soothing music that a massage room should have. My massage therapist was a tiny little woman who actually straddled me when she was doing the middle of my back and shoulders when I was on my stomach. It was purely professional, I didn't feel her actually sit on me, but I could tell she was up there because I could feel her legs on each side of me. *shrug* Weird! Also, she did some of those karate chop type moves and some other techniques that I thought were totally useless. I suspect that they are all trained the same way, but I'll try someone different next time to see if it's a different experience.

Back to work tomorrow. We're working daytime this week, then switching to nights the next week. Not looking forward to that transition!

Here are some photos of my condo and the view. It's so very FLAT here!
Here's a view looking left and down at the street. (I have no idea what direction it is)

I can't get these pictures in any kind of order that makes sense, sorry about that. If you know how to do that, could you let me know?

Bathroom, and yes, that is a spray nozzle next to the toilet! Hehe

Here is the vanity area of the bathroom. The laundry is also in this room.

Bedroom. There are full length windows behind me in this photo. Also there is a big wardrobe/dressing area with a full length mirror in the area between the bathroom and bedroom.