Back to Business in Manila

First, an hour delay before we arrive in driving rain. Thank you Dayno Dinopol for picking us up, and to Joel for doing the TV interview without us.
We have moved to Maritina's comfortable, convenient apartment in Makati and the arms of her welcoming family. Quick change from our beach clothes, and up to a lovely dinner party at Roberto and Olivia Romulo's. Here is John with our friend Beth Day Romulo.

Two writers. See if you can find Beth's book Inside the Palace for a bird's eye view.

 John reads at Fully Booked, Bonifacio High Street. It's a great bookstore, absolutely to the standard of the best of the US bookstores. They have ordered a 400 copies, so buy one!

 Here is actress Ermie Concepcion, displaying the product.

John read with a mic from a space in the center of the store. I enjoyed watching shoppers be pulled in by the reading (Diosdado, the principle Filipino character in A MOMENT IN THE SUN) and by the brilliance of his answers in the Q & A. They stayed to buy books.

At Maritina's we are conveniently located near Glorietta 5. Sarah Green's (okay, Terry Malick's) TREE OF LIFE is playing in the cinema there. Crazy poster with a little bit of everything. It succeeded I guess, because the theater was packed. John and I enjoyed the movie-and most of the Filipino audience stayed to the end, a little baffled you could tell, by a movie far artier than what usually plays in the mall.

Manila is not all work of course. Raymond Lee from Origin8 takes me to BBFH. Six hands on me at once, pedi, mani, hot oil hair treatment. I felt like Dorothy-in 1978.
John does most of the work and never gets a pedicure.

Here he is with Boy Abunda, recording Bottomline.Boy Abunda is not shy and John rose to the questions. I think you will be able to catch it on YouTube.

Post interview dinner at JT's Original Manukan Grill, with Lee Meily and Uly. We have some good friends in Manila.