I was informed of my tour assignment by Ms Goya last Tuesday, 16 February, 2010. It seemed so soon right after I had done the tour wth David Celdran. I thought that was odd. But then, I wasn't going to complain after all, I was going to be hired for my services as a Mabuhay Guide.
I recieved the name of the contact person and made the necessary arrangements. My tour was scehduled for the morning of Thursday, 18 February, 2010. Party of 6-8 pax all ladies. All of them happened to be Ms Goya's friends and classmates from St Scholastica's College.
I had arranged to meet them at the Hulo Station of the Pasig River Ferry Cruise. Even told them to arrive early so we could catch the 9:15 downstream trip to Escolta. Was I in for a surprise! Three of them had arrived earlier than I. Though I was still early for the trip I didn't count on them being that early. I was at the station around half past eight and Ms Mayette was there with two other friends. They were from Seattle and New York.
It was Ms. Mayette who had informed me that the nine o'clock trip had been cancelled. I was shocked! I hadn't counted on them cancelling on the day of my tour. So despite calls me made with the help of the staff at Hulo Station, there was no way we could take the 9:00 a.m. trip as it had been reserved for the Coast Guard. Noone had informed me that there was a prior reservation as I had been calling for the trip schedules. So right there and then I decided to go surface to Escolta. Do the tour from Binondo to Ongpin then after the tour we take the Ferry back to Hulo Station.
Ms Mayette had to make the necessary calls to the rest of the party that had not arrived. It was all set. We would convoy to Escolta ad start the tour there. Thankfully our driver was able to maneuver through traffic in record time and we were at Escolta by nine a.m. By the time we were at Escolta, the group had swelled to 12 pax. I made sure that they had a ferry back so the group could experience the Pasig Ferry ride. I was told that the trips back were 12:15 and 1:45 and 3:45 pm.
I started the tour at Polland Cafe.I had asked the party to wait for me there as I needed to inquire from the station. They needed a comfort room break anyway. While at the cafe, I suggested they try the Kuchay which they readily did. They liked it. Thus, the shopping spree had begun. One had ordered two boxes for take-away. the other had ordered a box. Bottles of water were bought as well as buchi and hopia. But since it was just the start of the tour, we decided to ask the cafe to hold them for us till we returned after the tour was completed.
Then we proceeded to do the Escolta walk. All my commentaries were peppered with their own input. Apparently, all of them had had their own experiences of Escolta in their younger days. Either their dads worked in one of the offices along the block or they had spent their free time shopping and just gallivanting in the area in their youth. I made sure that my information was correct. It was interesting because their experience was solely on watching movies and shopping in Escolta. They knew very little of the architecture. Who'd care about that when you're a kid, right?
Along the way there was the constant chatter and merry-making among the ladies. they were having a rollicking good time. As we entered the Ongpin Arch, they had begun to show signs of fatigue. They were walking slower. They tried the Sugar cane juice at one of the stops and found it good. The Chinese Temple was of interest to them as well. They went inside and took photos of the interiors as well. There's an excavation in Kipuja and they meandered along the alleyway as well.
I showed them Ling Nam. I guess they had gotten hungry. they decided to have lunch there. They were ordering so much food aside form the noodles. I had to spoil it a bit by telling them there's more food stops to come and they listened. Someone had already ordered a special siopao the size of a saucer.I informed them that they had an hour and forty five minutes to conclude the tour if they were to cathc the ferry back. They were all in agreement not to rush back as this gathering did not happen often. The consensus was they would go for the 3:45 trip.
So as we went to the Shanghai Fried Siopao store they bought 2 pieces and divided it among those who were interested to taste it. Yup, it was good enough for them to buy a few dozen pieces. Ooops, more bags for them to carry...These women were prepared. Recyclable shopping bags were popping out from nowhere. I should have known...
Bags of chestnuts were bought. Two of them bought sharpening blocks for knives from a street peddler. On our stop at New Victory Wedding Store, two mah-jong sets were purchased. This was probably the only tour i had conducted with people buying so much stuff it was taking longer to manage the time. At Diao Eng Chai, boxes of chicken pie were bagged for take-out. By the time we had reached Dong Bei Dumplings, it was nearly one thirty p.m. They tried the dumplings and fried pancakes. Alright, so it was good enough for them to take out too. But the dumplings had to be cooked so it won't spoil by the time they got home. That took longer. Three dozen for this lady please and a dozen friend pancakes... for the one on the far end, two dozen please...
At Carvajal, more chestnuts were bought. Kiatkiat as well. Then finally, New Po Heng Lumpia House. They bought three pieces, had them divided amongst themselves and decided to have a few pieces wrapped and taken home as well. I had to ask them to start walking back to the Ferry Station. Ms Becky's party had walked ahead as she was supposed to meet her mother at Savory. I didn't realize they were going to order food there as well. The rest of us had walked back to Polland to collect the Kuchay we left behind.
I checked for the departure and was told that the 4:00 pm was cancelled (yet again)so that the departure was at 3:15 instead of the 3:45. Panic button! There was a party still eating at Savory. I had to rush to Savory and glad that they had recieved the call though they had already finished. What a harrowing experience!
The Ferry back was smooth. There was little commentary as the DVD playing on board was The Transformers. Too much noise but I managed o squeeze in informaion at the quiet parts. We all disembarked at Hulo Station and parted ways there.
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